There's an expectation of The Kingdom coming in the first century NT times. Where is this in the OT? God calls Israel a Kingdom of priests and holy nation for Himself in Exodus 19:6. Israel later pisses God off by wanting to be like all the other nations with kings, so, God gives them Saul. He gets chucked for being a loser and the man after God's own heart, David steps in. Solomon followed David and then the kingdom divides, Judah (2-3 tribes in south, house of Judah) and Israel (10 tribes in north, House of Israel). Was part of the Gospel of the Kingdom bringing the 2 houses back to one? Is that why the disciples asked Christ if at that time in Acts 1:6 He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel?
Acts 1:6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
EZEKIEL 37: 15-23 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take A STICK OF WOOD AND WRITE ON IT, ‘BELONGING TO JUDAH AND THE ISRAELITES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM.’ Then TAKE ANOTHER STICK OF WOOD, AND WRITE ON IT, ‘BELONGING TO JOSEPH (THAT IS, TO EPHRAIM) AND ALL THE ISRAELITES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM.’ 17 JOIN THEM TOGETHER INTO ONE STICK SO THAT THEY WILL BECOME ONE IN YOUR HAND.
18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I AM GOING TO TAKE THE STICK OF JOSEPH—WHICH IS IN EPHRAIM’S HAND—AND OF THE ISRAELITE TRIBES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM, AND JOIN IT TO JUDAH’S STICK. I WILL MAKE THEM INTO A SINGLE STICK OF WOOD, AND THEY WILL BECOME ONE IN MY HAND.’ 20 HOLD BEFORE THEIR EYES THE STICKS YOU HAVE WRITTEN ON 21 AND SAY TO THEM, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS: I WILL TAKE THE ISRAELITES OUT OF THE NATIONS WHERE THEY HAVE GONE. I WILL GATHER THEM FROM ALL AROUND AND BRING THEM BACK INTO THEIR OWN LAND. 22 I WILL MAKE THEM ONE NATION IN THE LAND, ON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL. THERE WILL BE ONE KING OVER ALL OF THEM AND THEY WILL NEVER AGAIN BE TWO NATIONS OR BE DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
you will be for me a KINGDOM of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
HE IS THE ONE WHO WILL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME, AND I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM FOREVER.
YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR KINGDOM WILL ENDURE FOREVER BEFORE ME; YOUR THRONE WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOREVER.’”
And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his KINGDOM had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his KINGDOM over Israel forever.’
I will set him over my house and my KINGDOM forever; his throne will be established forever.’”
I will establish his KINGDOM forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’
Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the KINGDOM; you are exalted as head over all.
Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your KINGDOM.
Your KINGDOM is an everlasting KINGDOM, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his KINGDOM, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. THERE WILL BE ONE KING OVER ALL OF THEM AND THEY WILL NEVER AGAIN BE TWO NATIONS OR BE DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS.
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his KINGDOM endures from generation to generation.
But the holy people of the Most High will receive the KINGDOM and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’
until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the KINGDOM.
Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the KINGDOMS under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His KINGDOM will be an everlasting KINGDOM, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’
When he takes the throne of his KINGDOM, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.
and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his KINGDOM in Israel.
“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your KINGDOM over Israel for all time.
But now your KINGDOM will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the KINGDOM of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.
Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the KINGDOM?”
As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your KINGDOM will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me, for he must die!”
I know that you will surely be king and that the KINGDOM of Israel will be established in your hands.
The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the KINGDOM out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David.
and transfer the KINGDOM from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.”
Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my KINGDOM are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his KINGDOM FOR THE SAKE OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL.
When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his KINGDOM.
The king then asked, “Where is your master’s grandson?” Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather’s KINGDOM.’”
The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has given the KINGDOM into the hands of your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a murderer!”
“As you know,” he said, “the KINGDOM was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the KINGDOM has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord.
King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the KINGDOM for him—after all, he is my older brother—yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!”
Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and he died. The KINGDOM was now established in Solomon’s hands.
And Solomon ruled over all the KINGDOMS from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.
For he ruled over all the KINGDOMS west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides.
Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other KINGDOM.
So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the KINGDOM away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
Yet I will not tear the whole KINGDOM from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the KINGDOM out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes.
“‘But I will not take the whole KINGDOM out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees.
I will take the KINGDOM from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes.
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the KINGDOM for Rehoboam son of Solomon.
Jeroboam thought to himself, “The KINGDOM will now likely revert to the house of David.
I tore the KINGDOM away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.
