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The Kingdom of God

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Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 9, 1882

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 8, No. 42.

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The Kingdom of God.

By Editor

If the importance of any subject is to be estimated by its prominence in the Scriptures, that of the kingdom is second to but few.
When John, the forerunner of Christ, began to preach in the wilderness of Judea, he said, "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Matt. 3:2.
When the Saviour himself began to preach, he used the same language, saying: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15.
When he chose his twelve apostles and sent them out to preach, he committed to them the same words, saying, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Matt. 10:7.
In his "Sermon on the Mount," it was the first of the beatitudes—the beginning of the promises, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." Matt. 5:3.
When he taught his disciples how to pray, it was the burden of the first petition: "Thy kingdom come." Matt. 6:10.
The gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, is called by the Saviour, "this gospel of the kingdom." Matt. 24:14.
When our Saviour forewarned the Jews of their rejection for disobedience, and of the calling of the Gentiles, he did it by declaring the kingdom should be taken from the former, and given to the latter. Matt. 21:43.
When the graces of the Christian character are enumerated and enforced, it is that we may have an abundant entrance into the kingdom. 2 Pet. 1:11.
They who are rich in faith, who love God, are called "heirs of the kingdom." James 2:5.
And finally, when the Saviour comes to call the faithful unto himself, he says unto them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom." Matt. 25:34.
It is called the kingdom of Heaven because it is of Heaven and not of earth in its origin and principles. It is called the kingdom of God because it is set up by the God of Heaven. And it is called the kingdom of Christ because Christ is the king thereof.
When man was created, he was appointed to have "dominion" over the earth, and everything upon it. But this, and his life also, he soon lost by disobedience; and for a long time thereafter the Lord, in his communications with men, said nothing about a dominion. A bare intimation of a future reign was given to Abraham when it was said to him, "I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee." Gen. 17:6.
After the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt, the Lord brought them out and made a covenant with them to be their God, and that they should be his people and obey his voice. Ex. 19:3-8; Jer. 11:2-4. But they not only broke his covenant, but rejected him as their ruler, and asked for a king to rule over them, that they might be like all the nations. 1 Sam. 8:5, 19, 20. In this, the Lord said, they had rejected him, that he should not reign over them. Verse 7. He pointed out Saul to be their king, who reigned over them forty years.
But Saul displeased the Lord, and he took the kingdom from him and gave it to David. By this it will be seen that the Lord did not forget his covenant with Israel and forsake them, though they rejected him, and departed far from his ways. He reserved to himself the right to choose who should be their king, and he promised that the crown should remain with David and his house. This promise is recorded in Psalm 89. "I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to all generations." Verses 3, 4. "Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of Heaven." Verses 27-29. Nothing could be more positive and sure than this. There is a condition introduced in regard to the conduct of his people, Israel, but this affects them alone; it is as follows:—
"If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." Verses 30-32.
That this cannot invalidate the promise is shown in the succeeding verses, 33-37. "Nevertheless, my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in Heaven."
The descendants of David reigned something over 400 years; but they were not steadfast in the ways of God. They suffered many things of their enemies, and many things by reason of dissensions and rebellions. Truly were they visited "with the rod." And Zedekiah added to the iniquities of his predecessors, and in his day the chief of Israel followed the ways of the heathen; the house of God in Jerusalem was polluted; the prophets of God were despised and misused "until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy." 2 Chron. 36:11-16.
Accordingly, Ezekiel the prophet was sent with a message, foretelling, not only his overthrow, but the subversion of the kingdom. "And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it him." Eze. 21:25-27.
Three years after this prophecy was uttered, viz., in 590 B. C., the king of Assyria was exalted over him; the king of Israel was abased; the crown was removed; the temple of Jerusalem was burnt, and its vessels and all its treasures carried away; the sons of king Zedekiah were slain before his eyes, his own eyes were put out, and he, in fetters of brass, was carried captive into Babylon.
This is, in brief, a history of the kingdom of Israel from its establishment under Saul to its overthrow under Zedekiah, since which time the throne of David has not been restored nor occupied by any of his sons. By permission of the kings of Persia, into whose hands they had fallen on the overthrow of Babylon, the Jews returned to Jerusalem, and, amid many perils, built again the house of the Lord. When the Romans became strong, so that it was an object to secure their favor, the Jews made a league with them, and were under their control at the birth of the Saviour.

