Understanding the Kingdom of God: Present and Future Realities
The Prophet Isaiah gave us a compelling glimpse into the future when he said: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter [last] days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain [Kingdom] of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob [Israel]; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2-3, NKJV).[i]
Mountains in scripture represent kingdoms. Therefore, the key to understanding here is that “the mountain of the Lord’s house” describes Christ’s Kingdom and His church. Still, there remains confusion within the church about what precisely the Kingdom is.
Here is a quick summary. The Kingdom of God is not an intangible spiritual place in the clouds. The Kingdom of God will be established right here on the earth, in Israel, from Jerusalem.[ii] Yeshua is the king, and we are His royal subjects—the ecclesia—a congregation of people from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue.[iii] The nations do not replace Israel but are joined with her.[iv] Together, we are the Kingdom of God, and the foundation of this great Kingdom is God’s eternal law, which was given to the Jewish people.
So when exactly will the Kingdom be established? Yeshua said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). This would imply that the Kingdom of God is a present condition.
However, the commonly accepted pre-millennial view is that Christ returns to the earth in one instantaneous moment and fixes everything. The remnant of unsaved Israel sees the one they have pierced and comes to faith in their Messiah,[v] the church comes to her senses about Israel, and Yeshua establishes the Kingdom of God. Before then, Israel is subject to God’s judgment, which culminates in the great tribulation—the last three-and-a-half years of the age before Yeshua returns to the Mount of Olives.[vi] This scenario implies that the Kingdom of God is a future condition.
Unfortunately, neither view is entirely accurate. The Kingdom of God is both a present and future condition. It is true that the return of Christ ushers in the Kingdom of God on earth and begins the one-thousand-year rule of the Messiah (the Millennial Kingdom). But until His return, much biblical prophecy regarding Israel and the nations must be fulfilled. The study of this prophecy is called eschatology—the study of the end times.
Now, if you think for a moment that this topic is unimportant, Yeshua sternly warned his disciples in all four of the gospels and the book of Revelation to watch eagerly for His imminent return. He also promised a blessing to those who were found watching when He returned.[vii] Yeshua had many things to say about the Kingdom of God, and we read that the disciples were deeply curious about the end of the age and the restoration of the Kingdom. Listen to their curious hearts and the answers Yeshua gave them:
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
“And Jesus answered and said to them: Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:3-14).
These verses give us quite a bit of information about the last days. Unfortunately, this subject is considered by many to be irrelevant. But is it?
This period that Yeshua describes is called different things, including the last days, the latter days, the time of sorrows, and the end of the age. The last days are not the end of the world nor the day that Yeshua returns to the earth. That day known only to the Lord will be unique in every way and is called “the day of the Lord.”[viii] It is the day that Yeshua physically returns to the earth.
The church should recognize the time and season leading up to this great day as the last or latter days. It is written, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6).
So, are we in the last days leading up to Yeshua’s return? Very likely, but it is impossible to speculate just how long we have since no man knows the day or the hour.[ix] The Lord moves slowly to man, and a day to Him is like a thousand years to us.[x] So, if we don’t know precisely how long, we should be aware of prophetic events unfolding on the earth during this time. Yeshua said, “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matthew 24:32). We know from scripture that the fig tree represents Israel, and since He gave Israel His biblical calendar, she is the Lord’s time clock. Yeshua also revealed many signs of the end: deception, false Messiahs, wars and threats of war, kingdoms rising and falling, famine, pestilence, and powerful earthquakes. But all this He says is just the beginning.
And it gets worse. Listen carefully to these words: “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens” (Hebrews 12:26). Everything in the world will begin to fall apart, but amid this chaos, there is a prophetic promise that God has made to Israel. The Lord said: “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you” (Isaiah 60:2). If we continue reading, we see this scripture speaks about the restoration of Israel: “Your sons shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your side” (Isaiah 60:4). But isn’t the Lord done with Israel until the end of the tribulation?
There is a different picture here than what many theologians have taught you. As the earth falls into greater darkness, Israel will begin to rise and shine as a beacon of light. Let’s go back to our opening scripture from Isaiah, which says: “these things” shall come to pass in the “latter days,” meaning the days leading up to the return of the Lord. And what things are the Lord speaking of? Specifically, it says that the Kingdom of the Lord’s house, His holy temple, shall be established over all the earth’s kingdoms and exalted over all the nations. It says that all the nations shall flow up to Jerusalem to the Kingdom of God, and Israel will teach the nations how to walk in God’s paths according to His laws.
We know that “all” who are in Christ Yeshua, Jew, and gentile are the temple and the Kingdom of the living God. I am explicitly referring to Messianic Jews (faithful Israel) and believing Gentiles who have been grafted in amongst us. I am speaking about the Lord’s church—His ecclesia and congregation comprised of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. And I am talking about the “one new man” in Christ Yeshua who has been brought together by the blood of the Lamb—one people of God comprised of every tongue, tribe, nation, and people.[xi] We are the redeemed of the Lord.
