by: T’Naya Edwards
So here we are in week 6 of our series! We are just about halfway through our time together as we unpack The Story of Scripture. In this grand story we started out from the very beginning in Genesis and have learned that
Week One: God is God alone and exists in a triune nature as God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son, Jesus Christ. Any and all other gods are not gods at all but are mere people, places, or things that we have made “gods” by giving them worship they do not deserve. Genesis 1:1
Week Two: God is creator, he made the entire Universe, then He created man in His image, giving us the command to rule and subdue all of creation and to be fruitful and multiply-all to His glory and done in His presence. Genesis 1&2
Week Three: Sin entered the scene causing both a physical and spiritual death for man. The immediate and lasting result of sin was separation from God and disruption of relationship with each other and God as well. Genesis 3
Week Four: We learned that there is HOPE of Redemption from the tragedy of sin in our lives through the promises of God’s Word first to Abraham and the rest of the world. It is because of these promises that we also get to experience His blessings. Genesis 6-17.
Week Five: Through Moses,we see God reaffirm His relationship with Israel by delivering them from Egypt, and moving them toward the Promised Land. Along the way God delivers a system of law to show them how to live in relationship with Him and with others. This law proved incapable of true salvation and only pointed us forward to our need for Christ.
Kandice really focused in on just what covenant is last week in her teaching and pointed out that God is always the one to initiate covenant, and despite the Isrealites waywardness and wandering away from His promises, He always kept His Word to them. She emphasized that the same is true for us, He keeps us even when we don’t deserve it. He provides the way, for the Israelites it was the law and the tabernacle and all of its functions, and for us it the very Spirit of God living and active within us.
We won’t take time to dive deep into the next three books of the Torah, so I thought I would briefly explain what they are and their purpose as we lead up to our next topic of focus today.
Genesis- Is Israel's origin story. We know God chose Abraham to be the Father of His chosen people. Later in Abraham’s family line we see God raise up Jacob who then fathers Joseph, Joseph’s abuse from his brothers is ultimately what led to God’s people growing and multiplying in Egypt. Which leads to
Exodus- God delivers his people from Egyptian oppression and leads them into the wilderness heading on a journey to the land that He has promised to them to inhabit. While in the wilderness, particularly while they were camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, God gives Moses the law. Which leads us to
Leviticus- Leviticus is all about holiness- both God’s holiness and the holiness He expects of His people. The word holy means to be set apart, or separate from everything else. So God gives clear commands of His expectations for His people by giving instruction for the priests and how they were to offer sacrifices, how they were to be ordained, and how they were to enforce “cleanliness” among God’s people. God gives commands for the operation of His tabernacle, the place where He now dwells among them and for His people in general and how they are to be His Holy people as they journey into a Godless land. This is the first time God has dwelt among His people since the Garden of Eden so He gives them a better chance of getting it right this time with the Law. Everyone says Levititcus is boring, but I disagree. It’s certainly not an easy read, but there is A LOT of interesting stuff going on in there.
