How a Man came to be Lord of the People of God

1. God Appoints a Human to be Lord and King of His People

God had foretold that the royal scepter would not depart from Judah.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and to him the obedience of the people.¹

YAHWEH was the God of Israel. YAHWEH was the Lord of Israel. YAHWEH was the King of Israel. When YAHWEH brought His people out of Egypt, the Israelites, He was their God, their Lord, their King. They had one God, one Lord, and their Lord and God was YAHWEH. No one else was their God, their Lord, their King. But it did not remain this way.

YAHWEH God was the King of Israel.² He had raised up human judges such as Samuel.³ But when Samuel grew old he appointed his sons to be the judges of Israel.⁴ The Israelites rejected the rule of God and wanted a human King to judge them like all the other nations.⁵ So God handed them over to their wicked desires and directed Samuel the prophet to appoint them a King.⁶ And then God instructed Samuel to anoint Saul, a man of the Tribe of Benjamin, to rule over the nation of Israel.⁷ And Samuel anointed Saul to rule over Israel.⁸ But Saul took it upon himself to offer the burnt offerings which only a Levitical priest may offer.⁹ And so Saul was rejected by God for his disobedience and God took away his kingship in favor of David, a man after God's own heart.¹⁰

2. The Throne of YAHWEH

God chose a young shepherd, David son of Jesse, to be the King of Israel.¹¹ And Samuel anointed David with oil and the Holy Spirit of God departed from Saul and came upon David in power.¹² The Hebrew based word "Messiah" means "Anointed One." God had anointed David the foregather of His Messiah, Jesus, God's Son, David's Son.

God promised David that his seed would reign upon his throne forever:

When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.¹³

David and his son Solomon sat on the throne of YAHWEH as King over YAHWEH's Kingdom.¹⁴

Then David said to all the assembly, "Now bless YAHWEH your God." And all the assembly blessed YAHWEH, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and worshiped YAHWEH and the King.... then Solomon sat on the throne of YAHWEH as King instead of David his father.¹⁵

David sat on "the throne of YAHWEH." The whole assembly of Israel bowed down and worshiped¹⁶ both YAHWEH and King David. The King of Israel was God's divinely established authority.¹⁷ This human being sat on "the throne of YAHWEH." The same idea is present in the 45th Psalm which is about the Davidic King.

My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. are the fairest of the sons of men; Grace is poured upon your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies. Your throne, the God, forever and ever.¹⁸ A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows. All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad. Kings' daughters are among your noble ladies; at Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father's house; Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, worship¹⁶ Him.¹⁸

The above Psalm, also quoted at Hebrews 1:8-9, is about the Davidic King of Israel, "the fairest of the sons of men," a man who has a God who has anointed him. In context, it must refer to a Davidic King who has human daughters of other Kings among him and at his right hand. We have already seen how the Scriptures say that David and Solomon sat on the throne of YAHWEH. The words translated above as "Your throne, the God, forever and ever," are the most literal rendering of this verse both in Hebrew and Greek.¹⁹ The message here is that the throne of this King is the throne of "the God" and is the exact same concept as the Davidic King sitting on the throne of YAHWEH. The word "throne" is a reference to authority and the authority exercise by the Davidic King is the authority of YAHWEH. Anointed in the Spirit, the Davidic King exercises YAHWEH's authority over Israel, "your throne the God to the age of the age," meaning his thronal authority was the authority of his God. The point of Psalm 45:6 is to express the idea that the throne of this Davidic King is the throne of the God of Israel, the throne of YAHWEH.

Solomon sat on the throne of YAHWEH as King instead of David his father.

Your throne, the God, forever and ever.

The word "throne" signifies authority. To sit on the throne of YAHWEH means that this human being is authorized by God to rule His Kingdom. "Your throne, the God" simply means that this human being's throne is the throne of God and this man exercises YAHWEH's authority over the nation of Israel.

The One who sits on this Throne is "Lord."

