Isaiah 9:7
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7
While Isaiah 9:6 speaks to who Jesus would be, Isaiah 9:7 speaks to what he will do. It also speaks to how long he will do it – forever. His rule will be great and peaceful and there will be no end. From the time this King establishes perfect justice and righteousness until forever, he will rule on David’s throne.
We know this is Jesus because the angel Gabriel made this same pronouncement to Mary:
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33).
Put another way, Jesus would have no successor. There’s no king coming after him. He will reign forever and his kingdom will never end. There is also a hint of limitlessness in these verses. Not only will the kingdom last forever but it will have no boundaries. It will extend to all of heaven and earth and all of creation will be subject to him.
Daniel speaks of the same kingdom in his interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He tells the king, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan 2:44). The kingdom that Jesus establishes will crush all other earthly kingdoms and never be replaced.
Ultimately, this prophecy of an eternal kingdom will be fulfilled when Jesus comes a second time and establishes the new heaven and new earth. At that time, “God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:3-4).
But it is also fulfilled now in Jesus. Jesus has already established his kingdom and already reigns over all of creation. Ultimate justice has yet to be served, but Jesus is currently governing. All other kingdoms have a boundary. An earthly king is all-powerful within his kingdom’s boundaries. But once he leaves those boundaries, he has no power. This is not true with Jesus. Wherever Jesus is, there his kingdom is as well.
Jesus revealed this concept to the Pharisees, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst” (Luke 17:21). Jesus was simply telling them that the King is standing in front of you therefore they were standing in the kingdom of God. Because wherever Jesus is, his kingdom surrounds him in all directions as far as you can see.
At the present time, the kingdom of God lives in all believers. If you are a Christ-follower and are saved by his grace, Jesus lives in you. Paul says, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom 8:9). Therefore, since Jesus lives in you, the kingdom of God is all around you.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:28). No matter where you are today, you are living in the kingdom of God. It’s a kingdom that cannot be shaken and it’s a kingdom that will never end.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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