Week 35 Matthew 3
I’ve been mulling-over Matthew’s phrase the kingdom-of-heaven. I don’t remember it being a common OT expression but I figure I’d better check my word book.
I found the word “kingdom” used about 160 times in the OT and so then I rechecked those 160. Now I was searching for kingdom-of-heaven (and kingdom-of-God). Here’s what I found:
a) most “kingdoms-of” were kingdoms-of-people. Kingdom of Sihon. Kingdom of Saul. Of David. Of Rehoboam. Of Persia.
b) the kingdom of the Lord was used a couple of times in Chronicles (but it seemed to refer to the political kingdom of Israel).
c) Psalm 145 was pretty interesting: they shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power…Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
d) Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that: the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed…It shall stand forever. Daniel also said God’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Later he told Darius (and Belshazzar) that the Lord’s kingdom shall never be destroyed.
So anyway the reason I looked for kingdom-of-heaven / kingdom-of-God in the OT was pretty straightforward. When first-century people heard John or Jesus use those expressions they seemed to know what they were talking about. I just figured they knew from the OT. But what I found today was that even though the OT did tell them something it didn’t tell them much. Comprehensive information from the OT about the kingdom-of-heaven was pretty thin-on-the-ground.
Note: see 1 Chronicles 28:5 & 2 Chronicles 13:8. Quotes from Psalm 145:11-13 Daniel 2:44 4:3 & 34 6:26 & 7:14 (ESV)