Kingdom Of God
VIEW:33 DATA:01-04-2020
KINGDOM OF GOD (or HEAVEN).The Biblical writers assume that the Creator of the heavens and the earth must needs be also the everlasting Ruler of the same. The universe is Gods dominion, and every creature therein is subject to His power. And so the Hebrew poets conceive God as immanent in all natural phenomena. Wind and storm, fire and earthquake, lightnings and torrents of waters are but so many signs of the activity of the Almighty Ruler of the world (Psa_18:7-15; Psa_68:7-18; Psa_104:1-35). The same heavenly Power is also the supreme Sovereign of men and nations. The kingdom is Jehovahs, and he is the ruler over the nations (Psa_22:28). Jehovah is king over all the earth (Zec_14:9). He sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the Inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers
He bringeth princes to nothing (Isa_40:22). This general idea of Gods dominion over all things receives various forms of statement from the various Biblical writers, and the entire presentation constitutes a most important portion of the revelation of God and of Christ. But the Biblical doctrine has its OT and NT setting.
1. In the Old Testament.Apart from that general concept of God as Maker and Governor of the whole world, the OT writers emphasize the Divine care for individuals, families, tribes, and nations of men. It is Gods rule over those creatures who exist in His own image and likeness that calls for our special study, and this great truth is manifest from various points of view. (1) From Amo_9:7 we learn that Jehovah is the supreme Ruler of all the peoples: Syrians, Philistines, Ethiopians, as well as the tribes of Israel, were led by Him and settled in their separate lands. So He gave all the nations their inheritance (Deu_32:8). But one most conspicuous feature of the OT revelation is Gods selection of Abraham and his posterity to be made a blessing to all the families of the earth. When this peculiar family had become a numerous people in the land of Egypt, God led them marvellously out of that house of bondage and adopted them to be a people for his own possession above all peoples upon the face of the earth (Deu_7:6), and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exo_19:6). The subsequent facts of the history of this chosen people reveal a noteworthy aspect of the Kingdom of God among men. (2) Along with this idea of the election and special guidance of this people there was gradually developed a lofty doctrine of the Person and power of the God of Israel. Out of the unique and sublime monolatry, which worshipped Jehovah as greatest of all the gods (Exo_15:11; Exo_18:11), there issued the still higher and broader monotheism of the great prophets, who denied the real existence of any other God or Saviour besides the Holy One of Israel. He was conceived as seated on a lofty throne, surrounded with holy seraphs and the innumerable hosts of heaven. For naturally the highest embodiment of personal power and glory and dominion known among men, namely, that of a splendid royalty, was employed as the best figure of the glory of the heavenly King; and so we have the impressive apocalyptic portraiture of Jehovah sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up (Isa_6:1-3, Eze_12:26-28, 1Ki_22:19). The mighty Monarch of earth and heaven was enthroned in inexpressible majesty and glory, and no power above or below the heavens could compare with Him. (3) This concept of the heavenly King became also enlarged so as to include the idea of a righteous Judge of all the earth. This idea appears conspicuously in the vision of Dan_7:9-12, where the Eternal is seen upon His throne of fiery flames, with ten thousand times ten thousand ministering before Him. His execution of judgment is as a stream of fire which issues from His presence and devours His adversaries. Zep_3:8 also represents Him as gathering the nations and assembling the kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them the fire of His fierce anger. And so in prophecy, in psalm, and in historical narrative we find numerous declarations of Jehovah about His entering into judgment with the nations and also with His own people. The unmistakable doctrine of all these Scriptures is that God is the supreme Judge and Ruler of the world. His overthrow of mighty cities and kingdoms, like Nineveh and Babylon, is a way of His executing judgment in the earth, and the prophets call such a national catastrophe a day of Jehovah. (4) The Messianic prophecies throw further light on the OT doctrine of the Kingdom of God. From the times of David and Solomon onwards the highest ideal of the Anointed of Jehovah was that of a powerful and righteous king of Israel. The name of David became a synonym of the ideal king and shepherd of the Chosen People (Hos_3:5, Jer_30:9, Eze_34:23; Eze_37:24). These ideals became the growing Messianic hope of Israel. According to Isa_9:3; Isa_9:7, the child of wonderful names is to sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it in judgment and in righteousness for ever. In Psa_2:1-12 we have a dramatic picture of Jehovah establishing His Son as King upon Zion, and in Psa_110:1-7 the conquering hero, to whom Jehovah says, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool. unites in Himself the threefold office of king, priest, and judge. (5) In all these and in other Messianic scriptures we shoud notice that the Anointed of Jehovah is an exalted associate of the Most High. He executes judgment in the earth, but he himself possesses no wisdom or power to act apart from Jehovah. We also note the fact that Gods dominion over the earth is entirely compatible with divers forms of human administration. Ambitious potentates may usurp authority, and think to change times and seasons, but sooner or later they come to nought. Though Nebuchadrezzar, Cyrus, or Alexander wield for a time the sceptre of the world, it is still true that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Dan_4:32). He removeth kings and setteth up kings (Dan_2:21). When Israel desired a king like other nations, Samuel charged them with rejecting God as their King (1Sa_8:7); but such rejection of God and the anointing of Saul for their king did not remove Jehovah from actual dominion over them; and the prophet himself admonished all Israel to fear and obey Jehovah lest He should consume both them and their king (1Sa_12:15-25). And when, according to the apocalyptic imagery of Dan_7:13-14, the one like unto a son of man receives the kingdom from the Ancient of days, it is not to be supposed that the Most High Himself is for a moment to abdicate His throne in the heavens, or cease to rule over all the kingdoms of men. (6) It is not given us to determine how fully or how clearly any OT prophet or psalmist conceived the real nature of the future Messianic Kingdom. It is not usually given to the prophets of great oracles to know the time and manner of the fulfilment, and such ideals as those of Mic_4:1-5 and Isa_11:1-10 may have been variously understood. The advent of the Messianic Son of David, expected among the seed of Abraham, would naturally be conceived as introducing a new era in the history of the people of God. He would not rule apart from Jehovah, or exercise a different authority; for the Kingdom of Messiah would also he the Kingdom of God. But it would naturally he expected that the Messiah would introduce new powers, new agencies, and new enlightenment for a blessing to all the families of the earth. According to Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22, the new era was conceived as the creation of a new heavens and a new earth, but the prophetic language and its context do not justify the opinion that the dawn of the new era must needs be ushered in along with physical changes in the earth and the heavens, or involve any physical change in the natural constitution of man on the earth.
2. In the New Testament.In presenting the NT doctrine of the Kingdom of. God we should notice (1) the prevalent expectation of the Messiah at the time Jesus was born. There was no exact uniformity of belief or of expectation. Some enthusiasts looked for a warlike chieftain, gifted with an ability of leadership, to cast off the Roman yoke and restore the kingdom of Israel to some such splendour as it had in the days of Solomon. Others seem to have entertained a more spiritual view, as Zacharias, Simeon, and Anna (Luk_1:67-79; Luk_2:25-38), and to have united the general hope of the redemption of Jerusalem with the blessed thought of confirming the ancient covenants of promise, obtaining remission of sins, personal consolation, and a life of holiness. Between these two extremes there were probably various other forms of expectation, but the more popular one was that of a temporal prince. John the Baptist shared somewhat in this current belief, and seems to have been disappointed in the failure of Jesus to fulfil his concept of the Messianic hope (Mat_11:2-6). Nevertheless, Johns ministry and preaching evinced much spiritual penetration, and his baptism of repentance was a Divinely appointed preparation for the Kingdom of heaven which he declared was close at band.
(2) The chief source of the NT doctrine is the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. His preaching and that of His first disciples announced the Kingdom of heaven as at hand (Mat_4:17, Mar_1:16). Such a proclamation could have meant to the hearers only that the reign of the Messiah, of whom the prophets had spoken, was about to begin. The real nature of this Kingdom, however, is to be learned only by a careful study of the various sayings of Jesus upon the subject, (a) It should first be observed that our Lord gave no sanction to the current Jewish expectation of a temporal prince, who would fight for dominion and exercise worldly forms of power. He did not directly oppose the prevalent belief, so as to provoke opposition, but sought rather to inculcate a more spiritual and heavenly conception of the Kingdom. His views were evidently different from those of John, for while He extolled him as His immediate forerunner, much more than a prophet, and greatest among them that are born of women, He declared that any one who is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Mat_11:11). With all his greatness John was but a Jewish prophet, and never passed beyond the necessary limitations of the pre-Messianic age. (b) The spiritual and heavenly character of the Kingdom is indicated, and indeed emphasized, by the phrase kingdom of heaven. This accords with the statement that the Kingdom is not of this world (Joh_18:36), and cometh not with observation (Luk_17:20). It belongs, therefore, to the unseen and the spiritual. It is the special boon of the poor in spirit, persecuted for righteousness sake, and whose righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:10; Mat_5:20). The great ones in this Kingdom are such as become like little children (Mat_18:3), and as to rulership and authority, the greatest is he who acts as the minister and bond-servant of all (Mar_10:43-44).
It may be noticed that the phrase kingdom of heaven (or of the heavens) is peculiar to the Gospel of Matthew, in which it occurs about thirty times. In 2Ti_4:18 we read of his heavenly kingdom, but elsewhere the term employed is kingdom of God. There is no good reason to doubt that Jesus Himself made use of all these expressions, and we should not look to find any recondite or peculiar significance in any one of them. The phrase kingdom of God occurs also four times in Mt., and often in the other Gospels and in the Acts and Epistles. We may also compare, for illustration and suggestion, my Fathers kingdom (Mat_26:29), my heavenly Father (Mat_15:13), and observe in the parallel texts of Mat_26:29, Mar_14:25, Luk_22:20, the interchangeable use of my Fathers kingdom, my kingdom, and the kingdom of God. All these designations indicate that the Kingdom is heavenly in its origin and nature.
