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Jehovah and His Theocratic Kingdom

 By Dr. George Dawe

(from the tract JEHOVAH AND HIS THEOCRATIC KINGDOM)

Dear Friend:

Undoubtedly you have heard the terms used in the above caption, and perhaps wondered what they mean. I will endeavour to give you a simple, straight-forward answer. We shall divide the subject into its two natural parts, and deal first with the name "Jehovah" and secondly with His "Theocratic Kingdom."

"Jehovah" is one of the names of God used in the Bible. It is used of no other person, e.g., Psalm 83:18: "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." Moses commanded his people, Israel: "Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine might." Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. "Jehovah" is the name for God used many times in the Old Testament and identified in the English King James Version by the words LORD and GOD spelled with capital letters. "The sacred name is derived from the verb 'to be," and so implies that God is eternal and that He is the Absolute, i.e., the Uncaused One." (The New Compact Bible Dictionary.) Although the name "Jehovah" is used many times, it is not the predominant name, nor was it the first name, to be employed in the Bible. In Genesis one, the name used for God is "Elohim." "Jehovah" appears for the first time in Genesis 2:4 where it is seen in conjunction with "Elohim," thus: "... in the day that Jehovah Elohim made the earth and the heavens." Thus the two names do not indicate two Gods, but refer to the same Almighty Being. (See, also, Exodus 6:2, 3.) "Jehovah" is the name indicating God as Saviour and thus it is associated with His redeeming purposes throughout history.

As for the term, "Theocratic," it is made up of two Greek words: "theos," meaning God and "kratos," meaning rule, and simply means "a government in which God Himself is the ruler." When the Lord Jesus Christ was here, He referred to this theocratic kingdom many times. The herald of Jesus, John the Baptist, warned the people of his day, and said: "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This warning was reiterated by Jesus, and in his sermon on the mount He gave the principles or, as we would say, the platform of that kingdom. The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, is its King by divine appointment. The Psalmist, David, wrote about it in the second psalm. In verse six he quotes God as saying: "Yet have I set (anointed) my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD (Jehovah) 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 thy possession." When, in the temptation in the wilderness, Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world, our Lord rebuked the devil and replied, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve," Matthew 4:10. Jesus knew that when his work of kingdoms was finished, He would receive those kingdoms in His own right as the prophecy of Revelation 11:15 so plainly sets forth: "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and he shall reign for ever, and ever."

The theocratic kingdom, however, will not have in it those deteriorating materialistic elements which characterize now the kingdoms of this world. When Jesus was delivered to the Roman governor by the Jews, Pilate asked Him, "What hast thou done?" To this Christ replied, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." As far as spiritual realities are concerned, the kingdom of God is eternal and we may enter it now and find operating within us those principles enunciated by Jesus Christ when He was here among us. Our lives can be governed by His laws and our personalities display the qualities of His kingdom, which are "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," against which there is no law formed.

It is the highest privilege of every human being to belong to that kingdom. How may we enter? The Lord Jesus Christ spelled it out in positive terms when He conversed with Nicodemus. He said to this ruler of the Jews, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. Jesus put in another way when He spoke to His disciples. He said, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 18:3. The theocratic kingdom cannot be entered by good works or by human effort. It can only be entered by a spiritual birth. Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It is one of the divine imperatives: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye MUST be born again," John 3:5, 7.

You may ask, "This is a mystery. How can it become a tangible reality to me?" It involves the word of a King, and your obedience to it. If you will believe the word of God, and obey it, your entrance into His kingdom will be realized. The apostle Peter put it this way: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever," 1 Peter 1:23. What does that word require? Simply this: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth (to God) the Lord Jesus (i.e., Jesus as your Lord, your Master, your King, as God sent Him to be) and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved," Romans 10:9. Act upon that promise and be assured of your sonship, for "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," John 1:12, 13. Lift your heart in prayer to God now. Make that surrender and let God perform the miracle.

G.R. Dawe, D.D.