Acts 1:6-11
6 They therefore, when they
were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you
to know times or seasons, which the Father hath [e]set
within his own authority. 8 But ye shall receive power, when
the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And
when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a
cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they were
looking stedfastly into heaven as he went, behold two men stood by them in
white apparel; 11 who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.
The Kingdom of God was taught for 40 days
by Jehoshua to His apostles and at the conclusion they posed the question as to
when the Kingdom would be restored to Israel. This shows that the concept of
the Kingdom is essential to the gospel message for we cannot preach the gospel
without the Kingdom idea attached it. We can also glean from above that Israel
is the recipient of the restorative Kingdom. What constitutes biblical Israel
will be touched on in this study.
It’s important to note the Messiah’s answer
to the apostles’ question. Just like the question regarding His second advent
the Son of God states that only the Father knows when the time of the
restoration takes place. We can fairly conclude from this that the restoration
of the Kingdom takes place in sync with the second advent of the Messiah. We
learn from the above passage that in between the Son of God’s ascension and the
restoration of the Kingdom that the apostles were to take the gospel of the
Kingdom world-wide. Also, the return of the Messiah will be visible and will be
Him coming on the clouds presumably to the Mount of Olives where the ascension
took place. These are all key things to remember.
There is so much written and preached about
the Kingdom of God with many false ideas, everything from the Hebrew roots,
dispensationalist, Messianic Jews and biblical Unitarian camps that posit a
future millennium where modern “Geo-Political Israel” reigns supreme over
Gentile nations with animal sacrifices administered by the Levitical
priesthood. This belief also posits a rebuilt third temple in this age that
will carry over to the millennium.
The question of the apostles concerning the restoration of
the Kingdom to Israel has been a long debated subject. Various views such as
dispensationalism and heavenly Amillenialism and everything in between have
clouded the truth of this subject. Adventism posits a 1,000 year heavenly
millennium derailing the prophetic hope of the Kingdom of Israel on earth. The
Mormons believe that the Kingdom will be restored to Israel in Missouri of all
places. Heavenly Amillenialists have removed any earthly hope and made heaven
in the sky the ultimate destination where saints as disembodied souls reign
during the intermediate state.
Dispensationalism, Hebrew roots, Messianic Judaism and much
of Biblical Unitarianism believes in an earthly Kingdom yet they ascribe this
to modern Geo-political Israel with animal sacrifices, Levitical Priesthood and
a rebuilt third temple as features of that Kingdom. These groups deny or greatly
minimize the truth that the Kingdom is already a reality including that
Jehoshua is already on the throne of David.
Like many things, balance is the answer here. It is
important to note that the apostles question is not rebuked by Jehoshua but
rather He gives them an honest answer that it is in the Father's timing when
this will take place. This is the same answer given when asked when His return
will be. This shows us that the return of the Messiah brings about the fulfillment
of the hope of the apostles which is that the Kingdom will be restored to
Israel.
With this being understood, a 1,000 year heavenly millennium
is impossible. While many of the groups mentioned above will agree with my
statement, in equating the second advent of Jehoshua with the restoration of
the Kingdom to Israel, they fail badly on the nature of that Kingdom.
Unlike what these groups teach there is no future 1,000 year
millennium but what scripture clearly shows is that they arrival of the Son of
God brings about the new heavens and new earth where New Jerusalem will be the
capital city.
As the book of Hebrews shows us there is no more need for
animal sacrifices. Also, the Levitical Priesthood is abolished according to
Hebrews. We also learn from that chapter that the heavenly sanctuary is the
true sanctuary. Also, Israel as it's known today is not the Israel that the
apostles have in mind when they asked Jehoshua this question. It is clear from
scripture that the return of the Israelites to the land happens only after Messiah
comes back not before. Also, scripture says that they come back in
righteousness meaning they will be in covenant with Jehovah God. The modern
state of Israel fits no prophecies of the old testament. They do however fit
the prophecies of Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 i.e. the synagogue of Satan.
The Israel that gets the Kingdom restored is the one Paul
talks about in Galatians 6:12-16 i.e. those who glory in the cross of Jehoshua
Messiah. Paul calls us the Israel of God. It is those who are the seed of Abraham
which Paul says are those in Messiah.