(c) The parables of Jesus are especially important for learning the nature and mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. They show in many ways that the heavenly Kingdom has to do with the spiritual nature and possibilities of man, and is, in fact, the dominion of Jesus Christ over the hearts of men. They show also that the Kingdom has its necessary collective and communal relations, for the same ethical principles which are to govern an individual life have also their manifold application to the life of a community and of all organized societies of men. Several of our Lords parables indicate a Judicial transfer of the Kingdom of heaven from the Jews to the Gentiles (Mat_21:43; Mat_22:1-14, Luk_14:10-24). The parable of the Two Sons warned the Jewish priests and elders that publicans and harlots might go into the Kingdom of God before them (Mat_21:28-32). From all this it is evident that the Kingdom of heaven includes the dispensation of heavenly grace and redemption which was inaugurated and is now continuously carried forward by the Lord Jesus. It is essentially spiritual, and its holy mysteries of regeneration and the righteousness of faith can be only spiritually discerned, (d) The important petitions in the Lords prayer, Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth, are of great value in determining the nature of the Kingdom. This prayer assumes by its very terms a moral and spiritual relationship and the ideal of a moral order in the universe of God. As the word kingdom implies an organized community, so the will of God implies in those who do it a conformity to God in spiritual nature and action. The coming Kingdom is not a material worldly establishment, but it has its foundations in the unseen and eternal, and its power and growth will become manifest among men and nations according as the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven. The performance of all that the will of God requires in moral beings may vary in degrees of perfect observance in heaven and in earth; we naturally predicate of heavenly things a measure of perfection far above that of earthly things. But the members of the Kingdom of God, whether on earth or in heaven, have this in common, that they all do the will of the heavenly Father, (e) So far as the Gospel of John supplies additional teachings of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God, it is in essential harmony with what we find in the Synoptics, but it has its own peculiar methods of statement. We read in Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5, Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The Kingdom, then, is not a spectacle of worldly vision, but has to do first of all with the inner life of man. It accords with this, that in Joh_8:23 and Joh_18:36-37 Jesus says, I am from above; I am not of this world: My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. To one of Pilates questions Jesus answered, I am a king; to this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice (Joh_18:37). So Christs Kingdom comes not forth out of the world, but is of heavenly origin. It makes no display of military forces or carnal weapons for establishing its dominion in the world. It is especially remarkable in being a Kingdom of truth. This conception is peculiarly Johannine, for in the first Epistle also Jesus Christ is set forth as the embodiment and revelation of the truth of God (1Jn_3:18-19; 1Jn_5:20; cf. Joh_1:17; Joh_8:32; Joh_14:6; Joh_17:17). Jesus Christ is the heavenly King who witnesses to the truth, and whose servants know, love, and obey the truth of God.
(3) In the Pauline Epistles the Kingdom of God is represented as the blessed spiritual inheritance of all who enjoy life in God through faith in Jesus Christ. Its spiritual character is obvious from Rom_14:17, where, in discussing questions of conscience touching meats and drinks, it is said that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So it is not a dominion that concerns itself about ceremonial pollutions; it grasps rather after the attainment of all spiritual blessings. It is impossible for the unrighteous and idolaters, and thieves and extortioners, and such like, to inherit this Kingdom (1Co_6:9-10, Gal_5:21, Eph_5:5).
(4) Other portions of the NT add somewhat to this doctrine of the Kingdom, but offer no essentially different ideal. In Heb_12:28 mention is made of our receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. The context speaks of the removal of some things that were of a nature to be shaken, and the allusion is to the old fabric of defunct Judaism, which was a cult of burdensome ritual, and had become old and aged and nigh unto vanishing away (Heb_8:13). These temporary things and their sanctuary of this world, which were at the most only a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, must needs be shaken down and pass away in order that the immovable Kingdom of heaven might be revealed and abide as an eternal inheritance. The old Jerusalem and its temporary cult must pass away and give place to the heavenly Jerusalem, which affords personal communion and fellowship with God and Christ, and innumerable hosts of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect (Heb_12:22-24).
(5) Eschatological elements of the NT doctrine.Questions of the time and manner of the coming of the Kingdom arise from the various sayings of Jesus and of the NT writers, which have seemed difficult to harmonize. From the point of view both of Jesus and of the first Apostles, the Kingdom of heaven was nigh at hand, but not yet come. The coming of the Kingdom is also associated with the Parousia, or coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, the resurrection, and the final judgment of all men and nations. Jesus spoke of the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory (Mat_19:28). His great eschatological discourse, reported in all the Synoptics (Mat_24:1-51, Mar_13:1-37, Luk_21:1-38), represents His coming and the end of the age as in the near future, before that generation should pass. It also clearly makes the sublime Parousia follow immediately after the woes attending the ruin of the city and Temple of Jerusalem. Also in Mat_16:28 and the parallels in Mk. and Lk. Jesus declares emphatically, There are some of them that stand here who shall in no wise taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. The exegetical problem is to show how these statements may be adjusted to the idea of a gradually growing power and dominion which appears in Daniels vision of the stone which became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan_2:35), and is also implied in Jesus parables of the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, and the Seed Growing Secretly,first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear (Mar_4:26-29). The problem is also complicated by the fact that nearly two thousand years have passed since these words of Jesus were spoken, and the end of the world is not yet. Of the many attempts at the explanation of these difficulties we here mention only three.
(a) A considerable number of modern critics adopt the hypothesis that these various sayings of Jesus were misunderstood by those who heard Him, and have been reported in a confused and self-contradictory manner. The disciples confounded the fall of the Temple with the end of all things, but Jesus probably distinguished the two events in a way that does not now appear in the records. Some critics suppose that fragments of a small Jewish apocalypse have been incorporated in Mat_24:1-51. This hypothesis makes it the chief work of the expositor to analyze the different elements of the Evangelical tradition and reconstruct the sayings of Jesus which are supposed to be genuine. The result of such a process naturally includes a considerable amount of conjecture, and leaves the various eschatological sayings of Jesus in a very untrustworthy condition.
(b) According to another class of expositors, the prophecies of Mat_24:1-51 contain a double sense, the primary reference being to the fall of Jerusalem, whereas the ultimate fulfilment, of which the first is a sort of type, is to take place at the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world. It is conceded that the two events are closely conjoined, but it is thought that Mat_24:4-28 deal mainly with the former event, and from Mat_24:29 onwards the lesser subject is swallowed up by the greater, and the statements made refer mainly to the still future coming of the Lord. But scarcely any two interpreters, who adopt the double-sense theory, agree in their exposition of the different parts of the chapter.
(c) Another method of explaining and adjusting the teaching of Jesus and of all the NT statements about the coming of Christ, the resurrection and the judgment, is to understand all these related events as part and parcel of an age-long process. The end of the age, according to this view, is not the close of the Christian era, but the end or consummation of the pre-Messianic age. The coming of the Kingdom of God, according to Jesus (Luk_17:20), is not a matter of physical observation, so that one could point it out and say, Lo, it is here! or, Lo, it is there! Like the lightning it may appear in the east or in the west, or anywhere under the whole heaven, at one and the same moment of time. Nevertheless, no reported sayings of Christ are more positive or more notably reiterated than His declarations that some of His contemporaries would live to see the kingdom of God come with power, and that this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. The decisive end of an era or dispensation or a particular cult may be seen to be near at hand, sure to come within a generation, for that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away (Heb_8:13); but the coming of a kingdom and power and glory which belongs to the things unseen, heavenly and eternal, is not of a nature to be limited to a given day or hour. There need be, then, no contradiction or inconsistency in the sayings of Jesus as they now stand in the Gospels. No great and noteworthy event could more decisively have marked the end of the pre-Messianic age and the Jewish cult than the destruction of the Temple. But the powers of the age to come were manifest before that historic crisis, and the times and the seasons of such spiritual, unseen things are not matters for men or angels or even the Son of God to tell. But the fall of the Temple and the establishment of the New Covenant and the Kingdom of God were so coincident that the two events might well have been thought and spoken of as essentially simultaneous. Accordingly, the regeneration (Mat_19:28) and the restoration of all things (Act_3:21) are now in actual process. The Son of Man is now sitting on the throne of His glory, at the right hand of God, and he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1Co_15:25). Such a Kingdom is essentially millennial, and has its ages of ages for making all things new. Its crises and triumphs are portrayed in terms of apocalyptic prophecy, and so the language of Jesus in Mat_24:29-31 and similar passages in other parts of the NT is to be interpreted as we interpret the same forms of speech in the OT prophets (cf. Isa_13:9-10; Isa_19:1-2; Isa_34:4-5, Dan_7:13-14).
According to this last interpretation, the Apocalypse of John is but an enlargement of Jesus discourse on the Mount of Olives, and the descent of the New Jerusalem out of heaven is a visional symbol of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and the continuous answer to the prayer, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. The Apostles, like their Lord, thought and spoke of things supernatural and invisible after the manner of the Hebrew prophets. St. Pauls picture of the Lords coming from heaven (1Th_4:14-18) is in striking accord with the language of Mat_24:29-31, and yet has its own peculiar points of difference. In Rom_16:20 he speaks of the God of peace bruising Satan under your feet shortly, and in 2Th_2:1-12 he teaches that the Antichrist, the man of sin, is destined to be destroyed by the manifestation of the coming of the Lord Jesus. It was probably not given to the Apostle to understand that what he saw in the vision of a moment would occupy millenniums. In his forms of statement we may discern survivals of his Jewish modes of thought, and a failure to distinguish the times and seasons and methods in which the Kingdom of heaven is ultimately to overcome the prince of the powers of wickedness in high places. But in all essentials of content his prophetic picture of the coming and triumph is true to fact and to the teaching of the Lord Himself. St. Paul also speaks of the Kingdom of God as an inheritance. It is in part a present possession, but it contemplates also a future eternal blessedness. The redeemed shall reign in life through Jesus Christ. Our heavenly Father makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, delivers us out of the power of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of the Son of his love (Col_1:12-13). Such heirs of God are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of Gods own possession (Eph_1:14). According to this conception of the heavenly Kingdom, Christ is now upon His throne and continuously making all things new. His Parousia is millennial. He is drawing all men unto Himself, and the resurrection of the dead is as continuous as His own heavenly reign. Whenever the earthly house of any one of His servants is dissolved, he has a new habitation from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2Co_5:1-10). Each man must have his own last day, and each one be made manifest and answer for himself before the judgment-seat of Christ. And when all things are ultimately put in subjection unto the Christ, then also shall the Son of God Himself have perfected His redemptive reign, and God shall be all in all. See Authority, Dominion, Parousia, Power.
M. S. Terry.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Most of the biblical references to the kingdom of God are found in the teachings of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels. The subject of the kingdom of God was central in Jesus teaching. Yet nowhere did Jesus say exactly what the kingdom was, and neither did the writers of the New Testament who followed him, even though they too spoke of the kingdom.
Perhaps the reason for this was that people who knew the Old Testament should already have been familiar with the idea of Gods kingdom. Jesus teaching on the kingdom was a development of the Old Testament teaching, showing that through him the kingdom found its fullest meaning.
What the kingdom of God is
Throughout the Bible the kingdom of God is the rule of God. It is not a territory over which he reigns, but the rule which he exercises. It is defined not by a geographic location, an era of existence, or the nationality of a people, but by the sovereign rule and authority of God (Exo_15:18; Psa_103:19; Psa_145:10-13).
Jesus likewise understood Gods kingdom as Gods rule rather than as a territory or a people. Those who seek Gods kingdom seek Gods rule in their lives (Mat_6:33); those who receive Gods kingdom receive Gods rule in their lives (Mar_10:15). The prayer for Gods kingdom to come is a prayer that his rule be accepted, so that his will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Mat_6:10). The kingdom is a realm in the spiritual, not the physical, sense. Those who enter the kingdom of God enter the realm where they accept Gods rule (Mat_21:31).
The world at present is in a state of rebellion against Gods rule, because it is under the power of Satan (2Co_4:4; 1Jn_5:19; see WORLD). Therefore, when the kingdom of God came among people in the person of Jesus Christ, the rule of God was demonstrated in the defeat of Satan. As Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, he healed those who were diseased and oppressed by evil spirits, and in so doing he gave evidence of his power over Satan (Mat_4:23-24). His deliverance of people from the bondage of Satan was proof that Gods kingdom (his authority, power, rule) had come among them (Mat_12:28; Mar_1:27; Luk_10:9; Luk_10:17-18).
