The Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version© 1979, 1980, 1982 Thomas NelsonInc, Publishers.

Illustrations are used, with permission, from Art Today, Dynamic Graphics and Darren Storey.Text by Tecwyn Morgan, courtesy of Glad Tidings

Designed and produced by Jarvis North West Print

Published by Christadelphian ALS, PO Box 10817, Birmingham B27 6ZR

Viewed from outer space theearth looks glorious already,according to the privileged fewwho viewed it from shuttle orspace station. We know, how-ever, that the world has prob-lems – some of them big ones –and that they are not easilysolved. There’s no point in pre-tending otherwise.

Those who LoseIn a prophecy about thenew world order, whichwill be established whenGod takes direct rule of theearth, the Psalmist pre-cisely identified thosewho lose out today, andcatalogued the things thatneed putting right, so thatGod’s earth can be as heintends.

It wasn’t just that the writer had agood insight into how things were in hisday, and that he guessed that humannature wouldn’t change much over theyears, although that would have been afairly safe guess. He was a prophet whowrote like a poet, and God was speak-ing to mankind through him.

So what did he say? You can read thewhole prediction yourself in about 5minutes – it’s Psalm 72 – and it wouldbe a good thing to do if you’re feeling abit depressed, and are wondering if any-one will ever get around to sortingthings out. A lot of well-meaning folk areproperly concerned about a wide rangeof issues, like:

v War – the Cold War might have fin-ished but there’s still a lot of itabout, and it seems to get morecomplicated – Iraq, Afghanistan,Bosnia, North Korea, Israel. Weknow the problem areas wellenough.

v Terrorism – ever since the WorldTrade Centre attack, people havebeen uncertain where terrorists willstrike next. It could be near you, oraffect the people you love.

v Famine – millions of people are stillin need of welfare assistance, and

hundreds of thousands aredying every year because

they haven’t enough foodor clean water. The prob-

lems include failing rains,poor crops, sick soil, civil wars,

trade sanctions and a host of oth-er things.

v Illness – Africa in particular is huge-ly affected by the AIDs epidemic,which threatens to destabilisemany nations by killing a large num-ber of adults, and passing HIVinfection to the next generation,and that’s just one modern pan-demic. Solve one problem andanother – like SARS – comes andspreads fast!

Better Future?We could all do with a better – a morepeaceful, friendly, secure and safe –world, but how is it going to happen?And how confident can we be that God

The Earth’s GloriousThe Earth’s GloriousFutureFuture

1

is going to do something about it?That’s where Psalm 72 comes in. Here’swhat it says. When God sends His Kingto Jerusalem – of all places – to ruleover a worldwide Kingdom, this will bethe consequence:

“He will judge [God’s] people withrighteousness, and [His] poor withjustice … He will deliver the needywhen he cries, the poor also, and himwho has no helper. He will spare thepoor and needy, and will save thesouls of the needy. He will redeemtheir life from oppression and violence”(72:2, 12-14).

That’s the first promise. The King willcare about little people – like us – andwill make sure that we are cared for,delivered from oppression, rescuedfrom danger, and given safety and secu-rity. We could all do with more of that,and soon!

Peace and Security

“He will bring justice to thepoor of the people; hewill save the children ofthe needy, and willbreak in pieces theoppressor … In hisdays the righteousshall flourish, andabundance of peace …He shall have dominionalso from sea to sea, andfrom the river to the ends ofthe earth … all kings shall fall downbefore Him; all nations shall serve him”(72:4,7-8,11).

Here’s another promise from AlmightyGod, through his Psalmist. What manhas been quite unable to achieve – forthere have always been wars and theyare getting more deadly and the long-term effects more lethal – God will

accomplish. His power can achievewhat has been unattainable to date. Heis going to take control and that controlwill be absolute.

The Earth in HandGod is going to take the earth inhand – that’s what the motif onthis month’s front cover indicates.

What man has been unable, andsometimes unwilling, to do – God

will accomplish. God’s earthhas a glorious future. Andhow will He do it? By much

more than simply exercising power. Pickup something fragile and you can easilybreak it – that takes no skill at all, onlypower. Combine power with understand-ing, and it’s a very different situation.God is going to bring the world back toits rightful place in His purpose. Here’sthe Psalmist again:

“His name shall continue as long as thesun. And men shall be blessed in him;all nations shall call him blessed.Blessed be the LORD God, the God of

Israel, who only does wondrousthings! And blessed be his gloriousname forever! And let the wholeearth be filled with his glory”(72:17-19).

God is going to become the verycentre of everything and huge

blessings will result, for all thosewho are privileged to share in that

new age – who live in the Kingdom ofGod. That will be set up on earth at thecoming of God’s chosen King – the LordJesus Christ.

If you are concerned about the waythe world is going and want to knowmore about what has been promised,and how you can become part of thatnew age – this special issue is all aboutGod’s plan for the earth’s gloriousfuture, and for you.

2

God’s SpokesmanA family member is often better able toconvey what the head of the family hasdecided, because he orshe understands all thebackground, and knowshow family things work.

Jesus is the Son ofGod. So, what did Godsay especially clearlythrough His Son(Hebrews 1:2)? hespoke a lot about thesort of life we shouldlead if we too want tobe members of God’sfamily. It was a keytheme.

