THE KINGDOM OF GOD in Daniel

Scriptures: Dan. 2:34-35,44-45; 7:9-14,18,22,26-27; Rev. 20:10-15

PROPHECIES OF GOD’S KINGDOM

What is the nature of God’s Kingdom?

• Originates from God (Dan. 2:44 – “God of heaven will set up”)
• Heavenly nature (Dan. 2:45 – “cut out of the mountain without hands”)
  • Mountain –The top of a mountain is the highest point you could ever reach on earth, it is made by God and is at the top of all His creation on earth, thus it seems to symbolize heaven above.  For instance, God speaking from the top of a mountain to Moses corresponds with Him speaking from heaven (Heb. 8:5), and the bride who comes from heaven is said to be upon a high mountain (Rev. 21:10). 
• Indestructible and eternal (Dan. 2:34,44; 7:14)
• Grows (Dan. 2:35)

How will God’s Kingdom be formed?

• Begins with a stone in the mountains (Dan. 2:34)
  • Was given to the Son of Man who comes with the clouds (Dan. 7:13-14)
• Grows into a mountain (Dan. 2:35)
  • God’s saints receive the Kingdom forever (7:18)
    • Saints inherit and possess Kingdom after little horn is destroyed (7:22,27)
    • Kingdom will not be left to others (2:44)

What will God’s Kingdom do?

• Begins to grow into mountain that fills earth (2:35)
• God’s Kingdom in heaven will grow and reign before his Kingdom on earth comes in its fullness (7:9-10)
• God’s Kingdom will judge the nations, burning up what is foreign to it (7:10-11,26; Rev. 20:10-15)
  • Strike the feet of iron and clay (2:34)
    • Break iron and clay to pieces (2:34)
    • Completely destroy all kingdoms of the earth (2:35,44)
• After destruction of world empires, Kingdom will continue to grow (2:35; 7:22)

THE FULFILLMENT

Definition:  The Kingdom of God – The place where God reigns as King and all submit to Him alone.

The New Testament begins (Matt. 1:1) and ends (Rev. 22:16) with a pronouncement of Jesus as the Son of David, the King (Matt. 1:6), thereby making Him the true King of the Jews (Matt. 2:2; Luke 1:31-33).  Christ even claims that the very purpose of his coming to earth was to bring forth this Kingdom (Luke 4:43). In addition, the ministry of the early church, as seen in Acts, also begins (Acts 1:3) and ends (Acts 28:31) with preaching on the Kingdom of God.  And specifically, John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus’ disciples (Matt. 10:7), and Christ Himself (Matt. 4:17) all taught that God’s Kingdom was very soon to be approaching.  So when did this Kingdom begin?

In the Old Testament, the reign of every king began with his being anointed with oil (1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1; 16:13; 1 Kings 1:34,39), which signified being filled with God’s Holy Spirit (Isaiah 61:1).  Thus, the reign of Christ began with his anointing with the Holy Spirit after his baptism (Luke 3:21-22), even as He proclaimed the anointing to be upon Him (Luke 4:18-21) and was called the Christ, or Messiah, which means “the Anointed One”.  In fact, Christ’s baptism and anointing of the Holy Spirit is the ONLY dated event in the entire New Testament (Luke 3:1-2), marking a very clear starting point for God’s Kingdom. 

During his ministry, Jesus said that He was given God’s Kingdom (Luke 22:29) so that it had already begun to enter the world through His ministry (Matt. 12:28), and the ministry of his disciples (Luke 10:9-11), but would continue to grow (Matt. 13:31-33).  Now all of this growth had to begin with Christ, specifically by means of His death and resurrection.  For as a seed “dies” and is “buried” by the gardener’s hands, yielding a mighty crop, so Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection bring about the growth of God’s Kingdom (see John 12:24): He was the first Seed sown into the ground (Matt. 13:31-32; John 12:24), as well as the One who sows other seeds (Matt. 13:24,37), and thus the Kingdom of God is many times compared to the growth of crops. 

The nature of this Kingdom is not initially physical (Luke 7:28) or of this world (John 18:36), instead, it is spiritual and from heaven (John 3:1-21; Romans 14:17), though Jesus also teaches His disciples to pray that this Kingdom of heaven would be more manifested upon the earth (Mt. 6:10).  Jesus is said to have entered this Kingdom after His death (Luke 23:42-43) but makes it permanently accessible to others after his resurrection (John 12:24), and thus, the only way anyone can enter this Kingdom is by belief in Christ’s nature along with his work of death and resurrection (John 3:13-21), whereby you receive the Holy Spirit – a new birth that constitutes you as a newborn citizen of the Kingdom (John 3:3-7; Romans 14:17).  This is further evidenced by the fact that Christ focused his post-resurrection teaching on the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), and particularly spoke of its connection with the Holy Spirit that was soon to come down (Acts 1:4-8).  