There is a sense, therefore, in which all people experience the kingdom; for all people experience (or one day will experience) the sovereign authority of God, either in blessing or in judgment (Mat_12:28; Rev_11:15; Rev_11:18; Rev_19:15-16). But the important aspect of the kingdom that the Gospels emphasize is that it came into the world through Jesus. Because John the Baptist announced the coming of the kingdom of Jesus, he brought to a close the pre-kingdom era (Mat_3:2; Luk_16:16). Even the most insignificant person in the new era enjoys blessings that the greatest person of the former era never knew (Mat_11:11).
Note: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are different names for the same thing. The Bible uses the expressions interchangeably (Mat_19:23-24). Jews liked to show great respect for the name of God; therefore, because they feared that they might use that name irreverently, they often used the word heaven instead of God (Dan_4:25-26; Luk_15:18; Joh_3:27). Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for the Jews, usually (but not always) speaks of Gods kingdom as the kingdom of heaven, whereas the other Gospel writers call it the kingdom of God (Mat_19:14; Mar_10:14; Luk_18:16).
Both present and future
In contrast to the popular Jewish belief that Gods kingdom was a future national and political kingdom to be centred on Israel, Jesus pointed out that Gods kingdom was already present among them. It was present in him (Luk_10:9; Luk_17:20-21).
When people willingly humbled themselves and submitted to the rule of Christ, they immediately entered Christs kingdom. And by entering the kingdom they received forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Mat_21:31; Mar_10:14-15; Joh_3:3). Not only those of Jesus time, but people of any era, when they believe in him, immediately enter his kingdom and receive the kingdoms blessings (Rom_14:17; Col_1:13).
But Jesus spoke also of the kingdom as something belonging to the future (Mar_14:25), whose establishment could take place only after he had suffered and died (Luk_18:31-33; Luk_22:15-16; Luk_24:26; Rev_5:6-12; Rev_11:15). Even for those who were already believers, Jesus spoke of his kingdom as something yet future, which they would enter at his return (Mat_7:21-23; Mat_13:41-43; Mat_25:31-34). For this reason Christians, who are already in the kingdom, also look forward to the day when they will inherit the kingdom (1Co_15:50; 2Pe_1:11).
A person may well ask how the kingdom of God can be something that is present here and now, yet be something that awaits the future. The answer lies in our understanding of the kingdom of God as the sovereign rule of God. Believers enter the kingdom as soon as they believe, but they will experience the full blessings of the kingdom only when Christ returns to punish evil and reign in righteousness (1Co_15:24-26; see DAY OF THE LORD; RESURRECTION).
To enter the kingdom of God is to have eternal life or to be saved. The Bible uses these expressions interchangeably (Mat_19:16; Mat_19:23-25). Just as believers experience the kingdom of God now and will do so more fully in the future, so they have eternal life now but will experience it in its fulness when Christ returns (Joh_5:24; Joh_5:29). Likewise they have salvation now, but they will experience the fulness of their salvation at the return of Christ (Eph_2:8; Heb_9:28). Eternal life is the life of the kingdom of God, the life of the age to come; but because the kingdom of God has come among them now, people have eternal life now (Mat_25:34; Mat_25:46; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; Joh_3:15; Joh_5:24).
The mystery of the kingdom
The truth that the teaching of Jesus makes clear is not simply that Gods kingdom is present in the world now, but that people can enter that kingdom now, even though the world is still under the power of Satan. This is a truth that people did not understand till Jesus explained it. He referred to this present aspect of the kingdom as a mystery, or secret (Mar_4:11). By using the word mystery, Jesus did not mean that he was telling people something to confuse them. He meant rather that he was telling them something that previously God had kept secret but was now making known. (Similar uses of mystery occur elsewhere in the New Testament; cf. Rom_16:25-26; Eph_1:9-10; Col_1:26; see MYSTERY.)
In Old Testament times people expected Gods kingdom to come in one mighty act, when God would destroy all earthly kingdoms and establish his rule throughout the world (Dan_2:44-45; Zec_14:9; see SON OF MAN). It seems that, to some extent, John the Baptist also had this idea of the kingdom of God. That may have been why he became worried when Jesus did not immediately set up a world-conquering kingdom (Mat_3:11-12; Mat_11:2-3; cf. Luk_24:21; Act_1:6).
To reassure John, Jesus pointed out that the miracles of healing he performed were in keeping with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiahs mission. His kingdom had begun (Mat_11:4-6; see MESSIAH; MIRACLES). That kingdom was not yet established in the world-conquering sense that John and others expected, but it had begun to do its work by delivering people from the power of Satan and offering them new life in Jesus Christ (Luk_17:20-21).
Gods kingdom is present now, though not in the form it will have after the great events at the climax of the worlds history. It is hidden rather than open. It is entered voluntarily, not forced upon people with irresistible power. This is the mystery of the kingdom, the previously unknown purpose of God that Jesus revealed.
Parables of the kingdom
Jesus emphasized this mystery of the kingdom in the parables recorded in Matthew 13 (Mat_13:11; see PARABLE). The parable of the seed and the soils shows that because people are free to accept or reject the message of the kingdom, most reject it. But those who accept it experience great spiritual growth in their lives (Mat_13:18-23; cf. Mat_23:13). The parable of the wheat and the weeds teaches that in the present world those who are in Gods kingdom live alongside those who are not; but in the day of judgment, when Gods kingdom will be established openly, believers will be saved and the rest punished (Mat_13:24-30; Mat_13:34-43).
The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast illustrate that although the kingdom may appear to have insignificant beginnings, it will one day have worldwide power and authority (Mat_13:31-33). The parables of the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl illustrate that when people are convinced of the priceless and lasting value of the kingdom of God, they will make any sacrifice to enter it (Mat_13:44-46). Nevertheless, there are both the true and the false among those who claim to be in Gods kingdom. The parable of the fishing net shows that these will be separated in Gods decisive judgment at the close of the age (Mat_13:47-50).
Practical demands of the kingdom
Although people may desire the kingdom of God above all else (Mat_6:33; Mat_13:44-46), they cannot buy their way into it. The right of entry into that kingdom is the gift of God and, as with Gods other gifts, it must be accepted humbly by faith (Mar_10:15; Luk_12:32). The work of God produces eternal life within believers and introduces them into the kingdom of God. It is a work that people themselves cannot do, no matter how hard they try; but God does it for all those who trust in him (Mar_4:26-29; Mar_10:17; Mar_10:23-27; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:15).
Neither good deeds nor social status can gain people entrance into the kingdom of God. What God demands is repentance a total change that gives up all self-sufficiency for the sake of following Christ as king (Mat_4:17; Mat_5:20; Mat_19:23; Luk_9:62). It is a decision that requires the full force of a persons will (Luk_16:16).
All who enter Gods kingdom come under his rule, where he teaches them the qualities of life that he requires of them. Yet they look upon his commands not as laws that they are forced to obey, but as expressions of his will that they find true happiness in doing (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:10; 1Jn_5:3-4). They learn that the principles that operate in the kingdom of God are different from those that operate in the kingdoms of the world (Mat_20:20-28; Joh_18:36). Having come into the enjoyment of the rule of Christ themselves, they then spread the good news of his kingdom throughout the world (Mat_10:7; Mat_24:14; Act_8:12; Act_19:8; Act_28:23; Act_28:31).
Those who serve the kingdom of God may bring persecution and suffering upon themselves (Mat_10:7; Mat_10:16-22; Act_14:22; 2Th_1:5). God, however, will preserve them through their troubles and bring them into the full enjoyment of his kingdom in the day of its final triumph (Luk_18:29-30; 2Ti_4:18; 2Pe_1:11).
The kingdom and the church
Gods purpose was that when the Messiah came, the people of Israel would be the first to hear the good news of the kingdom. Upon accepting the Messiah, they would enter Gods kingdom and then spread the good news to all nations (Isa_49:5-6; Mat_10:6-7; Mat_15:24). But when Israel on the whole rejected the Messiah, God sent the message to the nations direct. Gentiles who believed entered the kingdom, but Jews for whom the kingdom had been prepared were excluded (Mat_8:10-12; Mat_20:1-16; Mat_21:33-43; Act_13:46-47; Act_28:23-31).
The reason many of the Jews rejected Jesus was that he did not bring them the kind of kingdom they were looking for. They wanted a Messiah who would be a political deliverer, and they wanted a kingdom that would bring material prosperity. Jesus was opposed to both ideas (Joh_6:15; Joh_18:36). Even the apostles did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah and the kingdom, but they did not, as others, reject Jesus. They knew that he was indeed the Messiah of God who brought them the kingdom of God and eternal life (Mat_16:13-16; Joh_6:66-69).
The believing minority among the Jews (the old people of God, the nation Israel) became the nucleus of the new people of God, the Christian church. To build the old people of God, God chose twelve tribes; to build the new people of God, he chose twelve apostles. As they preached the good news of Jesus Christ, the apostles opened the kingdom to all who wished to enter. They carried Gods authority with them, so that when they acted in obedience to his word, their work on earth was confirmed in heaven (Mat_16:18-19; Act_8:12; Act_20:24-25; Act_28:31).
As a result of the apostles preaching of the kingdom of God, people believed. The faithful of old Israel became Gods true Israel; believers of other nations became Abrahams spiritual offspring (Rom_2:28-29; Gal_3:28-29; Gal_6:16). The church came into being and grew. In the great acts of God seen on the Day of Pentecost and during the months that followed, the apostles saw the power of the kingdom of God at work in a way they had never imagined (Mar_9:1).
However, the church is not the kingdom, just as Israel was not the kingdom. The church and the kingdom are things of a different kind. The kingdom is the rule of God; the church is a community of people. It is the new community of Gods people, just as Israel was the old community. The kingdom works through the church, but it is something far wider than the church. It worked in the days before the church was born, and it will continue to work till the day of Gods final triumph (1Co_15:24-28; Rev_11:15). In the meantime the church is the means by which Gods rule should most clearly be seen in the world (Joh_17:23; Rom_14:16-18; Eph_3:10; see CHURCH).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.