A RESTORATION FORETOLD.

In the prophecy of Daniel, chapter 2, is the declaration that the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom. By a comparison of the scriptures, we learn that this refers to a restoration of the kingdom which was overturned on account of the wickedness of Israel.
And here a controversy has arisen, one party affirming that the expression, "these kings," in verse 44, refers to the four kingdoms without defining either, and that the fulfillment shows that it refers to the fourth, to wit, the Roman. In other words, that the God of Heaven set up this kingdom at or near the first advent of the Saviour. In favor of this view, it is further said that the feet and toes, or divided state of the Roman Empire, are not called kings in this chapter, and, therefore, it must refer to those which are called kings. This reasoning we think is faulty. For,
1. If "these kings" refers to the four parts of the image, that is, to Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, then it could not be fulfilled if set up in the days of the fourth, or Roman. It was not, then, set up in the days of Babylon, nor of Persia, nor of Greece; and the phrase, "these kings," cannot refer to the fourth one, the Roman.
2. The margin of Dan. 2:44, has "Chald., their days." Dr. Clarke says that from Dan. 2:4, to the end of chapter 7, it was written in Chaldee, or Syro-Chaldaic. The reader will notice that in these chapters, the margin constantly refers to the Chaldee, while the margin of the rest of the book refers to the Hebrew. Therefore, the literal, original reading is, "In their days shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom." No one can doubt that the pronoun "they," in verse 43, refers to the powers represented by the toes of the image. And in verse 44, "their" certainly refers to the same. These divisions of verse 43 are the only antecedent of "their" in verse 44.
3. But that the divisions of the Roman Kingdom do themselves mean kingdoms, we learn from Dan. 7, wherein is shown four great beasts, representing four kingdoms, as in Dan. 2. The fourth, the strongest of all, with great iron teeth, is the same as the iron part of the image; and the ten horns, the same as the toes of the image. But these horns are, in chapter 7:24, called ten kings, or kingdoms.
4. The "stone" of the dream of chapter 2, is a symbol of this kingdom which the God of Heaven shall set up. But in the order of events, this stone is not brought into notice until after the development of the feet and toes of the image. Thus, the first that was seen of the stone, in the dream, it "smote the image upon his feet" that were of iron and clay; and the interpretation says, "In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom." Now there is no harmony of the prophecy in any view that does not make "these kings" refer to the divisions of the Roman Empire.
5. There is no force in the objection that has been urged, that the "ten kings" have not existed in the form and number necessary to fulfill the prophecy, if they were the kings referred to. The prophecy says, "They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." This certainly contemplates a state of change, without the possibility of consolidation; just what has always been seen in the European States which grew up out of the ruins of the Roman Empire. And this is further shown in chapter 7:8, where the prophet beheld "another little horn" come up among them; then there were at that time eleven in all; and before this last one were three of the first plucked up; which left in view seven of the original horns, and eight in all. The prophecy evidently reveals the fact that in the days of the kingdoms rising out of the Roman Kingdom, should the God of Heaven set up a kingdom; and though there may sometimes be more and sometimes less than ten, it does not destroy their identity as "these kings," as this transition was clearly pointed out.