Since this Kingdom is given only to Christians (Luke 12:32), i.e. those who believe on Christ (Acts 11:26), the foundation Stone of the Kingdom (Matt. 21:42-44), all other people have been rejected from receiving it, including the Jews who do not receive Christ (Matt. 21:43).  Therefore, Jesus told his disciples that He had given them this Kingdom (Luke 22:29), and the other New Testament writings declare all Christians to be receivers of this Kingdom (Heb. 11:28), and be part of it now (Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:9), even reigning with Him in it (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10), though there will be some people who appear to be in the Kingdom, when, in reality, they aren’t (Matt. 13:24-30,47-50).

Those who are part of this Kingdom have total forgiveness of their sins (Matt. 18:21-35) and will choose to truly serve God using the resources He gives (Matt. 20:1-16; 21:41; 25:14-30).  Since God’s Kingdom is predicated upon His eternal, unending life, and those who receive this life, it must be a Kingdom that knows no end (Luke 1:31-33).

The Kingdom of God that began at Jesus’ baptism has grown ever since.  Consider these descriptions of this Kingdom: “The wheat sprouted,” “it…leavened,” “a net that…gathered fish,” “the seed sprouts and grows.” (Matt. 13:26,33,47; Mark 4:27).  As the wheat grew, the leaven spread, the net gathered fish, and the man’s seeds sprouted and grew, so has the Kingdom of God known growth all of its years.  

However, the harvest of this Kingdom is still yet to happen: “The harvest is the end of the age” (Matt. 13:39).  At the return of Christ, He and His angels and saints will judge between those who were truly in his Kingdom and those who were not (even though they may have appeared to be): “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.  They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:41-42, see also Matt. 13:49-50).  When Christ returns, all will receive new and everlasting bodies and then His judgment follows (John 5:28-30).  After this judgment, Christ will hand over this Kingdom to God the Father to rule forever and ever (1 Cor. 15:24).

Another way to think about this is by Jesus’ parable of a wedding banquet (Matt. 22:1-14).  We are later told that this marriage and consummation between Christ and His Bride (i.e. all who believe in Him) is still future (Rev. 19:7-9).  However, it is not only the final consummation that is part of the Kingdom of God, but the preparations and arrangements themselves: “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son.” (Matt. 22:2).  As the wedding is comparable to the great harvest at the end of the age, so the time of preparation for the wedding day (e.g. 2 Cor. 11:2) corresponds with the growing and maturing of the seed.    

The Kingdom that will continue after this harvest and wedding will proceed after the bodily resurrection at the end of the age (1 Cor. 15:50).  It is not a new kingdom as much as it is a continuation of the Kingdom that began with Christ’s ministry.

At the end of the age, Christ will subdue (Rev. 11:15) and judge the nations (Matt. 25:31-32), and only God’s Kingdom will remain standing (Mt. 13:43; 25:34).  Those who truly followed Christ, even in tribulation (Acts 14:22), will reside in this Kingdom (Mt. 7:21; 25:4; 1 Cor. 6:9-10), including the Old Testament saints (Mt. 8:11), and each person will be given different dominions in this Kingdom based on what they did while living on earth (Lk. 19:11-27).      

There remains one further aspect of this Kingdom that is prophesied by Daniel and Christ, that being the importance of Jerusalem’s temple destruction (in 70 A.D.) in relation to God’s Kingdom.  In Luke 21:20-33, Jesus gives many details about the coming destruction of Jerusalem’s temple.  And in 21:31, He says, “When you see these things happening [to Jerusalem’s temple; seemingly fulfilled in 70 A.D.], know that the kingdom of God is near.”  In other places, Jesus seems to further relate this time period with a manifestation of God’s Kingdom (Mk. 9:1; Lk. 9:27).  

It seems 2 questions will help us understand the relation between Jerusalem’s destruction and God’s Kingdom coming: (1) What happened?  (2) When did it happen?

1. The destruction of Jerusalem’s temple in 70 A.D. was the utter casting off of the Israelites “after the flesh” who refused to follow Christ.  In relation to God’s Kingdom, this separation of natural Israel from those who accepted Christ (whether they be Jew or Gentile, Gal. 3:28), was a monumental landmark that would bring many to accept the Gospel.  Just as the job of a human king is first the salvation of his people, then the judgment of all who oppose him, so God’s Kingdom began with salvation and was marked in 70 A.D. with manifest judgment on those who rejected Him.

2. The destruction of Jerusalem’s temple happened 40 years after Christ’s ministry and inauguration of the Kingdom.  Consistently in the Bible, 40 is a number signifying testing and probation: 40 days of rain waters upon the ark; 40 years of wandering in the desert; 40 lashes for punishing that does not kill/humiliate (Deut. 25:2-3); 40-year reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon; Jesus’ 40 days in the desert.  Thus, the Jews were given a probationary period of 40 years to see if they would repent and believe the gospel of Christ.  Since they remained stubborn and blind during these 40 years, God overtly showed that his Kingdom was established in opposition to this, thus Jesus describes this event as “the kingdom of God present with power” (Mark 9:1).