The Receiving of the
Kingdom
By Michael Krall
When was the kingdom of God
received by Christ and the saints of the Most High? There are several passages
that show us exactly when and how the kingdom was received.. Let us first start
in Matthew 16 verses 27-28.
27
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with
his angels;
and then he shall reward every man
according to his works. <pay
close attention to this phrase as we look at Daniel 7
28
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall
not taste of
death, till they see the Son
of man coming in his kingdom
Now
this is significant because it lays out the time frame as to when Christ
receives his kingdom. We have dealt with the coming of the Kingdom of God in a previous
article but here we want to specifically look at when the kingdom was given
to the church .
Now look at Daniel 7:
¶9 I beheld till
the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was
white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was
like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10 A
fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands
ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and
the books were opened.. <notice
the time frame =-JUDGMENT Dan 12:1-2?
11 I
beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I
beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given
to the burning flame.
12 As
concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet
their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
13 I saw
in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven,<sound familar?hint Matt 24:30 and came to the Ancient of
days, and they brought him near before him
14 And
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,
that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed.
In
verses 17ff of Daniel 7 we see the explanation of this vision of Daniels. We
would like to point out one verse in that explanation that burtresses this idea
that the possessing of the kingdom is preceded by judgment. In verses 21-22 we
read 21 I beheld, and the same horn
made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came,
and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came
that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Then again we read in verses
25-27:
25
And he shall speak great words against
the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to
change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of time.
26
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall
take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
27
And the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people
of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Notice that the
kingdom, which is everlasting, was given to Him after judgment was set. The
very language and picture given in vs 14 as well as these other verses is that of him coming in the clouds Luke
21:27 which follows a few verses later saying that the kingdom of God is near
when you see them signs and the signs are obviously the destruction of the
temple and judgment upon Jerusalem.
Now let us look at a passage in Hebrews
12 that is misapplied by many futurists:
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. <is this the physical heaven and earth? read on
27 And this word, Yet once more,
signifieth the removing of those things
that are shaken, as of things that are made,
that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
<what is it that cannot be shaken? Read
on
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved, <see
the parallel? let us have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Notice
how he points to a future shaking of heaven and earth which most futurists say
is at the end of the world. But notice that the receiving of the kingdom was
one of the things that cannot be shaken and it was BEING received. The word
“receive” is a present active participle. This is speaking of a continuous
ongoing process that they were going through during the transitional time
period in receiving the kingdom.
Could it be that the things that are shaken which are made
is the temple made with hands? (Heb 9:11) and what remains is the everlasting
Kingdom of God in the new spiritual temple? The Kingdom was initiated at the
cross but it was not fully established while the tabernacle was still
standing (Heb 9:8) and he fully took away the Old Covenant to fully establish
the New Covenant (the Kingdom) Heb 10:9.
One passage that sums up this
issue of when the kingdom was given to the saints of the most high and that is
Rev 11:15
15
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in
heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Note also chapter 15 and verse
8 of Revelation.
8
And the temple was filled with smoke from the
glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple,
till the
seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
When the seventh angel sounded
his trumpet that was the beginning of the coming of the kingdom for the
children of the most high. But we see then that after the seven plague of the
seventh angel it was not until then that access into the holiest of all was
consummated.
It is at this point that the
children of the most high have received the kingdom and are now able to enter
the temple of the Lord will full access to the throne of grace.
Please direct your comments to Mike
Krall.