A King and A Kingdom, Part 3

This will be my last true post because I doubt anyone will continue to read or post, there's anyone still out there. Alright here is my conclusion to A King and A Kingdom. If you want to read the previous two, here are the links:

http://chrono2009.blogspot.com/2009/06/king-part-1.html

http://chrono2009.blogspot.com/2009/11/king-part-2.html

There are different names for God's people throughout the bible. Very early they don't have a name for them, but there is a separation between the righteous and the wicked. Then there are Abraham and his sons. After Jacob they are called the Israelites. While in Egypt they are called Hebrews. During the kings, they are in Israel and Judah depending on where they lived. After they return from the exile, they are called Jews. In the NT, there are the disciples of Jesus, and later they are called Christians.

Now whatever type of king you have tells you what type of kingdom you have (or maybe vice versa). So when David was king, what did you have to do to be in his kingdom? You had to be an Israelite. Part of being an Israelite was being born one, but also you had to be righteous. David's, and all the kings' kingdoms were earthly and physical. However Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world.

From Nov. 17, "Pilate then went back inside the palace and summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"... "Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." "You are a king then!" Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of the truth listens to me."

So Jesus is a king and his kingdom is not here, but many of the Jews had a hard time with this. (That's an understatement considering they crucified him.)

From Nov. 18, "Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign...The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be the king of the Jews." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

The Jews had a hard time with Jesus being their king because he wasn't like David. How could their king, who would save them be killed like that? They didn't have a country to their own again.

A third of the OT, is after the temple is built, and David did an honorable thing in planning this to honor God. However, God didn't tell him to build it like God told Moses to build the Tabernacle. God did approve it. I wonder if that says something about how we should live by the spirit now. Where God doesn't whisper things in our ear, but by being in tune with our hearts and the Spirit we go and create and do things for God. Or maybe building the temple wasn't part of God's overall plan. During the time of all the prophets, the temple is destroyed and rebuilt, and it seems they are always trying to get the temple back to that original state and those good ole times with King David. However, even having a king wasn't part of God's plan. There are instructions about what do with a king in the Law, but when the people first wanted a king, they were rejecting God. So even trying to get back to those times with David, wasn't really how it was supposed to be.

This is where Jesus comes in. If David's kingdom was physical, and you had to be born into it and righteous, then Jesus kingdom is not of this world, and like he says, anyone who loves the truth or does what is right is in his kingdom. The kingdom can explode now. Anyone who does what is right can be in the kingdom. It means the physical world doesn't matter any more. This is hard to deal with seeing as we are still living here. It also means we are in the kingdom right now that we will continue to be in it when we are in heaven. It think most of us already understood this, but I like connecting all these dots with the kings.

I can relate to the Jews. The first time reading through the Chrono, I saw they were trying to return to the days of David, with getting a good king, the people obeying the law, and the temple restored. Then Jesus comes along. He doesn't rule or battle and he is killed. It's so different, but they were off target for so long. It makes sense now, seeing the big picture and Jesus Kingdom is so much greater. It can span years, any type of people, and be in any place. And to go back to the definition of a good king, he is someone who serves others not having other serve him. Jesus is that definition.

This to me is the story of the Bible and what I got out of reading the Chronological Bible. I think it's God's story. If we go one step further, the Bible is about God and his people, A King and A Kingdom.