The Doctrine of the Kingdom of God
By Carl Widrig Jr.
One doctrine which tops the list of "most
misunderstood or not understood" is that of the kingdom of God.
Just ask the average believer for a description of the kingdom of God, and this
will become quite clear.
Carl Widrig has taken up the difficult task of filling the
doctrinal vacuum surrounding the kingdom of God in the Church today. He has
provided a comprehensive explanation of the kingdom of God
which spans the entire counsel of God. He has not followed the path of
some predecessors and simply plucked a few passages to support a surface
discussion on the topic. This work traces the doctrine of the kingdom of God
from the basic meaning of "kingdom" through the Old Testament, the
ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus, and the New Testament in establishing
a clear and coherent view of the kingdom of God. He also provides a desperately
needed counter to the views of George Eldon Ladd which
have come to dominate many in evangelicalism. His refutations of popular ideas
of the kingdom of God display a solid grasp of both reason and Scripture, so
that there is little room left for contrary views to stand.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Copyright 1995 by Carl Widrig Jr. (hebrews928@juno.com)
All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the New King
James Version of the Bible, published by Nelson, 1985
* * * * * * * * * * * *
To Jeff Armstrong,
Always an encouragement to me concerning "the
kingdom".
Special thanks to God for leading me through all that I went
through to come to an understanding of His kingdom and thus a more mature
knowledge of Him;
...and to my beautiful wife Marilee who
typed the manuscriptÉ
CONTENTS
Chapter
1. Pragmatism: Archenemy of Theology
2. What is a "kingdom"?
3. The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament
4. The Messianic Kingdom of God In the Old Testament
5. Setting the Stage for the Messiah
6. Enter: Jesus
7. Jesus' Teachings About His Messianic Kingdom
8. What Were the Signs and Wonders For?
9. Jesus' Teachings About the Eternal Kingdom of God the Father
10. Entering the Kingdom of God, Our Inheritance: When?
11. Mysteries of the Kingdom of God
12. A Summary of the Doctrine of the Kingdom of God
Appendix A: The Kingdom of God According to George Eldon Ladd
Appendix B: The Kingdom of God According to John Wimber
Bibliography
CHAPTER 1
Pragmatism: Archenemy of Theology
Since the kingdom of God is "of God," it is a
theological issue, affecting our very understanding of God Himself. Therefore,
before delving into the important subject of the kingdom of God, it is
necessary to discuss a philosophical concept called "pragmatism,"
popularized by American philosophers C.S. Peirce and William James, which has proved to be extremely harmful to the study of God,
including the study of the kingdom of God. While this book is not about
pragmatism, pragmatism must be exposed as fallacious before this book can go
on.
What is "pragmatism"? Webster's New World Dictionary
defines pragmatism to be "a method or tendency in philosophy ... which
determines the meaning or truth of all concepts and tests their validity by
their practical results." Thus pragmatism is first a philosophical method
that "determines the validity of something by its practical results."
Norman Geisler sums it up this way, that pragmatism says, "It works, therefore it is true." 1
What does pragmatism have to do with the kingdom of God?
Pragmatism replaces the authority of the Word of God, for establishing the
truth about God (including truth about His kingdom), with the authority of the
practical results of an experience for establishing the truth to live by,
leading people to seek truth via practical experience rather than the Bible.
An example of pragmatism in society is the testimony, "I gave
up Christianity because it didn't work for me." But absolute truth about
God should not be abandoned just because "Christianity" doesn't
appear to "work" in one's life. Although personal testimonies of
genuine change in a Christian's life after conversion are God-glorifying,
"Christianity is true, regardless of what works, and the propositions that
support its truth are not based on personal testimonies"2 about "how Jesus changed my
life." "Pragmatism is no test for truth."3
A second definition of pragmatism in Webster's New World
Dictionary is, "The quality or condition of being pragmatic."
Pragmatic means: "Concerned with actual practice, everyday affairs, etc.,
not with theory or speculation; practical." Pragmatism emphasizes being
concerned with practical, everyday affairs of life, how one should live, rather
than such topics as what God and His kingdom are like. Thus pragmatism is the
philosophy that leads people into thinking that matters of practical living are
"much greater than" correctly understanding the biblical doctrine of
the kingdom of God:
PRACTICAL LIVING >> THE
DOCTRINE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Pragmatism often manifests during evangelistic efforts in this
response of the unbeliever: "All religions teach the same thing."
Indeed, all religions teach about how we are to live our lives on this earth.
But religion without the true and living God is just that,
"religion," and ultimately deceives one into the pit of hell. We see
a pragmatic attitude in much of Christendom as well: "I came to Christ to
get my life together. I saw that Christ worked for others and I figured he
might work for me too. Practical Christian living is all God and I care about.
The Bible is just a guidebook God gave us to show us how to live." But
coming to "Jesus" as a self-improvement program is not the reason to
"become a Christian." Getting saved from the penalty of sin and
getting reconciled to God, all by Christ's death on the cross, is the reason
one "becomes a Christian" by a predestined act of God. If improving
one's lifestyle was the reason to become a Christian (if pragmatism was valid),
one might as well go after any "higher power" that comes along that
will "work." A person who is only concerned with getting their life
together, reading the Bible as a "guidebook" for how he or she should
live, who only values the "application" in a sermon, lacks the desire
to learn about and know the true God by studying the Bible - all they care
about is "practical Christian living". If this be
the case, a false conversion has likely taken place - they are not saved! The
gospel, the knowledge of God, and the kingdom of God are of little interest to
them unless they can manufacture something within these topics that will
"apply to their life," some "practical principle of holy
living."
The "Christian" pragmatist will not hesitate to approach
God's Word irreverently, taking a scripture out of context, to practically
apply it to his or her life using allegory, "spiritualizing" the
text, etc., regardless of what God actually intended to communicate in the
scripture. This practice allows the person to make a scripture mean anything he
or she wants it to. An example cited by John MacArthur illustrates the
practice:
An extreme example of the perils of allegorizing was the young couple
that came to one of our assistant pastors to get counseling about their marital
problems. He began talking with them, and after about thirty minutes he asked
them, "Why did you ever get married? You are miles apart!"
"Oh"
said the husband. "It was the sermon the pastor preached in our
church."
"And
what was it?"
"Well,
he preached on Jerico."
"Jerico!
What does that have to do with marriage?"
"Well,
he said that God's people claimed a city, marched around it seven times, and
the walls fell down. He said if a young man believed God had given him a
certain young girl, he could claim her, march around her seven times, and the
walls of her heart would fall down. So that's what I did, and we got
married."
"That
can't be true," said our assistant pastor. "You are kidding aren't
you?"
"No,
it's true," said the husband. "And there were many other couples who
got married because of the same sermon! 4
The above is an illustration of "eisogesis" (taking a
Scripture out of context), and in this instance, pragmatism is the motivation
behind the eisogesis. The practice of eisogesis is a sure way to come up with
false teaching. The historical account found in the Bible concerning Jerico has
nothing whatsoever to do with marriage. In the instance cited above, applying
the Jerico event to marriage actually led to troubling circumstances in the
"practical lives" of those who had succumbed to pragmatic eisogesis!
As the above example illustrates, pragmatism and eisogesis that
lead to false teachings tend to lead to still greater harm. We read in
Ephesians 4:14 that the winds of false teaching toss to and fro and carry about
immature believers instead of building them up towards a mature understanding
of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph.4:13,
15). In 1Corinthians 3:1, an immature believer is contrasted with a
"spiritual" (mature) believer, which "spiritual" believer
is said in 1Corinthians 2:15 to have the ability to "judge [or discern]
all things," or as Hebrews 5:14 puts it, "have their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil." However, an immature believer, who cannot
"judge all things," who cannot "discern between good and
evil," is a sitting duck for deception, especially about God and what is "of
God," since he or she lacks the discernment to tell what is true and what
is error. An immature believer who ends up being deceived is a sure candidate
for a spiritual disaster. In mathematical terms ("=>" =
"leads to"):
PRAGMATISM + EISOGESIS =>
FALSE
TEACHING =>
IMMATURITY=>
LACK
OF DISCERNMENT =>
DECEPTION
=>
DISASTER
The only sovereign God has allowed pragmatism to enter the
"evangelical" church. The common scenario is that an important truth
that would edify the Body of Christ if taught is de-emphasized in favor of
another, possibly erroneous "truth" on the basis that it seemingly
"works" when applied to everyday situations. Inevitably, this other
"truth" causes harmful side effects to the Body of Christ. If the
desired result is apparently accomplished via the application of the other
"truth," the teachers of the "truth" become inoculated from
receiving doctrinal correction under the premise that "it worked,
therefore it is true."
Three examples of pragmatism in the church today are:
1) DESIRED RESULT: SALVATION OF THE LOST ("CHURCH
GROWTH", "REVIVAL")
The arminian5 leadership of a local church observes that not many people seem
to be getting saved. "Just preaching the gospel doesn't work," they
conclude. Looking around them, they see other congregations growing at a fast
rate. "What are they doing?," they ask. "Well, those people in
Chicago focus on showing unbelievers what the Christian life is really like,
that `it works'." Other fast-growing movements enthusiastically hold
conferences in a nearby city, explaining that their "church growth"
is the result of Signs & Wonders, demonstrations of "the kingdom of
God" which soften the unbeliever's heart to receive the "gospel of
the kingdom" they preach. Still others appeal to experience in Argentina,
noticing that Christian "unity," accompanied by the "casting out
of territorial spirits," seems to be very effective at affecting a
"revival." So one, or even all three of these "Church growth
principles," end up being adopted and practiced, and the "faith
[that] comes by hearing, and hearing by the spoken word of God"
(Rom.10:17), "the gospel of Christ" which is "the power of God
unto salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom.1:16), is de facto ditched.
The result: A church that holds "seeker services," preaching the
gospel of the wonderful Christian lifestyle, preaching that "the kingdom
of God is here!," working false miracles along side another gospel, and
overlooking the doctrinal errors of others in the city in order to "unify"
with them and "bind/cast out the territorial spirits" together.
Convinced that "it works, therefore it's true," they refuse to hear
doctrinal correction from Christians who plead with them from the Word of God,
and instead they rationalize their false teachings by attempting to make them
look biblical via eisogesis.
2) DESIRED RESULT: DRAWING CLOSER TO GOD
Previously involved with a church that emphasized logical thinking
and sound Bible teaching, the believer/church leader discovers there is a whole
area of "the Christian life" they have been missing out on:
Experiencing the presence, power, and gifts of "the Holy Spirit." Why
did they miss out? "I was victimized by a western worldview that put God
into a box. Using my logical mind to think critically led me into unbelief and
caused me to miss out on experiencing God." Suddenly, they enter another
church with, "CHECK YOUR SOUND MIND HERE (IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE GOD
TODAY)" de facto written on the front door. Not wanting to "quench
the Spirit," they now assume that God is the author of everything that
comes their way. Moreover, if these experiences end up drawing the person
"closer to God," the conclusion is, "This must be of God; look
at the fruit." With logical thinking and doctrinal discernment thrown out
the window, deception is made room for. Correction of the false teaching that
accompanied the experience is excused under the premise, "It drew me
closer to God, therefore it's OK [i.e., the apparent end justifies the
means]."
3) DESIRED RESULT: HOLY LIVING
The Bible commands Christians to be holy in all their conduct
(1Peter 1:15). It is also learned from the Bible that Jesus died to set people
free from sin to be holy (Rom.6:23) in all their conduct. However, when
pragmatism becomes the emphasis, the primary, legal reason for Jesus physically
dying on the cross for sin, "the just for the unjust" (1Peter 3:18),
justifying the sinner from the demand of the law (physical death, hell) by
God's grace through their faith in Jesus' work on the cross, appeasing God's wrath
against sin that the sinner may be reconciled to God, is then put to the back
of the mind or outright replaced with the teaching that Jesus died
(exclusively, it seems) to save people from their sinful lifestyle. Next, the
person begins trying to live out the truth that Jesus died to "break the
power of sin" in their life, and fails again and again to attain the
desired state of practical holiness. Not understanding the gospel of grace (it
was not emphasized nor embraced because holy living seemed more important),
feelings of guilt ("condemnation") set in; good works,
"self-esteem," "getting into God's presence," and/or
reading the Bible or other "devotional" books to attain a higher
state of spiritual consciousness so that they won't feel bad nor sin anymore,
is then sought after to "cope" with the guilt - an endless cycle
results. Perhaps the person may feel they are doing a little better for a
while; self-righteousness and prideful attitudes arise. Correction of false
teaching about God is not received since they believe that a holy lifestyle is
all that matters.
In each case, pragmatism is the mindset that opens the Christian
up to deception about God, what gospel He wants them to believe, and how He
wants them to think and act. Pragmatism is appealed to to excuse or rationalize
teachings the Bible doesn't teach. Pragmatism is no test for truth. Pragmatism
doesn't work. It's a stronghold that exalts itself against the knowledge of God
(2Cor.5:10). It must be cast down if the Church is to grow "up into Him who
is the Head - Christ - " (Eph.4:15).
1Norman L. Geisler & Ronald M. Brooks, Come, Let Us Reason
(Baker, 1990), p.103.
2Ibid., p.103.
3Ibid., p.14.
4John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (Zondervan, 1992), p.90.
5The false teaching that it is ultimately up to man to "choose
God" (i.e. believe in Christ) by his own free will, which "free
will" it is thought can be persuaded by any means that will
"work" towards the end of "a decision for Christ." For an
excellent refutation of arminianism, see John Mac Arthur's book, Ashamed of the
Gospel (Crossway Books, 1993).
CHAPTER 2
What is a "kingdom"?
WHAT DO THE HEBREW AND GREEK SAY?
When doing studies like this, it is very appropriate to go back to
the original languages which the Bible was written in in order to glean
important information as to what was intended to be communicated by the Holy
Spirit in His specific choice of words in the Scriptures. According to the
Hebrew and Greek scholar W.E. Vine1, there are two main Hebrew words that are translated
"kingdom" in the Old Testament. Transliterated, these two Hebrew
words are MALKUTH (Strong's #4438), and MAMLAKAH (Strong's #4467). Also
according to Vine, the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament)
translates MALKUTH sometimes as BASILEIA ("kingdom," Strong's #932),
and sometimes as BASILEUS ("king," Strong's #935), while MAMLAKAH is
always translated as BASILEIA ("kingdom," Strong's #932)2.
Here is what Vine had to say about MALKUTH and MAMLAKAH3:
MALKUTH
(Strong's #4438), "kingdom; reign; rule," denotes: (1) The territory
of the kingdom (Esther 1:4); (2) The accession to the throne (Esther 4:14); (3)
The year of rule (Esther 2:16); and (4) Anything "royal" or
"kingly" (Esther 1:2, 7, 9, 11, 19, 6:8; Psalm 45:6, 145:11-12).
MAMLAKAH
(Strong's #4467), "kingdom; sovereignty; dominion; reign," denotes:
(1) The area and people that constitute a "kingdom" and ruled by a
"king" (Is.23:17); (2) A synonym for "people" or
"nation" (Psalm 105:13); (3) The nation Israel as God's kingdom (Ex.19:6;
2Sam.7:16; Ezek.37:22); (4) The king as the embodiment of the
"kingdom" (1Sam.10:18; "in Hebrew the noun `kingdoms' is
feminine and the verb `oppress' has a masculine form, signifying that we must
understand `kingdoms' as `kings'"); (5) The "royal sovereignty"
of a king (1Sam.28:17; Jer.27:1); in association with (6) The throne
(Deut.17:18); (7) The pagan sanctuary supported by the throne (Amos 7:13); and
(8) A royal city (1Sam.27:5).
Having examined what the original languages teach us about a kingdom,
we will now examine the basic principles of what a kingdom is according to the
Scriptures.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #1: A GOVERNMENT OR COUNTRY
Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd Edition, defines
"kingdom" to mean: "a government or country headed by a king or
queen; monarchy." This is the well known and common definition of
"kingdom" in the English language. We find "kingdom" used
in this manner in the Old Testament:
And
those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became
servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia
(2Chr.36:20).
Thus
he said: `The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be
different from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and
brake it in pieces" (Dan.7:23).
"`And
you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These [are] the
words you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Ex.19:6).
"I
will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom" (Is.19:2).
Above we observe several things about a kingdom: A
"kingdom" can "reign," is closely associated with a nation
(made up of priests) on earth, may dominate the entire world, and can fight
against another "kingdom." Such is a fitting description of "a
government or country."
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #2: REIGNING OVER OTHER NATIONS
Sometimes, the "kingdom" may extend beyond the confines
of the "kingdom" (i.e., "country") itself, as the following
scriptures establish:
Now
in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the
mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and
also put it in writing, saying, "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the
kingdoms of the earth has the LORD God of heaven given me. And He has commanded
me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who [is there] among
you of all His people? May the LORD his God [be] with him, and let him go
up!" (2Chr.36:22-23).
Then
King Darius wrote: `To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all
the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion
of my kingdom [that men] tremble and fear before the God of Daniel'
(Dan.6:25-26).
Now
it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this [is] the Ahasuerus who reigned
from India to Ethiopia, one-hundred and twenty-seven provinces) ... Haman
sought to destroy all the Jews who [were scattered] throughout the whole
kingdom of Ahasuerus ... Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a
certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of
your kingdom" ... And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the
one-hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus (Esther 1:1,
3:6, 8, 9:30).
