In the introduction of his book The Secrets of the Kingdom, Don Bast states that, in a fellowship group of which he was a member for over 20 years (and in which he’d “been a main speaker for over a decade”), it was believed and taught that “the kingdom of God was for physical Israel alone.” Astoundingly, we’re also told by Mr. Bast that one of the members of this fellowship group (who was “in her early 70’s” and had “grown up in this group”) was surprised to learn that Paul even wrote about the kingdom of God!
When
I first read this, I could hardly believe it. As long as I’ve believed anything
at all concerning the kingdom of God, I have never believed that it is “for
physical Israel alone.” And for as long as I’ve believed that the body of
Christ is constituted by a company of saints that is distinct from God’s covenant people, Israel (which is a position I’ve
defended elsewhere on my blog), I’ve believed that the kingdom of God over
which Christ will be reigning for the coming eons will be just as present in
the heavens as it will be on the earth (and that believers in the body of
Christ will be enjoying their allotment in the kingdom of God in its heavenly location rather than its earthly location). I was, therefore, astonished
to learn that a fellowship group in the modern era – one which I’m assuming
encouraged independent thought and study of Scripture (and was free from the
influence and oversight of some larger Christian organization) – could, for 20+
years, believe that the kingdom of God “was for physical Israel alone,” or that
anyone in such a fellowship group could, for nearly 70 years of their life, be ignorant of the fact that Paul
wrote about the kingdom of God. And yet, it happened.
Later
on in the introduction of his book, Don Bast asks the reader five questions
that are based on certain verses he found particularly “troublesome” back when
he believed what he used to believe and teach in this fellowship group (and
which he had difficulty reconciling with what he used to believe at that time).
Now, to be clear, I haven’t read Mr. Bast’s book yet. I’ve merely read the
introduction (which is publically available on Amazon.com) to try and get a
general idea of the doctrinal positions being defended in the book before
deciding whether or not to purchase it. Thus, the purpose of this article is not to criticize or provide a rebuttal
to anything Mr. Bast has written in his book (at least, I won’t be doing so
directly). Instead, I simply want to try and answer the five questions asked by
Mr. Bast in his introduction, and – in doing so – see if they challenge or
undermine anything I currently believe (as they did, at one point, for Mr.
Bast).
Before
I answer his five questions, however, I think it would be helpful to provide an
overview of what I believe concerning the kingdom of God and its two locations
during the coming eons of Christ’s reign. I’ll begin by considering what
Scripture has to say about the kingdom of God that is going to be established
on the earth after Christ’s return.
The earthly
kingdom of God
That the kingdom
of God is going to be established on the earth at some future time should not
be surprising to any student of Scripture. The expectation of believing
Israelites has been terrestrial in nature ever since God promised to give to
Abraham and his offspring “all the land of Canaan for an eonian allotment”
(Gen. 17:7-8; 48:4). In accord with this fact, it is on the earth –
specifically, in the land promised to them by God (the capital of which will be
the city of Jerusalem) – that believing Israelites expected to enjoy their
allotment in the kingdom during the reign of the Messiah (Isa. 2:1-4; 11:6-9;
14:3-7; Isa. 35:6-7, 32:15, 35:1; Isa. 51:3; Isa. 65:25; Amos 9:13). With
the only exception being certain prophecies concerning the Messiah in which an
ascension to heaven is implied (Psalm 16:10-11; 68:18; 110:1; Daniel 7:13),
nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures is heaven ever said to be the future home of
any human being.
When we come to the “New Testament,” we find no change
concerning the prophesied expectation of God’s covenant people. Although the source and character of the “calling” of believing Israelites is celestial
(Heb. 3:1), the eonian expectation to which they’re called is earthly. It is “the
land” (or “earth”) – and not the heavens – which Christ promised the “the meek”
they would enjoy as an allotment (Matthew 5:5), and it was “the twelve tribes
of Israel” that Christ promised his disciples they would judge after he
returned to earth to sit on the “throne of his glory” (Matt. 19:28). Even when
Christ referred to “wages” and “treasures” in “the heavens” (Matt. 5:12;
6:19-21), he didn’t say that anyone would be going there to receive their
reward. Rather, it is after Christ has returned to earth that the faithful will
be recompensed (Matt. 16:27; 19:28-30; Rev. 22:12). Similarly, the “allotment”
that Peter referred to as being “kept in the heavens” for those to whom he
wrote (1 Pet. 1:3-5) is be given “…when
the Chief Shepherd is manifested” (1
Pet. 5:4). And we know that the manifestation of Christ to which Peter was
referring here is that which will involve his return to earth.
