Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: — | Date: October 10, 2021 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

The Kingship of Christ: A Biblical Survey

I want to address a theme in keeping with last Sunday morning’s message. In the morning service, I felt a little bit afterwards like I had been too rushed in the message. I got on late and then I was rushed, and afterwards I felt like I just tried to cram too much into one message. And so I thought, well, let’s go back and look at this kingship of Christ theme in the Bible. Let’s go back to the beginning, start there, and just walk our way through it.

I had originally thought I could do this in one lesson this morning. I doubt now that will happen. I am not committed to that. I thought, I don’t want to get rushed like I was last week. It’ll take two weeks if I need to. But what I want to do is take this kingship of Christ theme in the Bible from the beginning and highlight the big passages where we find it throughout the biblical record to its climax at the end. So that’s our theme: the kingship of Christ, a biblical survey of it.

Genesis 1: Man Created to Rule

We’ll begin with Genesis chapter one. I won’t spend much time here—you’re familiar with it—but just to note as we go along, as we’ve mentioned already and we’ll see next time in our next Genesis lesson, man is the crown of creation. God created man as a vice-regent, that is a king to rule under God, to rule over the earth. And we find that in verses 26 and following.

Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ So in some way, man is like God. ‘And let them,’ that is man and woman, ‘have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'” And in typical Hebrew fashion, he tells us what he is going to do, and then he tells us what he did. Verse 27: “So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over every living thing that moves on the earth.'”

All right, so we have here then the creation of man and with it the creation mandate. And all I want to note here in particular is that man was created to rule over the earth. It’s a kingship theme in its beginning. Now, of course, then we get to chapter three, and it fails. We do have the promise of Genesis 3:15 that a male child of the woman will succeed in this, but that’s all we’re given. All right, so man is created to rule.

Psalm 8: David’s Reflections

Now let’s look at Psalm 8, and I want to see David’s reflections on this Genesis account. It’s a familiar psalm. Notice it’s a psalm of David. I think I’ll read through the entire psalm.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” All right, so, so far, verses one and two, he’s praising God for his greatness, his majesty that’s evident in the created order. And now verse three: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea. Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”

All right, so there’s something a bit ironic about this psalm. He’s praising God, and he starts out and ends speaking of God’s majesty. But then in between, what is he praising God for? Anybody want to summarize it? What’s the point of the in-between verses? What is the point of praise? Creation, a little bit more specifically. Pardon? I couldn’t hear, I’m sorry. Mankind, yeah.

So he’s praising God for the greatness of mankind. Do you see that? Verse three: “When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, stars, which you have set in place, what is puny little old man that you’ll take notice of him?” And then he expands on what he means by that. Verse five: “You’ve made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, crowned him with glory and honor, giving him dominion over the works of your hand.” You’ve made us, humanity, just a little lower than the angels, which is a high honor and dignity that you’ve given to mankind, given us to rule over all of the created order. So he’s praising God for the dignity that God has given to little old man in that man now is designated to rule over all the earth. So this is David’s reflections on Genesis chapter one: God creating man in his image and giving him the responsibility to rule over the earth.

Hebrews 2: The Significance of Christ’s Incarnation

All right. Now look at Hebrews chapter 2. I said we’re going to track out this theme. Right now I’m just going to give you the big picture in just a few passages, then we’ll go back again.

In Hebrews chapter one, I should give you a little context. He’s speaking of the greatness of Christ, who’s superior to the angels. And he quotes a string of Old Testament passages. He quotes Psalm 2 in Hebrews 1 verse 5. He quotes 2 Samuel 7. He quotes Deuteronomy 32, several different passages here to show the greatness of Christ. The bottom line is, the divine Christ.

Chapter two: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression and disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” That is, if that previous revelation under Moses was important and those who rejected it were condemned, well, what now of us who have heard this superior revelation in Christ?

Verse three: “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord,” that is Jesus, “and it was attested to us by those who heard him while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Now, it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere.”

Now notice how he says this. He’s about to quote Psalm 8: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” That’s what we just read in Psalm 8. But notice how he says it. He doesn’t say it was testified in Psalm 8 verses 3, 4, and 5. He says it was testified “somewhere.” I always get a charge out of that. You always feel a little bit embarrassed. “Somewhere” in the Old Testament it says—you’ve got chapters and verse numbers to help you; they didn’t. It’s a little bit more understandable with them. But still, they did it, we can do it. “It has been testified somewhere.”

