Isaiah 2:2-4
2 Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.
I was poking around the web last night looking for information on Johannes Weiss (a 19th century author who wrote about the kingdom of God) and came across a website that was reviewing a book. I forget now what the name of the book was but the reviewer was berating the author for marginalizing the apocalyptic elements of Jesus’ message. The comment made was that since the early 20th century, scholars have been focusing on either the hyper-eschatological view of Jesus or they have completely focused on his ethics.
The eschatological apocalyptic prophet. (eschatological or eschatology refers to the end times and apocalyptic or apocalypse refers to a cataclysmic set of events in which the world ends). Scholarship has seen Jesus in this light since Johannes Weiss and then Albert Schweitzer did their research on Jesus over a century ago. They concluded that Jesus was a prophet who declared that the end of the world was near.
It’s clear from the Gospels that Jesus’ primary purpose was to preach “the good news of the Kingdom” and that He commissioned His disciples to continue preaching this message.
It might seem strange then that in a letter that has been described as “the Gospel according to Paul” – the letter to the Romans – there is no mention at all of the kingdom. On the other hand, while Jesus rarely used the word “grace” we find it is one of Paul’s favourite subjects. In Romans Paul used the word “grace” at least twenty times, although never using the word “kingdom”. Did Paul preach a different message? This is hardly possible, especially since we read in Acts that while in Rome he “boldly and without hindrance preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 28:31).
Steve Baugh of Westminster Seminary in California presented this lecture on the kingdom of God. He spent his sabbatical studying the subject primarily from other Reformed Theologians and came to see that the kingdom is the end times event to occur at the consummation of the ages. The lecture takes a while to get going but it is fascinating to hear others wrestling with the kingdom (especially the present, kingdom now, ideas) in light of the testimony of Scripture. He takes care to present what he calls “the kingdom proper” as opposed to the other “kingdom” concepts in the Bible. He sees the kingdom proper as the cataclysmic event when God miraculously intervenes in the normal affairs of this world by sending his son to establish the theocratic government. Unfortunately, he does not in any way mention the connection between the kingdom and the gospel that saves.
Our Father, we pray for
a part in Thy Kingdom,
when Jesus rules the world
with wisdom and power,
when pain and sorrow
shall be no more.
We remember in love all
those who are near and
dear to us. May we be helped
and encouraged to press
on to Thy Kingdom until our
travelling days are done.
George Hale
In our discussion of preterism I was asked to post about my understanding of Matthew 24. This passage is hotly debated on this subject, and in eschatology in general. I’m essentially going to give running commentary as I read the verses.
v2 - Jesus makes the remark that the Temple will be torn down.
v3 - The disciples probe for more information asking three questions: when will this happen, what is the sign of your coming, and the end of the age. I don’t quite understand “your coming” from their perspective - since this is before his death and resurrection, let alone his ascension. Perhaps in writing they felt it appropriate to add this bit to the question in retrospect?
Without a doubt, the main message of Jesus’ preaching of the gospel was the Kingdom of God. Had we been in 1st century Palestine, we could have asked Jesus just what his purpose was. I believe this was his answer:
Luke 4:43 - But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
But what about the apostle Paul? Many churches today look only or first at Paul and then look at Jesus’ words to know what should be preached as the gospel. Many will use I Corinthians 15:1-3 to define what Paul’s message was:
This is one of the greatest messianic Psalms in the Bible (a close second is Psalm 110). There are three major sections in this Psalm divided on the basis of the speaker. Let’s take them one by one to unpack the meaning a bit.
Psalm 2:1-6 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
Matthew 6:25-34 - “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I received an email last week from someone who logged on to my website. I was very thankful that he took the time to write. Many people may log on, but to get an email from someone is always exciting. Here is what they wrote:
The kindgom of God has already been established. At the last supper, Jesus said that we would not drink of the cup again until he drank it anew with his disciples in the kingdom.