ESOCS Devotional 6 October 2024 – Certainties About the Coming Kingdom
MEMORY VERSE: “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.” Luke 17:20
TEXT: LUKE 17:20-END
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
22 Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two [j]men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
Confusion and uncertainty have long surrounded the topic of the coming Kingdom of God. This was true when Jesus walked the earth and it remains true today. Yet the Bible offers abundant revelation about many specific aspects of the kingdom. Here the Pharisees kick things off with a question (cloaked in skepticism) about the timing of the kingdom promised in the OT. Jesus focuses their attention on their ignorance of His First Coming. If they don’t submit to the King when He is present among them, what is the use of investigating the topic any deeper? Then He turns to His disciples and delivers a series of certainties about the coming kingdom: It will be delayed until after His redemptive mission has been completed, including suffering and rejection in Jerusalem. It will be hidden from them for an undetermined period of time and they will long to see its consummation. It will be trumpeted by many imposters who will deceive cult followers. It will be obvious to all when it appears suddenly and dramatically like lightning. It will find the mass of humanity unprepared and preoccupied with the normal activities of life. It requires preparation and readiness since it will mark the watershed between ultimate salvation and destruction.
Dearly beloved, bible prophecy is not given so that we can sit around and speculate about what will happen in the future. It is always given so that we can apply it to how we live in the present in light of what God has promised to do in the future. Specifically, it is crucial that we understand personally how to be in God’s kingdom because Jesus makes it clear that His awful judgment will fall suddenly and certainly on everyone who is not in His kingdom.
He shows us here that, to be in God’s kingdom, we must be personally related to God’s King Jesus and we must faithfully await the kingdom’s consummation when He returns in glory to judge everyone. They may have asked the question mockingly, having already concluded that He was not the Messiah, not coming with signs to be observed. The Pharisees believed that the Messiah’s triumph would be immediate. They were looking for Him to come, overthrow Rome, and set up the millennial kingdom. Christ’s program was altogether different. He was inaugurating an era in which the kingdom would be manifest in the rule of God in men’s hearts through faith in the Saviour (v 21; Rom. 14:17).
- The most important consideration in the present time is the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you ready?
- Lord, let the Holy Spirit teach me the things to do to be ready for your Second Coming, I pray.
Further Reading: Job 6:1-13; Prov. 13:7-end; 1 Corinthians 14:26-end
ESOCS Devotional 6 October 2024