Galatians 3:26-29 (KJV)
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if
ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
What a powerful message by Paul! The apostle removes any
hope for ethnic, economic or gender pride but says that all who have put on
Messiah through baptism are children of God and heirs of the promise given to
Abraham. All believers whether Jew or Gentile are referred to as the seed of
Abraham and thereby heirs of the Abrahamic land covenant which is now expanded
to include the new heavens and new earth.
Paul clearly lays out who is Israel in Ephesians 2:
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law
of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Paul clearly refers to the Church as the commonwealth of
Israel as His definition of the commonwealth are those in covenant with God
through His only begotten Son. We as Gentiles were once aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and not partakers of the covenants of promise. The
covenants of promise are the Sabbath, Abrahamic, Davidic and new covenants.
These covenants belong to the commonwealth of Israel not the Catholic,
Protestant or Evangelical Churches. Paul's definition of the commonwealth of
Israel is not the "Geo-political state of Israel" either then or now
but rather those in covenant with the God of Israel Jehovah. The thing that
brings Gentiles into the commonwealth of Israel is the Son of God and His
atoning sacrifice. Having faith that Jehoshua is the Son of God and what He did
on the cross brings one into covenant with God.
In Galatians 6, Paul clearly lays out who comprises the
Israel of God
12 As many as desire to make a fair shew
in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should
suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
13 For neither they themselves who are
circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may
glory in your flesh.
14 But God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto
me, and I unto the world.
15 For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
16 And as many as walk according to this
rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
Paul identifies the
Israel of God as those who glory in the cross of our Lord Jehoshua Messiah
which is the rule that those who desire to be the Israel of God must follow.
We must remember
what was said by both John the Baptist and the Messiah Himself concerning the
timing of the arrival of the Kingdom:
Matthew 3
In those days came John the Baptist,
preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
John the Baptist preached,
before the arrival of the Messiah on the scene, that the Kingdom of heaven was
at hand. It would be hard to imagine that he meant 2,000 years later. The
Messiah also preached that the Kingdom was at hand meaning near. Again, it’s
hard to believe that this was meant to be understood as 2,000 years later. This
brings us to the tension of the Kingdom. Acts 1 shows us that the restoration
of the Kingdom to Israel coincides with the second advent of the Messiah which
has not happened yet, so how are we to understand John’s proclamation?
Let’s remember these
words by the Son of God:
John
18:36
36 Jehoshua answered, My kingdom is not of
this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from
hence.
When Jehoshua says
His Kingdom is not of this world he is referring to the political nations of
this earth. One day His Kingdom will be consummated on this very earth renewed,
but in the meantime His Kingdom is not be identified with any of the countries
in this system of things. Also, if the Kingdom of God is indeed a present
reality as scripture states then we could rightly say that the Kingdom of God
is here on earth now but not in the form that it will be when the Lord returns. This statement above by Jehoshua eliminates
any possibility that the modern Geo-political Israel has anything to do with
God’s Kingdom or is a part of bible prophecy in any way. This statement also
exposes the fallacy of America being a Christian nation. It also shows us that
we are not to fight in the nations of this earth’s wars. Jehoshua’s servants do
not fight for the kingdoms on earth because the Lord’s Kingdom is not from here.
The scriptures do
teach that the Kingdom of God arrived nearly 2,000 years ago, but if the
Kingdom is not from here then how do we understand the Kingdom as being a
present already?
Luke 17:20-21
20 And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The
kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo
there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
Here is the answer to
the above question, Jehoshua clearly said that the Kingdom does not come with
observation meaning it is absolutely not a Geo-political military Kingdom like
those of this world. No country can ever claim to be the Kingdom of God because
as Jehoshua said, the Kingdom comes without observation meaning not seen
visibly as earthly governments are. The Son of God said that the Kingdom that
was established nearly 2,000 years ago is within us meaning it is a spiritual
Kingdom. This statement by Jehoshua is despised by those that have not eyes to
see because it refutes their dispensationalist, pre millennialism ideas and
their false doctrine that we are NOT kings and priests now and that we are NOT
under the leadership of our Davidic King who is NOT on that throne now. It
attacks their false eschatology (end times), soteriology (salvation) and
ecclesiology (doctrine of the church).