Kingdom Of God
or of Heaven (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ or τῶν οὐρανῶν). In the New Testament the phrases " kingdom of God" (Mat_6:33; Mar_1:14-15; Luk_4:43; Luk_6:20; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5), "kingdom of Christ" (Mat_13:41; Mat_20:21; Rev_1:9), "kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph_5:5), " kingdom of David," i.e. as the ancestor and type of the Messiah (Mar_11:10), " the kingdom" (Mat_8:12; Mat_13:19), and "kingdom of heaven" (Mat_3:2; Mat_4:17; Mat_13:41; 2Ti_4:18), are all synonymous, and signify the divine spiritual kingdom, the glorious reign of the Messiah. The idea of this kingdom has its basis in the prophecies of the Old Testament, where the coming of the Messiah and his triumphs are foretold (Psa_2:6-12; Psa_101:1-7; Isa_2:1-4; Mic_4:1; Isa_11:1-10; Jer_23:5-6; Jer_31:31-34; Jer_32:37-44; Jer_33:14-18; Eze_34:23-31; Eze_37:24-28; Dan_2:44; Dan_7:14; Dan_7:27; Dan_9:25; Dan_9:27). In these passages the reign of the Messiah is figuratively described as a golden age, when the true religion, and with it the Jewish theocracy, should be re-established in more than pristine purity, and universal peace and happiness prevail. All this was doubtless to be understood in a spiritual sense; and so the devout Jews of our Saviour's time appear to have understood it, as Zacharias, Simeon, Anna, and Joseph (Luk_1:67-79; Luk_2:25-30; Luk_23:50-51). But the Jews at large gave to these prophecies a temporal meaning, and expected a Messiah who should come in the clouds of heaven, and, as king of the Jewish nation, restore the ancient religion and worship, reform the corrupt morals of the people, make expiation for their sins, free them from the yoke of foreign dominion, and at length reign over the whole earth in peace and glory (Mat_5:19; Mat_8:12; Mat_18:1; Mat_20:21; Luk_17:20; Luk_19:11; Act_1:6). This Jewish temporal sense appears to have been also held by the apostles before the day of Pentecost.
It has been well observed by Knobel, in his work On the Prophets, that " Jesus did not acknowledge himself called upon to fulfil those theocratic announcements which had an earthly political character, in the sense in which they were uttered; for his plan was spiritual and universal, neither including worldly interests, nor contracted within national and political limits. He gave, accordingly, to all such announcements a higher and more general meaning, so as to realize them in accordance with such a scheme. Thus, 1. The prophets had announced that Jehovah would deliver his people from the political calamities into which, through the conquering might of their foes, they had been brought. This Jesus fulfilled, but in a higher sense. He beheld the Jewish and heathen world under the thraldom of error and of sin, in circumstances of moral calamity, and he regarded himself as sent to effect its deliverance. In this sense he announced himself as the Redeemer, who had come to save the world, to destroy the works of the devil, to annihilate the powers of evil, and to bring men from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
2. The prophets had predicted that Jehovah would again be united to his restored people, would dwell among them, and no more give up the theocratic relation. This also Jesus fulfilled in a higher sense. He found mankind in a state of estrangement from God, arising from their lying in sin, and he viewed it as his vocation to bring them back to God. He reconciled men to God gave them access to God-united them to him as his dear children, and made his people one with God as he himself is one.
3. The prophets had declared that Jehovah would make his people, thus redeemed and reunited to him, supremely blessed in the enjoyment of all earthly pleasures. To communicate such blessings in the literal acceptance of the words was no part of the work of Jesus; on the contrary, he often tells his followers that they must lay their account with much suffering. The blessings which he offers are of a spiritual kind, consisting in internal and unending fellowship with God. This is the life, the life eternal. In the passages where he seems to speak of temporal blessings (e.g. Mat_8:11; Mat_19:27, etc.) he either speaks metaphorically or in reference to the ideas of those whom he addressed, and who were not quite emancipated from carnal hopes.
4. The prophets had predicted, in general, the re-establishment of their people into a mighty state, which should endure upon the earth in imperishable splendor as an outward community. This prospect Jesus realized again in a higher and a spiritual sense by establishing a religious invisible community, internally united by oneness of faith in God and of pure desire, which ever grows and reaches its perfection only in another life. 'he rise and progress of this man cannot observe, for its existence is in the invisible life of the spirit (Luk_17:20), yet the opposition of the wicked is an evidence of its approach (Mat_12:28). It has no political designs, for it 'is not of this world;' and there are found in it no such gradations of rank as in earthly political communities (Mat_20:25). What is external is not essential to it; its prime element is mind, pious, devoted to God, and pleasing God. Hence the kingdom of Jesus is composed of those who turn to God and his ambassadors. and in faith and life abide true to them.
From this it is clear how sometimes this kingdom maybe spoken of as present, and sometimes as future. Religious and moral truth works forever, and draws under its influence one after another, until at length it shall reign over all. In designating this community, Jesus made use of terms having a relation to the ancient theocracy; it is the kingdom of God or of heaven, though, at the same time, it is represented rather as the family than as the state of God. This appears from many other phrases. The head of the ancient community was called Lord and King; that of the new is called Father; the members of the former were servants, i.e. subjects of Jd'hovah; those of the latter are sons of God; the feeling of the former towards God is described as the fear of Jehovah; that of the latter is believing confidence or love; the chief duty of the former was righteousness; the first duty of the latter is love. All these expressions are adapted to the constitution of the sacred community, either as a divine state or as a divine family. It needs hardly to be mentioned that Jesus extended its fulfilment of these ancient prophecies in this spiritual sense to all men." Referring to the Old-Testament idea, we may therefore regard the " kingdom of heaven," etc., in the New Testament, as designating, in its Christian sense, the Christian dispensation, or the community of those who receive Jesus as the Messiah, and who, united by his Spirit under him as their Head, rejoice in the truth, and live a holy life in love and in communion with him (Mat_3:2; Mat_4:17; Mat_4:23; Mat_9:35; Mat_10:7; Mar_1:14-15; Luk_10:9; Luk_10:11; Luk_23:51; Act_27:31').
This spiritual kingdom has both an internal and external form. As internal and spiritual, it already exists and rules in the hearts of all Christians, and is therefore present (Rom_14:17; Mat_6:33; Mar_10:15; Luk_17:21; Luk_18:17; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; 1Co_4:20). It "suffereth violence,' implying the eagerness with which the Gospel was received in the agitated state of men's minds (Mat_11:12; Luk_16:6). As external, it is either embodied in the visible Church of Christ, and in so far is present and progressive (Mat_6:10; Mat_12:28; Mat_13:24; Mat_13:31; Mat_13:33; Mat_13:41; Mat_13:47; Mat_16:19; Mat_16:28; Mar_4:30; Mar_11:10; Luk_13:18; Luk_13:20; Act_19:8; Heb_12:28), or it is to be perfected in the coming of the Messiah to judgment and his subsequent spiritual reign in bliss and glory, in which view it is future (Mat_13:43; Mat_26:29; Mar_14:25; Luk_22:29-30; 2Pe_1:11; Rev_12:10). In this latter view it denotes especially the bliss of heaven, eternal life, which is to be enjoyed in the Redeemer's kingdom (Mat_8:11; Mat_25:34; Mar_9:47; Luk_13:18; Luk_13:29; Act_11:22; 1Co_6:9; 1Co_6:20; 1Co_15:50; Gal_5:21; Eph_5:5; 2Th_1:5; 2Ti_4:18; Jam_2:5). But these different aspects are not always distinguished, the expression often embracing both the internal and external sense, and referring both to its commencement in this world and its completion in the world to come (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:10; Mat_5:20; Mat_7:21; Mat_11:11; Mat_13:11; Mat_13:52; Mat_18:3-4; Col_1:13; 1Th_2:12). In Luke i, 33, it is said of the kingdom of Christ "there shall be no end;" whereas in 1Co_15:24-26, it is said " he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father." The contradiction is only in appearance. The latter passage refers to the mediatorial dominion of Christ; and when the mediatorial work of the Saviour is accomplished, then, at the final judgment, he will resign forever his mediatorial office, while the reign of Christ as God supreme will never cease. "His throne," in the empire of the universe, "is forever and ever" (Heb_1:8). "There is reason to believe not only that the expression kingdom of heaven, as used in the New Test., was employed as synonymous with kingdom of God, as referred to in the Old Test., but that the former expression had become common among the Jews of our Lord's time for denoting the state of things expected to be brought in by the Messiah.
The mere use of the expression as it first occurs in Matthew, uttered apparently by John Baptist, and our Lord himself, without a note of explanation, as if all perfectly understood what was meant by it, seems alone conclusive evidence of this. The Old-Testament constitution, and the writings belonging to it, had familiarized the Jews with the application of the terms king and kingdom to God, not merely with reference to his universal sovereignty, but also to his special connection with the people he had chosen for himself (1Sa_12:12; Psa_2:6; Psa_5:2; Psa_20:9; 1Ch_29:11; 2Ch_13:8, etc.). In Daniel, however, where pointed expression required to be given to the difference in this respect between what is of earth and what is of heaven, we find matters ordered on a certain occasion with a view to bring out the specific lesson that 'the heavens do rule' (Dan_4:26); and in the interpretation given to the vision, which had been granted to Nebuchadnezzar, it was said, with more special reference to New Testament times, that 'in the days of those (earthly) kings the God of heaven (lit. of the heavens) should set up a kingdom that should never be destroyed (Dan_2:44). In still another vision granted to Daniel himself, this divine kingdom was represented under the image of' one like a Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him' (Dan_7:13-14). It appears to have been in consequence of the phraseology thus introduced and sanctioned by Daniel that the expression 'kingdom of heaven' (מִלְכוּת הִשָּׁמִיַם, malkuth hashamayim) passed into common usage among the Jews, and was but another name with them for a state of fellowship with God and devotedness to his service. Many examples of this are given by Wetstein on Mat_3:2 from Jewish writings: thus, 'He who confesses God to be one, and repeats Deu_6:4, takes up the kingdom of heaven;' 'Jacob called his sons and commanded them concerning the ways of God, and they took upon them the kingdom of heaven;' 'The sons of Achasius did not take upon them the yoke of the kingdom of heaven; they did not acknowledge the Lord, for they said, There is not a kingdom in heaven,' etc. The expression, indeed, does not seem to have been used specifically with reference to the Messiah's coming, or the state to be introduced by him (for the examples produced by Schottgen [De Messia, ch. ii] are scarcely in point); but when the Lord himself was declared to be at hand to remodel everything, and visibly take the government, as it were, on his shoulder, it would be understood of itself that here the kingdom of heaven should be found concentrating itself, and that to join one's self to Messiah would be in the truest sense to take up the yoke of that kingdom. SEE KINGLY OFFICE OF CHRIST.
The scriptural and popular usages of the term "kingdom of God," kingdom of heaven," etc., serve as a clew to the otherwise rather abrupt proclamation of the Baptist and Jesus at the very beginning of their public ministrations. It is true that in the Old Testament the kingdom or reign of God usually signifies his infinite power, or, more properly, his sovereign authority over all creatures, kingdoms, and hearts. SEE KING. Thus Wisdom says (Wis_10:10), God showed his kingdom to Jacob, i.e. he opened the kingdom of heaven to him in showing him the mysterious ladder by which the angels ascended and descended ; and Ecclesiasticus (47:13) says, God gave to David the covenant assurance, or promise of the kingdom, for himself and his successors. Still the transition from this to the moral and religious sphere was so natural that it was silently and continually made, especially as Jehovah was perpetually represented as the supreme and sole legitimate sovereign of his people. Indeed, the theocracy was the central idea of the Jewish state, SEE JUDGE, and hence the first announcements of the Gospel sounded with thrilling effect upon the ears of the people, proverbially impatient of foreign rule, and yet, at the time, apparently bound in a hopeless vassalage to Rome. It was to the populace like a trumpet-call to a war for independence, or rather like one of the old paeans of deliverance sung by Miriam and Deborah. SEE THEOCRACY.
