Dining with the King
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
“…I
appoint unto you a kingdom…that ye may eat and drink at My table in My
kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke
22:29,30).
As
you can see from these words that the Lord spoke to the twelve apostles, dining
with the King is associated with reigning with Him. We see this
same thought in the Lord’s words to Tribulation Jews who will need to
overcome the temptation to take the mark of the beast if they want to
reign with Christ in the kingdom of heaven on earth:
“…if
any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant
to sit with Me in My throne…” (Rev. 3:20,21).
If
you are wondering what connection dining with the king could have
to reigning with him, the king’s table was probably a place
where the king’s business was discussed. This writer is not a member of
the Berean Bible Society Board of Directors, but I have dinner with
them when they are in town for a meeting. At these dinners, I’ve
noticed that board business is always discussed at the table and, based
on these discussions, decisions are made later at the official meeting.
We see this connection between dining and reigning typified in the story of Mephibosheth. If you’ll remember, after David became the king of Israel, he wanted to show kindness to any members of the house of Saul that he could find (II Sam. 9:1). When Mephibosheth was brought to his attention (vv. 2-6), David said to him,
“…I
will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will
restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread
at my table continually” (II Sam. 9:7).
David
went on to give Mephibosheth “all that pertained to Saul and to all his
house” (v. 9), and remember, Saul had been king of Israel. In other words,
Mephibosheth was given a king’s inheritance, and invited to sit at
the king’s table and reign with him “as one of the king’s sons” (v. 11).
Quite an honor for the grandson of a man who had once been the present
king’s enemy.
Some
men might take such a tremendous honor for granted, but not Mephibosheth!
He later told David:
“…all
of my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst
thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What
right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?” (II Sam.
19:28).
Mephibosheth
knew that he had been given such an unbelievably high honor that he
felt he had no right ever to ask the king for anything ever again.
Now how about you? May I remind you that what the king did for Mephibosheth is exactly what your King has done for you? God “hath raised us up together” with Christ (Eph. 2:5,6), “and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” we who were once members of the family of God’s “enemies” (Rom. 5:10). Just as the Lord invited kingdom saints to sit and reign with Him in the kingdom of His Father, Paul says that we have been invited to sit and reign with Christ in the kingdom of His Father in the heavenlies—to sit with Him in His throne! Speaking of Christ, Paul says that God “hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church” (Eph. 1:22). Since God “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17), you are already seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand, and someday you will reign with Him over the angels (I Cor. 6:3).
In response, you can grumble and complain about your position in life, or you can rejoice in your position in heaven, and join Mephibosheth in wondering about your right ever to ask anything more of God beyond what He has already done in giving you a King’s inheritance (Eph. 1:11) and seating you at the King’s table “as one of the king’s sons” (cf. Gal. 4:4-7). I’m sure David would have given Mephibosheth anything he asked for, but his heart was so filled with thanksgiving that he felt he didn’t dare ask for more. While we have a clear command from God through Paul to “let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6), before asking God for anything, it might be good to run a “Mephibosheth check” on the level of your gratitude. After all, if God never did anything else for you other than what He has already done for you in Christ, He’s done enough.
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