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Different Beliefs about the Kingdom of Heaven


Kingdom of Heaven Series #2
Different Beliefs about the Kingdom of Heaven

This is the second of a series of blogs about the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven to Yeshua and his followers. The Kingdom of Heaven was a hot topic before and during the time of Yeshua. It was connected to two beliefs that had grown in popularity – the arrival of the Anointed One (Mashiach / Messiah) and the Son of Man. Since the invasion of the Assyrians and the exile of members of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in the 8th century BCE, the prophets had been prophesying that God would free the Jewish homeland from the yoke of foreign oppressors. After the fall of the Southern Kingdom and the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE, the prophets continued to promise that at some point in the future God would redeem the land and return it to his people.

There have been a number of “foreign oppressors” in the history of Israel, but at the time of Yeshua it was the Roman Empire that was the problem. Fervor over claims about the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven and the end of Roman oppressors was high.1 It should be remembered that the reason Jews believed their land was dominated the foreigners in the first place was because it God punishing them for their sins. They believed that if Israel obeyed the words of the Torah, no foreign power would ever rule over them again.2 It was up to the people of Israel to make the decision to obey and when they did the Kingdom of Heaven will be revealed.3 However, different sects added their own twists to the basic ideas above.

The Pharisees taught that the Kingdom of Heaven or rule of God meant that the one and only God presently ruled de jure, in spirit but not in fact. But in the future, when the Great Day of Judgment comes and God judges the people, the “Kingdom of Heaven will be revealed to all the inhabitants of the world” de facto -- in fact.4 They taught that Israel was languishing under a foreign yoke because it is God’s will, but in the future God alone will rule in Zion.5 For the Pharisees this was and had been an unchanging reality.6

The Essenes taught that in the very near divine future, the social outcasts and oppressed would become the preferred, for “theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” and “those who mourn will be comforted.” The tree of life itself is concealed — “the seal of its mystery remains unobserved, unrecognized.” It is God himself that guards this secret – “the outsider “sees but does not recognize, and thinks but does not believe in the source of life.” Yeshua taught some very similar parables.7 The Essenes also taught that they were the only ones that had been predestined to be redeemed by God. They viewed themselves as an exclusive New Israel separate from the other Jewish people. Redemption had nothing to do with freewill.

The Son of Man is a figure that appears exclusively in Jewish apocalyptic writings, mostly in those that are close to the Essene movement8 and belongs to an apocalyptic system of thinking. The Son of Man will appear to judge mankind. A key factor that appears in the teachings of the Essene and Pharisees is that that the Kingdom of Heaven does not appear before the Great Day of Judgment – it is always part of the future.9

John the Baptist was influenced by the teachings of the Pharisees and Essenes. However, he added a new twists – he saw himself as the prophet that had come at the end of time to announce the arrival of the Anointed One. Many people believed him to be the biblical prophet Elijah and the fulfillment of the words from Daniel 7:13 -- “I saw one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.”10 John preached that “one mightier than he is coming whose winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and so gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”11 The Anointing One he was proclaiming would also fulfill the role of the Son of Man.

It is in this apocalyptic environment that Yeshua appeared and proclaimed his message about the Kingdom of Heaven, the Son of Man and his role as the Anointed One. His views did not fit into the boxes of the Pharisees, Essenes or John the Baptist. We will learn more about his message in the next blog. Sign up and follow this blog so you won’t miss it!
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This is the end of part two of the Real Yeshua Project’s Kingdom of Heaven Series.

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1 Jesus by David Flusser © 1997 The Maness Press,
   Jerusalem, Israel; p. 105.
7 Jesus; p. 110.
2 Jesus; p. 106.
8 Jesus; p. 48.
3 Jesus; p. 107.
9 Jesus; p. 48.
4 Jesus; p. 106.
10 Jesus; p. 49.
5 Jesus; p. 106.
1[1] Luke 3:16-17; Matt. 3:11-12
6 Jesus; p. 110.




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