WEEKLY READINGS:
Genesis, 12-14, Luke 11-14
READING FOR STUDY PAPER:
1 Chronicles 29
"Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth"
How many times have you said these words, or heard them said by others? They are part of the prayer which Jesus taught His disciples. You can read it in Luke.11:2-4. We know the words very well - but do we know just what they mean?
Look at them again. They are a prayer that God's kingdom may come, and that His will may be done on this earth, as it is always done in heaven. So we see straight away that the Kingdom for which we are to pray is to be here on this earth. And when God's Kingdom comes, then men and women will do His will.
There once was a kingdom of God on earth
Did you know that, thousands of years ago, the Kingdom of God did actually exist on earth? Turn back to 1 Chronicles.29, and read verse 1, and then through to verses 10-13, taking special note of verse 11, which says, "Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all."
The Kingdom spoken of, as you will see when you read the chapter, is the Kingdom of Israel, in the land of Israel. Now read verse 23,
"Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father."
The throne on which David sat, and on which his son Solomon sat after him, was in Jerusalem, the chief city of the land of Israel. And the kingdom over which he reigned was the Kingdom of Israel.
Why was the Kingdom of Israel called the Kingdom of God, and why was its throne called the "throne of the Lord"?
It was because God Himself had given the Israelites that Kingdom; He had chosen Jerusalem for the capital city (1 Kings.11:13) He had given the laws by which the Kingdom was to be governed (you will find them in the Bible, in the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy); and the King who reigned was reigning for God.
God's Kingdom overthrown
Hundreds of years passed by King after king reigned over Israel in Jerusalem. Some were good kings, ruling in the fear of God, and some were evil.
At last there came a day when the nation of Israel had departed so far from God's ways, and the king who reigned at Jerusalem was so wicked, that God said that the kingdom should continue no longer.
Read Ezekiel 21:25-27, and especially verse 27, which says,
"I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: (the Kingdom of Israel) and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him."
He whose right it is
We can see from the verses in Ezekiel that One was to come who "had a right" to the throne of the Kingdom of God - One who was the Heir - and God was going to give it to Him.
From the day that the last king was removed from the throne, right up to the present day, there has never been an Israelitish king ruling in Jerusalem.
But turn in your Bible to Luke 1:31-33, and read the words spoken to Mary, the mother of Jesus, by the angel who appeared to her. Speaking of Jesus, the angel says,
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David." Who has a right to the throne of the Kingdom of God? Why, Jesus, God's Son, of course. He has indeed a two - fold right, because His mother, Mary, was descended from the great King David.
Jesus claimed to be a King. At His trial, when Pilate asked Him, "Art thou a King, then?" He replied,
"Thou sayest that I am a King" (John.18:37).
That is the Jewish way of saying, "yes, I am."
Over the cross on which He was crucified was written, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Matt.27:37). His enemies meant to mock Him, but what they said was true.
The Gospel that Jesus preached was the good news of the Kingdom of God. (Gospel means simply, good news.) In Luke.8:1, we read that,
"He went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God."
Now you know why Jesus is coming back. He is coming back to set up again the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom and ourselves
Perhaps you may think, "Why, then, should we pray, 'Thy Kingdom Come'? If it is an Israelite Kingdom, what has it to do with us?"
You will learn, as you continue your studies, that the Kingdom over which Jesus will rule is going to extend far beyond the first Kingdom of God - indeed, it will extend over all the earth, and bring peace to all people.
And so we pray, "Thy kingdom come". And we pray, too, that when Jesus comes back, he may say to us, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt.25:34).
See how each part of the Bible helps to explain the other parts
We have now learned: