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-- THE NEVER-ENDING KINGDOM
And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
The angel next gives Mary an important message, one that is rarely preached today although it is plainly stated by Luke and other gospel writers, as well as the prophets of the Old Testament -- namely that as well as being the "Savior" of mankind, Jesus is also to be the "Messiah", a Hebrew title meaning the "Anointed One", the Greek equivalent of which is "Christ".
In ancient Israel, both priests and kings were anointed with oil when inducted into office, as a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of God.
On the basis of many prophecies, the Jews in the first century were expecting a "Redeemer", but more in the sense of a powerful "Messiah" or ruler to save their occupied nation from Roman rule and restore former glories. The additional dimension, the concept of a "Saviour" to redeem men from their sins, was apparently new.
However, John the Baptist clearly understood that in addition to being the Messiah who would one day rule the whole world, Jesus was first to die for the sins of all men, as typified centuries earlier by the Passover Lamb (John 1:42) and the animal sacrifices offered by the priests, as Paul later stressed (Hebrews 9:11-22, 13:11).
The name "Jesus" (Saviour) and the title "Christ" (Messiah) together therefore comprize the two halves of the gospel message that the New Testament Church was commissioned to preach to the world. It is the sadly neglected second or "other" half of the gospel that Luke now stresses.
Notice
that Jesus would reign over the house of Jacob forever. Jacob,
son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, was also named Israel (Genesis 32:28)
-- and the house of Jacob therefore signifies
his descendants, all the people of Israel, all twelve tribes (see Genesis
49), not just the Jews.
Notice also that, once Jesus takes office, he will rule forever
-- and that of His kingdom there will be no end.
Once again, Luke is demonstrating the certainty of these New Testament teachings -- firmly rooted, as they are, like trees in the ground, in the historical and prophetic substance of the Old Testament scriptures.
Jeremiah, for example, was inspired to foretell events that will mark the end of this present age, saying: "At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honour the name of the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:17). That has not yet happened.
Jeremiah then adds: "In those days the house of Judah will join the House of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance" (verse 18).
After the death of Solomon, who had ruled over all 12 tribes of Israel, the nation was split into two parts: a) the Southern Kingdom of Judah (which counted as two tribes because the priests from the tribe of Levi worked at the temple in Jerusalem), and b) the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which comprised the other ten tribes. Both kingdoms later went into captivity and many of their people were deported -- the Jews to Babylon, and the people of Israel to Assyria.
Although the Old Testament record tells of the return of the Jews from their captivity (in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah), it is silent regarding the ultimate fate of the other "Ten Tribes". The land that is today called "Israel" is in fact just a part of the ancient territory granted by God to the people of Israel and is populated primarily by the remnants of the house of Judah. Apparently, Jeremiah's prophecy that Israel and Judah will one day be re-united has not yet been fulfilled.
Although the present location and identity of the "Lost Ten Tribes" are somewhat of a mystery, groups such as the "British Israelites" claim that they migrated to north-west Europe after their ancient captivity and deportation to Assyria. Although most scholars now ridicule such a notion, a majority of British clergymen firmly held that belief a couple of centuries ago. According to the theory, Queen Elizabeth II presently occupies the "throne of David" -- and a genealogical available from Buckingham Palace some years ago does in fact trace her ancestry back to king David.
Although lacking absolute proof, the theory is supported by many interesting claims -- for example that the very name "Brit-ish" apparently means "covenant man" or "covenant people". Some commentators, however, insist that the tribes were never "lost" (Acts 26:7), but slowly migrated back to their homeland over the centuries. In New Testament times, Paul, for example, was of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5), and the prophetess Annah was of the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36).
Whatever the truth of the matter, the chosen people of Israel are critically important to God (Romans 11:28-29), and the Bible seems to suggest that the "Twelve Tribes" will be in distinct existence just before Christ's return (Revelation 7:1-8) -- and Moses even prophesied, in cryptic phrases that supporters of the theory now feel able to interpret in the light of historical events, what was destined to befall each of the tribes in the "last days" of human history (Genesis 49). The term "Jew" is often wrongly used to describe the whole people of "Israel".
The ancient prophet Daniel, in language very similar to that of the angel Gabriel, also spoke of a world-ruling kingdom that would one day be established on earth and would last for ever. In interpreting a dream of Nebuchadnezzar in which a series of powerful earthly kingdoms were represented by the parts of a large statue of a man, from head to foot, with the ten toes finally depicting ten powerful end-time rulers, Daniel concluded: "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom what will never be destroyed . . . It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever" (Daniel 2:44). Daniel is clearly referring to the coming Kingdom of God.
There are many such prophecies scattered throughout the Hebrew scriptures, and the prophet Zechariah, for example, says: "A day of the Lord is coming . . . I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to fight against it . . . The the Lord will go out and fight against those nations . . . On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives . . . . the Lord will come and all the holy ones with him . . . The Lord will be king over the whole earth" (Zecharaiah 14:1-9).
The same message is also found in the famous prophecy of Micah which says: "In the last days, the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established . . . The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem . . . They will beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more . . . The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and for ever" (Michah 4:1-7). The same message is also found in the second chapter of the book of Isaiah.
These end-time events are in fact described and summarized by Jesus himself in a later chapter of Luke's gospel, as we shall see.