It was over the weekend that I hosted a few friends. Within our discussion, we examined a multitude of things. One of the subjects that came up was Israel and the last days. I think that this topic comes up frequently when I have opportunity to talk, because it is probably one of the biggest aspects of my theology. However, As I mused upon it, I realized that it wasn't about Israel and eschatology that is really a big part of my theology, it is the Kingdom of God.
The one topic that it seems as though the entire Bible is devoted to is this subject. God's Kingdom and rule upon this earth is the focal point. It was set up in the beginning that God would rule as God by having fellowship with mankind and teaching us to be priests unto the very creation itself. We were created in His likeness to display Him unto all things - including the angelic beings.
With the fall of mankind, the kingdom of darkness was thus expressed. It had taken captive humanity. It had somehow become the authority over this fallen world, and if it can keep that authority, then it can attempt to overcome the kingdom of light. We have this saga at the heart of the Bible. Everything is a progression forward. Mankind falls, thus sin enters the world. God's promise is that He will one day punish that serpent and rid the world of that sin. We find that as the Bible progresses, the sinfulness of humanity increased. God sent a flood, and only saved 8 people.
Out of those 8 people came all nations of this earth. Some came from Ham, some from Shem, and some from Japheth. Each of these names have different significance, and we can see in the various cultures throughout the world these different names represented. We find in Genesis 10 the "table of nations." That description of where the nations come from and where they settled is referred to throughout the Bible. It is in the next chapter that we find all nations coming together to establish a one-world government system. What was their hopes in doing so? They wanted to make a tower that would ascend up to heaven.
Where does such a thought come from? If we think that mankind in their sinful state would promote such an idea, we have deceived ourselves. There is an entire kingdom behind the scenes. It promotes selfishness and exultation. The rule of this kingdom of darkness is self. For them to build a tower that would rival the heavens is a statement of deifying humanity. And this deification of humanity is not from depravity, but ultimately from the pit of hell. Satan has influenced and manipulated the whole thing. He has sway over any kind of institution, and that sway is what caused for humanity to have such antichrist thoughts.
The question that the Bible promotes is this: who will rule over this cosmos? Will God rule, or will Satan rule? It is the plan of the devil to manipulate mankind for his own devices. We are merely tools being jerked and forced into establishing his kingdom. There is no remedy from this outside of Christ. But God confused the languages of these nations, and in so doing foiled the plans of the enemy.
Now, thousands of years later, we're back at the same scenario. We have mankind coming together and striving to promote a one-world government that will somehow rival the heavens. It is the same plan that was used at the beginning. And what was God's answer to that plan at the beginning? God's answer was a man named Abram. God called Abram out of the nations to become a nation. While Satan has his own kingdom at work in the world, God has established a kingdom as well. We trace through the Bible this man Abram to the nation Israel. We find prophecies concerning that people at a specific point in time where God Himself will come to earth and rule over them, thus defeating the kingdom of darkness and promoting everlasting righteousness.
Though I agree with the theology that teaches of "the Kingdom of God within you," at least to a degree, this mentality has actually caused us to forsake the understanding of our fathers. Because we are under the impression that God's Kingdom is already established invisibly on the earth, we are not seeking for a future time that God will rule and reign. He has established very specific places where He has chosen for His government. If we do not know, or do not examine, such claims made by God, then can we truly say that we are seeking first His Kingdom?
Many times it is that we simply don't know. This isn't a question about salvation or even somehow being eternally secure. The question that I promote is whether we are truly living in a way that would expect and fully believe that there is a time coming - and soon coming - that God will rule and reign, and He will call on His people to rule and reign with Him?
This is important because the whole of the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, seeks to establish the answer to one question: How and why is God now able to dwell on the earth? God walked with Adam in the Garden, but there was no sin. How is it that God will somehow come down and manifest Himself on this earth with sin still present? The answer, of course, is found in the man Jesus Christ. But we mustn't stop there. Yes, He came 2000 years ago, but there are still prophecies and promises that have been stated to happen that are yet to come to fruition.
The problem of eschatology (the study of the end) is to seek an understanding of how God can come, Israel can be redeemed, the Church can be united with Israel under the same Head, and we can rule and reign from Jerusalem together. That is the question at hand when studying the Kingdom of God. We know that God will rule over this earth, but how? What must take place for His Government to be established? What must happen for the cosmos to be able to embrace His coming?
In a few days, I will be joining some brethren to discuss such a topic as this. Pray for me, and pray for us all, that we might be given the understanding that God has decreed from the beginning.
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