Notice also how Psalm 45 says, "Because he is your Lord, worship him." The Davidic King was "Lord."

Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, "Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our Lord does not know it? So now come, please let me give you counsel and save your life and the life of your son Solomon. Go at once to King David and say to him, `Have you not, my Lord the King, sworn to your maidservant, saying, "Surely Solomon your son shall be King after me, and he shall sit on my throne"? Why then has Adonijah become King?' Behold, while you are still there speaking with the King, I will come in after you and confirm your words." So Bathsheba went in to the King in the bedroom. Now the King was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the Kng. Then Bathsheba bowed and worshiped<sup>16</sup> the King. And the King said, "What do you wish?" She said to him, "My Lord, you swore to your maidservant by YAHWEH your God, saying, `Surely your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne.' Now, behold, Adonijah is King; and now, my Lord the King, you do not know it. He has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the King and Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. As for you now, my Lord the King, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my Lord the King after him. Otherwise it will come about, as soon as my Lord the King sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be considered offenders." Behold, while she was still speaking with the King, Nathan the prophet came in. They told the King, saying, "Here is Nathan the prophet." And when he came in before the King, he worshiped¹⁶ the King with his face to the ground. Then Nathan said, "My Lord the King, have you said, `Adonijah shall be King after me, and he shall sit on my throne'? For he has gone down today and has sacrificed oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the King's sons and the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they are eating and drinking before him; and they say, `Long live King Adonijah!' But me, even me your servant, and Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and your servant Solomon, he has not invited. Has this thing been done by my Lord the King, and you have not shown to your servants who should sit on the throne of my Lord the king after him?" Then King David said, "Call Bathsheba to me." And she came into the King's presence and stood before the King. The King vowed and said, "As YAHWEH lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, surely as I vowed to you by YAHWEH the God of Israel, saying, `Your son Solomon shall be King after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place'; I will indeed do so this day." Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and worshiped¹⁶ the King and said, "May my Lord King David live forever." Then King David said, "Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." And they came into the King's presence. The king said to them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as King over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, 'Long live King Solomon!' Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne and be King in my place; for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the King and said, "Amen! Thus may YAHWEH, the God of my Lord the King, say, 'As YAHWEH has been with my Lord the King, so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my Lord King David!" ²⁰.

The one who sat on the throne of YAHWEH and ruling over the nation of Israel was the Lord of all the people. Now let us see how God made Jesus "Lord" when he raised him from the dead and sat down on the throne of YAHWEH God.

Jesus, the Son of David, sits down on the Throne of YAHWEH God

Jesus was a son of David.²¹ And he would sit on the throne of David his father.²² Like his father David, Jesus was the King of Israel;²³ he was the King of Jews.²⁴

On one occasion Jesus, quoting Psalm 110:1, asked the Pharisees who they expected the Messiah to be and how it could be possible that the Messiah was both David's son and David's Lord.

"What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet."? If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is he his son?" No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question. ²⁵

In the ancient Jewish mind, the notion of a son being your "Lord" was an impossibility. Seniority meant positional authority and never inferiority. But Jesus put these men in an inescapable dilemma. The admitted the Messiah was David's son but could not explain how David's son was also David's Lord. The Messiah was a son of David which necessarily means the Messiah was a human being since only a human being is the son of David.

Peter explains how it is possible. Notice how Jesus said that David was speaking "in the Spirit." David was speaking prophetically and this is also affirmed by Peter:

Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God... this man... you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised him up again... Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ.... This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool.'²⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.²⁷

