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Exodus 19:
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you a will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Is the above fulfilled in Mark 1:
15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus when he came, came to offer the Jews the Kingdom. He came as their Messiah, the ‘anointed king’ of that Kingdom. That kingdom that had been promised - in many many places, via the prophets - and your quoted Exodus passage is one of these prophecies.
So yes, the Kingdom in Mark 1 is that Kingdom - but it was not fulfilled. The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They said He was not that coming appointed one. So it has not yet been fulfilled. ….. not yet!
The kingdom of Israel was established by God with Israel at Sinai with God as their king. It was over 400 years later that earthly kings ruled as deputies and representatives of the true king and God of Israel - the LORD Himself.
While David and his successors were earthly kings, they were to recognize that the real king of Israel was God. 1 Sam 8:7, 8, 24:6, 2 Sam 19:21, 1 Chron 28:5, 2 Chron 9:8, 13:8, Ps 5:2, 44:4. See also 1 Sam 12:14.
It is a simple matter of history that David’s descendants were not always faithful and the earthly Davidic dynasty ended in 586 BC with the final capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. However, the New Testament calls Jesus Christ, Messiah, “the Son of David” as a direct fulfilment of the (ultimately) eternal throne of David which Jesus inherited. Matt 1:1, 20, 9:27, 12:23, 15:22, 20:30, 15, 21:9, 15, Mark 10:35, Luke 1:32, 33, 18:38, 39, John 1:49, Acts 13:32-37, Heb 1:8. See also Rev 11:15, 19:16. Such a Messiah was prophesied long ago: Ex 15:18, Ps 10:16, 61:7, 68:16, 92:8, 93:5, 146:10, Isa 9:7, 47:7, Lam 5:19, Micah 4:7, etc. Compare Isa 55:3 with Acts 13:34 and John 1:49.
Note especially, what the angel said to Mary before Jesus’ birth in Luke 1:32, 33 –
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”
We see many times in the NT that Jesus was appointed the king of the Christian community with His enthronement symbolically portrayed in Rev 5, following His resurrection. Thus, Jesus said to sit on the throne of heaven at the right hand of God, Matt 26:64, Mark 14:62, 16:19, Luke 22:69, Acts 2:33, 7:55-56 (standing), Rom 8:34, Eph 1:20, Col 3:1, Heb 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2, 1 Peter 3:22. See also Ps 110:1, Matt 22:44, Mark 12:36, Acts 2:34, Heb 1:13, Rev 5.
Now, here is the "difficulty": The fact that Jesus is king does not mean that He is yet king of all the earth as many people do not acknowledge Him as king (that is obvious). However, that will occur one day when Jesus returns according to Rev 11:15 -
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
This appears to be the predicted fulfillment Ps 110:1. of The NT uses exactly the same language as Ex 19:6 to describe the Christian kingdom:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9, 10 (Compare Ex 19:5, 6, Hos 1:9, 4:6).
Let there be no doubt that the NT regards Jesus, Lord Messiah of the New Covenant as King and High Priest of the Christian community as the fulfillment (or more correctly the Messianic development) of the OT prophecies about God's kingdom.