What does Jehoshua
mean by a spiritual Kingdom? That God’s
law would be written in your heart which would be evidenced in how you treat
others including your enemies. In fact, the terms of the new covenant Kingdom
would be that God’s law would be written on your heart:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 Behold, the days come,
saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and
with the house of Judah: 32 not according to the covenant that
I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; [j]which my
covenant they brake, although I was [k]a husband
unto them, saith Jehovah. 33 But this is the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put
my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach
no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I
remember no more.
Jehoshua equated the installment of the new
covenant with the inauguration of the Kingdom:
Luke 22:28-29
28 “But
you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. 29 And I bestow upon you a
kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me,
30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes
of Israel.”
We see that the apostles were appointed
(covenanted) a Kingdom by the Son of God at the last supper. Since the apostles
were to remain on earth after the Messiah’s resurrection, the Kingdom that they
were appointed to was earthly. However, it wasn’t earthly in the Geo-political
sense but rather the spiritual one for the Messiah said His Kingdom was not of
this world (Geo-political). This Kingdom was the Church of the Messiah in which
the apostles were to judge the 12 tribes of Israel. Remember, that Messiah gave
the keys to the Kingdom to the apostles in Matthew 16:19; and in Matthew 18:19-20.
The reference to the 12 tribes of Israel refers to the church as a whole, both
Jews and Gentiles, as the lost tribes had been scattered throughout the Gentile
nations. All throughout the new testament, prophecies and statements that
applied to old covenant Israel are applied to the Church. We see this done by
James, Paul, John and Peter.
Jehoshua is not telling the apostles that
they will get a Kingdom some 2,000 years in the future but rather it is
(present tense) being bestowed upon them on that very day. The eating and
drinking at the table of the Kingdom likely refers to the Eucharist meal where
the saints would break bread in honor of Jehoshua’s death and partaking of His doctrine
as well as drink wine in honor of His shed blood and His Davidic lineage as
they referred to Jehoshua as the holy vine of David.
The emphasis on the spiritual aspect of the
Kingdom over the Geo-political is seen in Jehoshua’s conversation with
Nicodemus in John chapter 3:
3 Jehoshua answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be begotten from above, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man
be begotten when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb, and be begotten?
5 Jehoshua answered, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be begotten of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is begotten of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is begotten of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be begotten from above.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is begotten of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him,
How can these things be?
10 Jehoshua answered and said unto him,
Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
This is a revolutionary
statement by Jehoshua as He tells Nicodemus that the kingdom can only be seen
by those who are begotten from above by the Spirit of Jehovah, proving undoubtedly
that the Kingdom is spiritual and not Geo-political. Those who try and dismiss
that the Kingdom has already been here for nearly 2,000 thousand years and that
it is only a Geo-political kingdom centered in earthly Jerusalem in the distant
future, are rebuked here sharply by the Son of God. He is emphatic that the
Kingdom is spiritual in nature and is only seen by those who have born from
above by the Holy Spirit. God’s Kingdom brought by His Son is not one that can
be seen by human eyes as it takes spiritual eyes to see it. The Kingdom is one
of spiritual treasures, in which its members enjoy the riches of heaven as a foretaste
of eternity in the new heavens and new earth. Those who are still waiting for
the Kingdom to arrive in some Geo-political format are the Nicodemus’s of the
world who although being learned in the word of God lack the Spirit to see the
true treasures of heaven. The true treasures of this Kingdom are not in
wielding power to lord over others but rather to serve others in humility like
the great King Jehoshua did during His earthly ministry.
To see the Kingdom
spiritually is to appreciate the here and now of it and to pick up one’s cross
and follow Messiah with all one’s heart. It’s to live out the principles of the
Kingdom outlined in the Sermon on the Mount. Much of Christendom misses out on
this as they are told that Kingdom isn’t here yet and thereby also negate the
need to follow the Kingdom law as taught by Jehoshua.
To see the Kingdom
now spiritually is to deny the riches of this world and the lust of it and
instead build treasure in heaven. Essential to this Kingdom is the willingness
to pick up the cross of Messiah and die for it. This is why American
Christianity is lukewarm because they do not see that the Kingdom is here and
now and thereby look at this world as their Kingdom and that God’s is only
future. What a cost the Church has suffered by giving up the idea that Kingdom
is the Church and instead await some Geo-political Kingdom ran by ethnic Jews.
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