Psalm 8: “What is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels, you’ve crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything under subjection to him, he left nothing outside of his control. Now notice this: “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.” It hasn’t happened yet. Why hasn’t it happened yet? Answer: Genesis 3, right? The fall. So you created us with this great dignity to rule over all of the world and all the created order. It’s something to revel in that God has given us such dignity. But, he tells us here in verse 8, that hasn’t happened yet. “But, we see him,” that is Jesus, “who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

So God has created humanity with this great dignity to rule. It hasn’t happened yet, but guess what? We do see Jesus. He’s come to the rescue. He’s the one that’ll fulfill the purpose of God for humanity. Now, in chapter 1, the emphasis is on the deity of Christ. Chapter 2 now, in the next verses, verses 10 and following—actually verse 9 and following—he begins to expound the significance of Christ’s incarnation. He became exactly what we—you know what, I should just read it. He became what we are.

He was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, ‘I will tell of your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise.’ And again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children God has given me.’ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part of the same. That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

All right, do you see the flow of thought there? Man is created with this great dignity to rule. It hasn’t happened yet. We failed. But what we see is Jesus. He too was made a little lower than the angels. Now notice that—he’s made like the angels, just like we were made lower than the angels, he’s made lower than the angels, only with him it’s the other direction. That which for us is our highest dignity, made a little lower than the angels, is that to which he stooped. The eternal son, chapter one, he stooped to become a little lower than the angel. He became one like us. Blood and flesh, we’re blood and flesh. He took blood and flesh. This is a great passage on the incarnation of Christ. He became what we are to achieve what we had failed to do.

Now, in doing all of that, he cites Psalm 8, which itself is citing Genesis chapter one. Man created to rule. David revels in this—man has such dignity that we’re created to rule. Hebrews reflects on that and says, yeah, but it hadn’t happened yet, but in Jesus it will. Now, how’s he gonna do it? Well, he tells us: because he became blood and flesh, he’ll suffer, he’ll taste death for all of us, he’ll make propitiation for our sins, and therefore be the accomplished one who for humanity rules in our place.

1 Corinthians 15: Christ the Firstfruits

All right, I’m gonna get too bogged down here. Let’s look over back at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Now it wasn’t too many weeks ago we spent some time in the first 20 or so verses, 23 verses of 1 Corinthians 15, speaking of the resurrection of Christ. So I can just review it quickly. There’s trouble in Corinth. Someone denied the resurrection. Paul says you can’t deny the resurrection if you call yourself a Christian. Because to become a Christian you confess that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was raised the third day according to the scriptures. The resurrection is part and parcel of the gospel. Christ himself was the firstfruits of that resurrection. It has already happened. We will catch up to him in his coming.

So verse 20: “In fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep.” So he’s the pioneer, the founder, he’s led the way, we’ll follow him in resurrection. “For as by a man came death,” that is through Adam, “by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead,” that is Christ. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, and then in his coming, those who belong to Christ.”

All right, so we’ve seen all of that now. We will be raised because Christ has already entered the resurrection of the age to come. We will catch up to him when he returns. Verse 24: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God, the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power.” So Christ will come, he’ll raise the dead, he will put down every enemy, and that will bring the consummation of the kingdom.

And then verse 25: “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.”

So here again he cites or alludes to Psalm 8, all of the earth being put under his dominion, only it will happen with Christ at his return. So the order of events here in 1 Corinthians 15 is Christ returns, raises the righteous, systematically puts down all of his enemies, and brings Psalm 8 and Genesis 1 to fulfillment, all things finally put under him, the last of which being death. And then he hands the kingdom over to the Father and says, “It’s finished, it’s done. The kingdom is complete.”

All right, so there in broad sweep, you have the kingship theme. Man created king. Psalm 8, revel in the kingship dignity given to humanity. Hebrews chapter two, it hasn’t happened yet, but Jesus will do it. First Corinthians 15 cites the same passages: Christ will finish it up when he comes in his kingdom. There’s the kingship of Christ in the broad sweep of things. And of course that comes to culmination in the Bible in Revelation chapter 19 when Christ comes riding on a white horse and that kind of imagery of the kingship as a conquering hero.