The world has gonebackwards, not forwards, in moral andspiritual matters, since Jesus taught.Once people lived close to God andthought a lot about Him and His way oflife. God’s law was then practised by Hisnation – Israel. It was designed to givepeople a chance to live together harmo-niously and happily, living by love.

RebirthJesus taught that the future is to bebuilt on new principles and values –ones we have to develop if we are to bein the Kingdom of God. This has to startnow – we can’t wait until the Kingreturns. It is a radical new way of living

that Jesus has in mind. We have to beborn again – of water and the spirit.

The Lord’s encounter with Nicodemusis described in John chapter 3.Rebirth by water means Chris-tian baptism, a practice thatJesus had already endorsedwhen he was baptised in Jor-dan (see Matthew 3:13-17).It’s the first step to a new life –to signify that our life-changehas begun (see Mark 16:16,and Romans chapter 6).

Being ‘born of the Spirit’means that we have to devel-op some spiritual characteris-tics. We’ve got to start toabsorb God’s way of thinking,if we want to live more like

Him. If we can do that now, we will beready for the new world, and its values,when the law of God is once more inthe world.

Profound TeachingsThat’s why a lot of Jesus’ parables startwith the words: “The kingdom of God islike…” and go on to describe people inmany different circumstances. The sto-ries, with their profound moral lessons,tell us how we can become the sort ofpeople who will inhabit that new world.Here are one or two examples aboutthis Kingdom teaching, all taken fromMark’s gospel:

What Jesus Taught aboutWhat Jesus Taught aboutthe Futurethe Future

A prophet was not just someone who foresaw the future. In Bible times, prophetsspoke out for God – on His behalf. The Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest prophet

who ever lived for two reasons. First, he spoke for God as nobody else ever has, orever could. Second, he foretold the future in remarkable detail. Some of that has

already been fulfilled, the rest is about to be.

3

was something that featured at Jesus’trial, when he was being pressed by theJewish authorities to say whether or nothe claimed to be the Jewish Messiah –the Divine King promised in the Scrip-tures, who would deliver Israel from allher enemies.

He was asked directly, “Are you theChrist (the Messiah)?” – andJesus answered in a way thatconvicted him in their eyes.

This is what he said:

“I am. And you will see theSon of Man sitting at theright hand of the Power,

and coming with the cloudsof heaven” (Mark 14:62).

Those words were socharged with meaning to

his Jewish audience –because they were a direct quota-

tion from their Scriptures – that the HighPriest actually tore his robes as a reac-tion: he thought it was that blasphe-mous of Jesus to claim to be God’sanointed King. They proceeded with thenext stages of the trial, no doubt well-pleased that they had extracted a fullconfession from the prisoner.

JerusalemBut what Jesus said was true. He is dueto return as Israel’s King, the last of along line of kings who reigned fromJerusalem in time past. But he was notabout to reign then. On one occasion,as he approached the city Jesus wept,saying:

“The days will come upon you when yourenemies will build an embankmentaround you, surround you and close youin on every side, and level you, and yourchildren within you, to the ground; andthey will not leave in you one stone uponanother, because you did not know the

“The kingdom of God is as if a manshould scatter seed on the ground, andshould sleep by night and rise by day,and the seed should sprout and grow,he himself does not know how”(4:26,27);

“Assuredly, I say to you, whoever doesnot receive the kingdom of God as a lit-tle child will by no means enter it”(10:15);

When Jesus saw that heanswered wisely, he said tohim, “You are not far fromthe kingdom of God”(12:34).

There are things wehave to do if we want tobe there. We have to letGod’s Word grow in us(like a seed bearing fruit); wehave to become childlike in the trustand confidence we place in God. Devel-op those qualities, with God’s help, andit might be true of us too that we arenot far from God’s Kingdom.

Ways and MeansDid Jesus say nothing about how God’skingdom would come? He most certain-ly did! The point is, though, that he wasconcerned – first and foremost – thatwe should understand the importanceof getting our own lives right. It’s notgoing to help us much, if, when theKingdom comes, we are excluded. Thatwas a warning Jesus put firmly to thereligious rulers of his day (see Luke13:28) and, by extension, to all of us.As he said in his well-known Sermon onthe Mount:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and hisrighteousness, and all these things shallbe added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

How the kingdom will be established

4

time of your visitation” (Luke 19:43,44).

Pinpoint AccuracyThat turned out to be a remarkablyaccurate prediction of what happenedless than thirty years later. It was givenat a time when the Jewish authoritiesreckoned that their co-operation withthe Romans would secure Jerusalem’slong-term future (see John 11:49,50).

It did not.The Jewish populationbecame increasingly troublesome to theRomans so, in 70 AD, they besiegedJerusalem, captured it, and destroyedmuch of it, including the much-prizedHerodian temple. Not one stone of thatwas left standing.

