The Messianic Kingdom in Prophecy. Acts 3:1

The idea of the kingdom runs all of the way through Acts and there are a lot of different things associated with it. The subject of the kingdom of God and/or the kingdom of heaven is one about which there is a lot of discussion.

The term “kingdom of heaven” is only used in the Gospel of Matthew, and if we compare those passages with the Gospel of Luke and Mark and John what we discover is that in these same contexts Luke, Mark and John use the phrase “kingdom of God.” Why? The simple answer is that Matthew is writing to Jews. How did Jews feel about the name of God? They didn’t just use the name of God, so Matthew is writing to the Jews and he doesn’t want to use the name of God. He substitutes “heaven” which is the residence of God, and that also has certain significance because of how the kingdom is presented in relation to God as the ruler in heaven—coming out of passages in Daniel chapters 2, 4 and 7. The other writers use the term “kingdom of God” but they are saying the same thing; there is not a distinction at all between those two terms.

There are three things we need to remember when talking about a kingdom, and we don’t have a kingdom if we don’t have these three things. First of all there has to be a king who rules. Second, there has to be a domain over which he rules. Third, there has to be the exercise of ruling authority. Ultimately the idea of a kingdom is that there is a domain where the king’s rule over his people is exercised. One of the reasons we keep emphasizing that we are not living in a kingdom is because Jesus isn’t sitting on His throne yet. He is sitting on His Father’s throne; the kingdom isn’t given to Him until He comes to establish it. According to Daniel chapter seven as the Son of Man He is not given the kingdom until after the judgments on the earth. In the book of Revelation it is the opening of the seals and the seal judgments that is the act of the King coming—Jesus as the Lamb who was slain—comes to take that seal which is the title deed for His ruling authority over the earth. He comes to the earth to defeat the kings of the earth and to establish His kingdom, so the Tribulation is at one level the purification of the earth as the King comes to take dominion away from man. The exercise of His authority isn’t functioning right now. He is seated at the right hand of the Father; He is not exercising that ruling dominion.

We’ve looked at the kingdom in the Old Testament. We began with its beginning in Eden, worked our way through the call of Abraham as a precursor to the establishment of the next manifestation of a theocratic or mediatorial kingdom on the earth. We saw Moses and the giving of the Law at Sinai and the establishment of a new theocratic kingdom with this new Law code that God gave to Moses. The people whom God had redeemed went to the land that God promised to Abraham, conquered it, defeated the Canaanites for the most part, took the land, and then at the time of Samuel the people rejected the direct rule of God. They told Samuel they wanted to have a king like everybody else. Samuel took it personally and went to God. God said, “They haven’t rejected you, they have rejected me.” God said they would have as a result big government, taxes raised, the men drafted and sent off to war, etc. In other words, they were going to lose some of their freedoms. You can either have big government or a lot of freedom but you can’t have both. This led to the first king which was Saul. Saul was disobedient to God and finally had the kingdom taken from him finally in discipline because of his of his disobedience to God. God had Samuel anoint David to be the king but there was another period of ten to fifteen years before David actually became the king, he had to go through a testing period and Saul persecuted him.

The high point of the kingdom was under David and his son Solomon and it was at that point that God gave a covenant to David saying that it was to David’s seed that God would establish an eternal kingdom. There would be an eternal house, an eternal dynasty and an eternal throne, and a son of David would sit on that throne—2 Samuel 7:7-14 which emphasized that that covenant was just as important as the Abrahamic covenant. It tells us that that ruler of that kingdom is going to be eternal, which means He is going to be God. It is the first hint that the Messiah that is promised in the Old Testament is going to be both God and man. David understood that. At the end of 2 Samuel he talks about how he wrote many of the psalms to prophecy about the coming Messiah and that He would be a king.

We now look at the kingdom prophecies in the Old Testament. It was under David through some of the psalms that we have some prophecies related to the coming Messiah, and after Solomon and the split of the kingdom there was the rise of various prophets, notably Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel but also Micah, Hosea and others; and they prophesied about the this future kingdom. There was a lot of messianic prophecy given by both Isaiah and Micah.

We have to ask the question: how are we to interpret the prophecy? There is a huge debate over this. One of the big buzz words that we will hear is the word “apocalyptic.” It doesn’t just refer to some sort of great future catastrophe but it refers to a class of Jewish writings that developed in the inter-Testamental period. There was the rise of this literature and what always seems to happen in Christian scholarly circles is that they never assume that the Bible is first and then there is something else that is a degradation of it. They always seem to think that the Bible is just copying what is going on in these other cultures, and so they degrade the Bible by doing that. We never should refer to prophetic literature in the Bible by the term “apocalyptic” because apocalyptic was an apocryphal or non-canonical class of Jewish writings and there are all sorts of strange things going on in apocryphal literature. The characteristics of apocryphal literature are not the characteristics of Daniel, Zechariah or even the book of Revelation. There are some things that might be similar but that is only because the human-produced apocalyptic literature is just a bad copy, counterfeit fraud of true prophetic literature. So we will talk about prophetic literature but will never use the term “apocalyptic” literature unless talking about that non-canonical class of literature.

