WHAT IS "THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN"?
Sometimes the "kingdom of heaven" is thought of as simply being a reference to heaven itself, and that what the Lord and the 12 apostles were preaching about was simply the issue of heaven and how to get there. With others it is thought to be a reference to a spiritual reigning of God in the hearts of men which results in transformed lives and eventually in a transformation of society. What the Lord and the 12 apostles were therefore preaching about, it is said, was the issue of men needing to repent and let God and His will reign in their hearts. In so doing, God's will will be done on this earth.
Though these are commonly accepted ideas as to what the "kingdom of heaven" is, they are at variance with what the Scriptures themselves declare it to be. The testimony of God's word is that the "kingdom of heaven" is not a reference to heaven itself, or to a spiritual reigning of God in men's hearts, but rather to the literal reigning of God Himself on and over this earth in fulfillment of the covenants God made with the nation of Israel.
ISRAEL'S COVENANTED KINGDOM
According to the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed, the nation of Israel is to be a "great nation" on this earth, and as such the means through which "all the families of the earth shall be blessed". (Gen. 12:1 3) They have land covenanted to them by God in which they are to dwell as this "great nation" and provide for the blessing of the world by God. (Gen. 13:14 18; 15:7 21; 17:1 8) As was later confirmed to them in the Law, they are designed by God to be "a peculiar treasure unto (Him) above all people"; a "kingdom of priests, and an holy nation". (Ex. 19:1 6)
God's plan and purpose with the nation of Israel is for them to be that "great nation" and "kingdom" in which they functioning as God's priests to the rest of the world will provide for the blessing of the world and the administering of God's dominion over it. Isaiah, therefore, prophesying about the fulfillment of God's plan and purpose with Israel, proclaimed...
Sometimes the "kingdom of heaven" is thought of as simply being a reference to heaven itself, and that what the Lord and the 12 apostles were preaching about was simply the issue of heaven and how to get there. With others it is thought to be a reference to a spiritual reigning of God in the hearts of men which results in transformed lives and eventually in a transformation of society. What the Lord and the 12 apostles were therefore preaching about, it is said, was the issue of men needing to repent and let God and His will reign in their hearts. In so doing, God's will will be done on this earth.
Though these are commonly accepted ideas as to what the "kingdom of heaven" is, they are at variance with what the Scriptures themselves declare it to be. The testimony of God's word is that the "kingdom of heaven" is not a reference to heaven itself, or to a spiritual reigning of God in men's hearts, but rather to the literal reigning of God Himself on and over this earth in fulfillment of the covenants God made with the nation of Israel.
ISRAEL'S COVENANTED KINGDOM
According to the covenant God made with Abraham and his seed, the nation of Israel is to be a "great nation" on this earth, and as such the means through which "all the families of the earth shall be blessed". (Gen. 12:1 3) They have land covenanted to them by God in which they are to dwell as this "great nation" and provide for the blessing of the world by God. (Gen. 13:14 18; 15:7 21; 17:1 8) As was later confirmed to them in the Law, they are designed by God to be "a peculiar treasure unto (Him) above all people"; a "kingdom of priests, and an holy nation". (Ex. 19:1 6)
God's plan and purpose with the nation of Israel is for them to be that "great nation" and "kingdom" in which they functioning as God's priests to the rest of the world will provide for the blessing of the world and the administering of God's dominion over it. Isaiah, therefore, prophesying about the fulfillment of God's plan and purpose with Israel, proclaimed...
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'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 the LORD, 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 the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:" (Isaiah 2:2 4a)
Israel in her kingdom and in fulfillment of God's covenant with her will provide for the subjection of the world to God's ways and for the establishment of His paths for it to walk in. The will of heaven will reign and rule on this earth in Israel's covenanted kingdom.