Paul says, “But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:11). He is not speaking exclusively about the gift of salvation. He is talking about the calling to share the message of salvation with all the nations. This calling, initially for Israel, has been given to the Gentiles for a season until Israel’s temporary blindness is lifted and the fullness of Gentiles comes into the Kingdom.[xii]
Yeshua’s words will ring true, and the message of salvation will be shared in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). This time of the end, the latter days is when we would begin to see the restoration of God’s Kingdom. If we study the history of Israel and the church, we will discover a parallel—that God has been working for centuries to restore both. While they seem to be on different and even diverging paths, the Lord will bring the two together as one at some point, not far into the future.
Let’s go back in time and look at some of the histories. The Jewish Enlightenment period began in the late 19th century. This period led to the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and later, the Council of the League of Nations agreed to restore the Jewish homeland in 1922. Sadly, this Zionist vision would not be fully realized until after the ashes of the Holocaust when the United Nations General Assembly voted in 1947 to partition an area of Palestine for the Jewish people.
On May 14, 1948, a gathering of Jewish leaders in Tel Aviv signed a proclamation that declared the establishment of a Jewish state known as the State of Israel. Nineteen years later, in June 1967, during the six-day war, Israel regained control of the Temple Mount for the first time in nearly two thousand years. The Lord’s prophetic words had been at least partially fulfilled as He began the restoration of His Kingdom.
And what of the church? With the Protestant Reformation in 1517, the Lord began to restore His written word to the body of Christ. The term “reformation” derives from the Latin word reformatio and means “restoration” or “renewal.” The Lord brought the first and second great awakenings to the church from the 1730s through the 1800s, restoring the power of His Holy Spirit. The third great awakening began in the 1850s and continued through the 1900s. The crescendo of this movement is commonly referred to as the “Azusa Street revival” and birthed the Pentecostal church that moved in great signs, wonders, miracles, and healings.
Lastly, from the 1960s through the 1970s, the church experienced the fourth great awakening and the explosion of the Messianic movement. It initiated the last phase of God’s restoration to the church—to bring the Messianic Jewish people together with their gentile brethren as “one new man.” This move of the Holy Spirit was divinely timed with the return of east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount back to the Jewish people in 1967.
With the restoration of God’s word, the power of His Holy Spirit, and the awakening of many Jewish people back to their Messiah, the church today is poised to receive the Lord’s subsequent incredible outpouring of His Spirit. It will culminate in the final restoration of Israel and the church and the largest harvest of souls the world has ever seen.
Yeshua’s disciples, no doubt, had many questions for Him. Still, one stands out to me: “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Yeshua kindly rebuked them and said that the time and season were not for them to worry about but that they had one immediate task at hand—to receive the power of the Holy Spirit from on high and to preach the message of the gospel in every nation. The fact that Yeshua’s disciples asked this question reveals they understood that the Kingdom of God belonged to Israel. We, the church, should realize that God is restoring His Kingdom to the Jewish people, and we are part of His restoration plan.
The other noticeable point is that the gospel was to be preached through Israel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. The clear indication is that Israel, not Rome, America, or any other nation, will ultimately steward God’s word to every nation. It again confirms the irrevocable calling to the Jewish people that for this season has been entrusted to the Gentiles. Paul says, “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2).
The church must be aware of God’s restorative work with His land and covenant people—Israel. And we need to get our eyes pointed in the right direction—towards Jerusalem. Here, the Lord will reestablish His spiritual foundation and heritage, and this is where the center of Christianity will once again return in these last days before the return of Christ. Unsurprisingly, the Lord has drawn so many influential Messianic leaders back to Israel over the past several decades. God is restoring His Kingdom. The church has been invited to join the Lord in this great end-times endeavor. But will she respond? The Lord told His disciples, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few” (Luke 10:2). Yeshua is selective about His servants. It is written, “[Yeshua] went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted” (Mark 3:13), “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
Yes, the Lord selects those He wants. But how are we qualified to be chosen? First, I believe we must be willing. The Prophet Isaiah said: “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Second, we must have the Father’s heart to fulfill His will.[xiii] We must understand God’s heart for Israel. The Lord declared: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” (Jeremiah 31:3). “Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul” (Jeremiah 32:41). And we must understand God’s heart for His land, “a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year” (Deuteronomy 11:12).
It is how we are qualified. We must be willing, and we must have God’s heart for His land and His people. I pray for you to read and understand the word of the Lord so that you will be qualified and chosen to fulfill His great commission regarding Israel and the nations— “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25).
[i] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[ii] Deuteronomy 11:12.
[iii] Revelation 7:9.
[iv] Zechariah 2:11.
[v] Zechariah 12:10.
[vi] Jeremiah 30:7, Zechariah 14:4.
[vii] Luke 12:37.
[viii] Zechariah 14:7, Matthew 24:36, 2 Peter 3:10.
[ix] Matthew 24:36.
[x] 2 Peter 3:8.
[xi] Ephesians 2:11-16.
[xii] Romans 11:25.
[xiii] Matthew 7:21.