Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven — Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

The sovereign rule of God, initiated by Christ’s earthly ministry and consummated when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rv 11:15).

According to the testimony of the first three Gospels, the proclamation of the kingdom of God was Jesus’ central message. Matthew summarizes the Galilean ministry with the words “Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom” (Mt 4:23, NLT). The Sermon on the Mount is concerned with the righteousness that qualifies people to enter the kingdom of God (5:20). The collection of parables in Matthew 13 and Mark 4 illustrate the “mystery” of the kingdom of God (Mt 13:11; Mk 4:11). The establishment of the Lord’s Supper looks forward to the establishment of the kingdom of God (Mt 26:29; Mk 14:25).

The NT reports two different forms of the expression: “the kingdom of God” and “the kingdom of the heavens.” The latter is found only in Matthew, but Matthew also has “the kingdom of God” four times (Mt 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43 OET MAT 21:31 · OET MAT 21:43). “The kingdom of heaven” is a Semitic phrase that would have been meaningful to Jews but not to Greeks. The Jews, out of reverence for God, avoided uttering the divine name, and contemporary literature gives examples of substituting the word “heaven” for God (1 Macc 3:18, 50 OET MA1 3:18 · OET MA1 3:50; 4:10; see Lk 15:18).

The key to an understanding of the kingdom of God is that the basic meaning of the Greek word basileia, as also of the Hebrew malkut, is rule, reign, dominion. We frequently find in the OT the expression “in the year of the kingdom of . . . ,” meaning in the year of the reign of a given king (e.g., 1 Chr 26:31; 2 Chr 3:2; 15:10; Ezr 7:1; 8:1; Est 2:16; Jer 10:7; 52:31). When we read that Solomon’s kingdom was firmly established (1 Kgs 2:12), we are to understand that his authority to reign was settled. To “turn the kingdom of Saul over to [David]” (1 Chr 12:23, KJB) indicates that the authority that had been Saul’s was given to David. As a result of having received legal authority, David became king. This abstract idea of malkut is evident when it is found in parallelisms with such ideas as power, might, glory, and dominion (Dn 4:34; 7:14).

When malkut is used of God, it almost always refers to his authority or to his rule as the heavenly King. “They will talk together about the glory of your kingdom; they will celebrate examples of your power. . . . For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule generation after generation” (Ps 145:11, 13 OET PSA 145:11 · OET PSA 145:13, NLT).

Further, if a king rules, there must be a realm or sphere over which he reigns. This is also called malkut. “So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about” (2 Chr 20:30, rsv; see Est 3:6; Jer 10:7; Dn 9:1; 11:9).

This same twofold use of basileia is found in the NT. In fact, basileia could be translated by the expression “kingly power” in Luke 23:42 (niv mg) and by “kingship” in John 18:36. When a nobleman went into a far country to get a “kingdom” (Luke 19:12, nasb) he went to the governing authority to get an appointment as king. When Jesus said, “My kingship is not of this world” (Jn 18:36, rsv), he did not mean to say that his rule has nothing to do with the world but rather that his kingship—his dominion—does not come from man but from God. Therefore, he rejects the use of worldly fighting to gain his ends.

This central meaning of basileia makes it easy to understand many sayings in the Gospels. In the Lord’s Prayer the petition “Thy kingdom come” (Mt 6:10) is a prayer for God to manifest his reign so that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we read that we are to “receive the kingdom of God like a child” (Mk 10:15, rsv), we must open our hearts and lives to the rule of God.

Also in the NT are sayings about being in the kingdom or of entering the kingdom (Mt 8:11; Mk 9:47; 10:23-25; Lk 13:28). There is no philological or theological objection to understanding “the kingdom of God” first as the divine reign or rule and second as the sphere of blessing in which that reign is experienced.