The enthronement of Christ after his return to earth (as
referred to in Matthew 19:28 and 25:31) will mark the beginning of the
fulfillment of the following prophecy from Jeremiah 23:5-8:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up
for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and
deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the
land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely…then they shall dwell in their own land.”
In Revelation, John also clearly prophesied that the saints would,
during the eons to come, be reigning “on the earth” (Rev. 5:9-10; 20:4-9), and
not in the heavens. Even the “celestial Jerusalem” that we’re told God is preparing
for the men and women of faith referred to in Hebrews 11 (see Heb. 11:10, 16;
12:22) – and in which faithful Israelites will be reigning as kings during the
last and greatest eon (Rev. 21:9-14; 22:3-5) – is not going to be in heaven,
for John twice described the city as “descending out of heaven from God” (Rev.
21:2, 10). Thus, Scripture is clear that the kingdom of God is going to be
established on the earth, and that it is in this location that God’s covenant
people will be enjoying their eonian allotment.
In Matthew’s Gospel, the kingdom of God is frequently referred
to as the “kingdom of the heavens.” However, this expression does not
inform us of the location of the kingdom about which Christ
taught during his earthly ministry; rather, the words “of the heavens” are a
reference to the source and character of this
kingdom (see Daniel 2:34-35, 44). Thus, the expression “kingdom of the
heavens” is simply another way of referring to the kingdom that is going to be
set up by “the God of the heavens,” and is
perfectly consistent with the fact that it is on the earth that
this kingdom will be established when Christ returns (Matt. 6:10; 13:41, 43;
Luke 21:31).
Although the kingdom of God on the earth will have dominion over
the entire earth (with all other kingdoms being under its authority), the
geographical territory of the kingdom of God will be the land of Israel (with
the city of Jerusalem on Mount Zion being its capital; see Jer. 3:17; Zech.
8:22; 14:4-21; cf. Rev. 14:1). Based on this geopolitical fact alone, we can
conclude that the kingdom of God on earth is going to be distinctively Jewish in nature (and that its
distinctively Jewish character is inseparably connected with its earthly
location). That this was the understanding of Christ’s twelve apostles during
their apostolic ministry is evident from Acts 1:6-8 (where we find recorded an
interesting exchange between Christ and his disciples shortly before his
ascension into heaven):
Those, indeed, then, who are coming together,
asked Him, saying, “Lord, art Thou at this time restoring the kingdom
to Israel?” Yet He said to them, “Not yours is it to know times or
eras which the Father placed in His own jurisdiction. But you shall be
obtaining power at the coming of the holy spirit on you, and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem and in entire Judea and Samaria, and as far as the
limits of the earth.”
At the time that the disciples asked the question recorded in v.
6 (which, according to Acts 1:1-3, was forty days after the disciples had received instruction from the risen Christ
concerning the kingdom of God), they still believed that Christ was going to be
“restoring the kingdom to Israel.” In fact, the question they asked Christ
shortly before his ascension to heaven suggests that this was the very subject
on which Christ had been instructing them during the past forty days. It’s also
worth noting that Christ didn’t say anything to correct their belief that he
was going to restore the kingdom to Israel. He simply told them that it was not
theirs “to know times or eras which the Father placed in his own jurisdiction.”
