He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
The promise pictures the ideal righteous king whose rule reaches from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth, a universal dominion belonging together with righteousness and peace, with justice and with care for the needy. It held out a conditional hope for Solomon that could have been fulfilled had he remained faithful, meaning Israel standing at the head of the nations under a just king ruling in the fear of God. That dominion depended on knowing God, serving Him with a perfect heart and willing mind, keeping His statutes, commandments, judgments and testimonies, walking in His ways, and shunning transgression. Solomon's history could have accorded with this prophecy, but his later pride, political alliances, and idolatry led him away from God and marred his reign.
As part of the promises to David and his house, the promise looks forward to the eternal ages and finds complete fulfillment in Christ as David's seed. In His days the poor are judged, the children of the needy are saved, the oppressor is broken in pieces, the righteous flourish, and there is abundance of peace till the moon is no more. His is an everlasting kingdom with a name enduring forever, in whom men are blessed and whom all nations call blessed, reigning over the house of Jacob forever with no end. It foretells the Messiah taking the kingdom and reigning in glory in universal, triumphant dominion, reigning in Mount Zion and Jerusalem and shining gloriously before His ancients as King on the throne of David. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy even though in His humiliation He came without visible conquering armies or outward royal display.
Jewish teachers and leaders seized on this glorious part alone and taught the people to expect a temporal prince and victorious conqueror who would break Rome's power and the Roman yoke from Israel. At the same time they closed their eyes to the prophecies of His life of humiliation and sorrow as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and to the manner of His death, which their proud hearts would not accept. Because Jesus bore no resemblance to the expected conqueror and had no outward show of one, they were bitterly disappointed. They contemptuously contrasted the pictured glory with His humble appearance, perverted the words of prophecy to sanction error and mislead convinced minds away from Him as Son of God, turned from Him, refused to receive Him, resisted His words, worked by every means to counteract His influence, and by that rejection fulfilled the prophecy of His sufferings. The verse must not be set against His lowly life; rightly understood through sincere personal study and by carefully comparing Scripture with Scripture and prophecy with the facts of the life of Jesus, it stands in beautiful harmony with the prophecies of the work Christ was to do and of His rejection and sufferings in the world.
The prayer for dominion to the ends of the earth remains in force as the church's intercession for the salvation of souls to the ends of the earth in the last days. In that time all the great events and solemn transactions of Old Testament history repeat themselves in the church, with all the accumulated truth and influence of the past concentrated with new and increased light of the present. That concentration gives accrued power to all who follow the light to replenish the world and send the light of the Sun of Righteousness to the ends of the earth. Such a work requires increased faith brought into exercise, awakening energy and intensely increased earnestness, and dependence on God for His power.
The promise pictures the ideal righteous king whose rule reaches from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth, a universal dominion belonging together with righteousness and peace, with justice and with care for the needy. It held out a conditional hope for Solomon that could have been fulfilled had he remained faithful, meaning Israel standing at the head of the nations under a just king ruling in the fear of God. That dominion depended on knowing God, serving Him with a perfect heart and willing mind, keeping His statutes, commandments, judgments and testimonies, walking in His ways, and shunning transgression. Solomon's history could have accorded with this prophecy, but his later pride, political alliances, and idolatry led him away from God and marred his reign.
As part of the promises to David and his house, the promise looks forward to the eternal ages and finds complete fulfillment in Christ as David's seed. In His days the poor are judged, the children of the needy are saved, the oppressor is broken in pieces, the righteous flourish, and there is abundance of peace till the moon is no more. His is an everlasting kingdom with a name enduring forever, in whom men are blessed and whom all nations call blessed, reigning over the house of Jacob forever with no end. It foretells the Messiah taking the kingdom and reigning in glory in universal, triumphant dominion, reigning in Mount Zion and Jerusalem and shining gloriously before His ancients as King on the throne of David. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy even though in His humiliation He came without visible conquering armies or outward royal display.
Jewish teachers and leaders seized on this glorious part alone and taught the people to expect a temporal prince and victorious conqueror who would break Rome's power and the Roman yoke from Israel. At the same time they closed their eyes to the prophecies of His life of humiliation and sorrow as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and to the manner of His death, which their proud hearts would not accept. Because Jesus bore no resemblance to the expected conqueror and had no outward show of one, they were bitterly disappointed. They contemptuously contrasted the pictured glory with His humble appearance, perverted the words of prophecy to sanction error and mislead convinced minds away from Him as Son of God, turned from Him, refused to receive Him, resisted His words, worked by every means to counteract His influence, and by that rejection fulfilled the prophecy of His sufferings. The verse must not be set against His lowly life; rightly understood through sincere personal study and by carefully comparing Scripture with Scripture and prophecy with the facts of the life of Jesus, it stands in beautiful harmony with the prophecies of the work Christ was to do and of His rejection and sufferings in the world.
The prayer for dominion to the ends of the earth remains in force as the church's intercession for the salvation of souls to the ends of the earth in the last days. In that time all the great events and solemn transactions of Old Testament history repeat themselves in the church, with all the accumulated truth and influence of the past concentrated with new and increased light of the present. That concentration gives accrued power to all who follow the light to replenish the world and send the light of the Sun of Righteousness to the ends of the earth. Such a work requires increased faith brought into exercise, awakening energy and intensely increased earnestness, and dependence on God for His power.