Revelation 22 – The Core of the Bible

The authority of the eternal kingdom

Messiah purchased a people and delivered an eternal kingdom to his Father, the God of the universe.

I believe one of the reasons the gospel of the kingdom is so misunderstood today is because people fail to see that the kingdom is all about authority. If there is a kingdom, there is a king, and if there is a king, then that king has authority. So to admit that there is a kingdom of God is to admit that God has authority to rule and reign over all kingdoms.

I have mentioned before that most people who consider themselves believers in the Bible would likely view this eventuality of God ruling all nations as a future event. However, I am in a minority of those who consider this to be a current fact, a fact that will remain so for all time and eternity.

In the absolute sense, he is God, after all, and therefore has in a primary sense always ruled all of his Creation. However, in a specific sense, God had, through ancient Israel, prepared a people who would become his representatives and light of instruction to the rest of the world. There was a point in time when he began an earthly kingdom through Moses and David up to the time of Messiah. It was then that another aspect of the kingdom, a spiritual one, was to be enacted to fulfill the earthly model, and then to remain into eternity.

Yeshua repeatedly urged the people to be repentant of their own ways because of the nearness of the impending spiritual kingdom of God, and how it was to be earnestly sought after even in those days.

Matthew 4:17 – From then on Yeshua began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 5:10 – “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

As the fulfillment of all of Israel’s hopes and prophecies, Yeshua stood as the promised seed of Abraham who was the true King of Israel, faithfully representing God the Father in all his ways.

John 12:50 – “… So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
Galatians 3:16 – Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say “and to seeds,” as though referring to many, but referring to one, and to your seed, who is Christ.
John 1:49 – “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel! “
John 12:12-13 – The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh – the King of Israel! “

Yeshua ruled and reigned as the true king as God’s Son, inaugurated in his resurrection to the right hand of the Father.

Acts 13:32-34 – “And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Yeshua, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are my Son; today I have become your Father. As to his raising him from the dead, never to return to decay, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure promises of David.

This was the fulfillment of Psalm 110, one of the most repeated prophetic statements applied to Messiah in all of the New Testament.

Psalm 110:1 – This is the declaration of Yahweh to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Messiah had to reign at God’s right hand until his enemies, the unfaithful Jewish leaders and apostate Jews who had fallen from their own God-given belief system, were dealt with. This occurred at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, when Jerusalem and the physical temple system was destroyed, never to be rebuilt. It was then, having achieved the victory over his enemies, that Yeshua handed the kingdom back over to the Father, as had been prophesied.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 – Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

Since his enemies have been destroyed, the kingdom has reverted to God the Father. As the passage above from Paul relates, the last enemy that was to be abolished was death. This was evidenced through the destruction of his enemies. This is the good news of the kingdom! Death has been abolished! For believers, there is no cessation of existence at physical death! This was the great message of faith in Messiah.

John 11:25-26 – Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. “Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? “

The authority of God has been firmly established for all eternity by his Messiah accomplishing all that the Father sent him to do. God now rules and reigns over all nations, illustrated by the idealized city of Zion, the New Jerusalem, reigning over all the kings of the earth.

Revelation 21:10, 24, 26 – He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, … The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. … They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

This is the God whom we serve, the authority over all the earth, King of the earthly and spiritual kingdom once for all fused into eternal unity through his Messiah, Yeshua.

Revelation 22:17 – Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come! ” Let anyone who hears, say, “Come! ” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

If you enjoy these daily articles, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.

Now also on YouTube, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.

Questions or comments? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

The kingdom for all

Paul shared the message of Yeshua with everyone.

Acts 28:23-24, 28, 30-31 – After arranging a day with him [Paul], many [Jews] came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Yeshua from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe. … “Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the nations; they will listen.” … Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Yeshua, the Anointed One, with all boldness and without hindrance.

At the end of the narrative about the life and ministry of Paul, we find him in Rome awaiting to be brought before Caesar to stand for the charges that the Jews in Judea had brought before Agrippa. However, in these closing comments we gain some far-reaching insights on what Paul was teaching: the kingdom of God, Yeshua as the Anointed One of God, and the salvation that was now being sent to the nations besides just the Hebraic Jews.

The kingdom of God continued to be the main theme of Paul’s teaching. Yeshua, as the Anointed One of God, had come to announce the fulfillment of the kingdom through personal and national repentance, instructing them of being born from above and living the torah from the heart and not just by the rote traditions of the Jewish elite and their oral law. This was the salvation that Yeshua brought: salvation from the effects of sin and disobedience to God, and the freedom to serve God from the heart. Since it primarily applied to them, the Jews had been the initial recipients of this message, and Paul continued that emphasis by preaching “first to the Jew, then to the Hellene,” (Romans 1:16; 2:9-10). The Hellenes, of course, were the Jews who had adopted the Greek culture and were absorbed within the nations.

Paul recognized through the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 6:9-10), that some of the Jews would accept the message, but that many would reject it.

Acts 28:25-27 – Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving. For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'”

This rejection of the message by the Hebraic Jews would then allow the the tribes of Joseph and Ephraim, Jews who had been scattered during the Diaspora who had now become the Hellenes, an opportunity to receive the good news of faith in Yeshua and receive the kingdom of God by faith in him. This was the reuniting of the ten tribes with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as also prophesied in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 37:15-17 – Yahweh’s word came again to me, saying, “You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions.’ Then take another stick, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions.’ Then join them for yourself to one another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand.

In the process of the Hellenistic Jews being reunited with their brothers in fulfillment of prophecy and coming to the knowledge of the truth by faith, others of the nations, true Gentiles who feared the God of the Bible, would also be provided the opportunity to receive the kingdom message and the salvation from the effects of sin.

In this way, the story of Yeshua as the Anointed One of God, bringing the good news of the kingdom of God, would be spread to all. The salvation offered to the Jews and the Hellenes would now be, and forever remain, an open door for all to come to the God of the Bible.

Revelation 22:17 – Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come! ” Let anyone who hears, say, “Come! ” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.

Now also on YouTube, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.

Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Paul’s godly dream of the kingdom

Faithful believers are participating in and growing the kingdom.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 – “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

This passage fascinates me because of the simplicity of its intent. Paul is encouraging Timothy, for himself and for Timothy’s congregation, to remain in an attitude of petition and intercession for the secular leaders of that day. The purpose behind this is so that they would be able to lead a “tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” This is Paul’s godly dream for the people of God, that they would be able to prosper in the grace and peace of the kingdom of God in that day and time. We know it was a godly dream because he immediately adds that “this pleases God our Savior.”

I believe this godly dream of Paul is the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom of God on the earth. While it may only be hinted at here, it is the theme of the Old Testament, and also the goal of the New.

Zechariah 8:12 – “For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the skies will yield their dew. I will give the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.”
Isaiah 65:21-23 – “People will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and others live in them; they will not plant and others eat. For my people’s lives will be like the lifetime of a tree. My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor without success or bear children destined for disaster, for they will be a people blessed by Yahweh along with their descendants.”
Revelation 22:1-5 – “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because Yahweh God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

In Paul’s admonition to Timothy, he says God “desires all men to be saved, and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Here are a few representative passages demonstrating how all nations would come and worship before Yahweh.

Isaiah 66:23 – “All mankind will come to worship me from one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another,” says Yahweh.”
Revelation 21:23-26 – “The city [the New Jerusalem] does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.”

This godly dream is the reality of the kingdom of God come to the earth. It is my belief that through our faithful petitions, intercessions, and righteous examples, we, too, can participate in and grow God’s great plan for the ages, where all men know him and come to him, bringing their glory and honor into the everlasting New Jerusalem.

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