Kingdom Theology: Part 2
The Cosmic Nature of Kingdom Theology
As I studied biblical theology within the Kipsigis context, I grew to believe that the focus must be upon God rather than upon the response of the individual. I began to study a kingdom perspective--that God in Christ has broken into the world to establish his own sovereignty and defeat the powers of Satan. As a consequence, my preaching began to center on the nature and work of God. This message had cosmic dimensions far beyond the conversion of individuals. People were called to conversion on the basis of the mighty working of God in the world and discipled to reflect the nature of holy God. This section shows that a kingdom perspective is the "scarlet thread that runs through the biblical testimonies" (Moltmann 1981, 95).
The Meaning of Kingdom
The term kingdom means "a rule or reign, an exercise of authority." When applied to the reign of God in the world, the term means "the rule or sovereignty of creator God." C. R. Beasley-Murray thus equates the terms kingdom and sovereignty throughout his detailed text on the kingdom of God (1986, 74). George Ladd defines kingdom in the following way: "The primary meaning of both the Hebrew word malkuth in the Old Testament and of the Greek word basileia in the New Testament is the rank, authority and sovereignty exercised by a king....A kingdom is the authority to rule, the sovereignty of the king" (1959, 19). The kingdom of God was established when Christ, the King, initiated his rule.
The synonymous parallelism of Psalm 145:11-13 define the nature of the kingdom of God:
They will tell of the glory of your
kingdom
and speak of your might,
so that all men may know of your
mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
God's kingdom is one of glory and splendor. The synonymous parallelisms equate the kingdom with mighty acts and dominion. Thus God "does nor merely sit on a throne, but he reigns by performing might deeds. His rule is not static but is expressed in acts of power" (Ferguson 1989, 7).
Although the church reflects the rule of God in the world, the kingdom cannot be precisely paralleled with the church. Old Testament kingdom passages confirm that the rule of God existed before the coming of Christ, the ultimate King, and the establishment of the church. Neither can the kingdom be strictly equated with some cosmic event that will take place when Christ returns. Although the consummation of the kingdom will occur at the end of time, the kingdom of God is a continuing historical reality.
The Roots of Kingdom Theology in the Old Testament
Although the word kingdom is seldom mentioned in the Old Testament, the meaning of the term has its roots there (Bright 1953). The term king is applied to Yahweh forty-one times. The theme of "God, the ruling Lord" is a thread running throughout the Old Testament (Beasley-Murray 1986, 17). This ruling Lord elected a people to become his "kingdom" although all the world was his (Deut. 7:6-8). This people was chosen to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:5-6). As the Levites were priests of Israel, so Israel was to be a kingdom of priests for the world.
During this early period God was considered the king of Israel. When Israel wanted an earthly king, both Gideon (Judg. 8:22-23) and Samuel (1 Sam. 8:1-8) told the Israelites that God was their king. Saul was anointed the first king over Israel with the words "Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over his inheritance?" (1 Sam. 10:1). The rule of God was sovereign over the rule of the king. When these earthly kings followed the reign of God, they were blessed, but when they forsook Yahweh as their exclusive sovereign and acknowledged the sovereignty of other gods, they were driven out of their promised land (2 Kings 17:13-18).
Although Israel was God's special kingdom of priests, God ruled over all nations. Not only Israel but all nations were accountable to God for their sins (Amos 1-2; Ezek. 25-32). God, who freed the Israelites from Egyptian captivity, also delivered the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir (Amos 9:7). God not only gave Canaan to the Jews but also allotted the Moabites and Ammonites their lands (Deut. 2:16-19). God sent the Jewish prophet Johan to save the great Assyrian city of Nineveh. The theme of Daniel is that "the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men" (Dan. 5:21). "The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all" (Ps. 103:19, emphasis added).
Israel was elected to become a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:5-6) to represent God before the world (Deut. 7:6-8) and to be "a light to the nations" (Isa. 42:6; 49:6 RSV). However, Israel abandoned her priestly role and followed the gods of the nations. By so doing, the Israelites forsook the kingdom of God. Old Testament history portrays the failure of a chosen people to fully accept the rule of God because they were repeatedly seduced by animistic practices (2 Kings 17:7-23).
The expectation that God's reign would break more fully into the world in the person of the Messiah is also reflected in Old Testament prophetic writings. One would come announcing "peace" and proclaiming "Your God reigns!" (Isa. 52:7). Ezekiel raised the expectation that Israel and Judah would be reunited and that God's "servant David" would be king over them (37:24; 34:23, see also 30-31). The chapters of Daniel that deal with the setting up of a great kingdom compare the kingdoms of the earth to the coming kingdom of God (2, 7, 8). God's kingdom, which will "never be destroyed" (2:44), will crush all earthly kingdoms (7:13-14, 17-18). The Messiah, who brought the kingdom, was given "dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him" (7:14 NASB).
