Bible Basics 5.3 The Kingdom Of God In The Past

5.3 The Kingdom Of God In The PastThe Kingdom of God is the future reward for believers. As such, it is their motivation to live a life dedicated to imitating the example of Christ - something which will involve short term suffering and discomfort. It is therefore to be expected that all their days they will be consumed by an ever increasing desire to appreciate and understand the wonders of that future age. It will be the summation of all their spiritual strivings, and the full declaration of the God whom they have come to love as their Father. The Scriptures abound with details of what the Kingdom will be like, and you will find it a lifetime's work to discover just a few of them. One way through which we can come to understand some of the basic principles of this future Kingdom is to appreciate that the Kingdom of God existed in the past in the form of the nation of Israel. This kingdom is to be re-established at Christ's return. Much of the Bible gives us information concerning the nation of Israel, in order that we can understand, in broad outline, how God's future Kingdom will be organized.God is frequently described as "the king of Israel" (Isa. 44:6 cp. Isa. 41:27; 43:15; Ps. 48:2; 89:18; 149:2); it follows that the people of Israel were His kingdom. They began to be God's kingdom through entering into a covenant with Him at Mount Sinai, shortly after they had escaped from Egypt through the Red Sea. In response to their willingness to keep this covenant, they would "be unto (God) a kingdom...and an holy nation" (Ex. 19:5,6). Thus "When Israel went out of Egypt...Israel (was) His dominion" or kingdom (Ps. 114:1,2). After entering into this agreement, Israel travelled through the wilderness of Sinai and settled down in the promised land of Canaan. As God was their King, they were ruled over by "Judges" (e.g. Gideon and Samson) rather than kings. These judges were not kings, but Divinely guided administrators who governed certain parts of the country rather than ruling over the whole land. They were often raised up by God for specific purposes, e.g. to lead Israel to repentance and deliver them from their enemies. When the Israelites asked judge Gideon to be their king, he replied, "I will not rule over you...the Lord shall rule over you" (Jud. 8:23).