God had raised David's son Jesus from the dead and seating Jesus down at His right hand, God had made this human being "Lord."²⁸ Peter explains very clearly that Psalm 110:1 was fulfilled when Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, this positionally making the human son of David "Lord." Jesus rose from the dead and sat down at the right hand of God.²⁹ A man sat down at the right hand of Power.³⁰ A man had sat down on his the throne of his God and Father.³¹ A man sat down on the throne of the God of Israel, the throne of YAHWEH.³² His authority was God's authority since he sat down on the throne of God. He was exercising God's authority, "your throne the God to the age of the age." The ancient Jewish mind immediately understood that sitting on God's throne in this manner meant that God had given the man Jesus the right to exerices His, God's, authority. God had bodily anointed this man with His Holy Spirit giving the man Jesus YAHWEH's authority.³³ The idea here is the same as Pharaoh making Joseph Lord of all Egypt and granting Joseph the right to exericise his, Pharaoh's authority.³⁴ Or again, the idea is that the man Jesus sits on the throne of YAHWEH exercising rule over God's Kingdom just as David and Solomon sat on the throne of YAHWEH exercising rule of God's Kingdom Israel.³⁵

But seated on the throne of YAHWEH, David and Solomon only ruled over the nation of Israel. A risen man now rules as Lord over all heaven and earth.³⁶ Jesus was a man and being a man he had been made lower than the angels³⁷ but now in his resurrection and exaltation, the man Jesus became superior to the angels³⁸ and had inherited a better name than them.³⁹ Jesus had been made "Lord" of heaven and earth. And having been made superior to the angels, the angels were now subjected to him.⁴⁰ In his resurrection the promise God made to David, "I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me" was fulfilled.⁴¹ Having made purification for sins on the cross, Jesus had been born out of the dead by God⁴² and as such this risen man Jesus was the firstborn out of the dead.⁴³ God brought his risen firstborn⁴⁴ into the oikoumene to come, the economy of heaven⁴⁵, the heavenly community of God and all his angels.⁴⁶ And having been seated at the right hand of God, he was made superor to the angels and the angels were to bow down⁴⁷ before the man Jesus, "Let all the angels of God worship him."⁴⁷ God had placed the man Jesus over all the works of his hands⁴⁸ and even over the angels.⁴⁹ The man who like us had been made lower than the angels,⁵⁰ the man who had called out to God who could save him⁵¹ learning obedience from what he had suffered⁵² had been perfected through his suffering,⁵³ was now crowned with glory and honor⁵⁴ and seated in a position superior to the angels,⁵⁵ the right hand of YAHWEH.⁵⁶

Just as David or Solomon, the Lord and King of Israel, acted as the judge of Israel,⁵⁷ the Lord Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth, will judge the living and the dead.⁵⁸ God will judge the world through a man.⁵⁹ God has appointed a man to judge the world.⁶⁰ And before this man every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is "Lord" to the glory of the Father.⁶¹

The man Jesus will reign until all enemies are put under his feet.⁶² All things are placed under the man Jesus.⁶³ However, it is obvious, as Paul says, that there is one thing which is not subject to Jesus: God the Father who placed all things under Jesus.⁶⁴ For us there is one God and that one God is the Father and there is one Lord and that one Lord is Jesus Christ.⁶⁵ God the Father is the Lord of Jesus. We have one Lord, Jesus Christ, and one God, the Father who is above all.⁶⁶ The Father is not this one Lord but is the God of this one Lord, "the God and Father of the Lord of us, Jesus Christ." ⁶⁷

David was Lord of all Israel; David's risen human son, Jesus the Messiah, is Lord of all heaven and earth. God raised up a man to rule the universe. God has entrusted the rule of the universe to a man, a resurrected man named Jesus.

And the God of Jesus,⁶⁸ the Father of our Lord, made it all happen.

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the YAHWEH of hosts will accomplish this. ⁶⁹

In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. ⁷⁰

And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming. And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve⁷¹ Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. ⁷²

God has entrusted a man from Galilee with absolutely everything. And the God of this one Lord, Jesus Christ the Lord of the universe, is his Father. For us there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, and Jesus is the Son of this one God and the Father is the God of this one Lord. For us there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, whose God is the "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who raised his servant Jesus from the dead and made him Lord placing all things under his feet, the God who is so powerful He could make these things occur, the God of the man JESUS, the God of the one Lord of the universe.