We learn above that Cyrus, king of the kingdom of Persia, made a
proclamation "throughout all his kingdom," which included "all
the kingdoms of the earth," wherever God's people (the Jews) lived. King
Darius of Media addressed "all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell
in all the earth," referring to them as "every dominion of my
kingdom." Ahasuerus, King of Persia, "reigned from India to Ethiopia,
one-hundred and twenty-seven provinces," which provinces were referred to
by the writer of Esther as being "the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus,"
and were also called, "all the provinces of your kingdom." In each
case, the "kingdom" of the king (of a kingdom/country) is said to
include other kingdoms/countries besides his own. This is a very important
"kingdom" truth to understand.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #3: THE LEADER OF A KINGDOM IS CALLED "THE
KING".
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #4: THE RIGHT TO BE KING IS INHERITED BY THE SON
OF THE KING.
As the Webster's dictionary already said, the leader of a
"kingdom" is called a "king." Common sense might already
have enlightened the reader as to this truth, but as we examine the Biblical
evidence, it will become even more clear that the leader of a kingdom is indeed
called the "king."
Usually, the right to be the king of a kingdom is passed down from
father to son, as in the following scriptures:
"`Today the house
of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me'" ... "`The
LORD has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place
you have reigned; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of
Absalom your son ..." (2Sam.16:3,8).
"...
to transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David
over Israel and over Judah, from Dan to Beersheba" (2Sam.3:10).
"When
your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed
after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom ...
And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your
throne will be established forever" (2Sam.7:16).
In each verse above, the practice of the son rightfully inheriting
"the kingdom" from his father is acknowledged. In 2Samuel 16:3&8,
we read of "restoring the kingdom of my father to me," and, "the
LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son." In
2Samuel 3:10, we read of a "transfer [of] the kingdom from the house of
Saul"; that previously to this statement it was expected that Saul's
"house" (i.e., family line) had "the kingdom," that is, had
the right to be the king of that kingdom. In 2Samuel 7:16, we read that God
promised David that his "seed" (physical descendant) would be
"set up" as the king in place of David, and that David's "house
and kingdom" would be established forever, that is, that his descendants
would always have the right to be the king of Israel, which kingdom and throne
would last forever.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #5: THE THRONE OF THE KINGDOM
Notice also in the last two Scriptures cited above that there
seems to be a close relationship between "kingdom" and
"throne": "to transfer the kingdom ... and set up the
throne...," and, "... your kingdom shall be established forever
before you. Your throne shall be established forever." Other scriptures
establish this relation between "kingdom" and "throne"
further:
"Also
Solomon sits on the throne of the kingdom" (1Kings 1:46).
"...
then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I
promised David your father, saying, `You shall not fail to have a man on the
throne of Israel'" (1Kings 9:5).
Above we read that there was a "throne of the kingdom,"
and, "the throne of your kingdom." We thus learn from all these
scriptures that a kingdom has a "throne," and the right to be king of
the "kingdom," to sit on "the throne" of the kingdom, is
rightfully passed on from father to son.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #6: THE KING SITS ON THE THRONE
This one might seem obvious also, but it needs to be said anyway:
The person who sits on "the throne" of the kingdom is the king of
that kingdom - it's his kingdom and throne; he is the one who has the ultimate
authority:
So David rested
with his fathers ... Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and
his kingdom was firmly established" (1Kings 2:10,12).
...
and they brought the king [Jehoash] down to the house of the LORD, and went by
way of the gate of the escorts to the king's house; and he sat on the throne of
the kings ... Jehoash [was] seven years old when he became king (2Kings
11:19,21).
"You
[Joseph] shall be over my [Pharaoh's] house, and all my people shall be ruled
according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than
you" (Gen.41:40).
Above we read that it wasn't until Solomon "sat on the throne
of his father David" that "his kingdom" was established. The
same thing went for Jehoash: When he actually sat on "the throne of the
kings," then he "became king" - before that time, he may have been
the rightful "king" in place of his father Joram (2Kings 11:2), but
Joash (Jehoash) wasn't the actual functioning king of Judah until he was seven
years old and was escorted to the throne to become king. The kingdom principle
we can learn from both cases above is that it wasn't until each man actually
sat on the throne of the kingdom that their kingdom was "established"
and they actually became king.
In Genesis 41:40 above, we read that although Joseph ruled over
the people, acting as the mediator of Pharaoh's kingdom, yet "in regard to
the throne," the Pharaoh was "greater" - he still had the
ultimate authority, aand his descendants still had the right to be king. A new
"kingdom principle" is introduced at this point:
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #7: A KINGDOM MAY BE RULED BY A
"MEDIATOR," THAT IS, SOMEONE BESIDES THE KING HIMSELF.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #8: THE THRONE CAN REPRESENT THE KINGDOM
As we saw earlier, W.E. Vine understood the Hebrew words MALKUTH
and MAMLAKAH to sometimes refer to the actual "throne" of the kingdom
(cf. Esther 4:14, Deut.17:18). Thus another "kingdom" principle is
that a "throne" can figuratively represent a kingdom, in many ways:
And the woman of
Tekoa said to the king, "My lord, O king, [let] the iniquity [be] on me
and on my father's house, and the king and his throne be guiltless"
(2Sam.14:9).
...
But upon David and his seed, upon his house and his throne, there shall be
peace forever from the LORD (1Kings 2:33).
"As
the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and
make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David" (1Kings
1:37).
We read of a "throne" being "guiltless," that
"peace" can be upon a "throne," and that a
"throne" can be "greater" than another "throne."
Thus a "throne" can be a figurative word, representing its
accompanying kingdom.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #9: A PHYSICAL THRONE
But a throne may also be literal:
... in those days
when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which is in Shushan the
citadel... (Esther 1:2).
Moreover
the king made a throne of great ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold (1Kings
10:18).
"`Behold,
I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will
set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his
royal pavilion over them'" (Jer.43:10).
Above we read of King Ahasureus' throne being located "in
Shushan the citadel," of Solomon's throne "made of great ivory,"
"overlaid with pure gold," and of Nebuchadnezzar's throne being set
"above these stones" of Pharaoh's house. These three verses are
evidence that the throne of a kingdom can refer to a "literal"
(physical) throne on which the king of the kingdom may sit.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #10: SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE KING
If a king is sitting on the physical throne of his kingdom, and a
person sits on the king's "right hand," that person may be a person
of highest honor next to the king himself, but please note that "right
hand man" is not the king of the kingdom - she may be the queen. If this
be the case, it's not her kingdom, but his kingdom - he is the one in power,
who has the authority to make the decisions and the power to enforce them:
Bathsheba therefore went to
King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her
and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the
king's mother, so she sat at his right hand (1Kings 2:19).
Note that there is no Biblical record whatsoever of a person ever
sitting on "the right hand" of a king while at the same time
functioning as "mediator" of that king's kingdom. In other words, the
"king" doesn't sit on the right hand of the king.
KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #11: THE THRONE OF JUDGMENT
One more "kingdom" principle: The main thing a king does
when sitting on his physical throne is to actively judge or use his authority
in some manner:
Then
it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his
throne, he killed all the household of Baasha...(1Kings 16:11).
A
king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his eyes
(Prov.20:8).
SUMMARY
Let's review what we have learned so far:
#1: A kingdom is a government or country.
(a)
A kingdom can "reign."
(b)
A kingdom is closely associated with a nation on earth.
(c)
A kingdom may dominate the entire world.
(d)
A kingdom can be made up of priests.
(e)
A kingdom can fight against other nations.
#2: A kingdom can reign over other nations, which nations can be
referred to as part of "the kingdom".
#3: The leader of a kingdom is called a "king."
#4: The right to be king is inherited by the king's son.
#5: A kingdom has a throne.
#6: In a kingdom, the king of the kingdom is the one who sits on
the throne of the kingdom.
#7: In a kingdom, a "mediator" (someone besides the
king) may rule the kingdom.
#8: In a kingdom, the throne of the kingdom can figuratively
represent the kingdom itself.
#9: In a kingdom, the throne of the kingdom is a physical chair on
which the king sits.
#10: In a kingdom, someone else (besides the king of that kingdom)
may be said to sit on the king's "right hand."
#11: In a kingdom, the king sits on the throne when making
judgments.
Now that we know the principles of a "kingdom," what a
kingdom is like, and how it functions, it seems reasonable to assume that
"the kingdom of God" is like unto the "kingdom" described
above. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit of truth wouldn't have used the word
"kingdom" (MALKUTH, MAMLAKAH, or BASILEIA) to identify the kingdom of
God with.
1W.E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Nelson,
1985), p.129.
2All this will become important later as we examine what the New
Testament has to teach us about the kingdom of God.
3W.E. Vine, p.129.
CHAPTER 3
The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament
We want to study what the Old Testament has to say about "the
kingdom of God." In order to do this, it seems reasonable that we should
locate scriptures that speak specifically of the "kingdom" of God
(and God's "throne"), and base our understanding of the kingdom of
God on those scriptures. Not surprisingly, as we shall see, all the aspects of
a "kingdom" as described in Chapter 2 can be found to be true of the
kingdom of God, but there are some unique aspects to the kingdom of God as well.
The kingdom of God:
1) IS ETERNALLY RULED BY GOD THE KING (KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #3).
Your
throne is established of old; You [are] from everlasting (Psalm 93:2).
You,
O LORD, remain forever; Your throne [is] from generation to generation
(Lam.5:19).
The
LORD sat at the Flood, And the LORD sits as King forever (Psalm 29:10).
How
great [are] His signs, And how mighty [are] His wonders! His kingdom [is] an
everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation ... For
His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom [is] from generation
to generation (Daniel 4:3, 34b).
But
the LORD [is] the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At
His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to abide His
indignation (Jeremiah 10:10).
"Yours,
O LORD, [is] the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the
majesty; For all [that is] in heaven and in earth [is Yours]; Yours [is] the
kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all" (1Chr.29:11).
In the scriptures above, we read that the LORD God is the
everlasting king, who "sits as King forever" on His throne which is
"established of old" and is "from generation to
generation," as is His "kingdom" and His "dominion,"
which "dominion" is also "everlasting." Since
"kingdom," "dominion," and "throne" are all
related terms, the scriptures above establish the truth that God's kingdom,
dominion, and throne are all eternal in both directions of time.
2) IS A GOVERNMENT AND COUNTRY IN THE HEAVENS WHICH RULES OVER
ALL.
For
the kingdom is the LORD'S, And He rules over the nations (Psalm 22:18).
The
LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all
(Psalm 103:19).
Never has there been a "kingdom" (government) that
didn't have a corresponding "kingdom" (country). From the above
scriptures we can gather that God's kingdom has a country too, a heavenly
country, where His throne is. But God's kingdom not only rules over heaven; His
kingdom rules over the nations on earth as well, i.e., the realm of His kingdom
is universal.
Recall in Chapter 2 that we learned that a "kingdom" is
a government or country (KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #1) which sometimes ends up ruling
over other nations as well, which nations can be counted as part of the
"kingdom" (KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #2). As we read from God's Word quoted
above, the same is true of God's kingdom. Another scripture sheds further light
on the issue:
"The
Most High rules in the kingdom of men ... He does according to His will in the army
of heaven and [among] the inhabitants of the earth" (Daniel 4:17, 35).
This scripture teaches that God rules "in the kingdom of
men," also referred to as "the inhabitants of the earth." The
"kingdom of men" is distinct from "the kingdom of God" in
heaven where God's throne is. It makes perfect logical sense then to conclude
that Psalm 103:19 establishes the truth that it is His kingdom (government and
country) "in the heavens" (where His throne is) which rules over all,
all who are in heaven and on earth. One more scripture makes it plain:
Thus
says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and earth My footstool. Where is the
house that you will build for Me? And where [is] the place of my rest?"
(Isaiah 66:1).
This scripture clearly says that "heaven" is the LORD's
throne (where His kingdom is), and the earth His footstool, a place over which
He has total rule. The One who is the King of the kingdom of God is the one who
has the earth as His footstool, and everyone in the earth, including His
enemies.
3) HAS A "PHYSICAL" THRONE ON WHICH THE KING OF THE
KINGDOM SITS (KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #5, #6, & #9)
Just like the "kingdom" of Chapter 2, the kingdom of God
has a "physical" throne (or at least is described as having
"physical" features), located in the heavens, which the King Himself
sits upon, especially for judgment:
He
covers the face of His throne, And spreads His clouds over it (Job 26:9).
For
you have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in
righteousness ... But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne
for judgment (Psalm 9:4,7).
The
LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven (Psalm 11:4a).
And
above the firmament over their heads [was] the likeness of a throne, in
appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne [was] a
likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. ... And I looked, and
there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared
something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a
throne (Ezekiel 1:26, 10:1).
I
watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His
garment white as snow, And the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne [is]
a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire (Daniel 7:9).
The
Lord is at Your rightv hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath
(Psalm 110:5).
In
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and
lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1).
Studying the scriptures above teaches us much about the throne of
God. His throne looks like "a sapphire stone" (Ezek.1:26, 10:1) and
"a fiery flame," with "wheels" on it (Dan.7:9). The fact
that God covers "the face of His throne, [and] spreads His clouds over
it" (Job 26:9) shows us that His throne must be in the heavens, where His
holy temple is, as Psalm 11:4a declares. The LORD sits on His throne making
judgments (Psalm 9:4,7). And at the LORD's right hand sits another called,
"The Lord, ... who shall execute kings in the day of His wrath"
(Psalm 110:5). The scriptures above give us a "physical" description
of the LORD's throne, teach us that the LORD sits on the throne (especially
making judgments - KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #11), and teach us that "the
Lord" (someone besides the King of the kingdom of God) sits on a throne at
His right hand (KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #10). All these things are in accord with the
"kingdom" principles we learned about in Chapter 2. The
"kingdom" of God is in many ways just like any ol' kingdom.
4) IS CHARACTERIZED BY RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTICE, GLORY, GLORIOUS
MAJESTY, POWER, and MIGHTY ACTS
Righteousness
and justice [are] the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your
face (Psalm 89:14).
Clouds
and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice the foundation of His
throne (Psalm 97:2).
All
your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You. They
shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known
to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion [is] throughout all
generations (Psalm 145:10-13).
The above scriptures plainly state that God's kingdom (above
represented by His throne - KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #8) in heaven operates with
righteousness and justice, no doubt a reflection of the King Himself. The
kingdom of God is also a place of "glory" and "glorious
majesty," operating with "power," and working "mighty
acts." These words mean something. The "glory" and
"glorious majesty" of God's kingdom will be witnessed of by the
"saints" (Psalm 145:10).
As long as the sun has shined on the earth, God's kingdom in
heaven has interacted with the kingdom of men on earth, displaying its power
and mighty acts. The "saints" will undoubtedly bear witness of these
things to "the sons of men" who live on the earth.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we may think that unless
displays of power and mighty acts are manifest, the kingdom of God has not exercised
its influence over the universe. Consider Psalm 65:5-9:
By
awesome deeds in righteousness you will answer us, O God of our salvation, the
confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas; who establish
the mountains by His strength, clothed with power; You who still the noise of
the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples. They also
who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the
outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. You visit the earth and water it,
You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their
grain, For so You have prepared it.
In speaking of the deeds of God, right along side the
"awesome deeds" of a God "clothed with power" who stills
the tumults of the peoples and makes afraid with "signs" those who
dwell in the farthest parts, the psalmist in the same breath, making no sharp
distinction, speaks of God's gentle care of the earth to water it and provide
grain. It must thus be recognized that both the spectacular and the
"natural" works of God are equally "works of the kingdom"
of God. In the biblical worldview, the central distinction is between God the
Creator and His creation which He has forever exercised universal rule over.
Opposed to this understanding however stands the neoplatonic worldview, which
makes a sharp distinction between spirit and matter, leading to a sharp
distinction between the "supernatural" and the "natural,"
whereby it is believed that God made matter and set the laws of nature in
motion, only occasionally to intervene in nature and override natural
"laws" via a powerful, miraculous, wondrous, supernatural "work
of the kingdom," while anything less goes unrecognized as evidence of
God's righteous and just kingdom at work. The Old Testament however doesn't
characterize the kingdom of God as a "kingdom-of-the-gaps."1
There is one other key aspect of the kingdom of God:
5) HAD (AND WILL HAVE!) A "MEDIATORIAL" KING OVER A
KINGDOM ON EARTH, ISRAEL.
Recall in Chapter 2 that we saw with the example of Joseph and
Pharaoh that is was possible for a kingdom to be ruled through a
"mediator" (KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #7) rather than be ruled directly by
the king himself. We find that a similar thing has been the case with the kingdom
of God.
God introduced what is commonly known as a "theocracy"
in the time of Saul and David. After Saul was removed, King David (and thus his
offspring) was established as the king of what the Old Testament refers to as
"the kingdom of the LORD" over Israel:
[David
speaking:] "And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) He
has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over
Israel (1Chr.28:5)
Then
Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and
prospered; and all Israel obeyed him (1Chr.29:23).
[Abijah
rebuking Israel (v.4):] "And now you think to withstand the kingdom of
the LORD, which is in the hands of the sons of David; ..." (2Chr.13:8).
Above we read that "the kingdom of the LORD" was
originally mediated by King David, and then by his son Solomon, and on down the
line of King David in accord with KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #4. But at least in this
instance, the principle of the son inheriting the throne from his father wasn't
merely a human tradition, nor was King David's kingdom over Israel called
"the kingdom of the LORD" for poetic reasons. Consider what God
Himself had to say to King David:
"And
it shall be, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go [to be] with your
fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and
I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish
his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be my son; and I will
not take my mercy away from him, as I took [it] from [him] who was before you.
