[Before I begin, I'll be using the "fullpost" tag here. Readers will have to click on the post-title to read this post in its entirety. That, or just use the "Read the entire article..." link at the bottom.]
One commenter has recently stated:
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, Jesus is said to have said. Here. Now.
Not so. There is a lot of error in that statement, for which said commenter is not entirely at fault.
Knowing the doctrinal difference between the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" is the key to understanding the complete time line of Biblical history; past, present, and future, the proper place of the Church, and the prophetic future of Israel. Every book has an underlying theme, even fiction. Here then is The Bible's theme: it is about the struggle for a Kingdom; the Kingdom of Heaven, a Kingdom with its Capital City, Jerusalem, on this Earth. It is a physical Kingdom, with a physical King.
Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah when He first came because Israel was looking for a political King who would make Israel the world's ruling kingdom spoken of by their prophets [Jeremiah 23:5, Psalms 48:2]. They were expecting a military deliverance from the Romans and the rest of the heathen. This is easy to understand as they were expecting carnal deliverance. However, they were missing the point about spiritual deliverance and righteousness, which led them to ask of Jesus:
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
--Luke 17:20-21
In that statement, Jesus was declaring a spiritual truth that Israel did not see. But on another occasion, when asked about His Kingdom by Pontius Pilot, He gave a somewhat different answer:
Jesus answered, 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: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
--John 18:36
In this particular passage the word "now" is not speaking about the spiritual Kingdom of God [within you], but of a literal political Kingdom yet to come on the Earth. You should also take note that the word "now" has been removed from many newer translations: the NASB, AMP, NLT, ESV, CEV. The reason for this is because most of the translators of today's "Bibles" are amillennial in their position on prophecy. In other words, they do not accept the literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to reign on the Earth for a thousand years as foretold in Revelation.
Although that truth is rejected by a major portion of "Christianity" today, His disciples knew it and were asking when the literal Kingdom would come:
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
--Acts 1:6-8
The disciples are clearly asking about a literal Kingdom, and the Lord says it is not for them to know the time when that literal Kingdom [the Kingdom of Heaven] will take place. Until that time the disciples were given power to preach the Kingdom of God; righteousness through faith in the risen Savior who will return to Earth and rule over the whole Earth from Jerusalem.
This is one of the most hated and least understood doctrines of the Bible, yet one of the most important in rightly dividing the truth; the separation of Church doctrine from Tribulation doctrine. Some churches do not want to hear this, because they think that the Church has replaced Israel. Certainly the whole world reviles at the prospect of hated Israel becoming the head of the Kingdoms. There is a hatred of Christians and Jews on a spiritual level that is beyond their own comprehension. Satan hates the Jews, and the world is under Satan's control. Hate and envy are the root reasons the word "now" is removed from John 18:36 in some translations. The world does not want the Lord Jesus Christ to return and rule over them. That is why the Jews killed their King the first time He came. Here is what their King will say about that when He returns:
But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
--Luke 19:27
There will be a big attitude difference between the Lord's first coming as the gentle Lamb of God, and His Second Coming as the warrior King, the Lion of Judah:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
--Revelation 19:11-13
The Lord Jesus Christ came to His own and preached a dualistic message. To the Jews, the heirs of the promised political Kingdom, the Lord preached the Gospel of the "Kingdom of Heaven" - a literal physical Kingdom soon to come:
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
--Matthew 4:17
To the entire world He preached the coming "Kingdom of God" - righteousness and holiness:
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
--Mark 1:14
Because the Lord used the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" interchangeably in places in the four Gospels, most Christians think they are one and the same. They will be.... but not until the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when He rules the world for a thousand years on the throne of His father David [His father in the flesh, His human side] at Jerusalem. Again:
Jesus answered, 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: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
--John 18:36
If you rightly divide the Bible, you will see that Jesus was preaching about two [2] components of the Kingdom. He preached that the political kingdom [Kingdom of Heaven] was coming, and if the Jews had accepted Him after His death and resurrection, He would have come back and established it after seven years of tribulation, as foretold in the prophecy of Daniel:
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
--Daniel 9:24-27
In fact, when Stephen was preaching to the Pharisees as they were stoning him, the Lord Jesus was standing up from His seat in the third heaven ready to come back, save the Jews, and establish the Kingdom:
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
--Acts 7:55-56
To show by the Scriptures the difference between the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God," the Holy Spirit has put this little nugget of truth within the Gospel of Matthew:
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
--Matthew 11:12
Ask yourself this question: If the "Kingdom of God" is within you, and if the "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven" are one and the same, how could anyone take it out of you by violence? And if that righteousness i.e., the Kingdom of God within you, could not possibly be there until after the cross and the resurrection, what is Jesus saying to the Jews here BEFORE the cross and the resurrection? The answer is: the Kingdom of Israel, which is God's people and Jerusalem, the Lord's chosen place from which to rule:
But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
--Matthew 5:34-35
Israel rejected their King when He came the first time. In the almost two millenniums since then His Kingdom has been in a MYSTERY form; the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in the heart of the believer, and yet seated on the right hand of the Father in the third heaven...
