Series: The Elephant in the Room
Part I: How the Apostles Read the Throne — Post 1 of 5
There is an elephant in the room whenever Christians discuss Israel, Jerusalem, Bible prophecy, and the return of Jesus Christ.
We are often told that the Old Testament requires a future restoration of Israel as a distinct national people in the land, Jerusalem as the governmental center of Messiah’s kingdom, and the Son of David personally reigning from earthly Jerusalem. These are not presented as minor details. In many prophetic systems they form a large part of God’s unfinished purpose in history and become essential for understanding the events surrounding the return of Christ.
But before asking how Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, or Amos should be fitted into such a system, there is a prior question that deserves far more attention than it usually receives: How did the apostles themselves read those prophets after Jesus Christ had come?
That is the elephant in the room.
The issue is not simply that the apostles fail to give us a prophetic chart resembling many modern systems. An argument from silence can only take us so far. The stronger argument is positive. When the apostles begin opening Israel’s Scriptures after the resurrection, they do not speak as though the Messiah is waiting somewhere in heaven for the day when He can finally become King. They proclaim a risen, ascended, exalted, and reigning Son of David.
That does not settle every question concerning the future. It does not, by itself, answer Romans 11, Ezekiel’s temple, or Revelation 20. Those questions deserve careful treatment in their proper place. But we should first allow the apostles to establish the starting point. And the starting point is an already enthroned Christ.
The Question Before Pentecost
Immediately before His ascension, the disciples asked Jesus:
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel Acts 1:6
That question should not be brushed aside. These men knew the prophets. They knew the promises concerning David, Israel, Jerusalem, and the kingdom. Even after the resurrection, they were still asking about the restoration of the kingdom to Israel.
Jesus answered:
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me… Acts 1:7–8
We should be careful not to make Jesus say more than He says. He does not there give the disciples a detailed correction of every assumption behind their question. Neither does He explain the nature of Israel’s future in that passage. He redirects their concern from the timing of the kingdom to the coming of the Holy Ghost and their worldwide witness to Him.
Acts 1 by itself does not settle the matter. What happens next is more important. Pentecost comes. The Holy Ghost is poured out. The apostles begin publicly interpreting Israel’s Scriptures in the light of the resurrection and ascension of Christ. Now we are not merely listening to disciples asking questions. We are hearing Spirit-filled apostles explain the prophets. And that is where the pattern begins to emerge.
Peter and David’s Throne
Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost ought to have a central place in any discussion of the kingdom. Speaking of David, Peter says:
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ…. Acts 2:30–31
Peter then continues:
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted…. Acts 2:32–33
And then he quotes Psalm 110:
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Acts 2:34–35
The connection is difficult to miss. David received a promise concerning his Seed. Peter says David was a prophet. Peter then connects that promise directly to the resurrection of Christ and His exaltation to the right hand of God.
This is where we need to be precise. A premillennial reader may readily agree that Christ is presently exalted at the Father’s right hand while maintaining that the Davidic kingdom will later receive an earthly manifestation in Jerusalem. That position should be acknowledged fairly. Acts 2 does not, by itself, answer every question concerning the final manifestation of Christ’s reign. But it does create a significant difficulty for the idea that David’s throne remains prophetically vacant until Christ returns.
Peter does not describe the resurrection merely as something qualifying Jesus to sit upon David’s throne at some later date. His words connect God’s oath to David with raising Christ up “to sit on his throne.” And Peter’s conclusion is not postponed to another age:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36
The Son of David has been raised. The Son of David has been exalted. The Son of David is Lord and Christ. Whatever further manifestation of His reign the future may contain, Peter does not present Jesus as a King waiting for a later coronation. He presents an already enthroned King.
He Must Reign
Paul speaks with the same present certainty. Writing about the resurrection and the ultimate defeat of Christ’s enemies, he says:
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:25–26
The order matters. Christ reigns until His enemies are subdued. The final enemy is death. That means the resurrection of the dead does not mark the beginning of Christ’s kingship. It belongs to the consummation of a reign already underway.
Paul does not say, “He must someday begin to reign.” He says, “He must reign, till…” The reign is already in progress. The enemies remain. Death remains. But the King is not absent from His throne while He waits for history to catch up. He reigns while His enemies are being placed beneath His feet.
That is exactly the language of Psalm 110—the same Psalm Peter used at Pentecost:
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1
The apostles do not treat that heavenly session as a waiting room before the real kingdom begins. They treat it as the present reign of the Messiah.
Raised, Seated, and Far Above
Paul makes the point even more clearly in Ephesians. Speaking of the mighty power of God, he writes that God
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named…. Ephesians 1:20–21
Notice again the movement. Resurrection. Exaltation. Enthronement. Authority. Christ is not merely honored in heaven while another stage of kingship waits to begin. He is seated far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion. Paul continues:
And hath put all things under his feet…. Ephesians 1:22
The language comes again from the Old Testament. The apostles are not abandoning Israel’s Scriptures. They are telling us where those Scriptures have led. The Messiah has been exalted above every competing authority. His reign is not merely future. It is present.
Hebrews Says the Same Thing
The book of Hebrews repeatedly returns to this same picture. Speaking of the Son, it says:
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3
Later:
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. Hebrews 10:12–13
Once again, Psalm 110 governs the apostolic understanding. Christ has sat down. He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool. But He does not wait to become King. The waiting takes place from the throne. That distinction matters.
The New Testament certainly looks forward. Christ will appear. The dead will rise. Judgment will come. The last enemy will be destroyed. Creation itself will be delivered from corruption. But the future hope begins with an already enthroned Christ. The kingdom is moving toward consummation, not toward inauguration.
What, Then, Are We Waiting For?
This does not mean there is nothing left to happen. Far from it. The New Testament hope is enormous. Christ shall return. The dead shall be raised. The saints shall be glorified. Every enemy shall be subdued. Death itself shall be destroyed. Creation shall be delivered from corruption. The kingdom that is already present under the reign of Christ will reach its full and open manifestation.
But that is very different from saying that Jesus is not yet reigning as the promised Son of David. The apostles do not speak of the ascension as though Christ has merely gone away until His real kingship can begin later. They speak of Him as Lord now. They speak of Him as Christ now. They speak of Him as seated now. They speak of Him as far above all principality and power now. They speak of Him as the One who must reign until every enemy is beneath His feet.
That should shape the way we read every Old Testament promise concerning the throne.
The Elephant in the Room
And so we return to the question with which we began. How did the apostles read the throne after Christ came?
They did not present David’s throne as an empty chair waiting in Jerusalem for the Messiah to occupy it someday. They connected David’s promise to Christ’s resurrection. They connected His resurrection to His exaltation. They connected His exaltation to Psalm 110. They declared Him Lord and Christ. They proclaimed Him seated at the right hand of God. They declared Him far above all principality, power, might, and dominion. And they said:
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
Whatever debates remain concerning the future—and there are real ones—the apostolic starting point is clear. The Son of David is already enthroned. That does not remove the future. It tells us who rules while we await it.
And it gives us the first rule for interpreting Israel’s prophetic promises after Christ came: Begin where the apostles begin—not with a throne still waiting for its King, but with the risen King already upon His throne.
In Part II, we will follow that same apostolic method beyond the throne and ask what happens when the apostles interpret the Seed, the city, the temple, and the priesthood after Christ has come.