The Kingdom of the Heavens

By Stephen Hedges

The Gospels tell us that Jesus went everywhere preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. This is not the Gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In fact after more than three years of travelling with Jesus His disciples knew nothing about His coming death, burial and resurrection, what they knew about was the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The primary issue in the Gospels is not how to be saved; it is how to live in the Kingdom. The Gospel of Matthew starts by introducing us to the fact that there are two kings: King Herod and Jesus the King of Israel.King Herod was a descendant of Esau; Jesus was a descendant of Jacob. Jesus was also a descendant of King David. Herod had stolen his kingdom with the help of the Roman Empire. Jesus came to re-establish the Kingdom of David.

When Adam was created he was given rulership of the Garden of Eden. When the children of Israel came out Egypt there were called to be kings and priests. When John wrote to the seven churches he told them that they were to be kings and priests.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He told them to pray: Your kingdom come.

But what is the difference between salvation and living in the Kingdom? How do you enter into the Kingdom? How do you live in the Kingdom? What is the ultimate purpose of the Kingdom?

Every believer needs to know the answer to these questions.

Among the topics covered in this book are:
The Authority of the Scriptures
Salvation versus the Kingdom of G-d
The Promise of the Kingdom
When does the Kingdom come?
The Future Kingdom
His Will Be Done
The Rules of the Kingdom
The Constitution of the Kingdom
Character, Conduct and Influence of the Kingdom
Laws of the Kingdom
The Sermon to the Disciples

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Hedges
• Release date: Jan 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301693856

Stephen Hedges

Stephen Hedges was born into a Jewish family and raised in Kenya (East Africa).Since the turn of the century Stephen Hedges has taught the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) at an institute in Bulgaria.

Book preview

The Kingdom of the Heavens — Present and Future

Smashwords Edition

Copyright (c) 2012 Stephen H Hedges

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the written permission of the author.

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Stephen H Hedges

s h h e d g e s @ h o t m a i l . c o m (remove the spaces when using this address)

Cover Design:

Deborah E. Crittenden

d e c r i t t e n d e n @ h o t m a i l . c o m (remove the spaces when using this address)

ISBN 978-954-9941-53-1

Biblical quotations are taken from:

Hebrew Scriptures:

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia,

Fünfte, verbasserte Auflage 1997

Verkleinerte Ausgabe,

Gedruckt mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (c) 1967/77 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart

ISBN 3-438-05219-9

LXX:

Septuaginta

Verkleinerte Augsabe in einem Band

(c) 1935, 1979 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart

ISBN 3-438-0512-4

Greek New Testament Fourth Corrected Edition

(c) 1966, 1968, 1975, 1983, 1993

The United Bible Societies

Table of Contents:

Notes about Words and Usages

Introduction

Chapter 1 — The Authority of the Scriptures

Chapter 2 — Salvation versus the Kingdom of G-d

Chapter 3 — The Promise of the Kingdom

Chapter 4 — When does the Kingdom come?

Chapter 5 — The Future Kingdom

Chapter 6 — His Will Be Done

Chapter 7 — The Rules of the Kingdom

Chapter 8 — The Constitution of the Kingdom

Chapter 9 — Character, Conduct and Influence

Chapter 10 — Laws of the Kingdom

Chapter 11 — The Sermon to the Disciples

Chapter 12 — Conclusion

Other titles by Stephen H Hedges

Bibliography

Footnotes

Notes about Words and Usages

I live and work in Europe, where there are three different types of Bibles. Most of the Bibles use the Catholic chapter and verse numbering system that was gradually introduced into Catholic Bibles between 1267 ¹ and 1551. ² However, there are numerous nations in Europe that are dominated by Orthodox Christianity. Orthodox Bibles use a chapter and verse numbering system that is based partially on the Septuagint Greek text and partially on the Catholic system. There are also Jewish Bibles (in Hebrew and many other languages) that use a chapter and verse numbering system that was first introduced at the time of Ezra (about 500 years before the New Testament was written). ³ As a result there are times when one passage of the Hebrew Scriptures might have three different references. For example, if I was to quote this verse:

And disturbed, the king ascends to the upper-chamber of the gate. And he laments. And so he says, as he goes My son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom, I should give anything that I die instead of you, Absalom, my son, Absalom!

Where would you find this in your Bible? If you are looking in the Jewish Bible the correct reference is 2nd Samuel 19: 1. In Bibles that use the Catholic system this verse is 2nd Samuel 18.33; and in Orthodox Bibles the reference is 2nd Kings 18.33. To complicate matters even more, Protestant Bibles sometimes use the Catholic system (especially in the Western European Nations); sometimes they use the Orthodox numbering systems (especially in nations with a Slavonic tradition), and sometimes they try to compromise between the Jewish numbering system and either the Catholic or Orthodox system (especially in the Psalms). As a result, when there are differences between these three systems I will use the Jewish numbering system in the text and then note the Catholic and Orthodox systems in the footnotes.

