The Kingdom in Embryo - The Kingdom Eclipsed - The OT Development

Let's read together, please, in 2 Samuel, in chapter 7. The book of 2 Samuel, chapter 7. We've got a few passages to read, and at the very most what can be accomplished in a Bible reading like this is an overview of the subject. So as we're going through it, we're going to be making those broad strokes again that we were doing this morning. Now, there was a point in time this morning where I saw a little bit of smoke coming off of John's microphone.

That's how fast he had to go. He covered, what would you say, 2,500 years? Approximately. But he only got us through the book of Exodus.

Now, we're going to try and get from the book of Exodus to the book of Matthew in a half hour less with half the preacher and see what we can do. So as we are reading, remember, we're not going to be able to delve into all the details concerning the Old Testament kingdom, but what we want to do is we want to chart our course to learn what God is seeking to accomplish and how he is going about accomplishing it. So, in 2 Samuel, chapter 7, we will begin at verse number 8. Now, therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep goat, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel.

And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more. Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before time.

And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee in house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

And thine house, thy kingdom, shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever." According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak on to David. Now over to 1 Chronicles, please.

Chapter 29. The book of 1 Chronicles in chapter 29. We need to get the reference from verse number one.

Furthermore David, the king, said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great. For the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. Now toward the end of the chapter, we'll pick up verse 20, and David said to all the congregation, Now, bless the Lord your God.

And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshiped the Lord and the king. And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. And did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness.

And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor. And I want you to notice this, and Zadok to be priest. Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king, instead of his father David, and prospered.

And all Israel obeyed him, and all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of King David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him. In Israel.

Now for part two of my reading, we'll have to read in the book of Deuteronomy, please. It is the book of Deuteronomy. We'll pick up a reading in chapter 17 first.

In Deuteronomy 17, verse 14, When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me. Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose. One from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee.

Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother, but he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses. For as much as the Lord has said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself.

Notice that his heart turn not away. Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he will write him a copy of this law in a book.

Out of that which is before the priests of the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them, that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren. Now over to chapter 28. I understand this is a bit of reading, but in comparison to how much ground we're going to cover, I think it's quite abbreviated.

So what I want to do in chapter 28, at the beginning of chapter 28, the words of Moses to these people has to deal with the blessings that they would experience should they repent or should they obey. Those blessings are many. Those blessings were physical, and those blessings were realized for part of the history of the nation of Israel in the land.

What we're about to cut into, as we are going to follow the trajectory of the kingdom from its climax, really to the low ebb of the kingdom in the Old Testament, we're now breaking into the curses that were connected with disobedience. So I don't want you to think that I'm just being negative and only highlighting their disobedience and curses. We just only have time for so much.

But take a look with me, please, at chapter 28, beginning at verse 15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee. Now go to verse number 35, 36 will be fine.

The Lord shall bring thee thy king, which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known. And there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations, whither the Lord shall lead thee.

Verse 45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed. Because thou hearkenest not unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep his commandments and his statutes, which he commanded thee.

And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder upon thy seed forever. Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things. Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee.

Now verse 49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flyeth. A nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand.

A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, etc. Verse 52.

And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustest throughout all thy land. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body.

Down now to verse 64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people. From the one end of the earth even on to the other, and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease. Chapter 29, verse 1. These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. Now we need to go to chapter 30, verse 1. And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God has scattered thee.

If any of thine be driven out onto the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it, and he will do thee good, multiply thee above thy fathers, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. The last phrase of chapter 30 is this, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, excuse me, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Now, I think I can see the clock. Daylight's burning and we need to get to these things, but I want you to see how we're going to approach this Bible reading this afternoon. John ended us, really, with the covenants.

He ended us with showing us how God is going to fulfill his purpose in the kingdom through these covenants and dispensations, different ways of dealing with men at different times. But if I remember correctly, John, you told us about four that were everlasting. Is that correct? Okay.

So those four everlasting covenants are unique. Those four everlasting covenants are significant. We read one of those four everlasting covenants in 2 Samuel chapter 7. It's a covenant that shall never find an end, and it's a covenant that shall ultimately ultimately find its fulfillment when the Lord Jesus Christ reigns on a throne eternally.

That's a covenant that's everlasting. But I'm going to say there are two. Now, I understand not everybody sees it this way.

I'm going to say that there are two other covenants that are not called everlasting covenants, and yet they are covenants. They are solemn agreements that God had entered into with his people. Of course, you're thinking about what the book of Hebrews calls the old covenant or the old testament.

That is the covenant that the Lord made with the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. And the reason that I mention that covenant is because while that covenant is not everlasting, the history and the old testament development of the kingdom of God has a lot to do with that covenant. It does.

You will find that in Deuteronomy chapter 17, God said that when the king is set up, a king that he shall choose, and he's set up on his throne, he will write a copy of the book of the law. When he writes that copy of the book of the law, he is to meditate in it so that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren. But it is, I would submit, perhaps, I'm not sure if it's debatable.

It is that that law, that covenant now forms the constitution for the kingdom, for the rule of David in the kingdom of God. So that covenant now is the standard by which the king must behave and rule the people, and it's the standard to which the people must bow, that covenant. But then there's also what we read in Deuteronomy chapter 28, 29, 30.

Now not everyone sees that to be a covenant, but the words there are a covenant. And we know that it's not perhaps a unique covenant, because it goes over a lot of the things that had already been covered. It talks about the land and the sure possession of the land, which reminds us of the Abrahamic covenant, doesn't it? It talks to us about the adherence to the law and obeying God in the law, which reminds us of the Sinaitic covenant.

But in a real way, what's happening in Deuteronomy 28, 29, and 30 is this. Before history happens, God is outlining what will take place. That's solemn, and I find it to be quite awesome.

You read it carefully now, and I know you're going to do it. You read it carefully from the chapter 28 to the end of chapter 30, and then you go through your Bible. You go through your Bible, and you look at the course that the nation of Israel takes toward their king, and then under their king, until finally they are without a king.

And you will see that the details of those chapters match up so well with what then was future and what now is history. So I thought I should mention those two other covenants for us. But what we are going to do is we're going to look at the kingdom of... even to say that title, you know, even to say that title, the development of the Old Testament kingdom, right? It sounds like the title of a course that's an elective and second year theology at some seminary, right? And you know what they do.