Christ’s response to his disciples implies that he is going to
restore the kingdom to Israel, but that it was simply not God’s will for them
to know when this time would come.[1]
In conjunction with what Christ personally taught
his disciples on the subject of the kingdom of God, there are a number of
prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that the disciples likely had in mind when
they asked Christ whether he was, at that time, going to be restoring the
kingdom to Israel (see, for example, Jer. 23:5-6; 31:1-40; Isa. 61:1-62: 12;
65:17-24; Ezek. 36:24-38; Mic.2:12-13; Zech. 8:20-23; 14:8-20). The longest and
most detailed continuous prophecy concerning the kingdom of God during the
coming eon is, arguably, found in the last thirteen chapters of Ezekiel. In
these chapters, it’s prophesied that the land promised to Israel (the
boundaries of which are specified in Numbers 34:1-15 and elsewhere) will
constitute the geographical territory of the kingdom that is going to be
restored to Israel, that God’s servant, David, will reign as king over the
restored nation, and that a magnificent temple will exist in the land of Israel
during this time (with the last nine chapters of Ezekiel being largely devoted
to God’s detailed instructions for the construction of this future temple,
including its dimensions, parts and contents).
We’re further told that those who will be enjoying
an eonian allotment in this geopolitical territory will be caused by God “walk in [his] statutes,” and will “be careful to obey all [his] rules” (Ezekiel 36:27;
37:24). These “statutes” and “rules” are clearly those that were given by God
to Israel alone (Lev. 18:3-5), and are frequently referred to throughout
Ezekiel (e.g., Ez. 5:7; 11:12, 20), with a special emphasis placed on the
keeping of God’s Sabbaths (e.g., Ezekiel 20:12, 13, 16, 20, 21, 24; cf. 44:24).
Among the statutes and rules which God’s covenant people will be obeying during
the eon to come are, of course, those pertaining to Israel’s
temple-based worship and sacrificial system (Ezekiel 40-48).
Note: For a more in-depth defense of the position that a fourth Jewish
temple is going to exist in the land of Israel during the eon to come – and
that worship in the temple during this time will involve animal sacrifices – see
the following articles:
In light of these and
other related prophecies found in the Hebrew Scriptures that concern the eonian
destiny of God’s covenant people, Israel, we can reasonably conclude that the
kingdom of God on earth – i.e., the kingdom that Christ is going to be “restoring
to Israel” – will be distinctively Jewish in nature. However, it should also be noted that the kingdom of God on earth will not be populated exclusively by Israelites,
for we know from Ezekiel 47:21-23 that there will be people
from among the nations who will be enjoying an allotment in this kingdom as
well. In these verses we read that the “sojourners” or “foreigners”
(lit. “guests”) who are residing among the twelve tribes at this time must be
treated as “native-born among the people of Israel”:
“This is
how you will divide this land for yourselves among the tribes of
Israel. You must allot it as an inheritance among yourselves and for the foreigners who reside among
you, who have had children among you. You must treat them as native-born among the
people of Israel; they will be allotted an inheritance with you among the
tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the foreigner resides, there you will
give him his inheritance,” declares the Lord Yahweh.
As argued in part five of my study on Matthew 25:31-46
(click here), I believe the first generation of these righteous gentiles (i.e.,
those who will be alive on the earth when Christ returns to earth) will
constitute the “sheep” to whom Christ will be declaring, “Hither, blessed of My Father! Enjoy the allotment of the
kingdom made ready for you from the disruption of the world” (Matt.
25:34).
It’s also clear that many of the saints who will be
enjoying an allotment in the kingdom during the time period prophesied in
Ezekiel 36-48 will be mortal human beings (see, for example, Ezekiel 36:8-12;
37:25-26; 44:20-25; cf. Isaiah 11:6-8; 65:20-25; Jeremiah 23:3-6; 30:18-20 [cf.
v. 3]; 33:10-11, 19-22; 59:20-21). In these and other passages, we read of
things said concerning people in the kingdom – including the priests who will
be ministering in the temple – that can only be said of mortal, flesh-and-blood
Israelites, and in which only those who are mortal will be involved during this
time (such as marrying and “multiplying” in the land). This category of Israelites
in the kingdom will initially consist of those belonging to the generation that
will be alive on the earth at the time of Christ’s return (such as the 144,000
sealed Israelites and the “vast throng” referred to in Rev. 7:2-17). However,
multitudes more will be born into, and grow up in, the kingdom that’s going to
be restored to Israel.