And I will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne
shall be established forever" (1Chr.17:11-14).
"I
have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: `Your
seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations'...
His seed will I make forever, And his throne as the days of heaven... His seed
shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me" (Ps.89:3-4, 29,
36).
The
LORD has sworn in truth to David; He will not turn from it: "I will set
upon your throne the fruit of your body. If your sons will keep my covenant and
My testimony which I shall teach them, their sons also shall sit upon your
throne forevermore (Psalm 132:11-12).
"For
thus says the LORD: `David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the
house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt
offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice
continually." And the word of the LORD came to Jerusalem, saying,
"Thus says the LORD: `If you can break My covenant with the day and My
covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their
season, then My covenant may also be broken with David my servant, so that he
shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests,
My ministers'" (Jer.33:17-21).
Not only do the above passages of Scripture teach that God was
bound and determined that David's offspring (his sons) would be "set
up" (1Chr.17:11, Ps.132:11) to sit on his throne of "the kingdom of
the LORD" over Israel, "establishing" the son's kingdom in the
process (1Chr.17:11, cf. KINGDOM PRINCIPLE #6), but the passages above also
state that David's "seed" (physical descendants) would always
("forever") exist to sit on the throne of David, which throne will be
established "forever" (1Chr.17:14; Ps.89:4, 29, 36; 132:12).
It seems almost unbelievable that David's "seed" and
"throne" could be established "forever" though. But through
Jeremiah quoted above we learn that God is so serious about "always"
preserving David's seed to sit on his throne over Israel (with ministering
Levitical priests to boot!), that He said that as long as "day and
night" occur on the earth, David will have a "son" to reign on
his throne. Look outside - are there still such things as "day and
night"? - then we know that David still has a son to reign on his throne.
This son may not be currently reigning, but he does qualify to be the rightful
heir to the throne of David to be established forever in accord with the
"promises of God":
"In
mercy the throne will be established; And One will sit on it in truth, in the
tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening
righteousness" (Is.16:5).
Take
the silver and the gold, make an elaborate crown, and set on the head of Joshua
the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Then speak to him, saying, `Thus says
the LORD of hosts, saying: "Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From
His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the LORD; Yes
He shall build the temple of the LORD. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit
and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel
of peace shall be between them both"!" (Zech.6:11-13).
We learn from Isaiah 16:5 above that "the throne will be
established, and One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David."
This prophesy was given long after the tabernacle (where the "throne of
David" sat) had "fallen down" and was in "ruins" (Amos
9:11). Thus, since no other "throne" is explicitly defined in the
Bible to be future for Israel except the throne of David, Isaiah in Isaiah 16:5
is speaking of a future establishment of the throne of David, located in a
physically restored "tabernacle of David," and the One who will sit
on the throne in truth could only be the son of David, "judging and
seeking justice and hastening righteousness."
We also read in Zechariah 6 above of Zechariah the prophet
speaking to Joshua (form of "Jesus"), "Behold, the Man whose
name is the BRANCH ... [and He] shall sit and rule on His throne" and
"build the temple of the LORD." As with Isaiah 16:5, we know that the
BRANCH must both be speaking of the son of David:
"Behold,
days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch
of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and
righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will
dwell safely; Now this [is] His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
We have thus learned that from the time of King David, God
established a mediatorial "kingdom of the LORD" over Israel, and that
David and his seed have the right to sit on the throne of this kingdom, which
seed and throne God has sworn to preserve and establish forever; which seed,
the son of David, who will reign and prosper, "build the temple of the
LORD", and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth, and in whose
days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely, shall be to God as His
"son" (1Chr.17:13) and will be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
What this means we will explore in the next chapter.
For now we may summarize the doctrine of the kingdom of God as
taught in the Old Testament to be the following:
1 A KING: The kingdom of God is eternally ruled by God the king;
2) A DUAL REALM: The kingdom of God is a government and country in
the heavens which rules over all in the universe;
3) A THRONE: The kingdom of God has a throne in heaven on which
God the King sits upon;
4) A CHARACTER: The kingdom of God is characterized (although not
exclusively so) by righteousness, justice, glory, glorious majesty, power, and
mighty acts; and
5) A MEDIATORIAL KING: The kingdom of God had a mediatorial king
of "the kingdom of the LORD" over Israel, which king's seed God has
determined to preserve forever to sit on the throne of David over Israel
forever.
1This thought in part was taken from Paul G. Hiebert, "Healing
and the Kingdom", ed. by James R. Coggins and Paul G. Hiebert, Wonders and
the Word (Hillsboro, KS: Kindred Press, 1989), pp. 111, 113.
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom which shall not be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever (Dan.2:44).
CHAPTER 4
The Messianic Kingdom of God
in the Old Testament
What is this "kingdom" that God will "set up which
shall not be destroyed" but "stand forever"? (Dan.2:44). The
only way to find out is to search the Scriptures:
For
unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be
upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of government and
peace [there will be] no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to
order and establish it with judgment and justice, from that time forward, even
forever. The zeal of the LORD will perform this (Is.9:6-7).
The above scripture tells us that a "Son" will be born
into this world who will be called, among other things, "Mighty God,"
and that He will "establish from that time forward" the throne of
David and his kingdom "forever" - this "kingdom" sounds
like tthe same "kingdom" described in Daniel 2:44 above that "in
the days of these kings (i.e., in the end-times) will be "set up"
(established) and "stand forever." The fact that he may sit on
"the throne of David" also indicates that this person called "a
Son" and "Mighty God" will be a physical descendant of David as
well.
Who is this mysterious "Son" and "Mighty God"
of Isaiah 9:6? Is He THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS? Other scriptures supply
further evidence:
Your
throne, O God, [is] forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter
of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God,
Your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions
(Ps.45:6-7).
The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against His Messiah. "Yet I have set My King on my
holy hill of Zion." "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to
Me, You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give to
you the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your
possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in
pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed,
you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, And you perish in the way, when his wrath is
kindled but a little..." (Ps.2:2, 6-12).
The
LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make your enemies your
footstool." The LORD shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule
in the midst of your enemies!... The Lord at Your right hand; He shall execute
kings in the day of his wrath (Ps.110:1-2,5).
I
was watching in the night visions, And behold, one like the Son of Man, coming
with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him
near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that
all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion [is] an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom [is that]
which shall not be destroyed (Dan.7:13-14).
In Psalm 45:6-7 above, we read that there is a "God" who
has a "throne" that is "forever," whose kingdom has a
"righteous" scepter, and who has been "anointed" by
"God." Psalm 2 describes the LORD's "Messiah"
("Anointed One") as being His "king," who is also declared
to be His "Son," who is invited to inherit the nations (the Son
inheriting the kingdom of God from His Father in accord with KINGDOM PRINCIPLE
#4), judging them in wrath with a rod of iron. In Psalm 110, the LORD speaks to
the "Lord" to sit at His right hand, promising him that He will at
some future time make his enemies his footstool, and that he will rule in the
midst of his enemies (as the phrase "your enemies your footstool"
implies, c.f. Is.66:1) with a rod and execute kings in the day of his wrath.
And in Daniel 7:13-14, we are told that one "like the Son of Man" was
seen being brought before the Ancient of Days and was given a kingdom which
shall not be destroyed. It's no coincidence that all these scriptures sound so
similar - they must all be speaking of the same king and kingdom that Daniel
2:44 speaks of, the same king and kingdom we initially examined at the end of
the last chapter. We will henceforth refer to this king as the Messiah
("the Anointed One"), God ("the Son") and "one like
the Son of Man," "the Lord" ("THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS") who sits at the LORD's right hand, waiting to inherit the
throne of David and establish his "mediatorial" kingdom over Israel,
which kingdom at the time it is "set up" (Dan.2:44) will completely
eliminate all wicked kingdoms on earth and last "forever." Thus we
have described from the Scriptures the future "Mediatorial/Messianic
kingdom" of God, prophesied of by men we know are prophets of God.
Thus far we have looked only at what the Old Testament has to say
about the kingdom of God. The reason we have done this is not only to gain a
fundamental understanding of what the kingdom of God is about, but to also gain
insight into the Jewish mind as to what the Jews are expecting the Messiah to
do when he comes. With this Jewish perspective in mind, we are now ready to
look at the New Testament, which describes Jesus Christ and further elaborates
on the subject of the kingdom of God.
But Act II must be
read in light of Act I, else its meaning will be missed... Here again, it
should be observed, if men would understand clearly the future consummation of
the Kingdom, they must first understand the Kingdom in history; if they expect
to understand the Kingdom of which our Lord spoke, they must first consider
what the Old Testament prophets have to say about it ...1
CHAPTER 5
Setting the Stage for the Messiah
In Chapter 2 we obtained a Biblical understanding of what a
"kingdom" (be it MALKUTH, MAMLAKAH, or BASILEIA) is like, which
understanding enabled us further to understand what the "kingdom" of
God is like. As we approach the New Testament in an attempt to correctly
understand what it has to teach us about the kingdom of God, it must be
acknowledged that, as Chapter 2 was the background for Chapters 3 and 4, so is
the Old Testament the background of the New Testament. Without such
God-breathed prophetic background, terms like "Son of God,"
"Christ," "Son of David," and "throne of David"
are void of substantial, Biblical meaning (which is especially troubling if we
are suppose to believe that Jesus is "the Christ," "the Son of
God," to obtain eternal life), leaving us with no depth of understanding
with which to obtain a Biblical perspective of the kingdom of God, leaving us
with but an extremely shallow (two-dimensional), faulty understanding of the
kingdom of God established on New Testament pretexts.
We found in the Old Testament that God ("the LORD") has
a kingdom in heaven where he sits on His throne as King. His kingdom is
everlasting and extends beyond the confines of heaven unto the kingdom of men
on earth. God also had a physical kingdom over the nation of Israel, and King
David is the original king of this kingdom. God promised King David that his
seed would inherit his throne and kingdom, which throne and kingdom would be
forever. The ultimate rightful heir of this kingdom is the Messiah, otherwise
known as "God," the "Son," "one like the Son of
Man," and "the Lord." Keeping these foundational truths in mind,
we are now ready to examine what the New Testament has to teach us regarding
the kingdom of God.
Early on in Luke's Gospel, Luke records the words of Gabriel, an
angel of God sent to a woman named Mary with these words:
"And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call
His name JESUS [Heb. "Joshua"]. He will be great, and will be called
the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom
there will be no end" (Luke 1:31-33).
Upon reading this scripture, many if not all of the scriptures
quoted towards the end of Chapter 3 and in Chapter 4 should immediately come to
mind. Using language with the purpose of clearly communicating to Mary words
that her Jewish mind would understand in a certain way, Gabriel was blatantly
describing the Biblical Messiah, who was about to be conceived in Mary's womb.
We thus have immediate and strong evidence that our "Jewish"
understanding of the Messianic Kingdom as prophesied by the Old Testament
prophets is accurate, and that "Jesus" is the Messiah: the Son, born
of a woman, who receives from God the throne of his father David (and thus the
same physical kingdom as King David's), who will reign over the physical
descendants of Jacob, and whose kingdom will never end. We should do nothing
less than expect a complete and utter fulfillment of these "promises of
God" exactly in the same manner as the language suggests.
The next mention of "kingdom" in the Gospels comes from
the lips of John the Baptist. Matthew records the incident:
In
those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and
saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matt.3:2).
J. Dwight Pentecost comments on the occasion, "Without
defining the concept of the kingdom in his mind, he simply announces the
imminency of that theocracy"2. John the Baptist's Jewish audience was familiar with the
prophecies in the Old Testament of the Messianic kingdom. If John the Baptist
was actually talking about some other "kingdom" than the Messianic
kingdom of God described in the Old Testament, he wouldn't have employed the
"kingdom" language he did above, giving the impression to his Jewish
audience that he was talking about the Messianic kingdom of God.
John the Baptist also had this to say to the Pharisees and
Sadducees:
"Brood
of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear
fruits worthy of repentance ... And even now the ax is laid to the root of the
trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire ... He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire"
(Matt.3:7-8, 10, 12).
Who had warned them to flee from "the wrath to come"?
Does not, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" sound like
a warning? How often in the Old Testament God had warned His people Israel to
repent in view of approaching judgment!:
"Therefore
I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways," says
the LORD God. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that
iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which
you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why
should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one
who dies," says the LORD God. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezek.18:30-32).
For
the day of the LORD [is] great and very terrible; Who can endure it? "Now
therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, with
fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." So rend your heart, and not
your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm (Joel
2:11b-13).
"Behold,
I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the LORD, whom
you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.
"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when he
appears? ... And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness
against sorcerers, against adulterers ... because they do not fear Me ... for I
am the LORD, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and
have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD
of hosts (Mal.3:1-3, 6-7).
All the passages quoted above demonstrate the personality of God,
that He had often been known to command Israel to repent in the face of
approaching judgment. In the Ezekiel passage above, it was "turn and
live," "for I will judge you, O house of Israel." In Joel 2, it
was, "Turn to Me with all your heart," "For the Day of the Lord
great and very terrible." In Malachi 3, it was "Return to Me."
Why? "For I will come near you for judgment."
In the last two references above, the "judgment" that is
in view coincides with "the Day of the Lord" and "the day of His
coming." Is it possible that God had this same "judgment" in
mind to warn Israel about through the prophet John the Baptist, when John the Baptist
preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"?
It just so happens that the (future) historic judgment Day of the
LORD coincides with the arrival of the kingdom of God:
Behold,
the day of the LORD is coming ... And the LORD shall be king over all the
earth. In that day it shall be - "The LORD one," and His name one
(Zech.14:1, 9).
For
the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near ... And the kingdom shall be
the LORD's (Obadiah 15, 21).
Above we read that Zachariah prophesied, "the day of the LORD
is coming," and in "that day" "the LORD shall be king over
all the earth," which sounds awfully similar to the Messianic kingdom
prophesies we looked at in Chapter 4. The Obadiah passage above speaks of
"the day of the LORD upon all the nations" as being "near";
that when it comes, "the kingdom shall be the LORD's." Both
scriptures speak of the nearness (in time) of the day of the LORD, and link its
arrival with the (Messianic) kingdom of God. It thus seems inescapable to
conclude that the "kingdom" that coincides with "the day of the
LORD" is exactly the same "kingdom" John the Baptist preached.
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, further confirms the
meaning of John the Baptist's message to us, specifically linking together the
Malachi passage quoted above (that warned of "the Day of His coming ...
for judgment") with John the Baptist. Filled with the Holy Spirit,
Zacharias addressed his baby son John with these words:
"And
you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before
the face of the Lord to prepare His ways" (Luke 1:76, c.f. Mal. 3:1).
Two other Old Testament scriptures prophesied of John the Baptist
showing up on the scene prior to the Judgment Day of the Lord:
"For
behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all
who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming will burn them
up," says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor
branch ... Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the LORD" (Mal. 4:1, 5).
"The
voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD; Make
straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low; The crooked places shall be made
straight, and the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken"
(Isaiah 40:2-5).
The Malachi passage above speaks of "Elijah" being sent
to Israel before "the great and dreadful Day of the LORD," and the
Isaiah passage above speaks of "The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
`Prepare ye the way of the LORD'" before "every mountain and hill
will be brought low" (i.e., severe judgment, cf. Rev.6:14; 16:20). The New
Testament confirms that these two references were indeed about John the
Baptist:
"But
I say to you that Elijah has come already" ... Then the disciples
understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matt.17:12,13, c.f.
Mal.4:5).
For
this is he [John the Baptist] who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: `Prepare the way of the LORD,
Make His paths straight'" (Matt.3:3, c.f. Is.40:2).
Clearly then, John the Baptist's words, "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand," were a warning to Israel to repent of their
sins in view of the approaching judgment Day of the LORD coinciding with the
historic arrival of the Messianic kingdom as prophesied in the Old Testament,
the same kingdom that Gabriel had spoke to Mary about.
With all these things in mind, we are now ready to examine the
"gospel" Jesus Christ personally preached.
1Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (BMH Books, 1974),
pp.5-6.
2J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come (Zondervan, 1958), p.449.
"I
must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this
purpose I have been sent" (Luke 4:43).
CHAPTER 6
Enter: Jesus
Now
when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And
leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the
regions of Zebulum and Naphtali ... From that time Jesus began to preach and to
say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt.4:12, 13,
17).
Now
after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of
the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15).
Looking at the Greek text of the scriptures above reveals that
Jesus was using exactly the same words as John the Baptist did in the
scriptures we examined in Chapter 5. The same warning, the same
"kingdom," the same "at hand" (ENGIZO, Strong's #1448), is
alluded to by both John the Baptist and Jesus. And since the
"kingdom" that John the Baptist preached of as being "at
hand" (in time) was the Messianic kingdom of God, also prophesied of in
the Old Testament (see Chapter 5) as being near in time, so must the
"kingdom" that Jesus spoke of as being "at hand" (near) in
time be the Messianic kingdom of God. There is no reason to think Jesus was
trying to tease the Jewish people (His audience) by intentionally using the
plain "kingdom" language of the Old Testament prophets, (Gabriel,)
and John the Baptist, which indicated to Jewish minds that the Messianic
kingdom (cf. Jer. 23:5-6) that they had been waiting for was on the horizon
(hence the term, "good news"), while actually referring to some other
"kingdom" that only those who had been baptized in the Holy Spirit,
spoke in tongues, and heard God's voice, could understand.
