Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:29 — 19.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
The Kingdom of God starts with the mandates given to our ancestor Adam. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen.1:1) God is the creator, He is not a tyrant but we need to remember that the laws of the universe and the parameters of it were created by God, not us.
When Adam sinned, He introduced sin into the entire heart. He had a purpose in allowing Adam to rebel, although He could have prevented it. God wanted to teach humanity a long hard lesson that doing things our way, outside of God’s will does not work. God achieves His purposes either way.
Paul assured us:
“When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” (1st Cor. 15:28)
King Adam
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the 1sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Gen. 1:26)
Adam was the first king of the earth. he was appointed by God Himself which meant that he was always subject to the creator. Adam was given two mandates: a Dominion mandate and a Fruitfulness Mandate.
God gave Adam kingship over the earth and he would have had that forever if he had not sinned but after he sinned, he lost that kingship, which was later given to King Yeshua.
“When Adam sinned, his nature attempted to rule the earth independently, as if the earth was his. In effect, he usurped the throne of the Creator. His independent will moved him out of the realm of life into the realm of death (mortality) even as God had forewarned him in Gen. 2:17, “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” —Dr. Stephen Jones
Adam and Eve brought forth children in their own image and after their likeness. if they had begotten children before their sin, they could have brought forth children in God’s image. Adam’s sin had huge repercussions and his mortality was passed down to all their heirs, generation after generation, including us.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12)
Death and sin created a problem for King Adam. If he had remained sinless and immortal, he would have remained King of the earth and would not have had to pass the crown to his children. It was Adam’s job to subdue the earth and bring it under God’s righteous government, but since he failed, another “Adam” will do so.
The fruitfulness mandate, as written in Gen. 1:26, is “Be fruitful and multiply.” That second mandate is the origin of sonship and was the mandate which was designed to populate the Kingdom of God with citizens of the kingdom and bring many sons and daughters to glory. All of Adam and Eve’s children would have been citizens of the kingdom by birthright if Adam and Eve had not sinned.
But because of Adam’s sin, he birthright passed from Adam to Seth to Enos and to Noah who carried it through the flood. Noah passed it to Shem, then it went to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob granted the Dominion Mandate to Judah (“until Shiloh comes as in Gen. 49:10) and the Fruitfulness mandate to Joseph (Gen. 49:22).
A second witness is in 1st Chron. 5:2:
“Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph)….”
These two elements of this birthright will ultimately be reunited in Messiah. His birth history comes from Judah and the seed of David. This qualifies him to receive the Dominion mandate. It is prophesied that at his second coming, he will receive the Joseph’s mandate. The parallels between Joseph and Yeshua come in Gen. 37:31 when Joseph’s cloak was dipped in blood and Yeshua’s cloak will be dipped in blood as recorded in Rev. 19:13.
Despite the righteous chain of inheritance, there were usurpers, such as Nimrod. He was the first major challenger who tried to set up a rival kingdom to God’s righteous kingdom. He called it Babylon, which remains with us to this day. Nimrod wanted to be the Messiah.
Shem left Babylon and traveled west to Canaan and set up a city called Salem, the city of peace. He set up his own kingdom under the title Melchizedek, King of righteousness. These two rival kingdoms then became archetypes of the historical conflict between Mystery Babylon and the New Jerusalem.
Later, dominion was given to David along with the promise that the Messiah would be one of his descendants. Yeshua came 1000 years later with the line of David in his blood to claim His throne but just as Absolom challenged David, Yeshua had to face a challenger too when the chief priests uspured His throne by having him killed. But just as David had a “second coming” when Absolom was killed, the usurpers who presumed to dethrone King Yeshua will be deposed and their counterfeit kingdom will be destroyed.
When Yeshua faced Pilate, He told Pilate:
“Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:33-37)
Yeshua was born to be king. He qualified Himself to take over rulership of the world and fix Adam’s failure. We bide our time until it happens as we watch the pompous leaders of the world fail at most everything they do. Yeshua qualified himself by resisting HaSatan’s temptations and living a sinless life. He kept all of Torah perfectly. The Sanhedrin watched Yeshua and could find no legitimate charge to throw against Him so they had to make them up.
After 6,000 of mankind’s failure to set up stable kingdoms based on their own rules, it’s soon time for mankind to stand back and let Yeshua get the job done, yet we read that, in a final act of stupidity, the nations will resist and fight His takeover when He comes.
