Article March 21, 1959 Issue

GOD'S KINGDOM IS AT HAND

MARJORIE D. MANLEY

In the Bible, God is frequently referred to as King or as King of kings. To appreciate fully the significance of this use of the term, it is helpful to divorce oneself from modern concepts of government, with its constitutional monarchs and titular rulers, and to try to glimpse the attitude of thought which gave rise to the custom of regarding Deity as a sovereign.

In ancient Bible times, a king was often an absolute sovereign controlling the lives and welfare of his subjects. There was little, if any, appeal from his decisions. He ruled without challenge or equal. It was therefore natural, when seeking to express the idea of a revered spiritual power in control of the destinies of men, to personify this power by using a kingly title.

To a people accustomed to bowing the knee before a human ruler, what would seem more normal than to transfer this type of homage to a spiritual governor? Unfortunately, this custom apparently led to associating with the deific title some of the idiosyncrasies of a human monarch, invoking an image of God as changeable, unpredictable, and vengeful.

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