{"id":625,"date":"2011-05-09T02:26:59","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T07:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?p=625"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:39:28","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:39:28","slug":"what-is-the-kingdom-of-god-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2011\/05\/09\/what-is-the-kingdom-of-god-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Kingdom of God? Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part 4 of series:
\nWhat Was the Message of Jesus?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In my last post in this series, I began to clarify the core message of Jesus: \u201cThe kingdom of God has come near\u201d (Mark 1:15). Our word \u201ckingdom,\u201d it turns out, misses the precise sense of Jesus\u2019 own language. What he proclaimed was not the approach of a place where God rules (our typical sense of \u201ckingdom\u201d), but rather the dawning of God\u2019s kingly authority on earth. Thus, when we read the phrase \u201ckingdom of God\u201d in the Gospels, we need to think in terms of God\u2019s reign, rule, authority, or sovereignty. This, according to Jesus, is what has come near.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In his proclamation of the reign of God, Jesus echoes the language and hopes of the Hebrew prophets. I have known this for over 20 years, but it was strongly impressed upon me three years ago as I was writing my book, Jesus Revealed<\/span><\/em><\/a>. In preparation for this project, I re-read the Hebrew prophets, beginning with Isaiah and ending with Malachi. Time and again, I ran into the language of God\u2019s kingdom as the Lord promised that, someday, he would return to rule over his people.<\/p>\n

Consider, for example, the following passage from Zephaniah, who prophesied in the latter half of the seventh century B.C.:<\/p>\n

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
\nshout, O Israel! . . .
\nThe LORD has taken away the judgments against you,
\nhe has turned away your enemies.
\nThe king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; <\/em> . . .
\na warrior who gives victory;
\nhe will rejoice over you with gladness,
\nhe will renew you in his love; . . .
\nI will deal with all your oppressors
\nat that time.
\nAnd I will save the lame
\nand gather the outcast,
\nand I will change their shame into praise
\nand renown in all the earth.
\nAt that time I will bring you home,
\nat the time when I gather you;
\nfor I will make you renowned and praised
\namong all the peoples of the earth,
\nwhen I restore your fortunes
\nbefore your eyes, says the LORD. (Zeph 3:14-20, emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to this prophecy, at the right time the LORD himself will be the \u201cking of Israel.\u201d In this role, he will give victory to his people, removing their oppressors, gathering their scattered exiles, and restoring their fortunes.<\/p>\n

Consider one other passage from the Hebrew prophets, this one from Isaiah:<\/p>\n

How beautiful upon the mountains
\nare the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
\nwho brings good news,
\nwho announces salvation,
\nwho says to Zion, \u201cYour God reigns.\u201d <\/em>
\nListen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
\ntogether they sing for joy;
\nfor in plain sight they see
\nthe return of the LORD to Zion.
\nBreak forth together into singing,
\nyou ruins of Jerusalem;
\nfor the LORD has comforted his people,
\nhe has redeemed Jerusalem.
\nThe LORD has bared his holy arm
\nbefore the eyes of all the nations;
\nand all the ends of the earth shall see
\nthe salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:7-10, emphasis added)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this prophecy, God\u2019s reign includes peace, the return of the LORD to Jerusalem, joyful singing, comfort and redemption for Judah, and the impact of God\u2019s salvation upon the whole earth. The announcement of God\u2019s reign will be, indeed, \u201cgood news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with Zephaniah\u2019s and Isaiah\u2019s prophecies ringing in your ears, listen again to Mark\u2019s summary of Jesus\u2019 message: \u201cThe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news\u201d (Mark 1:15). The prophetic echoes are unmistakable. But there are differences too. Whereas the prophets looked ahead to an undetermined time in the future when God would return to rule over his people, Jesus says, \u201cThe time is now. The reign of God has now come near. So turn your life around and live in light of this truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019ve identified the core message of Jesus \u2013 the proclamation of the kingdom \u2013 and clarified the basic meaning of this proclamation, we should pursue a bit further the means by which Jesus delivered his message. Yes, upon occasion he stood up and said, simply, \u201cThe kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d But that was just the beginning. In my next post I will answer the question: How did Jesus proclaim the kingdom of God?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 4 of series: What Was the Message of Jesus? In my last post in this series, I began to clarify the core message of Jesus: \u201cThe kingdom of God has come near\u201d (Mark 1:15). Our word \u201ckingdom,\u201d it turns out, misses the precise sense of Jesus\u2019 own language. What he proclaimed was not the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8514],"tags":[1466,8515,8590,8588,8589],"class_list":["post-625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesus-what-was-his-message","tag-isaiah","tag-message-of-jesus","tag-prophets","tag-the-kingdom-of-god","tag-zephaniah"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the Kingdom of God? Part 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Part 4 of series: What Was the Message of Jesus? 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