THE KING IS CENTRAL TO HIS KINGDOM

Genesis chapter 1













Today we are walking in: The King Is Central To His Kingdom







Today we look to the word-UNDERSTAND- H8085 shama`--to hear with attention or interest, listen to understand (language)










The Torah testifies...............




Genesis 11:7




Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand H8085 one another's speech.










The prophets proclaim..................




Nehemiah 8:2




And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear H8085 with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.











The writings bear witness...........................




1 Kings 3:9




Give therefore thy servant an understanding H8085 heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?







The King Is Central to His Kingdom




If we were created for kingship, and if Yahusha came to earth to restore the kingship we lost, and if we want to be prepared to resume our rightful place as kings, then we had better learn what it means to be a king and how a king relates to his kingdom. This is important both for teaching us how to think, speak, and behave like rulers and for teaching us how to relate properly to Yah, our High King. A true king is not a dictator.




The first thing we need to understand is that a king is the central component of his kingdom. A king embodies the essence of his kingdom; the kingdom is the king. Without the king, there is no kingdom. The land and the people may still be there, but unless they are ruled by a king, they are not in a kingdom. This is one primary distinction between a kingdom and a democratic state. In a democracy, the country’s leader, whether called a president or a prime minister or whatever, is not the center of the government. The constitution is. Presidents and prime ministers change every few years, but the constitution provides continuity of law and government. In a kingdom, the king is the constitution. His word is the law. His word is the government.




Second, a king is the ultimate and only source of authority in his kingdom. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the authority of Yah the King is exclusive and absolute. His word is law and His will is carried out even to the farthest reaches of His realm. And Yah’s realm is infinite.




The sole and absolute authority of the King is what distinguishes the Kingdom of Heaven from religion. Religious people give lip service to Yah’s kingship but then turn around and debate, question, and even amend His laws. For example, the King says that homosexual behavior is an abomination (see Lev. 18:22), yet a gathering of bishops who supposedly honor the King’s law install an openly and actively homosexual priest as an archbishop! In the Kingdom, the King’s word is law. It is not open to debate, discussion, challenge, or amendment.




While this may seem restrictive or even despotic to someone raised in a democratic environment, in many ways it actually relieves a lot of pressure. If you are under the King and someone asks you, “What do you think about so-and- so?” you can defer to the King’s authority: “What I think does not matter. I am bound to follow my King, and my King says this...” or “I agree with my King, and this is what He says...”




In a democracy, political leaders campaign, negotiate, compromise, and consult committees in an effort to reach a consensus for establishing law and policy. In a kingdom, the king speaks...and that’s it; no debate or question. The authority of the King is like the slogan that began circulating years ago: “Yah said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” Even better is the variation: “Yah said it and that settles it, whether I believe it or not.”




Yahusha demonstrated this kingly authority when He said numerous times, “You have heard...but I tell you...” (see Matt. 5:21-22,27-28, 33-34,38-39,43-44, emphasis added). The biblical account of this occasion records:




When Yahusha had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Matthew 7:28- 29, emphasis added).




Yahusha spoke and taught on His own authority. He did not rely on the thoughts, ideas, interpretations, or traditions of others. Why? Because He was a King whose authority was independent and sovereign.




This leads to a third point to understand about a king: The sovereignty of a king is inherent in his royal authority. The people do not make a king sovereign; he is born sovereign. Yahusha told Pilate that He was born a king; He did not receive His kingship—or His sovereignty—from the hand of men. Sovereignty means freedom from external control. As sovereign, a king is free to do as he pleases with no accountability to anyone else in the kingdom. Otherwise, a king has no true authority. No one has the authority to tell Yah what to do. Yah’s sovereignty is absolute. He is completely self-determining.




Fourteen Characteristics of a King




A king is distinct both from a democratically elected leader, such as a president or prime minister, as well as from a dictator in a totalitarian state. Following are 14 characteristics of a king that clarify that distinction.




1. A king is never voted into power. His power is inherent from birth. Democratic leaders are elected to power; totalitarian dictators seize power; but a king is born into power.




2. A king is king by birthright. His kingship is not conferred by men. Elected leaders rule by the will of the people. Dictators rule through fear, repression, and coercion. A king rules because he is born to it. Yahusha Hamachiach was born a King. We do not make Him King; all we can do is acknowledge that He is King.




3. A king cannot be voted out of power. Because the kingdom is his by birth, a king rules for life. A president is voted out of office or departs due to term limits. A dictator may be brought down by a coup d’etat or popular uprising. Kingship, however, is a lifelong office. A human king may be dethroned by force or revolution, but he can never be voted out. The King of Heaven reigns by sovereign right of creation. He will never be voted out of power. Nor will He ever be dethroned. Lucifer tried and failed. Human empires have tried and failed and then fallen themselves, as is the destiny of all regimes that challenge His sovereignty. He was King before this world began, and He will still be King after it has passed away. In fact, Scripture makes this bold declaration:




The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Most High and of His Hamachiach, and He will reign for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15b).




