The Church Before Pentecost – In Prophecy (3)
Categories: Bible Study Lessons7) Prophecies implying establishment of the church – There are a number of prophecies concerning the Messiah, heaven’s King, which, though there is no actual mention of the kingdom, necessarily imply the existence of a kingdom over which the King rules. Let us note Psalm 2:1,2,6. The apostles used this Psalm as referring to Christ (Acts 4:24-28). Practically all Bible scholars agree that it is one of the Messianic Psalms. It represents the Father as saying he had set his king on Zion. That is the exact place the prophets said the kingdom was to be established. there could not be a king unless there is a kingdom; when the king is set on Zion, we know that the kingdom has been established in Zion. Verses 7 to 9 represent the king as saying that the nations to the uttermost parts of the earth have been given to him for his possession. And in verses 10 to 12 the writer exhorts the nations with their rulers to submit to the Son, the king, and pronounces a blessing on all who do so. So we learn that David knew of God’s purpose to establish a kingdom on earth which was to have the Son of God, his anointed, as king. Let us also note Psalm 110:1-2. That this Psalm refers to the Messiah surely no one can doubt. Jesus used it to silence the Jews on a question concerning the Messiah quoting from Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:42-45). This is a prophecy of the exaltation of Jesus Christ to the highest place of authority in the universe next to the Father himself (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:15-23; 1 Corinthians 15:23-28). Peter so understood it on Pentecost when he proved that David was not speaking of himself because he had not ascended into the heavens (Acts 2:29) and yet he said, “The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand…. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified” (Acts 2:34-36). The word “Lord” means ruler; the word “Christ” means anointed. So Jehovah had made him the anointed ruler; He is King. In Psalms 110:2, we are told that Jehovah will send forth the rod of his strength out of Zion. The phrase, “rod of thy strength” means his ruling power. So again we see Zion connected with the king and his power to rule. this one called “Lord” and “David’s Lord and Son” seated at the right hand of Jehovah is told to rule in the midst of his enemies and to do so until he subdues them all. Since he is to rule, he must be the ruler, the King. If he is a king, surely he has a kingdom. So again we have a prophecy with reference to the king which clearly and necessarily implies the existence of the kingdom. The kingdom was in the plan and purpose of God in the days of David and was predicted by him.
Let us now note the prophecy in 1 Chronicles 17:11-12. This is God’s language to David who understood it to have a deeper meaning than simply a prediction that one of his sons would be the next king in Israel and build the temple, for he said that God had spoken of his servant’s house “for a great while to come” (2 Samuel 7:13-19). This prophecy tells us that while David sleeps with his fathers, Jehovah will set up one on his throne. Peter referred to this on Pentecost when he said that David was dead and buried and his tomb is with us, but he knew that God had sworn with an oath “that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne; he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of Christ” (Acts 2:31). In the prophecies referred to above, we have the record of God swearing to David that of the fruit of his loins he would set one on his throne. Peter says the resurrection of Christ to sit on the right hand of Jehovah is the fulfillment of this prophecy and the keeping of this oath to David. So in this prophecy of the son of David being raised up to sit on the throne of God, we have a clear and necessary implication of the kingdom in which is found the throne of Christ.
In Isaiah 9:6-7, we see the titles of authority given the Son upon whose shoulder rests the government and whose kingdom shall be established prove that this prophecy can refer to none other than Jesus Christ. Only he could be the “Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This prophecy speaks both of his throne and his more than an implication here.
In Zechariah 6:12-13, the Messiah is referred to as a “Branch” in several Old Testament prophecies (Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; Jeremiah 33:15; Zechariah 3:8). And some of these passages might well be used as examples of prophecies which imply the kingdom in the purpose of God during Old Testament times. Zechariah says this man, whose name is the Branch, shall sit and rule upon his throne at the same time he is priest upon that throne. In another place we learn that he is to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both priest and king of Salem (Hebrews 7:15-17; Genesis 14:18). Since this prophecy speaks of him being both priest and king upon his throne, a kingdom is necessarily implied, and so we have another Old Testament prophecy concerning the coming of the kingdom.