Chapter VI

Kingdom of God

 

The wicked the weeds burnt down:

We saw in the previous chapter that the Israel got the royal power destroying all the wicked from the world. Now the Era of Peace is started. This is the kingdom of God in full sense in the world. The chastisement days are the harvest time when all the weeds were burnt down. Jesus has told about this through a parable in Matthew 13: 24-30 that says, “He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat; and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the wheats appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from? He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.' The slave said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest ; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned , but gather the wheat into my barn .'”

Explanation of the parable:

When the disciples were with him in the house they asked Jesus to explain the parable. Let us read Matthew 13: 36-43: “Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; the weeds are the children of the evil one , and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age , and the reapers are angels . Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evil doers , and they will throw them into the furnace of fire . Where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father . Let any one with ears listen!” As the wheat gathered in the barn the righteous are allowed living in the kingdom of their Father where they will shine like the sun.

Jesus said another parable:

Jesus foretold the incidences of the end of the age in Matthew 13:47-50 also: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown in to the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age . The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them in to the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We saw that the prophecy become true in the period of chastisement when all the wicked swept away by the wrath of God Almighty.

Era of Thousand Years:

Revelation 20:1-3 says, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon , that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan , and bound him for a thousand years , 3 and threw him into the pit , and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.” So now in this world, there is no Satan who is the root cause of all the evils in this world. This is New Era of Thousand Years that is the Kingdom of God in this world.

New heavens and a new earth:

God creates new heaven and new earth in the New Era. It is the Era of peace. It is the kingdom of God in the earth in full sense. Let us read Isaiah 65:17-19: “17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth ; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem , and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress.”

The wolf shall live with the lamb:

The New Era will be a wonderful world where Isaiah 11:6-9 says, “6 The wolf shall live with the lamb , the leopard shall lie down with the kid , the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp , and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den . 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea . ”

World of surprise:

In the New Era the life time of the people are too long that they are having the life time like the life time of trees. The man who dies at hundred years will be considered as a young boy. Let us read Isaiah 65:22: “They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” Isaiah 65:20 says, “20 No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth , and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.” It will be an unthinkable world. Zechariah 14:6-7 (Good news bible) say, “When that time comes, there will no longer be cold or frost, or any darkness. There will always be daylight , even at night-time.”

Prosperous world:

The new world is a prosperous one where the life is with contentment in every aspect. Isaiah 25:6 says, “On his mountain the Lord of the host will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well matured wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well – matured wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death for ever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of the people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.”

Spiritual prosperity:

Mother Mary revealed in the apparition of Lourdes that in the new Era every disease will be haled by the power of spirituality than by the medical healing. As we read earlier, in this time the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea . Joel 2:28-29 says, “28 * Then afterwards I will pour out my spirit on all flesh ; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.”

All the nations worship him as the only true God:

Isaiah 66:22-23 says, “for as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me , says the Lord.” We saw Zechariah 14:9 says, “And the Lord will become king over all the earth ; on that day the Lord will be the one and his name one.” And Tobit 14:6 says, “Then all the nations in the world will come back to God. They will worship him as the only true God and give up the idols that led them into false worship.”

Jerusalem the Throne of the Lord:

We saw earlier in the 1 st chapter that the Lord's Temple will be in the land of israel , where he will stay for ever. The prophecy in Ezekiel 37:26-28 , is now becoming true. Let us read the verses: “I will establish them and increase their population, and put my Temple in their land, where it will stay for ever. I will live there with them I will be their God, and they will be my people. When I place my temple there to be among them for ever , then the nations will know that I the L ORD , have chosen Israel to be my own people” Regarding the Temple of Jerusalem Lord says in Ezekiel 43:7, (good news bible) “Mortal Man here is my throne I will live here among the people of Israel and rule over them for ever”. The Lord says in Joel 3:17, “Then, Israel , you will know that I am the L ord your God I live on Zion , my sacred hill. Jerusalem will be a sacred city, foreigners will never conquer it.” Jeremiah 3:17 says, “When that time comes, Jerusalem will be called, ‘The throne of the Lord' and all the nations will gather there to worship me.” The Lord will be thoughtful of the people who are worshipping him. Isaiah 65:24 says, “24 Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.”

All nations stream to Zion for worshiping God:

Isaiah 2:2-4 says, “In days to come the mountain of the L ORD ' s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go upto the mountain of the L ORD to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the L ORD from Jerusalem . He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore

Glory of God will be there a canopy:

Isaiah 4:3-6 says, “ whoever is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy , every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, once the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning. Then the L ORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its places of assembly a cloud by day and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night . Indeed, over all the glory there will be a canopy . It will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.” Micah 4:7 says, “I will make a new beginning with those who are left, and they will become a great nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time on and for ever.”

Heavenly persons reign with Jesus:

Revelation 20:4-5 says, “ 4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus * and for the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection . 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years .” Here the thousand years symbolize the New Era . This is the Kingdom Daniel 7:18 says about: “But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and posses the kingdom for ever – forever and ever. Thus the present Era comes to an end and the New Era the Kingdom of God the Era of Peace begins in the world that will prevail unto the End of the World.

Let us recall Daniel 2:44-45 that says, 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed , nor shall this kingdom be left to another people . It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever; 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from the mountain not by hands , and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God has informed the king what shall be hereafter.”

Here the stone refers to the Kingdom of God that is established not by human efforts but by God Himself. When the Time set by God the Father arrives the establishment of Kingdom of God is done in this world that no power in this world can stop. This is the plan of God. Mark 4:26-29 says about what Jesus told: “He also said, ‘the kingdom of God is as if some one would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once it goes in with his sickle, because harvest has come.'”

Has kingdom of God come?

Jesus says in Luke 17:21 , “For, in fact, the kingdom of god is among you,” He says in Luke 11:20 , “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. This means that the kingdom of God has come in this world. But in Luke 22:18 Jesus says, “For I tell you that form now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Jesus said these words just before his death. This shows that the kingdom of God is yet to come. The collective meaning of these verses is that the Kingdom of God started in this world, but yet to come in full sense .