God showed me something today that really helps explain where we are in the ever-unfolding story of redemption. As you probably know, the history of human redemption began soon after Adam failed the test of obedience in the Garden of Eden by eating forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam’s disobedience caused God to sever the intimate relationship they originally had. This severing is referred to as “death” because it created a distance between God and Adam that could only be bridged by a payment for Adam’s wrongdoing: a redemption.
Adam was to have been God’s representative on Earth. The
language of Genesis 1 gives Adam dominion over the creation. When Adam rebelled
against God, he forfeited his dominion, and the evil one who had initiated the
temptation snatched it up illegitimately. We know God saw it that way because
of what He said to the serpent in Genesis 3 about crawling on his belly (metaphorically
bound to Earth) and eventually being crushed by the seed of Adam.
Just about everybody knows the following stories of Cain and Abel and Noah and the flood. However, Bible readers often overlook the significance of the events
recorded in Genesis 10. The chapter ends with this, “These are the families of
the sons of Noah, according to their generations and in their nations. And from these the nations spread abroad on
the earth after the flood.” This “table of nations,” as it is called, is
significant for what is missing: the nation that would issue from Abraham. The
reader must wait for the scattering of these nations in Genesis 11, and then witness
the call of Abraham in Genesis 12 to see what God was doing. In Genesis 10, all
the descendants of Noah were dispersed to their respective locations, but the
nation promised to Abraham (Gen 12:2) was not mentioned.
This is where the story of redemption really ramps up. Besides
promising that Abraham would become a great nation, God promised Abraham that the
blessing he received would ultimately lead to the blessing of “all families
(nations) of the earth.” (Genesis 12:3) It has been debated whether God
intended the nation of Israel, Abraham’s descendants, to be that blessing. History
records that they kept the blessing to themselves, more or less, and eventually
squandered it royally. I intended a pun with “royally,” because God’s dealings
with Israel eventually led to the royal line of David being promised the throne
forever.
Now I am back to where God gave me insight into the
Scripture I read today from the prophet Haggai. Read this, and then I will unpack
it. “21 “Say to
Zerubbabel, governor of Judah: I am
going to shake the heavens and the earth, 22 and
I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the military strength of
the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses
and their riders will fall, every one by the sword of another! 23 ‘On that day,’ ⌊declares⌋
Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant,’ ⌊declares⌋
Yahweh, ‘and I will make you a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ ⌊declares⌋
Yahweh of hosts.” (Haggai 2:21-23)
The prophet quotes “Yahweh of hosts,” a military
designation, using what has been called “divine warrior” imagery. Throughout
much of prophetic literature, God is described with military imagery. Many of
the prophets record oracles of doom and destruction on “the nations”
surrounding Israel. Sadly, the judgment for Israel’s disobedience is also
couched in warlike terms. In this instance, Haggai quotes God saying, “On that
day” He will, “overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the military
strength of the kingdoms of the nations.”
The other thing that happens “on that day” is, “and I will
make you [Zerubbabel] a signet ring, for I have chosen you.” Making Zerubbabel
a signet ring means God was restating the promise he made to David (Zerubbabel’s
ancestor) to keep the throne of God’s kingdom in the family. Read the Matthew 1
genealogy in of Jesus, the ultimate King in David’s line, and you will find
Zerubbabel. On that day, God continued His fulfillment of the promise that went
from Adam through Abraham to David/Zerubbabel and eventually was completed in
Jesus. The New Testament clearly ties that promise to us as believers in Jesus.
Paul asserts that Jesus is the “seed” that was promised to Abraham; the
metaphor undeniably recalls the seed of Genesis 3 as well.
In Colossians 2:14, Paul echoes the divine warrior imagery found in Haggai and elsewhere by describing Jesus’ work on the Cross as a military conqueror defeating, “the rulers and the authorities, [making] a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it.” Throughout Paul’s writing, “rulers and authorities” is a reference to the evil powers in the spiritual realm. This is the language of Ephesians 6:12 where Paul reminds us that, “our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
The same imagery of military triumph is found in 2 Corinthians 2:14: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.” Christ defeated the rulers of “the nations” of Genesis 10 (the spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies) and bought us a place in the family of the Second Adam by completing the task at which the first Adam failed. Eventually, even the death that began with Adam’s disobedience will be defeated. Paul says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’” (1 Corinthians 1526)
Someone might be saying, “Wait a minute! I thought “On that day” referred to the Day of the Lord which is Judgment Day at the end of times.” That is true… sometimes. Other times the “Day of the Lord” refers to intermediate judgments or blessings not associated with the end of all things. I am comfortable saying Haggai’s “day” happened with the coming of the Messiah because Zechariah, who prophesied about the same time as Haggai, told Zerubbabel’s counterpart, Joshua the high priest, that Yahweh would, “bring [His] servant, The Branch” on that mysterious coming day. The Branch is a name used for the Messiah throughout the prophets.
