God’s
Kingdom to be on earth!
The
purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the coming Kingdom of God will be
set up on earth with a returned Jesus as King in the literal Jerusalem of the
future. Jesus, with his associate rulers, will immediately set about the task of
bringing about paradise conditions so that all war, crime, poverty and pollution
are steadily eradicated. Increasingly the nations will be living in
harmony.
THE
KINGDOM WAS JESUS’ PREACHING THEME
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·
“But he said to them, ‘Also to the other cities I must declare the good news of
the kingdom of God, for this I was sent forth’” (Luke
4:43).
·
“[Jesus] being seen by them throughout forty days and telling the things about
the kingdom of God” (Acts
1:3).
Through
his entire ministry Jesus gave approximately 18 parables to show what the
kingdom was like.
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THE
KINGDOM IS THE PREACHING THEME FOR CHRISTIANS
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·
“…when they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the kingdom of
God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized...”
(Acts
8:12).
·
“I [Paul] went preaching the kingdom” (Acts
20:25).
·
“…he [Paul] explained the matter to them by bearing thorough witness concerning
the kingdom of God and by using persuasion with them concerning Jesus...”
(Acts
28:23).
·
Paul was: “…preaching the kingdom of God
to them and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Acts
28:31).
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THE
KINGDOM WILL BE ESTABLISHED ON EARTH :
THE KINGDOM FORETOLD BY DANIEL |
·
“The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin...”
(Dan.
2:44).
·
“…a stone [The kingdom]... struck the image on its feet (therefore on earth) ...
the stone became a large mountain and filled the whole earth”
(Dan.
2:34, 35, 44).
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THE
KINGDOM ABSORBS THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD AND IS THEREFORE NOT IN
HEAVEN
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·
“Then
the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to
the people of the saints of the Highest One;”
(Dan.
7:27 NASB).
·
“The
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His
Christ;”
(Rev.
11:15 NASB).
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KINGDOM
OF HEAVEN = KINGDOM OF GOD (Matthew 19:23, 24).
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Also
compare Matthew 19:14 with Mark 10:14. This means that it is a kingdom belonging
to God. He is its originator and it is superior to all other kingdoms. It does
not mean that it is located in heaven.
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THE
KINGDOM IS AN EARTHLY PARADISE RELATED TO ISRAEL
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·
“And God planted a garden [Gk. paradeison] eastward in Eden”
(Gen.
2:8).
Also in Genesis 2:9; 2:10; 2:15; 3:2. The Greek Septuagint translates garden as
paradeisos.
·
“…remember me when you come into your kingdom!
He [Jesus] said to him… truly I say to you today, you will be with me in
paradise”
(Luke
23:42, 43).
·
Paul states that “…a man…was caught away as such to the 3rd heaven
... he was caught away into paradise”
(2
Cor. 12:2, 4).
This
seems to be the 3rd “heavens and earth” that Peter later described in
2 Peter 3:5, 7, 13 as new heavens and a new earth and was therefore Paul’s vision of the coming paradise on
earth. The final use of the word ‘paradise’ is in the
Revelation:
·
“To him that conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in
the
paradise
of God” (Rev.
2:7).
The
Scriptures consistently use the term paradise in a setting that is of the
earth. There is no thought of it as being relocated to
heaven.
·
“the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them...they will inherit the
earth” (Matt. 5:3, 5).
·
“...your kingdom
come. Let your will take place, as it is in heaven, also
upon earth”
(Matt.
6:10).
·
“…they will reign
upon the earth.”(Rev.
5:10 NASB).
·
“Lord, are you restoring the kingdom
to Israel
at this time?” (Acts
1:6).
Jesus
did not correct the disciples as regards the location of the Kingdom, but only
showed that the time of its appearance would not be
known.
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THE
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS IN THE KINGDOM
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·
“…many from eastern parts and western parts will come and recline at the table
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in
the kingdom of the heavens”
(Matt.
8:11).