6. A confirmation of this view is found in the fact that the prophecies of the two chapters are not only identical in their main features, but their finale is the same. In the second chapter, the God of Heaven sets up a kingdom; which, as will be hereafter shown, is fulfilled by his investing the Lord Jesus with kingly power; and it "shall be left to other people," that is, it shall be given to a people who shall possess it forever, without losing it or leaving it to others. And so of chapter 7, the vision concludes with giving the kingdom and dominion to the Son of man; and the interpretation concludes with giving the kingdom to the saints. But in this latter chapter it is clearly shown that the dominion passes from one of these beasts to another, and so on through the four; that the fourth is divided as represented by the horns, and the dominion, of course, is then found in these divisions. But "another little horn" arises, which takes great authority, and wears out the saints of the Most High. The characteristics of this little horn plainly show it to be the papal power, or ecclesiastical government of Rome, and this wearing out of the saints of the Most High was fulfilled in the unparalleled persecution carried on against those who believed and obeyed the word of God, contrary to the dogmas of the Roman Catholic power. But it is after the action of this little horn in persecuting the saints that the kingdom is given to them. And, therefore, any theory which has the kingdom set up, and the saints inducted into it before the papal persecution, must be wrong.
Bishop Newton, in tracing the parallel between the second and seventh chapters of Daniel, says:—
"The legs of iron, and the fourth beast with great iron teeth, correspond exactly; and as iron breaketh in pieces all other metals, so the fourth beast devoured, and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and they were both, therefore, equally proper representatives of the fourth kingdom, or the Roman, which was stronger and more powerful than all the former kingdoms. The ten toes, too, and the ten horns, were alike fit emblems of the ten kingdoms, which arose out of the divisions of the Roman Empire."
In his Dissertation on Chapter 2, he says:—
"The Roman Empire was at length divided into ten lesser kingdoms, answering to the ten toes of the image,as we shall see hereafter. These kingdoms retained much of the old Roman strength, and manifested it upon several occasions."
And, after giving his own enumeration of these ten kingdoms, he remarks upon the change or transition we have noticed:—
"Not that there were constantly ten kingdoms; they were sometimes more and sometimes fewer; but, as Sir Isaac Newton says, 'Whatever was their number afterward, they are still called the ten kings from their first number.'"
Bishop Newton gives five different enumerations of the ten kingdoms, of different writers, to wit, Machiavel the historian, Mr. Mede, Bishop Lloyd, Sir Isaac Newton, and his own. And while the difference of these enumerations may raise a query in some minds, they are in truth but a confirmation of the view we advocate. And so he says:—
"The few variations in these accounts must be ascribed to the great disorder and confusion of the times, one kingdom falling, and another rising, and scarce any subsisting for a long while together. As a learned writer [Danbuz on Rev. 13] remarks, 'All these kingdoms were variously divided, either by conquest or inheritance. However, as if that number of ten had been fatal in the Roman dominions, it hath been taken notice of upon particular occasions. As about A. D. 1240, by Everard, bishop of Salisburg, in the diet of Ratisbon. At the time of the Reformation, they were also ten. So that the Roman Empire was divided into ten, first and last.' Mr. Whiston, who published his Essay on the Revelation of St. John, in the year 1706, further observes 'that as at the number of the kingdoms, into which the Roman Empire in Europe, agreeably to the ancient prophecies, was originally divided A. D. 456, was exactly ten; so it is also very nearly returned again to the same condition; and at present is divided into ten grand or principal kingdoms or States. For, though there are many more great kingdoms or dominions in Europe besides, yet they are out of the bounds of the old Roman Empire, and so not so directly within our present inquiry.'"
And so it appears that, though writing at different times far apart from each other, and viewing them under different circumstances, while great changes were effected among these powers, they yet all speak of them as "the ten kingdoms." And this marks the wonderful precision of the fulfillment of this prophecy, while transition and change was ever going on, as marked out by the prophecy, their identity as "these kings" is unmistakable. Indeed, there is no point on which historians and commentators better agree than this; the wonderful uniformity with which they call the divisions of the Roman Empire, represented by the feet and toes of the image of Dan. 2, "the ten kings."
EDITOR.