They take three hours a week, and they go over 12 weeks, and they cover the same amount of material that we cover in an hour and a half. But think about it. But today we're going to think about it in these terms.

We have to limit our movements throughout the scriptures. We're going to think about it in terms of the promise, the covenant with David. And in the promise, that covenant with David, we're going to see that it not only is a focusing of the Abrahamic covenant, but it is a confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant and perhaps an expansion in a way of the Abrahamic covenant.

You will notice that it begins with God saying that that he has a land, a place for Israel. So that's a land that they will possess. He talks about planting them.

That really is the longevity and permanence that this nation will have in that land that they are going to possess. And he talks about them being protected, protected from all that are around, liberty from persecution, liberty from military action in that land. Think about that with me.

That's all Abrahamic, isn't it? That seed that's going into that land. And then not only does he speak about that place for Israel, but he talks about the dynasty for David. The dynasty for David.

He talks about the house of David that is promised to him. That house is really his lineage. That's going to be his descendants, the house of David.

He talks about the kingdom that is established for David and the kingdom is his realm of rule or the realm over which he has that rule. So we have the royal relations when it comes to the house of David. We have the realm of rule when it comes to the kingdom of David, but then he speaks the throne of David.

That throne of David is his right to rule. Connected with that phrase is the right to rule so that the man who comes to eventually reign on this earth will sit on the throne of his father David. He will.

So all those things are connected with the dynasty of David, but then he talks about discipline. Discipline. Disciplining the king but not departing from him.

So he's going to, if the king sins, he's going to chastise him, if you will, with the stripes of men. But he's never going to take his mercy away from him. I find that to be remarkable.

Now the standard to which this obedience will be held is the law. The standard to which this obedience will be held is the Sinaitic covenant, if you will. That's the statutes, the constitution of the kingdom.

He will experience stripes when he strays away from what the law dictates. But there will be a stability in this kingdom. Not like the kingdom of Saul.

You see the Lord took away the spirit from Saul, his spirit. And while the kings will fail, and we're going to see that the kings will fail, let's not forget there's never going to be a time where this covenant is revoked. Never a time where this covenant is revoked.

So I spent enough time on that. Solomon. In 1 Chronicles chapter 29, we read about Solomon.

There are six things on the outline that you will notice about Solomon. Can I really see the clock? I'm not sure. There are six things about Solomon that we're going to notice.

Solomon was selected. He was selected by the Lord in accordance with what? The law. He was selected by the Lord.

Whom alone, David said, God had chosen. Then he was sanctified. He was anointed king the second time.

My brethren will know, of course, that he was anointed king the first time in Gihon. And now here he is in Jerusalem, and he's anointed the second time. And then we see that Solomon is seated.

Solomon is seated on two thrones. No, one throne. But in 1 Chronicles 29, it's called the throne of the Lord.

And the throne of the Lord recognizes its authority. And in 1 Kings chapter 2, it's called the throne of David, his father. And I think if you look closely in that passage, you will find that that's connected with putting down all of the rebellion in the kingdom.

All the rebellion is put down as he takes the throne of David, his father. You see the connection? How many was that? Three? So number four, you're going to see Solomon's supremacy. Because Solomon, his kingdom was tremendous.

Solomon's kingdom was the climax of the Old Testament dominion in Israel. Solomon's kingdom could be said, it could be said of Solomon's kingdom by the queen of Sheba, thy wisdom and thy prosperity exceedeth thy fame. Now, don't go to sleep on me.

Lunch was good. Solomon's kingdom was tremendous. To where in 1 Kings chapter 4, all of the nations are serving him, that are around.

They're all serving him. They're coming to Solomon and they're confessing that this man is superior, his supremacy. We talked, or I labeled it as Solomon's shalom.

I don't speak Hebrew, but I think that's the only word that starts with an S that means peace. Maybe, right? I could get my thesaurus out. But you see, Solomon was marked, his kingdom was marked by peace.

We know that his name means peaceable, but his kingdom was marked by peace. 1 Kings chapter 4 verse 24, peace on all sides. Roundabout.

You're starting to see the picture now, aren't you? Of the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. But here's something that I want you to get. Because this is the entire point.

It starts with a shepherd in Bethlehem. That shepherd in Bethlehem is anointed in the presence of his brethren. And that shepherd in Bethlehem eventually takes the throne of two tribes.

Until then he takes the throne of all Israel. Then he takes the city of Jerusalem. And the shepherd who once came from the lowly area of Bethlehem is now sitting on a throne in Jerusalem.

You see Christ in that, don't you? My brother might talk about that dispensationally. But then Solomon sets up and all rebellion is put down. Every bit of rebellion is put down when Solomon is on the throne.

And his supremacy is noted. But I think, now this is what I'll leave you with this to think about if you don't agree with it. I think the climax of Solomon's kingdom is when there's a man sitting on the throne of the Lord in Jerusalem and the glory of the Lord fills the house of the Lord.

So we've gone from the the lowly shepherd in Bethlehem to the climax, the climax of the dominion. And then it starts to fall apart, right? Starts to fall apart. Starts to fall apart when Solomon takes the wives and the silver and the horses.

We can talk about that. It starts to fall apart when the kingdom divides. And from a divided kingdom, we have a downward spiral.

It looks like my data is shut off. That doesn't mean anything to me. A downward spiral until what? Until Zedekiah.

But remember, remember, it's not just that the kingdom was lost and that the throne was lost. What does Ezekiel tell us? The glory of the Lord left. That's the point.

That's the point. So now no longer, now we'll go, I'm going to skip parts of my opening. You thought my opening was short, but it was longer than this.

No longer do you have a man seated on the throne of the Lord in Jerusalem. No more throne. No more man.

It's now Gentile dominion and rule, the times of the Gentiles. And no longer do you have the presence or the glory of the Lord filling the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Why? The glory of the Lord came out of the house over the threshold until eventually it's out on the mountain, but it's coming back.

It's coming back. Now I wouldn't have taken this Bible reading if I thought it was going to end poorly with no hope. There's hope.

