“Give us a king!”
As the age of the judges came to a close, the political, social, and religious situation in Israel was chaotic. Since the death of Joshua and those that immediately followed him, the people of Israel had been alternately prospering and impoverished, free and enslaved, led and misled. With the last of the judges, Samuel, growing elderly and his sons not following in his ways, the heart of the people of Israel cried out for an effective leader. The end of the book of Judges mentions three great dearths in the land: no king, no magistrate, and no deliverer.
We three kings
The people of Israel declared that they wanted to be like the nations around them. With their eyes off of God and their spiritual condition in decay, the world began to look good. It has ever been this way amongst God’s people. But it is never His mind for His people to be like earthlings around them. However, Israel’s request was repeated with urgency until God granted them what they wanted. They got as their king a man named Saul. He was physically attractive, but his heart was not right with God. His reign was characterized by constant conflict and by distortion of Israel’s relationship with Jehovah. God therefore took the kingdom away from Saul and declared that He would seek out a man whose heart was right.
God found His man in a shepherd lad named David. Ruled by David, Israel prospered and grew strong. The age and reign of David became the great Old Testament example of the people of God living and prospering while ruled by a godly leader. His reign proved that God’s people could prosper even in times of conflict if only they depended upon Jehovah. When King David died, peace with neighboring nations had been established; the kingdom was at rest as Solomon came to the throne. Solomon’s reign exemplified the prosperity and riches that the people of God enjoy when their surrounding enemies are subdued by the power of a godly monarch. While David is the picture of the king in his conflict, Solomon is the picture of the king in his glory.
But Solomon ultimately decayed spiritually. He was initially privileged to build a temple for Jehovah as the great centerpiece of divine worship in Jerusalem. Then, he went astray. Influenced by the nations around him, his human weakness was exposed. The kingdom began to deteriorate and was ultimately divided. A few generations later, Israel’s throne was vacated when the final king of the Old Testament era was carried into exile in Babylon.
The rejected King
Following many generations, a true Son of David was born in Bethlehem. He came unto His own people, but His own received Him not (Jn. 1:11). He lived and worked in quiet humility, yet never denied that He was truly David’s Son and heir. Toward the end of His earthly ministry, this unrecognized King allowed Himself once to be revealed as the proper occupant of Israel’s throne. He rode into the kingly city via the King’s Gate, a gate soon thereafter sealed up. Never since has a king passed through it. People thronged Him and cried, “Hosanna in the highest,” calling out to Him as the Son of David. They declared, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” They laid garments and palm branches in His way. They escorted Him to the temple of Jehovah inside the city which He then cleansed of all that was impure. This was a glimpse of His future glory as Israel’s coming and rightful Messiah and King.
But, within a few hours, the population of the city rejected Him. Their tone completely changed. When asked by Pilate whether He was the King of the Jews, Jesus readily assented that He was. But His subjects cried out that He should be crucified. They declared that they had no king but Caesar. They robed Him in ridicule, crowned Him with thorns, and gave Him a mocking reed as symbol of His rule. They nailed Him to a Gentile cross, and it is noted that a sign was placed over His head which identified Him as “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.” There He died, Israel’s King— crucified. Unregenerate mankind has never again laid eyes on that King. Most are unaware that He went back to heaven and sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High. There, angels and principalities and powers are subject onto Him (1 Pet. 3:22). He was never defeated. He is now the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Meanwhile, Israel has come full circle. In the days when they first yearned for a king, there was no king in Israel. They were a nation essentially leaderless. Their spiritual poverty was so deep that they yearned to be as the nations around them. That is exactly where Israel is today. Her throne is empty. While the remains of King David lie in state in his capital city, the true meaning of that great king is lost to the consciousness of his subjects. Kingless, astray, struggling to accommodate the passions and purposes of the nations around them, Israel today places great pride in being one of the “family of nations.” Presently, they have no temple. There is no true worship of Jehovah in the national sense. The nation gropes in its blindness.
The King of glory
But, her King is coming back! The hour approaches when Israel will at last reach the end of its desperation. With two-thirds of its national population destroyed (Zech. 13:8-9), with enemies overwhelming it on every side, with the brief era of the false prophet and false shepherd coming to an end, Israel will at last repent. The people will mourn for the King they crucified. He will come to deliver them. In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, in regal and glorious splendor, He will arrive at the Mount of Olives. Nations will recognize the wonder of the Creator who is eternally the God of the Universe. He will assume the throne of Israel and establish His earthly kingdom for an initial period of one thousand years.
In the days of His reign, Israel will not be like the nations around her. Rather, those nations will bring their glory and honor to Jerusalem to worship the King who is in residence there (Zech. 14:16). Sin will be restrained, although not eliminated. Via His people, reigning over the earth with Him, every corner of the realm will be subject to His righteous and unalterable reign. Earth’s deserts will bloom. The world will prosper. The weather will pose no threat to mankind. Social order will be maintained. Peace will prevail. The throne of the Lord shall be like a fiery flame and all other thrones will be cast down (Dan. 7:9-12). Thousands shall minister onto Him. Ten thousand times ten thousands (the church?) shall stand before Him (Dan. 7:10). Every eye shall see Him. Every tongue will confess Him.
This period of our Lord’s reign will be different from His eternal reign over the new earth, which will follow the final conflict between sinners and God. All that would oppose Him will be held down, including Satan, who will be imprisoned for one thousand years. But it will be a period during which the restless and wicked heart of man will still be called upon to make choice between God and evil. When tempted for a final time, at the end of a millennium of wondrous and benevolent rule, vast numbers of mankind will once again follow the blandishments of Satan. They will rush to the banner of the evil one and will suffer the ultimate and eternal destruction of every Christ-rejecter of all time (Rev. 19:19-21; 20:1-5). Time itself will end with that great event. That will be the final stroke of the great victory won at Calvary, when the King put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The King will establish His sovereign rule, never to be assailed by evil again.
This one thousand year reign is a part of Earth’s history, as measured in time. It is not part of the eternal condition. It is a dispensation during which Christ is to reign as the Son of David over His earthly people, Israel. It is the period during which Israel, after centuries of wandering and suffering in rebellion against Him, will be restored to earthly glory and prominence, becoming established as Earth’s most prominent nation, under the rule of her rightful King.