The Kingdom of God!

 

Chapter 137

 

 

In the March 5, 2023 Eagle's View, I wrote to you about what some of the prophecies in the Old Testament had to say about The Kingdom of God. I will repeat the prophecies in this issue of the Eagle's View and add some more prophecies.

 

I started with the prophet that spoke most about the end times that we are living in and what he said about it. Dan. 2:44-45, (NIV)

 

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom (Jesus) that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands,a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy."

 

Jesus came and set up the Kingdom of God and Daniel said that this Kingdom will crush all those kingdoms and will endure forever. Notice that he did not say anything about a time when the Lord would take His Kingdom out for a period of time!

 

Again, Daniel wrote in Dan. 7:25-26, (NIV)

 

"Then King Darius wrote to all the nations and peoples of every language in all the earth: "May you prosper greatly! I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. "For he is the living God and he endures forever; his Kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end."

 

And in Rev. 5:9-10, (NIV)

 

"And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. And they will reign on this earth"

 

Nowhere in these prophecies do they mention a time when the Kingdom will be taken out from the earth! Take note of where it says they will reign! Jesus came to setup this Kingdom and He went about preaching and teaching The Kingdom of God. Matt. 4:23 says,

 

"Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people!"

 

The Kingdom of God that Jesus set up will never end. He said in Matt. 13:33,

 

"He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough."

 

Habakkuk 2:14 says,

 

"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."

 

There are two meanings contained in this prophecy. The earth as we know it in the natural, and the earth that is contained within us. This meaning is the same as when Jesus prophesied in John 3:16,

 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

 

Rev. 5:9-10 says,

 

"And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

 

Paul said in Rom. 8:18-24, (NIV)

 

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."

 

 Peter said in Acts 3:20-21,

 

"And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution (restoration) of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

 

David said in Psalm 37:7-11, (NIV)

 

"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret,it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.".

 

Many of these prophecy's talk about the meek inheriting the land. Question, 'If we are taken out of here and spend eternity in heaven, what value is it to inherit the land and if the earth as we know it, is to be burned up and destroyed, what value is it to have inherited land that is to be destroyed. According to 2 Peter 3:7-13, (NIV)

 

"By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

 

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

 

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells."

 

If we understand this prophecy literally, most of the above quoted scriptures speak against what Peter is saying here. In the past Bible scholars have taken this scripture literally and added it to their Rapture theory. What, then, is the spiritual understanding of what Peter prophesied?

 

Would you like to explain this? If you are seeking the truth this will make you stop and do some searching.>/span>Let me give you some insight into what this prophecy is talking about. It will open many doors to your understanding if you accept and meditate on what the Lord said in Deut. 4:14,

 

"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." 

 

Also in Psalm 104:4,

 

"Who makes his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire!"

 

Paul said in 1 Cor. 3:11-15,

 

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abides which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

 

One more scripture. John the Baptist said in Matt. 3:11, (NIV)

 

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

 

If you understand these scriptures, literally, you have no answer to the question I asked. However, if you can understand these scriptures spiritually, they paint a different picture and understanding.

 

I once had an elder in the church I was attending say this to me about the baptism that John was talking about in Matt. 3:11. He said to me, "David, you don't want to be baptized with this fire!"and what Deut. 4:14 and Psalm 104:4 means, you will understand what it means to be baptized with fire!

 

In Rev. 2:17 (NIV) Jesus said,

 

"Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna."

 

How many times has Jesus said, "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying." We have been so blessed by the promise that Jesus gave us in John 14:15-17, (NIV)

 

"If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever,the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

 

You will never be able to understand what the Bible is talking about if you don't have the Holy Spirit living within you! If you depend upon your intelligence to understand the things of spiritual nature, you will never know the truth, but it will remain a mystery to you.

 

The word of God will not only wash you, but it will purge or burn out of you the mistaken understanding of what the Bible is really saying. Jesus said in John 15:3, (NIV)

 

"You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you."

 

I know that what I have shared with you this week is very deep and will take a lot of meditation on the scriptures I quoted. Let me encourage you that you have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. I pray, along with the Great Apostle Paul, this prayer for you today. Eph. 3:14, (NIV)

 

"For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

 

I encourage you today to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, (NIV)

 

"Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."