Created: November 3, 2011
Last Updated: November 16, 2011

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NOTES:

1. Genesis 49:10. See also 1 Chronicles 5:2; 28:4. Shiloh was the central place of worship for Israel prior to Jerusalem. The meaning of "Shiloh" is contested but many see this as a Messianic prophecy. Let us recall that the central place of worship now is the body of Jesus Christ, the temple of God.
2. Judges 8:23; 1 Samuel 8:7; 12:12; Psalm 10:16.
3. 1 Samuel 7:15.
4. 1 Samuel 8:1-4.
5. 1 Samuel 8:5-22; 10:19.
6. 1 Samuel 8:22; 12:17.
7. 1 Samuel 9:16-17; see 11:14; 12:1,13.
8. 1 Samuel 10:1.
9. 1 Samuel 13:9-12.
10. 1 Samuel 13:13-14.
11. 1 Samuel 16:1-12; 1 Chronicles 28:4.
12. 1 Samuel 16:13-14.
13. 2 Samuel 7:11-14; see 1 Chronicles 17:11-14; 28:6.
14. 1 Chronicles 28:5. God's Kingdom in this context is understood to be the nation of Israel. See Acts 1:6.
15. 1 Chronicles 29:20-23.
16. Hebrew shachah. This common Hebrew word is used about 162 times in the Old Testament to refer to worship of God or other gods. The basic concept behind this word, and its Greek equivalent, is to bow down before, and in subjection to, another identity. For examples, see Genesis 18:2; 19:1; Exodus 20:5; 23:24; 34:14; 1 Samuel 1:19, 28; 15:25,30; 12:20. The Greek equivalent is proskyneo/proskuneo which is how the Jews translated shachah into Greek at 1 Chronicles 29:20 and is the same Greek word used at Hebrews 1:6.
17. See the RSV translation of Psalm 45:6. Also take note of Romans 13:1ff.
18. Psalm 45.
19. Hebrews 1:8-9 literally reads, "the throne of you the god to the age of the age" (o qronoV sou o qeoV eiV ton aiwna tou aiwnoV). The verb "is" also does not exist in the original text. The word which Trinitarian translators like to translate as "O" is the standard Greek word for "the," the definite article. "The god" is also the standard Koine Greek way to refer to the one God. It is not possible for God to be addressing the Son as `God`` and then have the writer say that God`s God anointed him. 20. 1 Kings 1:11-37.
21. Matthew 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15; 22:42-45; Mark 10:47-48; 12:35-37; Luke 3:31; 18:38-39; 20:41-44; John 7:42; Acts 13:22-23; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8; Revelation 5:5; 22:16.
22. Luke 1:31-32. See Mark 11:10.
23. Matthew 27:42; Mark 15:32; John 1:49; 12:13
24. Matthew 2:2; 21:5; 27:11,29,37; Mark 15:2,9,12,18,26; Luke 1:32; 23:3,37-38; John 18:33,39; 19:3,19,31.
25. Matthew 22:42-46; cf. Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:40-44.
26. Psalm 110:1. The original Hebrew text reads "YHWH said to Adonai," or perhaps "YHWH said to Adoni." In English translations of the Old Testament, the word "LORD" replaces the name YHWH and is to be distinguished from the word "Lord." This distinction does not occur in the Greek Septuagint or Greek New Testament. Our English word "LORD" translates the Hebrew word "Adonai" which was a replacement word used by the Jews for "YHWH" who did not want to utter their God's name. It is also questionable whether the second instance of the word "Lord" at Psalm 110:1 should read "Adonai" or "Adoni." The difficulty here is that the original Hebrew text did not contain vowels and these vowels (vowel points) were later scribal additions to Hebrew words.
27. Acts 2:22-36.
28. Acts 2:36; Philippians 2:9-11; Romans 10:9. See also Hebrews 1:4.
29. Mark 16:19; Acts 5:31; 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20-22; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3,13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22. 30. Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69. The word "Power" is not intended to refer Jesus' authority but is intended to refer directly to the Father who is understood in ancient the Hebrew mind to be EL, a word which refers to their one God as "the Power."
