The Kingdom of Heaven

Copyright 1998:
William A. Simpson

Therefore I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see,
and hearing they do not hear,
nor do they understand.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled,
Which says:

Hearing you will hear
and shall not understand,
and seeing you will see
and not perceive;

For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing.
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts
and turn
So that I should heal them.

From the call of Abram, in the twelfth chapter of Genesis, until the rejection of the Messiah in the twelfth of Matthew, the Bible does not address itself to Gentiles. It is written to, for, and about the Jews. The only time that Gentiles are mentioned is in reference to their relationship to Israel. Until the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, there is no hint given in the Bible that there would ever be anything like this present age, the Church Age. There was, however, a mystery that was left unresolved until Jesus began to speak the parables of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

That mystery was first alluded to in the Abrahamic covenant, when God said to Abram,

"... in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

In that covenant, God separated Abram and his descendants (through Isaac, and then Isaac's son Jacob) from all the other families that had ever lived. He separated them unto Himself, and Abraham's great-grandsons through Isaac would become the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. All down through the generations, the Jews were separate from the Gentiles. The Gentiles were considered unclean. They were like dogs. How then would Abraham become a blessing to the Gentile families? That was a thing not clearly understood.  Here was a mystery in the Old Testament that, try as they might, the Jews could not understand.  The whole purpose of calling Abram out from among his relatives and friends was for God to separate for Himself a people who would forever be distinct from everyone else, and through whom His Son would find human birth.  How then could all the families of the earth be blessed through one who had been separated from them?

Then Daniel the prophet compounded the matter by showing a break in a prophesied 490 year period of God's dealings with the Jews.  It would seem by his prophecies (see Dan 9:24-27) that there would be a gap between the 483rd year and the 484th year of his prophecy.   After the 483rd year, several things were prophesied to happen, and they were to take place before the beginning of the 484th year.  It was as though Daniel were saying that God would stop the clock on His dealings with the nation of Israel for a time, but that He would restart the clock and complete the final seven of the prophesied 490 years at some later date. The Jews could not understand what this gap in that prophecy was all about. It was a great mystery to them, a mystery that many prophets and righteous men sought to understand. It was the mystery that Jesus revealed to his disciples in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew.  In that pivotal chapter of the Bible, Jesus explained both the blessing of the families of the earth through Abraham and the mysterious gap in Daniel's prophecy.

Until then, the only way that any Gentile could be saved was to become a Jew, and place himself under the Mosaic Law.  Alas, the Jews were not very zealous in their evangelistic efforts. The Gentiles had their own gods, and did not know the God of Israel, and the Jews were content to let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak.

Jesus had come to establish a kingdom, even knowing in advance that He would not yet rule, but that He would be cruelly killed.  In the first twelve chapters of Matthew's gospel, Jesus is not saying,

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

The gospel that Jesus preached in the first twelve chapters was,

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Had the Jews accepted their Messiah, He would have established His throne at that time, and the Kingdom Age would have begun, and would have lasted for one thousand years. There would have been no Church Age, and the thousand years would have ended almost a thousand years ago.  The creation would already be in the eternal state, history having ended with the completion of the thousand years with Jesus on the throne of Israel. But the Jews did not accept their Messiah.  They killed Him, and God's prophetic program went forward.  Today, we are in that mystery period that Jesus announced in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. Here, we shall look at the parables of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and on into the Millennial Kingdom.

   The narrative in Matthew thirteen continues that which came in chapter twelve. The Jews had just accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, whereupon He announced the unpardonable sin and gave them the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jesus had some few more words to say to the Jews, and then in the beginning of chapter thirteen, we find the following:

"On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea..."

The phraseology here is interesting.  The word house often refers to the house of Israel, whereas the word sea is often used in the Bible to describe the unorganized masses of humanity.  It appears that Jesus was turning His back on the Jews and opening His ministry to the Gentiles.   This, it seems, is the very moment in which the clock stopped on God's dealings with national Israel.  The Messiah had been "cut off," and the gap that Daniel had revealed began right in that very moment.  The Church Age actually began at this point, though the Church itself would not be formed until the Holy Spirit indwelt the believers on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven.  How often do we fail to see the significance of this portion of the Scriptures!

