Yeshua and the Gospel of the Kingdom

The purpose of this article is to explain to the reader the meaning and importance of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God by attempting to answer the following questions: What does the actual word "kingdom" mean? When will it be established? Is it important? Who will reign in it? What will it be like? How can one inherit it?

"It is customary to speak of a kingdom (basileia) as being made up of two component parts: [1] an authority to rule and [2] the realm or territory over which the king's reign is exercised. Vine, for example, speaks of the kingdom as being [1] sovereignty, royal power, dominion and [2] the territory or people over whom a king rules. Strong similarly states that the kingdom consists of `royal power, kingship, dominion, rule' and `the territory subject to the rule of a king.' Bauer, Gingrich and Danker call the kingdom [1] `kingship, royal power, royal rule' and [2] `the territory ruled over by a king."'

These statements provide a clearer picture of what the Bible means when it speaks of the Kingdom. "Because it will be in every physical and political sense a real kingdom it will have a king, a government, a capital, and an international system of laws. YEHOVAH God has already delegated `all power in heaven and in earth' to His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ."

When will the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God be established? The disciples asked Yeshua this question in Acts 1:6. He answered in verse 7: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own authority." No one knows, not even Yeshua, the exact time the Kingdom will come. YEHOVAH has kept this secret to Himself Luke 21:25-31 says that when one sees the signs of the end of the age he will know "that the Kingdom of God is about to come." The critical sign is the coming of the Son of Man (Yeshua) in a cloud. This is called the Parousia, the second coming of the Messiah. In Acts 1:11 a promise is given by two angels: "Why do you stand gazing up to heaven? This same Jesus, now being taken from you into heaven, will come exactly as you have seen him go into heaven."

Is the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God important? It is the center of all that Yeshua taught. John Bright states, "The concept of the kingdom of God involves, in a real sense, the total message of the Bible" (The Kingdom of God, p. 7). Sir Anthony Buzzard, in his book The Coming Kingdom of the Messiah, says:

John the Baptist also preached the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God, summoning the public to a new life: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand" (Matt. 3:2).

Who will reign in the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God? Both YEHOVAH God the Father AND Yeshua the Messiah! Buzzard states that the Messiah, YEHOVAH's agent, will administer an ideal world government. In Luke 22:29, 30 Yeshua says to his apostles, "I appoint to you a Kingdom, as my Father has appointed it to me; that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom, and sit on thrones administering the twelve tribes of Israel." The apostles will also reign. I Corinthians 6:2 states, "Don't you know that the saints will govern the world?" All the saints of all the ages will reign with the Messiah.

What will the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God be like? According to Isaiah 65, it will be a place where there will be no weeping or crying (v. 19), people will fill out their days (v. 20), houses will be built and lived in, vineyards will be planted and enjoyed (v. 21). The wolf and lamb will eat together, lions will eat straw, serpents will eat dust, and none of them will harm or destroy. Ezekiel 34 states that in the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God there will be "showers of blessing." The earth will yield her increase, and the tree of the field will yield her fruit. There will be no more hunger.

How does one inherit the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God? Oswald Chambers, in his book My Utmost for His Highest, writes:

"The entrance to the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man's respectable goodness." Then the holy spirit -- YEHOVAH's power in action -- forms a brand new life in the believer.

Matthew 5:3 says that the "poor in spirit" will inherit the Kingdom. Verse 10 says that those who are persecuted for righteousness will also possess the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God. Acts 14:22 speaks of trial: "We must through much tribulation enter the Kingdom of God." In John 3:3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Truly I tell you: Unless a man is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God." I Corinthians 6:9-11 warns, "The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God." If we have all sinned and are therefore unrighteous how can anyone inherit the Kingdom? Verse 11 answers this question: "You were washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." The only way to inherit the Kingdom is through believing His Son Yeshua the Messiah. In Matthew 14:6 Yeshua says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me." The Kingdom of YEHOVAH God is available for all those who will realize their sinfulness, confess Yeshua the Messiah with their mouth, believe in their heart that God has raised him from the dead, and repent of their sins. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life [the life of the age to come -- life in the Kingdom]."

I conclude with a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God that 1 found on the Internet: