Two Kingdoms-Overview
INTRODUCTION
The great privilege we have in Christ Jesus is impossible to describe on paper. To do this one must realize that he is already standing in an ocean of ignorance and can only use the life raft of logic and the rations of truth to get through the voyage while passing through the dark waters of this world He must keep his eyes on the one and only light house Jesus Christ, His future Kingdom is the destination that our compass of faith points to. All who embark on this journey are sure to find many ice burgs of deceit that have sunk many that came before. They will find that there awaits many magnetic rocks that will make the sailor feel safe as they move forward to their own demise. This paper will focus on that which only the radar of prophecy can reveal which hopefully will allow us to navigate difficult waters but ultimately will steer us safely into our last harbor known as God’s Kingdom.
The Kingdom has been promised to us as believers and the one that the apostle Paul was “looking forward” to as he states in Acts 26:6 “Now I am on trial because I am looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors” (NLT). He then explains why the twelve tribes or Israel worship God day and night as they share the same hope he preached about. Peter also mentions this in his second epistle that he too was looking forward to the “New Heavens and New Earth” God promised us as these present heavens will someday disappear (2 Peter 3:11-13).
Two Kingdoms
Scripture undisputedly describes and distinguishes between two kingdoms. These two kingdoms which exist now are better known as the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. Though these are mentioned often, they can be better understood in regards to the two eternal destinies attached to them. Along with the kingdom of light is the eternal destiny of Heaven and along with the kingdom of darkness is the eternal destiny of Hell.
When speaking of either Kingdom, and all that each entails, the Bible consistently makes the distinguished difference between a Christian and the non-believer. This can be seen in the passage of 1 John 3:1 which reads, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (NASB). The references of “we” and “us”, of course, are referring to the Christian, and “the world” to the non-believer. From this passage it is clearly seen that those who belong to this world do not know God and are separate from God’s children.
The following verse, 1 John 3:2, continues relating events according to the child of God’s perspective by saying that His children will be like Christ when Christ returns for His children will see Him. All who are His children have this hope of His return and it is said that His children will purify themselves since He is pure (1 John 3:3). The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness are further defined in the following verses of 1 John 3:4-10. Those who continue practicing sin are opposed to the law of God and are not born of God. Those that keep on sinning do not know God and demonstrate that they have never known Him. They demonstrate that they belong to the Devil who has been sinning from the beginning. Those that continue in sin prove that they have never been born again. They belong to the kingdom of darkness. Their destiny is hell and it is certain that without a change of heart towards God produced by God’s Spirit that they will be doomed forever. In 2 Thessalonians 1:7b-10 the Bible once again through the apostle Paul clearly paints a picture of two Kingdoms:
7b when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed–for our testimony to you was believed.
It is clear that those who belong to God, those in the kingdom of light, will suffer persecution for in 2 Thessalonians 1:5 Paul tells these new believers, “This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.” The Book of Daniel describes this kingdom as one that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7:14). This comes after the “forth beast” that is described in verses 7-12 of the same chapter. In Revelation 11:15 the Bible records this kingdom as one which will replace all existing kingdoms of its time saying “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” This kingdom is eternal. Randy Alcorn points out some interesting statistics in his book, “Heaven” concerning the lack of writing on the subject of the eternal kingdom. He points to several examples of the neglect many have shown on this subject. He says, that Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote an in-depth two-volume set titled “The Nature and Destiny of Man”. He then says, “Remarkably had nothing to say about Heaven” and that Louis Berkhof’s classic Systematic Theology devotes only two pages on Hell and one on Heaven.[1]
Much about this future kingdom can be learned from the Old Testament. God allowed the prophets of old to see into the future of the world, including its final demise and also the time of blessing promised to Abraham (Gen 12:1-7). Those in the kingdom of light will inherit all that God has promised through the words of His prophets of which in Isaiah alone the following can be found: Is 2:2-5; 4:2-6; 9:3-7;11:1-15;16:5; 24:14-23; 29:6-12; 52:1-12; 59:1-12; 60:1-22; 65:17-25; 66:1-24! Those in the kingdom of darkness will receive the punishment that is revealed in the heavens above. In chapter three of the Gospel of John where Jesus teaches Nicodemus about these two kingdoms He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” In this same conversation, Jesus says, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Jesus continues to say that those who hate the light want to sin in the darkness and only hate the light because their sin is exposed by the light. These two kingdoms are already here on earth. The last verse of this chapter sums up what has been explained up until this point. In John 3:36 the Apostle John writes, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Those who believe in God’s son, that is put their faith in Jesus Christ, will indeed experience eternal life, but God’s wrath is reserved for those who remain in unbelief.