These passages give only a brief sampling of the developing kingdom concept in the Old Testament. The concept continued to evolve during the intertestamental period1 to the point where the Jews of Jesus' day were reported as asking themselves if Jesus could be the Messiah who would bring in the expected kingdom (John 7:40-43).
1. For a complete description of the concept of the kingdom in the Old Testament and during the intertestamental period, read Beasley-Murray's Jesus and the Kingdom of God (1986:3-68).
The Breaking in of the Kingdom in the Ministry of Jesus
With the coming of Jesus Christ the word kingdom began to connote God's distinctive reign in his Son. In Christ, God established a sovereign rule that would never be destroyed.
Jesus was born during a time of great messianic expectation. The Jews believed that God was about to fulfill the messianic prophecies by sending the Messiah to sweep away the wicked kingdoms of human sovereignty and fill the earth with righteousness. But Jesus did not come to destroy the wicked kingdoms of this world but rather to destroy the kingdom of Satan. Ladd says, "The kingdom of God is here; but instead of destroying human sovereignty, it has attacked the sovereignty of Satan" (1981, 56). Although the coming kingdom could not fulfill earthly Jewish expectations because Christ's kingdom was not "of this world" (John 18:36), messianic anticipations served to draw thousands to hear John the Baptist and Jesus proclaim the imminence of the kingdom. These expectations were part of God's timing in preparing the world to receive his message (Gal. 4:4).
The kingdom began to break into the world with John the Baptist. He was the first to proclaim "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:1-2 RSV). Luke 16:16 signifies that John is a dividing line between two periods: "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached." The term until (mechri) is used in an inclusive sense meaning "up to and including" John (Beasley-Murray 1986, 94). John is the "man who formed the watershed of the ages, who bridged the gap between the period of promise and the period of fulfillment, and who by his proclamation opened a way for the kingdom of God" (Beasley-Murray 1986, 96). When John was put in prison, concluding his ministry of introducing the kingdom, Jesus began his ministry (Mark 1:14).
Jesus' message is summarized in each of the synoptic Gospels by the statement "Repent, for the kingdom of God [heaven] is at hand" (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15 NASB). The phrase at hand has connotations for both the present and the future. It means "'drawing near,' 'breaking in,' 'in process of becoming'" (Ferguson 1989, 24). The synthetic parallelism of Mark 1:15 helps to clarify the meaning of at hand: "The time is fulfilled" is synonymous with "the kingdom of God is at hand." The first phrase "looks backward, while the second looks to the present and future; the first announces the end of the old era, the second proclaims the beginning of the new" (Ambrozic 1972,21-22). Beasley-Murray thus interprets this passage to mean, "If the time before the kingdom is finished, the time of the kingdom has begun" (1986, 73). In Jesus Christ, God has broken into the world to initiate a rule that will never be destroyed. In a sense the kingdom was coming yet it was also in their midst in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. When Christ the King came, the kingdom began to break into the world.
Because it addresses a Jewish audience with messianic expectations, Matthew's Gospel emphasizes the kingdom. The book begins with a genealogy designating that Jesus is "the son of David, the son of Abraham" (1:1). The messianic title son of David is used nine times to describe Jesus (Ferguson 1989, 20-21). He was born as "king of the Jews" (2:2). He told parables of the kingdom (chap. 13), used kingdom power to cast out demons (12:28), and taught principles of righteousness inherent in the kingdom (5:20). His triumphal entry was pictured as the coming of the Messiah in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. Jesus died as "the king of the Jews" (27:11-42). The concept of the kingdom is so dominant in Matthew that the word kingdom is used fifty-one times in this Gospel while only eighteen times in the Gospel of Mark (Senior 1984, 237). Jack Kingsbury says, "The single most comprehensive concept in the first Gospel is without doubt that of the Kingdom of Heaven. It touches on every major facet of the Gospel, whether it is theological, christological, or ecclesiological in nature" (1975b, 128). Although dominant in Matthew, the kingdom motif is significant in all the Gospels. This teaching "pervades the entire proclamation of Jesus recorded in the gospels and appears to have determined the course of his ministry" (Beasley-Murray 1986, x).
Matthew comments that Jesus "went throughout Galilee,...preaching the good news of the kingdom" (4:23). Proclamation was accompanied by the deeds that defeated the powers of Satan: demons were cast out by the power of God and the sick were healed (Matt. 4:23-24). According to Mark's account, those who heard the kingdom proclamation of Jesus were told to "repent, and believe in the gospel" (1:15 RSV). The Good News of the kingdom of God was now operative among them; it was now time to respond to the mighty acts of God in history! With such expectations it is no wonder that thousands flocked to hear the proclamation of the kingdom from Jesus of Nazareth, who was acclaimed as the long-awaited Messiah of God.
Copyright
©2000 by Gailyn Van Rheenen -- excerpt from Communicating Christ in
Animistic Contexts (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1996)
All rights reserved. If you wish to copy this information, please e-mail
Dr. Van Rheenen.