No act either of man on earth or of the spiritual powers of darkness will ever remove the King of Heaven from His throne.




4. A king’s authority is absolute. That is why he is not a president or a prime minister. Presidents must consult Congress, and prime ministers, Parliament. If the prime minister of the Bahamas makes a decision, the senate can discuss it, the parliament may attack it, the media may mutilate it, and he may change his mind. Dictators, on the other hand, while perhaps exercising absolute power (for a time), possess no legitimate authority. This is why they must use force and repression to stay in power. But when a king speaks, he speaks with absolute authority— authority that is inherent to his kingship.




5. A king’s word is law. Because a king’s authority is absolute, his word is law. No one can countermand his orders, negate his pronouncements, set aside his decrees, or amend his statutes. David, an Israelite king who loved the King of Heaven with all his heart, had this to say about his King’s law:




The law of the Most High is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Most High are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Most High are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Most High are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Most High is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Most High are sure and altogether righteous....By them is Your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:7-9,11).




The King’s word is law. Great reward follows obedience. Disobedience brings severe penalties.




6 . A king personally owns everything in his domain. Presidents and other elected leaders do not own their countries; they are citizens like everyone else. Dictators often act as though they own everything, but whatever they possess they acquire by fraud, theft, and corruption. A king, on the other hand, personally owns everything in his domain. In fact, a kingdom is the only form of government where the ruler owns everything and everyone. In the words of King David, once again:




The earth is the Most High’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1).




The King of Heaven Himself declares:




Every animal of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10).




A king owns the people, the animals, the plants, the land, and the air around the land. He owns the value under the earth—the gold, the silver, the platinum, the diamonds, etc. He owns the soil and the seeds in the soil. A king owns everything in his territory. That is why he is called a Most High. Most High means owner. We’ll discuss more on this concept in the next teaching.




7. A king’s decree is unchanging. In a democratic system, laws can be amended, revised, or revoked. Dictators change and even reverse their own decrees whenever it suits them. They renege on their word all the time. But a king’s word is law. Once a king issues a decree, it cannot be changed.




Daniel, a faithful, Yah-fearing Hebrew in exile, was a high official in the court of Darius, a Medo- Persian king. When Daniel’s enemies plotted to destroy him, they persuaded Darius to issue a decree that for 30 days no prayers or petitions were to be raised to any Yah or anyone else except to the king himself. Violators would be thrown into a den of lions. This decree was a “law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked” (Dan. 6:8b NASB).




Catching Daniel in the act of praying to Yah in violation of the king’s decree (as they knew they would), Daniel’s enemies took him to the king. Darius was trapped. Even he could not revoke his own decree! The king spent a tormented, sleepless night while his trusted servant Daniel cooled his heels in the lion’s den. The Most High delivered Daniel safely, and his enemies ended up with the lions instead.




The point here is that a king’s decree, once issued, cannot be undone. The decrees of the King of Heaven are just as permanent:




The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our Yah stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).




Yahusha the King said:




Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35).




8 . A king chooses who will be a citizen. In a democracy, the citizens choose their leader while a totalitarian system treats its “citizens” as little more than tools of the state. A kingdom operates in the opposite manner—the king chooses the citizens. Because his authority is absolute, he determines the standards of citizenship in his kingdom. The people do not vote for the king, but in essence, he votes for them.




Yahusha demonstrated this kingly prerogative as well when He said to His closest followers:




You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. This is My command: Love each another. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you (John 15:16-19).




Yahusha chose them out of citizenship in the world and made them citizens of His Kingdom with full benefits of citizenship. They no longer belonged to the kingdom of the world. Now, like Yahusha, their Kingdom was from another place. Yahusha does the same thing today for everyone who believes Him —everyone who accepts His message of the Kingdom.




9. A king embodies the government of his kingdom. This means that wherever a king is, his entire government is present. Whenever a king speaks, his whole government is speaking. Whenever a king moves, the government moves with him because he embodies the government; the king is the government.




When a President travels abroad, the authority of the United States government travels with them because he or she represents the government and the people. The government itself, however, does not travel with them. It remains in place and functioning in Washington. The government of a king, on the other hand, is wherever the king is. A king and his government are inseparable. This is how we can know that the Kingdom of Heaven is on earth; the Kingdom is here because the King is here. Yahusha said:




...if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:19-20).




and:




...All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).




The Kingdom of Heaven is here because the King of heaven is here in the hearts and lives of His citizens who populate His colony here.