Numbers- In Numbers we learn of all that took place in the Isrealites 40 year journey through the wilderness. They get a head count at the beginning of the book at the base of Mount Sinai, then pack up with their new set of laws and set out on their journey. It’s not called the wilderness for no reason, it’s desolate and just overall pretty rough. So right from the get-go, the people start to disobey the laws they were just given when things get difficult. The people complain. They complain against God. They complain against Moses and even threaten to kill him. Moses rightfully complains to God about the people saying “ Go ahead and kill me, God, these people are too much. I can’t do this!” They cry to go back into slavery. Basically, they are human just like you and me. We see God’s wrath against this faithless and ungrateful people when He sends fire, plagues, and even strikes Moses’ own sister Miriam with leprosy when she and Aaron turn against God and their own brother. It’s basically one big hot mess. Amidst His wrath, God is still gracious and merciful and provides for them during this time meeting all of their needs. About halfway through the book, Moses sends 12 spies into the land of Canaan to scope it out. Of the 12, only Caleb and Joshua come back with faith in God to go valiantly in and win the land. The other 10 convince the people it’s just too hard. This is when God sentences the entire older generation with death in the wilderness. They didn’t just reject the land, they rejected and forfeited the very promises of God. How often do we do that in our lives friends? Moses himself, ends up disobeying God and is told that he too will not get to enter into the Promised Land. All the while in their traveling, they do a lot of fighting and conquering the people in their path all leading up to camping at the very edge of the Promised Land across the Jordan River from Jericho. Because God has made them a powerhouse over all these other people, a guy named Balaam is hired by a local king to curse Israel and God only turns it into blessing. Joshua is appointed as Moses' successor over God’s people. All this readies us for the people to charge in and take what God has given them. But not first without an important message from Moses, which is the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy- God has brought His people through the wilderness and now here they stand on the very edge of crossing over into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy is basically the retelling of the first four books of the Torah, or Pentateuch (which is just a technical way to say five scrolls). Deuteronomy in itself means “second giving”. Moses gives the law to the people a second time. Moses tells the people they have a CHOICE-- LIFE or DEATH. Choose LIFE and LOVE and OBEY God, or choose DEATH and suffer the consequences of disloyalty to God. In Moses’ retelling of the law, most are old, but some are unique and new. He gives expectations of how kings are to rule and reign among several others. The book becomes prophetic in nature when Moses tells of the prosperity to come under the rule of David and Solomon and the exile that will take place when Israel chooses death and is disobedient and God allows them to be conquered by Assyria and Babylon. He tells them of God’s promise to restore them back to Israel which we see take place in the book of Ezra and Nehemiah. Then we read of the death of Moses. God said he would not enter the land, and we know God keeps His word.
Joshua- The book of Joshua wastes no time to get interesting. God says to Joshua, “Get up and let’s go! We are moving into the land I have promised!” Around 500 years later, God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham. To move them in, God parts the waters of the Jordan river for the people to cross over into their next chapter just as He did at the Red Sea. Israel moves forward with God on their side winning victory after victory over the land's inhabitants starting with the famous battle of Jericho where “the walls came tumbling down”. Some of the natives, like Rahab and the Gibeonites, chose to side with God and all the others who don’t face great devastation. Joshua then goes on to distribute the land among the 12 tribes of Israel for their permanent dwelling. Toward the end of Joshua’s life he did just as Moses did and reminded them of God’s faithfulness toward them and reminds them once again that they have a CHOICE. Serve God, obey God, love God, or give into the temptation and surrender to the “gods” of the pagans of the land in which they are now in. The people say they will choose God, at least until Joshua and the others that led with him die. Which all sets the stage for us today.
I know that was a lot to cover but there is a point to it. We will get to that later, but for now I want to take a bit of a left turn and ask us a question…
If you had to boil down the central theme of Jesus' message and summarize it down to one sentence or capture the essence of what He taught what would your answer be?
Would you say
Love your neighbor
The golden rule
If you have a passion for social justice, maybe love your enemy
Jesus says over and over, “do not be afraid”, would that be it?
You see, how we answer this question reveals much about who we believe Jesus to be and what He came to do.
John the Baptist came with this message and Matthew and Mark both introduce us to Jesus public ministry with His first message of, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
“Kingdom”, in the ESV, is mentioned 126 times in the gospels alone. It is then mentioned an additional 34 times in the rest of the new testament. Kingdom is one of the key components of the Story of Scripture. It begins on page one of the Bible and weaves all throughout the story to the very second to last paragraph in Revelation.
This leads me back to where we left off with Joshua, no one was appointed leader after His death. But that should be no problem right? Ultimately the Isrealites had agreed to be faithful to God as their King from the time that they were led out of slavery in Eygpt. God gave them the law in which to be governed by. These were His very words spoken to Moses and recorded. God was the King they were supposed to look to for guidance, provision, and protection. But we know this isn't the case.