Thus was fulfilled a detailed prophecyJesus had given to his disciples when,on one occasion, they had asked himfor a glimpse of the future. He repeatedhis prediction that it would be throwndown, before adding alot of detail about thesequence of futureevents. That prophecy– given on the Mountof Olives overlookingJerusalem – is fullyrecorded in three ofthe gospels (Matthewchapter 24; Mark 13and Luke 21) and iswell worth reading. It contains a cata-logue of events that would come to passbefore his Return as King, including:] false Christianity developing

] wars and rumours of wars

] famines and earthquakes

] increasing world troubles…

Times of CrisisThis panorama of coming events buildsup to a time of crisis and calamity, indi-

cating that Jesus foresaw that the daysimmediately preceding his Comingwould be traumatic and extremelystressful, as they are now for many peo-ple. He talked about a growing amountof apprehension and uncertainty:

“On the earth distress of nations, withperplexity ... men’s hearts failing themfrom fear and the expectation of thosethings which are coming on the earth,for the powers of heaven will be shaken.Then they will see the Son of Man com-ing in a cloud with power and great glo-ry” (Luke 21:25-27).

Beware!There is something else that accompa-nied these detailed predictions: some-thing we have already noticed about theteaching of Jesus. Alongside the point-ers of continuing trouble – including a

lot of detail specifically for theJewish nation about the fateof Jerusalem, and their exilefor centuries – there is a lot ofadvice about how believersshould cope with all this, andwhat their response shouldbe.

Whilst all these things arehappening, we have to bealert, watchful, awake, faith-

ful, prayerful and ready for whatevercomes (see Matthew 24:36-51).

Jews in JerusalemExactly what Jesus predicted has beenhappening – including the return toJerusalem of the Jewish nation (Luke21:24).

There had to be Jews in charge ofJerusalem before the Final Act of God’sGreat Purpose could be played out. Nowthey are there, surrounded by enemies,just as the prophets of God predicted.

5

Few cities have such a chequered pastas Jerusalem, or such a colourful one.There have been so many changesthere.

Fortifications have been built,enlarged, demolished and rebuilt. Tem-ples have come and gone, followed bychurches and mosques, bringing enor-mous complications and religious sensi-tivities. Palaces have been built,enlarged, then utterly destroyed. Andduring all these changes ordinary peo-ple have continued to live there, build-ing and rebuilding, as theirhousing needs required.

Colourful PastNow that ancient cityis a thriving modernmetropolis, occupied byboth Jews and Palestin-ian Arabs, and there iskeen rivalry to make itthe capital city of eitherthe Israeli or PalestinianState – if one is established– or of both! People onboth sides are anxious toestablish their prior claimsto the city, making even the history ofJewish and Arab occupation a matter ofcontention. But, for Bible readers, thereis a quite different reason why they wantto know about the early days ofJerusalem, archaeology or politicsapart.

The Bible record is second to nonewhen it comes to historical detail,because the people who wrote it wereinspired by God. This was not done togive the Jewish nation sound credentialsfor their 21st century claims; it was arecord of God’s dealings with a land that

He has chosen to make the centre ofHis purpose. God could have chosenanywhere; but the Bible says that hechose Israel – because His purposecentred upon a man called Abraham(see Deuteronomy 7:6-8).

“Give us a King”God had chosen a people, given them aland, with a law and rulers to governand direct them, and had chosen aplace where he wanted to be wor-shipped by them. That place wasJerusalem – for hundreds of years

occupied by the Jebusites, who livedthere surrounded by the new settlers. God was biding his time, waiting for

the time when he would appoint a King,and begin the next phase of His gra-cious purpose. He was going to estab-lish the Kingdom of God on earth –exercising Divine rulership through aman he would appoint to rule on hisbehalf.

The people of Israel couldn’twait.They wanted a king, but for all

the wrong reasons, and God let themchoose one, so that they could see thatkings were only a good idea if you gotthe right one. Their choice – King Saul –was certainly not good for the nation;with him they got what they deserved.Big Trouble!

Another KingForty years later God chose them a kingwho suited His purpose and, in KingDavid, they saw what life could be likewhen a godly man took control andruled for God. He was effective, sensi-ble, powerful, fair, interested in his peo-ple, talented, an excellent warrior, aprudent man, and a born leader.

A King in JerusalemA King in Jerusalem

6

Things really went well for the nationand this was the moment when Godmade it known that Jerusalem was theplace He wanted as the spiritual centreof the nation. So David captured it fromthe Jebusites, built a palace there, fur-ther fortified the site, and began prepa-rations for a Temple to be built there.

God’s Covenant PromisesJust as God had made promises toAbraham, as that faithful man proceed-ed through life, so now he gave Davidsome vital promises, this time concern-ing Jerusalem, the dynasty of kings whowould rule from there, and the greatend he had in mind, which wouldfind its perfect fulfilment at a timewhen a perfect man would rule inJerusalem over a world-wide King-dom that would last forever.

