In speaking of the Acts of the Lord’s Apostles, the Spirit records how that Philip was engaged in “preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ” – and that those who heard and believed his sayings “were baptised, both men and women” (Acts 8:12). This illustrates the vital importance of “the things concerning the Kingdom of God” – they are principles which formed half of what the Apostles taught as the Gospel! And in the case of Philip’s preaching, they were “things” to be accepted and believed as a prerequisite to Baptism – by implication therefore, they are “things” to be the object of faith, in order that Forgiveness and Salvation might be received.
But they are not simply doctrines to be believed; they are fundamental principles for daily living. Our Lord Jesus taught that the primary things to be sought after in this life, are those “things” pertaining to the Righteousness of God, and His Coming Kingdom: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness …” (Mat 6:33). The Kingdom of God then, must feature predominantly in our daily prayers, thoughts and meditations. No matter what evils the day brings – and they may be many – they are but the transient affairs of this life of mortal travail and sorrow. But “the things” of the Kingdom are eternal, and whilst being hidden from the natural eye, they present themselves to those that believe in bold relief – a glorious picture of coming reality. So it is, that with the Apostle Paul, “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:18).
It is important therefore, to correctly understand the nature and extent of the Kingdom to come – to not understand these things, is to not understand the Gospel that Philip and the Apostles taught!
The Kingdom will be thoroughly Israelitish in nature. Some say the territory of the Kingdom of God will be worldwide, but as we shall see, the Bible teaches that the Kingdom is specifically Israel, being the central and dominant nation in the earth at that time. The Christadelphian Statement of Faith (BASF) expresses it thus:
“ XXI.—That the kingdom which he will establish will be the kingdom of Israel restored, in the territory it formerly occupied, viz., the land bequeathed for an everlasting possession to Abraham and his seed (the Christ) by covenant – Mic 4:6-8; Am 9:11,15; Ezek 37:21,22; Jer 23:3-8; Gen 13:14-17; Heb 11:8,9; Gal 3:16; Lev 26:42; Mic 7:20.
Here, the BASF states that the actual kingdom will be Israel restored, which will exist “in the territory it formerly occupied”. Other kingdoms will continue to exist in the earth, whilst being subject to Israel: as it is written, “the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isa. 60:12). Again Psalm 72 speaks of the kings of those nations: “… all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him” (Psa. 72:11, also Psa. 2:10-12). And Daniel 7:12 proves that the other kingdoms will be permitted to exist external to that territory, as nations in their own right – albeit with their “dominion” taken away.
It is therefore inaccurate to speak of “the kingdom” being world-wide. In the passages cited above, we are specifically told that other nations and kingdoms will continue to exist – albeit being subject to Israel, and her King. Having their dominion taken away, they will be part of a world-wide Empire. In Elpis Israel, John Thomas wrote concerning the difference between a kingdom and empire:
“A kingdom is the dominion of a king. An empire is also the dominion of a king, but with this difference: the kingdom proper, or “the first dominion”, is restricted to a regally constituted territory; while the empire, or secondary dominion, though belonging to the same king, extends over other peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, than those of the royal domain. This is illustrated in the case of the British kingdoms and empire. The kingdoms are restricted to England and Scotland, which are by constitution regal territories; but the empire is a secondary dominion of the same united crowns, extending over Canada, Hindostan, and other parts of the globe, with all the nations, languages, and people, they contain.
There are various elements necessary to the constitution of a well-organized kingdom. In the first place, a kingdom must have a territory. This is only saying, in other terms, that something must be somewhere. To maintain the opposite would be to contend that something is nowhere. A kingdom is not located in feeling, or in heart; though a belief of its future existence, a comprehension of its nature, or an attachment to it, may exist there. It must have a place, a locality, as well as a name.”
(Elpis Israel. p. 221)
There are those who characterise our position as saying that the rule of Christ will be over Israel only, and that the nations will be free to do as they please. That, however, is not our position at all – and it is significant that our adversaries have to distort and misstate what we teach in order to discredit it. Our position – as taught by the BASF, Brother Thomas, and Scripture itself – is that the territory of Messiah’s kingdom will be Israel, but that he will rule over the other kingdoms as part of his world – wide empire. And this is what the Bible teaches as part of the Gospel message. To quote Brother Thomas again:
“Indeed, the testimony concerning the territory and throne of the kingdom are so intimately connected with the gospel, that a person cannot believe the gospel and be ignorant of it; for the territory and throne are principal subjects of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the covenant made with David. These are “the covenants of promise” which the ignorant, and consequently unbelieving, are “strangers from.” It is useless to talk about believing the gospel, and at the same time to be ignorant of these and of their true import; for they contain the gospel as we have shown abundantly in Elpis Israel. They define not only the locality and throne of the kingdom, but its subjects, the line of its king’s descent, his humiliation and exaltation, &c., the duration of the kingdom, the contemporary blessedness of all nations, and so-forth. But we cannot particularize everything here. He that studies the word will find the things of the kingdom shining forth from the writings of all the prophets and apostles. The more he understands the more he will see. We will only add here at present that they teach that the territory of the kingdom of the heavens is the land in which Abraham dwelt with Isaac and Jacob, and tended his flocks and herds; the subjects of the kingdom, Abraham’s descendants in the line of Isaac and Jacob; the King, one of his seed, the antitype of Isaac when he died and rose again “in a figure;” the throne, David’s in Zion and Jerusalem; the empire, all the nations of the earth in a state of blessedness; the duration of the kingdom, like its king “for ever.””
(Herald of The Kingdom 1852 Vol. 2, p. 33)
The CMPA publishes a booklet entitled “The Kingdom of God Upon Earth – God’s Plan for the World”. Although it appears to begin by speaking about Israel, so far as this booklet is concerned, they are merely part of the mortal population of the Kingdom, who are “allowed to live” in the land. So we read of the mortal inhabitants:
“… the second group will consist of the mortal peoples of the world who, at Christ’s return, survive the judgements on the earth and are willing for Jesus to be their king. This will include Jews who are allowed to live in Israel” (page 8, emphasis ours).
Very little else is written there regarding Israel. The BASF however, is very clear that it will not only be the case that the Jews will be “allowed to live in Israel” – the Kingdom itself will be Israel “in the territory it formerly occupied.” This is why the Bible hope is styled “the hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20), and is also the reason why in this special issue, we will focus on the Israelitish nature of the kingdom, and the reasons why this feature is so important.
Christopher Maddocks
