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February 25, 2018 |
| The Coming of the Kingdom of Heaven | ||
John the Baptist preached:
… Return to God, the Kingdom of Heaven has come near … (Matthew 3:2)
After John baptizes Jesus and Jesus is tested by Satan then Jesus takes up that same theme.
From then on, Yeshua began to preach and to say, "Return to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." (Matthew 4:17)
After Jesus has trained his disciples he sends them out with that same theme.
And as you are going, preach and say "The Kingdom of Heaven has come near." (Matthew 10:7)
The questions are these:
It turns out the answers are difficult to pin down. In this lesson we will look at many verses that talk about the Kingdom of Heaven and put all the pieces together.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
But Yeshua said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, that it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 And again I say to you that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:23-24)
The phrase "Kingdom of God" is used above. It appears to only be a synonym (means the same) especially because both forms are used together.
Then the righteous will shine as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has an ear that will hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43)
And he has saved us from the power of darkness and brought us into The Kingdom of his Beloved Son (Colossians 1:13)
And I am promising you a Kingdom as my Father promised me. 30 For you shall eat and you shall drink at the table of my Kingdom, and you shall sit on thrones, and you shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel." (Luke 22:29-30)
And I heard a great voice from Heaven that said, "Now is the deliverance and the power and The Kingdom of our God, for The Accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them night and day before our God" (Revelation 12:10)
We know that John the Baptist, Jesus and his disciples used the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven", but was that understood by the audiences of that time? The answer is yes. While the Old Testament doesn't use that exact phrase and doesn't have all the detail that we have in the New Testament, the people were expecting a kingdom that would be setup by God. It is mentioned in many verses.
My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. (Ezekiel 37:24)
Remember Ezekiel was born long after David died. The people of Jesus' time also expected the Messiah, as son of David, would perform many miracles and setup that kingdom under God.
The work of John the Baptist, and part of Jesus' work, was to announce the Kingdom of Heaven and add details to the hints that had been in the Old Testament.
Amen, I say to you, that among them born of women there has not arisen a greater than Yohannan The Baptizer, but a little one in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of Yohannan The Baptizer until this hour the Kingdom of Heaven is led by force and the violent are seizing it. (Matthew 11:11-12)
Although they were announcing it was "near", it was not yet present and available, but people were trying to enter it by their own means
And if I am casting out demons by The Spirit of God, the Kingdom of God has come near to you. (Matthew 12:28)
The kingdom was not only announced by words but also by miracles.
And his disciples approached and they were saying to him, "Why are you speaking with them in parables?" 11 But he answered and said to them: "It has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given. (Matthew 13:10-11)
Jesus expected God's people would already understand God's ways. Because they had been given more, more was expected of them.
The spiritual kingdom that is currently present is formed by the Holy Spirit who joins all believers into one. This kingdom began at Pentecost.
And when some of the Pharisees asked Yeshua, "When is the Kingdom of God coming", he answered and he said to them, "The Kingdom of God does not come with what is observed. 21 Neither do they say, 'Behold, here it is!' and 'Behold, there it is!', for behold, the Kingdom of God is within some of you." (Luke 17:20-21)
Yeshua said to him, "My Kingdom is not from this world; if my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting that I would not have been delivered up to the Judeans, but now my Kingdom is not from here." (John 18:36)
Jesus says his kingdom will eventually be an earthly kingdom.
For The Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but the righteousness and the peace and the joy in The Spirit of Holiness. 18 For whoever serves the Messiah in these things is beautiful to God and is approved before the children of men. (Romans 14:17-18)
But if the lord Yahweh is willing, soon I shall come to you and I shall know, not the words of those whose souls are lifted up, but their power. 20 For The Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:19-20)
He said to them, "And because of this, every scribe who is instructed for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the man, a house owner, who brings from his treasure new and old things." (Matthew 13:52)
Even though it is not a physical kingdom, it does have treasures.
When they believed Philippus, who was proclaiming The Kingdom of God in the name of Our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, they were being baptized, men and women. (Acts 8:12)
While they were confirming the souls of the disciples and seeking that they would continue in the faith; and they were saying to them that it is necessary to enter The Kingdom of God by much suffering. (Acts 14:22)
And as they heard these things, he added to speak a parable because he was nearing Jerusalem, and they were expecting in that same hour that the Kingdom of God was going to be revealed. (Luke 19:11)
The people of Israel had misunderstood prophecy and were expecting the Messiah to setup the kingdom immediately. Jesus knows his own disciples are expecting this as he is entering Jerusalem to be crucified and he corrects them.
And I am promising you a Kingdom as my Father promised me. 30 For you shall eat and you shall drink at the table of my Kingdom, and you shall sit on thrones, and you shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel." (Luke 22:29-30)
There will be eating and drinking in the kingdom (physical).
But I say to you that I shall not drink again from this fruit of the vine until the day in which I shall drink it with you new in the Kingdom of my Father." (Matthew 26:29)
Thus also whenever you see these things occurring, know that the Kingdom of God is near. (Luke 21:31)
These "things" are end-times events that Jesus has been describing that will lead to the establishment of the physical kingdom.
And the seventh Angel sounded, and there were great voices in Heaven that said, "The Kingdom of the world has become our God's and his Messiah's, and he shall reign to the eternity of eternities." (Revelation 11:15)
The world we live in is taken over to become the physical kingdom of God.
Like other kingdoms their is a hierarchy in God's kingdom. This is also true of the angels now and the churches as setup by Paul.
Amen, I say to you that until Heaven and earth will pass away, one Yodh or one Taag and will not pass away from the Law (Torah) until everything will happen. 19 Everyone therefore who violates one of these small commandments and will teach thus to the children of men will be called small in the Kingdom of Heaven, but everyone who will do and will teach the same will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:18-19)
It is not everyone that says to me, "My Lord, my Lord", who enters the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. (Matthew 7:21)
For I say to you, that unless your goodness will exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 5:20)
But I say to you, that many will come from the East and from the West and will recline with Abraham and Isaaq and Jaqob in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But the children of the Kingdom will be cast out to outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:11-12)
Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and will be given to a people who will produce fruit. (Matthew 21:43)
Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, pretenders, for you shut the Kingdom of Heaven before the children of men, for you are not entering, and those who are entering you do not permit to enter! 15 Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, phonies! For you travel around sea and land to make one convert, and when it has happened, you make him doubly the son of Gehenna that you are! (Matthew 23:14-15)
Now that we understand the Kingdom of God, we can understand the Bible better. One example where we can apply it comes in this verse
And he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there are men standing here who shall not taste death until they will behold the Kingdom of God coming with wonders." (Mark 9:1)
This verse has confused many people. Some see the verse:
We can easily figure it out now. For the people in point 1 above, we can answer that the Kingdom of God comes in two phases, a spiritual phase that has come and a coming physical phase. The first phase began with the giving of the Holy Spirit after Jesus ascended and it only makes sense that Jesus is referring to it and the wonders that were associated with it.
Remember what the verse says:
- the Kingdom of God
- coming
- with wonders
For the people in point 2 above, we can answer that the Kingdom of God could not come until after Jesus resurrection and ascension. The Holy Spirit binds God's people together into the kingdom.
We've seen that the Kingdom was and is many things. It has phases. In the Old Testament period it was an unclear promise. During the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus, it was announced but not yet ready. In the New Testament period it is a spiritual organization. After the second coming it will also be a physical place.
The Bible refers to it in many ways:
1 Meyer's NT Commentary http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/17-24.htm