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What the Kingdom of Heaven is and is not.


Kingdom of Heaven Series #1
What the Kingdom of Heaven is and is not.

A primary difference between the Yeshua Movement and other Jewish sects was Yeshua’s  Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the first of a series of blogs about what the Kingdom of Heaven meant to Yeshua and his followers. Understanding the principles and values embedded in Yeshua’s Kingdom of Heaven message has the power to transform lives today – without need of the tangled web of institutional theologies and Christology’s that have been attached to it over the past 2,000 years.  

Let’s begin by addressing two very important points:

(1) The Kingdom of Heaven is not a reference to a “kingdom in a place called Heaven.”

(2) The Kingdom of Heaven is not a reference about “going to Heaven when you die.”

When Yeshua usually used the word translated “Heaven” he use it as a euphemism for “God.”

A euphemism is a word or phrase used instead of another word or phrase that members of the intended audience might find offensive.

Observant Jews at the time of Yeshua (and many Jews today) refrained from speaking the name of the Jewish god in their common speech in order not to profane their god’s name. Below is the commandment from the Ten Commandments that prohibited it:

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

English translators of the verse above used another euphemism for the same reason – “the Lord.” Other translators used “the LORD” and “HaShem” (which literally means “the Name”) in their translations.

The “Kingdom of Heaven” and the “Kingdom of God” mean the same thing.

Yeshua’s Jewish audience knew that, but later Gentile Christians did not. This is seen in the work of the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. They wrote their Gospels for different audiences. In Matthew we usually find “Kingdom of Heaven” and in Luke we find “Kingdom of God.” The author of Matthew wrote for a Jewish audience and the author of Luke wrote for a Gentile audience.

The idea of the Kingdom of Heaven was not a new thing. Its history stretches all the way back to a very famous account recorded in 1 Samuel. The Israelites called upon Samuel to tell God that they wanted him to appoint a human king over them -- so they would be like all other nations. Samuel delivered their message and after listing all of the things that were bad in that idea God said this:

Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah, and said to the children of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those who oppressed you. But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’” (1 Samuel 10:17-19)

The proclamation of Yeshua for people to accept his Kingdom of Heaven message was a call for people “to re-accept God as their king” and the men He anointed as “His adopted Sons” as “His representatives on the throne of Israel.”

This is the end of part one of the Real Yeshua Project’s Kingdom of Heaven Series. Shalom!
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