King, Christ as
The Old Testament. Beginning with Genesis 1:1, the Bible portrays God as the Lordand Sovereign over all creation, God Most High ( Gen 14:18 ; cf. Psalm 24:1 ; 93:1 ; 95:3-7 ). Thecentral theme of the covenant God made with Abraham was the promise that the land ofCanaan would be "an everlasting possession" to him and his descendants ( Gen 17:8 ). The landis the gift of God ( Exod32:13 ; 33:1 ; Deuteronomy 1:8 Deuteronomy 1:25 ). Yetit "must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens andmy tenants" ( Le25:23 ). God owns the land and lives among his people in a covenant relationship ( Lev 26:11-12 ; Deut 4:1 ; 6:5-15 ). He is theideal King, the Lord Almighty, over the kingdoms of mortals ( Isa 6:5 ; Jer 46:18 ; Dan 4:25 ).
In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 Moses prophesied that a time would come, following thesettlement of the land, in which the nation would want a king like all the nations aroundthem. He warned them to "be sure to appoint … the king the Lord your Godchooses" (v. 15). From the conquest, all of Israel's neighbors had kings. When thePriest-Judge Samuel grew old, the elders of Israel determined that the time had come for achange ( 1 Sam8:4-22 ). Samuel acquiesced to their request, and anointed Saul as their king ( 1 Samuel 10:1 1 Samuel 10:24-25 ; 11:14-15 ).From the anointing of Saul on, the monarchy developed as a secondary institution alongsidethe priesthood and temple cult. One can discern two views of the anointed monarchy in theOld Testament: it was either the gift and servant of God, or it was God's rival and asymbol of Israel's rejection of the reign of God.
In David the Lord found a person after his own heart ( 1 Sam 13:14 ), oneto whom he made a solemn and everlasting promise: "The Lord … will establish ahouse for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise upyour offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish hiskingdom… Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne willbe established forever" ( 2 Samuel 7:11-13 2 Samuel 7:16 ).When Jerusalem fell in 586 b.c., this promise seemed to end in failure.
After the united kingdom of Israel was divided in 931 b.c., the prophets of the OldTestament increasingly interpreted the promise made to David in spiritual terms, ratherthan in political, terrestrial ones. Isaiah prophesied in the eighth century b.c.:"The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin … will give birth to a son,and will call him Immanuel" (7:14). His reign would be supranational and everlasting,possessing divine characteristics, restoring peace and justice ( 9:2-7 ; 11:1-10 ).Isaiah's contemporary, Micah, likewise prophesied that he would be born in Bethlehem, buthis origins were "from of old, from ancient times" ( 5:2-5 ). Jeremiahand other later prophets continued to cultivate the hope of a future anointed delivererwho would be the righteous Branch of Jesse ( Jer 23:5-6 ; 33:15 ).