"Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. `And a man shall be as an hiding place from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace: and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting place." Isaiah 32: 1-6, 15-19.

This introductory scripture is lengthy but it covers a wide outlay of what the kingdom of God is all about "JESUS and his earthly reign" When he sent his disciples out to preach, he instructed them on this wise: "And as ye go, preach saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the leppers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." Matt.10:7;8. If we go back to a particular section of the scriptures shown above, we will quickly notice a sentiment expressed that actually found its way into the song books of many churches, being frequently sung from church hymnals across the vast expanse of Christendom. We lift our voices and put special emphasis on the part that says: Jesus is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. But in scripture, it actually said that a man (any of the princes that are to reign with the king in this scenario.) Yes, "A man shall be an hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

If you are new to this ministry of monthly publications of bible studies, go to my website shown above, do a complete browse of the entire page or pages (it is free) and you will ultimately notice that I do not write about us going to heaven, because heaven will be coming to us, right here on the earth in due time. While living in London, in the U.K. I was in a special meeting of local ministers, in which each one took turn to make an address of whatever was on there minds at the time. One minister said (I will do my best to put his words together) "He said, if you see me walking down the street, looking sad and gloomy with my head hanging down, it is because I am homesick for heaven."

I softly mused to myself "Brother if you are that homesick why not find a bridge and jump?" The minister behind the pulpit chimed in saying: "Brother with so many unsaved people around us having all sorts of problems and needing to be ministered to, how can you be saying you are homesick? I like the encounter Jesus had with a man who was blind from his birth. The disciples wanted to know who sinned that the man was born blind. Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." John 9:1-4. Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost, and even in the closing moments of his life upon the cross, he was still seeking the lost by saying to the dying thief, "Today thou shalt be with me in paradise."

What is the candid opinion of our personal salvation? What is his keen interest in us becoming his disciples, confessing our belief in him as Lord and Savior? Was he interested in multitudes of people "getting saved" only to evangelize the world resulting in mega churches in city after city? Number one! We did not find him: he found us and filed his claim on us in the Land Lord’s office in the very throne room of the Majesty on High. The document of ownership that he handed to each one of us reads thus: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go forth and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name he may give it you." John 15:16. What sort of fruit should Christians produce? A Christian should produce another Christian as the fruit. But for a person to bear fruit of righteousness that is acceptable unto God, the process of "reproduction" has to be centered in Christ and in his finished work at Calvary.

Jesus was emphatic in explaining the relationship between himself "as the Vine" and all other people must be characterized as branches. As if to drive home this truth in a manner that can be easily understood, Jesus said: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. The "never changing law" that governs "reproduction" is the law of death. We can safely assume that whatsoever living thing that God touches, dies before it comes to life, and this new life has new sources. Jesus emphasizes the reproduction process this way: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone.: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12:24.

As my former, pastor, the late Bishop Monroe R. Saunders said in one of his Sunday Morning sermons in the city of Baltimore: "When Jesus said, come, take up thy cross and follow me, it was not an invitation to follow him to heaven. Rather, it was a call to follow him to die." I was raised on a small farm, and I took moments to observe how the plants grew; how long it took them to germinate and sprout from beneath the ground. The germinated grain of corn looks like a blade of grass. It does not resemble a grain of corn, but its substance is still corn. We retain the way we look as humans, but we put on the image of Christ, the first born among a family of many brothers through the work of the Holy Spirit.

For a moment, let us equate the reproductive process of a grain of corn, to the birth of a new Christian: One who is converted from being a sinner, and in a moment of time is changed into a newborn child of God. Remember we just said that the corn that is changed into a plant has all the ingredients and nature of a corn, but it now looks like a blade of grass. So it is in us being changed from a sinner to a Christian (A child of God.) The alien nature of the person is suddenly changed, being replaced by the intervention of the "Divine Nature." 2^nd Peter 1:4: which is engrafted in us by the power and act of the Holy Spirit. So, the change that takes place in us changes the inner man, but our physical form continues the way it always was.

Our understanding of Old Testament Prophecies is ignored in many cases, and in cases where they are accepted, the time sequence becomes confusing and is often treated lightly, in so much, it becomes of little relevance to the growth and health of the body of Christ. Take for instance, the main text of this study! Indeed, A king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Isaiah 32: 1,2. The words of the prophecy were spoken about 713 years before its expected fulfillment. Many generations were born, lived, and died who were never impacted by those prophetic words; and if some heard of those words, it was only by "word of mouth" for there were no written accounts back then, that would retain its power and relevance for 713 years.