Jesus sent his twelve disciples out with the same-sounding message
to Israel:
"Do
not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach,
saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matt.10:5-7).
Does Jesus here refer to the same "kingdom ... at hand"
as He did in Matt. 4:17? As John the Baptist? As Gabriel? As the Old Testament
prophets? How about Jesus' words a chapter later to "the seventy":
"Whatever
city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.
And heal the sick there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near
you.' But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its
streets and say, `The very dust of your city we wipe off against you.
Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.' But I say
to you that it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were
done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented a great
while ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre
and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to
heaven, will be thrust down to hades." (Luke 10:9-15).
There is no exegetical reason to think otherwise than that the
Messianic kingdom is the "kingdom ... at hand" being referred to
every time in every scripture quoted above. The last example of Jesus' words to
the seventy contains some additional evidence to that fact. Notice that Jesus
mentions to his disciples that if the Jewish city rejects the message,
"has drawn near on you the kingdom of God" (the literal rendering
from the Interlinear New Testament), "it will be more tolerable in that
day for Sodom than for that city" (v.12). What "day"? When had
the disciples ever been previously told to preach about "that day" in
Jesus' instructions? Well, Jesus followed His "that day" statement
with this: "...But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the
judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be
thrust down to hades" (v.14-15). So "that day" seems be related
to "the judgment," a time when Capernaum will be "thrust down to
hades." Examining the text (Luke 10:11-12) closely then, if we follow the
rules of grammar, only, "Has drawn near on you the kingdom of God"
could be Jesus' previous reference to "that day," "at the
judgment," proving that the "nearness" of the kingdom of God was
a nearness in time ("in that day"), that time being that day of
judgment coinciding with the Messianic kingdom which John the Baptist and the
Old Testament prophets had all spoken of to Israel. This is why the disciples
preached in the parallel passage in Mark's Gospel (Mark 6:10-12) that people
should "repent"; "repent" in view of the coming day of
judgment, as we saw in Chapter 5, a common theme in the Old Testament Prophets.
All the scriptures we have examined in this chapter have been
referring to the nearness in time of "the kingdom of God." Jesus gave
us a strong clue in His "Olivet Discourse" as to when the (Messianic)
kingdom of God will actually arrive in history. After speaking of the signs
that would precede His second coming, Jesus likened the signs to trees:
And
He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When
they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now
near. So you, likewise, when you see these things happening, know that the
kingdom of God is near" (Luke 21:29-31).
Above we read of "summer" being "near,"
clearly in reference to time, the season of summer. The same Greek word
translated "near"1 as also used by Jesus in the very next sentence in reference to
the historical nearness in time of the kingdom of God, in context,
corresponding with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Those who know their Old
Testaments shouldn't be surprised that the coming of the kingdom of God
coincides with the second coming of Jesus. After all, Jesus is the Messiah, and
He would have to come to earth and sit on His physical throne in Jerusalem, a
right which He inherited from His father King David and received from God His
Father, in order to reign over the physical descendants of Jacob, as King David
in his kingdom had done, and as Gabriel spoke to Mary about.
Thus we have learned in this Chapter that Jesus' gospel message
preached exclusively to Israel, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand," was exactly the same message God has already spoken to Israel by
the Old Testament Prophets and John the Baptist: That Israel needed to
"repent" in view of the approaching (in time) "kingdom of God"
(Judgment Day of the Lord), scheduled to actually arrive at the second coming
of Christ, when Jesus will set up His Messianic kingdom on earth, sitting on
the throne of David he rightfully inherited, being the son of David and the Son
of God.
Jesus talked a lot about His Messianic kingdom. We will look at
this next.
1EGGUS, Adverb, Strong's #1451; corresponding Verb form is ENGIZO,
Strong's #1448, the word used in Matt.3:2, 4:17, Mark 1:15, Matt. 10:7, Luke
10:9,11.
"Blessed
[is] the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!" (Mark 11:10).
CHAPTER 7
Jesus' Teachings about His Messianic Kingdom
Jesus talked a lot about His future Messianic kingdom, when He
will judge the nations on earth and His people Israel:
"Assuredly
I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne
of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt.19:28, c.f. Ps.122:5).
"When
the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He
will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before
Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides sheep
from the goats... Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world' ... Then He will also say to those on His left hand, `Depart from
Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and His
angels:" (Matt.25:31-32, 34, 41).
"The
harvest is the end of the age ... The Son of Man will send out His angels, and
they will gather out of His kingdom all that offend, and those who practice
lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing
and gnashing of teeth! Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father..." (Matt.13:39, 41-43).
Jesus' reference to "the Son of Man" above is
undoubtedly in reference to Daniel 7:13-14, where "one like the Son of
Man" is seen being given "dominion and glory and a kingdom ... which
shall not pass away [and] which shall not be destroyed," the Messianic
kingdom discussed in Chapter 4 (esp. Is.9:6-7). In the three scriptures above
then, we read that Jesus taught his disciples that when He comes in His glory,
He will "then" sit on the throne of His glory and judge the nations.
"Then" implies that He will not sit on the throne of His glory prior
in time to His coming in glory. If Jesus doesn't sit on the throne of His glory
until His coming in glory (i.e., His "second coming"), then Jesus
doesn't sit on the throne of David (the throne that belongs to Him) to rule
over his kingdom of Israel until His second coming either.
It is this very throne and kingdom that Jesus' titles of
"Messiah" (or "Christ") and "Son" are based upon,
the Christ the Old Testament prophets had spoken of (cf., Luke 24:26, 46), who
would suffer once for sins, the just for the unjust, being put to death in the
flesh (1Peter 3:18). It is because God had sworn with an oath to David that
"of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up
Christ to sit on his throne" (Acts 2:30), that made it impossible for
Jesus to be held by death (Acts 2:24), unable to be "raised up" (not
"resurrected"1 in Acts 2:30) to sit on David's throne someday. This is why David
prophesied that Christ would be resurrected from the dead (Acts 2:31) and sit
at the right hand of the LORD (sitting with the Father on His throne,
Rev.3:21), waiting for the LORD to make the Lord's enemies His footstool (Acts
2:34-35), at which time Christ will be "raised up" to "sit on
his [David's] throne" (Acts 2:30). Yes, the Jesus Christ of the Bible
which we are to believe on for salvation is the Jesus Christ who will come in
glory, sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem ("the city of the great
king," Matt.5:35), judge the surrounding nations, and rule over the
existing children of Israel:
It
shall come to pass in that day, the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted
ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together,
as prisoners gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in prison; after many
days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun
ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign on mount Zion in Jerusalem and before
His elders in glory (Is.24:21-23).
Behold,
the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a
Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment
and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, And Israel
will dwell safely; Now this [is] His name by which He will be called: THE LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
Above we read what Jesus would later echo (in the Matthew passages
quoted earlier), of the LORD2 of hosts reigning on mount Zion in Jerusalem before His elders in
glory, "in that day" punishing the kings of the earth (c.f. Psalm
110:2,5), judging the nations, and saving His people, the children of Israel
(now that's "good news"!). Both of these passages of scripture
describe the same event.
We see then that Jesus Christ taught His disciples that one day He
would sit on the throne of His glory to judge the nations on earth, and that
those who followed Him would sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes
of Israel.
But despite the fact that the Scriptures made it plain that the
day the Messianic kingdom would be "set up" (Dan.2:44) would not
occur until the Judgment Day of the LORD (cf. Chapters 4&5), many a soul,
ignorant of the Scriptures which prophesied of two comings (the first to
suffer, the second to reign gloriously on the throne of David cf., 1Peter 1:11)
of the Messiah, "thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately"
(Luke 19:11) upon Christ's first coming. Several instances of Jesus correcting
this misunderstanding during His time on earth are recorded for us in the New
Testament. On one instance, Jesus spoke a parable about "a certain
nobleman" who "went into a far country to receive for himself a
kingdom and to return" (Luke 19:12ff), upon which "return, having
received the kingdom" (v.15), the nobleman rewarded his servants according
to their works and slayed his enemies who did not want him to reign over them
(v.27). This parable was clearly in reference to Christ's return from heaven
with the authority to reign as the Messianic King, coinciding with the Judgment
Day of the Lord when Christ will reward His servants and slay the wicked.
On another occasion Christ spoke plainly about this to His
disciples:
"For
the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then
He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, that there
are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man
coming in His kingdom" (Matt.16:27-28).
The parallel passages end:
"And
He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing
here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with
power" (Mark 9:1).
"But
I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they
see the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:27).
In this instance, Christ taught that when He comes in the glory of
His Father, He will reward each according to his works, just as the nobleman
(in the parable we just looked at) upon his return rewarded his servants
according to their works. Jesus then clearly linked his glorious coming with
the coming of the kingdom of God, present with power. Jesus' words that some
standing near Him would not taste death till they saw Jesus coming in His
kingdom were fulfilled "six days" (Matt.17:1) later when Jesus took
Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain and was transfigured before them,
appearing with Moses and Elijah. This event was a preview of what it will look
like to see the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Peter 1:16)
returning to earth (and to the mount of Olives, Zech.14:3-4) in His kingdom,
the "same Jesus" (Acts 1:11-12) who ascended from the mount of Olives
into heaven to receive for himself, from His Father, the kingdom of His father
David.
As to date-setting the actual calendar day of Jesus' coming in His
kingdom, Jesus later had told them, "No one knows, no, not even the angels
of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt.25:36). And just before His ascension
into heaven, just after Jesus had been "speaking of the things pertaining
to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3) and then told His disciples to expect to
be baptized in the Holy Spirit "not many days from now" (Acts 1:5),
the disciples asked Jesus,
"Lord,
will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them,
"It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put
in His own authority" (Acts 1:6-7).
Why did they ask Jesus, "Lord, will you at this time restore
the kingdom to Israel?" Because He had been talking all about the kingdom
(Acts 1:3), and they wondered if the coming of the Holy Spirit would coincide
with Jesus restoring the kingdom to Israel (cf. Is.32:1,15). But it wasn't for
them to know the exact calendar day when Jesus would restore the kingdom to
Israel. What was for them (and us) to know was the Jesus is the Messiah, and
that He will someday come into His kingdom (Luke 23:42), entering into His
glory (Luke 24:26), fulfilling "the more sure word of prophesy"
(2Peter 1:19, 3:1-4) - all that Old Testament "prophets spoke of since the
world began" concerning "the restoration of all things" that
will follow the coming of Jesus Christ from heaven (Acts 3:20-21) with His
kingdom.
The New Testament blatantly confirms what we already know from the
Old Testament, that Jesus will indeed come again with His kingdom to judge the
living and the dead on the Judgment Day of the LORD:
I
charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the
living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: (2Tim.4:1).
Those who listened to the beloved Son recorded His teachings about
His future Messianic kingdom, a kingdom which is also spoken of by both the Old
and the New Testament prophets. Jesus' gospel to repent in view of the
approaching Messianic kingdom of God was often accompanied by signs and
wonders. What were the signs and wonders for? That question we will consider
next.
1"raise up" here does not mean "resurrection"
but rather, "to set," a blatant reference to Psalm 132:11, "The
LORD has sworn in truth to David, He will not turn from it; `I will set upon
your throne the fruit of your body.' See W.E. Vine, "raise (up) 2b",
Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, (Nelson, 1985), p.506.
2Jesus is LORD too, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. God the Father is
primarily referred to as "LORD" in the Old Testament, while Jesus is
primarily referred to as "Lord" in the Old Testament.
Now
Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of diseases
among the people (Matt.4:23).
And
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every
disease among the people (Matt.9:35).
CHAPTER 8
What Were the Signs and Wonders For?
The two scriptures above display that Jesus seems to have been
mainly doing two things in the early part of His "ministry." Those
two things were: 1) teaching (mainly about the kingdom of God), and 2) healing
sickness and disease among the people (a.k.a. "signs and wonders"). A
few questions arise: What were the "signs and wonders" for? Was there
any connection between His words and His works? Reliable answers to these
questions can only be found by examining the Scriptures:
"But
I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given
me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Father
has sent me" (John 5:36).
"If
I do not the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do
not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the
Father is in Me, and I in Him" (John 10:37-38).
"Believe
Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the
sake of the works themselves" (John 14:12).
In the three verses above from the Gospel of John, we see that
Jesus appealed to His works to signify two things: 1) That the Father had sent
Jesus, and 2) That Jesus was in the Father, and the Father in Jesus. According
to Jesus, the implication drawn from these two things should have been that
Jesus was to be believed, that is, that His words were to be believed. So the
signs and wonders wrought by Jesus Christ were to bare witness to His identity
and His words, words that His Father had sent Him to preach.
Here is another instance in the Gospels of Jesus appealing to His
works as evidence to His identity:
And
when John [the Baptist] had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent
two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we
look for another?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John
the things which you hear and see: Blind receive their sight and lame walk;
lepers are cleansed and deaf hear; dead are raised up and poor have the gospel
preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me"
(Matt.11:2-6).
Above we read that Jesus appealed to His works to confirm His
identity as "the Coming One." On still another occasion, Jesus had
this to say:
"But
if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come
upon you" (Matt.12:28).
"But
if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come
upon you" (Luke 11:20).
In this instance, Jesus states that His work of casting out demons
signified, "Surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." What did
Jesus mean by this? To find the answer, we must first examine the context in
which these words were spoken. From the Gospel of Matthew:
Then
one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed
him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes
were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" (Matt.12:22-23).
Here we see what Jesus' work suggested to the multitudes: Jesus is
"the Son of David," the Messiah, whose right it is to sit on the
throne of David and rule over his kingdom of Israel forever. Continuing from
the Scriptures we read:
But
when the Pharisees heard, they said, "This [fellow] does not cast out
demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons" (Matt.12:24).
Here we read that the Pharisees heard what the multitudes were
saying about the possibility of Jesus being the Son of David, and they reacted
by attacking Jesus ad hominem, saying that "This" (Jesus) was casting
out the demons by Beezelbub, and that therefore Jesus was not the Son of David.
But Jesus challenged their logic, concluding with these words:
"But
if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come
upon you" (Matt.12:28).
Could it be that "surely the kingdom of God has come upon
you" refers back to the "I" in Matt.12:28? Could it be that
"surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" had something to do
with the multitudes' suggestion that Jesus was "the Son of David"?
Wasn't this the big issue everyone was focused on at the time, "Could this
be the Son of David?" Was Jesus only uptight about the Pharisees' comment,
"He has an unclean spirit," because they had "blasphemed the
Holy Spirit" (Mark 3:22-30)? Why would the Pharisees want to blaspheme the
Holy Spirit anyway? What had He done to them? The Holy Spirit was bearing
witness to the identity of Jesus as the Son of David, and the Pharisees didn't
like it. By appealing to the Holy Spirit's witness, Jesus was defending the
truth of His identity as the Son of David sent by His Father with a prophetic
message to Israel. There were two issues that Jesus was correcting the
Pharisees on: His identity, and by whom he was casting out demons. So,
"... surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" meant that Jesus,
the Son of David, had come upon them ("you," not "the person I
just cast demons out of"), and thus they ought to believe in Him.
But if Jesus meant "the Son of David has come upon you,"
why did He then say, "The kingdom of God has come upon you"? Doesn't
it sound "nonsensical" to say that Jesus called Himself "the
kingdom of God"?
Consider the prophet Daniel's address to King Nebuchadnezzar regarding
the King's dream:
You
watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its
feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces ... And the stone that struck
the image became a great mountain that filled the whole earth ... And in the
days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never
be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan.2:34,
35, 44).
In verse 44 of Daniel 2, we read that "it" (which refers
to "kingdom" earlier in the verse) "shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." But in verse
34-35, it was the "stone" that struck the image and broke it in pieces.
The "stone" in verse 34-35 is the "kingdom" in verse 44. We
already learned in Chapter 4 that the "kingdom" in verse 44 is the
Messianic kingdom. Therefore the stone represents the Messianic kingdom. So
what? Daniel also had this to say to Nebuchadnezzar:
"You,
O king, a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power,
strength, and glory ... You are this head of gold. But after you shall arise
another kingdom inferior to yours ..." (Dan.2:37-39).
Here, the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream has the
King being represented by a head of gold, which also represents his kingdom
(Daniel interprets the other parts of the image to represent kingdoms, vs.
39-42, 44). It's quite possible then that the Messiah Himself also represents
the "stone kingdom" (Dan.2:34-35, 44-45). After all, Jesus said,
"And whoever falls on this stone [i.e. Jesus] will be broken; but on
whomever it [the same stone] falls, it will grind him to powder"
(Matt.21:44), just as Daniel 2:35 spoke of a "stone" that
"crushed together" all other kingdoms. That "stone" is the
Messiah, coming in glory at the end of the age to put an end to all wicked
kingdoms. Thus Daniel pictured Jesus to be a stone, which stone also
represented His Messianic kingdom.
Let's stack up all the evidence we have found to conclude that
Jesus was referring to Himself as "the kingdom of God" when He said
to the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God has come upon you"
(Matt.12:28):
1) THE SON OF DAVID? The circumstances surrounding Matt.12:28 was
a controversy as to the identity of Jesus as "the Son of David" (the
Messianic king). Jesus taught that the purpose of His signs and wonders was to
prove His Messianic identity. It thus seems quite likely then that proving His
identity as the Son of David would have been Jesus' motive in Matthew 12:28 for
pointing to His work of casting out demons by the Spirit of God, a Spirit that
loves to glorify Jesus, bearing witness to Jesus' identity.
