[sgmb id=”1″]While the Jews questioned the prophetic claims that their Messiah would suffer, Israel longed for the age of glory to follow when their coming King would reign. When Daniel saw that Morning Star of Hope approach the Ancient of Days, it was not as the Suffering Lamb, but Daniel records,
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:13-14).”
Daniel had told of a kingdom greater than all the glorious kingdoms of old. The Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman empires would all pale beside the kingdom of Messiah, which would be a kingdom made without hands. It would have more power than all the ancient empires and would be of such a lasting nature that of this kingdom there would be no end (Daniel 2:44). Isaiah and Micah had prophesied of that glorious kingdom in Isaiah 2:1-4 and Micah 4:1-4,
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.”
It would be a time when there would be one Davidic, Shepherd King (Ezekiel 37:22, 24), and the age of a new and different tabernacle of worship (37:27). The sweet shepherd king and psalmist of Israel had heralded a warning concerning any who would dare to stand against this King of kings on His throne,
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him (Psalm 2).”
A great new covenant would arise which would finally do what the Mosaic law could not; it would grant the right to its adherents to stand with every sin forgiven, never to be remembered for evermore (Jeremiah 31:31-32). The citizens would be covered with a garment of salvation (Isaiah 61:10) and become an ever thriving planting of God (Isaiah 27:1-6; 61:3, 11). This Messiah would reign as a Priest and King upon his throne (Zechariah 6:12, 13), and a fountain would be opened to Israel for sin and uncleanness (Zechariah 13:1). Of this magnificent Messiah, it was written,
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:6-7).”
In this coming kingdom,
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious (Isaiah 11:6-10).”
A final age of the Feast of Tabernacles would be kept not only by Israel, but would be attended by every nation under heaven, on penalty of curse if ignored (Zechariah 14:16-19). As Jehovah left his final post-exilic word to the returned remnant of Israel, He set them looking for the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings, heralded by none other than Israel’s greatest oral prophet, Elijah (Malachi 4:2-6),
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Then prophetic silence fell upon the land for over 400 years, as Israel pondered this incredible suffering Messiah and the age of the glorious Messianic kingdom to come.
Read “What Israel Expected of the Messiah and His Kingdom.”
Read the 5-part series: The Context of the Sermon on the Mount.[sgmb id=”1″]