"Thy kingdom come." Jesus and his listeners would have been familiar with the vision of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible, written in the fourth century BCE, which described the four earthly kingdoms (empires) that had devastated Israel. The Babylonian empire was like a lion with eagles' wings; the Median empire like a bear; and the Persian empire like a leopard. (Daniel 7:4-6.) The fourth, the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great, was "exceedingly terrifying" with teeth of iron and claws of bronze; it devoured the whole earth. (Daniel 7:7, 19, 23.) Daniel's fifth empire was different: the Kingdom of God, personified by "the Son of Man," literally the child of Adama (earth or soil) or, as I like to say, "Earthling." (Daniel 7:9-13)

Jesus ignored the fifth secular empire, the Roman Empire oppressing his people, and prayed instead that the true fifth empire, God's kingdom, would be established here on earth. His other teachings made it clear that human beings, earthlings, were the ones who would bring about God's empire on earth. We are still working on that today.

Thoughts from Lyn Pickhover

Lenten Devotions
February 28, 2021