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
--Colossians 1:26-27
...while Satan still holds the physical throne over this world:
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
--Luke 4:6-7
Although Satan has now lost the war, the final battle for physical possession is yet to come. This is the present status of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In the more than 1,900 years since His own people rejected His salvation, God has been chastising Israel while blessings and salvation has gone out to the Gentiles. However, God is not finished with Israel, but He IS just about finished with the Gentiles. The Gentiles' time is running out. The Apostle Paul said this:
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob
--Romans 11:25-26
We are living in the last days of the blessing to the Gentiles. The Jews are back in the land of Israel; although the Arab world does not recognize it as "Israel" but insists on calling it "Palestine". Regardless of the name, it is still the land that God promised to Abraham and his seed through Isaac and Jacob, not through the line of Ishmael. That is the ancient root of contention still festering today over the issue of the land.
The Jews have returned to the land as prophesied in the Scriptures, but they are still in unbelief about Jesus. Although they are the enemies of the Gospel of Grace by the Lord Jesus Christ...
As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief
--Romans 11:28-30
...they are still God's people and He will use the present evil world to chastise them, open their eyes to the truth they rejected, and bring them again to Himself. That is the truth of the matter-- a truth that is bitterly denied by the whole world. Jerusalem and the Middle East are the crucible and iron furnace that will soon wax hotter as the prophecies unfold before us.
It's all about "RIGHTLY dividing the word of truth" [2 Timothy 2:15]. by doing this we avoid error, which leads to many worse things-- a "gateway drug" if you will. That is exactly what the enemy of this world seeks to do; to drug our minds with pleasant self-serving gospels which can ONLY damn.
The Kingdom of Heaven was "at hand" because the time of the Jew's visitation was upon them-- their Savior had arrived, in the person of Jesus Christ. But the Jews rejected Him. What is "at hand" now, and has been for nearly two-thousand years, is the Kingdom of God; the working of the Holy Spirit within the believer to make him into a new creature, holy and righteous before God through the shed blood of His only begotten son and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of GOD is at hand, but time is running out for the Gentile nations to repent and believe. That door will soon close.
-------
[This post is adapted from an article presented at kjvbible.org. Use of this article, even in this truncated and edited form, is not a blanket endorsement of everything kjvbible.org has to offer.]
27 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This alone makes the whole construct suspect: "If you rightly divide the Bible."
That usually means "if you read it the way I do."
It's cool. But Lordy, you have created an incredible structure considering the simple message of the sage Yeshua.
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." ???
Is that a suspect construct as well? Because, if there is a RIGHT way to divide truth, then there is a wrong way.
Note God's command to Adam and Eve:
"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
--Genesis 2:16-16
But Eve wrongly divided God's command and thus opened herself up to deception...
"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
Genesis 3:2-3
God said nothing about not touching it, and Satan used that as an "in"
So, what specifically do you find suspect? That the Kingdom of Heaven refers to a physical kingdom on earth, where Jesus Christ reigns in physical form from His throne in Jerusalem?
Or that the Kingdom of Heaven is not presently "at hand"?
I'll have to think about what I think about the difference in "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" and if I think there is a difference.
Al I know is ALL conclusions concering the end times are suspect. I think all modern interpetations of the prophets that even give them an eschatological spin are suspect. And, as I've said before, or maybe I haven't, I think Revelation says nothing whatsoever about the end of all time. I've done my time with "The Late Great Planet Earth" bunch.
So, this is not a comment yet on whether or not there is a biblical distinction between Kingdom of Heavena and Kingdom of God.
But I do have a question.