Not only is there hope, there are specific details that are given about the future of Israel that will bring about the confirmation, if you will, but at least again the establishment of all of the promises connected to David. So that eventually there's going to be a man on the throne in Jerusalem sitting on the throne of the Lord. And again the glory of the Lord returns.

So that's my opening. Perhaps it would be easier if I just kept talking until a quarter after three, but I'm going to have to answer some questions from these brethren. You'll go easy on me, right? I'm not sure why, but you will.

You will. So let's begin. If you have the outline, we're going to get to the outline, but I want to begin, brethren, by thinking about the shift in the dynamic that comes with the Davidic covenant.

Now the reason I state it that way, I'm not going to go back to Exodus 19. I can't cover Exodus 19 to the Davidic covenant and still cover what we're covering. But God had already established a kingdom, right? Moses was actually administering the theocracy, I would take it, which is the nation of Israel when he received the law on Mount Sinai and when he was judging the nation according to the law.

The idea of a dominion with a mediator, if you will, you'll allow me mediator in the Old Testament, at least for part of it, is not new. But this is new. And this is maybe an enlargement, but at least a focusing of God's purpose in the Old Testament.

If you want to comment on that, go ahead, and if you have any other comments. So, you've raised the Deuteronomy passages, Brody. Frequently, those are called the Palestinian covenant.

I'm personally not happy calling it that for various reasons, but we mentioned, and you maybe alluded to this, it's not called an everlasting covenant unless that the book of Ezekiel is referring to it. Ezekiel chapter 16 and verse number 60 seems to infer back to the book of Deuteronomy 28, 29, 30. And it's called there an everlasting covenant.

The sign there, and I would grant that it seems that Deuteronomy passage seems to be a little bit different than some of the others we are looking at. The sign there is the sisters that are going to be brought into blessing other nations in a coming day. Now, I mentioned that just for a bit of background because I want to ask you a question about the Davidic covenant here in 2 Samuel chapter 7. In this chapter, and in 1 Chronicles chapter 17, is it called a covenant? No, you'd have to refer to other passages to find it called a covenant.

And there may be other passages that might refer to the fact that this was actually a covenant confirmed by sacrifice. But you won't find that in either of those passages, but expand on that. No, no, happy with that.

So just, it's only a matter of clarity because some of the dear believers here, they will look at these passages, we appreciate the outline, and it was just, I appreciate what you've told us there. These passages definitely speak about the Davidic covenant, but it's not confirmed as a covenant in these chapters. But there are other chapters that do.

2 Samuel chapter 23 verse number 5, Isaiah chapter 55, some of those passages definitely confirm that this was a covenant. Most likely there was sacrifice, there was confirmation of the covenant, and it means that there's an everlasting dynasty that God has established through David. Correct.

So you'll allow me then, if you do quote Ezekiel, to make the land covenant of Deuteronomy 28 everlasting, you'll allow me that the everlasting portion of that covenant is really the side where God circumcises the heart. Right? So it's not going to be the ups and downs of obedience and disobedience everlasting, but God is actually going to circumcise their heart. There's going to be a conversion of the nation, and looking forward, that part would be everlasting.

That's significant, isn't it, Brother Rudy, that David, of course, wasn't Israel's first king. And, you know, it's, the first thing we read about David in this passage is he was taken from the sheep coat, but there was another previous king who wasn't able to mine donkeys, never mind sheep. And just thinking forward to my own Bible reading and thinking of how these things will be fulfilled in a coming day, we can see in Saul that king that was given at the request of the people, that king that was really not what God wanted the people, we can see something of that idea of counterfeit and rebellion against God's will that we're going to see in a fuller way in the run-up to the millennium with Antichrist.

Yes, yes. So you're looking at that as a dispensational picture as well. Do we see an evidence there, too, of the failure of the nation in that while God said in Deuteronomy he would choose a king whom God would choose, yet they were impatient.

They wouldn't wait God's time. We want a king now, like the nations. Well, God said, I'll give you a king, but he'll be this kind of a king, right? So an evidence of the failure of the nation, and then God brings in his man, takes him from the sheep coast, a small thing, right? And this is going to be a representation of God's kingdom.

Would you be happy, Brother Brody, to see in both David and in Solomon the principle that God has worked through the generations? The first man is of the earthy, the second man, and we've seen that whether it's Cain or Abel, the first man, no blessing, the second man, blessing. When it comes to David, there's a first man. His name is Saul.

When it comes to Solomon, there's a first man. His name is Adonijah. God sets aside both and takes the one of his choice, and we get the principle of the second man.

Yeah, amen. In relation to the point William has made about the motivation of the nation, they wanted a king to be like the nations. Actually, God's design was to give them a king so that they would be unlike any of the nations, the unique theocracy among the nations.

Very good. Very good. Just to tidy up the thought on the covenants, the Mosaic covenant isn't described as a neverlasting covenant, but when you come to the new covenant, Jeremiah 31 31, that is a neverlasting covenant, what is it going to be? I will write my laws on their hearts.

In fact, you have it referring back to that. Correct, in connection, but that would be in a converted state. Yeah, absolutely.

So when we look at David, now I'm going to play this quickly so we can move on to Solomon, but when we look at the Davidic covenant, never forget that what's being promised to David didn't find his complete fulfillment yet. It has not. There's coming a day, now in the Davidic kingdom after David, after chapter seven, chapter eight, he goes up and he battles the philistines.

Eventually, he's going to go up as far as the Euphrates and he's going to take a possession of land there. So that's the river, right from the river. And then I believe the track is down Transjordan on both sides of Jordan, right to the current border of Egypt and Israel, which I think is not the Nile, but it is the Wadi el-Irish, if you'll pardon my Hebrew.

But you see, David had taken that. There it was established. When Solomon took over, that was all there, right? So what we're watching here is that David is making progress and Solomon is making progress and Solomon is going to be established in supremacy.

But in a coming day, when the Lord Jesus takes it, that's the fulfillment. Very good. Right? Brother, just to make sure everybody's on the same page, the Davidic covenant, will I read the verse? Verse 16? You did read it.

This is 2 Samuel 7, 16. Yes. And thine house and thine kingdom shall be established forever before thee.

