In love a throne will be established;This passage recently caught my attention. In the middle of prophecies about destruction due to unfaithfulness and injustice, this verse appears about one who will put things right. It stands out with hope in contrast to the context of misery it sits in.
in faithfulness a man will sit on it --
one from the house of David --
one who in judging seeks justice
and speeds the cause of righteousness.
-- Isaiah 16:5
It starts stating a throne will be established in love. I believe this to be a future prophecy about Jesus' earthly government with several aspects to the "love" component.[1] First, he will be given the throne by the Father because of the love between the Father and Son. The Father has loved Jesus since before creation. Jesus honors the Father through obedience to His will; in turn, the Father is pleased with and desires to honor the Son.[2]
Next, the Father will give leadership to Jesus because they both love creation and mankind. Originally, creation was made perfect. When humans rebelled, all of creation was subjected to futility. Because of their love for the cosmos, they do not want to leave it in this condition but know, under current systems, nothing is going to fundamentally change.[3] Something radically different needs to happen; that radical change is Jesus government. He came the first time to pay the price to rule the universe and to demonstrate His worthiness. Next time He comes it will be to claim and enforce the right He already possesses.[4]
Finally, because of the love between Jesus and His people, those being ruled will agree with and support the Father's action. Jesus is working in his people that the same love the Father has for Him will also be in them.[5] There are two places these people come from. The first is from the non-Jewish peoples. These are the Gentiles who have believed on Jesus and have been grafted into the family tree of faith, spiritual descendants of Abraham. The second group are Jews. Jesus told the Jewish people I will not come again until Israel says "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."[6] We don't yet see either of these groups sold out in love to Him but there is a time coming when we will. Jesus is developing a deep love in both these groups to bring them together so in unity they may cry with the Spirit "Come!"[7]
1. I follow the traditional Christian position that this passage is talking about Jesus. I depart from some of Christianity by believing it will be fulfilled literally. I'm convinced that there will be a time when Jesus physically returns and establishes a global government here on the earth. This topic is too large for this article, but I did want to establish my perspective right up front.
2. Matthew 3:13-18, Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 1:9-11, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 3:21-22, Luke 9:28-36, John 3:31-36, John 5:19-20, John 17:24, 2 Peter 1:16-18
3. John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The word translated "world" here is the Greek "kosmos" from which we get our word "cosmos". Like our word "world" it can mean either the physical planet or the inhabitants thereof. I think both meanings are equally applicable.
This is the second in a series entitled Establishing a throne:
- Would Jesus be a Democrat or Republican?
- How is it established?
- Who sits on it?
- What is justice?
- What is righteousness?
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Hi. I'm Harley and I have several interests, but the focus of this site mainly involves my thoughts on miscellaneous subjects such as religion, politics and anything else that catches my fancy. 
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