Jesus begins this new ministry with a new thing, parables.  He announces a new world order, one in which the operating principle will be that of seed-sowing.  Here is the parable of the sower and the seeds.

"Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.

Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

The disciples not only did not know what the parable meant, but they also did not understand why Jesus was speaking in parables in the first place. They asked Him why He spoke in parables, and Jesus replied,

"Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand...

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear;

For assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

The prophets, and the righteous amongst the Jews knew there was much of prophecy that they did not understand, and they wished to know the things that they did not know. But it was not revealed to them.  Jesus did not speak in parables in order to make His words easy to understand, but to make them impossible for the Jews to understand.  Yet, He would open the ears and the eyes of His disciples so that they could know the things which He freely gave to them.  He explained to them the meaning behind the cryptic words quoted above:

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower:

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom (of heaven), and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

A new time had begun.  The emphasis was no longer on the strict observance of the letter of the law, but had shifted to evangelism.   The time of the kingdom of heaven was to be a time of seed-sowing, a time of bearing fruit.  As we go along through these parables, we shall see that Jesus was announcing the Church Age.  He had just prophesied His crucifixion and resurrection, and was describing the ground rules for that which would follow.

Remember, He is describing the mystery aspect of the kingdom of heaven.  When He spoke in John in reference to the new birth, it was about the kingdom of God.  Now Jesus is describing the characteristics of this first part of the kingdom of heaven.  We shall see that it is the realm of professing Christendom -- all that calls itself Christian, both saved and unsaved.   Today, we are in the mystery period, but there will come a time when Jesus' kingdom will be open, when He sits openly upon the throne of Israel.  That will not be a time of seed-sowing, but this mystery portion of the kingdom of heaven is such a time.

During this time of seed-sowing, it is the Christian's responsibility to sow the Word of God. More specifically, Paul tells us that God has,

"...committed to us the word of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:19)

We are to introduce to the unsaved of this age the word of God's grace, that they might believe and be saved.  Paul further tells us,

"...knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance..." (Rom 2:4)

It is important to know what sort of seed one is sowing.  If it is seed that does not bear witness to the goodness of God, one may not expect it to be fruitful.  However, that is for the next parable.  Here, we are not as concerned with the sort of seed as we are with the ground into which it is sown.

Jesus Himself has declared to us that not everyone who hears the word will be saved.  Our responsibility is to be sowers, not saviors.  Some hearts will be prepared to hear the word, much as well-tilled soil is ready to accept seed.  Others will not hear the word because the devil diverts them from the truth with lies and deceptions.  With some it will be the cares of this world, or the deceitfulness of riches.  With others, it will be the esteem of men who are themselves unsaved.  Those who receive the implanted word will be fruitful, leading others to a saving knowledge of the Lord.  Our responsibility in this age is not to save souls, but to sow the seeds.  It is up to God to determine who does and does not receive the implanted Word.

One would think that professing Christendom would be made up of Christians, and nothing else.   One might think that, but if he did, he would be wrong.  For the truth is that not all who call themselves Christians truly are.  It is easy to point to the cults and say they are not Christians.  Someone might point out the Mormons or the Jehovah's Witnesses, neither of whom recognize the deity of Jesus Christ, and understand that they are not Christian, though they call themselves by His holy name.  The matter becomes more difficult when we begin to consider that members of our own congregations may not truly be Christians.  For in order to be a Christian, one must have experienced the new birth. What did Jesus Himself say?

" Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'

And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Mt 7:22-23)

Sadly, there are many who call themselves Christian who are not.  There are many who believe that they are Christians, but they are deceived.  But there are also Christians who understand their own sinfulness and God's grace in paying the penalty for their sins on their behalf. This is the point of the next parable of Matthew thirteen, the parable of the wheat and the tares:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while he slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'

The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'

But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" (Mt 13:24-30)

Jesus is here telling his disciples that as the mystery aspect of the Kingdom Age develops, there will be in it an element of false profession.  That is, there will be those who look like Christians, and act like Christians, but who are something else altogether.  Early on in the age, those who called themselves Christians were mostly truly born again souls.  After all, the Church was under intense persecution during its first few centuries, and it was not considered a fashionable thing to be called a Christian.  But after the Roman Empire claimed Christianity as its official state religion, many came to call themselves Christians simply because it was the acceptable thing to do, much as it is today.

Many, without a great deal of thought, would consider this a good thing.  However, when the persecution came to an end, it was because the devil had ceased trying to stamp out the Church and began seeking to corrupt it.  As far as he was concerned, the end result might not be quite as final, but it would be effective if he could make the Church unfruitful.  It has ever been the devil's purpose to thwart the purposes of God.  He attempted to prevent the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt by persuading Pharaoh to kill the Hebrew babies, but Moses survived.  He tried to prevent the First Advent of Christ by having Herod kill the male babies.  At every turn, God's wisdom and will have proven greater.  The devil has tried to ruin the Church by corrupting it.  He has been far more successful in this, but shall yet fail.  However, the professing church has been largely overtaken by the tares.  Paul said that it would be so, and we ought not be surprised that it is. He said,

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

But reject profane and old wives fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness." (1 Tim 4:1-7)

The tares among the wheat are those who place restrictions upon Christian liberties that the Bible does not itself place.  They are those who teach doctrines of legalism, and of observance of rituals and the traditions of men.  The tares are those who attempt by whatever means to diminish the hope of the Christian, and to make him afraid to go to God in prayer or worship because of sins that have already been forgiven and forgotten.  The tares are those who depart from the faith.  That is, those who seek to gain admittance into the kingdom of heaven through their own good deeds rather than through the new birth.  The tares are those who do not trust in the grace of God, but in their works, whose faith is not in God, but in themselves, who consider that they are, overall, good enough to get to heaven.

Elsewhere, we are told that this apostasy will characterize the professing church as the Age draws near its end (see 2 Tim 3; 2 Thes 2:3).  If you plant a field of wheat, and intermingle weed seed with the wheat seed, the weeds will eventually take over the field.  Yet, there will always remain some good seed in the field; some wheat will survive.  So also is the kingdom of heaven.  The devil has done his work well, and the tares are plentiful and the wheat is sparse.  The largest portion of professing Christendom will enter the tribulation to be judged and destroyed, even as the true Church is gathered into our Father's barn for safekeeping until the judgment is past and our Lord sits upon His throne.  Jesus never taught that professing Christendom was made up only of Christians, but from the first has taught that the true is intermingled with the false.

The next parable, that of the mustard seed, speaks of the phenomenal growth of the Church. Hear Jesus' words:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." (Mt 13:31-32)

No matter the devil's efforts to stamp out the Church, it grew. Luke wrote:

"Then the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly..." (Acts 6:7).

And,

"But the Word of God grew and multiplied." (Acts 12:24).

The survival of the Church during the time of persecution was miraculous.  Its great growth was even more so.  Even today, in a time of great apostasy, when a new local church is started and the grace of god is magnified, people flock to hear glad tidings.

The birds that nest in the branches in this parable probably refer again to the mixture of good and bad in professing Christendom.   The devil is the prince of the power of the air, the domain of birds of all kinds, indicating perhaps that unbelievers will find a place of entrenchment in the professing church.

 Next we find the parable of the leaven.  This parable teaches the characterization of the entirety of professing Christendom as apostate.  Hear Jesus' words:

"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." (Mt 13:33).

