Expert: Brenda Martin - 9/18/2004

Question
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Followup To
Question - Are they any any strong or weak points in themes? Where can I find them? How does this related with the Old Testament and the Kingdom of GOd? I am a little confusion about these themes. Thank you.
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What are the weak and strong points of these themes? Can I find these themes in the Book of Psalms? Can you point out which verses? What is  the point of the themes? How does it reflect with life today?  







Followup To
Question -
What are unifying themes? What does that means? Are there in the themes in Bible and how many are there?
Answer -
WHAT ARE UNIFYING THEMES?  ARE THERE IN THE THEMES IN BIBLE AND HOW MANY ARE THERE?

Yes, God's Kingdom is the theme of the entire Bible, and so the bible tells us to make the Kingdom the "unifying theme" in our lives. Let me explain—

The theme was first announced in Genesis and then developed and enlarged upon throughout the rest of the Bible, till in the closing chapters of Revelation, the theme is brought to a glorious climax as God's grand purpose by means of his Kingdom is made apparent.

From the time of the Edenic promise forward,  (Genesis 3;15) the progressive development of God's purpose to produce this Kingdom “seed” becomes a basic theme of the Bible.

A theme is like a thread that runs through a story, you can see it from the beginning of the book, to the end. Now in the case of the bible it was written by some 40 different men, living over a period of 1600 years, and yet all of these men wrote about the same "theme" so because of this, it makes the bible "unified", in agreement, from beginning to end.

Let me give you some examples of this "unifying theme"—

God promised Abraham: “By means of your seed (Jesus, King of God's Kingdom) all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” (Genesis 22:18) That builds on, or extends, the promise made in Adam's time about a coming “seed.” (Genesis 3:15)

It was the theme of Jesus' preaching. He called it “the kingdom of God,” and he taught his followers to pray for it. (Luke 11:2; 21:31)

An examination of the Bible helps us to give God's kingdom the prominence it deserves in our lives, and in a way that fits our individual circumstances. It assists us to take a fresh view of life, and to appreciate what the most important things are. And it will show us that the thrilling theme of the Bible is the sanctifying of God's name by his kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ.

So we have God's Kingdom first being mentioned in Genesis 3;15 then we see it weaving its way throughout all the books of the bible, telling us what the Kingdom is, who will rule it and when, and how we can benefit from that Kingdom.

All the best
Brenda


Answer -
"CAN I FIND THESE THEMES IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS? CAN YOU POINT OUT WHICH VERSES?"

PSALM 2 opens with a challenging question and tells of the combined stand of all the kings and high officials of earth “against God and against his anointed one (Jesus)".

“I, even I, have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain.” He is the one who will break and dash in pieces all opposition. You other kings and rulers, “serve God with fear” and acknowledge His Son lest you perish! (2 ; V. 2, 6, 11) Thus the Psalms quickly strike up the Kingdom theme of the Bible.

Glories of the Messiah's Kingdom are extolled in (PSALM 72:1-20)

Psalms clearly identifies the “son of David” and Kingdom Seed to be Christ Jesus, who is now exalted as both King and Priest in the heavenly Zion. Psalms adds much to our appreciation of the kingship of God, which He exercises through the promised Seed and Kingdom Heir, to His glory and vindication.

PSALM 145, which is referred to as “a praise, of David”: “About the glory of your kingship they will talk, and about your mightiness they will speak, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glory of the splendor of his kingship. Your kingship is a kingship for all times indefinite, and your dominion is throughout all successive generations.” (Ps. 145:5, 11-13)

True to the prophetic psalm, the splendor of God's established Kingdom by Christ is even now being made known to the sons of men in all nations. How thankful we should be for that Kingdom and its King! Appropriate, indeed, are the closing words of the Psalms: “Every breathing thing—let it praise Jah. Praise Jah, you people!”—150:6.

The Psalms have much to say about Christ Jesus and the Messianic kingdom, not mentioning him by name, but describing him, particularly as a glorious king governing the entire earth in peace and righteousness. Some psalms seem to prophesy directly about the Messiah, as, for example, Psalms 2 and PS 110. In many cases other psalms speak of the Messiah, not directly, but typically and figuratively.