2) REFERS BACK TO "I". From a grammatical point of view,
"The kingdom of God has come upon you" refers back to the preceding
"I" in Matthew 12:28. "I" = Jesus, the Son of David
(Matt.1:1).
3) NEBUCHADEZZAR'S DREAM. The king's dream interpreted by Daniel
showed that a king (the head of gold) can also be inferred to be his kingdom.
The same thing goes for the "stone kingdom," which "stone"
represents Jesus, the Messiah Himself. Therefore, Jesus was not talking
"nonsensical" when He referred to Himself as the kingdom of God,
since a main Messianic kingdom passage in the Old Testament also seems to refer
to the Messiah as the kingdom of God.
Matt.12:28 isn't the only time Jesus referred to Himself as the
kingdom of God:
Now
when He asked was of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He
answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation1,
nor will they say, `See here!' or `See there!" For indeed, the kingdom of
God is within you" (Luke 17:20-21).
Here a better Greek translation would end the passage quoted above
with the following: "For behold, the kingdom of God is among you 2."
Study of the Greek text of Luke 17:21 reveals that the "you" in this
verse refers to the group of the Pharisees collectively. Thus, Jesus was saying
that the kingdom of God was among the group of Pharisees who were standing
among Him. Jesus was standing among them. The kingdom of God will not come at a
time when the world is attentively watching for it to come (cf. Luke 17:23ff),
nor will they say "See here!" or "See there!", as if some
knew it had come before others did; "Indeed", it was standing right
there speaking to them - SURPRISE!, and as it was in the days of Noah and Lot,
so will it be when the Son of Man comes in His glory with His kingdom,
"Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory" (Luke 21:27).
We have learned in this chapter that Jesus' signs and wonders bore
witness that Jesus was "the Coming One" sent by the Father, that
Jesus was in the Father, and that the Father was in Jesus. Therefore, Jesus
charged the Pharisees to believe His words, including the truth that He was the
Son of David, the kingdom of God, who had come upon them and was among them,
which facts the Holy Spirit bore witness to by casting out demons. Someday the
Son of Man will come in glory from heaven to the earth with His kingdom which
shall never end, the kingdom of God.
1Vine defines "observation" to literally mean in the
Greek, "attentive watching", W.E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary
of Biblical Words (Baker, 1985), p.439. Thayer says of the word, "to
watch, attend to, to watch insidiously," William Thayer, Thayer's
Greek-English Lexicon, (Baker, 1977), p.486.
2Farstad, Arthur & Zane Hodges et. al., The NKJV Greek English
Interlinear New Testament (Thomas Nelson, 1994), p.286.
CHAPTER 9
Jesus' Teachings About
the Eternal Kingdom of God the Father
In Chapter 3, we learned that the eternal kingdom of God the
Father is in heaven. God is the king of this kingdom, His throne is in heaven,
and someone called "the Lord" sits at His right hand. The confines of
this kingdom extend beyond heaven unto the kingdom of men on earth. God also
had a mediatorial (theocratic) kingdom over Israel, the throne of which kingdom
He will give to the Messiah forever.
Jesus personally acknowledged the eternal kingdom of God His
Father during His earthly teaching ministry:
"But
I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;
nor by the earth, for it is His footstool ..." (Matt.5:34-35).
"And
he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who dwells in
it" (Matt.23:22).
"To
him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame
and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev.3:21).
While
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying "What do
you think about Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "Of
David." He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him
`Lord,' saying: `The LORD said to My Lord, sit at my right hand, Till I make Your
enemies Your footstool'? If David then calls Him `Lord,' how is He his
Son?" (Matt.22:41-45).
"My
kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants
would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom
in not from here" (John 18:36).
...
when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will you at
this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is
not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own
authority" (Acts 1:6).
Above we read that Jesus taught the main elements of God's eternal
kingdom in heaven. He taught that "heaven" is God's throne, where God
dwells, and that the earth is His footstool. Jesus taught that "the
Lord" (Jesus Himself) sits at the right hand of the LORD, on His Father's
throne (i.e., God the Father is the reigning king of the kingdom of God), and
that someday (a time which His Father has put under His own authority), when
Jesus' enemies are made His footstool, He will sit on His own throne, the throne
of His father David, over Israel, restoring the kingdom to Israel, which
kingdom Jesus acknowledged comes from a place other than "this world"
(i.e., it comes from heaven). Jesus plainly acknowledged the existence of the
eternal kingdom of God His Father as described in the Old Testament. This
kingdom continues to exist today, without a mediator, and will continue on
without a mediator until Jesus comes to the earth to sit on the throne of His
kingdom over Israel and the world.
"Most
assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
CHAPTER 10
Entering the Kingdom of God, Our Inheritance: When?
During His time on earth, Jesus talked a lot about
"entering" the kingdom of God. He indicated that some people enter
the kingdom of God, and some people do not enter the kingdom of God. The above
scripture indicates that only those who have been "born of the
Spirit" can enter the kingdom of God. But when do they actually enter the
kingdom of God?
To answer this question, it is important to consider what
"the kingdom of God" actually is. "The kingdom of God" can
be in reference to two related but different "kingdoms." The first is
the kingdom of God in heaven, which kingdom is eternal. The LORD (the Father)
sits on the throne of this kingdom. This kingdom "rules over all,"
i.e., the confines of this kingdom extend beyond heaven unto the kingdom of men
on earth; everyone, saved and unsaved, is subject to its universal rule. Within
this kingdom was the mediatorial (theocratic) kingdom of God over national
Israel. King David and his seed have the right to the throne of this kingdom.
The Messiah receives from the LORD the ultimate right to the throne of this
kingdom, which kingdom will "come" (i.e., be established) with the
second coming of Jesus Christ; Then all wicked kingdoms will be destroyed, and
Messiah's kingdom will last "forever."
Which of these "kingdoms" qualify to be considered in
our answer to when those "born of the Spirit" actually "enter
the kingdom of God"? Upon considering this question, it is apparent that
the "kingdom of God" which includes the kingdom of men on earth
cannot be the "kingdom" that Jesus said could only be
"entered" by some, since all men, whether Jew or Gentile, believer or
unbeliever, are all in this kingdom of God, subject to His rule whether they
like it or not, even when they submit to the authority of Satan (Acts 26:18),
who himself we glean from the book of Job (1:12, 2:6) is subject to God, for,
"The
Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he chooses ...
For His dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from
generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth [are] reputed as
nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and the
inhabitants of earth" (Dan.4:25, 34-35).
There are only two "kingdoms" for us to consider then on
this "entering the kingdom of God" issue: 1) The eternal kingdom of
God in heaven, and 2) The yet future Messianic kingdom of God on earth. This
being so, we should expect Jesus to have indicated that He had one of these two
"kingdoms" in mind when He talked about "entering" the
kingdom of God. Consider the following evidence:
"Not
everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
`Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and
done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, `I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matt.7:21-23).
"And
I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be
cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"
(Matt.8:11-12).
"There
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. They
will come from the east and west, from the north and the south, and sit down in
the kingdom of God" (Luke 13:28-29).
"And
I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed upon Me, that you may
eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29-30).
"But
I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that
day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom" (Matt.26:29, c.f.
Mark 14:25).
When do those "born of the Spirit" actually enter the
kingdom of God? According to these scriptures, it is clear that they enter the
kingdom of God at a yet future time from their life in this present age. The
actual time people "enter" the kingdom of God occurs at a "day"
of judgment, a time when the apostles of Jesus Christ will drink wine with Him
and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel; a time when people will
be able to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (clearly after the second
coming of Christ when the Old Testament saints are resurrected, Dan.12:2,13).
But is this "kingdom" that they enter the kingdom of God in heaven or
the yet future Messianic kingdom of God? It is hard to tell from these verses
alone, it seems it could be either, or both. But the main thing we do know is
that the "entering" is yet future and that those "born of the
Spirit" will enter the kingdom of God.
There are some other scriptures that are not as obvious as to
exactly when those "born of the Spirit" actually enter the kingdom of
God:
"And
if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the
kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire
-" (Mark 9:47).
"Whoever
therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches
[them], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you,
that unless your righteousness exceeds [the righteousness] of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt.5:19-20).
"Assuredly,
I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than
John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than
he" (Matt.11:11, c.f. Luke 7:28).
"Assuredly,
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as
this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.18:3-4,
c.f. Mark 10:14-15, Luke 18:16-17).
"Assuredly,
I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And
again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt.19:23-24, c.f. Mark
10:23-25, Luke 18:24-25).
"Assuredly,
I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before
you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe
him; but the tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw, you did
not afterward relent and believe him" (Matt.21:31-32).
"But
woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men; for you neither go in, nor do you allow those who are
entering to go in" (Matt.23:13).
"The
law and the prophets [were] until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has
been preached, and everyone is pressing into it" (Luke 16:16).
None of the above scriptures imply that a believer enters the
kingdom of God only "in the future sense," but neither do they
explicitly say that a believer enters the kingdom of God in this present age
either. There is room for either view to be correct based on a cursory reading
of these verses alone. But we have already excluded the possibility of people
entering the kingdom of God in this present age, since no "kingdom"
is explicitly defined in Scripture that could be entered only by some people in
this present age! We are left with the choice that heaven and/or the future
Messianic kingdom are in view in the scriptures above as the kingdom to be
entered in the future.
Let's take a closer look at the last three scriptures quoted
above. We read of people "pressing into" the kingdom of God that
Jesus was preaching (Luke 16:16), and we read of those who "are
entering" the kingdom of heaven (Matt.23:13), and we read of tax
collectors and harlots "going before" the chief priests and elders of
the people (Matt.21:23,31) into the kingdom of God. All three of these
scriptures paint a picture of people in the active process of entering the
kingdom of God, but not actually having entered (past tense) the kingdom of
God. According to the scriptures we looked at earlier, the actual
"entering" of the kingdom of God by those "born of the
Spirit" will not take place till a future time.
If we examine the context of Matt.21:31 above, which literally
says that "tax collectors and harlots go before you [Pharisee's] into the
kingdom of God," we learn that it was those who had "done the
will" (Matt.21:31) of God, believing in the message of John the Baptist
(Matt.21:32) to repent in view of the imminently approaching (in history)
Messianic kingdom of God, who had "worked in the Vineyard," were the
ones who were commended by God. Comparing this with Matthew 7:21, which speaks
of those who had done the will of God entering the kingdom of heaven at a
future time, we confirm that indeed, the tax collectors and harlots, because
they had chosen to do the will of God by responding to John the Baptist,
"working in the Vineyard" as the parable puts it, were ahead in line
of the Pharisees, who had said they would work in the Vineyard but didn't
believe John the Baptist (Matt.21:32). The tax collectors and harlots were well
on their way to entering the kingdom of God, ahead of the Pharisees no doubt.
The apostles also spoke of "entering" the kingdom of
God:
And
when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they
returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the
disciples, exhorting [them] to continue in the faith, and [that] "We must
through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
...
that you would have a walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom
and glory (1Thess.2:12).
And
the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly
kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen (2Tim.4:18).
Therefore,
brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if
you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied
to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ (2Peter 1:10-11).
I,
John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word
of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev.1:9).
...
giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the authority
of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Col.1:12-14,
c.f. Acts 26:18).
In the above Scriptures, it is fairly clear that believers enter
the kingdom of God at a future time. The fact that "we must through many
tribulations enter the kingdom of God" shows that "many
tribulations" are to be experienced by born-again Christians before
entering the kingdom of God - that is why Paul strengthened the souls of the
disciples, encouraging them to "continue in the faith." The fact that
God calls us "into His own kingdom and glory" shows that the kingdom
which God has called us to enter is His own kingdom (in heaven), where we learned
in Chapter 3 His "glory" dwells. The fact that the Lord was
preserving Paul for His heavenly kingdom shows that Paul hadn't entered
"His heavenly kingdom" yet - Paul was being "preserved" for
such an entrance in the future. The apostle Peter encouraged us to make our
calling and election sure, "for so an entrance will be supplied to you
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ." If Christians have already "entered" the everlasting
kingdom of Jesus Christ (as some suppose), why then does Peter speak of it as a
future event, something that "will" happen? Indeed, entering into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a future event.
A cursory reading of Scriptures like Revelation 1:9 and Colossians
1:13 above, taken out of context, might seem to indicate to some that
present-day believers are actually "in the kingdom of the Son of His
love" right now (i.e., upon conversion). This conclusion is invalid
though, for "the kingdom of the Son of His love" does not presently
exist. According to explicit teaching from the Scriptures, the only kingdom of
God that belongs to Jesus to rule over is the Mediatorial/Messianic kingdom of
God which will be set up at the second coming of Christ. Jesus is surely not presently
sitting on the throne of His kingdom which He received from His Father the LORD
and inherited from King David his father according to the flesh. On the
contrary, Jesus is presently sitting at the right hand of His Father the King
(Heb.1:3), sitting with His Father on His Father's throne (Rev.3:21), waiting
for God the Father to make His enemies His footstool (Heb.10:12-13), at which
time He will sit on the throne of His glory (Matt.19:28, 25:31), restore the
kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6), and rule in the midst of His enemies (Psalm
110:2). Not only is Jesus not presently sitting on the throne of "the
kingdom of the Son of His love," thus negating the existence of this
kingdom at present, but the believer's entrance into the everlasting kingdom of
the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is yet future as well (2Peter 1:11).
Indeed, the solution to this seeming contradiction in Colossians
1:13 and Revelation 1:9 is found in the immediately preceding verse to
Colossians 1:13:
...
giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light (Col.1:12).
The Father has "qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light." This "inheritance of the
saints" is in fact "the kingdom" of the Son of His love, and
will be received upon the destruction of the antichrist at the second coming of
Jesus Christ:
"Those
great beasts, which are four, [are] four kings [which] arise out of the earth.
But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the
kingdom forever, even forever and ever" (Dan.7:17-18).
"I
was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and
prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was made
in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time had come for the saints
to possess the kingdom" (Dan.7:21-22).
"He
shall speak words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most
High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then they shall be given into
his hand for a time and times and half a time. But the court shall be seated,
and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy [it] forever.
Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His
kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey
Him" (Dan.7:26-27).
And
they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to
open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and
priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth (Rev.5:9-10).
And
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them and the
souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the
word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not
received [his] mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and
reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live
again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy [is] he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the
second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with Him a thousand years (Rev.20:4-6).
Thus when the Father "qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light," "on paper"
(positionally) He was "transferring us" into the kingdom of the Son
of His love. As Alva McClain writes, "... we have been (aorist tense)
transferred judicially into the Kingdom of our Lord even before its
establishment. Being what He is, God `calleth the things that are not, as
though they were' (Rom.4:17, ASV)"1. "So," continues Herman Hoyt, "it is quite proper
for Paul to refer to a saint being translated into the kingdom of Christ
(Col.1:13). The mediatorial [Dan.2:44] kingdom belongs to the members of the
Church in the sense that as the bride of Christ and the queen, she will rule
and reign with Christ in this kingdom (Heb.12:28, Rev.3:21)"2 "on the earth" (Rev.5:10) for "a thousand
years" (Rev.20:4).
Jesus and His apostles all spoke about the inheritance of the
kingdom of God:
"Then
the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:"
(Matt.25:34).
Do
you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
(1Cor.6:9, c.f. Eph.5:5, Gal.5:21).
Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
nor does corruption inherit incorruption (1Cor.15:50).
Listen,
my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world rich in faith
and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him? (James
2:5).
From the above Scriptures we find that the inheritance of the poor
and of the righteous, which inheritance is the kingdom of God, is promised to
be received in the future, following the redemption of our physical bodies.
There are still other Scriptures where "inheritance" of
"the kingdom of God" is strongly implied:
"But
seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Do not
fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom" (Luke 12:30-31).
"Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.5:3).
"Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven" (Matt.5:11).
"...
to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and [from] the
authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:18).
Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by
which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb.12:28).
Above we read that the poor in spirit, those who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, who have had their eyes opened, who have turned from
darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, who have had their
sins forgiven, sanctified by faith in Jesus, will receive an inheritance, a
kingdom which cannot be shaken. This inheritance awaits the believer, and will
be received after the redemption of our physical bodies (1Cor.15:50) upon the
coming of Christ for His Church (Phil.3:20-21). It is our Father's good
pleasure to give us the kingdom of God. We who are "mature" eagerly
wait for and press towards the goal of the redemption of our bodies
(Phil.3:11-15), without which we cannot inherit the kingdom of God
(1Cor.15:50).
In summary, we have learned that those "born of the
Spirit" qualify to enter the kingdom of God in heaven and the yet future Messianic
kingdom of God on earth, and that this "entrance" into "the
kingdom of God," also referred to as "the inheritance of the saints
in the light," will take place at a future time from a believer's life in
this present age, after the redemption of our physical bodies at the coming of
Christ from heaven. We also found that following Christ's coming, believers
will reign with Christ on the earth for a thousand years.
1Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (BMH Books, 1974),
pp.435-436.
