Kingdom 101: Making Preparation for the King
Keep in mind, man sinned by simply disobeying the Lord God's command. By doing so, he cut himself off (along with all future generations of mankind) from His Kingdom. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The first significant individual figure after Adam and Eve was Noah, a righteous man in his day, who believed and followed the Lord God's command. He and his family survived the great flood by riding it out in the ark that God had him construct. The question comes to mind... Why did the Lord destroy the earth? Here is what the Lord God stated:
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It was Noah that found unmerited favor in the sight of the Lord God (grace).
Noah planted a vineyard and got drunk. And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. Eventually his sons went their own way. Their descendants fell into idol worship and other kinds of evil. The time was not yet right for the Kingdom. It was ten generations after Noah, that the Lord God spoke to Abram, a descendant of Noah's son Shem. It was then that the Lord God revealed Himself to Abraham and made a covenant with him that would make of him a really great nation. Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
From Abraham came Isaac, the son born to him in his old age, but not without first listening and submitting to his wife Sarai. This was a grave mistake on Abraham's part. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Now Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The Lord God appeared to Jacob and said, "I will make of you a great nation". And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” By the way, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel, just as He changed Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah.
Israel had twelve sons, who was the father of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. The Lord God was working toward His model. Through Moses, He delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He brought them into the desert and stated to them, "You will be My people and I will be your God. I will lead you into the land I promised your forefathers". In essence, "I will be your King and you will be My Kingdom". But after awhile, the people became tired of a God they couldn't see and longed for a king they could see.
But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
Throughout all of this, the Kingdom had yet to be established.
Genesis 2:15-17; 9:20-21; 12:1-3; 28:13-15 I Samuel 8:3-7
~~W.R. Luchie
Continue to part 2
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It was Noah that found unmerited favor in the sight of the Lord God (grace).
Noah planted a vineyard and got drunk. And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. Eventually his sons went their own way. Their descendants fell into idol worship and other kinds of evil. The time was not yet right for the Kingdom. It was ten generations after Noah, that the Lord God spoke to Abram, a descendant of Noah's son Shem. It was then that the Lord God revealed Himself to Abraham and made a covenant with him that would make of him a really great nation. Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
From Abraham came Isaac, the son born to him in his old age, but not without first listening and submitting to his wife Sarai. This was a grave mistake on Abraham's part. Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Now Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The Lord God appeared to Jacob and said, "I will make of you a great nation". And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” By the way, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel, just as He changed Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah.
Israel had twelve sons, who was the father of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. The Lord God was working toward His model. Through Moses, He delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He brought them into the desert and stated to them, "You will be My people and I will be your God. I will lead you into the land I promised your forefathers". In essence, "I will be your King and you will be My Kingdom". But after awhile, the people became tired of a God they couldn't see and longed for a king they could see.
But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
Throughout all of this, the Kingdom had yet to be established.
Genesis 2:15-17; 9:20-21; 12:1-3; 28:13-15 I Samuel 8:3-7
~~W.R. Luchie
Continue to part 2