“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” (Rev. 17:12-14)
The Kingdom of God was Yeshua’s favorite sermon topic, it was the core of Messiah’s teaching (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43).
Golgotha was only a part of the Kingdom of God, not the culmination of it. Many Protestants refuse to budge from the bottom of the cross.
Matthew, Mark and Luke use the term “kingdom of God” in 53 verses. The term “kingdom of heaven” is only in Matthew’s writings and it appears 32 times there. It’s not a kingdom in heaven, it is a kingdom that will come down out of heaven. The Scriptures confirm that Messiah will rule on the earth.
“The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God.” (Rev. 11:14-16)
The scriptures also show us that the resurrected saints will reign with Messiah on earth not in heaven. Rev. 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
“No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.” (John 3:13)
Even Yeshua Himself was not transported to heaven when He died. He was resurrected on earth and then went to heaven after His resurrection.
Let’s look at what the Kingdom of God will look like. First look at Isa. 2:1-4, “The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 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 call the nations will stream to it. 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. 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. “
The government of King Yeshua will be on Mt. Zion and it will be the supreme government with power and control over nations with no exceptions. The nations will send their leaders and citizens to Jerusalem to learn the civil and spiritual laws of Torah, the blessings of obedience to God’s laws will prove themselves. When sin stops, the blessings flow naturally. This type of behavior has for 6000 years brought a curse on all nations. The lying, cheating and corruption in our government and businesses bring curses on our nations. The blessing of abundance and prosperity will be there for all people. No more haves and have nots, no more abject poverty.
The legal system, based on Torah will do away with corruption, injustice and inequity. There will be justice, mercy and equality for all.
All of the religious and political “isms” will die away. No more Buddhism, Shintoism, Islam and other false religions. Communism, Crony Capitalism, Socialism will all die away, too.
All people will have a Hebrew mindset. We will not only learn Torah but we will learn and obey it. No more double-mindedness. Education will be overhauled No more evolution and other lies. Only the truth of God as creator will be taught.
The whole world will keep Shabbat every week. God’s Hebraic calendar will be the standard calendar of the entire world. The pagan names of all the days of the weeks and months of the year will be abandoned.
Yeshua Himself will settle arguments between nations. No more “United Nations.” Weapons of war will be melted down for agricultural production. God will even change the nature of the animal kingdom.
A well-known Millennial reign scripture is Isa. 11:1-11. The first four verses are descriptive of the character of King Yeshua. Do you see these attributes in our world’s political leaders? I don’t and that is a major reason why we have the mess we have around the globe. How can the nations be bless and prosper when they (and their leaders) practice unrighteousness? People around the world continue to elect politicians and do business with companies that openly lie and are openly corrupt. It’s the simple cause and effect of sinful actions. It’s why the USA is flat broke and whether we are ready, change is coming. The status quo is unsustainable and collapsing on itself.
This teaching on the Kingdom of God continues in Isaiah and Jeremiah:
“And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.” (Isa. 32:17)
“The wilderness and the desert will be glad, And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; Like the crocus It will blossom profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, The majesty of our God.” (Isa. 35:1–2)
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and cI will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer. 31:31-34)
“Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with call My heart and with all My soul.” (Jer. 32:37-41)
Notice how many times God says, “I will” in these text. This is the good news. In the millennial reign, there will be no diseases, illness. Now we do not have healthcare, we have disease care but that will not be the case in the millennial reign. The American Medical Association will be out of business.
How will this enterprise succeed? God will change our bodies from physical to spiritual and our hearts from stone to flesh. He is going to do it all.
God will change us from physical to spiritual (1st Cor. 15:42-53). We will have a body just like Yeshua had when He was resurrected:
“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat? They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.” (Luke 24:39-43)
“When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24:30-31)
Yeshua will restore everything Adam lost (Acts 3:20-21). What the sovereign God says what he will do in scripture, it’s a done deal soon as He conceives it in His mind. When Yeshua ascended into Heaven, the Apostles understood it:
“So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’” (Acts 1:6-7)
Yeshua did not say that God would not do it but that the timing was none of their business. It will happen at the sound of the seventh trumpet on Yom Teruah:
“Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15)
Recorded on the first day of Sukkot 2013 in Occidental, Calif. Speaker: John. Summary: Tammy.