Wrath
Fortunately for the children of God whom have been born again and live in the light have nothing to fear concerning God’s Wrath. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 that believers are not going to experience God’s Wrath. This is because Jesus took the Wrath of God upon Himself and our faith in Christ is a “pardon” so to speak. Jesus became our perfect sacrifice as a human but our “pardon” cost His life. Those who are born again are no longer trying to get to heaven by their own effort, their own wisdom, their own ability to obey the Ten Commandments or anything else for that matter, for it is only by faith one is saved. God’s children are saved when they realize that salvation is a gift from God and can only be received in Christ Jesus. God reconciled His children back to himself through the death of Jesus, His only begotten Son (2 Corinthians 5:19). The penalty for the sin of God’s children has been paid for; therefore, his children are completely free from the law they are declared NOT guilty. Christians have been given a precious inheritance in Christ Jesus and with it a promise of the New Heavens and New Earth. We see that Paul is once again pointing to two different groups concerning this “day of wrath” also known as the “day of the Lord” as described by the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah, Amos, Joel, and others all paint a clear picture of this future “day of wrath” where the heavens will melt away. Daniel teaches us about many things that will lead up unto this vengeance when God will punish the world for its evil. The book of Revelation gives us pictures, imagery, symbols, and details about these events also. The day of wrath is a terrible time upon the earth. We will not be here for this day. We will be in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ! It is important for the student of the Bible who wants to see into the future to not make the mistake of twisting the meaning of what is revealed. It simply is not wise to over interpret all the numbers and symbols. For instance, Hank Hanegraaff in his book The Apocalypse Code believes that the 144,000 people described in Revelation 7:1-8 as being the 12,000 from each tribe are actually symbolically “the vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation!” (Hanegraaf 125).[2] The devil takes great pride in teaching that God will not keep His promise that He made to Abraham. Even a simple understanding of Romans 11:1-36 (concentrating on verse 29 especially) and Ephesians 2:11-18 would show a layman that God is not through with Israel. This Biblical truth that God is working with Israel separate from those who are called Gentiles is called Dispensationalism. This Dispensationalist teaching went forward on the preaching and writing of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). This also includes C.I. Scofield who promoted the Darby teaching and D.L. Moody who stood against the postmillennial optimism of the previous age.[3] At this same time the pretribulational rapture immerged but not without critics of which S.P. Tregelles LL. D was one of the most outspoken. He wrote in his book that many were just using a “Jewish Wastepaper Basket” to get rid of anything Jewish in the Scripture that might relate to the church also. The 70th week of Daniel became the way people started to interpret God’s plan for Israel not the plain teaching of Scripture.[4]
Rescue
Let us take a look at verses 1-8 in 1 Thessalonians 5. Paul has just been teaching at the end of chapter four about the rapture of the church. He mentions specific details about the return of Christ. He writes that when Jesus comes God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. He will come with a shout, archangels, and a trumpet blast. First, all the Christians that have died will rise from the dead and those who are alive will be raised. This is mentioned also in Daniel 12:2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” Paul continues in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” After saying all this Paul begins to teach that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night to those who have not been born again, to the people in the kingdom of darkness. They are going to be saying “peace, peace” and then suddenly the end will come and there will be no escape. He says to the unbelievers this day will come like a “thief in the night!” There will be no rescue for them.
He makes it very clear that those who have been born again, are of the day and not of the night. He writes that the Christian is to stay alert and be sober. Christians are not to be drunk and asleep like those people of the night. Children of God will not be surprised when this day comes; this day will not come to children of the light like a thief as he says in verse 4, “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief.” Jesus tells the church of Sardis in Revelation that they need to wake up (Revelation 3:3). He told them that if they do not wake up that He will come to them like a thief in the night. So this should be a warning to all those who believe that the Lord will come like a thief in the night, yet say they are believers for this would only be true to the believer if he is asleep!