Because I am a Jew, I write in the collective sense. For example, when I write, We were slaves in Egypt and the Lord delivered us from there, ⁴ you must understand that I am indicating, "We (Jews) were slaves in Egypt and the Lord delivered us (Jews) from there".

The Jews never write the complete name of the Holy One, instead we always abbreviate the word G-d, except in the actual text of Scripture in the Bible. When you see in the text the words LORD or ADONAI written in all capital letters, it indicates that the original Hebrew text contains the Four Letter Name of the Lord (the Tetragrammaton). In fact all Greek manuscripts of the New Testament that are dated prior to the fifth century abbreviate all references to G-d, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, Christ, and Lord (when used concerning the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit). The authors of the New Testament were Jews and they wrote as Jews (but they were much stricter in their use of the Divine Names that I am in this manuscript).

In many languages the Tetragrammaton (the Four Letter Name of G-d) is often translated as Jehovah or Yahveh. However, the original pronunciation of the Name is not known, and since Biblical Hebrew does not have the letter J, we know that the common translation (Jehovah) must be incorrect. In the books of Ezekiel and Amos there are examples where the Hebrew text uses the word Adonai (meaning Lord) and then adds the Four Letter Name. In these cases the translated text will read Adonai G-D, using capital letters to indicate that the word G-D is replacing the Hebrew Name.

All Scriptures that I quote are written in italics. Some Scriptural quotations may contain words that are written in non-italics and a smaller font. These are words that do not appear in the original Hebrew or Greek text, but have been added to clarify the meaning of the text. When the Scripture text quotes from another Scripture, the imbedded quotation appears in a different font.

If you happen to be fluent in Hebrew and Greek you will see that among the Scriptures quoted in this book there are places where I have included Hebrew or Greek words. These words will sometimes be shown in their simplest form (i.e. the root word) for the sake of those who do not read Hebrew and Greek. I do not have the time in this manuscript to explain the grammar of these two languages. However, in the footnotes I have usually shown the full Hebrew or Greek word in its original form.

I have used the words Hebrew Scriptures in place of the correct name, which is TaNaK, ⁵ because most Christians are unfamiliar with that name. Most Christians refer to the TaNaK as the Old Testament, though the New Testament never refers to the Hebrew Scriptures as the Old Testament. ⁶ Usually the New Testament refers to the TaNaK as The Scriptures.

The book that is commonly called James in the English Bibles is called by its correct name, which is Jacob.

The translations of the Hebrew and Greek texts into English are mine and should not be considered to be the best translations. I try to be faithful to the original text, and to give as literal a translation as is possible, but sometimes this leaves the English translation barely readable. When words in the translation of Biblical texts are strung together (by the use of a hyphen), it indicates that these words are translating a single word in the original text.

I use the standard Masoretic text for the Hebrew Scriptures, referencing both the Leningrad Codex and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Wherever the Dead Sea Scrolls differ from the Masoretic text I try to determine why they are different and base my translation on the best solution to the differences.

Concerning the Greek New Testament text, things are much more complex than they are for the Hebrew Scriptures. There are some 40,000 known variations to the Greek New Testament. I always consult the Nestle-Aland 26th Edition and also all the New Testament papyri up to P104 (based on the printed text in The Complete Text of the Earliest New Testament Manuscripts by Comfort and Barrett).

Since all the writers of the New Testament were Jews, they generally used Greek words within the frame of reference of the Septuagint, the standard Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, produced about three centuries before the New Testament was written. The Jews who wrote the New Testament were not schooled in the Greek classics, so they were not familiar with classical Greek definitions of words. Therefore all rare words in the New Testament are interpreted based on how they are used in the LXX (the Septuagint) and what Hebrew word or words the LXX is translating.

Because many e-book readers do not support Hebrew script, I have placed all Hebrew script in the Footnotes. E-readers that do not support Hebrew script will replace the Hebrew letters with a series of question marks. If you have an e-reader that does support a Hebrew font, you can click on the superscript (they look like this ‘¹’) following certain words in the text and it will take you to the appropriate Hebrew word in the Footnotes. If you have a reader that does not support a Hebrew font, then just ignore the superscript numbers that follow these words. However, most superscript numbers give you additional information about the text or where to do research. Some e-readers that support Hebrew fonts do not support right to left script, if you have one of these types of e-readers, the Hebrew words will read backwards (left to right).

In the eighth century the Catholic Church modified the Julian calendar and introduced the Gregorian calendar, which tried to date everything from the birth of Jesus. However, they made an error concerning the kings known as Herod. As a result they dated Jesus’ birth incorrectly. We now know that Jesus was born between four and twelve years B.C. In turn this causes a problem with the use of B.C. because we cannot really say the Jesus was born between four and twelve years B.C. (Before Christ). In fact, if you say that Jesus was born in 4 B.C., you are saying that Jesus was not the Christ when He was born and that He did not become the Christ until He was four years old. Secondly, the abbreviation A. D. comes from the Latin term meaning Year of our Lord. If you say that Jesus was crucified in 29 A. D. you are then saying that He did not become the Lord until He was between four and twelve years old. If you are a Christian and you make these statements you are guilty of heresy, because all Christians are required to believe that Jesus was the Christ at His birth and that He was born as the King. So the scholarly way around this problem is to refer to dates using the designation B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era). These are the designations that are used in this manuscript.