All right, my point then is to show that we have in Genesis 1 humanity created with dignity to rule; Psalm 8, picking it up, glorying in it. The New Testament picking it up and saying it’s not happened yet, but it will happen in Christ, who becomes one of us in his incarnation, and systematically then puts down all of his enemies, and that kingship will come to full consummation in his return. Any questions on the big sweep of things before I move on?

All right, that’s easy enough. I don’t think you need to turn to it, you can if you’d like. Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, we have that major seedbed promise of the coming champion, the seed of the woman who will come and he’ll destroy the tempter, he’ll crush his head. It’ll do it at some cost to himself because it will bruise his heel as well, but Satan’s head will be crushed. So we have this ruler theme, son of humanity who will come, the seed of the woman, who will come and defeat the tempter.

Now the kingship theme actually picks up in some other passages. I’m just gonna highlight the major ones, but just to note quickly, you’ve got others, like in Genesis chapter 12, begins the blessing to all the world theme in Abraham’s seed, and then you have hints of it in Genesis 17, kings will come from you; it’s repeated again, kings will come from her, that is from Sarah. You have it in Genesis 49 with the promise of Judah: the scepter will not depart from him. He’ll be the ruler. You even have it with Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers 24. You have these hints of this great king coming in Israel who will rule over all and destroy all of his enemies.

2 Samuel 7: The Davidic Covenant

Let’s just concentrate on the big ones. So let’s go to 2 Samuel chapter 7. I think you’re familiar with the passage. We’ve looked at this before, so I’ll just summarize it. This is the passage where—and then we’ll focus on a couple of verses—this is the passage where David says, “I’ll build a house for the Lord.” Nathan says, “That’s a good idea. Go ahead with your plans.” And God intervenes and says, “No, that’s not what I want. Solomon will build a house, not David.” But in turn, God says to Nathan, “Tell David that he wants to build a house for me, but I’m gonna build a house for him.” And the intended pun is David wanted to build a real house, a temple, and God is going to build a house that is a dynasty for David. So this is the great Davidic covenant passage.

Verse 11, middle of the verse: “I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 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 a 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, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” In accordance with all these words, in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

So David’s gonna build a house for God. God says, “No, I’m gonna build a house for you, a dynasty, and this throne will be forever. Your son will rule on the throne forever.” Now there’s some conditionality built into it. If he commits iniquity, I’ll chastise him. But my steadfast love will remain forever. Eventually, this is going to be fulfilled. Your son will rule on the throne forever. Now, there’s only two ways that can happen. One, David has a son who never dies; he’s reigning on the throne forever. Or David has a son who has a son, who has a son, who has a son, who has a son, who has a son, who has a son, and it just keeps on going forever. One of those two ways it’s got to work.

Now, the way that works out, we find in the flow of biblical history, is David has a son who has a son, who has a son, who has a son, and finally it comes to Jesus, who’s crucified, but he’s raised from the dead and reigns forever. So we have David’s son ruling on the throne forever. But I want you to notice some of the language that is used here. Verse 14: “I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son.” So the king will be God’s son. Now this begins an enormous theme in the Bible, the sonship of God theme. It branches out in some different ways, but the king is God’s son. So when you come to the gospels and Jesus is called the Son of God, it’s a messianic title. He’s the Davidic son; he’s the king. Now it’s freighted with many more implications than that. He’s the Son of God par excellence; in the ultimate sense, he’s the divine son as well. But here we have it: the Davidic king is God’s son. And to make him king is to make him God’s son.

All right, now look at Psalm 2. Yes? Who’s, who’s, what? “I will be to him,” that is David’s son. That’s the question. Eventually it’s Jesus. But the Davidic kings, the big kings are by right of their kingship the son of God. But ultimately it has reference to the eternal son who becomes David’s son who reigns forever. So it is looking in the—it’s looking in both the short range and the long range because you have here this threat of discipline for those who are disobedient. So that’s shorter range. Pardon? Yeah.

Okay, that’s a great question. I’m glad you brought it up. Typically, in Old Testament prophecy, you have a short range that somehow extends into the big range, and there’s this extended reference. So, let’s just take a couple. God says in the garden, “He’ll crush the serpent’s head.” When did that happen? At the cross. Great answer. Any other answers? Revelation. Great answer, yeah. All right, you can also do some more. Matthew chapter 12, he’s casting out demons and he says this is Christ coming, bringing the kingdom of God among you and binding the strong man. Jesus says in John 12, “Now is the prince of this world cast out,” in reference to his cross. His cross kicks Satan off his throne. But then later you find in Romans 16 verse 20, Paul says, “I trust that God will crush Satan under your feet.” So the fulfillment of the Genesis 3 prophecy is in the gospel advance of the church. And then you get to Revelation chapter 19, and Satan is captured; he’s thrown in the lake of fire. Finally, Satan is crushed. And you have this, not just short and far reference, but this extended reference in prophecy.

