Messianic age

In the OT, writers look forward to the era that will be inaugurated by God's decisive intervention in human history, in order to establish his eternal kingdom under the Messiah. The Messianic age is characterised by righteousness, justice and peace, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and by the restoration and renewal of God's people and of creation. In the NT, the idea appears in a developed form as the “kingdom of God”, inaugurated by the first coming of Jesus Christ and to be consummated at his return.

The victory of God's kingdom foreseen

Daniel 2:37–44 See also Zechariah 14:9

You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory. Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. But after you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; for iron shatters and crushes all things, and like iron that crushes all things, it will shatter and crush all the others. And just as you saw that the feet and toes were made partly of fired clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom, yet some of the strength of iron will be in it — just as you saw the iron mixed with clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together any more than iron mixes with clay. In the days 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 shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.

The victory of God's Messiah

Psalm 45:3–6 This psalm came to be applied to the Messiah. See also Psalm 110:5–6 This psalm was also applied to the Messiah in the OT times; Isaiah 9:3–5, Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 59:17–19

Strap your sword at your side, O mighty warrior; appear in your majesty and splendor. In your splendor ride forth in victory on behalf of truth and humility and justice; may your right hand show your awesome deeds. Your arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s foes; the nations fall beneath your feet. Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.

The Messiah's universal reign

Daniel 7:13–14 Psalm 2:8–9, Psalm 72:8–11

In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Restoration in the Messianic age

Restoration of harmony in creation

Isaiah 11:6–9 parallel Isaiah 65:25

The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.

Restoration of the land's prosperity

Amos 9:13–15 See also Psalm 72:3; Isaiah 4:2; Joel 3:18

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow. I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

Restoration and renewal of God's people

Jeremiah 3:18; Micah 4:6–8 See also Isaiah 60:1–3; Joel 3:16–17; Amos 9:11; Obadiah 1:17–21; Acts 1:6; Zechariah 3:9HOS Zechariah 3:5; Jeremiah 50:4–5; Ezekiel 11:19–20 parallel Ezekiel 36:28

In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance.

“On that day,” declares the LORD, “I will gather the lame; I will assemble the outcast, even those whom I have afflicted. And I will make the lame into a remnant, the outcast into a strong nation. Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever. And you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion — the former dominion will be restored to you; sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”

Characteristics of the Messianic age

Righteousness and justice

Isaiah 32:1 See also Psalm 72:2, Psalm 72:12–13; Isaiah 9:7, Isaiah 11:3–5, Isaiah 32:16; Jeremiah 23:5–6 parallel Jeremiah 33:15–16

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.

Peace and security

Isaiah 32:17–18 See also Micah 4:3–4 parallel Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 65:20–23; Jeremiah 23:5–6, Jeremiah 33:15–16; Ezekiel 34:25–29; Zechariah 9:9–10

The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever. Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.

Universal acknowledgment of the LORD

Jeremiah 3:17 See also Isaiah 2:2–3 parallel Micah 4:1–2; Isaiah 19:23–25; Zechariah 14:16

At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit

Joel 2:28–29 See also Isaiah 11:2, Isaiah 32:15, Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 59:21; Ezekiel 36:27

And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on My menservants and maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

The kingdom of God in the NT

Inaugurated at Jesus Christ's first coming

Matthew 12:28 parallel Luke 11:20 See also Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43

But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Includes the restoration of all things

Acts 3:21 See also Revelation 21:1–4

Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.

Consummated at Jesus Christ's return

Revelation 11:15 See also Matthew 24:30–31 parallel Mark 13:26–27; Revelation 12:10

Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”