What if you were wrong? What if you studied and prayed and tried to rightly divide the word of truth and yet, being human and all, were wrong?
Is that a possibility?
In MY way of thinking, it is always a safe bet to say that "Dan might be wrong." And, in my way of thinking, in that case, God's Grace covers me. Hopefully, I will (when unintentionally in the wrong) self-correct, led by God's Spirit or by a friendly reminder from a brother or a sister or by circumstances.
I was just wondering if you viewed unintentional error in the same way as I do.
Our faith is pretty simple, actually. To build up such edifices creates avenues for disagreement over things that, in my opinion, matter little. I wonder if that is the actual point: To draw lines and say, "All ('true') Christians over here!"
"I think Revelation says nothing whatsoever about the end of all time."
I couldn't agree more.
Thanks for answering.
Do you think the greater Church has an opinion about a difference between Kingdom of Heaven VS Kingdom of God? I've never heard/read any theologians espousing on such.
What then did Jesus mean by this?
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."
--Matthew 10:34-36
And,
"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law."
--Luke 12:51-53
Sure sounds like division to me?
What about Matthew 25:31-46?
"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
God appears to be in the separation business, separation as in dividing the holy from the unholy, the righteous from the unrighteous. He winnows the nations, and he winnows hearts and souls of men.
Probably because it never occurred to you that there might be a difference, so you never thought to look for theologians who might have something to say on this subject.
Google "Kingdom of Heaven"+"Kingdom of God"+"Difference Between" and see what you get. Read for yourself and then decide for yourself.
No, it's the kind of thing that I had thought about more in my younger days. When I googled it, I came across some more pentecostal types suggesting I think the same thing you're suggesting. I came across others who said there was no difference in the terms.
What I was wondering was if it is covered by any more prominent Church leaders, ie Luther? Calvin? Wesley? etc, those types.
I'm relatively certain of what the teaching would be from the anabaptist tradition from whence I hail, but would have to look into it more to be sure.
And I shouldn't have said "end of all time." I meant "end times" as we both understand that term.
I freely admit that the way I see the world and the people in it is just about totally upside down and backwards from the way you see it. Your lamentations MYSTIFY me. :-)
I think my own view is a mix of the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and historical-critical view -- heavy on the latter -- as explained in the Bookd of Revelation entry on Wikipedia.
That belief has enough holes in it to make it almost laughable. And with boat-loads of evidence to place the writing of the book of Revelation decades AFTER Titus' sack of Jerusalem... well, you believe what you believe, so I'll not waste effort dragging out charts and props. My name is not Ross Perot.
He was right about NAFTA, though.
But the biggest thing I believe is that it's a waste of time to even worry about it. (!!! I mean worry as in "think unduly"! Since yer hackles are all raised, I'll save you the excuse for a fight.)
Tell me something, tho: WHETE do do you get the idea that is worth dweelling on?? And I really am asking, since you seem to have such a SORRY opinion of the world around you, and people in general. You seem to think yourself an usher into the faith; and I think of you more as the pimply faced kid at the concession stand selling junk food and other frivoloties.
WTH?
Gah! "End times"? Less time and thought is wasted over old casr!
Nope. I think you really just hate people because they're so SINFUL and you wish you were so PERFECT.
Get over it, and your self!
GOd loves you not only in spite of your screwed up self, but BECAUSE YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE.
But seriously: I really am asking, since you seem to have such a SORRY opinion of the world around you, where does that come from? I don't get it. Why are you so anxious for the Second Coming? Whrere does thast come from? You're not being persecuted, although you might be made uncomfortable. Is your work here done? Is the train to glory yer waitin' on late by your own timetable? Why in the world do you so rarely exhibit JOY in living? I don't get it! Why do you think anyone would be attracted to the your faith, since yer such a dadgum Eeyore about it and everything. Gettin' personal here. I'd better stop. But dang, there is nothing inviting about the way you talk about faith in God through Mr. Jesus Christ! WTH so to speak?
ER,
You think Eric has a sorry opinion of the world. But there's way too much that makes the world a sorry place. I think life is grand, but it doesn't blind me to the realities. And when opining on those realities, it's difficult to project a happy face as one expresses one's self in this medium. To talk about such realities means to speak plainly about what is true, but that doesn't mean there's any hatred for people, as Dan has accused Eric and myself and you seem to be doing so now. Speaking about behaviors is to speak about the behavior in question and any feelings about it, but that's not to say there's any hatred for the person.