Copious lists of monographs on this subject may be seen in Danz, Woirterbuch, s.v. Himmel-Reich, Messias Reich; Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 37; Hase, Leben Jesu, p. 72, 77. SEE MESSIAH.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
1. In the Old Testament.Apart from that general concept of God as Maker and Governor of the whole world, the OT writers emphasize the Divine care for individuals, families, tribes, and nations of men. It is Gods rule over those creatures who exist in His own image and likeness that calls for our special study, and this great truth is manifest from various points of view. (1) From Amo_9:7 we learn that Jehovah is the supreme Ruler of all the peoples: Syrians, Philistines, Ethiopians, as well as the tribes of Israel, were led by Him and settled in their separate lands. So He gave all the nations their inheritance (Deu_32:8). But one most conspicuous feature of the OT revelation is Gods selection of Abraham and his posterity to be made a blessing to all the families of the earth. When this peculiar family had become a numerous people in the land of Egypt, God led them marvellously out of that house of bondage and adopted them to be a people for his own possession above all peoples upon the face of the earth (Deu_7:6), and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exo_19:6). The subsequent facts of the history of this chosen people reveal a noteworthy aspect of the Kingdom of God among men. (2) Along with this idea of the election and special guidance of this people there was gradually developed a lofty doctrine of the Person and power of the God of Israel. Out of the unique and sublime monolatry, which worshipped Jehovah as greatest of all the gods (Exo_15:11; Exo_18:11), there issued the still higher and broader monotheism of the great prophets, who denied the real existence of any other God or Saviour besides the Holy One of Israel. He was conceived as seated on a lofty throne, surrounded with holy seraphs and the innumerable hosts of heaven. For naturally the highest embodiment of personal power and glory and dominion known among men, namely, that of a splendid royalty, was employed as the best figure of the glory of the heavenly King; and so we have the impressive apocalyptic portraiture of Jehovah sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up (Isa_6:1-3, Eze_12:26-28, 1Ki_22:19). The mighty Monarch of earth and heaven was enthroned in inexpressible majesty and glory, and no power above or below the heavens could compare with Him. (3) This concept of the heavenly King became also enlarged so as to include the idea of a righteous Judge of all the earth. This idea appears conspicuously in the vision of Dan_7:9-12, where the Eternal is seen upon His throne of fiery flames, with ten thousand times ten thousand ministering before Him. His execution of judgment is as a stream of fire which issues from His presence and devours His adversaries. Zep_3:8 also represents Him as gathering the nations and assembling the kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them the fire of His fierce anger. And so in prophecy, in psalm, and in historical narrative we find numerous declarations of Jehovah about His entering into judgment with the nations and also with His own people. The unmistakable doctrine of all these Scriptures is that God is the supreme Judge and Ruler of the world. His overthrow of mighty cities and kingdoms, like Nineveh and Babylon, is a way of His executing judgment in the earth, and the prophets call such a national catastrophe a day of Jehovah. (4) The Messianic prophecies throw further light on the OT doctrine of the Kingdom of God. From the times of David and Solomon onwards the highest ideal of the Anointed of Jehovah was that of a powerful and righteous king of Israel. The name of David became a synonym of the ideal king and shepherd of the Chosen People (Hos_3:5, Jer_30:9, Eze_34:23; Eze_37:24). These ideals became the growing Messianic hope of Israel. According to Isa_9:3; Isa_9:7, the child of wonderful names is to sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it in judgment and in righteousness for ever. In Psa_2:1-12 we have a dramatic picture of Jehovah establishing His Son as King upon Zion, and in Psa_110:1-7 the conquering hero, to whom Jehovah says, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool. unites in Himself the threefold office of king, priest, and judge. (5) In all these and in other Messianic scriptures we shoud notice that the Anointed of Jehovah is an exalted associate of the Most High. He executes judgment in the earth, but he himself possesses no wisdom or power to act apart from Jehovah. We also note the fact that Gods dominion over the earth is entirely compatible with divers forms of human administration. Ambitious potentates may usurp authority, and think to change times and seasons, but sooner or later they come to nought. Though Nebuchadrezzar, Cyrus, or Alexander wield for a time the sceptre of the world, it is still true that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Dan_4:32). He removeth kings and setteth up kings (Dan_2:21). When Israel desired a king like other nations, Samuel charged them with rejecting God as their King (1Sa_8:7); but such rejection of God and the anointing of Saul for their king did not remove Jehovah from actual dominion over them; and the prophet himself admonished all Israel to fear and obey Jehovah lest He should consume both them and their king (1Sa_12:15-25). And when, according to the apocalyptic imagery of Dan_7:13-14, the one like unto a son of man receives the kingdom from the Ancient of days, it is not to be supposed that the Most High Himself is for a moment to abdicate His throne in the heavens, or cease to rule over all the kingdoms of men. (6) It is not given us to determine how fully or how clearly any OT prophet or psalmist conceived the real nature of the future Messianic Kingdom. It is not usually given to the prophets of great oracles to know the time and manner of the fulfilment, and such ideals as those of Mic_4:1-5 and Isa_11:1-10 may have been variously understood. The advent of the Messianic Son of David, expected among the seed of Abraham, would naturally be conceived as introducing a new era in the history of the people of God. He would not rule apart from Jehovah, or exercise a different authority; for the Kingdom of Messiah would also he the Kingdom of God. But it would naturally he expected that the Messiah would introduce new powers, new agencies, and new enlightenment for a blessing to all the families of the earth. According to Isa_65:17; Isa_66:22, the new era was conceived as the creation of a new heavens and a new earth, but the prophetic language and its context do not justify the opinion that the dawn of the new era must needs be ushered in along with physical changes in the earth and the heavens, or involve any physical change in the natural constitution of man on the earth.
2. In the New Testament.In presenting the NT doctrine of the Kingdom of. God we should notice (1) the prevalent expectation of the Messiah at the time Jesus was born. There was no exact uniformity of belief or of expectation. Some enthusiasts looked for a warlike chieftain, gifted with an ability of leadership, to cast off the Roman yoke and restore the kingdom of Israel to some such splendour as it had in the days of Solomon. Others seem to have entertained a more spiritual view, as Zacharias, Simeon, and Anna (Luk_1:67-79; Luk_2:25-38), and to have united the general hope of the redemption of Jerusalem with the blessed thought of confirming the ancient covenants of promise, obtaining remission of sins, personal consolation, and a life of holiness. Between these two extremes there were probably various other forms of expectation, but the more popular one was that of a temporal prince. John the Baptist shared somewhat in this current belief, and seems to have been disappointed in the failure of Jesus to fulfil his concept of the Messianic hope (Mat_11:2-6). Nevertheless, Johns ministry and preaching evinced much spiritual penetration, and his baptism of repentance was a Divinely appointed preparation for the Kingdom of heaven which he declared was close at band.
(2) The chief source of the NT doctrine is the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. His preaching and that of His first disciples announced the Kingdom of heaven as at hand (Mat_4:17, Mar_1:16). Such a proclamation could have meant to the hearers only that the reign of the Messiah, of whom the prophets had spoken, was about to begin. The real nature of this Kingdom, however, is to be learned only by a careful study of the various sayings of Jesus upon the subject, (a) It should first be observed that our Lord gave no sanction to the current Jewish expectation of a temporal prince, who would fight for dominion and exercise worldly forms of power. He did not directly oppose the prevalent belief, so as to provoke opposition, but sought rather to inculcate a more spiritual and heavenly conception of the Kingdom. His views were evidently different from those of John, for while He extolled him as His immediate forerunner, much more than a prophet, and greatest among them that are born of women, He declared that any one who is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Mat_11:11). With all his greatness John was but a Jewish prophet, and never passed beyond the necessary limitations of the pre-Messianic age. (b) The spiritual and heavenly character of the Kingdom is indicated, and indeed emphasized, by the phrase kingdom of heaven. This accords with the statement that the Kingdom is not of this world (Joh_18:36), and cometh not with observation (Luk_17:20). It belongs, therefore, to the unseen and the spiritual. It is the special boon of the poor in spirit, persecuted for righteousness sake, and whose righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:10; Mat_5:20). The great ones in this Kingdom are such as become like little children (Mat_18:3), and as to rulership and authority, the greatest is he who acts as the minister and bond-servant of all (Mar_10:43-44).
It may be noticed that the phrase kingdom of heaven (or of the heavens) is peculiar to the Gospel of Matthew, in which it occurs about thirty times. In 2Ti_4:18 we read of his heavenly kingdom, but elsewhere the term employed is kingdom of God. There is no good reason to doubt that Jesus Himself made use of all these expressions, and we should not look to find any recondite or peculiar significance in any one of them. The phrase kingdom of God occurs also four times in Mt., and often in the other Gospels and in the Acts and Epistles. We may also compare, for illustration and suggestion, my Fathers kingdom (Mat_26:29), my heavenly Father (Mat_15:13), and observe in the parallel texts of Mat_26:29, Mar_14:25, Luk_22:20, the interchangeable use of my Fathers kingdom, my kingdom, and the kingdom of God. All these designations indicate that the Kingdom is heavenly in its origin and nature.
(c) The parables of Jesus are especially important for learning the nature and mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven. They show in many ways that the heavenly Kingdom has to do with the spiritual nature and possibilities of man, and is, in fact, the dominion of Jesus Christ over the hearts of men. They show also that the Kingdom has its necessary collective and communal relations, for the same ethical principles which are to govern an individual life have also their manifold application to the life of a community and of all organized societies of men. Several of our Lords parables indicate a Judicial transfer of the Kingdom of heaven from the Jews to the Gentiles (Mat_21:43; Mat_22:1-14, Luk_14:10-24). The parable of the Two Sons warned the Jewish priests and elders that publicans and harlots might go into the Kingdom of God before them (Mat_21:28-32). From all this it is evident that the Kingdom of heaven includes the dispensation of heavenly grace and redemption which was inaugurated and is now continuously carried forward by the Lord Jesus. It is essentially spiritual, and its holy mysteries of regeneration and the righteousness of faith can be only spiritually discerned, (d) The important petitions in the Lords prayer, Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth, are of great value in determining the nature of the Kingdom. This prayer assumes by its very terms a moral and spiritual relationship and the ideal of a moral order in the universe of God. As the word kingdom implies an organized community, so the will of God implies in those who do it a conformity to God in spiritual nature and action. The coming Kingdom is not a material worldly establishment, but it has its foundations in the unseen and eternal, and its power and growth will become manifest among men and nations according as the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven. The performance of all that the will of God requires in moral beings may vary in degrees of perfect observance in heaven and in earth; we naturally predicate of heavenly things a measure of perfection far above that of earthly things. But the members of the Kingdom of God, whether on earth or in heaven, have this in common, that they all do the will of the heavenly Father, (e) So far as the Gospel of John supplies additional teachings of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God, it is in essential harmony with what we find in the Synoptics, but it has its own peculiar methods of statement. We read in Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5, Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. The Kingdom, then, is not a spectacle of worldly vision, but has to do first of all with the inner life of man. It accords with this, that in Joh_8:23 and Joh_18:36-37 Jesus says, I am from above; I am not of this world: My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. To one of Pilates questions Jesus answered, I am a king; to this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice (Joh_18:37). So Christs Kingdom comes not forth out of the world, but is of heavenly origin. It makes no display of military forces or carnal weapons for establishing its dominion in the world. It is especially remarkable in being a Kingdom of truth. This conception is peculiarly Johannine, for in the first Epistle also Jesus Christ is set forth as the embodiment and revelation of the truth of God (1Jn_3:18-19; 1Jn_5:20; cf. Joh_1:17; Joh_8:32; Joh_14:6; Joh_17:17). Jesus Christ is the heavenly King who witnesses to the truth, and whose servants know, love, and obey the truth of God.
