Introduction
The biblical concept of legitimate kingship involves the principle that willing acceptance of the king by his people is a basic prerequisite. A king who would impose his reign by force upon his people unwilling to be governed by him would be a tyrant. A key scriptural example of this principle is the way that David enters into his kingship.
David was first anointed of God to be king while he was still a shepherd, by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1,12-13). However, David had to wait many years and endure hardship, conflict and suffering before he actually entered into his kingship, and even that occurred in two stages. First he was accepted only by his own tribe, the tribe of Judah, who anointed him to be their king in Hebron, where he ruled for seven years (2 Samuel 2:1-4). Only after that was he finally accepted by the rest of Israel, who then in turn anointed him to be king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-5). And only thereafter did David finally defeat the last Canaanite stronghold – the Jebusite city of Jerusalem – the place which God had chosen as His own special place on earth (2 Samuel 5:6-7).
Jesus as the Messianic Son of David attains to his kingship according to a pattern similar to that of his father David. Continue reading “The Repentance of Israel as a Condition for the Return of Jesus”