In a discussion of our system, I spoke of the ignorance of too many voters. This is not an opinion. Of course too many voters spend zero time investigating and rely only on simplistic, superficial and meaningless traits of a candidate. We KNOW this happens with too great frequency. Dan questioned whether or not I would prohibit people from voting and of course I wouldn't ever. It doesn't mean they ain't stupid, though. It ain't hatred, it's seeing things as they are. It isn't even placing myself higher, only that what I see happening I find to be less than responsible. I could stand to learn more myself, but I certainly have something to go on compared to too many who vote. I don't hate them, I only wish they'd take more responsibility.
As far as whether there's a right or wrong way to interpret, there's no doubt. Many people read into Scripture that which doesn't exist and the reasons are many. The Bible tells us we are all sinners, born that way and in need of Christ's redeeming Grace. Since we are sinners and imperfect, it only makes sense that this would be a sorry world. It's a given. It's up to us to make our little section of it better while we're here. How that gets done is likely to divide us in some way. How we read the Bible divides us. Rarely is any group of people in perfect harmony. It's the way it is. Merely pointing it out isn't necessarily a sign of Eyore-itis.
I always find it worth remembering that there is only one group of people that Jesus spoke harshly of: Religious hypocrites.
I look forward to His coming because much of the craziness that so infects this world will be taken away.
However you choose to interpret the Bible, the simplest truth is that all the Old Testament prophesies concerning Jesus' FIRST coming were literally fulfilled. Many other prophesies beside were likewise literally fulfilled. Why then should I not expect the rest of prophesy to be literally fulfilled? There's no good reason, for me, to expect such. For me, it's not some great divine allegory. He IS returning. His saints WILL be removed from this earth. And this world WILL descend into chaos. And many millions... billions... will die. Saying this does not mean I relish the death of so many lives. I say it as a warning. Something is coming that none of us can imagine. Divine judgment upon this earth.
I don't hate anyone. I try very hard not to look down my nose at some. It is a struggle. But a very human struggle. And I constantly need reminders as to my own inadequacies... my own sin. What I want is for everyone to come to God through His son Jesus; the only way to eternal life. They don't have to accept 'my narrow vision' of what that entails, but they DO have to accept and believe that a)Christ died for their sins, b)He was buried, and c)Was raised from the dead three days later. That is the heart of the Gospel. THAT is required. Jesus said a new believer is to be baptized. So there's another.
The way you come across to me... that we can know nothing for sure and that the best attitude we can project is one of "knowing nothing for certain". Again, TO ME, that sounds very Zen, and not at all scriptural. There are many things we can know of a certain. Jesus didn't come into the world to shine a light on everything just to leave us all in the dark.... no sir. He left, yes, but He put His light in us: The Holy Spirit. It is He who guides us in ALL truth. If the Holy Spirit resides in you, you CAN know for a certain a good many things.
This is an imperfect medium, however. Just like we can all read a passage from say, Romans, and come away with different 'takes,' so too here on the internet. The biggest problem here in blogdom is not division borne of shallowness, but rather a lack of understanding borne of a deficient medium and tempers too quick to offense.
This, itself is an interpretation of who Jesus was/is. It's the mother, if you'll pardon the expression, of all other interpretations. But it IS an interpretation.
I won't bore you with the notion that once certain followers of Jesus started seeing him as the fulfillmnent of prophecy it was very easy to find Scripture to back up the assertion. But there you go.
And, if I said, or suggested, that you "hate" people, I didn't mean to. I mean to suggest that you don't like them. I find it hard to like people, too, but I think like 'em a little more than you do. :-)
But the other main thing -- that you see the world as so sorry because it is "Fallen" -- that's another interpretion of the estrangement human beans have from God, but it's not the only one, and I mean it's not the only Christian one. I adhere more to the notion that Creation, including human beans, was stunted, left incomplete from what God intended, by the estrangement of human beans, however that happened exactly. It puts a whole different spin on it. Makes it real hard to hold to ideas of "Original Sin."
Try to be a little less sensitive and seek clarification for those statements that give you pause. How about that? Am I supposed to know intrinsically how to address each and every person who might read my words so as not to offend their delicate sensibilities? Such attitudes smack of conceit to me. If people are stupid, they're stupid. Calling them such will have a more immediate impact on their decision making process than sweet talking them.