Pondering the Kingdom

Some of my favorite scriptures with respect to my view of God and His intentions, with commentary:

Matthew 6:10
"...your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven."

(How is God's will done in heaven?)


Matthew 13:33
He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

(How much of the dough was leavened?)


Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

(What happens to the government of Jesus?)


Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45
[Dream]
While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

[Interpretation]
"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
"The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."

(What happened to the Rock?)


Isaiah 2:2-4
In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

(What happens to the mountain of the Lord's temple?)


Ezekiel 47:1-12
The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.

As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep.

He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?"

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea.

When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

(What happens to the river as it progresses?)


Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.

(How much of the sea is covered by water?)


Isaiah 31:34
No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.

(When will this happen?)


Revelation 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

(How did Jesus come to rule the worldly kingdom?)


John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.


Isaiah 55:11
So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

(Who is the word again?)


Final comments:
Jesus is the Word of God. This can be taken quite literally; Genesis records that God spoke everything into existence, while John tells us that everything was made through Jesus.
The Word brings forth the Kingdom; it does not fail, but is effective, accomplishing all that God intends.
The authority of the Kingdom is represented by the Mountain image.
The Church is represented by the House on the mountain. It is a subset of the Kingdom (God is working around and ahead of His people).
The life of the Kingdom is represented by the River / Seas image.
The Mountain and River continually increase in the earth until there is no place untouched, at which point God can honestly call the Church a victorious bride. He then switches from subversion by proxy (Jesus is currently seated, right?) to authoritative, visible, and final confrontation with the remaining rebellious outposts (swamps and marshes). He defeats them and we rule and reign with Him forever.

If any part of our theology is depressing or scary or results in God or His people failing, and the world getting worse and worse and everything going to hell in a handbasket, and the devil just having the run of things, maybe we've got it wrong. And if the way we believe prevents us from laying foundations, digging up hidden truths in the Word, having children and sending them out as reformers to every area and institution of culture, and generally investing in things that won't bear fruit for a generation or more, then maybe the devil has us just where he wants us.

If God says His kingdom continually increases, and everyone else says that the kingdom of darkness continually increases, who's telling the truth?

Almost Perfect

Disclaimer:
I don't know everything. I may be wrong. I also have the unshakable conviction that we as members of the Body of Christ need to be searching out and advancing ideas about where we are and where we are going. I keep hearing it prophesied that there are new, undiscovered truths in the Word of God. So please allow me to dig, hone my skills, stumble somewhat, and contribute to a marketplace of ideas where healthy competition elevates those things that are beneficial and discards those that are not. Thank you.


Almost Perfect

I love this verse:

Habakkuk 2:14
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

It's so interesting that it doesn't say the glory will be everywhere, just the knowledge. It kind of reminds me of that part of the Great Commission where Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations -- not that every individual in every nation will be saved, but that as a whole, the nations will acknowledge Christ as Lord.

I'm noticing a recurring theme of the exuberant Old Testament prophesies -- they have so much to say about wonderful things happening on this earth, in this lifetime, and, importantly, before any sense of "absolute perfection and the end of all things" has arrived. For example:

Isaiah 2
2 In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

It really sounds like the people are still in a state of "seeing in a mirror dimly" rather than "knowing fully as we are fully known." Otherwise, why would the people a) need to learn God's ways, b) need the law, c) have disputes, and d) own weapons? It's almost as if God were reigning but not actually physically present on the earth to completely enforce His will.

Given that God has given us images like this of a reformed-but-not-yet-perfect world, why then the current passivity of the church in the arena of world-influence (that is to say, culture and politics)? I suggest it's a case of doublespeak; we need to spend trillions to solve our debt problem, we've always been at war with Eastasia, and God has to lose before He can win. I'm speaking of a literal, chronologized, and modernized interpretation of the book of Revelation and other apocalyptic passages.

Jihadist Muslims believe in ordained chaos, so they order their lives around accelerating it. Western Christians believe in ordained chaos, so they sit back and numbly or gleefully watch it happen. This is not surprising -- you can see the same trend in relationships. Imagine a young engaged couple: maintaining purity is hard work because the devil is constantly pushing them toward physical intimacy before they are in covenant. On their wedding day, the tactic switches: since he hates marriage, he does everything in his power to drive them apart. Similarly, to advance the doctrine of ordained chaos, the devil drives one group to create chaos, and placates another against resistance.

Understand what I'm not saying: I acknowledge that judgments must come, and certainly we in America are experiencing national judgment right now. However, the Biblical pattern of the Flood, the Egyptian Plagues and other judgments is that they are times of dividing; God wipes away the wicked and causes the righteous to escape, and often to inherit land and wealth. (Aside: this is a very appropriate thing. Since wealth simply gives the power of being a "decider," you want Godly individuals doing the deciding. People in positions of wealth and power determine what is reported in the news, taught in the classroom, directed in the boardroom, encoded in law, entertained on TV/movies/radio -- in short, they control the culture.) Even when Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70, the Christians who had been forewarned or driven away by persecution were not massacred. It was the Jews who rejected their Messiah and engaged in false worship in the Temple that were destroyed. Judgments are a case of God bringing alignment to the earth and therefore cause the devil to lose power, not gain it. (Aside again: I can't stress enough that this should be making the Church think, "Opportunity!" rather than "Hunker down.")

I love the statement made about a year ago that "Jesus was a community organizer." I completely agree, and I believe that He established and commissioned the Church as a world-organizer. When He sovereignly moves and causes certain things to happen, we need to understand that He is creating the conditions necessary for us to do our jobs.

I think a big (BIG) part of the Church's job is simply to be a voice that loudly and insistently speaks the truth. Going back to the Biblical pattern - John teaches us that Jesus is the Word of God. Through Him all things were made, and later, through Him the devil (the father of lies) was defeated. So part of the job is boldly confronting lies (remembering that the Truth has already won). Another part is casting vision -- you can't just be against something, you have to be for something. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, so we need to advance a hopeful vision of where God is going, and share whatever He is currently saying or what we have discovered in the Scriptures, with anyone who will listen. "Wisdom calls aloud in the street / she raises her voice in the public squares."

I really love the work some are doing to train young people with a Biblical worldview and send them out into the mountains (arenas of influence) of culture. I also feel strongly about the value of pleading established e.g. governmental covenant in prayer, necessarily involving imprecation as well as establishment. ("See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.") That is, I feel that if we can uncover the solid foundations laid by our forefathers, God can empower us to build "new and better" structures upon them.

Understanding that all things are already in the mind of God, I want to apprehend the spirit John Adams had when he said, "Why have I not genius to start some new thought? Some thing that will surprise the world?"