Introduction to the Messianic Kingdom

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Introduction to The Kingdom

 

The Keys to the Kingdom by Nicolas Poussin 1636-39

The Keys to the Kingdom by Nicolas Poussin 1636-39

The concept of the Messianic Kingdom coming on this earth, its government and population are given primarily in the Old Testament. As Jesus taught His apostles to pray as recorded in Matthew 6:10  “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” it is coming to this earth some day. Messiah affirmed it and an exploration of the New Testament, and the Hebrew Tenach (Christian Old Testament) provides the complete picture of its nature. Messiah let His apostles know that the Kingdom would come upon earth, it would mirror God’s heavenly Kingdom and it was sometime yet future to the time of the Sermon on the Mount. Interestingly the Jewish non-canonical writings affirmed many of its characteristics. Some conflict with the accuracy of Scripture but are interesting in that they reveal the Jews expectation of the Kingdom on earth.

Even while the nation of Israel rejected their Messiah and the kingdom, the apostles expected it even after His crucifixion. Right before his ascension, the disciples said in Acts 1.6  ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus replied that he could not reveal this knowledge.  Jesus did not reject the idea of the Messianic Kingdom or spiritualize it He simply discussed it.  Rather, his answer affirmed the prophetic Scriptures.  He just could not reveal the timetable.  It was not until the book of Revelation was written that its timing was revealed. It will come after the Great Tribulation immediately after the seventy-five day interval. During that interval all the Gentiles who made it through the Tribulation will be judged in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (present day Kidron Valley) for their treatment of the Jews during the Tribulation. Revelation also reveals that the duration of the Kingdom will be one thousand years. Since all the prophecies in the Old Testament related to the Messiah’s first advent have been literally fulfilled, therefore we can expect that the prophecies related to the Messiah and His Kingdom will be fulfilled literally also. With the world in increasingly worse turmoil it is obvious that the Kingdom has not yet arrived and it is still yet future to us.