Tag Archives: kingdom

When fear leads us away from God

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scared

“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.” (1 Samuel 12:12)

I hadn’t noticed the role that fear played in this sinful episode, when the Israelites rejected the kingship of God and opted for a human king. The Ammonites were coming. They had come before, dominating Israel during the period of the judges (Judges 10-11). They were coming again, and the people were scared. Were they really supposed to just depend on God’s protection? It was time to act!

So they went to Samuel and demanded a king. A king to lead them in battle. It was logical. It was necessary. It was the only thing to do.

That’s what fear told them. And it was the beginning of the end for the nation of Israel. They had the chance to have God as their king, to have God fight their battles. But they chose to depend on human strength and human wisdom.

Would we have done any better? With an enemy knocking at our door, would we have dared rely on God alone? Would we have trusted God’s promises or sought the comfort of strong human leadership and military might? I’m not sure that I would have done any better than they.

Kingdom chronology

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castle

Growing up in the church of Christ, many of us heard that the kingdom of God was established on the Day of Pentecost. There is a very real sense in which this is true, and I do believe that Pentecost was the fulfillment of this saying of Jesus: “And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”” (Mark 9:1)

Yet, at the same time, it’s not that simple. For Jesus spoke of the kingdom as existing during his lifetime:

  • “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Luke 11:20)
  • “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of yo” (Matthew 21:31-32)
  • “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”” (Luke 17:20-21)

And, just to complicate things, the New Testament writers, writing after Pentecost, could also speak of the kingdom in a future sense:

  • “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)
  • “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.” (2Timothy 4:18)
  • “and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2Peter 1:11)

The kingdom of God came with power on the Day of Pentecost, but any attempts to limit its existence to what happened on that day are in error. It comes down to the fallacy of finite humans trying to define the infinite, time-bound man trying to place a timeless God on a man-made timeline. God’s kingdom existed long before Pentecost. And will exist forever. We entered that kingdom when we became Christians… and we long for the day when we will enter the kingdom.