·
“I will not drink
again
from the product
of the vine
until the kingdom of God arrives” (Luke
22:18).
·
“…just as my Father has made a covenant with me for a kingdom, that you
may
eat and drink at
my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel”
(Luke
22:29, 30).
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THE
KING RULES ON EARTH
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·
“And a king will certainly reign and act with discretion and execute justice and
righteousness in
the land” (Jer.
23:5).
·
“May he rule…to the ends of the
earth” (Ps.
72:8 NASB).
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THE
THRONE OF DAVID IS ON EARTH
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·
“The government
will rest on his shoulders…On
the throne of David
and over his kingdom” (Isa.
9:6, 7
NASB).
·
“God will give him [Jesus] the throne of David his father” (Luke
1:32-35).
·
“God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne”
(Acts
2:30).
David’s
throne is an earthly one and will be re-established:
·
“When the Son of Man arrives
in his glory,
and all the angels with him, then he
will
sit on his glorious throne.
And all the nations will be gathered before him” (Matt.
25:31).
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JESUS’
RULERSHIP IS IN LITERAL ISRAEL
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·
“From you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel”
(Mic.
5:2-4)
·
“And I saw, and look! The Lamb standing
upon
Mount Zion” (Rev.
14:1).
This
scene is on earth because the voice that John hears is from
heaven. The parables of the Nobleman in Luke 19:11-27 and of the Talents in
Matthew 25:14-30 both show that Jesus will return to where he left, namely the
earth:
·
“And his feet will actually stand
in that day upon
the
mountain of the olive trees, which is in front of Jerusalem” (Zech.
14:4).
As
God’s representative it will be the feet of Jesus that stand on the Mount of
Olives.
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CHRISTIANS
DO NOT RULE FROM HEAVEN
As
oppose to what other organisations such as the Jehovah Witnesses
teach.
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·
“…kingdom and priests, and they are reigning upon
the
earth” (Rev.
5:10 Kingdom
Interlinear Translation).
All
examples of the very same Greek phrase are translated as ‘upon/on’ in their New World
Translation [NWT] in Revelation – all
except 5:10. These are: 5:3, 5:13, 6:10, 7:1, 10:5b, 10:8, 11:10a, 11:10b,
13:8, 13:14, 14:6, 14:16, 16:18, 17:8, 18:24.
There
are also many similar phrases: Rev. 3:10: “upon the whole inhabited
earth”
Rev.
10:5a: “upon the sea.”
Rev.
14:14: “upon the cloud.”
The
Greek word epi is also many times
translated as over but not properly
for the phrase
epi tes ges or similarly structured phrases. The NWT reference Bible footnote for 5:10 says: “epi with the genitive, as in 9:11; 11: 6.” The correct choice of translation in 5:10 one has to decide whether the immediate and broader contexts are substantial enough to translate as over while flying in the face of almost all other committees of translators and the overwhelming evidence as to the way the phrase is translated in the rest of Revelation in the NWT. In Revelation 11:6 although the 2 witnesses “have authority over the waters” they are still on the earth. “The holy ones” of 5:8 are later described as being attacked by the misled nations when the 1000 years have ended:
·
“And they advanced over the breadth of the earth
and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city” (Rev.
20:9).
Only
an unwarranted interpretation, to the effect that these are different holy ones
at the end of the Millennium than before it, can make 20:9 lose its force to
show that 5:10 refers to these ones
reigning on earth. Of course, they will reign over the mortal population of
earth as any King or Queen can rule over their populations whilst sitting on a throne on earth.
These holy ones are certainly to reign with Messiah who is himself prophesied in
many Scriptures to reign on earth e.g.:
·
“And a king will certainly reign
and act with discretion and execute justice and righteousness in
the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will reside in security”
(Jer.
23:5, 6).
Jesus
is here prophesied to reign on David’s throne, which no Jew of the time would
have imagined to be anywhere but on earth (Luke 1:32,
33).