We learn much from the prophet Isaiah concerning these two very different pictures concerning the kingdom of light verses the kingdom of darkness that God revealed to them. On one hand there will be an earthly kingdom (Isaiah 2:2-4) and on the other hand a day of wrath where people are running into the caves and the rocks. The Lord alone will be exalted during this particular period (Isaiah 2:10-22). When studying the book of Revelation and then comparing it to the book of Daniel we can learn exactly where the wrath of God begins. From the Old Testament we learn about this terrible day of wrath, in Isaiah 13:4-13 that it is described as “fierce anger” where the land will be destroyed and all sinners in it. No light will shine from the stars or sun or moon. In Isaiah 34:1-2 we read, “Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it. For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations, And His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter.” In verse 4, “And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from the fig tree.” In Amos we learn that this day is not a day of light and prosperity, but of darkness and disaster where the author writes, “Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20). In Joel 2:31 we learn that the “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” In the New Testament we see also that the day of the Lord will not come until the man of sin is revealed and the apostasy occurs (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This is a huge problem for the pretribulational rapture position as pointed out by Marvin Rosanthal in his book The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church and in Zephaniah we learn that there will be a time of silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord, for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment has come.[5] When comparing this to the teaching in Revelation it leads us to chapter six. The comparison starts at Revelation 6:12 and ends in Revelation 6:17. The following can been seen within this chapter: Sun, Moon and Stars (6:12), stars falling from heaven like the leaves of a fig tree (6:13); the rolled up scroll (Isaiah 34:4); people running into the caves and the rocks (6:15-16) leading us to the beginning of God’s Wrath in verse 17, “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” So one thing for sure, as we learned in Isaiah 2:10-22, the Lord alone will be exalted in this day!
Two Groups of People-One Return
Before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth several things must happen first. When comparing Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13 (parallel teaching on the return of Christ) theologians have had a difficult time nailing down the actual timing of the rapture. This is possibly because they have not understood when or better yet where in the Bible the day of the Lord’s wrath begins. It has been complicated by the fact that almost all commentaries have the future seven year period completely overlapping in these three chapters. In other words they all seem to have a common denominator they agree on, that the seven year period is described in Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13 from start to finish. This problem has caused much debate over the timing of the rapture. When a student of God’s Word discovers that all these chapters are taught again in Revelation 6 it becomes clear that all roads and all lines of thought lead to Revelation 6:17! This means that Matthew 24, Luke 21 and Mark 13 only cover a portion of the seventieth week of Daniel. This allows us to quickly locate where in the Bible the wrath of God begins and also helps place the rapture of the church, which is at the end of the tribulation, (Satan’s wrath Rev. 12:12) and before God’s wrath is poured out. The rapture would then be found in Revelation 7:9 as we find “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” Afterward, as explained by John, we see that these believers are coming out of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 7:14). John had been caught up to heaven previously in Revelation 4:1-2 and is surprised when he sees the church raptured in Revelation 7:9. They were down on the earth while he was up in heaven which explains why the church is not mentioned after Revelation 4:2. The sequence of events that lead up to this event, as taught by Jesus, is simple to discover. When reading Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 you will find this sequence: 1) False christs, 2) Wars 3) Famines 4) Pestilence and 5) Martyrdom. This sequence is found both in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6. Both of which are taught by Jesus. In both cases we see Jesus teaching of the sequences concerning the four horses, which are also known as the first four seals of seven.
It must be understood that the first seals are not the wrath of God but are only the wrath of Satan. Satan through the man known as the anti-Christ will be exalting himself during the great tribulation. This is discovered in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and also in Daniel 7:7-12; 7:19-21; 11:36-39. We have already learned that in the Lord Alone will be exalted in the Day of the Lord’s Wrath (Isaiah 2:10-22). Another strong point is that the believers in the fifth seal or crying out to God to avenge their deaths in Revelation 6:9-11. There is no possible way to explain this as being God’s wrath as no believer will experience His wrath as we read and understand in 1 Thessalonians 5:9. Also, if it were God’s wrath you would then have to explain why martyrs are crying out for vengeance by God against God’s own wrath. It simply cannot be. Even so, most people teach that the day of the Lord begins at the beginning of these three chapters and that the Lord will come like a thief in the night to believers, but as discovered this simply cannot be true. The wrath of God begins at the end of the Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13, not at the beginning. This is seen once you add Revelation 6 in addition to this group of chapters in the gospels.