Thy throne shall be established forever. Essentially, that's what we're referring to in the Davidic covenant. Correct.

Just to bring everybody. So are there three things that play into that then, Brother Brody? We've got the house and we've got the kingdom and we've got the throne. Those are three things.

And the background of the chapter is quite interesting as well, because in the background of the chapter, David was going and seeking to build a house for the Lord. David is going, the Lord is going to speak through Nathan to him and that's not going to be accomplished through David. But the interesting thing is that what David is not going to accomplish for the Lord, the Lord is going to accomplish for David.

And David will have a house, he will have a kingdom, and he will have a throne. Sure. So when David was considering building the house of the Lord, that was going to be a physical temple in Jerusalem.

When God, when the Lord Jehovah promises David a house, it's going to be a lineage descendants. Yes. Absolutely.

But the play on the concept is there for sure. For sure. You've indicated on your handout that there was a need for two kings to sufficiently prefigure.

So why would David not have done as seeing he was God's choice? In short, David could never be a picture of the prince of peace, because David was a man of war. David was a conqueror. He was a mighty conqueror.

But a man who had shed blood in such a way that God even says disqualifies him from allowing him to build that house. Would you take that there's more to it than that? No, that's good. Yeah, he was the warrior king.

Solomon represents the peaceful kingdom. And so the Lord Jesus initially to establish his kingdom, there's the tribulation period. He's the one that is taking the initiative in pouring out the wrath, right? And then there follows his kingdom of peace.

Yes. So not to end the discussion on David, but when I look at this covenant, what I see is that never before had there been a monarchy confirmed, but it had been implied. Right? So kings shall come out of the according to the covenant with Abraham.

Where we read in Deuteronomy 17, it was obvious that there was going to be a king that would come according to those words. But now we have established something that that never was before and something that is going to prefigure perfectly what's going to happen in the millennium. Correct? Just in relation to that brother and this is sort of stepping just outside of the chronology of where we are at the moment, but I think it's worth saying quite explicitly when Christ comes he will sit on the throne of his father David, but he's not presently sitting on the throne of his father David.

Quite a number of people will teach that. That's not scriptural. Okay, very good.

So can you let's wait until we get to Solomon, but I want to talk about the throne. I want to talk about thrones even more in a very short concise way. I'll give you 36 seconds and 10 minutes if you're prepared.

No, but that's important to know, right? So what we have in this throne is this is the throne connected with the millennial reign on earth. Right? So it's not going to be established until then. So if we're not in the millennium now, he's not on that throne now, right? So we'll distinguish that and look a little closer, but dispensationally David is also a picture of the Lord Jesus, right? So anointed, the presence of his brethren, right? Then he goes to the battle.

Going to the battle, rejected by his brethren, he goes down. But then he comes up. Resurrection, right? Now we're talking the valley of Elah.

When he comes up from the valley of Elah, there's a little bit of fuss made, but eventually he's rejected again. When rejected again, he goes out to the Gentiles. As he's out there with the Gentiles, there's a few that are distressed and indebted and they're gathered to him in the cave.

Could be a picture of the assembly maybe. But then you find that this man is eventually brought back. And this man is eventually anointed again.

David was anointed three times. Yes, the presence of his brethren. He was anointed at Hebron and then he was anointed over the whole nation.

And we see Christ dispensationally in all of those steps. Right? Now if you have a comment on that, that would be fine. But if not, we will move on to Solomon.

When it came to the qualifications of the king, Deuteronomy 17. And it shall be that when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write a copy of this law in the book. Verse 20.

That his heart be not lifted up above his brother. Right? Where do we first see David? You just mentioned it. He's going to serve his brother.

Right? And then he goes down into the valley. He didn't send them into the valley. He went down himself.

And so we see the Lord Jesus. He took the humble place. And he went into death on our account.

So lovely pictures of the Lord. Amen. So do you see, Brody, as you're moving to Solomon, do you see the principle that we've been looking at a number of times already through the Bible readings seen in both David and Solomon? That whilst this has reached boundaries that heretofore we haven't seen with the nation, it wasn't just stop there because it's going to reach out to Gentiles.

Yes, both with David and with Solomon. And what we see is as much as the physical boundaries are delineated for us, there are going to be Gentiles that are going to come. We saw that principle with the Garden of Eden.

We reached forward into Exodus 19 and we saw one specific nation that's going to be a missionary nation. Now we're seeing that here in principle again. David and Solomon on the throne, the kings that will reign to reach others that will be brought into blessing through them.

Amen. So a lot of what we're saying now is giving us a picture that our brother Mark is going to fill up for us tomorrow, isn't he? Because all of those things are looking forward to a day when the king reigns in Jerusalem, but the nation of Israel gathered in the perfect way I would take that Ezekiel aligns for us is going to be a witness to the nations, a blessing to the nations. The nations will be blessed in that coming kingdom.

Yeah. So let's just survey if anyone wants to make a comment from from Hither and Yon. It doesn't have to be a comment.

It can be a question. I don't want to deceive myself into thinking that I've been such a good teacher that you have no questions. Well, Brandon, I thought you were going to say something.

So Solomon, Solomon, he now sits on the throne of the Lord. The throne of the Lord, I would take it, is connected with all the authority of heaven now is vested in this man to reign on that throne so that God is now still the authority but this man carries with himself that delegated authority that John may have talked about in Eden, right? So now here he is. They come together.

Solomon, chosen. 19 years old? He's yet young and tender. Yes.

He's going to reign for 40 years, right? That's right. And they call him old coming on the end of his life. And if he's old at 59, some of us are in trouble, eh? But here he is, a literal man on a literal throne.

Now, he didn't always sit on the throne. He would get up from the throne and he would move about but he was on the throne of the Lord. That's a declaration of his authority, right? Is there a physical throne? Yes.

Does he sit on that physical throne? Yes. But it's more than just the physical sitting on a throne. It's really a proclamation of a divine authority vested in a man on earth.

Yeah. So are you teaching us then, Brother Brody, that as much as there is a physical throne, when we speak about a king reigning, it doesn't necessarily mean that the king is physically sitting upon the throne. Correct.

But the realm and the reign of the king is associated with that physical throne. So both are seen. There's the physical thing and then there's the metaphorical thing that is seen.