Those promises – laterdescribed as a Covenantthat God made with KingDavid – are easy to readand understand. They are notlike human legislation, whichis so full of “ifs and buts” thatyou can never quite under-stand what it is trying toachieve. You can study themby reading 2 Samuel 7, vers-es 1-17, the key points being that:¯ Israel would dwell securely in God’s

land (7:10);

¯ David’s descendants would suc-ceed to his throne in Jerusalem(v12,16);

¯ One special descendant wouldbuild God a Temple there (v13);

¯ His kingdom would last forever(v13);

¯ He would be God’s Son (v14).Just a glance at that is sufficient to

show that although David’s immediatesuccessor – King Solomon – was able todo some of these things, includingbuilding God a magnificent Temple, hewas far from being the perfect man Godhad in his sights, who would establishan everlasting Kingdom. Indeed, a care-ful look at the account shows that Godhad in mind that whilst none of thiswould start until after David’s death,David would himself be there, with hisfuture descendant (see 2 Samuel7:12).

That shows that the final phase ofGod’s purpose will only happen when

faithful David has been raised fromthe unconscious sleep of death.This was something that New Tes-tament writers clearly understoodand taught (see Acts 2:25-31).Meanwhile the throne would bevacant.

Meanwhile…We are still waiting for David to beraised from the dead, and he diedsome three thousand years ago.There was a lot that was due to hap-pen in Jerusalem over the next fewhundred years, not all of it good.

All told, there were 21 kings whosucceeded David, in a dynasty that last-ed nearly 400 years (from 970 BC to586 BC). Some of them were good andable men; some extremely talented;some good soldiers and administrators;some were very spiritual men. Otherswere quite the opposite: selfish, foolish,godless, wasteful and evil.

At times Jerusalem, and the people ofJudah, flourished and lived in harmonywith God. At other times the nation wasat war – often with the rest of Israel,immediately to the north; was overrunwith idolatry; was subservient to one orother of the international powers then

7

dominating the Middle East; or was gen-erally in disarray.

God provided spiritual guidance bysending prophets, or by bringing pres-sure to bear upon His nation, in one wayor another. The writer of the Sacred His-tory described all this endeavour byGod, and Israel’s lack of response, thenadds:

“... until the wrath of the LORD aroseagainst his people, till there was noremedy” (2 Chronicles 36:15,16).

End GameIt all came to an end in thedays of a man calledZedekiah, who was king dur-ing a difficult period of inter-national tension andpressure. He was himself anappointee of his Baby-lonian overlord, forIsrael had become asubservient nation.Even so he staggeredalong as king for elevenyears in all, during whichtime God supportedhim with oneprophet – Jeremiah– in Jerusalem and other prophet-ic guidance from elsewhere.

But Zedekiah could not bring himselfto put his trust entirely in God; he was aman much inclined to change his mindand to be influenced by his courtiersand nobles. At last the inevitableoccurred. There was a rebellion againstBabylon and that nation decided tomake an example of Israel, to makesure all their other subject peoplelearned their lesson. The Babylonianscame and destroyed Jerusalem anddeported all the people of Judah.

From exile in Babylon, the prophetEzekiel sent this message to King

Zedekiah – it declared the end of thekingdom of God on earth, but held out apromise of hope for the future, when adifferent King was available:

‘Now to you, O profane, wicked prince ofIsrael, whose day has come, whose iniq-uity shall end, thus says the Lord God:‘Remove the turban, and take off thecrown; nothing shall remain the same.Exalt the lowly, and abase the exalted.

Overthrown, overthrown, I will make itoverthrown! It shall be no longer, until

he comes whose right it is, and Iwill give it to him’ “ (Ezekiel 21:25-27).

Whose Right is It?One Day, Ezekiel promised, the King-dom of God on earth would berestored. The fatal flaw had been thenature of the 23 kings who hadreigned – including Saul and David.

None of them had been capableof resisting the attractions andopportunities of office; theywere all found wanting. Butwhen a King appeared whodemonstrated a different capa-bility, and who was seen to be

wholly the master of every situa-tion, he would be the One to rein-

troduce God’s Kingdom.Long before Zedekiah, King David had

spelled out the responsibility of Kingshipin Jerusalem when he said this of hissuccessor:

“Of all my sons (for the LORD has givenme many sons) he has chosen my sonSolomon to sit on the throne of the king-dom of the LORD over Israel” (1 Chroni-cles 28:5).

So saying, David had shown that herealised that this throne was unique. Itwas not a humanly-arranged dynasty,when one family could get dominion

8

can see how anxious many people wereto know when the Kingdom would beestablished from the question the disci-ples put to the risen Lord Jesus.

He had been with them, on and off,for nearly six weeks after his resurrec-tion and, the record says, he had beeninstructing them about the Kingdom ofGod. This was, as we have seen, amajor topic in Jesus’ teaching plan. Itconcerned the importance of right living,for would-be citizens of that kingdom,as well as providing information aboutthe things that were due to happen

before Jesus returns as King. Theirconcern about timing –whether in their lifetime ornot – expressed itself in thisexchange, which is the lastrecorded conversationbetween Jesus and his clos-est followers. It gives us an

insight into the message that wasat the heart of what the apostlesbelieved and later taught:

When they had come together, theyasked him, saying, ‘Lord, will you at thistime restore the kingdom to Israel?’ Andhe said to them, ‘It is not for you to knowtimes or seasons which the Father hasput in his own authority’ (Acts 1:6-7).

There was no doubt in their mindsthat Jesus was coming again to rule asKing. Their question was “When?”, andthe answer Jesus gave was not a rebuke– that they were on the wrong track, orthat they had quite misunderstood hismessage. It was that everything wouldhappen according to God’s timetable.

