Posted on 11/02/2002 10:53:26 PM PST by fortheDeclaration
The Kingdom of Heaven vs. the Kingdom of God
Knowing the doctrinal difference between the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God" is the key to understanding the complete timeline of Biblical history, past, present, and future, the proper place of the Church, and the prophetic future of Israel. The Bible is about the struggle for a Kingdom; the Kingdom of Heaven, a Kingdom on this earth.
Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah when He first came because Israel was looking for a political King, and for this King to make Israel the world ruling kingdom spoken of by their prophets (see Jeremiah 23:5, Psalms 48:2). They were expecting a military deliverance from the Romans and the rest of the heathen. Understandably, because they were expecting carnal deliverance, 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 KJV)
In that statement, Jesus was declaring a spiritual truth. But on another occasion, when asked about His Kingdom by 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 KJV)
This passage, in particular the word "now" is not speaking about the spiritual Kingdom of God within, but of a literal Kingdom yet to come on the earth. (You should also take note that the word "now" has been removed from newer Bibles like the NIV. You will understand why shortly.)
Even after Jesus rose from the dead, His disciples also were wondering 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 KJV)
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 will take place. But, until then, the disciples were given power to preach the Kingdom of God; righteousness through faith in the risen Savior who, one day, 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 and, yet, one of the most important in rightly dividing the truth; to separate Church doctrine from Tribulation doctrine. Some churches do not want to hear this, because they think that the Church has replaced Israel. That is not true. And certainly the whole world reviles at the prospect of hated Israel becoming the head of the Kingdoms. This is not a very welcome message to the world. This is why the world hates Christians and Jews on a spiritual level that is beyond their own comprehension, because Satan hates the Jews and the world is under Satan's control.
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." (Matt. 4:17 KJV)
And He preached to the entire world 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 KJV)
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 1,000 years on the throne of His father David at Jerusalem (physical Kingdom). 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 KJV)
If you rightly divide the Bible you will see that Jesus was preaching about two (2) components of the Kingdom. He preached the political kingdom (Kingdom of Heaven) was coming and, if the Jews would have accepted Him after His death and resurrection, He would have come back and established it after seven years of tribulation. 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 KJV)
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." (Matt. 11:12 KJV)
Now, ask yourself this question: If the "Kingdom of God" is within you, and if the "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven" are completely one and the same, then 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, then 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 to rule from:
"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." (Matt. 5:34-35 KJV)
Israel rejected their King when He came the first time. And in the almost two millenniums since then His Kingdom has been in a MYSTERY form; the Lord Jesus Christ reigning in the soul of the believer, seated on the right had of the Father in the third heaven, while Satan still holds the physical throne over this world. This is the status of the Kingdom of heaven, at present.
In the over 1900 years since His own people rejected His salvation, God has been chastising Israel while blessings and salvation has gone out to the Gentiles. And praise God for that. God is not finished with Israel, but He IS just about finished with the Gentiles. The Gentile's times are 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 fulness 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 KJV)
We are living in the last days of the blessing to the Gentiles. The Jews are back in Palestine on the land that God promised to Abraham. But the Jews have gone back being still in unbelief. And, 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 KJV)
...they are still God's people and He will use the present evil world to chastise them and open their eyes to the truth they rejected, and take them back again. That is the truth of the matter, and it is 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.
But, beware! There are two things to watch for which must come to pass before the Lord's return. First, and this is directly related to the status of Jerusalem between Israel, the Arab world, and the Palestinians, there will be some kind of contract between all parties, on the matter of Jerusalem, in an effort to establish peace. This is spoken of by the prophet Daniel:
"Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate." (Daniel 11:28-31 KJV)
Second, there is going to be a Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem in the future. Notice that the context above is about the doings of the coming Antichrist, who unbelieving Israel and the unbelieving world will welcome as the Messiah. Also notice about the "daily sacrifice" and the sanctuary, and the abomination that "maketh desolate". You can't have a daily sacrifice without a Temple. This is a cross reference to what the Apostle Paul spoke about in 2 Thessalonians:
"That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2 Thess. 2:2-4 KJV)
These things are future and yet to be fulfilled, but they will come to pass. The Holy Bible says so, believe it.
The entire theme of the Holy Bible is about the battle over a Kingdom and who is the rightful ruler of that Kingdom. This controversy goes back way before Adam's day. It began sometime after the Lord first created the heavens and the earth. Lucifer (Satan) was the first ruler in the Kingdom of Heaven in the ancient past. When he rebelled and sinned against God there was unrighteousness introduced into the physical realm and death came upon the ancient world.
Remember, the story of the whole Bible, from the very beginning until the end is about the spiritual battle for the Kingdom. And the eventual triumphant ruler of that Kingdom, both in the literal world and over the spiritual forces, will be the KING of KINGS; the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of the Living God of Israel, who first came as a Lamb, but is soon coming as the Lion of Judah.
......................................BTTT......'Ping'.....for a 'thoughtful'...READ.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.