The king is sitting on the throne reigning but the reign of the king is because he has been given delegated authority by God. Yes. So King Charles is on the throne of England.

Yes. Right. But the poor man was in a hospital bed a few weeks ago.

Right. But he was still reigning. Yes.

Yes. Yeah. Mark, can you tell us more about the, perhaps I'm putting you on the spot.

I don't like to do that, but John said that he can get away with things that others can't. I just do what I want until I'm rebuked. Can you tell us more about the different thrones? Now we know if we were to go to Psalm 110, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies to footstool of thy feet.

Is that where the Lord is today? And how is that different than the throne we're talking about now? Yeah, so in Revelation, we see the lamb in the midst of the throne. And to the overcomer is the promise you'll sit with me on my throne as I have overcome and sit on my father's throne. So that Christ is presently on the throne of God.

As we see it there in Revelation, he doesn't yet sit on the throne of David, but he will and that will happen when he comes to reign on earth. That reign has not begun. It hasn't been inaugurated.

It is still entirely future. And so to speak as some believers do of the Christ presently on the throne of David, I think is to confuse things that scripture would keep separate. Thank you for that clarification.

That's very important. Very important. So any comments on the throne? I think after you look at the Solomon seated, we have to remember that what was taking on, what was happening is that the Gentiles were so impressed by this majesty.

The majesty is really focused on, isn't it? When the nations around about are serving him. They're bringing him gifts, right? All of this is throughout our Old Testament account of the reign of Solomon. The majesty, while sinful, it was really something to have that many horses.

It was tremendous to have that much silver and gold, right? It was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. Not quite so sure on what to say about a thousand wives. But it definitely was a majestic.

A thousand mother-in-laws. A thousand mother-in-laws. Perhaps.

I was going to ask you brother about the throne of the Lord again. When you talk about the throne of Solomon, we can envisage Solomon sitting on the throne. Throne of David, David on the throne.

What does it mean the throne of the Lord? You're finished with the question. That's it. Okay.

Over to you. So I think as Jeremiah talks about it, that Jerusalem will be the throne of the Lord in the coming day. So throne in my mind, I break it down this simply.

The house are the descendants. The kingdom is the realm over which he rules. The throne is connected with authority and all the time.

I don't believe that Jehovah himself will sit on that throne as this is Jehovah's throne. But this throne is connected with the authority of Jehovah himself on the earth. But expand or Sure.

Solomon did have a literal throne. There were six steps to it plus a footstool, by the way. Right.

So he did sit upon it. The Lord did not need a physical throne to sit upon. But what Solomon was representing is linked with Jehovah, with the Lord.

It was his by appointment. Jehovah appointed him and gave him a blessing. Here's chapter 29, 1 Chronicles 29, verse 25.

And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel. In the sight of all Israel. That's important.

And bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. So it was the Lord's appointment. And in that sense, the throne of the Lord.

Does that take us then to what we've been dealing with in the former Bible reading? That God's authority in kingship and in rule was seen in a variety of ways. That's right. God's authority is still being seen now with this king upon the throne.

Because by sitting on the throne of the Lord, it shows that the Lord is still reigning and he's still operative in this kingdom. And I take it that this is a progression. And maybe we should mention there have been other things that have shown God's authority prior to this.

There was the intertestamental gathering right of the nation of Israel. The tribes would get together. Because God's authority was known.

But this is a manifestation of God's authority now with God's king upon the throne and the kingdom. I was just going to say there's, you know, I think there's a helpful analogy where we've talked about Christ sitting on the throne of David. David's physical throne no longer exists.

It's not going to be sort of dug up and unearthed. But he will sit on a throne that has the authority of the promise that was given to David. And I think it's maybe helpful to see the analogy there.

You'll have to tell us later, not now, where that throne is. Not now. So before we move on to Solomon's spirituality, when he was anointed, he was anointed king.

They call him governor, ruler, right? But connected with that, they anointed a priest. Right? Tell you what's on my mind, and I would appreciate some discussion. John took us to the kingdom of priests, right? So that dominion and rule is connected with priesthood in the nation.

Last night, if you had had the opportunity to be in, I should speak up. Last night, if you had the opportunity to be in Mount Sterling, you would have heard John mention the first mention of a king in the Old Testament is Genesis 14, correct? So the kings that came together for battle, the first world war, he called it, and I think that's true. But there was another king there.

That king was a priest. That king was Melchizedek. And I would take it that that's the first indication that God purposes that the kingship, the government, and the priesthood not necessarily tied in the same man now.

That couldn't happen throughout the Old Testament under the law. But eventually to be invested in the same man or vested in the same man. Now, I'm just going to finish that with this.

Because you trace it through, right? You trace it through. And we find that in Zechariah, the Joshua, the son of Josedek, is to take two crowns, right? That they take the crown of silver and the crown of gold. The redemption, the priest, the gold, the king.

They're to place it on his head and an agreement shall be between the two offices for the first time. Who is that? It's going to be Christ, right? But Ezekiel talks about taking away, take away the crown. Take away the diadem.

The word diadem is really the miter. So he's saying take away the priestly miter. Take away the kingly crown until.

Now notice, see if you notice a mistake. Until they come. Who's right it is? No, it says until he come.

So now we find that the priesthood may be connected with the king in the old testament, but the priest and the king are going to be one man when Christ comes to reign. So just like it was two kings required to point forward to the rule of Christ, David and Solomon. So now we're coming to this truth that there's a king, Solomon and Zadok.

Correct. The priest, right? Two men. And yet, those offices will be united in Christ in a coming day.

Now, here's the thing. In Ezekiel, this will come up maybe later, but I'll touch upon it now. In Ezekiel and chapter 46, there's a man called David.

I take it of the lineage of David. And he's going to be a prince and he's called a king and he's called a shepherd in Ezekiel and it's pointing forward to a millennial day. But in Ezekiel 46 verse 2, we find that neither the people nor the prince, who's called David, can cross the threshold of the inner court when the priests are offering sacrifices.

So that man, though he's a king, he's not a priest. I take it that's one indicator that it's not the Lord Jesus that's referred to by the title David in the book of Ezekiel. But that maybe comes more into your... I mean, we're quite happy to park it here, to be honest.