Moving forward Into the Book of Judges we see that the Isrealites have turned their back on God. The great tragedy of the book of Judges is that ultimately the Israelites have forgotten God. They have chosen to turn away from the law and ultimately God. This leads to what is often referred to as a downward spiral of sin and rebellion. Because of the Israelites rebellion, God removes His protection from the people. Things become chaotic and catastrophic for them. They are ravaged by other nations and have fallen so deep into their sinful ways- they marry foreign women, fall into idol worship, and violence and oppression now rule their lives. You can read the book of Ruth and take a zoomed in look at one family and the state in which God’s people were found during this time. These people are no longer recognizable as God’s chosen ones. But in their great despair, the people would recall God and call out to Him time and time again, and He would faithfully deliver them by raising up a judge from among them to rally the people, overthrow the invading nation, and ultimately bring peace among the people. Some of the judges were good in their own way and some were horrible, cowardly, or corrupt. No matter who was in charge, God’s people would backslide and turn from Him. The book of Judges ends with moral chaos, violence, and despair. The very last verse of the book reads-
'In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.'
Judges 21:25
There was no King. No order. No law. No one to look to because they had chosen to look away from God.
The Isrealites looked all around them and decided, we want a king.
The people hadn’t heard from God in decades, He had grown quiet amidst their insanity. Israel needed much more than another Judge. So He gave them Samuel who was a Judge AND a Prophet. God was speaking to His people once again. Things went alright for a while and Samuel got them back on track and serving God but after an attack from another nation they tucked their tails and cried out to Samuel and demanded to give them a king like the nations. Samuel was quite old and his sons whom he wrongly appointed as leaders weren’t exactly following in daddy’s footsteps, being the godly men they should have been. So the people fear for what’s to come after his death. In 1 Samuel chapter 8, God tells Samuel to hear them out, but also to respond and inform them just what having an earthly king is going to be like. So Samuel relays the message to the people and lets them know that a king like everyone else has is going to take and take and take and take and take from them. All of God’s requirements of the law will still stand- offerings, sacrifices, and tithes- added on top of that, a king is going to require so much more. He will take your land, your sons for his armies, your daughters for his household, your livestock, your workers, an extra ten percent of you harvests for his own household and so much more. He will take and take and take. God told them through Samuel, “When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 1 Samuel 8:18
In their distress, they didn’t care. They once again demand a king to deliver them from their enemy. So God gives them Saul.
Saul is a prideful, foolish, and cowardly man who does not obey God’s law or seek God’s direction and doesn’t lead the people to be obedient to God. He too does what is right in his own eyes just as the people had done before. Because of Saul’s disobedience and lack of faithfulness to God, he tells him the throne will no longer belong to his family and that he will give it to another man of GOD’S CHOOSING in 1 Samuel 13. David is secretly anointed by Samuel as Israel’s next king while Saul is still ruling. He waits patiently for God’s plan to unfold trusting in His perfect timing even when given the opportunity to take matters into his own hands. Ultimately Saul dies a pitiful death in battle and then David rises to the throne in 2 Samuel. Through Saul’s life and mistakes we get to see a clear picture of how God opposes the proud and exalts the humble.
David is this man after God’s own heart just as he had promised Saul’s successor would be in 1 Samuel 13:14. More importantly we see that David is the man that God has chosen for His people. God makes a covenant with David in 2 Samuel chapter 7 and promises to establish his throne forever. So much good came of David being king over Israel, but there was also A TON of dysfunction and sin. David made some horrible decisions and took advantage of his position as king. He took, and he took, and he took. If you have ever read Psalm 51, you may know it is David’s psalm of repentance for his sin against God concerning when he sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah, and everyone closely related. David is responsive to God calling him out on the carpet, but that doesn’t mean he gets to go without consequence. The results were completely damaging to his own family and the entire kingdom of Israel with his own son attempting to overthrow him, rebellions, and war. Because of David’s heart, God keeps his promise to David and he remains king.
