Kings and Priests

We know that we must (one day) reign as Kings and Priests. I have had a statement given to me recently, by a friend fo mine, that we are now reigning as Kings and Priests over the earth. I think, no doubt, he bases his statement on :

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

My first reaction was - no - it cannot be. The time has not come, we are only Priests, because we serve reconciliation and atonement with God through the the Blood of Jesus Christ as in :

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; v:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

I have, however, not seen in scripture, that He has also given us dominion over the Earth to rule as Kings over it, so let us look at who has dominion over the Earth presently, and whether and when it was given to us, maybe implicitly.

Argument One

So, we start off at the Beginning. God made Heaven and Earth, and He gave Adam and Eve dominion over all living things and the over the Earth :

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This scripture says : The Earth belongs to God, because He made it, but He has no diminion over it, because He has given dominion over it to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were in fact then kings of the Earth.

This dominion over Earth, that Adam and Eve had, they have given over to Satan in the garden of Eden during that fateful visit of the serpent, during a time that they did not watch over it, as they were instructed in :

Gen 2:15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress (work or husband) it and to keep (guard and protect) it.

It is not surprising then, that He says in the parable of the vineyard :

Luke 20:9 ... A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

Although we lack some insight into the physical, spiritual and symbolic meaning of this encounter, it is not difficult to deduct, that from this meeting with the serpent in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve gave over dominion of the Earth to Satan, because after that, they did not have that dominion anymore, as they were expelled from this Garden and became labourers, not kings :

Gen 3:17  .... cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;  v:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; v:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, ...

It is quite clear from the altercation between Jesus Christ and Satan in the desert, that Satan owns 'the kingdoms of this Earth' :

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; v:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Jesus Christ acknowledges this fact to Pilate saying :

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

How can we be Kings on Earth now, as suggested, while Satan has dominion over the Earth? By becoming one of his subjects, like the kings of the Earth. That is why this war against Satan is also a war against the kings of the Earth :

Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

God can only take back dominion over the Earth by making war or by cession, not just and only to let Jesus Christ die on the cross.

We may be tempted to think that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ 'made everything right'. Although the prognosis is such, the event had not occured yet. There will be a war, but the satan is never going to cede this Earth without a fight, and that fight is described in two battles, the first of which returns the dominion of Earth back to Him (God), and in the second, Satan is devoured, because God already has dominion over earth to do that :

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. v:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. v:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. v:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. v:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. v:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Against whom will this war be fought. Not against man, but against the forces of evil, now united under Satan, his kings of the World, Anti-christ and the demonic angelic forces.

After their defeat in this war, they will spent some time in prison, to see whether they will not repent, and when they come out (on parole) they will do what every jailbird does :

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Here Jesus Christ has already given over the dominion of Earth to His Father, God, who can devour those who transgress against Him. He received that dominion from His Son, Jesus Christ, who won the dominion over the Earth in the war in Rev. 19:11 above, and then gave it over to His Father.

First Jesus Christ conquers all and is all and in all :

Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

He then gives it over to the Father who then becomes all and is in all :

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

So ,where does the original scripture quoted come in?

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

There will be a new Earth and a new Heaven in which we will reign with the Son:

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Remember - on the old Earth only a third of the sea was smitten, but there was still two thirds left - where has that gone now, only seconds after the victory, when we have been changed in the twinkling of an eye ?

Argument Two

So much for the scripture, but let us also look at the parables, types and examples we find in scripture regarding this.

We should be well acquainted with the types and anti-types in the Bible, and I am taking one of these as an example, before I go to the real parable.

We, as saved souls, should have gone through two stages before we reach that Celestial City.

We, who have died due to our sins, and lived in bondage should have been :

Baptised with water.

Baptised with the Fire of the Holy Spirit.

Similarly, the Earth was baptised with water (The Big Flood) and baptised with Fire (Armageddon).

Now for the real parable.

1.     God's people lived in bondage, under the cruel government as slaves of a king of the Earth, one of those mentioned in Rev. 19:19 above.

2.     There had to be a messiah (Moses) in conjunction with an interpreter Aaron), to persuade God's people and the king (Pharoah), to let God's people go.

3.     God had to send ten plaques, to convince this king to let God's people go.

4.     God took His people OUT of this sinful and earthly ruled place and brought them into the promised land.

5.     God destroyed this earthly king and his subjects (in the returning flood of the Red sea), when His people had left the land.

6.     God's people had to go through the Jordan (a type of the carnal death, and also a type of the baptism with water) to reach the promised land.

Now to the end time :

1.     God's people lives in bondage, under cruel governments as slaves of the kings of the Earth, those mentioned in Rev. 19:19 above.

2.     There have to be a Messiah in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, to persuade those kings to let God's people go.

3.     God will have to send ten plaques (the seven seals and the three woes), to convince the Earth and its kings to let God's people go.

4.     God will take His people OUT of this sinful Earth and bring them into the promised land - The New Jerusalem.

5.     God will destroy this earthly kings and their subjects (Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:), when His people had left the land, in what is called the Rapture and the war of Armageddon.

6.     God's people will have to go through the Jordan (a type of the carnal death - and also a type of the baptism with water) to reach the promised land.

In fact, when one delves deeper into the comparison of the ten plaques of Egypt and the ten plaques in the Great tribulation, one stands amazed at the (not so) coincident parallels.

Argument Three.

It is quite evident from Revelations, that there will be very little left of Earth once God had 'finished' with it, and the reasons are plenty.

Many meteors will have struck it, and will have made it totally unsuitable for any life to continue on Earth.

Here was shed the blood of the martyrs.

Here occured the innocent bloodshed of millions of people, and also of the Son of God, on which basis God cannot establish His New Jerusalem.

Here was the inbreeding of devils in the son's of man (called Nephilim), a plan Satan made to get his offspring to enter the gates of Heaven, as part of the Rapture of the First Fruits - the so-called harvest as depicted here : 

Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. v:27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? v:28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? v:29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. v:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; v:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; v:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. v:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

Yes - God has reason to make the Earth void, like it has once been before Adam and Eve, like the prophecy for Babylon, which prophecy is not for Babylon, but for this Babyloneous Earth :

Isa 13:19  And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. v:20  It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

and

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. v:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. v:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Argument Four.

In all these above I have not come across any scriptural evidence based on more than one scripture, which teaches that we will inherit the Earth - it will only go to the meek, and Christ was the only meek One.

Comments welcome.

by P.K.Odendaal - 4 November 2011