Leaven is everywhere associated in the Bible with false doctrine. Paul said elsewhere,

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." (1 Cor 5:6)

Where false doctrine gains a foothold in an assembly, it is never long before the entire congregation is corrupted by it.  All the devil asks is to allow just a tiny bit of false doctrine.  Then he is able to twist the Scriptures effectively in most every way.  This is why the use of leaven was forbidden under the Law of Moses in the rituals on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and at the Passover.  Leaven is used to denote the presence of evil.  If the Passover lamb was not pure, it could not be used.  It typified Christ, and as He was clean, so also was leaven forbidden in the bread used in the Passover meal.  As stated earlier, Jesus never taught that professing Christendom would be composed of only true believers, but everywhere He declared plainly that there would be bad amongst the good.

 If one reads Matthew thirteen carefully, he will notice that Jesus does not offer an interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares until after He has put forth the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven.  Some might wonder why this is so.  There is a reason, and a good one.

Jesus is about to introduce two parables that have been much misunderstood over the years, and which have raised much controversy.   These are the parables of the treasure hidden in the field, and the parable of the pearl of great price.  In order to understand these parables correctly, one needs the interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares close at hand.  Everything that God does is by the keenest design.  Placing the interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares before the parables of the treasure and the pearl gives us a clue as to the proper interpretation of the latter two.  Here, we will combine the readings of the two parables.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he has found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." (Mt 13:44-46).

More often than not, the one who finds the treasure or the pearl is made out to be the sinner who is seeking salvation.  The treasure is made out to be the salvation that the man is seeking, and the purchase price of the salvation is made out to be everything that the man has.  On the surface, that seems a reasonable interpretation.  The fly in that particular ointment is that salvation is neither for sale, nor does man own anything that he might sell in order to purchase it.  Perhaps it would be best to simply quote C.I. Scofield's footnotes on these two passages:

The interpretation of the parable of the treasure which makes the buyer of the field to be a sinner who is seeking Christ, has no warrant in the parable itself.  The field is declared to be the world (v. 38 -- see our Lord's own interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares.). The seeking sinner does not buy, but forsakes the world to gain Christ.  Furthermore, the sinner has nothing to sell; neither is Christ for sale or hidden in a field; nor, having found Christ, does the sinner hide Him again (cp. Mk 7:24; Acts 4:20).  At every point the interpretation breaks down.

The field is the world (v. 38), which was purchased by our Lord at the priceless cost of His own blood in order that He might have the treasure (1 Pet 1:18).  As Israel was God's treasure in OT times (Ex 19:5; Ps 135:4) so there is at the present time "a remnant [of Israel] according to the election of grace" (Rom 11:5).  Those who compose the remnant are no longer reckoned as Jews (Gal 3:28) but as members of the "one body" together with saved Gentiles (Eph 2:14-18; 4:4) and thus, Christ's inheritance (Eph 1:18) and His joy (Heb 12:2).

The true Church is the pearl of great price.  Its formation covers a large part of the period of the mysteries of the kingdom, and is itself called a mystery (Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:3-12; 5:32; Col 1:24-27).  A pearl is an illustration of the Church: (1) A pearl is formed by accretion, and that not mechanically but vitally, as Christ adds to the Church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 11:24; Eph 2:21; Col 2:19).  And (2) Christ, having given Himself for the pearl, is now preparing it for presentation to Himself (Eph 5:25-27).  The kingdom is not the Church, but the true Children of the kingdom during the fulfillment of these mysteries, baptized by one Spirit into one body (1 Cor 12:12-13), compose the Church, the pearl.

It must be admitted by every candid mind that Scofield had a way of putting things concisely and well. He couldn't pack as much truth into one sentence as the Apostle Paul could, but he was certainly a great gift to the Church.

So then, the kingdom is not the Church, Scofield says.  Indeed, it is not.  If it were, then there would be leaven in the Church.  Rather, there is leaven in professing Christendom, but there is also within that realm those few believers who constitute the true Church within the overall kingdom of heaven.  That is, there is leaven in the kingdom of heaven, but there is also within the kingdom a separate element -- nay, a separate organism -- the true Church.  It is the story of the wheat and the tares.  Jesus bought the entire field (the world) in order that He might have the treasure and the pearl.  Far from being parables that require the sinner to do anything to effect his salvation, what they really teach is that the sinner has had everything done for him by Christ, who gave His very life in order to purchase the sinner.  Another parable that is grossly misunderstood is the parable of the prodigal son, but that is another article altogether.