David’s anointing as king was a picture of the one true Messiah, the anointed One. If you pay attention to your genealogies and don’t skip over them, you will find that Jesus comes directly from the line of David, just as God has promised. David was a good king, although very flawed, but he could only uphold and enforce God’s law. Jesus came and FULFILLED the law. David crumbled under temptation and Jesus OVERCAME it. The angel tells Mary in Luke 1, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus . He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:31-33
The major flaw of the Israelites was that they didn’t realize they had been subjects of a Kingdom all along. God was, is and has been Sovereign King over all of His creation since before the beginning of time. We as humans have a flawed thinking when it comes to the Kingdom of God. We look at countries ruled by monarchy and see that an earthly kingdom has to do with a certain people and a certain place. A monarch is set over these two things-people and place-in which they are to rule and to reign. But with God, though He does have a chosen people and has given them a chosen place, those have nothing to do with his REIGN. The weight of someone having reign over something has nothing to do with a particular group of people or certain place but everything to do with position and authority. God is King over all because He created it all. Psalms 103:19 says “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” ALL. Whether the people or realm are in submission to Him or not. Again, just as Moses, Joshua, and Samuel urged the people, CHOOSE GOD. We know that when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden part of the curse included God giving Satan certain permission and power to rule on this earth. But He does not hold ULTIMATE power. God does. God is God and God is King.
God’s master plan was to reestablish His complete rule through humans. God used Adam and Eve in the beginning. He used Noah. He used Abraham. He used Jacob. He used Joseph. He used Moses. He used Joshua. He used the Judges. He used Saul. He used David. These people and others within the greater story are all pointing us to Jesus, He is the ONE human in which He would reestablish His rule. This is the Messiah, the Savior that humanity was promised from the very beginning, He would be the one to crush the head of the serpent. He is the answer and solution to all that is wrong in the world.
Just as we have a skewed perspective of what kingdom means to God, His own people had a false picture of what the Kingdom would look like when the Messiah came. They wanted a power house King to come in and liberate them from their current oppressor, which was Rome at the time. They lost sight that their greatest oppressor was in fact their sin. This element of their very nature caused disruption with God and others. Jesus came to provide a way of liberation over that problem first. He wants to establish His reign and His rule first in our hearts, souls, minds and these bodies which are His temples.
Kingdom comes through through the cross. It has everything to do with sacrifice and self-denial. When we choose to love God and love others, we make ourselves very low which only makes room for God to be exalted as King in our lives. Jesus came to establish an upside-down Kingdom. A place where the first go last and the greatest will be the least. Kingdom is a place where enemies are loved and good is done to those who hate you. Jesus absolutely confuses Pilate when He says His Kingdom will be established without fighting. With earthly eyes that makes zero sense. In God’s Kingdom, offenders are to be forgiven 70 times 7 and outsiders kneel down to help half dead men in the road. These are all great things and are a result of Kingdom in our lives. In Mark's telling of Jesus beginning His ministry in 1:14-15 that “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Repent, turn from your sins, and believe in the gospel. Gospel means good news. What is the good news? The KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND! Repentance is necessary to pave way for the Kingdom. God is making good on His word to set things right again. To rule and reign!
When we enter the Kingdom of God, we receive God’s prosperity, but we have to know and understand that is absolutely not what the world says it looks like. Under the rule and reign of Christ humility is exalted.
Being a member of the Kingdom means you are a soldier at war, because we know God isn't finished yet. It’s not a cushy life. Sin is still present, leading to a war-torn world that isn’t acknowledging Christ as King. But Jesus is coming back to make right ALL things. Every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. Until then, we must fight. The Kingdom is disruptive, it makes us get out of our comfort zone and do things we straight up don’t want to, because we recognize and know, IT’S NOT ABOUT ME. There will be backlash. So heed the words of Jesus and do not be afraid when you face adversity. It likely means you are doing something right and Satan hates it so he is coming after you.
When you look around and see godless people living it up, nice and comfortable and seemingly at peace, remember that is right where Satan wants them, distracted by things that don’t matter at all. When you step into your role in the Kingdom, things will be shaky, there will be suffering and pain, but trust and believe that the hardship is leading to a greater glory! Our inheritance isn’t anything we can see with our eyes, it’s Jesus Himself. Our greatest possession is His Spirit within us. Everything else holds no weight. So when the blessings of this life fall away and we go through hard times, we can know that we haven’t truly lost anything at all, because we still have everything because we belong to the Kingdom of God.
So let’s ask ourselves this question today? Who is reigning in my life?
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
Where am I struggling to allow God’s reign in my life?
What does actively living with Kingdom perspective look like?