This brief summary of God’s kingship provides the outline for the entire OT concept. While God is King over all the earth, he is in a special way King over his people, Israel. God’s rule is therefore something realized in Israel’s history. However, it is only partially and imperfectly realized. Israel again and again rebelled against the divine sovereignty. Furthermore, Israel was constantly plagued by wars with its pagan neighbors in which it was not always victorious. Again, there are evils in nature and the physical world that often bring suffering to God’s people. Therefore, the prophets look forward to a day when God’s rule will be fully experienced, not by Israel alone, but by all the world. The main emphasis of the prophets is on hope, the establishing of God’s perfect rule in the world.

The prophets describe the final establishment of God’s kingdom in terms of a theophany—a divine visitation (Mi 1:3-4). Zechariah foresees a “Day of the Lord” when all nations will be gathered in battle against Jerusalem, when the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations (Zec 14:3, 5 OET ZEC 14:3 · OET ZEC 14:5). Israel will be visited by the Lord (Is 29:6) and delivered from its enemies (35:4; 59:20). God’s coming will also mean judgment (2:21; 26:21). This final coming of God will mean the salvation of the Gentiles as well as of Israel (Zec 2:10-11; cf. Is 66:18-24).

Behind this language is a distinct theology of “the God who comes.” It is a fact widely recognized in contemporary OT theology that the God of the OT is not a nature god, like the gods of other peoples, but a God of history—a God who visits his people in history to bless or to judge them. God visited Israel in Egypt to deliver them from bondage and to constitute them as his people. The rescue from Egypt was not merely an act of deliverance; it was an act through which God made himself known and through which Israel was to know and serve him.

Because God has visited his people again and again in their history, he must finally come to them in the future to judge wickedness and to establish his kingdom. Israel’s hope is thus rooted in history, or rather in the God who works in history. God will finally break into history in a glorious theophany to establish his rule in all the earth. The source of the kingdom is not history itself but God.

While the prophets visualize the kingdom as coming from God, the kingdom is always on earth. The divine irruption into the natural order is not designed to accomplish its destruction but to make way for a new, perfect order arising out of the old, imperfect one. The prophets do not present a single consistent picture of the new order. Sometimes the new order is described very much in this-worldly terms. “The terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine” (Am 9:13, NLT). On the other hand, God will create new heavens and a new earth (Is 65:17; 66:22), where there will be untroubled joy, prosperity, peace, and righteousness. The final visitation of God will mean the redemption of the world, for a redeemed earth is the scene of the kingdom of God. The prophets look forward again and again to the deliverance of creation “from the bondage to decay.” The description is often couched in simple physical terms. The wilderness will become fruitful (32:15); the desert will blossom (35:2); sorrow and sighing will flee away (v 10). The burning sands will be cooled and the dry places become springs of water (v 7); peace will return to the animal world so that all injury and destruction are done away with (11:6). All this results because the earth becomes full of the knowledge of God (v 9).

Such language is not mere poetry but reflects a profound theology of creation. Humans as creatures were made to dwell on the earth, and the earth shares in human destiny. The main point is that creation as such is good and not a hindrance to true spirituality, as was often true in Greek thought. Redemption always includes redemption of the earth, which then becomes the blessed environment God intended it to be. Salvation does not mean deliverance from creaturehood, for this is not an evil thing but an essential and permanent element of true, human existence. Salvation does not mean escape from bodily creaturely existence, as in some Greek thought. On the contrary, ultimate redemption will mean the redemption of the whole person. The emergence of the doctrine of bodily resurrection is a reflection of this theology of creaturehood. The corollary of this is that creation in its entirety must share in the blessing of redemption.

A distinctive element in prophetic eschatology is the tension between history and eschatology. That is, as the prophets looked into the future, they saw an immediate historical judgment as well as a more remote eschatological visitation. For Amos, the Day of the Lord is both the immediate judgment of Israel by the Assyrians and a final eschatological salvation. Joel sees an imminent historical visitation of drought and locusts, but beyond this he sees the eschatological Day of the Lord. Zephaniah sees an imminent Day of the Lord in some undesignated historical visitation (Zep 1:2-18), but beyond it he sees the salvation of the Gentiles (3:9). The same God who acts in history to bless and judge his people will act at the end of history in an eschatological act of judgment and salvation. The prophets do not sharply distinguish between these two days, for it is one and the same God who is concerned to judge and save his people.

