Every once in a while, I stumble across a little gem, something nice and tasty – a nugget shall we say – in the Bible. This morning was one such occasion.
I was going over some notes in my Bible around 1 Kings and I saw that I’d made a note to ‘see the Kingdom’ with Solomon. Not just any kingdom, THE kingdom as prophetic of the kingdom of Jesus. When God had given prophecies to David about one to come after him who would sit on his throne and would reign forever, the picture was in one sense of course referring to Solomon, but many of the expressions used cause our minds to move on and think of Jesus (see 2 Sam 7:12-16).
Think too, for a minute about one of Paul’s definitions of the kingdom: righteousness (or perhaps better: justice), peace and joy in the Holy Spirit – Romans 14:17. We were reminded of this verse last night at church so I think it was also fresh in my mind.
Looking first at 1 Kings 1:40, I noticed that when Solomon came into his kingdom and was anointed, there was a big expression of joy around!
Then I noticed the significant statement about Solomon in 1 Kings 3:28 that ‘the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice’ – there’s the justice (or righteousness) of the kingdom.
And I knew I’d read somewhere around here also that Solomon had peace all around. It didn’t take long before I found it in 1 Kings 4:24. That’s the peace of the kingdom!
So there we have it. Solomon was beginning to express the kingdom of God which is joy (1:40), righteousness (3:28) and peace (4:24). Now the question is – how was the Holy Spirit involved? That’s what I’m wondering!
Because Paul’s important definition hinged on that final statement ‘in the Holy Spirit’. And when we get to Jesus, we see more clearly than ever that God’s kingdom is not one of this world but is ultimately one that is administered ‘in the Holy Spirit’. He said ‘if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.’ (Matthew 12:28) So Solomon’s earthly kingdom was a foreshadow; Jesus’ reign of true righteousness, peace and joy was a ministry in the Spirit, establishing something lasting, indeed eternal, in mankind.
Over and out.
Ben David Trigg 