Since I live, write and teach in Europe, the English text of this manuscript follows the common UK formats. Therefore an American reader may find some words spelled in a strange manner (i.e. labour instead of labor; or finalise instead of finalize). Also the punctuation will be slightly different than in an American English document (especially in the case of closing quotation marks.

Introduction

Sometime during the first half of the 1970’s I attended a series of lectures given by Bob Mumford called the Constitution and By-laws of the Kingdom of God. I truly did not understand what he said at the time. Over the next thirty years I slowly began to see the truths that Bob presented. Much of the structure of this manuscript is based on those lectures. Because after 40 years I can no longer distinguish between my thoughts and what Bob said, I cannot ascribe specific quotes to him.

This manuscript is just an introduction to the subject of the Kingdom of G-d. I have not tried to exhaust any portion of the study. My goal is only to get the reader to start thinking about the subject.

Chapter 1 The Authority of the Scriptures

2 Tim. 3.14-17

14 Yet you, remain in what you learned and believed, having-perceived from whom ⁷ you learned.

15 And that from a babe the sacred Scriptures you perceived being able to make you wise into salvation through belief in the Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is G-d-breathed and beneficial toward teaching, toward conviction, toward correction, toward discipline in righteous,

17 that the man of G-d may be proficient, being equipped for every good work.

Paul is writing to Timothy in about the year 64 CE, and he tells Timothy that the Scriptures are given to us and that they provide us with five important benefits. These are not the only benefits from the Scriptures, but these are the five that Paul wants to emphasise to Timothy.

The five benefits that Paul mentions are:

(1) the Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation;

(2) the Scripture can teach us;

(3) the Scriptures can convict us;

(4) the Scriptures can correct us and

(5) the Scriptures will discipline us in righteousness.

It is important to realise that at the time that Paul is writing to Timothy there is no New Testament. Paul tells Timothy that the Scriptures that he is talking about are the ones that Timothy had known since he was a babe. What Scriptures would Timothy have known as a baby?

Acts 14.8 And a certain man sat there at Lystra, impotent in his feet, who had never walked, being a cripple from his mother’s womb.

This is the first time that Paul is in Lystra. The year is probably 48 CE. This is 18 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. As far as we know this is the first time that the Gospel is preached in Lystra.

Acts 16.1-3

1 And he also arrives into Derbe and into Lystra. And behold a certain disciple was there named Timothy (son a believing Jewess, yet a Greek father).

2 Who was attested by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.

3 This one Paul wants to go together with him. And taking, circumcises him through the Jews being in those places. They all knew that his father belonged to the Greeks. ⁸

Two years after the Gospel was first preached there, Paul returns to Lystra. Timothy has been witnessing to people, and all the leaders ⁹ in Lystra ¹⁰ and Iconium ¹¹ are pleased with Timothy. This indicates that Timothy has travelled beyond his home town as he preached, since the leaders in Iconium also are pleased with him. So Paul decides to take Timothy with him.

What is the youngest age that Timothy could be at this point? The fact that he was testifying in the region of Lystra and Iconium indicates that he was not a child still living at home. He was old enough to travel about the region. So he was probably at least 16 years old. This tells us that Timothy was born no later than two years after the crucifixion of Jesus. If Timothy was more than 18 years old when Paul arrived in Lystra, then Timothy was born before the crucifixion of Jesus.

Polycrates (130—196 CE) was the Bishop of Ephesus and an early Christian writer. He states that Timothy was the first bishop of Ephesus and that Timothy was born about the year 17 CE, which was long before the crucifixion. If that is true, then Timothy was more than 30 years old when he started travelling with Paul (Acts. 16.1-3), and when Timothy was a baby Jesus had not started ministering.

The first letters of the New Testament were not written until at least 12 years after the crucifixion. So when Timothy was a baby the only Scriptures available were the books that Christians would call the Old Testament.

Therefore when Paul tells Timothy:

(1) the Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation;

(2) the Scriptures can teach us;

(3) the Scriptures can convict us;

(4) the Scriptures can correct us and

(5) the Scriptures will discipline us in righteousness.

Paul is saying that the Hebrew Scriptures will do these things for us.

This is a very basic truth that we must always keep in mind. First of all, whenever we are seeking to understand the truth of G-d we must only look to the Scriptures. If a doctrine or a concept is presented to us that is not clearly based on a passage of Scripture, we must not listen to what is spoken. If someone teaches a concept that is based on a single Scripture, we need to be cautious about receiving it,