The eschatological hope of the prophets is always an ethical hope. That is to say, the prophets are not interested in the future for its own sake but for the impact of the future on the present. The prophetic predictions were given that, in light of future judgment and salvation, Israel might be confronted in the present by the will of God. “Prepare to meet your God as he comes in judgment, you people of Israel” (Am 4:12, NLT) might well be taken as the keynote of all the prophets.

Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom of God embodied the same contrast between the present order and the future age as that of the prophets, and he expressed it in the idiom “this age and the age to come.” This fact is obscured in the KJB, which translates the word for “age” by “world.” These are, however, two different concepts. A rich man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life (Mk 10:17). The context makes it clear that he was asking about eschatological life—the life of the resurrection (Dn 12:2). Jesus speaks of the difficulty of entering the kingdom of God. (The parallel passage in Matthew 19:23-24 has both “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven,” proving that they are interchangeable terms.) In their reaction the disciples ask, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus’ answer contrasts the lot of his disciples “in this time” with the “age to come” (Mk 10:29-30) when they would inherit eternal life. It is clear from this passage that in some sense the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, salvation, and eternal life all belong to the age to come. So far as this saying is concerned, God’s people will not experience eternal life until they do so in the new age.

Matthew alone records the expression “the close of the age.” This age will be terminated by the coming of the Son of Man (Mt 24:3) and by the judgment of humanity (13:39-42). Then the righteous will be separated from the wicked (v 49). The same expression occurs in the promise of the risen Jesus assuring his disciples of his presence until the consummation of the age (28:20). It follows that if this age is to come to its consummation, it must be followed by another age—the age to come.

The eschatological kingdom will be inaugurated by an apocalyptic event—the glorious coming of the Son of Man. This is made clear by two of the parables about the kingdom of God. In the parable of the tares, “the Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire” (Mt 13:41-42, rsv). The parable of the sheep and goats reflects the same eschatology. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, he will sit on his glorious throne to judge the nations, separating the sheep from the goats. The righteous—the sheep—are to “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”; and entrance into the kingdom is synonymous with entrance into life (25:31-46, rsv).

The eschatological character of the kingdom of God is seen also in the other two parables of Matthew 25. “The kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom” (v 1, rsv). However, five of them were foolish and did not provide an adequate supply of oil for their lamps. Thus they were late for the wedding and were excluded from the wedding feast—a symbol of the eschatological kingdom—while those properly prepared entered the kingdom. In the same way the two faithful servants who had been “faithful over a little” were granted to “enter into the joy of your master” (vv 21, 23 OET MAT 25:21 · OET MAT 25:23), while the unfaithful servant was excluded from the kingdom and cast into outer darkness.

Jesus almost never showed any interest in descriptions of the eschatological kingdom, but it is clear that its coming was constantly in his thoughts. The pure in heart will see God (Mt 5:8). The harvest will take place and the grain will be gathered into the barn (13:30, 39 OET MAT 13:30 · OET MAT 13:39; Mk 4:29). Jesus frequently used the metaphor of a feast or table fellowship to describe life in the eschatological kingdom. He will drink wine again with his disciples in the kingdom of God. They will eat and drink at Jesus’ table in the kingdom (Lk 22:30). People will be gathered from all corners of the earth to sit at a table with the OT saints (Mt 8:11-12; Lk 13:29). The consummation is likened to a wedding feast (Mt 22:1-14) and a banquet (Lk 14:16-24). All of these metaphors picture the restoration of communion between God and people, a union that had been broken by sin.

In most of the sayings cited to illustrate the future character of the kingdom, “kingdom” refers to the eschatological order—the eschaton, the age to come. However, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray “Thy kingdom come” (Mt 6:10), he was not referring to the new eschatological order; he was referring to the kingdom as God’s kingly rule, his reign. It is a prayer that God will effectively establish his sovereign rule in the world.

