God, the Promise Keeper.

Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, “You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.” Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. – 1 Kings 8:25-26 ESV

1 Kings 8:22-53

Solomon was wise, powerful and wealthy. He had just built a magnificent building designed to be the dwelling place of God. He was a success by any stretch of the imagination. As king of Israel, he enjoyed an unprecedented time of peace and prosperity. But he knew that his success had little or nothing to do with himself. It was the work of God. He knew that he was completely dependent upon God for everything, including his position, power, and possessions. It had not escaped Solomon's attention that his kingship was the result of a promise made to his father, David, by God. God had told David, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men” (2 Samuel 7:12-14 ESV). And God was not done. He went on to promise David, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16 ESV). God had made a promise and Solomon had seen God fulfill it. His kingdom was established. He had built a house for God. And he was going to learn that, as God's king, when he sinned against God, he was going to be disciplined severely.

But Solomon also knew that he had a role to play in all of this. He was obligated by God to live obediently and submissively to His divine will. He was to pay close attention to the manner in which he lived his life. The longevity and success of his kingship would be based on faithfulness and obedience. God had kept His promise to David, but it was going to be up to Solomon to stay committed to God. The sad reality is that Solomon failed to do just that. His kingship started off well, but ended poorly. He ended up having a “slight” problem with women. We read in 1 Kings that, “King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart” (1 Kings 11:1-3 ESV). Solomon's love affair with women would be his undoing. They turned his heart away from God. “For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father” (1 Kings 11:4 ESV). Solomon became an idol worshiper and proved to be unfaithful to his covenant-keeping God. As a result, God would split the kingdom of Israel in half. And the future of the divided kingdom would be one marked by continued apostasy and unfaithfulness. The number of wicked, unfaithful kings would far surpass the number of faithful, obedient kings. In punishing Solomon, God had kept His promise. He always does.

And He would also keep His promise to establish David's kingdom forever. We know historically that there was an end to David's reign. We know that Solomon's reign ended with a divided kingdom. We also know that there came a time when no king sat on the throne of David in Jerusalem. In fact, Israel has no king at this moment. But God keeps His promises. His Son, Jesus, is the rightful King or Israel. He is the King of the Jews and the King of kings and Lord of lords. And there is a day coming when Jesus Christ will rule over the entire world as king, sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6 ESV). Concerning Jesus, the angel Gabriel told Mary, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31-33 ESV). God will keep His promise. God will give Jesus the throne of His father David. He will one day reign in righteousness over all the world, just as God has promised. He is the promise-keeping God. We can trust Him. We can rest faithfully in Him.

A Contrast of Kingdoms.

Matthew 20:20-28; Mark 10:35-52; Luke 18:35-19:27; John 11:55-12:11

The replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” – Mark 10:37 NLT

One of the things that jumps out in the Gospels as we near the end of Jesus earthly life and ministry, is the growing contrast between the views of Jesus and the disciples regarding the coming Kingdom. The story recorded in Matthew and Mark gives us a pretty clear indication that the disciples were still expecting Jesus to set up His Kingdom on earth. He would rule and reign from the throne of David right there in Jerusalem. He would defeat the Romans and make the Jews a power to be reckoned with just like they were in the glory days of David and Solomon. The nation of Israel would once again have power, prestige, and experience peace and prosperity. And the disciples saw themselves as playing significant roles in Jesus' earthly Kingdom, because they had sacrificed everything to follow Him. Remember Peter's statement to Jesus back in Matthew 19? “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” (Matthew 19:27 NLT). Each of the disciples were hoping to benefit greatly from their relationship with Jesus. They fully expected to be part of His inner circle when He finally quit beating around the bush and established His Kingdom.