It's maybe worth mentioning. There's the the Cinderella of the covenants, I think, is the Levitical covenant. And of course, there will be priestly service separate from the priesthood of Christ seen in the millennium.

But I think the point that Brody has made is very important. The offices of... in many of the ancient civilizations, kings were priests. That was a kind of two offices that quite commonly went together.

God did not have that in mind for Israel until those offices will ultimately be united in the person of Christ. So I would take it that you would agree with that. The priestly office of Christ is not going to be the same as the Aaronic function in the temple in the millennium.

I say amen to that. And in fact, that's the whole subject of the book of Hebrews. If he were on earth, he could not be a priest.

And so the function of the high priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus is linked to a heavenly sphere. And so we're going to... these two things are going to coalesce. We're going to see a king priest sitting upon the throne.

But still at the same time when it comes to the Ezekiel passage, our brethren have referred to there is going to be the Aaronic order. Some of the... not all of the sacrifices. This is too wide a subject to get into in this Bible reading.

But not all of the sacrifices will be reinstituted in that coming day. But the Aaronic family will be, and particularly one branch of the Aaronic family, in that coming day. So before we move to the presence of the Lord, the glory of the Lord coming to the house of the Lord, is the Lord Jesus only going to become a priest when he takes the throne? Which throne? When he takes the throne of his father David, is that the point where he becomes a priest and both are vested in him? Isn't he our high priest now? Yeah, exactly.

He's not sitting yet upon the throne of David. Exactly. So where I'm going is my Bible reading is not very practical.

I understand that. William made me take it. But that same one who has the priesthood vested in him and in that coming day will sit on the throne is now our great high priest.

Touched with the feelings of our infirmities. On all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Now, come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of need.

This truth is transcendent, but will find its ultimate fulfillment when he sits on that throne unlike any other king. And the practical thing about this king priest, Brody, isn't it true that one of the reasons why Saul lost the kingdom was because he decided to act in this manner? Correct. As a priest.

So Saul, he actually instituted sacrifices and Samuel had been very clear to him. Samuel told him not to do it. Samuel was going to come and do it.

Saul, the man of the flesh, he moved ahead. He pertained and took the office of the priest, instituted the sacrifices, and he lost the kingdom as a result. And another man who did the same thing? Different.

He offered incense, but similar. Yeah, still assuming priestly role. That's right.

Yeah. So just to finish the issue that he is our great high priest now, and while he will in the future have that dual role of king and priest, he's not our king. He's our lord.

Correct. And that's a very important point for us to bear in mind. Yes.

We're living in a day where people are talking about living for the king and advancing the kingdom. He's not our king. He's our lord.

Sure. So he is our lord and he's head of the church. That's right.

He's not king of the church. Right. Yes.

Thank you for that. So the glory of the lord had filled the temple of the lord. I saw people nodding when I said that really is the climax of the kingdom.

I think it is. I think it is. And I think that's going to be the point in the line.

Right. So Ezekiel 40, the glory of the lord filled the temple and the glory of lord fills Solomon's temple. You don't read about that happening again until you get to the millennial temple that's recorded in Ezekiel, right? Then the glory of the lord came from the east.

And just to finish it out, when it comes to the the heavenly sanctuary, it doesn't ever say that the glory of the lord came and filled it. It says in Revelation 21 verse 11, having, present tense, the glory of god. Amen.

This, we're at such a lofty point here. Amen. It's tragic to think of, you know, where we go from this point.

And I was just thinking, if we were reading the Hebrew bible, our bibles would end with second chronicles. And we come right to the end of second chronicles. And we have, he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees who slew their young men, and all the vessels of the house of god great and small, and the treasures of the house of the lord taken to Babylon, burnt the house of god, and so on.

And, I mean, you've mentioned, you know, the importance of practical issues. You've shown us that Solomon ultimately was going to do exactly what god had told him not to do. And when he did what god had said he shouldn't do, god did what he said he would do.

And there should be no surprise really that it ended up in such tragedy, because that's what god had promised. And I think we sometimes think we can be exceptions to what god has said. That somehow it won't apply to us.

It won't apply in our case. It applied to a king as great as Solomon. He reaped what he sowed.

And I think there's a very solemn lesson in that for us as well. Thank you for that. Thank you.

So brother Brody, there's a few strands that have been mentioned just in relation to brother Mark and brother William and what you have said. The temple, where Solomon's spirituality, the temple has been built. The zenith of it has been that the glory of the lord fills the house.

Brother William has told us that that will be true in the millennial temple. Inside and in the parameters between those two, there is another temple built. Once they returned from Babylon, did the glory of the lord fill that house? Was there a cloud of glory? We have no record in scripture where the glory of the lord filled that.

Right. Nor Herod's temple. Right.

So that shows us just exactly what Mark has been telling us. That there is a price to pay and there are consequences. Some of these things that god has said in the past in the book of Deuteronomy, they have come to pass.

They have been fulfilled and this is the cost of it. So just in a concise way, there will be another temple before the millennial temple. There will be.

According to second Thessalonians chapter two, the man of sin will sit in the temple and he will show himself that he is God. So there will be another temple rebuilt prior to the arrival of Christ in glory. We know that from that passage.

But in a time period where Israel is still officially in unbelief. Exactly. Yes, so the glory of the lord doesn't fill that temple either.

And of course we should point out that, you know, if you go on a little bit further and just right at the end of second chronicles, there is the promise of recovery. And it turned out that it was in God's providence actually that the vessels were taken because they were safe. So that when when Ezra comes back, the vessels are there for them to bring with them.

So although we see human failure and we see divine judgment, we're also seeing the faithfulness of God and we're seeing the outworking in history of the import of those covenants where God committed himself and that will happen notwithstanding human failure. Correct. So now we enter into the the prophecies part.

The idea now that we're going to see the pathway of the course downward. The course downward began with Solomon's sin, I would take it. There perhaps were seeds of different things before that, but this is the way to apostasy because the wives led him to idolatry.

Idolatry is the most serious. Right. The idolatry.

I mean his heart, I would take it that when he was multiplying horses, what he was really saying is we're not dependent upon Jehovah for protection. We're dependent upon horses. It could very well be that in those days in that land that the gathering of horses and chariots really meant he wanted to go and take new territory.

