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To: dartuser
Thus, in light of a proper understanding of the so called "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6:9-13, the whole notion that Christ already established the kingdom in spiritual form at His First Advent becomes unlikely, if not impossible.

OK, but explain this:

Luk_17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

2 posted on 05/27/2014 9:14:14 AM PDT by Iscool
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To: Iscool
OK, but explain this:

Luk_17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Indeed ... this is an exercise ...

Do you have a good Bible search software with multiple versions? If not, use www.biblegateway.com and look up that same passage in all the other English versions and you will notice something. The translators of the various versions cannot really come to a definite conclusion of how the word ἐντὸς should be translated.

There is enough symantic range that there are several possibilities that emerge. If you use BibleWorks or Logos ... you can scan a dozen lexicons and see the various usages ...

Consider the most numerative possibilities ...

The kingdom of God is within you ...
The kingdom of God is among you ...
The kingdom of God is in your midst ...

How do we decide? Is there any background information that can help here? I believe there is ...

One key concept in the OT is the understanding of the relationship between a king and his kingdom. Consider the vision in Daniel 2. While giving him the interpretation of his dream, Daniel says to Nebachednezzar ... 'you oh king are that head of gold ... and after you will come another kingdom' ...

It was revealed to Daniel that the status represented the Gentile kingdoms that would arise after Babylon. He said that the head was representative of king Nebuchadnezzar ... and after him would come another kingdom. Daniel equates the king with the kingdom. You will find the concept of the kingdom all over the OT.

The Jews and disciples of Jesus' day understood what the kingdom was ... there was a king, a rulership, a kingdom.

An important point to remember is that none of these aspects was restored after coming back from the Babylonian exile. They didn't have a king, they didn't have a kingdom, they didn't rule over that kingdom. They returned from Babylon to be perpetually the subjects of Gentile kingdoms (Persia, Greece, and Rome) and the kingdom was not restored. Even today they still don't have a king ... or a kingdom ... it was never restored.

After Jesus rose from the dead, he taught the apostles for 40 days concerning the kingdom (Acts 1:3) ... and later in verse 6 they asked Him if He was going to restore the kingdom to Israel now. The apostles understood what the concept of the kingdom was ... they were not confused about the meaning of the restored kingdom.

So how do we put this together to understand the Luke passage? If the kingdom of God is viewed as the restoration of the earthly kingdom to Israel ... then the translation and understanding of 'kingdom in the heart' doesn't fit with both the background or the span of the rest of scripture; esp. Acts 1; i.e., I think we have to reject 'within you' as an adequate translation.

Does one of the other translations harmonize with all of this information to determine the sense of Luke 17:21? I believe so ... Since there is no distinction between the king and the kingdom in the Middle Eastern mind ... and the disciples understood the nature of the kingdom as earthly ... I view either of the other two translations as probable ... Therefore, Jesus was stating ... "the kingdom is among you; I am the king of that kingdom, I am in your midst, the kingdom is here, with Me." It harmonizes with all the other passages in the gospels (none of which infer a 'kingdom in the heart') which depict Jesus as the king of a coming kingdom.

And that was the point of the article ... we are to pray for that coming kingdom ... on earth as it is in heaven.

Hope this helps ...

If you are feeling industrious ... you could ponder what Matt 19:28 could possibly mean if the kingdom is merely spiritual.

28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Questions to ponder concerning this passage:
What is the regeneration? What is it?
What throne is Jesus talking about that He will sit on in the future? He is currently sitting on His Father's throne now (Rev. 3:21) ... but He mentions HIS throne which he will (future active ... I will give him to sit ...) sit on the future. What throne is that?
The present participle 'judging' depicts continuous action not a one time event; so the thought that the apostles will simply judge Jews at the resurrection is not in view here ... its a continuous judging ... i.e. a ruling.
Matt 25:31 also depicts a future sitting on a throne by Christ ... and it occurs after His glorious appearing.

Lots to study ... its just a start.

5 posted on 05/27/2014 11:02:36 AM PDT by dartuser
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