Many other psalms, such as PSALM 91:1, 2, speak of God as our refuge, or “my refuge,” but the means by which he has provided refuge in this day is his kingdom in the hands of his anointed and reigning Son, Christ Jesus.—See Psalm 110:1-4.

Then too, there are ones who rule alongside Jesus in his heavenly Kingdom, these ones are spoken of in—PSALMS 50;5-- “Gather to me my loyal ones, those concluding my covenant over sacrifice.”

It is prophetically said in the Psalms: “God is your throne to time indefinite, even forever; the scepter of your kingship is a scepter of uprightness.” The apostle Paul actually applied this text to Jesus where he said: “But with reference to the Son: ‘God is your throne forever, and the scepter of your kingdom is the scepter of uprightness.'” (PS. 45:6; Heb. 1:8) From these things we see that Jesus' throne, which means his office or authority as sovereign, has its source in God. God is the Originator and Giver of his throne. Christ's kingdom will therefore carry out the purposes of God and bring honor to him.

The means by which God will vindicate his sovereignty is his kingdom, a teaching made prominent in the Psalms, even as in the rest of the Scriptures. In fact, there are a number of psalms that might be termed “Kingdom psalms,” because their theme is God's Kingdom rule.—2, 45, 72, 96, 97, 99, 110.

So since the book of Psalms is inspired by the Almighty God, the call in Psalm 117:1 for all nations to praise him is bound to be fulfilled.

To prove that the Psalms were both inspired and prophetic, Jesus said while on earth—

‘These are my words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all the things written in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms about me must be fulfilled.'

"WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE THEME?"

The bible answers—(2 timothy 3; 16 "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work."

Plus, Every talk needs a theme in order to give it direction and to tie all its parts together in a pleasing way.

"HOW DOES IT REFLECT WITH LIFE TODAY?"

God's Kingdom is a real government. ruling in heaven while we speak, collecting its co-rulers, then it will act as God's instrument— Isa. 9:6, 7

It will destroy human governments shortly--Dan. 2:44

What God's Kingdom accomplishes will change life as we know it today--

1. Put an end to Satan's tolerated rulership over the world--Rev. 20:2, 3

2. Unify all creation in worship of the one true God--Rev. 5:13; 15:3, 4

3. Bring mankind back into harmonious relationship with God--Rom. 8:19-21

4. Free mankind from all threat of war--Isa. 2:4:

5. Rid the earth of corrupt rulers and oppression-- Ps. 72:12-14

6. Provide an abundance of food for all mankind--Ps. 72:16

7. Remove sickness and disabilities of all kinds--Luke 7:22; 9:11:

8. Provide suitable homes for everyone--Isa. 65:21, 22:

9.  Assure satisfying employment for all --Isa. 65:23:

10. Guarantee security, freedom from danger to one's person or property--Mic. 4:4:

11. Cause righteousness and justice to prevail--2 Pet. 3:13

12. Resurrect the dead--John 5:28, 29:

13. Remove all death due to inheritance of Adamic sin--Isa. 25:8:

14. Provide a world in which people genuinely love one another--John 13:35:

15. Bring animals and humans into harmonious relationship with one another--Isa. 11:6-9:

16. Make the earth a paradise--Ps. 98:7-9

all the best
Brenda  

Answer
ARE THEY ANY STRONG OR WEAK POINTS IN THEMES?

There is only ONE theme to the entire bible and that is the KINGDOM, all 66 books are centred around this theme, I would say all points regarding the Kingdom are strong points, as God is incapable of anything "weak"

Where can I find them?

I explained that the theme is from beginning to end of the bible, I would have to quote nearly every verse to show you where, but here are a few examples—

It will destroy human governments shortly--Dan. 2:44
God's Kingdom is a real government. — Isa. 9:6, 7

HOW DOES THIS RELATE WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The OT is full of prophecies regarding the coming seed of God's Kingdom, (Jesus Christ) then Jesus arrives and fulfils all these prophecies and these are recoded in the NT. The "Kingdom of God" is the same in the OT as it is in the NT. The prophets of old, like Abraham, looked forward to the coming of the seed of the Kingdom, over 300 prophecies are written in the OT regarding Jesus, and in the NT they all but a final few have found fulfilment.

Perhaps if you tell me what you think the "kingdom of God" is, I can explain further.

All the best
Brenda