31. Revelation 3:21. See also Revelation 1:6; 7:17;12:5;19:5;20:11-12;22:1-3.
32. Hebrews 1:8 quoting Psalm 45:6, literally, "the throne of you the god to the age of the age." In ancient Koine Greek, the term "the god" is how someone referred to the one God. The intent of Hebrews 1:8 is the same intent as the rest of this chapter: the man Jesus has become superior to the angels because this man sat down on God's throne, the throne of YAHWEH. "Your throne, the God, to the age of the age" means that Jesus is seated on the throne of God. Note also how the Trinitarian translation is impossible since it would result in God being anointed by his God, a complete absurdity, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.... therefore God, your God, has anointed you."
33. Acts 2:33; Hebrews 1:9. See also 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Corinthians 15:45.
34. Genesis 41:40-43; 45:9.
35. 1 Chronicles 29:20,23.
36. Matthew 28:18: Hebrews 2:8.
37. Hebrews 2:6-8; Compare Hebrews 3:3, literally, "who was faithful to Him who made (poieo) him" where the writer is referring back to Hebrews 2:6-7.
38. Hebrews 1:4; 2:7; 1 Peter 3:22 (compare Heb 4:14).
39. Acts 2:36; Philippians 2:9-11.
40. 1 Peter 3:22; Hebrews 2:6-9.
41. Hebrews 1:4-5 quoting YAHWEH's promise to David at 2 Samuel 7:-14.
42. Hebrews 1:5; Acts 13:30-33. In both of these passages it is quite clear that the event in view is the resurrection when God raised Jesus from the dead.
43. Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5; See also Romans 8:29.
44. The "firstborn" at Hebrews 1:6 refers directly to what he has just stated in verse 5, "Today I have begotten you."
45. Hebrews 1:6. Compare Hebrews 2:5. The Hebrews writer tells us explicitly that he has been speaking of "the oikoumene to come." The word used here is not the standard Greek word for "world" which would be kosmos The Greek word used here is oikoumene and was used to refer to a community or population of persons. See Luke 2:1; Acts 11:28; 17:6,31; 19:27. In context, the oikoumene is the heavenly community of God and all His angels in heaven.
46. See also Hebrews 12:22-24.
47. Hebrews 1:6. The Greek word proskyneo means to bow down in submission to a higher authority. Proskyneo is essentially equivalent to Hebrew shachah and is translated as such by the 2nd century B.C. Jews who translated the Old Testament Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. There are numerous examples in the Old Testament of men bowing down/worshiping other men and angels in proskyneo worship. The angels were to bow down/worship Jesus because this man had become positionally superior to the angels (1:4).
48. Hebrews 2:7-8.
49. Hebrews 1:4,6. 1 Peter 3:22.
50. Hebrews 2:6-7,9.
51. Hebrews 5:7
52. Hebrews 5:8.
53. Hebrews 2:9-10; 5:9. Note also 2:17.
54. Hebrews 2:7-9.
55. Hebrews 1:4,6; 1 Peter 3:22.
56. Hebrews 1:8; Revelation 3:21.
57. 1 Samuel 8:6,20; 1 Kings 3:9; 7:7.
58. Acts 10:42; Romans 14:10-12; 2 Timothy 4:1.
59. Romans 2:6,16.
60. Acts 17:30-31.
61. Philippians 2:9-11.
62. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26.
63. 1 Corinthians 15:27.
64. 1 Corinthians 15:27-28.
65. 1 Corinthians 8:6. The Father is not the "one Lord" in this verse just as Jesus is not the "one God." THIS one Lord has a God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
66. 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:4-6.
67. Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 11:31; Ephesians 1:3, 17; Colossians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3.
68. Matthew 27:46; John 20:17; Revelation 3:12.
69. Isaiah 9:7.
70. Daniel 2:44.
71. LXX latreuo.
72. Daniel 7:13-14.