The parable of the dragnet is similar to the parable of the wheat and the tares.  Similar, but not exactly a duplication.  In the former parable, the devil was the active agent, planting false Christians in the kingdom of heaven in order to corrupt the system.  Here, it is not so much an active work whereby he is doing things to foul up the works.  Rather, the idea in this passage is that any large movement will attract hangers-on who are not really a part of the movement at heart.  Let us review the words of this parable.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.

There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Mt 13:47-50).

As the wheat and the tares stayed together in the field until the time of the harvest, so do the good fish and the bad stay together in the net until the end of the Age.  As the Gentiles were outside the relationship that God had with Israel in OT times, so those outside professing Christendom are outside the net that Jesus speaks of in this parable.  Those in the net are all those who call themselves Christian.  Of those, only a small percentage are actually saved, having been born again.  The rest, though in the net that is called the kingdom of heaven, are not saved, and constitute the adulterous church that will enter the tribulation as the harlot of Revelation 17.  What did Jesus say?

"...for many are called, but few are chosen," (Mt 20:16)

And,

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Mt 7:13-14).

Many find their way into the kingdom, but not many find that narrow gate, which is Jesus.  Many are religious, but according to Cain's sort of religion.  They sincerely desire to serve God, but they want to do it their own way, and not in the way that God prescribed.  They want to worship God, but according to their own notions, and not according to the Scriptures. 

There are many bad fish in the net, and only a few good.  But the good fish are not those who are morally pure, but those who recognize their need of a Savior.  The good fish are not those who judge people according to their deeds, but those who bring glad tidings of good things to sinners.  The good fish are those who understand that they are themselves unruly children, and depend only upon the grace of God to save them.  The good fish are those who know that they could not possibly even begin to pay for such a free salvation, but who accept that which is freely given to them by a gracious God.

In a sense, the good fish are the bad fish.  That is, they are those whose trust is in God, and who have no confidence in the flesh, who understand that because a sinful will dwells in the flesh, there is no good in it.  The good fish are sinners, and not the self-righteous bad fish.  In a world where almost every church now teaches some sort of salvation by works, there are few good fish in the net.  Already, apostasy characterizes professing Christendom.  By this we know that we stand at the brink of the Age, and that the rapture of the Church is very near.  The time is surely almost upon us when the angels shall separate the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the bad.

 The mystery aspect of the kingdom of heaven is this present age of seed-sowing.  It is a time unlike any other in human history, when the Word of God is complete, and the grace of God prevails.   It is a time when salvation is free to all and easily understood.  It is a time for the gathering of souls around the entire globe, and not just among the Israelites, when all the families of the earth are blessed in the Seed of Abraham.   It is that mystery age that the prophets and righteous men desired to know about.   The kingdom of heaven is a great net, cast into the sea of humanity, bringing to shore men of every kind, some good and many bad. It is a time when the leaven of false doctrine has permeated almost every corner of the professing church, and when the true Church finds itself infiltrated by unfaithful men on almost every front.  The mystery aspect of the kingdom of heaven does not pertain to the Jews more than it does to the Gentiles, as the OT period did, and as the tribulation period shall.  Rather, during this mystery age, the Church Age, salvation is open to Jew and Gentile alike, on the simple basis of faith in the crucified and resurrected Messiah.  Let us close this portion of this article with another quotation from the Scofield Bible:

"Such, then, is the mystery form of the kingdom. It is the sphere of Christian profession during this age. It is a mingled body of true and false, wheat and tares, good and bad. It is defiled by formalism, doubt, and worldliness. But within it Christ sees the true Children of the true kingdom who, at the end, are to "shine forth like the sun." In the great field. the world, He sees His treasure that He redeems for His own through His cross. Thus, in this aspect of the kingdom, He sees the Church, His body and bride composed of believing Israelites and Gentiles, and for joy sells all that he has and buys the field, the treasure, and the pearl."

