KOT-02 The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament

We have an expression in English to describe someone who becomes lost in details. We often say that such a person “can’t see the forest for the trees.” Now, lots of cultures have similar expressions, so it isn’t hard to understand what we mean. It’s easy to become lost in minutia to the point that we can’t see how all of the pieces fit together. So, in many complex and confusing situations like this, we often remind each other to step back and to look at the big picture.

We need to keep this advice in mind when we approach the Old Testament. The details of the Old Testament are so complex that it’s easy to become lost in its many names, places, events, theological teachings and moral instructions. And we lose sight of the underlying unity of the Old Testament. To overcome this problem, we need to step back and to get the big picture that ties all of the Old Testament together.

This is the second lesson in our series, Kingdom, Covenants & Canon of the Old Testament. We’ve entitled this lesson “The Kingdom of God.” God’s kingdom was fundamental to the faith of ancient Israel. So, a proper understanding of the kingdom provides one of the most comprehensive and unifying perspectives we can have on the Old Testament.

Everyone familiar with the Bible knows that the books of the Old Testament canon are very different from each other. They were written about different subjects in many genres and addressed the needs of God’s people in a variety of times and circumstances. Yet, the authors of these books always drew from basic outlooks that they held in common. All Old Testament authors believed that God established a series of major covenants with his people in different periods of history. They also believed that all of these covenants were designed to fulfill one main purpose — to administer God’s kingdom so that it would spread to the ends of the earth.

This lesson will touch on four dimensions of Israel’s unifying, foundational commitment to furthering the kingdom of God. First, we’ll see how the Scriptures speak of God’s kingdom or rule in both broad and narrow senses. Second, we’ll look at the kingdom of God during the primeval history, the earliest stages of earth’s history. Third, we’ll explore the development of God’s kingdom in the history of the nation of Israel. And fourth, we’ll see how the Old Testament concept of the kingdom of God reaches its fulfillment in the New Testament age. Let’s look first at the way the Old Testament speaks of God’s reign in both broad and narrow senses.