NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
Back in the days of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) when Mr. Armstrong was its Pastor General, it was believed that during the Millennium, Israel returned from its end-time captivity to the originally-promised land would have as its king ruling over them, David which would be resurrected at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming.
The Scriptures usually quoted in support of this belief are are show below.
Jer 30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 30:2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jer 30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. [Will be resettled in the original Promised Land]
Jer 30:4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
Jer 30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Jer 30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Jer 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
Jer 30:8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
Jer 30:9 But they [Israel] shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
End-time Israel will be freed from its captivity and returned to the Promised Land and will never again go into captivity (Jer 30:8 last part).
Jer 30:10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
Jer 30:11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
God says that end-time Israel returned from its captivity among the Gentile nations will serve the LORD their God and David their king which will be raised up or resurrected. David will be resurrected at the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming but his resurrection will be to glorified spirit life and not to flesh-and-blood existence. He will be part of the Bride of Christ as all First Resurrection saints are to be and he will also be God as God is God and be assigned an office of responsibility as will all those that will be part of the Bride of Christ.
All of converted Israel will obey God and will be ruled by God and His Bride of which David will be a constituent part. In passing it should be noted that a major part of Israel returned from captivity will not become converted as they will not follow their calling at the time of the making of the New Covenant (Mat 22:14) and of those who become converted, it is the many that will not remain faithful (Mat 7:13). This has pretty well been the way things have been from the beginning of God’s New Testament Church. For more detailed information on this topic please see the following study available on this site Mass Conversion of the Nations during the Millennium?
David will not rule over Israel as a flesh-and-blood king; he will do so as a spirit being. He will rule over those individuals in Israel in whom dwells God’s Spirit as God now rules over those who have become converted. How Does God Now Rule Over Mankind? David will be a God being and as such will be one with God.
God is one body made up of many parts as our bodies are made up of many parts all cooperating harmoniously with each other to the benefit of the whole body through the unbreakable laws that govern our bodies. In the same way all members of the body of Christ will be willingly and cooperatively under the authority of God the Father in the very same way Christ is right now. How Was Jesus God in the Flesh?
Let’s now do a detailed analysis of the main verse used to support the idea that David will rule as a flesh-and-blood human being following his resurrection over Israel returned from its end-time captivity and resettled in the Promised Land.
Jer 30:9 But they [those of Israel that enter into the New Covenant; not all will and many will not] shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
The first thing to notice is that God here through Jeremiah is talking about an Israel that will serve Him. Those serving God are those that have been called, chosen and who are remaining faithful. In other words, they are God’s Church by any other name; they have God’s Spirit and are serving God. Without the in-dwelling presence of God’s Spirit in men, it is impossible for them to obey God. Ancient Israel which was never a converted nation is the proof that it is impossible for men without God’s Spirit to obey Him.
The second thing to take into consideration is that First Resurrection saints are resurrected not to flesh-and-blood existence but as glorified spirit beings which are invisible and unknowable to flesh-and-blood human beings. David will be part of that first resurrection and inherit a glorified spirit body invisible to flesh-and-blood human beings like all the others who will be part of that first resurrection.
A third point of importance is that David and all those of the first resurrection will become part of the Bride of Christ and rule with Christ; they will be with Christ in the 3rd heaven, not on the earth. He will rule being one with God over those who serve God i.e., His Church in the same way that God and Christ today rule over God’s Church.
Fourthly, it needs to be very clear in our minds that God will not rule forcibly over the unconverted nations of the world including those of Israel who are not converted and there will be many. God will only rule over those who self-willingly choose to obey Him after having been given to know the truth. WHY? Because all those that are to become part of God’s Kingdom have to be beings of character which is to say, they obey God because they have knowingly and freely chosen to do so and continue to do so exercising self-restraint to the best of their ability to obey God when nothing and no one is forcing them to do so.
Fifth point; it is critically important and it cannot be emphasized too much that NOT ALL CALLED OUT PERSONS ARE CHOSEN. Christ Himself, if we will believe Him, plainly tells us that “For many are called but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:14) In other words, it is the “many” that are not chosen. WHY? They refuse to submit to God’s rule when called and God will and does respect their decision. WHY? Those that are to become part of God’s Kingdom have to be individuals of character as previously explained.
Sixth point; not all of Israel that returns from end-time captivity will become converted or Matt 22:14 is not true. How many will not become converted; the “many.” This means that it is the “few” of the end-time remnant of Israel returning from captivity that will become converted and the “many” that will not. There will therefore clearly be a “converted Israel” or spiritual Israel and an “unconverted Israel” or physical Israel occupying the territory of the Promised Land and living side by side as was the case at the foundation of God’s Church. At that time, not all of Israel, far from it, became converted.
Seventh point; David resurrected as a glorified spirit being and as part of the Bride of Christ will rule over spiritual Israel or God’s Church being part of the Kingdom of God. David will be God as God is God and he, and the Bride and Christ, and the Father will then all be one as Christ is in the Father and the Father in Christ and the Bride in Christ; in brief, though made up of a great number of individuals, all function as a single entity, and that entity is called God (John 14:10; 20). When Christ rules over the elect or God’s Church it is Christ with God the Father and, eventually David and many others who have inherited salvation at the time of the First Resurrection, that will rule over spiritual Israel not the unconverted nations of either physical Israel or of the world.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Joh_14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Conclusion
David in the resurrection as part of the Bride of Christ will rule as God is God over those individuals that become part of spiritual Israel i.e., God’s church. First these will be those of the end-time remnant of physical Israel that convert at the time of the making of the New Covenant and after, it will be all those from around the world that convert (not all of them will; many called, few chosen) when God pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh. God only rules over those who self-willingly submit to Him and collectively, irrespective of their country of origin, these individuals constitute the spiritual Israel over which David as a glorified spirit being and fully God as God is God will rule during the Millennium and the Last Great Day as part of God’s Kingdom.
God the Father and Christ are one with each other and true Christians when they become glorified spirit beings, including David. They are made one with God the Father by their absolute obedience to the Father just like Christ. Christ and the Father functioned as one and so will true Christians when they become glorified spirit beings.
God's Spiritual Nation 