Let us assume that a great percentage of the world’s population do believe that Jesus Christ is the King spoken of by the prophet: But, it begs the question, "when will the Lord assume the office and role of king?" Most bible believing Christians, especially those who follow the concepts being espoused by dispensationalism are emphatic in teaching that Christ will return at some future date "after the rapture to put an end to the great tribulation, and for Christ to ascend David’s throne in Jerusalem. With that in mind almost as the grand finale, Jesus being king will remain in limbo perhaps for another thousand years or so. But let us consider how time, in our years relate to God-given prophecies.

Take for instance one that we celebrate every year! "For unto us a child "IS BORN" unto us a son is given." However, almost 800 years would have elapsed before the Son was born in Bethlehem. Once again, we note that many generations were born, lived, and died who never heard of, and most certainly did not live to see the birth of this man child. One day the Angel Gabriel came to a little village and spoke to a lady named Mary and said: "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:30-33. This was a life-changing, life-shattering message to a young lady in a quaint country village. For all practical purposes let us ask ourselves: when did the angel predict that this Jesus would actually take his seat on David’s throne. As we just mentioned the most popular, accepted form of doctrine is that he will take his seat on David’s throne at his second coming, at which time he will destroy the anti-Christ, put an end to the great tribulation, and usher in 1,000 years of peace in his earthly reign from Jerusalem. Let us put "timing" under the microscope for a moment and see how confusing all of these prophetic words can be! The angel Gabriel was right! Jesus came in a matter of a few years as was promised and was baptized at the age of thirty. Luke 3:23. The biggest event that was still pending, based upon the words of Gabriel, was for Jesus Christ to ascend the throne of David and to reign forever, and of his kingdom there was supposed to be no end. But alas! After his royal and triumphant entry into Jerusalem which was "one step" from the throne, instead, he went to the cross, and the prophecies concerning his kingdom upon the earth, even our large and well-established churches are practically silent concerning his coming kingdom.

As well known across the vast domain of Christendom, the task at hand as a mandate given by the Lord, the church is to seek and to save the lost. In the church, they are to be groomed as great "soul winners" faithful to the local Assembly and at any cost, prepare the saints for the "soon coming rapture." In the meantime, according to this concept and practice, for the past 2022 years no one has been sitting on David’s throne. Put your mind to work for a moment! When Gabriel told Mary that the Lord God of Heaven shall give into her son the throne of his father David, and of his kingdom, there shall be no end. Do you believe that the angel was looking down the corridor of time, even past out day for his promise to be fulfilled? What is our profound problem concerning the reality of this "promised kingdom?" Shall a king, indeed, reign in righteousness, and princes in judgment? As teachers and preachers of the scriptures, we are obligated to live close to the heart of God, so that we can receive and understand his truths, so that we can feed his flock. When explaining time, as it pertains to God’s promises, I like to refer to God’s prophetic word in Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel." This prophecy was given so early in our world history that it has no date in scripture (not in my bible.) But it was fulfilled upon the cross of Calvary in A.D.33 and some suggest that it covered a period of over seven thousand years: but God’s word will not fall to the ground.

Let us take a step from B.C.713 to A.D.33. So, for at least 746 years the emergence of the promised King and his kingdom lingered and even languished in the ensuing years. As we look around us and watch the news and take note of the direction that humanity is travelling, we can be excused for being ready to give up on the establishing of God’s kingdom on this earth. For many of us there is a big difference. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are sternal." 2nd Corinthians 4:18. We need not watch the eastern sky to determine the revelation of the King and his kingdom. What was the main thrust of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost? It is big bright and bold, yet almost the entire "church world" seems to have missed the true significance as it pertains to world events at large. Here is Peter, as he began to speak: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection (not his second coming in some distant future) of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: (But Jesus has) but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand (which is rightfully, the throne of David) until I make thy foes thy footstool. Let therefore all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ…and King." Acts 2:29-36. It seems to me, based upon the biblical narrative above, that Jesus actually took his seat upon the throne of David as was promised. (Acts 2:32-35. Hebrews 1:3; 7:22-25.

Unfortunately, ignoring this biblical account of the fulfillment of this major prophetic reality, for centuries now, a major part of Christendom has supposed that Christ will not return to sit upon the throne of David until some future date, when he will enter Jerusalem to sit upon David’s throne from whence he will reign for a thousand years. What can we conclude from the two conclusions that seem to have nothing in common with the reality that is set before us? What is the reason or the cause for these two diverging schools of thought? David’s throne has become the major part in understanding the essence of this lesson. By putting David’s throne permanently seated in Jerusalem, seemingly, all future events concerning Jesus and David’s throne will, of necessity be featured in Jerusalem.

