“Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).

Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus is that he would be King, a successor to King David. The Jews of Jesus day were ready to be rid of Roman authority. The Israelites had had what I would describe as a theocratic/tribal form of government up until the time of King Saul. This meant that each family existed loosely in groups by family and answered to the elder family member who answered to God. But they outgrew this and went through a time of transition with the Judges, then moved on into a monarchy, with the King chosen and anointed by God. We know that this government deteriorated over time because of sin and rebellion, and finally the nation of Israel was overtaken by invading countries.

It was only when King Cyrus of Persia, under the guidance of God, allowed the Israelites to return to their homeland, to be governed by a governor who answered to the then-ruling country, that they returned to their Promised Land. This continued on through the New Testament, with the only change being that the governor was replaced by a King who answered to Rome.

Daniel had also foreseen this and prophesied: “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Daniel 2:44).

How does this relate to us? There are Christians all over the world, living under all types of governmental regimes. We in the United States have an elected president as our leader (but I did not need to tell you that, did I?). Just as Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah led the Jewish exiles to return to their Promised Land when King Cyrus signed the decree, we as Christians look forward to the day when we will be called to go to our Heavenly Home, our own Promised Land, a Kingdom ruled by the only just and eternal king, Jesus.

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

Jesus, our King, rules and reigns in his throne room at the right hand of God. Yes, we live in this world, and we submit to earthly authorities, now. But praise God we have the promise of our heavenly eternal King, to whom all the authorities will ultimately submit, and we offer Him our praise and worship due our only righteous King.

“On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written: kingofkings and lord of lords. (Revelation” 19:16).

In Christ,

Judy