As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or KINGDOM where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or KINGDOM claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.
After the KINGDOM was firmly in his grasp, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.
And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the KINGDOMS of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the KINGDOMS of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Once more a remnant of the KINGDOM of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his KINGDOM that Hezekiah did not show them.
and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the KINGDOM over to David son of Jesse.
Others Join David at Hebron
These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s KINGDOM over to him, as the Lord had said:
they wandered from nation to nation, from one KINGDOM to another.
When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his KINGDOM.
He put garrisons in the Aramean KINGDOM of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought him tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
Of all my sons—and the Lord has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the KINGDOM of the Lord over Israel.
together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the KINGDOMS of all the other lands.
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his KINGDOM, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other KINGDOM.
When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered Judah and Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the KINGDOM for Rehoboam.
They strengthened the KINGDOM of Judah and supported Rehoboam son of Solomon three years, following the ways of David and Solomon during this time.
“And now you plan to resist the KINGDOM of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.
He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the KINGDOM was at peace under him.
The Lord established the KINGDOM under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.
The fear of the Lord fell on all the KINGDOMS of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.
and said: “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the KINGDOMS of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
And the KINGDOM of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.
Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah, but he had given the KINGDOM to Jehoram because he was his firstborn son.
Jehoram King of Judah
When Jehoram established himself firmly over his father’s KINGDOM, he put all his brothers to the sword along with some of the officials of Israel.
He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.” So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the KINGDOM.
After the KINGDOM was firmly in his control, he executed the officials who had murdered his father the king.
They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the KINGDOM, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord.
Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or KINGDOM has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”
And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his KINGDOM. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the KINGDOM of Persia came to power.
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the KINGDOMS of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the KINGDOMS of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
Now I decree that any of the Israelites in my KINGDOM, including priests and Levites, who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you, may go.
“You gave them KINGDOMS and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.
Even while they were in their KINGDOM, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.
Nations are in uproar, KINGDOMS fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
Sing to God, you KINGDOMS of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the KINGDOMS that do not call on your name;
when the peoples and the KINGDOMS assemble to worship the Lord.
The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his KINGDOM rules over all.
they wandered from nation to nation, from one KINGDOM to another.
They tell of the glory of your KINGDOM and speak of your might,
so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your KINGDOM.
The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his KINGDOM.
Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made KINGDOMS tremble,
“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, KINGDOM against KINGDOM.
The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea and made its KINGDOMS tremble. He has given an order concerning Phoenicia that her fortresses be destroyed.
The KINGDOM of Righteousness
See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.
Her nobles will have nothing there to be called a KINGDOM, all her princes will vanish away.
Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the KINGDOMS of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
Once more a remnant of the KINGDOM of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his KINGDOM that Hezekiah did not show them.
For the nation or KINGDOM that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined.
See, today I appoint you over nations and KINGDOMS to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”
I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern KINGDOMS,” declares the Lord. “Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah.
Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their KINGDOMS, there is no one like you.
I will make them abhorrent to all the KINGDOMS of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
If at any time I announce that a nation or KINGDOM is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,
And if at another time I announce that a nation or KINGDOM is to be built up and planted,
I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the KINGDOMS of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them.
and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other—all the KINGDOMS on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak will drink it too.
“‘“If, however, any nation or KINGDOM will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the KINGDOMS of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals.
“Have you not noticed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two KINGDOMS he chose’? So they despise my people and no longer regard them as a nation.
Warning to Zedekiah
While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the KINGDOMS and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
“Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the Lord—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the KINGDOMS of the earth.
Concerning Kedar and the KINGDOMS of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the Lord says: “Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East.
Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has brought her KINGDOM and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.
so that the KINGDOM would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty.
I will bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt, the land of their ancestry. There they will be a lowly KINGDOM.
It will be the lowliest of KINGDOMS and will never again exalt itself above the other nations. I will make it so weak that it will never again rule over the nations.
“Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the KINGDOMS of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my KINGDOM. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before.
The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the KINGDOM.”
There is a man in your KINGDOM who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.
Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the KINGDOM.”
He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all KINGDOMS on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.
Peres: Your KINGDOM is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the KINGDOM.
KINGDOM—
Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the KINGDOM of Israel.
Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two KINGDOMS? Is their land larger than yours?
Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the KINGDOM.”
“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful KINGDOM. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord.
Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the KINGDOM will be the Lord’s.
“I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the KINGDOMS your shame.
Therefore wait for me,” declares the Lord, “for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the KINGDOMS and to pour out my wrath on them— all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