Like all that was there. When it came to the idea of silver and gold, I mean he could use that for a good purpose. God said not to get it, but the wives turned him to idolatry.

And when he turned to idolatry, that's what brought the downward spiral. So do you see that in a sense there was almost a fairly immediate response of God to the idolatry of Solomon, the next generation? Correct. And Rehoboam and Jeroboam and the loss of the kingdom.

And then not only was there a fairly immediate response of God, then there was a response of God in the future with the nation taken into Babylon. So we see both of those things that are coalescing here. The nation has lost its sovereignty.

The nation will lose its glory. The nation will lose its territory. The nation will lose its purity.

So where did it all go wrong for Solomon? Well, Deuteronomy 17, again verse 19, about the book of the law, and he shall read therein all the days of his life. There evidently was neglect of the word of the law, of God. So much so that as you move on down through the kings, there was a declension further until there is revival under a young man called Josiah.

And what happened in Josiah's day was he was renovating the temple and so on, and they came across a book in the temple, the book of the law. And a man came in before the king said, by the way, we found a book here. And he read in the book.

And when he read in the book of the law, Josiah rent his clothes. It had been neglected so bad he didn't even know it existed. Now the challenge to our hearts, do we neglect the word? Are we in it from day to day? Read in it every day, he said.

And the kings neglected it to their downfall. So to further that, you already mentioned that it protected his heart. When he was reading the book, it protected his heart.

And I would say when he didn't read the book, his heart was not protected from those other things. Can we dwell upon that practically just as we get to the close? Neglect of the sanctuary and neglect of the scripture is a recipe for disaster. You know, no matter how often we say it, we still fail in it.

It's a very practical thing. And once again, the king who God had given Israel so that they wouldn't be like the nations, he turns his eyes to the nations. And I think there's as a consequence, and I absolutely agree with what the brethren have said, but one of the consequences of the neglect of God's word was an increase in worldliness and turning to Egypt and to get that which God had never intended him to possess.

Brodie, is this problem of idolatry of Solomon, is this something that has been endemic in the nation right back to its very commencement? Yes, you had it in Rachel. Yes. You had it in the wilderness with the calf.

You had it in the book of Judges made an ephod. You just have it. You have it right through the whole history of Israel's pilgrimage right up to this point in time.

And the captivity into Babylon and into Syria, Assyria was God really saying, if you want idols, I'll take you to the very center of it. That's it. And one of the wonderful things about scripture is this, that when they went into that captivity and came back out of it, to this very day, Israel has never gone into idolatry.

And you mean as an entity? Yes. But they will go into it in the tribulation period, right? They will, yes. When they embrace the man of sin.

That's right, yeah. Ultimate idolatry, yeah. Donald's setting up his own bible reading at the end of Matthew 12.

We're all out here, we're all laying the ground for ourselves. I should muzzle you guys who haven't had a bible reading yet. So here's what I see.

I have it called the spiral away, but it's really the downward is the spiritual spiral that ends up in the physical kingdom being affected, right? So we had Solomon and the seeds of spiritual apostasy down now to the splitting of the kingdom. So then you have the northern tribes and they never have a good king. And you have the southern tribes and occasionally they have a good king and they have revival.

But what comes down to now, we're going past just downward. Now we're going outward. And I've got 15 minutes left, that's why I'm moving us to this next point.

Now we're going outward. You mentioned the Assyrian captivity, 722? 722 BC. So 722 BC, I take it a lot of what Moses told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 28 and 29 is occurring, right? So then you go to 606, like John told us last night, where Nebuchadnezzar comes in, right? So Nebuchadnezzar now takes away Judah.

And not just Judah, but especially Jerusalem, right? And the king. And now I take it that in 606, that's what began the times of the Gentiles. No Jewish king on a throne in Jerusalem, but now Gentile dominion.

So I'm going to keep going with that just for a second. In 603, Nebuchadnezzar has his vision of the image, right? And Daniel gets to see the transfer of power, the transfer of the throne from Jerusalem now to the Gentiles. So then probably six years later, we have Jeremiah.

Not in chronology of writing, but Jeremiah makes the announcement to Jehoiakim. He says, there's not going to be a man of your seed sit on the throne. So now there's another transfer, but the transfer is not in power.

The transfer is from the line of Solomon to the line of Nathan. So that when the Lord Jesus comes, and we'll get to this, I'm sure. When the Lord Jesus comes, he's still the son of David, but he can't be the son of Solomon.

That's how huge the failure was, right? So that transfers over. And then I take it the next thing. And I think you're talking in terms six years, six years, six years.

Then Ezekiel says, glory of the Lord is left. So you went from a man on the throne in Jerusalem to now the Gentiles rule. You went from Solomon set up as the Davidic dynasty to now it's going to be Nathan.

And you went from the presence of the Lord, the glory of the Lord that filled the house of the Lord to now the glory of the Lord has left the temple. Ichabod is what probably you would say in first Samuel. So can I ask you then, you have referenced the times of the Gentiles.

Correct. Quite correctly, you have told us that the times of the Gentiles commenced with Nebuchadnezzar. The Bible is clear on that.

When will the times of the Gentiles run to? Well, I take it that the times of the Gentiles run until there's no more Gentile dominion in Jerusalem and the king sets up his throne. So we're coming to Mark's Bible reading. Correct.

So what I've done there is just drawn a few strands for us, just to show us that in Brody's Bible reading, dominion is lost. That dominion in kingship will never be restored until the Lord Jesus comes and sits upon the throne of his father, David. I was just going to quote the verse.

Please, Romans. And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet, and they were cast alive into the lake of fire. Yes.

End of Gentile rule. Sure. So what I want to notice there then too is that all of those things have left.

What are the prophets saying? Because the prophets had a role in this trajectory. I take it that the prophets were the writing prophets now. There are non-writing prophets, we know.

But the writing prophets were giving the warning connected with disobedience. You repent, you'll be blessed. You rebel, you'll be banished.

And it keeps being repeated in the prophets. Repent and be blessed, rebel and be banished. And then they were building on that because it's not just about that warning.