This seven year period of time (Daniel 9:27) is described in these previous chapters as having three parts: First, the beginning of sorrows; Second, the Great Tribulation; Finally, the Wrath of God. It is the middle of this week that Jesus says to pay attention by saying “let the reader understand” (Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:4). Jesus says to pay attention in regards to what the prophet Daniel wrote about. To understand this passage one must first look at the parallel passage in Daniel chapter 12:1-2 with Matthew 24:15-22. When comparing these two passages it is best to start with Daniel and read it first. “Now at that time (referring to the previous passages starting with 11:29-12:1) Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.” When reading Matthew chapter 24:15 in light of this it appears that this is when Michael stops guarding, stops restraining the forces of evil. This is taught in Daniel 10:21 and Rev 12:7. So, the man of sin is now in Jerusalem causing the people of God to flee. This would be specifically the Jews but not limited to them (Rev. 12:17). This is also seen and taught in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 “For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed.” This is a period of time when one of the previous world rulers who was dead will reemerge on the world scene (Rev. 17:8). So, this is when the devil actually indwells a man and begins to put his last desperate attempt to get the people of the world to worship him and turn their backs on God. In Matthew 24:15-29 we learn the same thing as we did in Daniel 12:2, “For that will be a time of great tribulation worse than anything the world has ever seen or will ever see again. If fact unless that time of calamity is shortened, the entire human race will be destroyed.”
While this war is going on in heaven it will then be thrown down to the earth and this is when the church will be put to flight. This is when the Jews will be the focus of the entire world’s effort to destroy the nation of Israel (Zech 12:1-9). It is the Lord’s plan to have all the nations of the world destroyed that go against His nation. This is just before the day of the Lord’s wrath and is called the great tribulation, or the devil’s wrath. This is the time that he exalts himself and will do this until the Lord returns as described in 2 Thessalonians 2:8b, “whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming.”
The Future World Powers
In both Daniel chapters 2 and 7 history events of today were explained prior to them happening. In Daniel 2 Daniel interprets a dream that Nebuchadnezzar has. The future of the world is shown as a huge statue made with a head of Gold representing the Babylonian empire 606 B.C. to 539 B.C.; then he begins to describe the chest and head of silver which symbolized the Medo-Person empire 539 B.C. – 331 B.C.; then the belly and thighs of bronze representing the Grecian empire 331 B.C. – 146 B.C. and then finally, the iron and clay which represented the Roman empire 146 B.C. – 146 A.D. All of these will be crushed and replace by the earthly kingdom described in Daniel 7:14 and 27. The other dream in Daniel 7 teaches the same thing with different images of beasts of which the fourth beast is the most terrible. It represents the anti-Christ and his last and final attempt to persecute God’s people. This last attack on the church is also shown in Revelation 13:7-10. Robert Gundry has written about this in his book “The Church and the Tribulation” and his research shows that great church fathers such as Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Justin Martyr, the Pastor of Hermas, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Melito of Sardis, Methodius, Tertuliian, Cyprian, Commodianus, Victorinus, and Lactantius stated clearly in their writings that the church would undergo the persecution of Antichrist before they were raptured.[6]
A Time of Testing and Refinement
A final seven year period awaits us because Daniel says that after the Anointed One is cut off and the temple is destroyed that a week, the 70th week, still remains. This is never referred to as the wrath of God or the tribulation. It is simply referred to as the 70th week of Daniel or also known as the time of Jacob’s trouble. This is the week that awaits the fulfillment of Daniel 9:24. In this week is the beginning of birth pangs (Matthew 24:3-14), the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15-29), and the sign of His return (Matthew 24:29; Joel 2:31) with the Rapture of the church and the beginning of the Wrath of God (Matthew 24:30, 1 Thes. 4:13-18, Revelation 7:9). This is described in 1 Corinthians 15:23-24, “But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” Revelation 11:15 describes the end of God’s wrath by saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” It is written in 2 Timothy 4:1 saying this, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom.” Some teach that this Kingdom began directly after Christ’s time here on earth. But this directly contradicts what Christ taught in Luke 19:11 where He taught a parable to correct this impression!
