GOOD NEWS

The word “gospel” means “good news" or “glad tidings.” The angel who appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem on the night of the Messiah’s birth used this word when he said: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the lord Messiah” (Luke 2:10, 11). The same word is used in Luke 8:1 and is rendered “glad tidings” - the lord Messiah Jesus “went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.”

Each year, when we commemorate the birth of the lord Messiah Jesus, we also acknowledge the gospel or good news that is associated with his birth. With all the bad news we read about today in our daily newspapers, we are always glad to read or hear some good news for a change. Gabriel Heatter, the famous radio commentator, achieved popularity during the trying days of World War II with his famous slogan: “There’s good news tonight!” Certainly, the birth of the lord Messiah Jesus was and is the best news this old world has ever known. The wonderful meaning behind this good news was revealed to Mary, the mother of Jesus before her son Jesus was born. As recorded in Luke 1:32-33, God’s – Yehovah’s angel said to her: “He [Jesus] shall be great, and shall be called the son of the Highest: and God - Yehovah shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there shall be no end.”

This great and far-reaching promise began to be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, for the child born in a lowly manger was indeed called the son of God - Yehovah. (Luke 1:35.) Several times during his ministry, the lord Messiah Jesus was audibly acknowledged by the voice of God - Yehovah, saying, “This is my beloved son.” The second part of the promise revealed to Mary concerning her son declared that he should someday be given the throne of David and that he should reign thereon forever over the house of Jacob, or Israel. We ask if this second part of the promise has ever been fulfilled. Has the lord Messiah Jesus ever reigned on the throne of David over the nation of Israel?

Because Jesus did not receive the throne of David at his first coming, many have thought that he will never receive it, or perhaps that he already has received it in some symbolic, mystical, or spiritual sense. For this reason, these verses, which are read so often have, in the eyes of many, ceased to be a definite promise with a literal fulfillment.

The New Testament rests upon the Old Testament, just as a building rests on its foundations, and the foundation for the promise made to Mary concerning her son is found in the Old Testament scriptures. In reading that portion of God's – Yehovah’s Word, we find that God - Yehovah had made certain promises to David, king of Israel, many centuries before the lord Messian Jesus was born. The psalmist refers to these in Psalm 89:3-4: “I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David, my servant, your seed will I establish forever and build up your throne to all generations." Also, in Psalm 132:11, we read: "Yehovah has sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; of the fruit of your body will I set upon thy throne."

Looking back at the historical account of David's life, we discover that after he had become king of Israel, God - Yehovah told him that his descendants would always have the royal line in Israel. God's – Yehovah’s words to him through the prophet are given in I Chronicles 17:11-14: "It shall come to pass, when your days be expired that you must go to be with you fathers, that I will raise up your seed after you, which shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before you: but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever: and his throne shall be established for evermore."

History records, however, that David's throne ceased to be occupied when the nation of Babylon carried away the Jewish people captive around 600 B.C., several centuries after David's time, and that his throne has never been occupied since then. Instead, Israel has been a nation subject to other rulers and nations or has been in a state of dispersion throughout the world. Foreseeing this condition, God - Yehovah spoke in these words to the last monarch of the house of David who sat on the throne of David when the fall of the nation was at hand: "You, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus says Yehovah God; remove the diadem and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it to him" (Ezekiel 21:25-27).

The throne of David has been overturned from that day to this and will remain so until the one to whom it belongs comes, the One whose right it is! That wonderful one is prophesied by the prophet Isaiah in these famous and oft-quoted words: "Unto us, a child is born, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The strength of God - Yehovah, The everlasting father, The Prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Yehovah of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

From these scriptures, several things are apparent. Seed (or descendant) of David was promised to be ruler of Israel; this seed would sit on David's throne, i.e., exercise David's authority in the same place over the same people; that throne would last forever - there would be no end to that government, once that seed began his reign, after the interval of overturning.

It is, therefore, highly interesting and significant that the first thing we read about the lord Messiah Jesus in the New Testament is that he is the Son of David, as we read in Matthew 1:1: "The book of the generation of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham." On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus had ascended into heaven, and poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples, the apostle Peter spoke these words: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God - Yehovah had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Messiah to sit on his throne; he is seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah" (Acts 2:29-31).

Thus, the lord Messiah Jesus is declared to be the one who is to sit on David's throne. But the apostle goes on to tell us what must intervene before this can be fulfilled, saying, "The Lord - Yehovah said unto my Lord – the Messiah, sit you on my right hand until I make your foes your footstool" (Acts 2:34-35). At the present time, the lord Messiah Jesus is not seated on David's throne - which is also his throne - but is seated with his heavenly Father on God's – Yehovah’s throne, as we read in Revelation 3:21: "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." There are two thrones mentioned here: the throne of the Father - Yehovah and the throne of the lord Messiah Jesus.

Jesus will not receive his own throne until his second coming to this earth to take his place on the throne of David at Zion, as he promised in Matthew 25:31 when he said to his disciples: "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory."

When that glad day arrives, then, as Isaiah promised, the government of Israel and the nations will be in the hands of the Prince of Peace, and of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. He shall reign on David's throne in Jerusalem, just as all the prophets and apostles proclaimed, and then shall have come the kingdom of God for which we pray when we say, "Your kingdom come."

Yes, this is the good news of the gospel - that the promised Savior and King of the royal line of David has been born, has died for men's sins, giving himself as a sin-offering sacrifice to his God and Father Yehovah, and has risen again, having ascended to the Father's – Yehovah’s throne in heaven, and will return to establish the kingdom of God and reign on David's throne at Zion. And each year that passes brings us nearer to the time when he shall return and reign over this earth in the kingdom of God!

Written by William Wachel and edited by Bruce Lyon