(3) In the Pauline Epistles the Kingdom of God is represented as the blessed spiritual inheritance of all who enjoy life in God through faith in Jesus Christ. Its spiritual character is obvious from Rom_14:17, where, in discussing questions of conscience touching meats and drinks, it is said that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So it is not a dominion that concerns itself about ceremonial pollutions; it grasps rather after the attainment of all spiritual blessings. It is impossible for the unrighteous and idolaters, and thieves and extortioners, and such like, to inherit this Kingdom (1Co_6:9-10, Gal_5:21, Eph_5:5).
(4) Other portions of the NT add somewhat to this doctrine of the Kingdom, but offer no essentially different ideal. In Heb_12:28 mention is made of our receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. The context speaks of the removal of some things that were of a nature to be shaken, and the allusion is to the old fabric of defunct Judaism, which was a cult of burdensome ritual, and had become old and aged and nigh unto vanishing away (Heb_8:13). These temporary things and their sanctuary of this world, which were at the most only a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, must needs be shaken down and pass away in order that the immovable Kingdom of heaven might be revealed and abide as an eternal inheritance. The old Jerusalem and its temporary cult must pass away and give place to the heavenly Jerusalem, which affords personal communion and fellowship with God and Christ, and innumerable hosts of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect (Heb_12:22-24).
(5) Eschatological elements of the NT doctrine.Questions of the time and manner of the coming of the Kingdom arise from the various sayings of Jesus and of the NT writers, which have seemed difficult to harmonize. From the point of view both of Jesus and of the first Apostles, the Kingdom of heaven was nigh at hand, but not yet come. The coming of the Kingdom is also associated with the Parousia, or coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, the resurrection, and the final judgment of all men and nations. Jesus spoke of the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory (Mat_19:28). His great eschatological discourse, reported in all the Synoptics (Mat_24:1-51, Mar_13:1-37, Luk_21:1-38), represents His coming and the end of the age as in the near future, before that generation should pass. It also clearly makes the sublime Parousia follow immediately after the woes attending the ruin of the city and Temple of Jerusalem. Also in Mat_16:28 and the parallels in Mk. and Lk. Jesus declares emphatically, There are some of them that stand here who shall in no wise taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. The exegetical problem is to show how these statements may be adjusted to the idea of a gradually growing power and dominion which appears in Daniels vision of the stone which became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan_2:35), and is also implied in Jesus parables of the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, and the Seed Growing Secretly,first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear (Mar_4:26-29). The problem is also complicated by the fact that nearly two thousand years have passed since these words of Jesus were spoken, and the end of the world is not yet. Of the many attempts at the explanation of these difficulties we here mention only three.
(a) A considerable number of modern critics adopt the hypothesis that these various sayings of Jesus were misunderstood by those who heard Him, and have been reported in a confused and self-contradictory manner. The disciples confounded the fall of the Temple with the end of all things, but Jesus probably distinguished the two events in a way that does not now appear in the records. Some critics suppose that fragments of a small Jewish apocalypse have been incorporated in Mat_24:1-51. This hypothesis makes it the chief work of the expositor to analyze the different elements of the Evangelical tradition and reconstruct the sayings of Jesus which are supposed to be genuine. The result of such a process naturally includes a considerable amount of conjecture, and leaves the various eschatological sayings of Jesus in a very untrustworthy condition.
(b) According to another class of expositors, the prophecies of Mat_24:1-51 contain a double sense, the primary reference being to the fall of Jerusalem, whereas the ultimate fulfilment, of which the first is a sort of type, is to take place at the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world. It is conceded that the two events are closely conjoined, but it is thought that Mat_24:4-28 deal mainly with the former event, and from Mat_24:29 onwards the lesser subject is swallowed up by the greater, and the statements made refer mainly to the still future coming of the Lord. But scarcely any two interpreters, who adopt the double-sense theory, agree in their exposition of the different parts of the chapter.
(c) Another method of explaining and adjusting the teaching of Jesus and of all the NT statements about the coming of Christ, the resurrection and the judgment, is to understand all these related events as part and parcel of an age-long process. The end of the age, according to this view, is not the close of the Christian era, but the end or consummation of the pre-Messianic age. The coming of the Kingdom of God, according to Jesus (Luk_17:20), is not a matter of physical observation, so that one could point it out and say, Lo, it is here! or, Lo, it is there! Like the lightning it may appear in the east or in the west, or anywhere under the whole heaven, at one and the same moment of time. Nevertheless, no reported sayings of Christ are more positive or more notably reiterated than His declarations that some of His contemporaries would live to see the kingdom of God come with power, and that this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. The decisive end of an era or dispensation or a particular cult may be seen to be near at hand, sure to come within a generation, for that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away (Heb_8:13); but the coming of a kingdom and power and glory which belongs to the things unseen, heavenly and eternal, is not of a nature to be limited to a given day or hour. There need be, then, no contradiction or inconsistency in the sayings of Jesus as they now stand in the Gospels. No great and noteworthy event could more decisively have marked the end of the pre-Messianic age and the Jewish cult than the destruction of the Temple. But the powers of the age to come were manifest before that historic crisis, and the times and the seasons of such spiritual, unseen things are not matters for men or angels or even the Son of God to tell. But the fall of the Temple and the establishment of the New Covenant and the Kingdom of God were so coincident that the two events might well have been thought and spoken of as essentially simultaneous. Accordingly, the regeneration (Mat_19:28) and the restoration of all things (Act_3:21) are now in actual process. The Son of Man is now sitting on the throne of His glory, at the right hand of God, and he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1Co_15:25). Such a Kingdom is essentially millennial, and has its ages of ages for making all things new. Its crises and triumphs are portrayed in terms of apocalyptic prophecy, and so the language of Jesus in Mat_24:29-31 and similar passages in other parts of the NT is to be interpreted as we interpret the same forms of speech in the OT prophets (cf. Isa_13:9-10; Isa_19:1-2; Isa_34:4-5, Dan_7:13-14).
According to this last interpretation, the Apocalypse of John is but an enlargement of Jesus discourse on the Mount of Olives, and the descent of the New Jerusalem out of heaven is a visional symbol of the coming of the Kingdom of God, and the continuous answer to the prayer, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. The Apostles, like their Lord, thought and spoke of things supernatural and invisible after the manner of the Hebrew prophets. St. Pauls picture of the Lords coming from heaven (1Th_4:14-18) is in striking accord with the language of Mat_24:29-31, and yet has its own peculiar points of difference. In Rom_16:20 he speaks of the God of peace bruising Satan under your feet shortly, and in 2Th_2:1-12 he teaches that the Antichrist, the man of sin, is destined to be destroyed by the manifestation of the coming of the Lord Jesus. It was probably not given to the Apostle to understand that what he saw in the vision of a moment would occupy millenniums. In his forms of statement we may discern survivals of his Jewish modes of thought, and a failure to distinguish the times and seasons and methods in which the Kingdom of heaven is ultimately to overcome the prince of the powers of wickedness in high places. But in all essentials of content his prophetic picture of the coming and triumph is true to fact and to the teaching of the Lord Himself. St. Paul also speaks of the Kingdom of God as an inheritance. It is in part a present possession, but it contemplates also a future eternal blessedness. The redeemed shall reign in life through Jesus Christ. Our heavenly Father makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, delivers us out of the power of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of the Son of his love (Col_1:12-13). Such heirs of God are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of Gods own possession (Eph_1:14). According to this conception of the heavenly Kingdom, Christ is now upon His throne and continuously making all things new. His Parousia is millennial. He is drawing all men unto Himself, and the resurrection of the dead is as continuous as His own heavenly reign. Whenever the earthly house of any one of His servants is dissolved, he has a new habitation from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2Co_5:1-10). Each man must have his own last day, and each one be made manifest and answer for himself before the judgment-seat of Christ. And when all things are ultimately put in subjection unto the Christ, then also shall the Son of God Himself have perfected His redemptive reign, and God shall be all in all. See Authority, Dominion, Parousia, Power.
M. S. Terry.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Most of the biblical references to the kingdom of God are found in the teachings of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels. The subject of the kingdom of God was central in Jesus teaching. Yet nowhere did Jesus say exactly what the kingdom was, and neither did the writers of the New Testament who followed him, even though they too spoke of the kingdom.
Perhaps the reason for this was that people who knew the Old Testament should already have been familiar with the idea of Gods kingdom. Jesus teaching on the kingdom was a development of the Old Testament teaching, showing that through him the kingdom found its fullest meaning.
What the kingdom of God is
Throughout the Bible the kingdom of God is the rule of God. It is not a territory over which he reigns, but the rule which he exercises. It is defined not by a geographic location, an era of existence, or the nationality of a people, but by the sovereign rule and authority of God (Exo_15:18; Psa_103:19; Psa_145:10-13).
Jesus likewise understood Gods kingdom as Gods rule rather than as a territory or a people. Those who seek Gods kingdom seek Gods rule in their lives (Mat_6:33); those who receive Gods kingdom receive Gods rule in their lives (Mar_10:15). The prayer for Gods kingdom to come is a prayer that his rule be accepted, so that his will is done on earth as it is in heaven (Mat_6:10). The kingdom is a realm in the spiritual, not the physical, sense. Those who enter the kingdom of God enter the realm where they accept Gods rule (Mat_21:31).
The world at present is in a state of rebellion against Gods rule, because it is under the power of Satan (2Co_4:4; 1Jn_5:19; see WORLD). Therefore, when the kingdom of God came among people in the person of Jesus Christ, the rule of God was demonstrated in the defeat of Satan. As Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, he healed those who were diseased and oppressed by evil spirits, and in so doing he gave evidence of his power over Satan (Mat_4:23-24). His deliverance of people from the bondage of Satan was proof that Gods kingdom (his authority, power, rule) had come among them (Mat_12:28; Mar_1:27; Luk_10:9; Luk_10:17-18).
There is a sense, therefore, in which all people experience the kingdom; for all people experience (or one day will experience) the sovereign authority of God, either in blessing or in judgment (Mat_12:28; Rev_11:15; Rev_11:18; Rev_19:15-16). But the important aspect of the kingdom that the Gospels emphasize is that it came into the world through Jesus. Because John the Baptist announced the coming of the kingdom of Jesus, he brought to a close the pre-kingdom era (Mat_3:2; Luk_16:16). Even the most insignificant person in the new era enjoys blessings that the greatest person of the former era never knew (Mat_11:11).