Meanwhile, they had to get on withtheir part of the arrangement, and sharethe good news of God’s Coming King-dom with all who wanted to know. TheKingdom would come, Jesus said, whenthe time was right.

over all others, and then share powerand influence with friends and relations.The Kingdom was God’s, and He was –and is – the One who would appoint theKing. No wonder there was such excite-ment in Israel when – nearly two thou-sand years after David – an angelappeared to a simple village girl andsaid of the Son she was to bear that:

“He will be great, and will be called theSon of the Highest; and the Lord God willgive him the throne of his fatherDavid. And he will reign over thehouse of Jacob forever, and of hiskingdom there will be noend” (Luke 1:32,33).

Here, at last, was theOne who was to fulfil thecovenant God had madewith David. Here was theOne God was appointingto establish an everlastingKingdom. For God’s own Son – just asDavid had been promised – was aboutto be born of the virgin Mary. He was theOne who would demonstrate, by thequality of his life, that he was qualifiedfirst to rule himself and then to rule overothers, for God.

The Kingdom – When?It is a tribute to the Lord Jesus that hiscontemporaries believed that he wasindeed the One who would rule as King.And how they wanted a King! The nationhad returned from exile in Babylon tostart again as a nation, but they hadalways been in subservience to oneEmpire or another.

At the time Jesus lived on earth it wasthe Romans who were the ruling powerand some of the Jews were desperateto throw them out and establish a Jew-ish nation. That desire would be theirundoing, as things turned out. But you

9

The Poetic Vision of aThe Poetic Vision of aNew AgeNew Age

God’s Word was written overseveral thousand years by avery mixed group of people.Some writers were narrators,or historians; some wereprophets; some apostles; andsome were poets.

Poetry in the BibleIt would be wrong to think of Bible poetsas people sucking their pencils, orquills, waiting for a goodidea or a nice phraseto come into theirminds. God inspired thepeople who wrote downHis message, so thatwhen they spoke it waswith such authority theycould declare: “Thussays the Lord…” or “TheWord of the Lordcame…”. God’s inspiredspokesmen communicatedHis message to mankind. That wasequally true of Bible poetry.

Israel’s HymnsIt should not surprise us that thePsalmists of Israel expressed theirprayers in poetic form; hymn writershave done that all through the ages, inhymns like:

“O God our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come…”

But Israel’s hymns, which now com-prise the Book of Psalms, are quite dif-ferent in kind from the hymns writtentoday. As King David said:

“The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and hisword was on my tongue. The God of Israelsaid, the Rock of Israel spoke to me” (2Samuel 23:2,3); and again,

“My heart is overflowing with a good theme;I recite my composition concerning the King;my tongue is the pen of a ready writer”(Psalm 45:1).

Hymns with MeaningGod inspired these hymns, or

Psalms, in poetic form so thatthe words would stick in theminds of people who read orsang them. They were capableof being set to music andsung, to make Israel’s worshipeven more attractive anduplifting.

None of the Psalms arepoetry for poetry’s sake – they

contain a great deal of infor-mation about God’s nature, char-

acter and purpose. In fact, they are atreasure-trove of information aboutGod’s coming Kingdom. They tell uswhat life will be like when the Lord Jesusreturns as King, just as they depict whatwas due to happen to him when hecame to live on earth. Because theywere written thousands of years ago,the credentials of Bible poetry are firm-ly established by now.

Life-Story in AdvanceIf you are wondering if the musings of apoet can teach you anything positiveabout the future, consider these predic-tions about what was due to happen tothe Messiah when first he came to

10

Israel, all of them taken from the Bookof Psalms:

“I have become a stranger to my brothers,and an alien to my mother’s children” (69:8);

“They reward me evil for good, to the sorrowof my soul” (35:12);

“Even my own familiar friend in whom I trust-ed, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heelagainst me” (41:9);

“False witnesses have risenagainst me, and such asbreathe out violence”(27:12);

“All those who seeme laugh me toscorn; they shootout the lip, theyshake the head, say-ing, He trusted inthe LORD, let himrescue him; let himdeliver him, since he delights in him! … I ampoured out like water, and all my bones areout of joint; my heart is like wax; it has melt-ed within me ... I can count all my bones.They look and stare at me” (22:7,8,14,17);

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,but the LORD delivers him out of them all. Heguards all his bones; not one of them is bro-ken” (34:19,20).

Breath-taking isn’t it! Here, in a sam-ple from just six Psalms, is a propheticportrait of the Lord Jesus, written athousand years before his birth, yetaccurately predicting his – estrange-ment from the family, rejection by theJewish nation as a whole, betrayal byJudas, the false accusations madeagainst him, and the taunts that fol-lowed his crucifixion.

That was described graphically, at atime when Roman Crucifixion had not

been introduced. Even the detail wasgiven that his bones would not be bro-ken, though the legs of the two thievescrucified with him were. For he wasGod’s Passover Lamb (see Exodus12:46).