When it comes to interpreting prophecy there are basically three ways this is done.

1. The literal meaning. Dispensationalists, pre-millennialists, constantly say that literal interpretation means using language in its normal plain meaning. This includes the use of figures of speech—metaphor, simile—and symbols as well as allegories, but we let the text tell us what that means. All of those figures of speech are used within a normal structure and use of language. The golden rule of interpretation (David Cooper): “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense seek no other sense.” We are to take it in a normal sense, every word at its primary, ordinary usual literal meaning, unless the facts of the immediate context—studied in the light of related passages—and axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise.

2. Non-literal interpretation. This is used by people who have spiritualized the text so that whatever it means literally is not relevant—that’s not the message, it has a hidden meaning, a cryptic meaning, a spiritual meaning. For example, the Old Testament promises land to Abraham. In amillennial theology and in covenant theology when Israel rejected the Messiah God rejected Israel and so those physical promises that God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Old Testament are no longer going to be literally applied. The land now becomes heaven. Crossing the Jordan, which was a literal river that the Israelites literally crossed, now becomes crossing from this life into the next.

3. Then there is a combination method. This view sees two fulfillments: a near fulfillment that is not a full fulfillment and then there is a far fulfillment—two levels of fulfillment. E.g. those who identify Babylon not as literal Babylon but as the revived Roman empire. If Babylon doesn’t mean literal Babylon in Revelation 17 then we just have to absolutely eviscerate our whole view of interpretation in the rest of Scripture, because nowhere else in Scripture does Babylon not mean literal Babylon on the Euphrates River. We either have to be consistently literal or we are going to be inconsistent. There is no sign before the Rapture that indicates the nearness of the Tribulation.

What we see in the Old Testament is that the kingdom of prophesied as a literal kingdom. It is not prophesied as a spiritual kingdom in the heavens, it is literal, earthly, it has physical dimensions. It shows that there is a literal king and a literal kingdom. Isaiah 33:17 ^NASB “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will behold a far-distant land.” When we look at how the word “land” is used in the Old Testament we see that it always refers to that land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The kingdom is prophesied to have a special, geographical dimension. Isaiah 14:1, 2 ^NASB “When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel…” Those terms have a to have a historical meaning related to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the twelve tribes. “… and settle them in their own land [not heaven], then strangers [Gentiles] will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the LORD…” That is the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. “… as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors.” It refers to the fact that the major block of citizens are Jewish.

Jeremiah 23:3-6 ^NASB “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. I will also raise up shepherds over them and they will tend them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the LORD. Behold, {the} days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land [earthly, not in heaven]. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’” The word “remnant” in the Old Testament never refers to anyone but the believing block of Israel. It is never used anywhere in the Scriptures of the church. “And Israel will dwell securely…” This is Jewish kingdom in the land with a descendant of David on the throne.

Not only that but there is going to be a literal temple in this literal Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3 ^NASB “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.” There will be literal nations that will be involved.

But there is some confusion here because in some passages the king is spoken of as being close, near, not far off. In other passages this is seen as being quite distant. Why is it that way? Remember when we talked about the legitimacy of the offer of the kingdom? It was close because it was legitimate, it could come at any moment. But it is far off because the Jews didn’t accept it.

Haggai 2:6-9 ^NASB “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.” Before the kingdom comes there is this violence that occurs on the earth. All of these must take place before the kingdom is established. But the point here is simply “in a little while.” It is close. Isaiah 29:17 ^NASB “Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?” But then there are other passages which talk about it being far off.

What happens here is that the liberals come along and say the Bible is contradictory, there was really just a debate going on between the prophets. No, we have to understand the Word of God. The Word of God emphasizes the nearness because there is going to be a legitimate offer before long, but on the other hand there was a recognition that that if offer was rejected then that kingdom would be postponed and it would not be near, it would be far off.

Hosea 3:4, 5 ^NASB “For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince [an allusion to today], without sacrifice or {sacred} pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.” That hasn’t happened yet.

Isaiah 2:2 ^NASB “Now it will come about that In the last days [of Israel; far off] 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.”

Several passages talk about the devastating judgment: Joel 3:9-16; Isaiah 3:25-4:1. They talk about these terrible world-wide judgments and catastrophes that will occur upon the earth—wars like none we have ever seen. Jesus said the same thing about the Tribulation. This has to happen before the kingdom is established, so we can’t be in the kingdom now and we can’t be trying to develop the kingdom through the influence of the social gospel. It is a physical, literal kingdom that comes only after a great world-wide judgment catastrophe.

There will be a unique ruler in this future kingdom. The King is going to reign in righteousness. There has never been a king in all of human history that has had a righteous administration.