It's about holding out hope and reinforcing the Abrahamic covenant. Don't forget the land belongs to Abraham. Don't forget the seed, right? And they're reinforcing the Davidic covenant because according to Jeremiah, he says, you know, if you can end my covenant with the day and the night, then you'll end my covenant with David.

According to the Psalms, you know, I have sworn I will not repent, right? David is a king. The prophets had the responsibility of warning the nation where this disobedience will lead. But while the nation was taken away, they kept pointing forward to the ultimate fulfillment of these things.

So Isaiah, as an example, you have 39 chapters of condemnation, mostly as a theme. And then from chapter 40 on through chapter 66, you have the theme of consolation and the fulfillment of God's purpose for the nation. So even look, I know I outlined it there and maybe you haven't had a chance to look at it, but look at the outline.

Isaiah prophesied to Hezekiah, because you've shown them all your house, there's going to come a day when the king of Babylon will come and he'll take your sons captive. You know, the captivity is sure for Isaiah. But Isaiah chapter 9, you know, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, right? And the throne of his father David is in that prophecy.

So he's holding out hope because he knows that the covenant is sure. And he reminds him of that. We were in Daniel chapter 2, just talking about the times of the Gentiles.

But I take it that when the stone cut out without hands, where you'll take us tomorrow and fills the whole earth, the Lord Jesus setting up his kingdom after that is taken up also in chapter 7. Because in chapter 7, those beasts, they may not refer, they may not refer to the same thing. I'll give you that. Some people see it as referring to things that are yet to come.

We understand that. But at the very least, dominion is handed to the son of man, right? So now we have the end of Gentile rule again and the son takes the throne. So Daniel had it.

Jeremiah had it. Because Jeremiah doesn't just give us the sure covenant of David. Jeremiah gives us the new covenant, right? So it goes from captivity is sure, but so is the Davidic covenant, right? I think one of the, Jeremiah, if we know anything about Jeremiah, we know he was a pretty downbeat sort of guy.

But in that book of consolation that just lightens the darkness of his prophecy, it's a lovely thing. God says to Jeremiah, you're to go on to buy land. Naturally speaking, that was a ridiculous thing to do.

They were about to be carried away. But God says, this land is going to be inhabited again. You're going to be back here, Jeremiah.

This is an investment in something that's going to be valuable. Amen. I thought it was a lovely point that our brother Gilliland made, giving ministry on this era of history.

And he pointed out Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, the man who got his eyes put out after his sons were killed. That his name Zedekiah, Zedekiah, right? Which means righteousness. But in contrast to the promise that was made in Jeremiah chapter 23, that I will raise onto David a righteous branch and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

In his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely, pointing to the millennium. And this is the name whereby he shall be called, the Lord, our righteousness, Jehovah Zedekiah, or Zekenu, as we sing in the hymn. So the very name of the last king of Judah, total failure.

And yet God is going to bring back a king, Jehovah Zekenu. Can I point out something? We got six minutes. Point out something that would be a profitable discussion.

Did all of the failure connected with the nation and the kingdom literally happen? It's literal history, right? Predicted before, we know, by the land covenant or if you would take it in Deuteronomy. But that's literal history. We look back at that and see God's working in a kingdom in literal history.

The same prophets who wrote the warnings and wrote about the waning in literal history, write about the future. So is the future reign just as literal as the history? We can't lose sight of that. We can't just be juggling around and say, well, this really happened, but this is going to be just heavenly.

So you're not spiritualizing. I'm sorry to get into Marx therapy, but this anticipates it. You're not prepared to spiritualize that stuff, Brother Brody.

I am not prepared to spiritualize any of the promises and covenants of God that are everlasting. To remove the physical literal aspect and to replace that with a spiritualized metaphorical aspect is an error that will poison your theology. So Israel is not a replacement.

The church is not a replacement for Israel then. Correct. Spiritually.

Correct. What is the replacement for Israel? There is no replacement. Amen.

Amen. Israel is Israel is Israel is Israel ad infinitum. Amen.

Amen. Now Israel and having rejected Israel in unbelief. Are we getting into Marx? It's all feeding to his.

But we see that. We see that, right? So because people choose to spiritualize the promise and to address it metaphorically, if that's the correct word. You start to make things mean something they're not.

The moment that you say there's not going to be a literal rain in Jerusalem is the moment you take away the Davidic covenant. I have a Bible at home and I was interested to notice going through Isaiah. It has these running heads at the top.

And on one page, it says, you know, God announces judgments against the Jews. And that was fair enough. And I turned over the page.

God announces blessings for the church. And it's the same prophet speaking to the same audience with absolutely no indication. But we can't do that.

We can't sort of say Israel, well, they can have the judgments. But we'll take the blessings if that's all right. So I take it you didn't use that resource in preparing your book on the dispensations.

Well, I use what was below the head. The bit in italics at the top, I just ignored. Very good.

Very good. But Ezekiel now, four minutes. Ezekiel.

Chapters 8 to chapter 11, verse 23. The glory is leaving until the glory is left. The glory leaves and it's on the mountain to the east.

I take it that the Lord Jesus is going to return to that same mountain. He's going to enter the city. He's going to, after putting down all rebellion, set up his kingdom.

Going to build the temple. So that the presence, the physical presence of the Lord Jesus on the throne in Jerusalem is not the same as the glory of the Lord that will fill the temple in that day. I believe there are two things connected with his reign.

But they are distinct. But I am open to anything that someone might have on that. But just to clarify, the Lord Jesus is literally physically coming to the Mount of Olives.

It will divide. Then after all is taken care of, he enters into the city. And then he sets up the throne.

And then he builds the temple. But there's going to come a point where I take it in a few different scriptures. The cloud is going to fill the temple.

The cloud and the fire, which will represent in the millennial kingdom, the glory of the Lord present in Jerusalem. And the prophecy of Haggai, those people who were losing heart. They wondered if what they were doing was worth doing at all.

And the promise, the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the first. Good. Good, good.

So then in Ezekiel's final chapters, he talks about the glory coming from the east. Again, as well, doesn't he? But then he sets up the land in its different divisions. And then at the end, the Lord is there.

Yeah. The Lord is there. That really is the ultimate.

Jehovah Shama. Amen. Amen.