But Jesus had a different view of what was going to happen in the days ahead. He knew full well that His mission, as given to Him by God, would first involve a crucifixion, not a coronation. He would have to suffer and die before He could rule and reign. A cross would be His next stop, not a throne. So when James and John take Jesus aside and ask Him to do them a favor and assure them the two top spots in His administration, Jesus has to correct their thinking. Matthew even indicates that they had gotten their mother involved in this whole matter. The ironic thing is that they ask Jesus to let them “sit” on His right and on His left. Jesus breaks the news to them, “You don't know what you are asking!” They really didn't want to be on His right or His left when the time came for Him to be “lifted up.” Those two spots were actually reserved for two unnamed, common criminals. Jesus knows what He is about to go through in the not-too-distant future, and He asks them, “Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” (Mark 10:38 NLT). As was so often the case, the two disciples assure Jesus they are fully capable. “We are able!” they exclaim. They still didn't get it. They were clueless as to what was really about to take place, even though Jesus had told them repeatedly that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die.

When the other disciples caught wind of what James and John were doing, they were indignant. They were jealous and upset that they hadn't gone to Jesus first. All of these men were jockeying for position and battling for prime spots in what they believed to be was Jesus upcoming royal administration. So Jesus reminds them that things are slightly different in God's Kingdom. It will not be about who is the greatest. It will not be a matter of who is first and foremost. No, Jesus tells them, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else” (Mark 10:43-44 NLT). This was not exactly what they wanted to hear. What Jesus was saying made no sense whatsoever. But Jesus assured them that this was the way things were in God's Kingdom and it even applied to Him. “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for man” (Mark 10:45 NLT).

Over in the book of Luke, Jesus tells a parable to the disciples, “to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away” (Luke 19:11 NLT). Jesus was going away. After His death and resurrection, He would be returning to His rightful place at the side of His Father in heaven. And He would be leaving the disciples on earth to accomplish the mission He would be giving them. They would be expected to faithfully use all that He had given them over the last three years, and to steward the gifts that would be provided for them by the Holy Spirit when He came. So that when Jesus returned the next time, they would be found to have been faithful and rewarded in full. “…and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given” (Luke 19:26 NLT). There was much to be done before any of the disciples received their rewards or places of prominence in Christ's Kingdom. And before that could happen, they would have to faithfully complete their assignment, just as Jesus was about to do.

Another compelling reminder that Jesus' Kingdom was not going to be earthly in nature, was the anointing He received at the hands of Mary, the grateful sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. Mary took a 12-ounce jar of very expensive perfume and anointed Jesus' feet, wiping it off with her hair. Jesus indicates that this was in preparation for His coming burial. In other words, He was not being anointed in preparation for His coming coronation, but His crucifixion and death. So when Jesus told the disciples, “You don't know what you are asking,” He knew what He was talking about. Neither James or John would want to be on His right or left when Jesus completed His God-given assignment. He would be hanging on a tree, and hanging beside Him, on His right and left, would be two guilty criminals. For the Kingdom of God to be established, the Son of God had to suffer and die. For Jesus to eventually rule and reign, He would have to conquer sin and death.

Things were not what they seemed. The Kingdom of God would not be what the disciples expected. His Kingdom was of a spiritual nature. It involved suffering, sacrifice and servanthood. It required the sinless Son of God to selflessly give His life so that others might live. The earthly Kingdom of God is coming. Jesus will eventually rule and reign from the throne of David in Jerusalem. And the disciples will have places of prominence in that Kingdom. But much had to happen first. The enemy Jesus came to defeat was not the Romans, but Satan. The Kingdom He came to establish was not to be temporary, but permanent. And that day is coming.

Father, thank You for sending Your Son to suffer and die. Your plan was not what the disciples expected and it is often not what I would choose. But it is perfect because You are righteous, all-knowing, and good. I am grateful that Jesus sits on a throne even now and that He rules in my heart, when I am willing to allow Him to do so. He is exalted on high and sits at Your right hand, and some day He is coming back. I am grateful that the kingdom the disciples wanted never came about. I am thankful that Your plan is going to be fulfilled in perfection and the ultimate rule and reign of Christ over all the earth is coming. Amen.