Isaiah 32:2 ^NASB “Each will be like a refuge from the wind And a shelter from the storm, Like streams of water in a dry country, Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.” This is talking about the future kingdom.

He is going to be called the Son of Man but He comes from heaven. Daniel 7:13, 14 ^NASB “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and {men of every} language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” This is one of those passages that leads to Matthew’s use of the term “kingdom of heaven.” This is the Son of Man coming to establish His kingdom; He comes from heaven. God the Father gives to Him “dominion, Glory and a kingdom.” It is not yet, it is future.

His government will be a benevolent monarchy. The best form of government is a benevolent monarchy where the king is sinless. This is why the only perfect government will only come when the Messiah establishes His kingdom. Isaiah 9:6 ^NASB “For a child will be born [human birth] to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Deity is not born; humanity is born. The one who is born is going to be called God. This tells us He has two natures, He is divine and He enters into human history as a child and takes on true humanity. “Everlasting Father,” as in the KJV, is a bad translation. In the Hebrew it is “Father of eternity.” It is talking about a characteristic He has; He is eternal. This is the unique government of the kingdom.

Psalm 2:6 ^NASB “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” God announces of His anointed one (v.2); it is prophetic and looks forward to the future kingdom with a future King and a future realm that is located in Jerusalem and in Israel. Daniel 7:14 ^NASB “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and {men of every} language Might serve Him…” Isaiah 40:10, 11 ^NASB “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry {them} in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing {ewes.}” He is a benevolent monarch; He takes care of His people.

The extent of the kingdom. Zechariah 14:9 ^NASB “And the LORD will be king over all the earth…” Isaiah 9:7 ^NASB “There will be no end to the increase of {His} government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” This is not in heaven; it is an earthly kingdom from the throne of David in Jerusalem. That is where He will reign.

The kingdom is spiritual only in the sense that it is related to spiritual rebirth and the role of the Holy Spirit—spiritual empowerment. Ezekiel 36:24-28 ^NASB “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” There is spiritual rebirth and spiritual empowerment.

Jeremiah 31:33 ^NASB “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days [of violence when He establishes the kingdom],” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Joel 2:28 ^NASB “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.” This is the verse that Peter quotes on the day of Pentecost because he is connecting what he is saying to the offer of the kingdom that is still on the table for Israel. There is not only a geographical dimension and a spiritual dimension, there is a political dimension and there is an economic dimension.

Isaiah 65:21 ^NASB “They will build houses and inhabit {them;} They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. [22] They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, {so will be} the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.” Verse 22 explains verse 21. They are not going to have communal living, they are going to build their own houses and live in their own house—private property. This is not any kind of socialism; this is a recognition that there is private property in the kingdom. Ezekiel 40-48 talks about the new tribal allotments that will go to the twelve tribes of Israel in the kingdom. There is a reassignment of property to the tribes of Israel. They were assigned property when they conquered the land under Joshua and they drew lots to establish those boundaries. But when the King comes, because the land is almost destroyed in the wars leading up to the return of the King, there is going to be a reapportionment and establishment of those boundaries so that they finally take and control all the real estate God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Remember the last thing we studied in Acts chapter one? The church was meeting together and they were holding all things in common, selling their property? What was Peter’s announcement in Acts 2:38? “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins...” We saw that that terminology was the same terminology as John the Baptist’s and Jesus’. It was the offer of the kingdom. It comes right out of Deuteronomy 30:2. They expected the kingdom to come. What would happen when the Messiah came with His kingdom? He is going to be reassigning the property allotments to the tribes. So they are thinking: Well, why do I need to keep hold of all my property? The Lord is going to come back and establish the kingdom here before long. I don’t need to keep this property because it is all going to get reassigned when the Messiah establishes His kingdom. Let’s all sell our property and share it together. It is their millennial expectation, the immediacy of that expectation that caused that. We don’t see this at the end of Acts, we see it only in those early stages of Acts when there is this immediate expectancy that the Messiah is coming and He is going to establish His kingdom.

Isaiah 35:5, 6 ^NASB “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.” In the kingdom it will be a time of healing and normal life. Streams in the desert: it is refreshing. Peter is going to use another term in Acts chapter three. He will say: If you repent the times of refreshing will come. That phrase “times of refreshing” comes out of these passages that are talking about the kingdom coming. It is another offer of the kingdom.

So that is the Old Testament. It is a kingdom prophecy. That is what they were expecting, and so when John the Baptist came along and said the kingdom of heaven is near he would have to define what he meant by the kingdom. Nowhere in Matthew and Mark or Luke or John does he ever define the kingdom because the people knew what he was talking about. Jesus came long right after John and said the very same thing, and He didn’t explain it any differently. If they had meant something other than the literal geographical kingdom of Israel and Judah they would have had to redefine it, but they never did. They were not talking about anything other than what Moses had promised, what Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel had all been promising.

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