A STUDY OF THE CHURCH (5):

The Predictions of the church in the Old Testament

Victor M. Eskew

 

          In this series of articles, we have been studying the church of the New Testament.  We introduced the subject in our first article.  We defined the church, described the church, and looked at the jurisdiction of the church in the last three articles.  In this article, let’s consider this subject:  “The Prediction of the church in the Old Testament.”

          The church is predicted in the Old Testament.  This statement is denied by those who believe in the doctrine of premillennialism.  They believe that an earthly kingdom was predicted in the Old Testament.  When Jesus came the first time, however, He was rejected by the Jews.  Therefore, God’s plan changed.  It was at that time the church was instituted as a temporary expedient in the plan of God, they say.  In this article, we will show that the prophecies regarding the kingdom in the Old Testament were prophecies regarding the Lord’s church.  The church was not a stop-gap measure in God’s plan.  The church was in the eternal plan of God (Eph. 3:8-11).  Thus, God predicted its coming by means of the Old Testament prophets.

          One of the earlies prophecies regarding the church is found in what some refer to as the Davidic Covenant.  David wanted to build a house for the God of Israel (2 Sam. 7:1-2).  However, God would not allow David to build the temple (2 Sam. 7:4-11).  Instead, He revealed to the king that his son, Solomon, would be the one to construct that building.  “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.  I will be his father, and he shall be my son.  If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:  but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.  And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee:  thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. 2:12-16). 

          This prophecy is a dual prophecy.  This means that it has application to two things.  The first application was to Solomon.  Most of the words of the prophecy can easily apply to him. We find them fulfilled when Solomon reigned in Jerusalem for forty years.  The prophecy also applies to another, that is, to Jesus Christ.  Solomon’s kingdom did not last for ever.  The kingdom that Jesus Christ established, the church, is destined to be an eternal kingdom.  “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:  a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom” (Heb. 1:8).  Just a little farther in the Hebrew epistle, we find these words:  “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, where by we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Heb. 12:28). 

          Another prophecy that tells of the church beforehand is found in Isaiah 2:2-3.  The prophet writes:  “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:  for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”  Isaiah was prophesying about “the last days.”  Peter plainly reveals that the last days had come on the day of Pentecost when the gospel was preached for the first time (Acts 2:14-17).  Isaiah predicted that in the last days the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains.  The LORD’s house is the church according to 1 Timthy 3:15.  “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”  Isaiah also reveals that “all nations shall flow unto it.”  According to Acts 2:9-11, sixteen different nations were represented in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.  Too, the book of Acts reveals the growth of the church from Jerusalem to Judea to Samari to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).  Isaiah’s forth telling also reveals that “out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”  This is precisely what happened beginning on the day of Pentecost.  God’s Word was proclaimed in Jerusalem and Judea (Acts 2:14, 22, 37).  It spread to Samaria (Acts 8:5).  Paul’s labors in the book of Acts conclude with Paul preaching the gospel of Christ in Rome.  The New Testament of Jesus Christ went forth from the capital city of the Jews and travelled as far as the capital city of the Roman Empire.  Church after church after church was established in some of the most predominant cities in the Empire.  The kingdom, the church, grew by leaps and bounds. 

          Daniel is another prophet of the Old Testament who wrote about the church long before it was established.  When he spoke to Nebuchadnezzar about the dream that troubled him, he concluded his message with a prophecy of a kingdom that would be established in the days of the Roman kings.  “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:  the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”  John the Baptist and Jesus were both born in the days of the Roman Ceasars.  Both of these men proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matt. 3:1-2; 4:17).  This kingdom, the church, was established on Pentecost Day following our Lord’s ascension to the right hand of God (Acts 2:47).  Those who doubt whether the church and the kingdom are synonymous need to read the epistle “to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae” (Col. 1:2).  Paul reminded these Christians that God had delivered them from the power of darkness and had translated them into the kingdom of his dear Son (Col. 1:13).  It is impossible to be placed into something that does not yet exist.  The purpose of this kingdom was to supersede all other kingdoms and continue forever and ever.

          We have looked at three notable prophecies about the coming kingdom, the church.  There are others.  Let’s close with Daniel 7:13-14.  Daniel saw the Son of man approaching the Ancient of Days.  This is a prophecy of Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of God.  When Jesus came into His Father’s presence, He was to be given a kingdom.  “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.”  When Jesus left the mount of Olives and entered into heaven, God gave Him the kingdom that was set up on Pentecost day (Acts 2:47).  He is the presently the King of that kingdom and will rule until He conquers death and delivers the kingdom back to the Father (1 Cor. 15:22-26).