Forward-Looking HymnsIf you think that’s impressive, readthrough all 150 Psalms for yourselflooking out for such predictions andpointers. If you have a Bible with cross-references, keep an eye out for New

Testament references which will helpyou spot the way in which those writ-

ers themselves dipped into thePsalms, to show that every-

thing that happened to Jesus hadbeen forward-planned by God (for

example, John 19:36, 37). If you do that, you cannot fail to

notice how often the inspiredpoet looked forward to the timewhen God’s appointed King willreign on earth over God’s King-

dom. Here are some sample verses,this time taking in the order in whichthey appear in the Psalms – the sort ofthing you will find for yourself when youread through and note some of themdown:

“The kings of the earth set themselves, andthe rulers take counsel together, against theLORD and against his Anointed … Yet I haveset my King on my holy hill of Zion. I willdeclare the decree: The LORD has said tome, ‘You are my Son, today I have begottenyou. Ask of me, and I will give you the nationsfor your inheritance, and the ends of theearth for your possession” (Psalm 2:2, 6-8);

“You have made him (the Son of Man) a littlelower than the angels, and you have crownedhim with glory and honour. You have madehim to have dominion over the works of yourhands; you have put all things under his feet”(8:4-6);

The Psalms contained a detailedportrait of what Jesus would be like.

11

“The LORD ... shall judge the world in right-eousness ... The LORD also will be a refugefor the oppressed, a refuge in times of trou-ble. And those who know your name will puttheir trust in you; for you, LORD, have not for-saken those who seek you. Sing praises tothe LORD, who dwells in Zion!” (9:8-11).

New Testament CommentaryThat’s just a little way through the 150Psalms, but you will notice that the var-ious inspired poets foretell, in the orderwe quoted, extracts from the Psalms:⌦ The hostile reception Jesus will receive

when he comes to Jerusalem, fromthere to reign as King;

⌦ The dominion that God will confer uponHis Son, when all things are putunder him;

⌦ That Jesus will judge theworld, and call it to account,on God’s behalf, at whichtime he will keep his peoplesafe.

If you think that some of thisis a bit far-fetched or fanciful,bear in mind that it is interpreted in justthat way in the New Testament by fur-ther inspired writers who believed in theauthority and accuracy of the poeticvision and who said so, in the clearestpossible terms. Sometimes:Ø the apostles saw an initial fulfil-

ment as well, in their own circum-stances – for example, Psalm 2 isreferred to in Acts 4:25,26, todemonstrate that hostility alreadyexisted against the followers ofJesus, but see also Revelation2:26,27;12:5 and 19:15;

Ø the same Psalm is referred to overand over – Psalm 8 is cited inHebrews 2:6-8, but it is also men-tioned in 1 Corinthians 15:25-27and Ephesians 1:22;

Ø the message of one Psalm isrepeated in other Psalms as well –Psalm 9, about God judging theworld, features in Acts 17:31, butthe same wonderful truth is repeat-ed in Psalms 96:13 and 98:9.

Painter’s PaletteIn a way the Old Testament writings arelike the preparatory work a painter willdo before tackling the final painting. Hewill mix colours, do sketches, study pos-sible angles, or experiment with differ-ent lighting effects. In themselves, theJewish Scriptures are remarkable, inthat they anticipate such wonderful

things taking place. They speak of the Com-

ing of the Son of God anddescribe the saving workhe was to accomplish forus. They delineate hisfuture work, when he willrule from Jerusalem as

God’s anointed King, andthey detail the sort of socie-

ty that will then exist – God’sNew World.

But they did not identify pre-cisely who the King was going to be –except to say that he would be God’sSon, virgin-born in Bethlehem of Judea,acclaimed by Kings at his birth, rejectedby the people he came to save, that hewould die as a sacrifice for the sins ofthe people, and that God would raisehim from the dead, and set him at hisright hand in glory.

It is the New Testament that com-pletes the portrait, joyfully declaring thatit is “Jesus of Nazareth” who is the fin-ished product – God’s masterpiece!Jesus is the very embodiment of thepoetic vision – God’s appointed Saviour,for all who will find God through him.

12

Wherever you look in theScriptures the message isabout the Coming of a King.He is the One who will reignfor God and establish a newsociety on earth.

Big and SmallThere are 17 books in the Old Testa-ment that would be reckoned as thewritings of theProphets. In fact,they all say the samething in generalterms, but theyeach add differentbits of detail. Theresult is a remark-able jigsaw of pre-dictions, all ofwhich are entirely consistentand complementary.

All the prophets agree about theirmain message – that God is going tointervene to take over the governmentof the earth. They state that mankind isastray from God and that, if leftunchecked, human sinfulness willdestroy the world. So, God will have tointervene to stop the downhill slide todestruction and take control.

Details, Details…What sort of world is it going to be whena King rules in Jerusalem? Will thingscarry on as they are now, but be centredin the Middle East? Or will life be utter-ly different?

If you were to compile a checklist ofthe things you think need changing, for

the world to be a better place, what sortof things would they be?þ Perfect Health – all diseases cured, all

hurts healed

þ Food for all – no more famine or mal-nutrition

þ Impartial Justice – all Criminals broughtto account promptly and effectively

þ No more Crime – people able to live insafety

þ No more War – nations living at peace

þ Education – everyone having thechance to learn about important things

þ Morality – people knowing right fromwrong, and living properly

þ Religion – one true religion in place ofthe present religious confusion

þ Fulfilment – people having real job sat-isfaction and getting just rewards

þ Environment – no more damage to theenvironment by exploitation or pollution

þ Happiness – everyone living in harmonyin real enjoyment.

