2021 Christmas Advent Day 3: The Governor

• Main Passage: Isaiah 9:6
  • For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
• One day Jesus will return to earth and receive His kingdom that He was promised. Even at His birth this promise was spoken of, when the angel said to Mary, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of The Highest: and The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David.” [Luke 1:32] The throne of David has yet to be re-established since its fall to Babylon. One day, Jesus will return and do this.
  • “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” [Daniel 7:13-14]
• Jesus will rule over all the earth. He will be king. He will put down every government and king, and rule over all.
  • “And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” [Daniel 2:44]
  • “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against The LORD, and against His anointed, saying, ‘let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.’ He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. ‘Yet I have set my king upon My holy hill of Zion.’ ‘I will declare the decree: The LORD hath said unto me, ‘Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’’ Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve The LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss The Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” [Psalms 2:1-12]
  • “O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For The LORD Most High is terrible; He is a great king over all the earth….Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the king of all the earth, sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness.” [Psalms 47:1-2; 6-8]
  • “And The LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and His name one.” [Zechariah 14:9]
• The government referred to is Jerusalem; The LORD says to the Judean kingdom “I will commit thy government into His hand: and He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon His shoulder; so He shall open, and none shall shut; and He shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten Him as a nail in a sure place; and He shall be for a glorious throne to His father’s house. And they shall hang upon Him all the glory of his Father’s house…” [Isaiah 22:21-24a] And from Jerusalem, Jesus will rule all of the world.
  • “Behold, the days come, saith The LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwells safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” [Jeremiah 23:5-6]
• The dominion of Jesus cannot be thwarted, though all the earth rebel against it; though “the heathen rage,” Jesus “shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy,” [Deuteronomy 33:27b] and Jesus will come, “and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God,” [Revelation 19:15b] for “The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of The LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations,” and, “there is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against The LORD.” [Psalms 33:10-11, Proverbs 21:30] The government shall be upon His shoulder and He “will make the place of [His] feet glorious,” [Isaiah 60:13] “for the kingdom is The LORD’s: and He is the governor among the nations.” [Psalms 22:28]

Questions For Day 3

1. Jesus will one day be governor among the nations, the sole king of all the earth; He will rule with a righteous iron rod for one thousand years. His kingdom “shall not be destroyed;” it is “an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him;” and His Kingdom “shall break in pieces and consume all [other] kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” [Daniel 7:14; 24; 2:44] Because this is true, every other kingdom that exists today or will exist in the future is destined for collapse. All things not of the kingdom of heaven will pass away. Therefore, how should we live our lives each day?
   • Reflect: When Jesus was born, the one called King of The Jews, Herod and all Jerusalem with him were troubled [Matthew 2:1-3]. Does that fact trouble you? The fact that everything in this life without exception will be blotted out and destroyed, everything built upon this earth will vanish into history and none of it will amount to anything; and Jesus will reign supreme; all things that are not of Him, to Him, for Him, or through Him will be rendered as worthless and as vile as a bloody menstrual cloth, even as those in the Day of The LORD’s wrath and vengeance will cast away their idols “as a menstruous cloth” and will say to them “get thee hence” because they will see that they offer no help in the fierce day of God’s wrath [Isaiah 30:22]. The reaction to this will reveal where the heart is. Those who have treasure in heaven rejoice; those who have stored up on earth will feel uneasy.
   • “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” [Hebrews 12:25-29]