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THE
KINGDOM WILL BE “INHERITED” AND “ENTERED INTO”
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·
“…inherit
the kingdom
prepared for you from the founding of the world” (Matt.
25:34).
·
“Not everyone... will enter
into
the kingdom
of the heavens” (Matt.
7:21, 22).
·
“We must enter
into
the kingdom of God through many tribulations” (Acts
14:22).
·
“…do you not know that unrighteous persons will not
inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators…will inherit God’s
kingdom” (1
Cor. 6:9)
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JERUSALEM
WILL BE THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE KINGDOM
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Regarding
‘Heavenly Jerusalem” mentioned in Hebrews 12:22: the adjective heavenly is qualitative
and is not referring to a location. It is a present condition of Christians just
as in Ephesians 1:3 and 2:6. Hence the “heavenly Jerusalem” is the glorious city
of the future
which Christians have now approached.
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A
LITERAL JERUSALEM
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·
“The rod of your strength YAHWEH will send forth out
of Zion,
saying, ‘Go subduing in the midst of your enemies.’” (Ps.
110:2).
·
“For out
of Zion
law will go forth, and the word of YAHWEH out of Jerusalem”
(Isa.
2:3 and
Mic. 4:2).
·
“For YAHWEH of armies has become king in Mount Zion
and in
Jerusalem”
(Isa.
24:23).
·
“…they will call Jerusalem the throne of YAHWEH; and to her all of the nations
must be brought together to the name of YAHWEH at Jerusalem” (Jer.
3:17).
·
“Jerusalem...is the city of the great King” (Matt.
5:35).
·
“Jerusalem itself will reside in security” (Jer.
33:16).
·
“I will bring back again judges for you as at the first...After this you will be
called the City of Righteousness, Faithful Town” (Isa.
1:26).
·
“Abraham...was awaiting the city having real foundations ... they are reaching
out for a better [place] that is, one belonging to heaven” (Heb.
11:8-10, 16).
·
“And they advanced over the breadth of the earth
and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city” (Rev.
20:9).
This
clearly shows that the beloved city heavenly Jerusalem
will be on earth
at the end of the Millennium.
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THE
KINGDOM IS MAINLY FUTURE
|
·
“I will not drink again from the product
of the vine
until
the
kingdom of God arrives”
(Luke
22:18).
·
“In
the re-creation
when
the Son of Man sits down upon his glorious throne....” (Matt.
19:28).
·
“Give the word that these my two sons may sit down, one at your right hand and
one at your left, in your kingdom” (Matt.
20:21).
·
“When you see these things [The disgusting thing that causes desolation and the
Great Tribulation] occurring, know that the Kingdom of God is near”
(Luke
21:31).
·
“The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ”
at the second coming. (Rev.
11:15).
The
parable of the Nobleman who goes:
·
“…to a distant land and to return”.....verse 23 indicates a long time lag: “why
is it you did not put my silver money in the bank? Then on my arrival, I would
have collected it with interest” (Luke
19:11-27).
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IN
WHAT SENSE IS THE KINGDOM PRESENT NOW?
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“But
if it is by means of God’s spirit that I expel the demons, the kingdom of God
has really overtaken you” (Matt.
12:28).
This
gives a taste of the power of the coming kingdom because Jesus defeated Satan on
numerous occasions including his expelling of
demons.
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A
TASTE OF THE KINGDOM NOW
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·
“…those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift...and have tasted the.....powers of the age
to come” (Heb.
6:4, 5 ESV).
·
“He delivered us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of the Son of his love” (Col.
1:13).
·
“For the Kingdom of God [means]...righteousness and peace and joy with holy
spirit” (Rom.
14:17).
The
message of the kingdom and preparation for it by the development of the
Christ-like character are how the kingdom is present
now.
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Recommended
reading:
The
Theocratic Kingdom (3 volumes) by George N.H. Peters.
The
Presence of the Future (339 pages) by George Eldon Ladd.
- (Some
editing has been done).