People don’t compile lists like that,even for their amusement, becausethey find the exercise a bit depressing.Such a list highlights the differencebetween what we would like and whatwe’ve got. “What’s the point”, we say,“of dreaming about the impossible?We’ll just have to make the best of whatwe’ve got.”

Impossible Dream?Yet any exercise of self-improvement orfuture development has to start with anassessment of where we are and where

Prophecy’s Witness – AProphecy’s Witness – AKing is ComingKing is Coming

13

we would like to be, before we start toset ourselves targets. And all humangovernments, of whatever political per-suasion, are trying to improve things inline with the checklist we have just pro-duced. It’s just that it takes time, costsa huge amount of money, and thatprogress in one area seems to be offsetby setbacks in another area.

And the stakes are higher than ever.Man can now destroy the world, if notwith weapons of mass destruction, thenby upsetting the global ecology and pol-luting the planet. It only takes a mad-man to gain control, and who knowswhat might happen.

Wise ManThe prophets of God forecast a betterfuture because they understood thatGod will provide a truly wise man toreign as King, and that he will beimbued with all the power he needs totake and exercise control. Looking atjust one of the longer prophets – Isaiah– notice what he says about the man,who was to be born of a virgin(7:14), and who would be God’sappointed King:

“Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son isgiven; and the government will be uponhis shoulder. And his name will becalled Wonderful, Counsellor,Mighty God, Everlasting Father,Prince of Peace. Of theincrease of his governmentand peace there will be no end,upon the throne of David [in Jerusalem]and over his kingdom, to order it andestablish it with judgment and justice fromthat time forward, even forever” (Isaiah9:6,7)

“The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, theSpirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of

knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. Hisdelight is in the fear of the LORD, and heshall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nordecide by the hearing of his ears; but withrighteousness he shall judge the poor, anddecide with equity for the meek of the earth;he shall strike the earth with the rod of hismouth, and with the breath of his lips heshall slay the wicked” (11:1-4);

“Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,and princes will rule with justice. A man willbe as a hiding place from the wind, and acover from the tempest, as rivers of water ina dry place, as the shadow of a great rock ina weary land” (32:1,2).

New StartWhat an opportunity it would be to starteverything from scratch if such a manwas in control of the world. His perfectunderstanding and insight into thingswould qualify him to know what wasbest in every circumstance. His insightinto the human condition would enablehim to decide the trickiest issues. Histotal control would make sure that his

will prevailed, and nothing would behid from him.

He would save the needy, butpunish and destroy the unruly and

evil elements of society. No won-der Isaiah describes this

regime in terms of refresh-ment and revival. And he

has much more to sayabout the comingKingdom:

“It shall come to pass in the latter daysthat the mountain of the Lord’s house shallbe established on the top of the mountains,and shall be exalted above the hills; and allnations shall flow to it. Many people shallcome and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to themountain of the LORD, to the house of theGod of Jacob; he will teach us his ways, andwe shall walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion

14

shall go forth the law, and the word of theLORD from Jerusalem. He shall judgebetween the nations, and shall rebuke manypeople; they shall beat their swords intoploughshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword againstnation, neither shall they learn war anymore”(Isaiah 2:2-4);

New World

“The wilderness and the wasteland shall beglad for them, and the desert shall rejoiceand blossom as the rose; it shall blossomabundantly and rejoice, even with joy andsinging … He will come and save you. Thenthe eyes of the blind shall beopened, and the ears of thedeaf shall be unstopped.Then the lame shall leaplike a deer, and the tongueof the dumb sing … Ahighway shall be there,and a road, and it shall becalled the Highway of Holi-ness … the redeemed shallwalk there, and the ran-somed of the LORD shallreturn, and come to Zionwith singing, with ever-lasting joy on theirheads. They shallobtain joy and glad-ness, and sorrow and sighing shall fleeaway” (35:1-10).

Isn’t this the sort of world you want to livein? It will be a world –

î in harmony with God,

î where people live together in peaceand happiness,

î with all illness cured, all diseaseremoved,

î where all problems are solved,

î with all needs met,

î which never knows hunger again,

î where there is proper education,including about the things of God,

î with God’s law in operation, and itwill be obeyed,

î where people grow in grace and infavour with God and man.

“All Things New”That’s the world that’s coming – whenthe promised King comes to reign onearth over God’s Kingdom. We looked atjust one prophet, and then only at a lit-tle of what he predicted – there are 66chapters of Isaiah’s prophecy altogeth-er. But wherever you look, because the

Bible is a perfect unity, the mes-sage is always the same.

Here’s the Lord Jesus Christhimself prophesying, in the lastbook of the Bible, what the King-dom will be like:

I heard a loud voice from heaven saying,“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with

men, and he will dwell with them, andthey shall be his people, and God

himself will be with them and betheir God. And God will wipe

away every tear from theireyes; there shall be no moredeath, nor sorrow, nor crying;

and there shall be no more pain, for the for-mer things have passed away.” Then he whosat on the throne said, “Behold, I make allthings new” (Revelation 21:3-5).

