Kingdom of God

One key component of last days eschatology is the study of the kingdom of God. Is the kingdom yet a matter of unfulfilled prophecy? Was there a delay or postponement in its arrival?

Is the kingdom a national, political, militaristic and geographically confined entity that belongs to this material realm? Are we yet awaiting Armageddon, and a Rapture to usher in a thousand year millennial reign of Christ on earth while the cream of the crop awaits this period in heaven?

Is Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords, or is he yet waiting to be crowned?

In this and the linked pages, you will find evidence of the time, nature and mission of the kingdom.

The Kingdom of God Defined

According to Vine's Expository Dictionary it occurs 91 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. It denotes the territoryy of the kingdom, the duration of one's reign. It appears first in Numbers 24:7.

The Septuagint, (Greek translation of the Old Testament) renders malkut as basilea to denote kingship, sovereignty, dominion or reign. It appears 115 times in the Old Testament with its first use in Genesis 10:10.

A kingdom requires a king, territory, subjects and a law. The Greek term is basilea. It is not necessary that you know these words to understand the kingdom. They are supplied as a matter of "Greek" trivia.

What is important are the following. From the beginning, God reigned over his people from heaven.This helps us to undertand what the kingdom is and the nature and territory of it's dominion.

Next there are the prophecies of the kingdom. For example see Daniel 2:44,45. The prophecies show that the kingdom was in the mind of God long before it became reality. Moreover, the kingdom cannot be an afterthought as it was foreordained and belongs to the foreknowledge of God.

The time of the kingdom is critical. As both prophecy and N.T. teaching will show the kingdom in relationship to the temporal question. See below for other studies on the kingdom.