2Robert G. Clouse, Ed., The Meaning of the Millennium (IV Press,
1977), Herman A. Hoyt, "Dispensational Premillennialism", p.74
CHAPTER 11
Mysteries of the Kingdom of God
Jesus spoke a lot of parables during his first advent to the
earth. W.E. Vine defines the word parable (Gr. PARABOLE, Strong's #3850) to
literally denote "a placing beside, a placing of one thing beside another
with a view to comparison"1. Thayer wrote of the word PARABOLE: "a narrative, fictitious
but agreeable to the laws and usages of human life, by which either the duties
of men or the things of God, particularly the nature and history of God's
kingdom, are figuratively portrayed"2
Jesus began many of His parables with the phrase, "the
kingdom of heaven is like ..." In these parables, Jesus compared the
kingdom of heaven to a wide variety of earthly things such as: the experience
of a farmer (Matt.13:24, Mark 4:26), a mustard seed (Matt.13:31), yeast
(Matt.13:33), hidden treasure (Matt.13:44), a merchant of beautiful pearls
(Matt.13:45), the experience of fishermen (Matt.13:47), the experiences of a
king with his servants (Matt.18:23) and his son (Matt.22:2), the experience of
a landowner (Matt.20:1), virgins preparing for the bridegroom (Matt.25:1), and
a traveler and his servants (Matt.25:14). After speaking to the multitudes with
these parables, Jesus would then get alone with His disciples and explain to
them what His parables meant (Mark 4:34).
In speaking to the multitudes in parables, Jesus was
"fulfilling" what had been spoken by the prophet Asaph in Psalm 78:2:
"I
will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret
from the foundation of the world." (Matt.13:35).
That the Jewish multitudes didn't ask Jesus what His parables
meant, thus indicating their dullness of heart to even want to understand His
parables, also "fulfilled" Isaiah's prophesy in Isaiah 6:9-10 as
well. But the disciples of Jesus wanted to understand His parables, the
mysteries, the previously unrevealed truth, of the kingdom of heaven (Matt.13:11),
and thus Jesus personally explained His parables to them who had "ears to
hear," His disciples. Perhaps sad for us is the fact that most of Jesus'
explanations concerning His "kingdom" parables were not recorded by
the disciples of Jesus who wrote the Gospel accounts. In fact, only two of the
"kingdom" parables were explained and recorded for us in the Gospels:
"The parable of the wheat and tares" (Matt.13:24-30, 36-43), and
"The parable of the dragnet" (Matt.13:47-50), both of which were
explained by Jesus as having a lot to do with the Judgment at the end of the
age, i.e., the coming of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God:
"...
the harvest is the end of the age ... Therefore as the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will
send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that
offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace
of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear,
let him hear!" (Matt.13:39-43).
"So
it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the
wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will
be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matt.13:49-50).
The meaning of most of Jesus' parables concerning "the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" remain a mystery to us today. This is
evidenced by the wide variety of speculative explanations one may find in the
multitude of books written by professing Christians about the parables of
Jesus:
The
point to be emphasized in all this is that these parables of the Kingdom, even
for the saved, must be divinely interpreted in order to serve any beneficial
purpose. In no area of the Word of God is there greater need for caution on the
part of the interpreters than in the parables, and especially in those
concerned with the `mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.' Even the most
spiritual and well-taught among students of the Word may go astray here; and
many an error has found its basis in some parabolic detail, e.g. the gradual
and ultimate triumph of the Church in converting the world through the
`leavening process' of the Gospel. It is never safe to use either a type or
parable to teach something not elsewhere taught directly and clearly in the
Word of God. ... Schodde correctly says, `The interpreters of former
generations laid down the rule, theologia parabolica non est argumentativa; i.e.,
the parables, very rich in mission thoughts, do not furnish a basis for
doctrinal argument .... They illustrate truth but they do not prove or
demonstrate truth' (J.H. Schodde, "Parable," International Standard
Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago: Howard-Severance, 1915), Vol. IV, p.2244)3
Therefore, since it is impossible to objectively find out the
truth Jesus was attempting to communicate via His unexplained parables
concerning the kingdom of God, it seems wise that we should base our
understanding of the kingdom of God on clear and solid passages in Scripture
that plainly teach specifically about the kingdom of God. It's difficult to
believe that God would have left a key portion of truth concerning the kingdom
of God left unsaid in the rest of the New Testament but tucked away in Jesus'
unexplained-in-the-gospels "kingdom" parables, "kingdom"
truth that would only be accessible to those with the unverifyable
"spiritual gift" of understanding mysterious parables. It therefore seems
unwise that speculations about what the "kingdom" parables mean
should be used by professing Christians of today to build doctrines on which
contradict the clear teaching of the rest of the Scriptures on the subject of
the kingdom of God.
What we do know is that Jesus spoke parables about the kingdom of
God to the multitudes, fulfilling Old Testament prophesy, and that these
parables were explained to His disciples.
1W.E. Vine, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Nelson,
1985), p.457.
2William Thayer, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (Baker, 1977),
p.479.
3Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (BMH Books, 1974),
p.324, 324n.
CHAPTER 12
A Summary of the Doctrine of the Kingdom of God
A "kingdom" is a government or country headed by a king
or queen. The "kingdom" may extend beyond the confines of the kingdom
(country). There is a very close relationship between a kingdom and its throne;
a throne can represent its kingdom. The person who sits on the throne of a
kingdom is the one who is in control - he is the king; it's "his
kingdom," even if his kingdom is ruled by a "mediator." The
right to sit on the throne of a kingdom is usually passed down from father to
son, i.e. an inheritance. A "throne" is a physical chair on which the
king sits, and it is the place of judgment. It may be said of someone that they
sit on the king's "right hand."
The "kingdom of God" is just like any ol' kingdom in
many ways, but as might be expected, there are some unique aspects to the
kingdom of God as well. The LORD God (usually a reference to "God the
Father") has a kingdom in heaven where he sits on His throne as King. His
kingdom is everlasting, rules over all in the universe, and is characterized by
righteousness, justice, glory, glorious majesty, power, and mighty acts. God
also has had a physical kingdom (a mediatorial theocracy) over the nation of
Israel, and King David and his seed have the right to the throne of this
kingdom, which seed and throne will be established forever.
King David's offspring ends with the promised Messiah, also known
as "God," the "Son," "one like the Son of Man,"
and "the Lord," who is the ultimate rightful heir to the throne of
this kingdom which he received from His Father, the LORD God. After sitting at
the LORD's right hand in heaven, this Messiah will build and inhabit the
tabernacle of David and the temple of God, and sit on the throne of His father
David, establishing His kingdom, judging with righteousness, and putting an end
to all the ungodliness of the children of Israel. This Messianic kingdom of God
will destroy all the wicked kingdoms on earth, and last "forever."
Gabriel, John the Baptist, and Jesus all confirmed our Jewish
understanding of the Messianic kingdom of God: Preceded by the coming of
"Elijah" (John the Baptist), Mary gave birth to the Biblical Messiah,
Jesus, whose kingdom's coming to earth is near in time and is synonymous with
the Judgment Day of the LORD. John the Baptist, Jesus, and His disciples all
warned Israel to repent in view of the approaching Messianic kingdom of God, a
kingdom which will actually arrive with the second coming of Jesus the Messiah.
Jesus taught that upon His coming, He will sit on the throne of
His glory, judge Israel with those who have followed Him, and judge the
nations. The timing of His second coming with His kingdom is only known by His
Father, who has put the timing under His own authority.
Jesus' signs and wonders bore witness that Jesus was the
"Coming One" sent by the Father, and that Jesus was in the Father,
and the Father in Jesus. Therefore, Jesus charged the Pharisees to believe His
words, including the truth that He was the Son of David, the kingdom of God,
who had come upon them and was among them, which facts the Holy Spirit bore
witness to by casting out demons.
Jesus also recognized in His teachings all the main elements of
the eternal kingdom of God as described in the Old Testament: That
"heaven" is God's throne, where God dwells, and that the earth is His
footstool. Jesus taught that "the Lord" (Jesus Himself) sits at the
right hand of the LORD, on His Father's throne (i.e. God the Father is the
reigning king of the kingdom of God), and that someday (a time which His Father
has put under His own authority), when Jesus' enemies are made His footstool,
He will sit on His own throne, the throne of His father David, over Israel,
restoring the kingdom to Israel, which kingdom Jesus acknowledged comes from a
place other than "this world" (i.e., it comes from heaven). Jesus
plainly acknowledged the existence of the eternal kingdom of God His Father as
described in the Old Testament. This kingdom continues to exist today, without
a mediator, and will continue on without a mediator until Jesus comes to the
earth to sit on the throne of His kingdom over Israel and the world.
Since only those "born of the Spirit" qualify to enter
the kingdom of God, the "kingdom" of God that would include the
kingdom of men on earth was excluded as the "kingdom" that can be
entered only by some, since all men, saved and unsaved, are subject to the
universal authority of the King whether they like it or not. This left us with
the kingdom of God in heaven, and the yet future Messianic kingdom of God on
earth, that those who have been "born of the Spirit" will enter. The
actual "entrance" into "the kingdom of God," also referred
to "the inheritance of the saints in the light," will take place at a
future time from a believer's life in this present age. Following their
"entrance" into the kingdom of God, we found that the Scriptures declare
that the saints will "reign on the earth" with Christ for "a
thousand years."
Many of Jesus' parables spoke of the mysteries of the kingdom of
God, in which He compared the kingdom of God to earthly things such as yeast
and a mustard seed. Jesus only explained these parables to His disciples, and
only two of these explanations are recorded for us in the Gospels, both having
much to do with the coming of Jesus with His kingdom at the end of this present
age. The majority of these "kingdom" parables are left mysteries for
us today, as evidenced by the plethora of different interpretations professing
Christians have come up with. We therefore deemed it best to avoid attempting
to use these unexplained "kingdom parables" to establish doctrines
concerning the kingdom of God, and that we should rather rely upon the clear
teaching of the rest of the New Testament concerning truths about the kingdom
of God that had been "kept secret from the foundation of the world."
Thus we have established from the Scriptures the doctrine of the
kingdom of God. Amen.
Appendix A
The Kingdom of God
According to George Eldon Ladd
George Eldon Ladd was professor of Biblical Theology at Fuller
Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. During his lifetime, Mr. Ladd
wrote several books about the kingdom of God, among which are Critical
Questions About the Kingdom of God (1952), The Gospel of the Kingdom (1959),
and The Presence of the Future (1974). Without a doubt, Mr. Ladd's books
concerning the kingdom of God have had a powerful influence on the evangelical
Body of Christ in modern times. It behooves us then to critically examine
exactly what Mr. Ladd wrote concerning the kingdom of God, so as to ascertain
whether or not his teachings are Biblical. All the while, it is important to
consider what effect Ladd's teachings might have on the maturity (Eph.4:13)
level of the Body of Christ; not only on "practical Christian
living," but also on a believer's knowledge and understanding of God and
the Bible, for "God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth" (1Tim.2:4), "increasing in the knowledge of God"
(Col.1:10).
Recall earlier that we learned that the eternal kingdom of God the
Father in heaven rules over all, including the "kingdom of men" on
earth. We also found that, within "the kingdom of God," there was a
mediatorial kingdom of God over Israel, the throne of which kingdom belongs to
David and his seed, which throne is ultimately inherited by Jesus Christ, the
Son of God and the Son of David. We thus found that there are two distinct
kingdoms referred to as "the kingdom of the LORD (God)": the kingdom
of God the Father, and what ends up being the mediatorial kingdom of God the
Son. The Bible says that the kingdom of God the Son will not be "set
up" (Dan.2:44) until the second coming of Christ (Matt.19:28, 25:31).
Until that time, the Lord (Jesus) sits at the right hand of the LORD, waiting
for His Father's timing to restore the kingdom to Israel, when His enemies will
be made his footstool (Acts 1:5-6, 2:30-33); then Jesus Christ will reign till
He has put all enemies under His feet (1Cor.15:26).
"THE KINGDOM OF GOD"
George Eldon Ladd's understanding of the kingdom of God deviated
from the above Biblical truth in several respects. To begin with, Mr. Ladd did
not see the need to distinguish between the "kingdom of God" the
Father and the "kingdom of God" the Son, from the time of His
"coming in the flesh" up until the end of the millennial (Rev.20)
kingdom1. Now as we learned in
Chapter 3, it is true that both kingdoms (that of the Father, and that of the
Son) may be called "the kingdom of God," but that doesn't mean they
are both exactly the same kingdom. As we learned earlier, the kingdom of God
the Father is a heavenly kingdom, with God the Father sitting on the throne as
King (usually without a mediator), which kingdom has existed from eternity past
(Ps.93:2) and will continue to exist into eternity future (Dan.4:3, Lam.5:19).
But the mediatorial (Davidic) kingdom of God ("not of this world,"
but "from" heaven, John 18:36) is mainly an earthly kingdom over
Israel, and by definition was not originally established until the time of King
David, and will not be established again until the second coming of Jesus
Christ from heaven (Dan.2:44), which kingdom will eventually be handed over to
God the Father (1Cor.15:24). It is important for us to note then that when Ladd
wrote of "the kingdom of God" (as it "came to men"2), Ladd was actually referring to the mediatorial "kingdom of
God" the Son, which kingdom Ladd believed was inaugurated at the first
coming of Christ and continues at present3. In thinking of "the kingdom
of God" in this way, Ladd committed a "black-or-white" logical
fallacy in his argument: Either "the kingdom of God" (the Son)
presently exists to rule in ("come to") the kingdom of men on earth,
or "the kingdom of God" does not rule at all in the kingdom of men on
earth. Of course, the latter of the two options sounds foolish. But there is a
third option which Ladd neglected to recognize: The eternal kingdom of God the Father
in heaven presently rules (without a mediator) in the kingdom of men on earth,
as it always has - this is indeed what the Bible teaches, as we learned
earlier.
THE REIGN OF GOD
Another key element to Ladd's teaching about the kingdom of God
was his definition of the "kingdom" of God itself, which definition
is quite different from what we learned in Chapter 2. Recall in Chapter 2 that
we learned that the Hebrew word MALKUTH ("kingdom") primarily means,
"reign; rule." Also, according to Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, the
Greek word BASILEIA (lit. "kingdom," Strong's #932), primarily means,
"royal power, kingship, dominion, rule." Mr. Ladd, claiming to be in
line with the usage of "kingdom" as found in the Old Testament and
Rabbinic Judaism4, disregarded what most
of the Bible teaches about the "kingdom" of God (what the previous
chapters in this book seek to present), and instead keyed in on the primary
meanings of MALKUTH and BASILEIA5 to conclude that,
Fundamentally,
... the kingdom of God is God's sovereign reign; but God's reign expresses
itself in different stages through redemptive history6.
By employing this "primary meaning" argument, Ladd
opened the door for himself (and his followers) to feel justified in
interpreting New Testament occurrences of the word "kingdom" to mean
"reign" or "rule," and then to interpret "rule"
as "power," and as we shall explore later, interpret
"power" as DUNIMAS, a Greek word commonly known in the New Testament
to indicate the power of the Holy Spirit to work miracles, leading Ladd to the
tendency of reducing "the kingdom of God" (a subject we just spent
eleven chapters exploring) to simply mean the power of the Holy Spirit to work
"Signs and Wonders," a neoplatonic Kingdom-of-the-gaps.
Ladd's "primary meaning"
argument:
"kingdom" =
"reign/rule" = "power" = DUNIMAS
HOFFMAN'S "REDEMPTIVE HISTORY"
In order to further understand why Ladd defined the kingdom of God
as we read above, that "God's reign expresses itself in different stages
through redemptive history," it is necessary to examine the apparent
theological influences on Ladd that seem to have led him to his
"fundamental" conclusions regarding the nature of the kingdom of God.
In his book, A Theology of the New Testament, Ladd documents the history of New
Testament theology7. Ladd wrote that J.C.K.
Hoffman, a German theologian (c.1850), saw the Bible as a record of the
"history" of "redemption" ("Heilsgeschichte" in
German)8. This kind of thinking
apparently led Ladd to conclude that, "Biblical theology ... is basically
the description and interpretation of the divine activity within the scene of
human history that seeks man's redemption"9. Ladd further concluded that, "The kingdom of God in the New
Testament is the redemptive work of God active in history for the defeat of his
enemies, bringing men to the blessings of the divine reign"10. Hence Ladd's language above, that "God's reign expresses
itself in different stages through redemptive history"11. Ladd simply synthesized Hoffman's "redemptive history"
idea with the primary meanings of Hebrew and Greek words (that are translated
"kingdom") to come to the conclusions he did above, that "the
kingdom of God is first of all the divine redemptive rule manifested in Christ;
and it is secondly the realm in which men experience the blessings of His
rule"12.
DELIVERANCE FROM SATAN
Ladd's application of the word "redemption" in defining
the kingdom of God is curious, since "redemption" is never emphasied
in the Bible to define the kingdom of God. This is an example of what Ladd
often did: Use Biblical vocabulary in an unbiblical manner13, setting up the undiscerning reader to be seduced by Ladd's
biblical-sounding words to believe his teachings.
We must examine the context of Ladd's use of
"redemption" then to find out exactly how he related
"redemption" to the kingdom of God:
As
the divine redemptive rule of God, the Kingdom of God has come among men ... to
deliver men from the domination of satanic power14.
It seems that Ladd had the idea of "deliverance" in mind
when using the word "redemption", specifically
"deliverance" from "the domination of satanic power." That
Ladd used "redemption" to mean "deliverance" is confirmed
in other summary statements by Ladd:
The
New Testament interest [in Satan] is altogether practical and redemptive. It
recognizes the supernatural power of evil, and its concern is the redemptive
work of God in Christ delivering men from these malignant forces15.
