THE BEST KING EVER & HIS KINGDOM
by Brooks A. Harris
Over the past several centuries, since the beginning of civilizations, kings have been a common type of governing authority over their kingdoms. Some kings were good and treated their people well, while many others were greedy and cruel toward their people.
The responsibilities or duties of a good king were to ensure the welfare of his people. He was to provide protection from other kingdoms and foreign invaders as well as provide law and order to keep his people safe from other people in his kingdom. The king was responsible for keeping the castle and/or city walls in good working condition, and for maintaining a capable military and equipment. The king was to make sure his people stayed reasonably healthy with a good source of food, as by providing farm land, and a limited amount of health care, as by making sure the dead were buried. Often the king was to be the spiritual head of his kingdom too. Therefore a good king would have provided for the basic needs of his people, as food and protection.
The people of the kingdom were expected to be loyal to their king, pledging their allegiance to him. They were under his rule and were expected to do whatever he asked or commanded of them. They were to pay taxes to their king so he could afford to properly protect them. Although the people had possessions, the king ultimately owned everything in the kingdom. They may have had farmland but it belonged to the king. The people were to trust the king’s leadership whether it be for taking care of economic issues or military, social, or spiritual ones.
In the Old Testament in the Bible, the Hebrew nation had no king for several centuries. God told them "I am your king." Although they had many hardships, God protected them and provided for their needs when they put God first and worshiped Him and only Him. When the Israelites left Egypt, God protected them by providing a way for them to escape through the Red Sea, and by providing them with a way to be healed (looking upon a symbol of sin raised up on a wooden pole), and by assuring they won their military battles as long as they continued to worship Him. He also provided for their needs by creating a continuing stream of water in the desert and by providing food for them (manna and quail) everyday for forty years. He also sustained their clothing (at least their shoes) so they never wore out for forty years.
God provided for his people by giving them a large fertile area of land (the "Promised Land") and told them that He would continue to protect them and provide for their needs as long as they worshiped Him as their one and only king. Unfortunately they often rebelled by worshiping idols instead of God and eventually they demanded that they have a human king to rule them (like the nations which surrounded them had). Eventually while under the leadership of human kings, the Israel nation was overtaken, stripped of it’s human kings, and the nation of people were spreading out all around the world. This all resulted from the refusal to accept God as their one and only king and to submit to his leadership. Never since has the Israel nation been a united kingdom (although today they are beginning to come back together).
Most nations today are relying on human governments to run them, but few if any look to God for His leadership. Soon these nations and governments will all come to an end. Lord Jesus, the "King of kings", God’s only begotten Son, will intervene and take over governing them. For one thousand years, a period of time in the near future called "The Millennium", Jesus will rule over His Kingdom here on earth. He will provide for the needs of His people. Satan, the source of all evil, will have been removed from the surface of the earth and imprisoned for this one thousand years. Therefore the king of this present world, Satan or the Devil, will no longer have influence over the people of the "Kingdom of God". Those who have suffered emotional and/or physical pain, loss, hardships, torture, etc. will forevermore be free. The more an individual has suffered in Satan’s earthly kingdom, the more they will appreciate the kingdom of God under the leadership of Jesus Christ.
Today, God uses His people in His present earthly kingdom to provide for the needs of those who are suffering, but soon God’s heavenly kingdom shall prosper, with every person enjoying God’s blessings of constant protection, an everlasting healthy glorious body, and all the food, water, and provisions they need for a happy, pain-free, exciting, wonderful, safe, beautiful, loving eternal life. The Bible says (in 1 Cor. 2:9) "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." So we can’t even imagine what is in store for us in God’s heavenly kingdom to come. God’s love for us is immeasurable and He desires that all come to him and accept Him as their King. He wants us to live life abundantly and we can here presently on earth (spiritually), but also later physically in the heavenly kingdom to come with Jesus as our eternal leader. Those who love God have already put their trust in Him and want Him to control their lives, presently and in the heavenly kingdom to come. Remember, God has a plan and He is in control of that plan. He was, is and shall always be "The Best King Ever."