You find the same with the promise of eternal life. When do we get eternal life? Oh, start with this: what is eternal life? It’s the life of the resurrection. When do we get that? In the resurrection. And yet, the big announcement with Jesus is, that’s already happened in Jesus now. We experience resurrection now. So resurrection now, resurrection not yet. You find this—this is standard issue in biblical prophecy. There’s a point of reference in history and then more and more until finally it culminates in Jesus.

I saw Joe next. Yeah, there’s just a study note that says Hebrews 1:5 implies the words “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” to Christ. Because as Messiah, Jesus inherits David’s role as representative of God’s people. Exactly. Mentioned again in Hebrews 1:5. Yeah, I just haven’t got there yet. That’s right. Very good. Very good.

Laura. I think it’s years ago, my dad gave like a word picture for understanding Old Testament prophecy, and I remember it every time. Kind of like when you’re looking way back at a mountain range, it looks all like one mountain range. And that’s what they were seeing. But as you get closer, there may be mountains in the front, and then a great valley in between, and then another set of mountains. And I think that helps. Yeah, I think it’s a helpful metaphor. It’s been given many times with regard to Old Testament prophecy. And I think it fits very, very well. From a long distance, you see that peak. But at certain points, you don’t see all this happening in between. And that’s generally how biblical prophecy works. That’s not the exception. That’s the rule. That’s the way it generally works. So the Davidic promise is for David’s son who will rule on the throne.

Psalm 2: The Lord’s Anointed

Now look at Psalm 2. Now this kingship theme develops and expands throughout the Psalms, throughout the prophets. It’s picked up here and there and we get more and more details about it. But I’m going to sample a couple. Look at Psalm 2.

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart, cast away their cords from us.'” So here we have the nations in rebellion against God and against his king. “We won’t have him.” I’ve said it before here, I don’t know too many passages in the Bible that describe our culture any better than this. We won’t have God ruling over us.

Now that’s the nations, verses one to three. Now God speaks, verses four, five, and six: “He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. And he’ll speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.'” So they’re enraged against God. God, unthreatened, says, “Yeah, we’ll see how that works for you. I’ve set my king on Zion.” My holy hill, I have my king established.

Now verses 7 to 9, the king himself speaks. And what he says is what he has heard the Lord say to him. It’s an interesting passage in that respect. “I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me”—so here’s Messiah speaking—”The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have begotten you.'” There’s the sonship language, the begottenness. The begotten is making him king. It’s enthronement language. “I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give the nations, make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.'”

So the nations are enraged. God says, “That’s not gonna work out well for you.” He mocks them. “I’ve established my king.” Then the king speaks and says, “This is what the Lord told me. He told me he has made me king. ‘You are my son. Today, I have begotten you. And I’m gonna give you all the earth, all the nations for your inheritance, and you’ll conquer them all.'” That’s what the Lord said to me, the king says.

And then finally the psalmist gives his counsel in verses 10 to 12: “Be wise, be warned, serve the Lord, rejoice, kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, because it is not going to work out well for you if you pursue in this rebellion.” But notice the sonship language again is picked up. So that’s echoing 2 Samuel chapter 7. It becomes explicitly here a messianic prophecy.

Now notice also here in Psalm 2, “You are my son”—this is verse seven—”You are my son. Today I have begotten you.” That’s enthronement language. He’s made him king. Now he’s established as king. But when we get to verse nine, we’re speaking now of the consummation of his rule when he defeats every enemy and smashes them. So we have both the enthronement of the king—and we’re not given the timing of it—but the eventual outworking of that kingship in which every enemy is destroyed. Verse nine.

Psalm 110: A Priest Forever

All right, look at Psalm 110. We’ll find another one here. Psalm 110. This is a famous psalm. This is quoted more than, or alluded to at least—quoted and alluded to in the New Testament more than any other of the psalms. I think total 20-some times. This is an enormously important pivotal passage in the New Testament in its teaching regarding Christ.

