“On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written,  ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”  (Revelation 19:16)

When we hear that Yeshua has the magnificent title of King of kings and Lord of lords, God is telling us that He is superior in abilities and authority of all earthly kings combined.

It might be difficult to imagine what it means to us personally that Yeshua is our King, the Monarch whom all monarchs, leaders, and each one of us will one day submit to.

Yeshua Appears to the Disciples after His Resurrection,(1906), by William Hole

We can begin thinking of Yeshua as our Heavenly Messianic ruler by understanding how He is different from the kings of our world.

Many people look to their earthly kings and leaders as a kind of Messiah.

However, no matter how hard some leaders try to be good rulers, they still struggle with temptations and commit sins.

Even King David who loved God had weaknesses, made mistakes, and committed a grave sin that he tried to cover up with an even graver sin

But Yeshua, despite all the temptations He faced, never sinned.  We can feel safe and secure in His Kingdom knowing that He will rule over us according to God’s pure and holy intentions toward us — without the turmoil of earthly sins that leaders commit.

Yeshua Speaks at the Treasury, by James Tissot

Some earthly kings and rulers create laws according to traditions and cultural norms of their nation, trying to do what is “good.”

At the other extreme, rulers with absolute power and who are not Christian are accountable to no one.  They follow their own standards and act on their own will.  Unfortunately, the people must submit to that rule, whether good or bad.

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was the longest reigning monarch and the symbolic head of the Commonwealth of Nations, and she publicly testified that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

But Yeshua is high above any wisdom or understanding that any earthly king rules by.

In fact, their thrones and authority were created for Him, through Him, and by Him (Colossians 1:16).  When Yeshua reigns, there will no longer be any religions or denominations!

There will only be one understanding of Scripture—the one that belongs to God alone.  And at that time, we will know it fully (1 Corinthians 13:12).

When God’s Kingdom is fully realized, the Prophet Isaiah says that  “kings will shut their mouths because of Him.  For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.”  (Isaiah 52:15)

The rulers of the earth will suddenly understand Scripture and know without a doubt that Yeshua is the prophesied King whom they must submit to.  We need to know this without a doubt, too.

So, what exactly is the Kingdom of God and what are the prophecies that tell us Yeshua is this all-powerful King?

God’s Spirit opens the truth of the Scriptures. This is why Peter so boldly stood outside the Upper Room and explained the Messianic prophecies to a crowd of Jews — it was Pentecost and he just received the Holy Spirit.  Three thousand Jews believed Peter’s message and were saved that day!  (Peter Preaching at Pentecost, by Gebhard Fugel)

Yeshua Is the Kingdom of God

God’s Kingdom is Yeshua’s Kingdom because they are One.  They reign as One now and later, when we physically see His rule established over all nations of the world.  That was a hard truth for the Jewish People to accept.

Nevertheless, when Yeshua arrived in Israel 2,000 years ago, He embodied the Kingdom everywhere He went.

Yeshua told the religious leaders,  “The kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21; see also Luke 11:20).

The Kingdom of God had broken through heaven’s atmosphere in the person of Yeshua, but that didn’t match the traditional Jewish expectations of a victorious Jewish king conquering Roman oppression.  Nevertheless, Yeshua continued doing what He came to do:  calling people one by one out of their earthly darkness into His divine royal light.

And we have a calling as well.

We who have made Yeshua king over our lives have a wonderful opportunity to experience a small slice of the Kingdom of God right now by demonstrating to those around us what submitting to His rules and His authority will be like for eternity.

Many will rebel, reject, deny, and hate us for living in this way because His ways are not like the ways of earthly kings and their followers.  The ways of Yeshua include:

• • The Ten Commandments—and the rest of the Bible;
  • Blessing our enemies;
  • Forgiving people, even seventy times seven times;
  • Serving and honouring others, especially the poor, the widows, and the orphans;
  • Stewarding everything we have for Kingdom pursuits, because everything we have belongs to Him anyway;
  • Essentially loving God with all of our beings and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

This is God’s kind of righteousness, which we as His subjects are to emulate

Men praying at the Western (Wailing) Wall.

Yeshua: King of Righteousness

In the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 14, God provided a foreshadowing of Messiah Yeshua as the coming righteous Messiah through His first earthly king — Melchizedek, מַלְכִּי־צֶ֙דֶק֙, meaning King of Righteousness, or my King is Righteousness.

The Prophet Jeremiah helped us identify the Messianic King of Righteousness and he gives us a sense of what His kingdom will be like:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD,  “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch [a descendant of King David];  and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

“In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness’”  (Adonai Tzidkeinu יְהוָ֥ה צִדְקֵֽנוּ) (Jeremiah 23:6).

As our Righteous King, Yeshua will reign with abundant wisdom, not judging us by the size of our homes, money in our bank accounts, or how well we dress, as perhaps our coworkers, neighbors, and family do.

No, our King Yeshua will judge our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7 and Jeremiah 23:5; Isaiah 11:4).

How do we prepare our hearts so they pass King Yeshua’s judgment?

We do what Yeshua, Yohann (John the Baptist), and the apostles repeatedly told the people to do:  “Repent and believe the good news!”  (Mark 1:15; Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Acts 2:38)

To repent is to return to doing and thinking righteousness by emulating the ways of our King of Righteousness.

Yeshua: King of the New Jerusalem

In Genesis 14 we read that Melchizedek was not only the king of Righteousness — He was also the King of Salem (from the Hebrew word shalom or peace).

Salem became the city of Jerusalem, City of Peace.

Jerusalem today is certainly not the peaceful city its name suggests.

It’s fraught with spiritual and political tensions, not to mention movements to divide up the land among Israel’s enemies.  But all of this turmoil is only temporary until Messiah returns.

Yeshua Enters Jerusalem, by William Hole depicts Yeshua fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Yeshua is not coming back to New York, Sydney, Cape Town, or London.  The King of kings, the Righteous Branch from the line of King David will reign in Zion (Psalm 2:6), the New Jerusalem!  (Zechariah 14:9,16)

God is going to replace this troubled city and its rulers with a New King of true peace (shalom).

“No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. …  And they will reign for ever and ever”  (Revelation 21:3–5).

Yeshua: King of Israel

When Yeshua rode into Jerusalem in fulfilment as a king, just as Zechariah 9:9 prophesied, the people, together with many children, waved palm branches and shouted:

“‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’  ‘Blessed is the King of Israel  (John 12:13).

They didn’t yet understand that He was about to become the Lamb of God, delivering them from their sins on Passover, nor that the Holy Spirit (Ruach Hakodesh) would be released upon those who believed in Him.

Yet, they acknowledged Yeshua as their king!

Waving palm branches in honor of King Yeshua is going to happen again, and not just in Israel!

Imagine what a beautiful scene it will be when “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” comes out of the Great Tribulation and stands before the throne “holding palm branches in their hands,” crying out in a loud voice:

“Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”   (Revelation 7:9–10).

You are Blessed to know the King of kings, the Lamb of God who gives us freedom and salvation along with everlasting life!