In past writings, we have covered the truth about David’s throne, but it seems appropriate for us to repeat the explanation in order to present the full truth to all our readers, especially those who are with us in these studies with open heart and mind. As we turn to the Old Testament, we read: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king, instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him." 1^st Chronicles 29:23. As the Queen of Sheba spent time with Solomon upon her royal visit, and being impressed beyond measure so that the conclusion was that "the half was not yet told" we read the biblical chronology. Here the queen is speaking! "Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee "on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice." 2^nd Chronicles 9:8.

These two scriptures do underscore the truth that David’s earthly throne, in essence, was God’s throne, and in reality, this earthly throne was a visible type of the throne seated in the heavens. Let us look at an Old Testament example that fits in well with the case of David’s throne. Speaking of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the writer of Hebrews offers a candid explanation for all studies of the subject. Let us look at the big picture! "Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people. Take full notice of the following!! The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing.

Here is the bottom line and full explanation of the wilderness experience and understanding. "Which was a figure (a type) for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. Hebrews 9: 6-9. So then, all of those sacrifices, fixtures and worship were simply types and shadows for the time then present. I have said many times over, that in understanding the scriptures, we must know who said what, to whom it was addressed, what are the conditions, and for how long will they be valid. A number of times in the Old Testament we are told that the name of a certain city remains until this day: while in reality, the city named has a long time vanished from earth’s geography (they do not exist today.)

Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost placed the resurrection of Christ to sit on David’s throne high priority and a sort of "top billing". How did the crowd react to the news that Jesus whom you killed has been made Lord and Christ and King?

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do" Acts 2:37. Their predicament was simply that the man they condemned and crucified had not gone away. Instead, according to this preacher, God has made him the head of the building and the chief corner stone. Since time began, God has been speaking in prophetic terms, and man, for his part has always missed the mark by not understanding the time and the nature of what God speaks.

For instance, let us consider the words of the angel Gabriel, spoken to Mary, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:30-33. What actually happened to the man of whom the angel spoke? He should have set up the kingdom of his father David, have it well established and upon his ascension up to heaven, his kingdom would continue to flourish and grow till the whole earth be filled with its glory. The man of whom the angel spoke so glowingly, lived for only about 33 ½ years, and in about 37 years, or so, all the original apostles had died or killed in Roman persecutions. We are left with tantalizing questions, in that we cannot call God a liar, and the missing pieces pile up high around us begging for answers.

Let us look upon an Old Testament prophecy that boldly announce the coming of the Righteous Branch that spoke of his rule and that he would execute judgment and justice in the earth. The prophet wrote: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth (this means not only Israel or Palestine) In his days Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:5,6. Once again, the Master who ministered for about three and a half years, lived a total of about 33 ½ years accomplished none of these precious prophecies that we still preach about in sermons today.

It is now about 2022 since Jesus Christ bade goodbye to his faithful flock, sent them back to the upper room and took off for heaven in a cloud of glory, escorted by angels all dressed in white in so much, the writer of scripture said "A cloud received him out of their sight." As we read and study through the Old Testament Scriptures, as we fail to invent or predict the correct answers to so many of what seems to be God’s unfulfilled prophecies, we can only believe that what God said, he will do, even if he must turn the clock back for a while. I am one of those who believe that God does not miss a beat in his record of time and those things that God himself predestinated before the worlds were formed.

We can marvel that it took over 7,000 years for the "Seed of the Woman" to arrive in Jerusalem, and to die in just about thirty-three and a half years. But how can we settle the conversation respectfully and biblically? We are assured by the apostle in his letter. But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4:4,5. So it is a fact that while we look at things naturally, with natural understanding, we are suddenly made aware that all along, God is always "on time" following and building upon his original blueprint that he fashioned, sealed and signed before the worlds were formed. Our salvation is based upon the same principle as shown by Paul’s letter where he assured us, saying, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world (or before the foundations of the world were broken up) that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Ephesians 1:4.

What is the culmination of our faith in Christ as his disciples and co-workers with him in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord? In the closing chapters of all that involved the church, we are told: "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5:9,10. At this point in time, we have gone full cycle, and have eventually found our rightful place in the fulfilling of God’s prophetic utterance, spoken by the prophet, assuring us that at that time of fulfillment, surely, a king (the King, the Lord Jesus Christ) shall reign in righteousness, along with princes who will co-reign in judgment with Christ the King. Isaiah 32.1. All things merge here!