It’s exactly the same set of promises– “exceedingly great and precious”ones. This vision of the Kingdom is giv-en to help us understand that God is notcontent with the world as it is now. Hewants something better – for us!

He wants us to be New People, sothat we can live in that New World withHim.

15

... of the Kingdom of GodThe Kingdom of God is fundamentallyimportant. it was important to Jesus andit should be our top priority, too.

When the Lord Jesus began his publicministry, do you remember how hebegan it?

“Jesus came to Galilee, preaching thegospel of the kingdom of God, and say-ing, “The time is fulfilled, and the king-dom of God is at hand.”

Then he added a commentthat shows we have to dosomething about it, if wewant to be there:

“Repent, and believe in thegospel” (Mark 1:14,15).

Jesus had come to “fulfil”the purpose of God by estab-lishing a new way into God’sKingdom, what the Bible calls a“new and living way” (Hebrews10:20). If we want to be part ofGod’s purpose, we have to travel alongthat way. It’s the only way to life.

First CreationFrom the very beginning God wantedmen and women to live with Him in Par-adise on earth. That’s why he createdthe world in the first place, so that itwould be “inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18) bypeople who would live in agreementwith Him, sharing His values, obeyingHis laws, becoming God-like in theirbehaviour.

Adam was created with that capacity(Genesis 1:26), but could not live up tohis God-given potential. He chose aneasier way, or so he thought at the time,and it has been a hard path along whichhis descendants have had to travel.

Yet, all the time, God has kept in mindHis original intention. He means to fillthe world with His glory – by having theworld occupied by people who share Hisattributes, and who also live by love. Butonly such people will be there – thosewho want to live with God, both now and

then.

God’s GloryTen people who thought that fol-lowing God was more troublethan it was worth once confront-ed Moses. They thought thatgetting into the kingdom was

impossible. Fortunately therewere two who took a different view.

But, when the challenge came, Godpassed sentence on their unbelief,whilst reminding Moses of his long-termplan:

“Truly, as I live, all the earth shall befilled with the glory of the LORD –because all these men who have seenmy glory and the signs which I did inEgypt and in the wilderness, and haveput me to the test now these ten times,and have not heeded my voice, they cer-tainly shall not see the land of which Iswore to their fathers, nor shall any ofthose who rejected me see it” (Numbers14:21-23).

The End and the BeginningThe End and the BeginningThis issue of “Glad Tidings” has been a little different from the usual format of the

magazine in that there has been just one main topic – the Kingdom of God which isto be established on earth at the return to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But how

can you be sure you will be in that Kingdom?

16

ation; old things have passed away;behold, all things have become new” (2Corinthians 5:17).

“What Must I Do?”The apostle was describing the way thatGod has been working to reconcile theworld to Himself, through the redeemingwork of Jesus on the cross. When weare baptised “into Christ” and then seekto live “in Christ” every day of our lives,we begin a new life – life with God. Thatnew life will take us in an entirely differ-ent direction from the one we would

have taken had we been left toourselves.

Long ago, the prophet Micahasked a question to which heimmediately supplied theanswer. The question was,“What does God really require

of us, if our lives are to bepleasing to Him?” Hisanswer?

“He has shown you, O man,what is good; and what does the LORDrequire of you but to do justly, to lovemercy, and to walk humbly with yourGod?” (Micah 6:8).

] Reading God’s Word and checkingout all these things is the first thing.

] Understanding and Believing themis the next.

] Baptism into the saving name ofJesus is the way – the only way –that God has appointed

That’s the way to end the past andstart your new life. It’s both an end anda beginning – the end of a fruitless,hopeless and godless life and the startof a fruitful, hopeful and godly one.

It is the start of the journey to God’skingdom, the most important journeyany of us will ever take. Don’t miss out!

For the children of Israel there was tobe a new beginning; but for those whodid not believe God, there was a totalend. The ten faithless spies died in thewilderness. Nobody even knows wherethey were buried. They are gone forever.

Lasting LessonsTheir unbelief serves as a continualreminder to us that if we want to be partof God’s purpose, and if we really wantto glorify His name by trying to be likeHim, we have to learn from their mis-takes (see 1 Corinthians10:1-6). They didn’t believeGod – we must believe Hispromises!

The spies reckonedwithout God, and thatwas a fatal mistake.God had invited them topossess a kingdomwhich He wouldenable them toenter; to occupy a landin which He would givethem rest. That promise still stands andwe can enter into God’s promised inher-itance, by faith and through baptism.

New BeginningBaptism – immersion in water followingour Belief in God’s promises – is theone and only way that God has appoint-ed for each of us to show our desire to:þ start again;þ become new creatures;þ live as God’s people.

It was the apostle Paul who summedup the change that has to occur, andwho described the way that God viewsus when we have been baptised, whenhe said:

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new cre-

17

Published by the Christadelphians, P O Box 10817,BIRMINGHAM B27 6ZR

Telephone 0845 22 55 789

Website www.godsaves.co.uk