Fast forward to Jesus’ day. Even His closest disciples were a little confused about the timing. Just before He returned to the Father for the last time, one of His disciples asked, ““Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 But he said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when* the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8) The day Jesus had pointed to was the Day of Pentecost.
Another proof that the Messiah’s day was that which the prophets foresaw is found in the sermon Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost after the disciples did what Jesus commanded and waited in Jerusalem. Peter quoted Joel saying the prophet was referring to the things that happened in Peter’s day when the church was established. (Acts 2:20) Joel called the time he saw "the last days." (Acts 2:17) The appearance of fire above the disciples’ heads, the sound of a strong wind, and the speaking in many different languages each find their roots in prophetic words about the coming kingdom. It was on that day that the message of the Kingdom began to be spread worldwide.
In Colossians 2:14, Paul echoes the divine warrior imagery found in Haggai and elsewhere by describing Jesus’ work on the Cross as a military conqueror defeating, “the rulers and the authorities, [making] a display of them in public, triumphing over them by it.” Throughout Paul’s writing, “rulers and authorities” is a reference to the evil powers in the spiritual realm. This is the language of Ephesians 6:12 where Paul reminds us that, “our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
The same imagery of military triumph is found in 2 Corinthians 2:14: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.” Christ defeated the rulers of “the nations” of Genesis 10 (the spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies) and bought us a place in the family of the Second Adam by completing the task at which the first Adam failed. Eventually, even the death that began with Adam’s disobedience will be defeated. Paul says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’” (1 Corinthians 1526)
Someone might be saying, “Wait a minute! I thought “On that day” referred to the Day of the Lord which is Judgment Day at the end of times.” That is true… sometimes. Other times the “Day of the Lord” refers to intermediate judgments or blessings not associated with the end of all things. I am comfortable saying Haggai’s “day” happened with the coming of the Messiah because Zechariah, who prophesied about the same time as Haggai, told Zerubbabel’s counterpart, Joshua the high priest, that Yahweh would, “bring [His] servant, The Branch” on that mysterious coming day. The Branch is a name used for the Messiah throughout the prophets.
Fast forward to Jesus’ day. Even His closest disciples were a little confused about the timing. Just before He returned to the Father for the last time, one of His disciples asked, ““Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 But he said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when* the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8) The day Jesus had pointed to was the Day of Pentecost.
Another proof that the Messiah’s day was that which the prophets foresaw is found in the sermon Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost after the disciples did what Jesus commanded and waited in Jerusalem. Peter quoted Joel saying the prophet was referring to the things that happened in Peter’s day when the church was established. (Acts 2:20) Joel called the time he saw "the last days." (Acts 2:17) The appearance of fire above the disciples’ heads, the sound of a strong wind, and the speaking in many different languages each find their roots in prophetic words about the coming kingdom. It was on that day that the message of the Kingdom began to be spread worldwide.
.
This makes more sense when you realize what it means for the
kingdom to be restored. The word kingdom is usually thought of in geographical
terms: this river to that mountain and everything in between is the kingdom.
The geography is just the result of what “kingdom” means; it means rulership or
dominion. Everywhere the king exercises His rule becomes the kingdom. It’s not
a place, really; it is a state of being ruled. This is why we can say the kingdom
of God came on Pentecost but is not fully restored yet. Everyone who has
accepted Christ’s rule has entered the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom will be
fully restored when the last person God has chosen is ushered in.
Where does that place us? We are in the awkward place of
already-not-yet kingdom come. The kingdom has already arrived as announced by
Jesus. The cosmic battle between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light has begun. But the kingdom is not yet fully come until the end of the “last days”
when the trumpet sounds and Christ returns. The great thing is that we already
have kingdom power over the enemy; we already have a restored relationship with
the Father; we already have complete forgiveness of sin and the imputation of
Christ’s righteousness. That’s not a bad place to be, even if it does leave us
looking forward to a day when we will have even more. And as sure and the sun
rises every morning, that Day is coming. Maranatha!
Clair: I like the part of But the kingdom is not yet fully come until the end of the "last days" when the trumpet sounds and Christ returns. To me, there is so much truth to those words and a promise that will be fulfilled when Christ comes back to reclaim us.
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