Note: The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are different names for the same thing. The Bible uses the expressions interchangeably (Mat_19:23-24). Jews liked to show great respect for the name of God; therefore, because they feared that they might use that name irreverently, they often used the word heaven instead of God (Dan_4:25-26; Luk_15:18; Joh_3:27). Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for the Jews, usually (but not always) speaks of Gods kingdom as the kingdom of heaven, whereas the other Gospel writers call it the kingdom of God (Mat_19:14; Mar_10:14; Luk_18:16).
Both present and future
In contrast to the popular Jewish belief that Gods kingdom was a future national and political kingdom to be centred on Israel, Jesus pointed out that Gods kingdom was already present among them. It was present in him (Luk_10:9; Luk_17:20-21).
When people willingly humbled themselves and submitted to the rule of Christ, they immediately entered Christs kingdom. And by entering the kingdom they received forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Mat_21:31; Mar_10:14-15; Joh_3:3). Not only those of Jesus time, but people of any era, when they believe in him, immediately enter his kingdom and receive the kingdoms blessings (Rom_14:17; Col_1:13).
But Jesus spoke also of the kingdom as something belonging to the future (Mar_14:25), whose establishment could take place only after he had suffered and died (Luk_18:31-33; Luk_22:15-16; Luk_24:26; Rev_5:6-12; Rev_11:15). Even for those who were already believers, Jesus spoke of his kingdom as something yet future, which they would enter at his return (Mat_7:21-23; Mat_13:41-43; Mat_25:31-34). For this reason Christians, who are already in the kingdom, also look forward to the day when they will inherit the kingdom (1Co_15:50; 2Pe_1:11).
A person may well ask how the kingdom of God can be something that is present here and now, yet be something that awaits the future. The answer lies in our understanding of the kingdom of God as the sovereign rule of God. Believers enter the kingdom as soon as they believe, but they will experience the full blessings of the kingdom only when Christ returns to punish evil and reign in righteousness (1Co_15:24-26; see DAY OF THE LORD; RESURRECTION).
To enter the kingdom of God is to have eternal life or to be saved. The Bible uses these expressions interchangeably (Mat_19:16; Mat_19:23-25). Just as believers experience the kingdom of God now and will do so more fully in the future, so they have eternal life now but will experience it in its fulness when Christ returns (Joh_5:24; Joh_5:29). Likewise they have salvation now, but they will experience the fulness of their salvation at the return of Christ (Eph_2:8; Heb_9:28). Eternal life is the life of the kingdom of God, the life of the age to come; but because the kingdom of God has come among them now, people have eternal life now (Mat_25:34; Mat_25:46; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; Joh_3:15; Joh_5:24).
The mystery of the kingdom
The truth that the teaching of Jesus makes clear is not simply that Gods kingdom is present in the world now, but that people can enter that kingdom now, even though the world is still under the power of Satan. This is a truth that people did not understand till Jesus explained it. He referred to this present aspect of the kingdom as a mystery, or secret (Mar_4:11). By using the word mystery, Jesus did not mean that he was telling people something to confuse them. He meant rather that he was telling them something that previously God had kept secret but was now making known. (Similar uses of mystery occur elsewhere in the New Testament; cf. Rom_16:25-26; Eph_1:9-10; Col_1:26; see MYSTERY.)
In Old Testament times people expected Gods kingdom to come in one mighty act, when God would destroy all earthly kingdoms and establish his rule throughout the world (Dan_2:44-45; Zec_14:9; see SON OF MAN). It seems that, to some extent, John the Baptist also had this idea of the kingdom of God. That may have been why he became worried when Jesus did not immediately set up a world-conquering kingdom (Mat_3:11-12; Mat_11:2-3; cf. Luk_24:21; Act_1:6).
To reassure John, Jesus pointed out that the miracles of healing he performed were in keeping with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiahs mission. His kingdom had begun (Mat_11:4-6; see MESSIAH; MIRACLES). That kingdom was not yet established in the world-conquering sense that John and others expected, but it had begun to do its work by delivering people from the power of Satan and offering them new life in Jesus Christ (Luk_17:20-21).
Gods kingdom is present now, though not in the form it will have after the great events at the climax of the worlds history. It is hidden rather than open. It is entered voluntarily, not forced upon people with irresistible power. This is the mystery of the kingdom, the previously unknown purpose of God that Jesus revealed.
Parables of the kingdom
Jesus emphasized this mystery of the kingdom in the parables recorded in Matthew 13 (Mat_13:11; see PARABLE). The parable of the seed and the soils shows that because people are free to accept or reject the message of the kingdom, most reject it. But those who accept it experience great spiritual growth in their lives (Mat_13:18-23; cf. Mat_23:13). The parable of the wheat and the weeds teaches that in the present world those who are in Gods kingdom live alongside those who are not; but in the day of judgment, when Gods kingdom will be established openly, believers will be saved and the rest punished (Mat_13:24-30; Mat_13:34-43).
The parables of the mustard seed and the yeast illustrate that although the kingdom may appear to have insignificant beginnings, it will one day have worldwide power and authority (Mat_13:31-33). The parables of the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl illustrate that when people are convinced of the priceless and lasting value of the kingdom of God, they will make any sacrifice to enter it (Mat_13:44-46). Nevertheless, there are both the true and the false among those who claim to be in Gods kingdom. The parable of the fishing net shows that these will be separated in Gods decisive judgment at the close of the age (Mat_13:47-50).
Practical demands of the kingdom
Although people may desire the kingdom of God above all else (Mat_6:33; Mat_13:44-46), they cannot buy their way into it. The right of entry into that kingdom is the gift of God and, as with Gods other gifts, it must be accepted humbly by faith (Mar_10:15; Luk_12:32). The work of God produces eternal life within believers and introduces them into the kingdom of God. It is a work that people themselves cannot do, no matter how hard they try; but God does it for all those who trust in him (Mar_4:26-29; Mar_10:17; Mar_10:23-27; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:15).
Neither good deeds nor social status can gain people entrance into the kingdom of God. What God demands is repentance a total change that gives up all self-sufficiency for the sake of following Christ as king (Mat_4:17; Mat_5:20; Mat_19:23; Luk_9:62). It is a decision that requires the full force of a persons will (Luk_16:16).
All who enter Gods kingdom come under his rule, where he teaches them the qualities of life that he requires of them. Yet they look upon his commands not as laws that they are forced to obey, but as expressions of his will that they find true happiness in doing (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:10; 1Jn_5:3-4). They learn that the principles that operate in the kingdom of God are different from those that operate in the kingdoms of the world (Mat_20:20-28; Joh_18:36). Having come into the enjoyment of the rule of Christ themselves, they then spread the good news of his kingdom throughout the world (Mat_10:7; Mat_24:14; Act_8:12; Act_19:8; Act_28:23; Act_28:31).
Those who serve the kingdom of God may bring persecution and suffering upon themselves (Mat_10:7; Mat_10:16-22; Act_14:22; 2Th_1:5). God, however, will preserve them through their troubles and bring them into the full enjoyment of his kingdom in the day of its final triumph (Luk_18:29-30; 2Ti_4:18; 2Pe_1:11).
The kingdom and the church
Gods purpose was that when the Messiah came, the people of Israel would be the first to hear the good news of the kingdom. Upon accepting the Messiah, they would enter Gods kingdom and then spread the good news to all nations (Isa_49:5-6; Mat_10:6-7; Mat_15:24). But when Israel on the whole rejected the Messiah, God sent the message to the nations direct. Gentiles who believed entered the kingdom, but Jews for whom the kingdom had been prepared were excluded (Mat_8:10-12; Mat_20:1-16; Mat_21:33-43; Act_13:46-47; Act_28:23-31).
The reason many of the Jews rejected Jesus was that he did not bring them the kind of kingdom they were looking for. They wanted a Messiah who would be a political deliverer, and they wanted a kingdom that would bring material prosperity. Jesus was opposed to both ideas (Joh_6:15; Joh_18:36). Even the apostles did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah and the kingdom, but they did not, as others, reject Jesus. They knew that he was indeed the Messiah of God who brought them the kingdom of God and eternal life (Mat_16:13-16; Joh_6:66-69).
The believing minority among the Jews (the old people of God, the nation Israel) became the nucleus of the new people of God, the Christian church. To build the old people of God, God chose twelve tribes; to build the new people of God, he chose twelve apostles. As they preached the good news of Jesus Christ, the apostles opened the kingdom to all who wished to enter. They carried Gods authority with them, so that when they acted in obedience to his word, their work on earth was confirmed in heaven (Mat_16:18-19; Act_8:12; Act_20:24-25; Act_28:31).
As a result of the apostles preaching of the kingdom of God, people believed. The faithful of old Israel became Gods true Israel; believers of other nations became Abrahams spiritual offspring (Rom_2:28-29; Gal_3:28-29; Gal_6:16). The church came into being and grew. In the great acts of God seen on the Day of Pentecost and during the months that followed, the apostles saw the power of the kingdom of God at work in a way they had never imagined (Mar_9:1).
However, the church is not the kingdom, just as Israel was not the kingdom. The church and the kingdom are things of a different kind. The kingdom is the rule of God; the church is a community of people. It is the new community of Gods people, just as Israel was the old community. The kingdom works through the church, but it is something far wider than the church. It worked in the days before the church was born, and it will continue to work till the day of Gods final triumph (1Co_15:24-28; Rev_11:15). In the meantime the church is the means by which Gods rule should most clearly be seen in the world (Joh_17:23; Rom_14:16-18; Eph_3:10; see CHURCH).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.
Kingdom Of God
or of Heaven (ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ or τῶν οὐρανῶν). In the New Testament the phrases " kingdom of God" (Mat_6:33; Mar_1:14-15; Luk_4:43; Luk_6:20; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5), "kingdom of Christ" (Mat_13:41; Mat_20:21; Rev_1:9), "kingdom of Christ and of God" (Eph_5:5), " kingdom of David," i.e. as the ancestor and type of the Messiah (Mar_11:10), " the kingdom" (Mat_8:12; Mat_13:19), and "kingdom of heaven" (Mat_3:2; Mat_4:17; Mat_13:41; 2Ti_4:18), are all synonymous, and signify the divine spiritual kingdom, the glorious reign of the Messiah. The idea of this kingdom has its basis in the prophecies of the Old Testament, where the coming of the Messiah and his triumphs are foretold (Psa_2:6-12; Psa_101:1-7; Isa_2:1-4; Mic_4:1; Isa_11:1-10; Jer_23:5-6; Jer_31:31-34; Jer_32:37-44; Jer_33:14-18; Eze_34:23-31; Eze_37:24-28; Dan_2:44; Dan_7:14; Dan_7:27; Dan_9:25; Dan_9:27). In these passages the reign of the Messiah is figuratively described as a golden age, when the true religion, and with it the Jewish theocracy, should be re-established in more than pristine purity, and universal peace and happiness prevail. All this was doubtless to be understood in a spiritual sense; and so the devout Jews of our Saviour's time appear to have understood it, as Zacharias, Simeon, Anna, and Joseph (Luk_1:67-79; Luk_2:25-30; Luk_23:50-51). But the Jews at large gave to these prophecies a temporal meaning, and expected a Messiah who should come in the clouds of heaven, and, as king of the Jewish nation, restore the ancient religion and worship, reform the corrupt morals of the people, make expiation for their sins, free them from the yoke of foreign dominion, and at length reign over the whole earth in peace and glory (Mat_5:19; Mat_8:12; Mat_18:1; Mat_20:21; Luk_17:20; Luk_19:11; Act_1:6). This Jewish temporal sense appears to have been also held by the apostles before the day of Pentecost.