“The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely in the day of your power in holy garments; from the womb of the morning the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings in the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling it with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way. Therefore, he will lift up his head.”

It’s a refreshment metaphor. He’s done with the battle, they’re defeated, and now he’s refreshing himself with a cool drink. But notice how it starts out. Again, we have enthronement language. “The Lord says to my Lord.” Now, this is a Psalm of David. The Lord, that is Yahweh, says to my Lord. It’s a fascinating thing. Who’s David’s Lord? Well, Yahweh is David’s Lord. But now Yahweh is saying this to David’s Lord. So who is this? It has to be David’s greater son, the Messiah. And the Lord said to him, “Sit at my right hand.” That’s enthronement language. You’ve taken a place on the throne. “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” So here we have, again, David’s greater son. This is echoing 2 Samuel 7. Made the son and taken the throne at the right hand of the Father.

What time is it? I can’t see the clock. Is it 10 after? I don’t know if I have time to… I was going to go to Daniel 7 next. Any questions on this so far? I’m just wanting to show that we have this kingship theme established at the beginning, comes to a big point in 2 Samuel chapter 7, and then we have it echoed in Psalm 2. And now in Psalm 110, and then what I’m gonna do is pick it up again in Daniel 7, and then into the New Testament as well.

Daniel 7: One Like a Son of Man

Let’s take it quick then in Daniel 7. Here we have that striking vision by Daniel. We have these beasts, horrible beasts, all of them, and then a fourth one that is terrible and nondescript, but just frightening. And all of these beasts represent the nations and the kings that lead them. And they’re in a rage against one another and of course against God and all of that. And they’re tearing each other apart. And he gives us a flow of history here. You might remember we saw this a couple of years ago in our expositions from Daniel. And he gives us the flow of history here from the Babylonian kingdom to the Medo-Persian kingdom to the Grecian kingdom and finally to Rome.

And finally takes us to the time of Christ. But we have these raging nations in the first eight verses, and then the Ancient of Days shows up. And he says, basically, “That’s enough. No more of this.” And verse 10: “A stream of fire issued and came out from before him. Thousands, thousands served him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. The court sat in judgment and the books were opened.” So now we have this judgment scene where God himself is the judge.

“I looked then, because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking, that is the horn on that beast. And as I looked, the beast was killed, body destroyed, given over to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the beast, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” And now verse 13.

So we’ve got this judgment scene. “I saw in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away in his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

So we have this judgment scene where the judge stands over the nation and says, “That’s it. I’m taking the rule.” And then suddenly it’s the Son of Man appearing before the Ancient of Days on a cloud. And to him is given the kingdom. So he’s receiving authority to rule. This is another enthronement scene. He takes the kingship to himself.

And then the rest of the chapter, he takes this kingship—why don’t I just read it? “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all of this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever and ever.'”

So notice now, the Son of Man has received the kingdom. But yet it says the saints of the most high receive the kingdom. The sense is they receive it in him. He is their representative. He now has taken the throne on their behalf and they rule with him. And then we find it coming to that culmination. I’ll pick it up in verse 26: “The court shall sit in judgment and his dominion—that is the dominion of the great beast and the horn that spoke such boastful things—his dominion shall be taken away to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve him and obey him.’ Here’s the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me. My color changed because I kept the matter in my heart.”

All right, so here we have the enthronement of the king. He ascends on a cloud to the Ancient of Days who is standing in judgment over the nations. He takes the rule, takes the kingdom. He’s sharing it with his saints, and then ultimately it’s brought to culmination when all of the enemies are destroyed. Now, we don’t have at this point in history all the details, but you can see where this is picking up on this kingship theme and the son of man language is going to be picked up in a big way in the New Testament with Christ as the son of man.

So again, we have enthronement, we have the consummation of the kingdom spoken of in broad brush, and the son of man will come and he will bring God’s purpose for the earth to fruition. Now that’s gonna take us to the Gospels, it’s gonna take us to the Book of Acts, and it’s gonna take us to the end of the Book of Revelation as well, and that will be next week. Any questions so far? I’m just gonna leave you hanging here, but if you’d like, explore this kingship theme on your own. Where is this picked up? Son of man language, son language, taking the throne language, exalted, taking dominion language—where is that picked up in the New Testament, and how is it brought to fulfillment?

All right, no questions? All right, let’s be dismissed in prayer.