KINGDOM
OF
GOD
(OR
HEAVEN)
revealed
and
abide
as
an
'eternal
inheritance.'
The
old
Jerusalem
and
its
temporary
cult
must
pass
away
and
give
place
to
'the
heavenly
Jerusalem,'
which
affords
personal
communion
and
fellowship
with
God
and
Christ,
and
innumerable
hosts
ot
angels,
and
the
spirits
of
just
men
made
perfect
(la^^-M).
(5)
Bschatological
elements
of
the
NT
doctrine.
—
Ques-tions
of
the
time
and
manner
of
the
coming
of
the
Kingdom
arise
from
the
various
sayings
of
Jesus
and
of
the
NT
writers,
which
have
seemed
difficult
to
harmonize.
From
the
point
of
view
both
of
Jesus
and
of
the
first
Apostles,
the
Kingdom
of
heaven
was
nigh
at
hand,
but
not
yet
come.
The
coming
of
the
Kingdom
is
also
associated
with
the
Parousia,
or
coming
of
the
Son
of
Man
in
the
clouds
of
heaven,
the
resurrection,
and
the
final
judgment
of
all
men
and
nations.
Jesus
spoke
of
'the
regeneration,
when
the
Son
of
man
shall
sit
on
the
throne
of
his
glory'
(Mt
IQ^').
His
great
esohatological
discourse,
reported
in
all
the
Synoptics
(Mt
24,
Mk
13,
Lk
21),
represents
His
coming
and
the
end
of
the
age
as
in
the
near
future,
before
that
generation
should
pass.
It
also
clearly
makes
the
sublime
Parousia
follow
immediately
after
the
woes
attending
the
ruin
of
the
city
and
Temple
of
Jeru-salem.
Also
in
Mt
16^9
and
the
parallels
in
Mk.
and
Lk.
Jesus
declares
emphatically,
'There
are
some
of
them
that
stand
here
who
shall
in
no
wise
taste
of
death
till
they
see
the
Son
of
man
coming
in
his
kingdom.'
The
exegetical
problem
is
to
show
how
these
statements
may
be
adjusted
to
the
idea
of
a
gradually
growing
power
and
dominion
which
appears
in
Daniel's
vision
of
the
stone
which
'became
a
great
mountain
and
filled
the
whole
earth'
(2^),
and
is
also
implied
in
Jesus'
parables
of
the
Mustard
Seed,
the
Leaven,
and
the
Seed
Growing
Secretly,
—
'first
the
blade,
then
the
ear,
then
the
full
grain
in
the
ear'
(Mk
4^-29).
The
problem
is
also
complicated
by
the
fact
that
nearly
two
thousand
years
have
passed
since
these
words
of
Jesus
were
spoken,
and
'the
end
of
the
world'
is
not
yet.
Of
the
many
attempts
at
the
explanation
of
these
difficulties
we
here
mention
only
three.
(a)
A
considerable
number
of
modem
critics
adopt
the
hypothesis
that
these
various
sayings
of
Jesus
were
mis-undeistood
by
those
who
heard
Him,
and
have
been
re-ported
in
a
confused
and
self
-contradictory
manner.
The
disciples
confounded
the
fall
of
the
Temple
with
the
end
of
all
things,
but
Jesus
probably
distinguished
the
two
events
in
a
way
that
does
not
now
appear
in
the
records.
Some
critics
suppose
that
fragments
of
a
small
Jewish
apocalypse
have
been
incorporated
in
Mt
24
.
This
hypoth-esis
makes
it
the
chief
work
of
the
expositor
to
analyze
the
different
elements
of
the
Evangelical
tradition
and
reconstruct
the
sayings
of
Jesus
wmch
are
supposed
to
be
genuine.
The
result
of
such
a
process
naturally
includes
a
considerable
amount
of
conjecture,
and
leaves
the
various
esohatological
sayings
of
Jesus
in
a
very
untrustworthy
condition.
(b)
According
to
another
class
of
expositora,
the
prophe-cies
of
Mt
24
contain
a
double
sense,
the
primary
ref-erence
being
to
the
fall
of
Jerusalem,
whereas
the
ultimate
fulfilment,
of
which
the
firat
is
a
sort
of
type,
is
to
take
place
at
the
Second
Coming
of
Christ
and
the
end
of
the
world.
It
is
conceded
that
the
two
events
are
closely
conjoined,
but
it
is
thought
that
w.*-^
deal
mainly
with
the
former
event,
and
from
v.29
onwards
the
lesser
subject
is
swallowed
up
by
the
greater,
and
the
statements
made
refer
mainly
to
the
still
future
coming
of
the
Lord.
But
scarcely
any
two
interpreters,
who
adopt
the
double-sense
theory,
agree
in
their
exposition
of
the
different
parts
of
the
chapter.
(c)
Another
method
of
explaining
and
adjusting
the
teaching
of
Jesus
and
of
all
tne
NT
statements
about
the
coming
of
Christ,
the
resurrection
and
the
judgment,
is
to
understand
all
these
related
events
as
part
and
parcel
of
an
age-long
process.
'The
end
of
the
age,'
according
to
this
view,
is
not
the
close
of
the
Christian
era,
but
the
end
or
consummation
of
the
pre-Messianic
age.
The
coming
of
the
Kingdom
of
God,
according
to
Jesus
(Lk
172"),
is
not
a
matter
of
physical
observation,
so
that
one
could
Eoint
it
out
and
say,
'Lo,
it
is
here
I'
or,
'Lo,
it
is
there
I'
ike
the
lightning
it
may
appear
in
the
east
or
in
the
west,
or
anywhere
under
the
whole
heaven,
at
one
and
the
same
KINGDOM
OP
GOD
(OR
HEAVEN)
moment
of
time.