10. A king’s presence is the presence of his authority. When a king shows up, his full authority is present. His authority does not reside in a place or in a document; it resides in him personally. This is why citizens of Yah’s Kingdom colony on earth can act with kingly authority. Because the King is present, His authority is present also. It was this present authority that Yahusha had in mind when He said:




I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 18:18).




and:




I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it (John 14:13- 14).




Kingdom citizens may always exercise kingly authority because the King is always present with them.




11. A king’s wealth is measured by his property. The larger and richer in resources a kingdom is, the wealthier the king, because the king owns everything in his kingdom. Dictators become wealthy by stealing from the people.




Democratically elected leaders may or may not be personally wealthy, but they definitely do not own their country. This is one of the major distinctions between a king and other government leaders. Kings own everything in their domain by right of birth and kingship. As a matter of fact, property is so tied up with a king’s identity that without it a king is not a king. We will discuss this more thoroughly in teachings to come.




Why is wealth so important in a kingdom? So the king can take care of his citizens. A righteous and benevolent king does not amass wealth for himself but for the welfare of his citizens. This is why it is only in a kingdom where we truly find commonwealth; that is, the wealth is common to all the people.




No kingdom is greater or richer than the Kingdom of Heaven because it encompasses all that exists. And no king is wealthier than the King of Heaven because He owns everything everywhere in both the natural and supernatural realms. Consequently, no citizens of any government are more prosperous or have greater welfare than do citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven because all the infinite wealth of that Kingdom is their common wealth.




12. A king’s prosperity is measured by the status of his citizens. If the citizens are poor, the king is seen as a poor king. If the citizens are prosperous, however, the king is seen as a wealthy king. Wealthy citizens make a king proud. That is why it is important for a king to make sure his people prosper. Yahusha never preached prosperity. Why not? Because prosperity is a matter of Kingdom business. Anyone who becomes a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven automatically prospers because the King of heaven is a wealthy King— the wealthiest of all. And He is also a righteous and benevolent King who is committed to the fullest and greatest welfare of His people.




13. A king’s name is the essence of his authority. A king can delegate authority to anyone he pleases to act in his name or on his behalf. This is often done by issuing a “king’s letter,” a royal edict signed by the king and bearing his official seal that authorizes the bearer to act on his authority. Anyone to whom the king’s letter is presented must treat the bearer as if he were the king himself.




Nehemiah, another exiled Hebrew who was a contemporary of Daniel, was cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes. Hearing that Jerusalem had been destroyed, Nehemiah longed to go there and rebuild the city. When the king learned of Nehemiah’s desire, he granted him permission to go. He also issued letters instructing the keeper of the king’s forest to give Nehemiah all the material he required and for the governors of the various provinces to grant him safe passage. Nehemiah carried the king’s name and, therefore, his authority (see Neh. chapters 1–2).




Citizens of the kingdom of Heaven have the same privilege. Yahusha the King has issued king’s letters to all His people, delegating His authority to them. That is why the New Testament says that Kingdom citizens are to pray in the name of Yahusha. It is why He promised to do anything that they asked in His name. There is nothing religious or mysterious about this. It is simply a kingdom principle at work. The King’s name carries the same authority as the King Himself, and all who carry His name can operate in His authority.




14. A king’s citizenry represents his glory. Any conscientious king wants his citizens to be happy, prosperous, and content because their status and quality of life reflect on him. The greater their prosperity and wellbeing, the greater the glory and honor that rest on the king who provides for them so well. Citizens of Yah’s Kingdom are supposed to show what their King is like by the way they live, act, dress, walk, and talk. Kingdom citizens are to reflect the nature and character of their King, who is righteous, just, benevolent, compassionate, and full of glory.




This is why there is no poverty in the Kingdom of Heaven, no economic crisis, and no shortages. As King David observed:




The Most High upholds the righteous...I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread (Psalm 37:17b, 25).




The King of Heaven takes care of His citizens.




Appropriating the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven means first of all understanding that the King owns everything and we own nothing; and second, that He can give whatever He wants to anyone He wants whenever He wants. This is the kingdom concept of Most Highship and is the subject of the next teaching.




Principles




1. A kingdom is the sovereign rulership and governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his will, his intent, and his purpose.




2. In the fullness of time, Yahusha came to the earth and reestablished the Kingdom. Because only a king can establish a kingdom, this act alone reveals that Yahusha Hamachiach is the King.




3. Yahusha said that His Kingdom was not of this world; He never said that it was not in this world.




4. Inside each of us is a latent kingdom consciousness striving for expression.




5. We all seek power over things and over circumstances, and that is what the Kingdom of Heaven promises.




6. A king is the central component of his kingdom.




7. A king is the ultimate and only source of authority in his kingdom.




8. The sovereignty of a king is inherent in his royal authority.




9. Yah’s sovereignty is absolute. He is completely self-determining.