The Bible also equates ÒdeliveranceÓ with ÒredemptionÓ, and speaks
of the kingdom of God in the same passage:
... giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us
from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of
His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
(Col.1:12-14, c.f. Acts 26:18).
All
Christians have been delivered (= redeemed) by God from Òthe authority of
darkness,Ó and (as we learned in Chapter 10) in the future will enter the
kingdom of the Son of His love, which kingdom is their inheritance. But the
Bible does not teach of a Òredemptive kingdom of GodÓ on a mission of,
Òdeliverance from Satan.Ó
THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
How was Ladd able to relate the kingdom of God to "delivering
men from satanic forces" from the Bible? This was indeed a very important
concept for Ladd, for he wrote in his A Theology of the New Testament,
"Our purpose [in writing this book] is primarily to show that the theology
of the kingdom of God is essentially one of conflict and conquest over the
kingdom of Satan"23. Disregarding the eternal kingdom of God the Father (without a
kingly mediator) that "rules over all" (Psalm 103:13) as a present
spiritual reality, Ladd pointed to Matthew 12:28-29, which Ladd considered
"the strongest statement" that "the Kingdom of God" is
"a present spiritual reality"24, embodying "the essential theology of the kingdom of
God"25:
"But
if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come
upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods,
unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house"
(Matt.12:28-29).
With reference to Matt.12:28-29, Ladd wrote:
What
is the Gospel of the Kingdom? What means the announcement that the Kingdom of
God has come near? It is this: That God is now acting among men to deliver them
from bondage to Satan. It is the announcement that God, in the person of
Christ, is doing something - if you please, is attacking the very kingdom of Satan
himself. The exorcism of demons is proof that the Kingdom of God has come among
men and is at work among them. The casting out of demons is itself a work of
the Kingdom of God26.
Above, we learn that, with regards to "the gospel of the
kingdom," Ladd exchanged the warning of Jesus to Israel to repent in view
of the imminent arrival in history of the Messianic kingdom of God (see
Chapters 4-7) with another "gospel of the kingdom" announcing that
God is attacking the kingdom of Satan by casting demons out of people - such
was the "gospel" of George Eldon Ladd. These are two totally
different gospels, affecting our very understanding of what Jesus' mission was
prior to his death on the cross.
DODD'S "NEW AGE" IN JESUS' PERSON AND MISSION
Another equally important influence on the thinking of George
Eldon Ladd relating to "history" and the kingdom of God seemed to be
C.H. Dodd, and English theologian (c.1930), who "found the unity of the
New Testament message in the kerygma ["preaching of the gospel"], the
heart of which [gospel] is the proclamation that the New Age has come in the
person and mission of Jesus"16. This kind of "gospel" led Ladd to conclude that,
"This evil age has been assaulted by the Age to Come in the person of
Christ"17. Synthesizing the primary meaning of BASILEIA, Hoffman's ideas,
and Dodd's ideas together, Ladd wrote, "God's Kingdom [reign, the age to
come] came into history [this present age] in the person and mission of
Jesus"18.
To justify his teachings Biblically, Ladd pointed out that the
Bible makes it clear that the (what we know as the Messianic) kingdom of God
will exist during "the Age to Come"19 (what Dodd apparently referred to as the "New Age"),
following the second coming of Christ. Ladd then appealed to Hebrews 6:5, which
suggests to us that "the works of power of the age to come" may be
"tasted" in this present age20. Ladd reasoned that since "the works of power" that
will be experienced during the age to come may also in part be experienced
today, why couldn't we say (what the Bible doesn't say,) that the (Messianic)
kingdom of God which will exist during the age to come may also be experienced
in part now, in this present age? That's like saying, "It rains in
Seattle. It's raining, therefore I am in Seattle." Hence Ladd's fallacious
reasoning with Hebrews 6:5: "This new transforming power is the power of
the age to come; in is indeed the power of the kingdom of God ... God's Kingdom
has entered into the present evil Age"21. Isn't it true though that the eternal kingdom of God the Father
(Chapter 3) has always ruled over all in this present evil age? Why did Ladd
need to drag the Messianic Kingdom into this present age, when God the Father's
eternal kingdom can exercise its "transforming power" (as it has
constantly since the creation of the Earth) just as easily as the Messianic
Kingdom will following the second coming of Christ? Having reduced the kingdom
of God to the realm of miraculous activity alone, Ladd acknowledged,
"God's Kingdom was active in the Old Testament. In such events as the
Exodus and the captivity of Babylon, God was acting in his kingly power to
deliver or judge his people. However," Ladd continued, "in some real
sense God's kingdom came into history in the person and mission of Jesus"22. This sounds more like Hoffman and Dodd than what the Bible
teaches.
THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
In his appearance in the 1977 work, The Meaning of the Millennium
(Ed. by Robert G. Clouse), Ladd has this to say relating to the above:
Hoyt
writes, `At no point does Christ intimate that His conception of the kingdom is
any different from that of Old Testament prophesy' (p.85). This in my view
misses the central message of the Gospels. Jesus said, `But if it is by the
Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you' (Matt.12:28). Jesus claimed that in his person - a man among men - resided
the power of the Holy Spirit, and its activity was nothing less than the power
of the reign of God. Here is something utterly different from the prevailing Old
Testament hope. Before the Kingdom comes in eschatological power and glory, it
has come to men in an unexpected form - in the person and message of a Nazarene
teacher. This, to me, is the "mystery" - the revealed secret - of the
kingdom of God27.
Regarding Matthew 12:28 referred to above, we learned in Chapter 8
that Jesus taught that the kingdom of God had come upon the Pharisees in the
person of "the Son of David," the kingdom of God. In saying this,
Jesus gave no hint that He was unveiling a "mystery" about the
kingdom of God. Recall also in Chapter 11 that we found that the accounts of
Jesus' explanations of the "mysteries" of the kingdom of God were for
the most part not recorded for us in the Gospels, and thus we decided that it
would be best to base our understanding of the kingdom of God on explicit
statements in the Bible concerning the kingdom of God itself. Nowhere does the
Bible ever define the "mystery" of the kingdom of God to be what Ladd
claimed, the activity of "the coming of the Kingdom into history in
advance of its apocalyptic manifestation"28.
Ladd understood the same "mystery" as being taught by
Jesus in Matthew 11:2-6 (see Chapter 8). Paraphrasing Jesus' response to the
disciples of John the Baptist who had asked Jesus, "Are You the coming
One, or do we look for another?" (Matt.11:3), Ladd wrote:
There
is a mystery - a new revelation about the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is here;
but instead of destroying human sovereignty [i.e. Dan.2:44], it has attacked
the sovereignty of Satan. The Kingdom of God is here; but instead of making
changes in the external, political order of things, it is making changes in the
spiritual order and the lives of men and women29.
But the Jesus of the Bible never said, "The kingdom of God is
here." Yet according to Ladd, the "mystery" of the kingdom of
God is that "the kingdom of God is here"; That God, in the person of
Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit (the power of the reign of God), is
attacking the kingdom of Satan in history (this present age), in advance of its
"apocalyptic manifestation." Ladd's "mystery of the
kingdom" sounds more like the mystery of Hoffman and Dodd than anything we
can find in the Bible.
ENTERING INTO GOD'S KINGDOM NOW
Ladd also taught that the kingdom of God (Christ) is "a new
realm of redemptive blessing into which men enter by receiving Jesus' message
about the Kingdom of God[`s] ... present inbreaking into history in his own
person and mission"30. Once again, this was Ladd's expressed understanding of the
gospel Jesus preached. According to Ladd, God, the Creator of the Universe,
went to all the trouble to send His Son Jesus to Earth so that Jesus could tell
the world that the kingdom of God has come to earth in His person and mission.
If this isn't the "gospel" Jesus preached (which it isn't), then Ladd
(and those who are like-minded with him) misunderstood the gospel Jesus
preached, a rather tragic side effect to the theology of George Eldon Ladd.
Ladd further pointed to Matthew 11:11-14 & Luke 16:16 (see
Chapter 10) to support his teaching, which Scriptures read:
"Assuredly,
I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than
John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than
he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of God suffers
violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the law and prophets
prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who
is to come" (Matt.11:11-14).
"The
law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has
been preached, and everyone is pressing into it" (Luke 16:16).
Both of these passages are very hard to understand on their own31; neither of them explicitly say what Ladd interpreted them to
mean, that "the Kingdom of God is the dynamic rule of God active in
Jesus," and that "it is also a present realm of blessing into which
men may enter who receive Jesus' word ... The new age of the kingdom ... had
begun with Jesus' ministry"32. But neither of the above passages teach that "the new age
of the Kingdom" has begun with Jesus' ministry, nor do they teach that
believers "enter" the kingdom of God during their life on earth (see
Chapter 10). The law and the prophets prophesied until John of the coming of
"the Son of Man" (Matt.11:19), who according to God's plan and
foreknowledge would fulfill all the prophesies concerning the first advent of
the Messiah (which Ladd acknowledged33). But none of the prophesies that were fulfilled at the first
coming of Jesus had anything to do with the "beginning" of the coming
of the Messianic kingdom of God itself! The fulfillment of the Messianic
kingdom prophesies (see Chapters 4 & 7) are reserved for the second advent
of the Messiah. The only way in which we may say that the Messianic kingdom of
God came at the first advent of the Messiah was in the person of the Son of
David Himself (see Chapter 8), who is no longer "here," but waits in
heaven at His Father's right hand to come and establish the throne and kingdom
of David on earth.
JESUS' PRESENT REIGN
Another aspect of George Ladd's teaching of the kingdom of God was
his belief that, "The exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God means
nothing less than his enthronement as messianic King"34. Ladd seemed to come to this conclusion based on Scriptures such
as Acts 2:30-36 & 1Cor.15:22-26.
With regards to Acts 2:30-36, Ladd keyed on verse 36, which quotes
the apostle Peter as saying, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ." Ladd interpreted this Scripture to mean that "Jesus [has]
entered in upon a new stage of his messianic mission. He has now been enthroned
as messianic King"35. Commenting further on the occasion, Ladd wrote,
...
the new redemptive events in the course of Heilsgeschichte[36] have compelled Peter to reinterpret the Old Testament. Because
of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Peter transfers the messianic
Davidic throne from Jerusalem to God's right hand in heaven. Jesus has now been
enthroned as the Davidic Messiah on the throne of David, and is awaiting the
final consummation of his messianic reign ... Jesus is enthroned as the
Messiah, but his reign is not complete. He must reign until all his enemies are
made a stool for his feet37.
Rather than Peter being "compelled" to reinterpret the
Old Testament, it seems that Ladd was compelled by the thinking of Hoffman to
reinterpret the Bible. Peter never "transferred the messianic Davidic
throne from Jerusalem to God's right hand in heaven." Nor did Peter
"mean to say" in Acts 2:36 that Jesus "has entered a new stage
in his messianic mission ... enthroned as the messianic King." Peter had
just quoted Psalm 16:8-22 & Psalm 110:1, which he identified as speaking of
"the Lord" and "Christ" being raised from the dead and
sitting at the right hand of the LORD in heaven. So when Peter said, "God
has made this Jesus ... both Lord and Christ," he was simply stating that
the resurrection and ascension of Jesus proved that God had appointed38 Jesus to be "the Lord and Christ" which the prophetic
Scriptures had spoken of. The apostles never described Jesus as presently
reigning as the king of the kingdom of God, but as acting exclusively as High
Priest (Heb.8:1) and Head (not "King") of the Church (Eph.1:20-23),
angels and authorities and powers having been made subject unto Him (1Peter
3:22). Jesus is seated with His Father (Rev.3:21) at His Father's right hand,
waiting for the Father to make His enemies His footstool (Acts 2:34-35), when
Christ will reign. Nowhere does the Bible say that Jesus has now been enthroned
as the Davidic Messiah on the throne of David and is awaiting the final
"consummation" of His reign. Considering that the Messiah sitting on
the throne of David is such a strong and important prophetic theme in the
Scriptures (see Chapters 3-7), how strange it would be for the apostles to have
refrained from specifically mentioning that Christ "has now been enthroned
as the Davidic Messiah on the throne of David" if indeed it were true
(which it isn't). Jesus taught in Matt.19:28 & 25:31 that He would not sit
on His own (the only throne the Messiah can call His own, cf. Rev.3:21) throne
of "glory" until His second coming. Jesus wasn't a false prophet!:
The Bible never speaks of Christ actually "reigning" until the
timeperiod of Revelation 20:4,6, during the Millennium following His second
coming (Rev.19:11 - 20:6). There is no hint whatsoever in the New Testament
that God changed His plans from what He foresaw in the Old Testament: When the
sun and moon shall "be ashamed," the LORD39 of hosts will "reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and
before His elders, gloriously (Isaiah 24:23, c.f. Matt.19:28). It is as if Ladd
was making up his own teachings in spite of what the Bible clearly teaches
about the real Jesus Christ.
Ladd interpreted 1Corinthians 15:26 the same way, taking it out of
context to make it sound like Jesus currently reigns as King40. But the passage is speaking of Christ's "reign" after
His coming for those who are His (v.24). 1Corinthians 15:
24
But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are
Christ's at His coming.
25
Then the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts and
end to all rule and all authority and power.
26
For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
There must be a time gap between verse 24 and verse 25 for Christ
to "put an end to all rule and all authority and power," which time
is spoken of in verse 26, the time when Christ "must reign till he has put
all enemies under His feet." The passage does not teach what Ladd claimed
it taught, that Christ reigns now.
THE CHURCH & ISRAEL
Recall in Chapter's 5 & 6 that we learned that Jesus' mission
was to preach the (Messianic) kingdom of God to Israel, and thus "the
gospel of the kingdom" He preached was the announcement exclusively to
Israel that they needed to "repent" in view of the imminent arrival
in history of the "kingdom of God," which kingdom Jesus later taught
would not "appear immediately" (Luke 19:11) but actually arrive at
His second coming (Luke 19:15, 21:31; cf. Matt.19:28, 25:31).
Undoubtedly influenced by Hoffman and Dodd, Ladd understood the
mission of Jesus to be "to bring the powers of the future Age to men in
the midst of this present evil age"41, and thus Ladd understood "the gospel of the kingdom"
to be the announcement to Israel of the kingdom's "present inbreaking in
history in his [Jesus'] own person and mission," announcing "a new
realm [i.e., a "kingdom"] of redemptive blessing into which men enter
by receiving Jesus' message about the Kingdom of God ... [that] had come upon
them to defeat Satan and to deliver men from his rule"42.
This "Kingdom of God" Ladd also referred to as "the
messianic salvation"43 and the "age of fulfillment"44. Ladd
reasoned that
if
Jesus proclaimed the messianic salvation, if he offered to Israel the
fulfillment of her true destiny, than this destiny was actually accomplished in
those who received his message. The recipients of the messianic salvation
became true Israel ... the people of the Kingdom ... to this believing remnant
have been added believing Gentiles. Paul's metaphor of the olive tree suggests
the unity of the old people of God - Israel - and the Church. The olive tree is
the one people of God ... the true Israel ... the spiritual Israel45.
Thus Ladd believed that
when
Israel rejected the Kingdom, the blessings which should have been theirs were
given to those who would accept them ... our Lord purposed to bring into
existence a new people [the Church]46 who would take the place of Old Israel who rejected both his
claim to Messiahship and His offer of the Kingdom of God [Matt.21:43]47.
However, Ladd also acknowledged that "all Israel," the
[Jewish] people as a whole, "will be saved"48 as well.
The problems with Ladd's view are many. Rather than the Messianic
"Kingdom of God" we learned about earlier, Ladd thought the
"Kingdom of God" which Jesus was actually talking about was a
"messianic salvation"49 that could be immediately experienced by any Jew who would
receive it. Rather than an exclusive fulfillment of the Old Testament
prophesies concerning the Messianic kingdom of God upon the second coming of
Christ, Ladd believed a partial "spiritual"50 fulfillment of the Old Testament Messianic Kingdom prophesies
(see Chapter 4), and not just the Messianic prophesies like Isaiah 53 and Psalm
22, were actually accomplished in those Jews who received His message, who
became "the true Israel," which soon after His resurrection included
Gentiles, making "one new people of God." And what "gospel"
did these Gentiles believe in? A gospel about "a new realm [kingdom] of
redemptive blessing into which men enter by receiving Jesus' message about the
Kingdom of God ... [that] had come upon them to defeat Satan and to deliver men
from his rule"51. This was surely not the
gospel that Jesus was preaching to the Jews, nor does it have anything to do
with the gospel that the apostles were commanded to preach to the world
following the ascension of Jesus Christ.
Also, Ladd seemed confused in his thinking to argue that the
Church is "the new Israel," and yet affirm that "all
Israel" (after the flesh52) will be saved as well. Ladd couldn't explain what "form the
salvation of Israel" (after the flesh) would take, and thus he appealed to
"Heilsgeschichte" (i.e. "redemptive history"53) to somehow (?) explain the apparent54 contradiction between the Church being the new
"Israel," and yet Old "Israel" still being
"Israel" as well, which contradiction doesn't exist in the Bible
because the Church is never called "Israel." Nor does the Bible say
that the olive tree in Paul's metaphor represents "the people of the
Kingdom," the Church. All the Bible implies in the passage is that those
who "partake" (Rom.11:17) of the olive tree are those who obtain
imputed righteousness (salvation) by faith in God (Rom.9:30-33, 11:7,20), as
non-Israeli Abraham did (Rom.4:3,24). Paul prophesied that "all
Israel" would one day partake of the olive tree, that the remaining
portion of elect ethnic Jews would obtain salvation as a previous portion (who
happen to be part of the Church) had (Rom.11:24-28). "The blessings of the
kingdom" (a phrase missing in the Scriptures) were not taken away from
Israel and immediately received by the Church, but the kingdom of God itself
was taken away from the Jews who rejected Jesus (Matt.21:43), and will be
received by the Church (and Israel according to Matt.19:28, Acts 1:6-7) at
Christ's second coming, as we learned in Chapter 10.