Nevertheless,
no
reported
sayings
of
Christ
are
more
positive
or
more
notably
reiterated
than
His
declarations
that
some
of
His
contemporaries
would
live
to
'see
the
kingdom
of
God
come
with
power,'
and
that
'this
generation
shall
not
pass
away
till
all
these
things
be
fulfilled.'
The
decisive
end
of
an
era
or
dispensation
or
a
particular
cult
may
be
seen
to
be
near
at
hand,
sure
to
come
within
a
generation,
for
'that
which
is
becoming
old
and
waxeth
aged
is
nigh
unto
vanishing
away'
(He
8");
but
the
coming
of
a
kingdom
and
power
and
^ory
which
belongs
to
the
things
unseen,
heavenly
and
eternal,
is
not
of
a
nature
to
be
limited
to
a
given
day
or
hour.
There
need
be,
then,
no
contradiction
or
inconsistency
in
the
sayings
of
Jesus
as
they
now
stand
in
the
Gospels.
No
great
and
noteworthy
event
could
more
decisively
have
marked
the
end
of
the
pre-Messianic
age
and
the
Jewish
cult
than
the
destruction
of
the
Temple.
But
'
the
powers
of_
the
age
to
come'
were
manifest
before
that
historic
crisis,
and
'
the
times
and
the
seasons
'
of
such
spiritual,
unseen
thin^
are
not
matters
for
men
or
angels
or
even
the
Son
of
God
to
tell.
But
the
fall
of
the
Temple
and
the
establishment
of
the
New
Covenant
and
the
Kingdom
of
God
were
so
coincident
that
the
two
events
mi^t
well
have
been
thought
and
spoken
of
as
essentially
simul-taneous.
Accordingly,
'the
regeneration'
(Mt
19^*)
and
'the
restoration
of
all
things'
(Ac
3^)
are
now
in
actual
process.
The
Son
of
Man
is
now
sitting
on
the
throne
of
His
glory,
at
the
right
hand
of
God,
and
'he
must
reign
until
he
has
put
all
his
enemies
under
his
feet'
(1
Co
152*).
Such
a
Kingdom
is
essentiafiy
millennial,
and
has
its
ages
of
ages
for
'
making
all
things
new.'
Its
crises
and
triumphs
are
portrayed
in
terms
of
apocalyptic
prophecy,
ana
so
the
language
of
Jesus
in
Mt
242='-3i
and
similar
passages
in
other
parts
of
the
NT
is
to
be
interpreted
as
we
interpret
the
same
forms
of
speech
in
the
OT
prophets
(cf
.
Is
13^-
1"
191.
2
341.
6_
Dn
713.
H).
According
to
this
last
interpretation,
the
Apocalypse
of
John
is
but
an
enlargement
of
Jesus'
discourse
on
the
Mount
of
Olives,
and
the
descent
of
the
New
Jeru-salem
out
of
heaven
is
a
visional
symbol
of
the
coming
of
the
Kingdom
of
God,
and
the
continuous
answer
to
the
prayer,
'Thy
will
be
done,
as
in
heaven,
so
on
earth.'
The
Apostles,
like
their
Lord,
thought
and
spoke
of
things
supernatural
and
invisible
after
the
manner
of
the
Hebrew
prophets.
St.
Paul's
picture
of
the
Lord's
coming
from
heaven
(1
Th
4"-")
is
in
striking
accord
with
the
language
of
Mt
2429-31,
and
yet
has
its
own
peculiar
points
of
difference.
In
Ro
1&">
he
speaks
of
'the
God
of
peace
"bruising
Satan"
under
your
feet
shortly,'
and
in
2
Th
2'-'2
he
teaches
that
the
Antichrist,
'the
man
of
sin,'
is
destined
to
be
destroyed
by
the
manifestation
of
the
coming
of
the
Lord
Jesus.
It
was
probably
not
given
to
the
Apostle
to
understand
that
what
he
saw
in
the
vision
of
a
moment
would
occupy
millenniums.
In
his
forms
of
statement
we
may
discern
survivals
of
his
Jewish
modes
of
thought,
and
a
failure
to
distinguish
the
times
and
seasons
and
methods
in
which
the
Kingdom
of
heaven
is
ultimately
to
overcome
the
prince
of
the
powers
of
wickedness
in
high
places.
But
in
all
essentials
of
content
his
prophetic
picture
of
the
coming
and
triumph
is
true
to
fact
and
to
the
teaching
of
the
Lord
Himself.
St.
Paul
also
speaks
of
the
Kingdom
of
God
as
an
inheritance.
It
is
in
part
a
present
pos-session,
but
it
contemplates
also
a
future
eternal
blessed-ness.
The
redeemed
'
shall
reign
in
Ufe
through
Jesus
Christ.'
Our
heavenly
Father
'makes
us
meet
to
be
partakers
of
the
inheritance
of
the
saints
in
light,
delivers
us
out
of
the
power
of
darkness
and
translates
us
into
the
kingdom
of
the
Son
of
his
love'
(Col
l'^.
is).
Such
heirs
of
God
are
'sealed
with
that
Holy
Spirit
of
promise,
which
is
the
earnest
of
our
inheritance,
unto
the
redemption
of
God's
own
possession'
(Eph
1").
According
to
this
conception
of
the
heavenly
Kingdom,
Christ
is
now
upon
His
throne
and
continuously
ma-king
all
things
new.
His
Parousia
is
millennial.
He
is
drawing
all
men
unto
Himself,
and
the
resurrection
gf
the
dead
is
as
continuous
as
His
own
heavenly
reign.
Whenever
'
the
earthly
house
'
of
any
one
of
His
servants
is
dissolved,
he
has
a
new
habitation
from
God,
'
a
house
not
made
with
hands,
eternal
in
the
heavens'
(2
Co