Of course, there will be some immortal people enjoying eonian life in the kingdom of
God on earth. But this category of saints will be constituted exclusively by
those believing Israelites (and certain believing “God-fearers,” such as
Cornelius and his household) who died before Christ’s return to earth. It is
these who are going to be restored to life in what is referred to in Scripture
as the “resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14) and the “former resurrection”
(Rev. 20:4-6; cf. John 5:29). And – as I’ve argued elsewhere – this is a
resurrection that will occur 75 days after the return of
Christ to the earth (click here for an article in which this view is defended). Those who are raised from the dead by Christ at the
“former resurrection” will be “neither marrying nor taking out in marriage”
during the eon to come, “for neither can they still be dying, for they are
equal to messengers, and are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection”
(Luke 20:35-36).
In contrast with those who will take
part in the “former resurrection,” the rest of the people who will be enjoying
an allotment in the kingdom of God after it’s been established on the earth
will be mortal, flesh-and-blood human beings. In
fact, both before and after the “resurrection of the just” takes place, the
mortal, flesh-and-blood Israelites who will be enjoying their eonian allotment
in the kingdom of God on earth will likely far outnumber the resurrected
Israelites and God-fearers who will be enjoying their eonian allotment there.
This will also be the case during the fifth and final eon as well (and likely
to an even greater extent). For, in addition to what we read concerning the
kingdom of God on earth during the next eon (which will include the “thousand
years” referred to in Rev. 20), it can also be reasonably inferred that there will be mortal human beings living
on the new earth during the final eon, as well. Not only is this implied by
Paul’s words in Eph. 3:21 (where we read of “all the generations of the eon of the eons”), but it accounts for the fact that the “log of life”
will be present in the New Jerusalem to provide its life-sustaining fruit and
healing leaves for those who will need it during this time (see Rev. 2:7 and
22:2).
Here, then, is a summary of what we find affirmed
concerning the kingdom that, in accord with the disciples’ question in Acts 1:7,
is going to be restored to Israel:
1. The geopolitical territory of the kingdom of God that is
going to be established on the earth when Christ returns will be the land that
God promised to the patriarchs of Israel (the boundaries of which are specified
in Numbers 34:1-15 and elsewhere).
2. The capital city of the kingdom that is to be restored to
Israel – and which is referred to as the “beloved city” in Rev. 20:9 – will be
Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-4; 30:19; 33:20; 52:1-2; Jer. 3:17; 30:18-20; Zech.
8:22; 14:4-21).
3. God’s sanctuary (i.e., the magnificent temple we find
described in great detail in the last few chapters of Ezekiel) will be “in
their midst for the eon,” and by this the rest of the nations will know that
God has hallowed the nation of Israel.
4. In this earthly kingdom, God’s
covenant people will be caused to walk in the ordinances and observe the
statutes of the law that God gave to them (among which will be those pertaining
to Sabbath-keeping and Israel’s temple-based worship and sacrificial system).
We thus
have no less reason to believe that the kingdom of God on earth is going to be
distinctively Jewish in nature than we have to believe that it’s going to be on
the earth. Or, to put it another way, we
have just as much reason to believe that those who will be in the kingdom of
God on earth are going to be keeping the precepts of the law and worshiping
God via a temple-based sacrificial system as we have to believe that the
kingdom of God is going to be on the earth. To affirm that the kingdom of
God is going to be established on the earth after Christ’s return while, at the
same time, denying that there’s going to be law-keeping, temple worship and
animal sacrifices occurring in this kingdom is completely inconsistent. Such a
confused position as this can only be derived from an arbitrary and selective
reading of the very prophecies that reveal to us that there is, in fact, going to be a kingdom established
on the earth following Christ’s return.
But will the earth be the only location where the kingdom of God is going to be present
during the eons to come? No. As will be demonstrated in part two of this study,
the earth is not even the first location
in which the kingdom of God is going to be present when Christ begins
exercising his God-given authority over heaven and earth. Prior to its
establishment on the earth, the kingdom of God over which Christ will be
reigning for the coming eons is first going
to be established “in the heavens” and “among the celestials.”
For part two,
click here: https://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2020/03/clearing-up-some-confusion-concerning_7.html
[1]
Thus, we read elsewhere that the “day of the Lord” – i.e., the
prophesied period of divine indignation that will prepare the earth for the
restoration of the kingdom to Israel – will come “as a thief in the night” (see
1 Thess. 5:1-3; cf. 2 Pet. 3:10).
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