Three Issues answered - Thanks Sammo

I like to thank Sammo for this wondrous exposition on the following three issues ...

1) Where will the kingdom be - heaven or earth?
2) Where will Jesus be in the kingdom - heaven or earth?
3) Will the capital of the kingdom be literally Jerusalem, in literal Israel?

(The following posts from another forum have been slightly edited by myself)

 

 

1) Where will the kingdom be -
heaven or earth?

I believe that God's purpose is primarily with the earth:

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"But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of YAHWEH." (Num 14:21) "For thus saith YAHWEH that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am YAHWEH; and there is none else." (Isa 45:18) "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of YAHWEH, as the waters cover the sea." (Hab 2:14) "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of YAHWEH, as the waters cover the sea." (Isa 11:9)

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Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all promised land on earth (amongst other things), for ever:

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"For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever." (Gen 13:15) "And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;" (Gen 26:4) "And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land." (Gen 35:12)

These promises are yet to be fulfilled (Heb 11:39). Because Jesus was literally heir to these promises as Abraham's descendant, we can become heirs too, through Christ (Gal 3:29). Thus these promises also apply to us - our hope is on earth. The promises to Abraham are the gospel (Gal 3:8).
In fact, the whole of Galatians 3 is extremely relevant.
Therefore God's kingdom must be on earth.

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The kingdom of God literally existed in Israel when David and Solomon were king etc.
King David was promised:

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And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. (2 Sam 7:16)

This is reiterated in the gospel of Luke:

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"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and YAHWEH God shall give  unto him the throne of his father David:" (Luke 1:32)

In the kingdom, Jesus is going to sit on the throne of David.
This throne was literally in Jerusalem - this is the same throne
that Jesus is going to sit on in the kingdom.
Therefore the Kingdom will be on earth.

If further proof of this is required, we could turn to Ezekiel:

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"Thus saith the Lord YAHWEH; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." (Eze 21:26-27)

Speaking of the cessation of the kingdom of Judah, the crown and diadem were to be removed until they are given to Jesus when he returns to earth and the kingdom is established.
It's the same diadem and crown - thus the kingdom must be on earth.

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The teaching of Jesus:

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"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt 5:5) "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (Matt 6:10)

Note especially the definition of "thy kingdom come":
"thy will be done in earth".

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After Jesus was raised from the dead, he taught his disciples about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Then his disciples say:

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"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)

The apostles believed that Israel would have the kingdom restored to them -
this kingdom could not have been a restoration unless the literal kingdom of Israel was to be restored. This was after Jesus had taught them specifically about the kingdom for 40 days!

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In the book of Revelation:

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"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." (Rev 5:10)

This teaching is plain enough - although some people object that this phrase should be translated "over the earth", and thus in heaven. However, elsewhere in Revelation the same phrase clearly means "on the earth"
(Rev. 6:10, 7:1, 11:10, 13:14, 14:6, 17:8).

Our hope is to reign on earth.

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Many prophecies also make it plain that the kingdom will be literally on earth. For instance Daniel:

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"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." (Dan 2:35) "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." (Dan 7:27)

Daniel 2 describes the kingdom of God as a stone that destroys the kingdoms of men, as represented by an image made from different metals and clay. The stone then becomes a kingdom (v44) that fills the whole earth.

This prophecy is paralleled in Daniel 7, where we read that the kingdom is under the whole heaven - i.e. on earth.

The kingdom must be on earth.

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Other prophecies refer to the kingdom literally being on earth.

Is there really anyone that doesn't find this compelling?

 

 

 

2) Where will Jesus be in the kingdom - heaven or earth?

Much of the evidence for this has already been discussed above. In summary:

God's purpose is with the earth. If that is where God's purpose is, surely that's where we would expect to find Jesus when the purpose has been fulfilled.

Jesus was, as is, heir to the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These promises included land on earth. If that is the land that Jesus has been promised, then that's where we would expect to find Jesus in the kingdom.

Jesus is going to sit on the throne of his father David, wearing the same crown and diadem that were taken from Zedekiah. Also, the apostles looked forward to Jesus restoring the literal kingdom of Israel. The throne, crown, diadem, subjects and land of the kingdom of God will all be on earth. Therefore Jesus must be on earth during the kingdom too.

Daniel prophesied that the kingdom would fill the earth, and that it would be under heaven. Jesus is going to king - therefore he must be on earth during the kingdom.

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Other prophecies require Jesus to be on earth during the kingdom of God.

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"And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, YAHWEH of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain." (Zech 14:17)

This is a picture of literal nations on earth coming to literal Jerusalem, to worship the King - Jesus. All this is on earth.

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Isaiah:

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"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the YAHWEH’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it." "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of YAHWEH, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of YAHWEH from Jerusalem." "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isa 2:2-4 and Mic 4:1-3)

This is another picture of literal nations coming to the capital of the kingdom - literal Jerusalem. If the capital of the kingdom is literal Jerusalem, then where will the king be, Jesus?

How could literal nations visit the capital of God's kingdom if it were really in heaven? Will there be nations in heaven?

 

 

 

3) Will the capital of the kingdom be literally Jerusalem, in literal Israel?

I hope it's plain by now that the answer to this is emphatically yes. But does literal Israel still have a part to play in the plan of God?

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The apostles thought so:

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"When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)

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Jeremiah thought so:

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"For I am with thee, saith YAHWEH, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished." (Jer 30:11) "Behold, the days come, saith YAHWEH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah… etc" (Jer 31:31) "Thus saith YAHWEH; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; "Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them." (Jer 33:26-26)

Although other nations would pass away, Israel never would - which is clearly evident through their amazingly miraculous history. Lots of people have tried to wipe out the Jews completely, and even though they were without a homeland for well over a thousand years, yet they still exist as a nation today. Of what other race is that true?

Moreover, Jeremiah looked forward to the time when Israel would repent - Israel can, and will, be saved under the new covenant in exactly the same way we can be.

And as surely as day follows night, God will restore the kingdom to Israel. Their captivity would return, and God would have mercy on them ...

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Ezekiel plainly looked forward to the return of literal Israel to their literal land:

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"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land." (Eze 36:24) "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever." (Eze 37:25)

"My servant David", of course, is a prophecy of Jesus - who would literally rule over literal Israel.

(I'm leaving out lots of verses I could include here)

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Amos says much the same thing:

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"And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith YAHWEH thy God." (Amos 9:15)

How could this not be referring to literal Israel, literally planed in the land that God had given them?

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Paul's teaching is clear in Romans 11:

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23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

Israel, as well as Gentile Christians, is going to be saved. Yes Israel has rejected Christ, but one day in the future they will repent. God has not cast away his people.

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Zechariah, amongst others, looked forward to the day when Israel would repent that they had rejected Jesus:

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And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zech 12:10)

Israel will repent. Literal Israel does still have a part to play in the purpose of God - and the capital of God's kingdom is going to be literal Jerusalem.