Some teach that the rescue of the righteous will happen seven years before the judgment of the wicked. This is just not taught in Scripture. The truth is that if one studies Noah’s flood or the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah they will quickly find that the rescue of the righteous will come the very same day as the wicked are judged. This is also confirmed in the New Testament passages in 2 Peter chapter 2:4-9 and in Luke 17:26-35. There simply is no way to get a seven year gap in before the judgment occurs. Also if you study the parable of the wheat and the tares you will find that Jesus tells the worker to let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest (Matt. 13:30). He gives no indication that He intends to separate them seven years before the tares are burnt. It would seem there would be a problem to say that He will return with the wheat for the wheat.
The Future Kingdom
In the book of Acts the earthly kingdom in which Christ comes to set up is mentioned many times. The first mention of this is in Acts 1:1-8 by Jesus, and then again in Acts 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:18-28; 28:23-31. One of the main problems with the church today is that it seems be too preoccupied with herself and not enough on the King or His Kingdom. This tends to drift away from the teachings of Jesus, Philip, and Paul. The direction of the church tends to be lost within itself by forgetting that its purpose is to be kingdom minded. Scripture even records Jesus saying to seek the kingdom of God first.
When studying 2 Peter 3 we learn that this New Heavens and New Earth will begin with a 1000 year reign, a time where the earth is at peace, and people will live to be very old considered young at 100 years of age. All wars will stop and the Lord will reign from His holy mountain in Jerusalem. It is the heart of God to finally dwell with His children, Christians, here. He will bind the devil for 1000 years and those that are in the kingdom of light now will be rewarded for our work according to what we have done for our Heavenly Father and given a place in His kingdom (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Those that have continued in wickedness will be judged and sent into the lake of fire, the second death.
It is best to determine what one believes about the New Heavens and New Earth from Isaiah 65:17 through Isaiah 66:24 and then move to Revelation 21 where the Bible records that the New Jerusalem descends down out of heaven. Without doing so, or at least reading these passages, it is possible you will end up putting the New Heavens and New Earth at the end of the 1000 years instead of at the beginning. Theologians that make this mistake unknowingly end up teaching that people will be saying “where is the promise of his return” 1000 years after he has returned not understanding 2 Peter 3:3-13 and what it teaches! It is also important to read and understand what is meant in Acts 3:20-21. “Then wonderful times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord and He will send Jesus your Messiah to you again. For He must remain in heaven until the time of the final restoration of all things as God promised long ago through His prophets.” The promises of God are certain to happen. No promise of God goes unfulfilled. Ed Hindson writes this about a promise of God, “This promise has been there from the very beginning and grows in the hearts of God’s people. It is as real as the air we breathe and the lives we live. It is the most powerful force on earth” [7]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hanegraaff, Hank. Resurrection. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000
Hanegraaff, Hank. The Apacolipse Cod. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007.
Hindson, Ed. Courageous Faith. Chattanooga: AMG, 2003
Kampen, Robert Van. The Rapture Question Answered. Grand Rapids: F.H. Revell , 1997.
Kampen, Robert Van. The Sign. Wheaton Illinois: Crossway Books, 1992.
Rosenthal, Marvin. The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990.
Thiessen, Henry. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerbmans, 1979.
Tregelles LL.D., S.P.. The Hope of Christ’s Second Coming. Great Britain: Whitstable Litho , 1864.
Weber, Timothy. “Dispinsationalist Era.” Christian History.
[1] Randy Alcorn. Heaven. Eternal Effective Ministries, 2004.
[2] Hank Hanegraaff. The Apacolipse Cod. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007.
[3] Timothy Weber. “Dispinsationalist Era.” Christian History.
[4] S.P. Tregelles. The Hope of Christ’s Second Coming. Great Britain: Whitstable Litho , 1864.
[5] Marvin Rosenthal. The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990.
[6] Kampen, Robert Van. The Sign. Wheaton Illinois: Crossway Books, 1992.
[7] Ed Hindson. Courageous Faith. Chattanooga: AMG, 2003