It has been well observed by Knobel, in his work On the Prophets, that " Jesus did not acknowledge himself called upon to fulfil those theocratic announcements which had an earthly political character, in the sense in which they were uttered; for his plan was spiritual and universal, neither including worldly interests, nor contracted within national and political limits. He gave, accordingly, to all such announcements a higher and more general meaning, so as to realize them in accordance with such a scheme. Thus, 1. The prophets had announced that Jehovah would deliver his people from the political calamities into which, through the conquering might of their foes, they had been brought. This Jesus fulfilled, but in a higher sense. He beheld the Jewish and heathen world under the thraldom of error and of sin, in circumstances of moral calamity, and he regarded himself as sent to effect its deliverance. In this sense he announced himself as the Redeemer, who had come to save the world, to destroy the works of the devil, to annihilate the powers of evil, and to bring men from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
2. The prophets had predicted that Jehovah would again be united to his restored people, would dwell among them, and no more give up the theocratic relation. This also Jesus fulfilled in a higher sense. He found mankind in a state of estrangement from God, arising from their lying in sin, and he viewed it as his vocation to bring them back to God. He reconciled men to God gave them access to God-united them to him as his dear children, and made his people one with God as he himself is one.
3. The prophets had declared that Jehovah would make his people, thus redeemed and reunited to him, supremely blessed in the enjoyment of all earthly pleasures. To communicate such blessings in the literal acceptance of the words was no part of the work of Jesus; on the contrary, he often tells his followers that they must lay their account with much suffering. The blessings which he offers are of a spiritual kind, consisting in internal and unending fellowship with God. This is the life, the life eternal. In the passages where he seems to speak of temporal blessings (e.g. Mat_8:11; Mat_19:27, etc.) he either speaks metaphorically or in reference to the ideas of those whom he addressed, and who were not quite emancipated from carnal hopes.
4. The prophets had predicted, in general, the re-establishment of their people into a mighty state, which should endure upon the earth in imperishable splendor as an outward community. This prospect Jesus realized again in a higher and a spiritual sense by establishing a religious invisible community, internally united by oneness of faith in God and of pure desire, which ever grows and reaches its perfection only in another life. 'he rise and progress of this man cannot observe, for its existence is in the invisible life of the spirit (Luk_17:20), yet the opposition of the wicked is an evidence of its approach (Mat_12:28). It has no political designs, for it 'is not of this world;' and there are found in it no such gradations of rank as in earthly political communities (Mat_20:25). What is external is not essential to it; its prime element is mind, pious, devoted to God, and pleasing God. Hence the kingdom of Jesus is composed of those who turn to God and his ambassadors. and in faith and life abide true to them.
From this it is clear how sometimes this kingdom maybe spoken of as present, and sometimes as future. Religious and moral truth works forever, and draws under its influence one after another, until at length it shall reign over all. In designating this community, Jesus made use of terms having a relation to the ancient theocracy; it is the kingdom of God or of heaven, though, at the same time, it is represented rather as the family than as the state of God. This appears from many other phrases. The head of the ancient community was called Lord and King; that of the new is called Father; the members of the former were servants, i.e. subjects of Jd'hovah; those of the latter are sons of God; the feeling of the former towards God is described as the fear of Jehovah; that of the latter is believing confidence or love; the chief duty of the former was righteousness; the first duty of the latter is love. All these expressions are adapted to the constitution of the sacred community, either as a divine state or as a divine family. It needs hardly to be mentioned that Jesus extended its fulfilment of these ancient prophecies in this spiritual sense to all men." Referring to the Old-Testament idea, we may therefore regard the " kingdom of heaven," etc., in the New Testament, as designating, in its Christian sense, the Christian dispensation, or the community of those who receive Jesus as the Messiah, and who, united by his Spirit under him as their Head, rejoice in the truth, and live a holy life in love and in communion with him (Mat_3:2; Mat_4:17; Mat_4:23; Mat_9:35; Mat_10:7; Mar_1:14-15; Luk_10:9; Luk_10:11; Luk_23:51; Act_27:31').
This spiritual kingdom has both an internal and external form. As internal and spiritual, it already exists and rules in the hearts of all Christians, and is therefore present (Rom_14:17; Mat_6:33; Mar_10:15; Luk_17:21; Luk_18:17; Joh_3:3; Joh_3:5; 1Co_4:20). It "suffereth violence,' implying the eagerness with which the Gospel was received in the agitated state of men's minds (Mat_11:12; Luk_16:6). As external, it is either embodied in the visible Church of Christ, and in so far is present and progressive (Mat_6:10; Mat_12:28; Mat_13:24; Mat_13:31; Mat_13:33; Mat_13:41; Mat_13:47; Mat_16:19; Mat_16:28; Mar_4:30; Mar_11:10; Luk_13:18; Luk_13:20; Act_19:8; Heb_12:28), or it is to be perfected in the coming of the Messiah to judgment and his subsequent spiritual reign in bliss and glory, in which view it is future (Mat_13:43; Mat_26:29; Mar_14:25; Luk_22:29-30; 2Pe_1:11; Rev_12:10). In this latter view it denotes especially the bliss of heaven, eternal life, which is to be enjoyed in the Redeemer's kingdom (Mat_8:11; Mat_25:34; Mar_9:47; Luk_13:18; Luk_13:29; Act_11:22; 1Co_6:9; 1Co_6:20; 1Co_15:50; Gal_5:21; Eph_5:5; 2Th_1:5; 2Ti_4:18; Jam_2:5). But these different aspects are not always distinguished, the expression often embracing both the internal and external sense, and referring both to its commencement in this world and its completion in the world to come (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:10; Mat_5:20; Mat_7:21; Mat_11:11; Mat_13:11; Mat_13:52; Mat_18:3-4; Col_1:13; 1Th_2:12). In Luke i, 33, it is said of the kingdom of Christ "there shall be no end;" whereas in 1Co_15:24-26, it is said " he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father." The contradiction is only in appearance. The latter passage refers to the mediatorial dominion of Christ; and when the mediatorial work of the Saviour is accomplished, then, at the final judgment, he will resign forever his mediatorial office, while the reign of Christ as God supreme will never cease. "His throne," in the empire of the universe, "is forever and ever" (Heb_1:8). "There is reason to believe not only that the expression kingdom of heaven, as used in the New Test., was employed as synonymous with kingdom of God, as referred to in the Old Test., but that the former expression had become common among the Jews of our Lord's time for denoting the state of things expected to be brought in by the Messiah.
The mere use of the expression as it first occurs in Matthew, uttered apparently by John Baptist, and our Lord himself, without a note of explanation, as if all perfectly understood what was meant by it, seems alone conclusive evidence of this. The Old-Testament constitution, and the writings belonging to it, had familiarized the Jews with the application of the terms king and kingdom to God, not merely with reference to his universal sovereignty, but also to his special connection with the people he had chosen for himself (1Sa_12:12; Psa_2:6; Psa_5:2; Psa_20:9; 1Ch_29:11; 2Ch_13:8, etc.). In Daniel, however, where pointed expression required to be given to the difference in this respect between what is of earth and what is of heaven, we find matters ordered on a certain occasion with a view to bring out the specific lesson that 'the heavens do rule' (Dan_4:26); and in the interpretation given to the vision, which had been granted to Nebuchadnezzar, it was said, with more special reference to New Testament times, that 'in the days of those (earthly) kings the God of heaven (lit. of the heavens) should set up a kingdom that should never be destroyed (Dan_2:44). In still another vision granted to Daniel himself, this divine kingdom was represented under the image of' one like a Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him' (Dan_7:13-14). It appears to have been in consequence of the phraseology thus introduced and sanctioned by Daniel that the expression 'kingdom of heaven' (מִלְכוּת הִשָּׁמִיַם, malkuth hashamayim) passed into common usage among the Jews, and was but another name with them for a state of fellowship with God and devotedness to his service. Many examples of this are given by Wetstein on Mat_3:2 from Jewish writings: thus, 'He who confesses God to be one, and repeats Deu_6:4, takes up the kingdom of heaven;' 'Jacob called his sons and commanded them concerning the ways of God, and they took upon them the kingdom of heaven;' 'The sons of Achasius did not take upon them the yoke of the kingdom of heaven; they did not acknowledge the Lord, for they said, There is not a kingdom in heaven,' etc. The expression, indeed, does not seem to have been used specifically with reference to the Messiah's coming, or the state to be introduced by him (for the examples produced by Schottgen [De Messia, ch. ii] are scarcely in point); but when the Lord himself was declared to be at hand to remodel everything, and visibly take the government, as it were, on his shoulder, it would be understood of itself that here the kingdom of heaven should be found concentrating itself, and that to join one's self to Messiah would be in the truest sense to take up the yoke of that kingdom. SEE KINGLY OFFICE OF CHRIST.
The scriptural and popular usages of the term "kingdom of God," kingdom of heaven," etc., serve as a clew to the otherwise rather abrupt proclamation of the Baptist and Jesus at the very beginning of their public ministrations. It is true that in the Old Testament the kingdom or reign of God usually signifies his infinite power, or, more properly, his sovereign authority over all creatures, kingdoms, and hearts. SEE KING. Thus Wisdom says (Wis_10:10), God showed his kingdom to Jacob, i.e. he opened the kingdom of heaven to him in showing him the mysterious ladder by which the angels ascended and descended ; and Ecclesiasticus (47:13) says, God gave to David the covenant assurance, or promise of the kingdom, for himself and his successors. Still the transition from this to the moral and religious sphere was so natural that it was silently and continually made, especially as Jehovah was perpetually represented as the supreme and sole legitimate sovereign of his people. Indeed, the theocracy was the central idea of the Jewish state, SEE JUDGE, and hence the first announcements of the Gospel sounded with thrilling effect upon the ears of the people, proverbially impatient of foreign rule, and yet, at the time, apparently bound in a hopeless vassalage to Rome. It was to the populace like a trumpet-call to a war for independence, or rather like one of the old paeans of deliverance sung by Miriam and Deborah. SEE THEOCRACY.
Copious lists of monographs on this subject may be seen in Danz, Woirterbuch, s.v. Himmel-Reich, Messias Reich; Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 37; Hase, Leben Jesu, p. 72, 77. SEE MESSIAH.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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