THE KINGDOM & THE CHURCH
Ladd's understanding concerning the kingdom of God and the Church
led him to some noteworthy conclusions. Because Ladd believed that Jesus
currently reigns on the messianic throne of David in heaven, Ladd was able to
conclude that, "the Kingdom of God which in the Old Testament dispensation
was manifested in Israel is now working in the world through the Church"55. Because Ladd believed that the kingdom of God is primarily
concerned with defeating Satan and his forces in order to redeem men from their
power, Ladd was able to conclude that the Church is made up of "redeemed
men who have given themselves to the rule of God through Christ"56, that the conflict between the kingdom of God and the powers of
darkness continues as the Church bears the good news of the God's Kingdom to
the nations of the earth, ... assaulting the kingdom of Satan"57, and that the Church is "the instrument of God's dynamic
rule in the world to oppose evil and the powers of Satan in every form of their
manifestation ..."58. But the Bible never uses such biblical vocabulary to say such
things. In the Bible, the Church is described as being "the Body of
Christ" (1Cor.12:27), consisting of those who have believed "the
gospel of salvation" (Eph.1:13) and have been "baptized" by the
Holy Spirit into one Body (1Cor.12:13), which body has Christ as its
"Head" (Eph.1:22-23), not its King! Confused himself, Ladd's
teachings regarding the Church and Israel can do nothing but confuse the Body
of Christ, leaving a vacuum for even greater error to exist in its midst.
THE CONTENT OF THE GOSPEL CONCERNING JESUS' DEATH ON THE CROSS
This idea of Ladd, that the kingdom of God is all about defeating
Satan, and that Jesus' mission was all about this "Kingdom of God,"
had adverse effects on Ladd's understanding of what gospel the Church is to
preach, but also influenced the emphasis in Ladd's mind as to why Jesus died on
the cross. In The Gospel of the Kingdom (1959), Ladd wrote that Christians were
to preach his "gospel of the kingdom" to the world59, yet one searches the pages of his book in vain to find any
mention whatsoever of Christ's substitutionary and propitiatory death on the
cross which enabled God to justify and impute righteousness on those who
believe in Him and thus be reconciled to God, forever saved from His wrath.
That these important theological concepts were missing from Ladd's "gospel
of the Kingdom" is no surprise, since the content of "the gospel of
the kingdom" which Jesus preached never contained any reference to His
death on the cross! But Ladd explained this away, writing that, "It was
unavoidable that the gospel, the good news of salvation, should be couched in
different terms before the event [of Christ's death] than those used by the
apostles after the event of the messianic death and resurrection had become
part of redemptive history"60. This is Hoffman jargon and should be rejected on that basis.
The reason "the gospel of the kingdom" which Jesus
preached had different "terms" than the gospel that the apostles
preached is due to the fact that, although both gospels are "good
news," the two gospels are different!: Different messages ("Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," vs. "To make it to heaven, you
must believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again"), preached at
different times (c.30-33 A.D. vs. 33 A.D. - present), to different audiences
(Jews vs. Jews & Gentiles).
What was the actual content of Ladd's "gospel of the
kingdom" relative to Christ's death on the cross? Ladd wrote,
It
is through His death that Christ has destroyed Satan ... Christ in death did
something which was a defeat for the devil in that his activity, his power, was
in some real way curtailed ... God has already accomplished this first great
stage in His work of redemption. Satan is The God of This Age, yet the power of
Satan has been broken that men may know the rule of God in their lives ... [By]
his death and resurrection, Christ has already destroyed death. He has broken
its power. Death is still an enemy, but it is a defeated enemy ... Yet sin,
like death and Satan, has been defeated. Christ has already appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb.9:26). The power of sin has been
broken ... Therefore, we are to be no longer in bondage to sin ... The power of
the Kingdom of God has invaded This Age, a power which can set men free from
their bondage to sin61.
Above we read Ladd's understanding of the meaning of Christ's
death: Christ's death "broke the power" of Satan, sin, and death over
men; Men no longer need to live under the controlling power of Satan (a Satan
who leads men into a sinful lifestyle leading to death), because Christ has
died on the cross to break the power of Satan, and thus the power of sin and
death, that men may know the rule of God (Christ) in their lives, experiencing
the blessings of righteousness, peace, and joy62. But is this the Bible's exclusive emphasis concerning the
meaning of Christ's death on the cross? Did Christ die just so that I could
live a righteous lifestyle and have a peaceful and joyous life abundantly63? Ladd's understanding of the kingdom of God produced a dangerous
trend in his teaching concerning the meaning of Christ's death on the cross:
the critical, saving information concerning the meaning of Christ's death on
the cross is missing from the pages of Ladd's book about the
"gospel"! Missing from Ladd's "gospel" is what Ladd later
affirmed in his A Theology of the New Testament (1974): the doctrines of
substitution64, propitiation65, justification66, reconciliation67, and imputed righteousness68, all via Jesus' death on the cross. But these doctrines were not
taught in Ladd's, The Gospel of the Kingdom (1959). Is it possible that those
who hold to Ladd's views concerning the kingdom of God tend to repeat the same
grave error which Ladd made in neglecting to emphasize the saving information
regarding the meaning of Christ's death on the cross, instead emphasizing
Christ's death exclusively as a spiritual warfare event that "broke"
the controlling power of Satan, sin, and death over man?
Note also that Ladd's understanding of Scriptures like Hebrews
9:26 (which Ladd quoted above) seemed to be sabotaged by his understanding of
the kingdom of God, for Hebrews 9:26 is not speaking of the "power of
sin" being "broken" in one's life, but of Christ's death on that
cross that "put away sin," redeeming men from the penalty of sin so
that men could be eternally justified and forgiven of their sins (cf. Heb.9:12,
15, 22; 10:1).
SUMMARY
We have found that George Eldon Ladd, apparently under the influence
of such men as Hoffman and Dodd, believed that Jesus' mission at His first
coming was to mysteriously inaugurate the fulfillment of His "reign"
in the lives of men, redeeming them from the powers of Satan by the power of
the Holy Spirit of God and the works of power of the age to come, so that men
may presently enter Jesus' kingdom to experience its blessings, a kingdom that
has Jesus as its King, a Jesus who presently reigns in heaven on the throne of
David over the people of God, the Church, the new Israel, who are on the
offensive against the kingdom of Satan. We also found that Ladd's "gospel
of the Kingdom" had a tendency to distract Ladd away from emphasizing the
saving information of the gospel of Jesus' death on the cross.
1George Eldon Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom (Eerdmans, 1959),
pp.17, 115.
2Robert G. Clouse, ed., The Meaning of the Millennium (IV Press,
1977), G.E. Ladd, "A Historical Premillennial Response", p.93.
3Ibid.
4G.E. Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1974), p.63.
5Ibid.
6The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.107.
7A Theology of the New Testament, pp.13-33.
8Ibid., p.16.
9Ibid., p.26.
10The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.107.
11Ibid., p.22.
12Ibid., p.112.
13Other examples above include "blessings," and "for
the defeat of his enemies." The reader may notice other examples as we go
on.
14Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, pp.114-115.
15A Theology of the New Testament, p.51.
16Ibid., p.20.
17The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.139.
18Ibid., p.69.
19A Theology of the New Testament, pp.46-47; The Gospel of the
Kingdom, pp.40-42.
20The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.41.
21Ibid., pp.42, 93.
22Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, p.69.
23Ibid., p.51.
24Ibid., p.65.
25Ibid., p.66.
26The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.47.
27Clouse, p.94.
28Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, p.93.
29The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.55.
30A Theology of the New Testament, p.70.
31In attempting to understand Matthew 11:11-14 and Luke 16:16, it is
important to consider that after John the Baptist was put in prison (Mark
1:14), his mission as "Elijah," preceding the coming of the great and
dreadful Day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5), was fulfilled. Thus, as was argued in
Chapters 5 & 6, Jesus was able to say in Mark 1:14-15, "The time is
fulfilled" for the great and dreadful (Judgment) Day of the Lord to come,
and therefore the "kingdom of God" (which will come with the great
and dreadful Day of the Lord - see Chapter 4 & 5) "is at hand,"
imminent in time. That is why Jesus then preached to Israel, "Repent, and
believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
32A Theology of the New Testament, p.72.
33Ibid., p.65.
34Ibid., p.335.
35Ibid., p.336.
36Recall that this term means "redemptive history,"
Hoffman's idea.
37Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, pp.336-337.
38Thayer defines "made" (EPOINSE, Strong's #4160) here to
mean, "to (make, i.e.) constitute or appoint one anything", cf.
Rev.5:10, William Thayer, Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, p.525.
39Yes, Jesus is also referred to as "the LORD" in the Old
Testament, in accord with the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity.
40Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament, p.411.
41The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.111.
42Ibid., p.108; A Theology of the New Testament, p.70.
43A Theology of the New Testament, pp.76-77.
44Ibid., pp.80, 107.
45Ibid., p.108, 538.
46Ibid., p.537.
47The Gospel of the Kingdom, pp.107, 112.
48A Theology of the New Testament, p.539; The Gospel of the Kingdom,
pp.119-121.
49Once again, Ladd employs Biblical vocabulary
("messianic", "salvation") in an unbiblical manner,
distracting the reader away from what the Bible actually teaches.
50Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.62.
51A Theology of the New Testament, p.70; The Gospel of the Kingdom,
p.108.
52The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.119.
53Ladd further explains it as "two stages of a single
redemptive purpose of God", The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.120.
54A Theology of the New Testament, p.539; The Gospel of the Kingdom,
p.120.
55The Gospel of the Kingdom, p.117.
56Ibid., p.116.
57Ibid., pp.121, 137.
58Ibid., p.121.
59Ibid., p.131.
60A Theology of the New Testament, p.33.
61The Gospel of the Kingdom, pp. 46, 50, 128, 129, 130.
62Ibid., pp.16-18, 102.
63Ibid., pp.70-71.
64A Theology of the New Testament, pp.188, 427-428.
65Ibid., pp.429-433.
66Ibid., pp.437-449.
67Ibid., pp.450-456.
68Ibid., pp.449-450.
Appendix B
The Kingdom of God According to John Wimber
John Wimber is the leader of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship,
also known as The Association of Vineyard Churches, headquartered in Anaheim,
California. Wimber, with co-author Kevin Springer, have written several books,
including Power Evangelism (1985, 1992), Power Healing (1986), and Power Points
(1991). Up until the recent "laughing revival" phenomena began
happening in the Vineyard, Wimber was perhaps best known among evangelicals
(and Catholics) as a conference speaker, where the theme was often "Signs
& Wonders," that "the gifts are for today." Going ye into
all the world, Wimber, accompanied by his "ministry team," have held
numerous conferences in cities around the globe, inviting all the Church
leaders (all denominations) in the area to attend, and often proceeding to
teach them his view of the kingdom of God, that "the kingdom of God is
here," accompanied with "signs" of "kingdom power,"
all to make the point that evangelism is more effective when demonstrations of
"kingdom power" accompany the message; hence the term, "power
evangelism." Pastors who receive Wimber's views, often making a sudden
shift from their previous "Dispensational" views, then go back to
their congregation, and before you know it, another "Vineyard" (name
change or no) is born. Perhaps Christians who attended other churches in the
area would hear of the exciting changes taking place in his or her friend's
church, then leave their own "denominational church," and join in on
all the excitement. This is what is known as "church growth." Thus it
is rather obvious that the influence of John Wimber on the Body of Christ has
been significant.
Wimber has been very candid at admitting in his books that the
views of George Eldon Ladd regarding the kingdom of God are the theological
justification for his "doin' the Jesus stuff" ministry of preaching
"the kingdom of God" accompanied by "Signs & Wonders."
After opening with his testimony1 of having been taught and believing that the kingdom of God would
only come at the second coming of Christ (a view that neglected God the
Father's eternal without-a-mediator kingdom we learned of in Chapter 3, and
which view also set Wimber up to be fooled by Ladd's black-or-white fallacy
mentioned in Appendix A), Wimber wrote that his perspective "completely
changed" once he joined the Department of Church Growth at Fuller
Theological Seminary in 1974:
At
Fuller I was introduced to the writings of George Eldon Ladd, especially his
books The Presence of the Future and Critical Questions about the Kingdom of
God. From Dr. Ladd I came to believe that the kingdom of God is, in fact,
relevant to our lives today. As I read George Ladd's books and reread the
Gospels, I realized that at the very heart of THE GOSPEL lies the kingdom of
God and that power for effective evangelism and discipleship relates directly
to our understanding and experiencing the kingdom today. This revelation
remains the most significant spiritual experience since my conversion in 1963,
because thereafter I explored the practical implications of the presence of the
kingdom2 [CAPS added for
emphasis] .
Further commenting on the influence Ladd had on his theological
shift, Wimber wrote,
I
was already acquainted with George Eldon Ladd's writings (he was a Fuller
Theological Seminary professor), but it was not until I read his book Jesus and
the Kingdom that I realized his work on the kingdom formed a theological basis
for power evangelism. As I read Dr. Ladd's books, and read afresh the gospel
accounts, I became convinced that power evangelism was for today3.
That Ladd's view of the kingdom of God formed a theological basis
for Wimber's "power evangelism" is further evidenced in the Signs
& Wonders & Church Growth syllabus which Wimber distributed at a
conference he held in Seattle in the mid 1980's. Section 2 in the syllabus is
titled, THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: THE KINGDOM OF GOD. The "proposition"
below this title demonstrates the similarity between John Wimber's theology of
the kingdom of God, and that of George Eldon Ladd:
The
KINGDOM OF GOD is the Rule of God (the age to come) which has invaded the
kingdom (rule) of Satan (this present evil age), and is the arena in which
Signs and Wonders occur. They are the "marks" (signs) of the Kingdom.
Understanding about the kingdom of God is fundamental to understanding the
ministry of Jesus; the kingdom of Satan was his real enemy. There is a war on!
Jesus was sent by God to shatter the strongholds of Satan. His ONE PURPOSE was
Satan's defeat. Jesus accomplished this through his death, resurrection, and
ascension. This demonstrated who was the victor, but Satan is not yet cast out
and will not be until Christ returns to establish his Kingdom forever. The
Church is God's army in the continual fight which goes on with Satan as she
"lives between the times" [CAPS added for emphasis].
To anyone familiar with the theology of George Eldon Ladd (see
Appendix A), the above should sound strikingly familiar, and the false teaching
above should be easily discernible. I leave the reader with the following
things to consider regarding the theology of John Wimber as indicated above,
and the effect his theology may have had on those who follow him:
1) The content of the Biblical "gospel" of Jesus Christ
which the Church is to preach today is indicated in such Scriptures as
1Corinthians 15:3-8, Romans 3:24-26, Hebrews 9:27-28, and Colossians 1:5,
regarding faith in a) Jesus' physical death on the cross to appease God's wrath
against sin, enabling God the Father to legally and righteously justify the
sinner; b) Jesus' physical resurrection from the dead, and c) His appearance in
the air for those who are eagerly waiting for Him to bring them eternal
salvation and an inheritance in heaven via a resurrected body. It is this
"gospel" that signs and wonders are to accompany according to such
scriptures as Hebrews 1:14 - 2:4. The question is, what is the actual content
of the message that is accompanying the "Signs & Wonders" that
allegedly take place around John Wimber and his Vineyard? If it is the gospel
indicated above, fine. If not, there is a good chance that false prophets and
false teachers might be at work, using Signs & Wonders of the devil to
encourage people to believe the false message that accompanies the Signs &
Wonders, as the Antichrist and False Prophet will do. How else can you discern
if the Signs & Wonders are of God unless the message that accompanies the
Signs & Wonders is the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ which the Church is
to preach to the world? We are left with no other Biblical/post-ascension
precedent to accompany signs and wonders worked by the Holy Spirit than the
message of the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ.
2) The Vineyard's Statement of Faith4 contains the main elements of the gospel indicated above. The
Vineyard appears orthodox. The question is, is this gospel emphasized (as it
should be) by John Wimber and the Vineyard, or is it rather simply affirmed,
occasionally talked about, and referred to (using audio or written records5) for proof that "the Vineyard does believe and preach the
biblical gospel" when someone criticizes the Vineyard for not believing or
preaching the Biblical gospel?
3) When John Wimber and his cohorts in the Vineyard teach
concerning "the cross of Christ," do they emphasize the doctrines of
substitution, justification, and propitiation, or do they tend to emphasize a
"spiritual/kingdom warfare" aspect of Jesus destroying Satan by His
death on the cross?
1Found in John Wimber's booklet, Kingdom Come (Servant Publications,
1988), p.7.
2Ibid., pp. 7-8.
3John Wimber & Kevin Springer, Power Evangelism, Revised
Edition (Harper Collins, 1992), p.12.
4Rich Nathan, A Response to Charismatic Chaos (The Association of
Vineyard Churches, 1993), pp.21-22.
5Wayne Grudem, The Vineyard's Response to The Standard (The
Association of Vineyard Churches, 1992), pp.3-7.
* * * * * * * * *
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