We have studied the mystery aspect of the kingdom of heaven.  There is, however, another aspect which we shall examine in this section of this article.  This is, of course, the time that was no mystery, when the Jewish Messiah would sit upon His throne, governing not only Israel, but the entire world, from Jerusalem.  This might be called the pinnacle of Christ's earthly ministry.  His resurrection from the dead was certainly the high water mark in world history to date, but when He rules the earth from Jerusalem, the curse will have been lifted and the world will see the real glory of God's great creation.  Today, when we see a beautiful sunset, or contemplate the intricate beauty of a delicate flower, we see the glory of God shining through the curse.  It is muted, yet it is grand.   It is subdued, but our fallen hearts can hardly contain it.

Today, the United States is the most powerful nation the world has ever known; richer by far than Babylon or Rome, stronger than Greece under Alexander, more glorious than Persia.  In that Day, the United States will be in subjection to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of lords.  Every nation will have its king and its princes and governors, but none will fail to bow before that lowly Carpenter.  Let us not get ahead of ourselves.  We shall begin at the beginning, with the events immediately following the Second Advent of the Jewish Messiah.  First, the stage must be set.

Cities around the globe will lay in ruins.  Hailstones weighing between seventy-five and a hundred pounds will have pummeled them.  Their glass skyscrapers will be twisted iron skeletons.  The great highway systems of the world will have been destroyed in the wars that sweep the globe.  Communications systems will have broken down, with satellites knocked out.   Great plagues will have decimated the earth's populations.  Three and a half years without rain will have killed the planet's vegetation.  Meteorites will have poisoned the seas, killing the fish and mammals therein.  The smoke of a thousand battles, the dust of many great earthquakes, and the stench of millions of rotting carcasses will have darkened the skies and made the air foul.  The great economies of the world will have been wrecked.  Anarchy will prevail everywhere, with people killing their neighbors for a can of peas.  With nothing to eat, the livestock that the world depends upon for food will have been wiped out.  Men will be attempting suicide, but death will flee from them.  The ones who desperately desire to live will be killed.  Those who live will have foul-smelling open sores that will not heal.   The entire earth will have been sorely devastated in the great judgments of the tribulation, when God's wrath will have been poured out upon the earth.  The entire planet will reel to and fro on its axis like a drunkard.

This is the scene that will face Jesus and the Church when He returns to earth to rule.  Daniel the prophet tells of an intriguing time frame immediately following the Second Advent (Dan 12:11-12).  There is a period of seventy-five days between the time of Jesus' arrival and the time of His accession to the throne, about which no detail is given.  It is merely stated that those days will elapse before Jesus is vested with His crown.  Those days have been the subject of much wild speculation.  It is impossible to say with any certainty what those days will entail.  Perhaps the best of the speculations thus far is that which is popular among conservative theologians, who believe that it will be a time of clearing away the rubble left over from the tribulation, a time of separating the sheep from the goats, a time of restoration of the earth to its Edenic glory, and a time of reestablishment of communications and governmental infrastructures.  For all we really know, it could be a vacation, where Jesus sits by the Mediterranean Sea and soaks up some rays, but the other speculation seems to make more sense.

Naysayers contend that Jesus would not require seventy-five days to accomplish the lifting of the curse and the restoration of the earth.  Indeed, He could merely speak and the job be done.  He spoke the heavens and earth into being (see Ps 33:6-9).  But He has never fulfilled prophecy in such a manner.  Where the natural sequence of events allowed, He has not intervened miraculously in the fulfillment of prophecy.  Therefore do we believe that the establishment of His Kingdom on the earth will be in accordance with some natural evolution of political events after the time of great wrath and destruction.

The millennial reign of Christ on the earth is the prophetic extension of the mystery aspect of the kingdom of heaven.  That is, when the mystery aspect comes to a close, the events that follow for the next seven years are the preparations for the establishment on earth of the "non-mystery" aspect of the kingdom of heaven. 

To be continued...