In his teaching about the kingdom of God as the apocalyptic consummation, Jesus does not differ essentially from the OT prophets. The most distinctive element in Jesus’ teaching—indeed, the fact that characterizes his entire mission and message—is the fact that in some real sense of the word, the kingdom of God has come in history in an utterly unexpected way. This sets Jesus’ teaching apart from all contemporary Jewish thought.

This is seen first of all in his repeated teaching that his mission is a fulfillment of the OT messianic prophets. Mark summarizes Jesus’ message with the words “The Kingdom of God is near! Turn from your sins and believe this Good News!” (Mk 1:15, NLT). This saying can have one of two meanings. It may refer to the imminent coming of the apocalyptic kingdom. Matthew summarizes the message of John the Baptist with nearly the same words: “Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Mt 3:2, NLT). The Baptist expounds what he means by the approach of the kingdom of God: “He is ready to separate the chaff from the grain with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain in his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire” (v 12, NLT). John proclaimed an apocalyptic act; “unquenchable fire” can mean no strictly historical event but only an apocalyptic judgment. John expected Jesus to be the one in whom the cosmic event expected by the prophets would be carried out.

It is possible that this was also Jesus’ meaning. However, another interpretation is possible that is better supported by the actual course of his mission: “The time is fulfilled.” The messianic promises of the prophets were not only about to be fulfilled; they were actually in process of fulfillment in his mission. In Jesus, God was visiting his people. The hope of the prophets in some real sense was being realized.

The meaning of this can be seen in Luke’s introduction of Jesus’ ministry. Luke selects an event that occurred in Nazareth later in Jesus’ ministry (Lk 4:16-21) and places it at the beginning of his Gospel in order to sound this note of fulfillment. Jesus read from Isaiah a promise that looked forward to the messianic salvation: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come” (vv 18-19, NLT). Then Jesus astonished his audience by the assertion “This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!” (v 21, NLT).

Here was an amazing claim. John the Baptist had announced an apocalyptic visitation of God that would mean the fulfillment of the eschatological hope and the consummation of the messianic age. Jesus proclaimed that the messianic promise was actually being fulfilled in his person. This is no apocalyptic kingdom but a present salvation. In these words Jesus did not proclaim the imminence of the apocalyptic kingdom. Rather, he boldly announced that the kingdom of God had come. The presence of the kingdom was a happening, an event, the gracious action of God. This was no new theology or new idea or new promise; it was a new event in history.

The note of fulfillment is again sounded in Jesus’ answer to the question about fasting. “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while they are with the groom” (Mk 2:19, NLT). The marriage feast had become a metaphor in Judaism for the messianic consummation. In these words Jesus announced the presence of the messianic time of salvation. It would be a contradiction in terms for the disciples to fast when they were enjoying the blessings of the messianic age. The time of fulfillment had come.

A saying found in different contexts in Matthew and Luke touches this central note of the fulfillment in history of the OT hope: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Lk 10:23-24, rsv; cf. Mt 13:16-17). Both Matthew and Luke associate this saying with the kingdom of God, and both agree that the hope of former generations has become an object of experience. Many prophets and kings looked forward to something, but they looked in vain, for it did not come to them. What they longed for has now come, and this can be nothing less than the promised messianic salvation.

Fulfillment in history is again asserted in Jesus’ answer to John’s question about the one who is to come (Mt 11:2-3). “The deeds of the Christ” (Messiah) were not the deeds John had announced. Wicked rulers like Herod were not being judged in fire. Instead, Jesus was helping people, not bringing an apocalyptic kingdom. Jesus replied in words that echo the promise of the messianic salvation in Isaiah 35:5-6: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Mt 11:4-5, rsv). In these words Jesus claimed that the blessings of the messianic salvation are present. There was indeed reason for John’s perplexity, for the fulfillment was not taking place along expected lines. The apocalyptic consummation did not appear to be on the horizon. The point of Jesus’ answer was that fulfillment was taking place without the eschatological consummation. Therefore, Jesus pronounced a special blessing upon those who were not offended by the character of the messianic fulfillment (v 6). The fulfillment was indeed taking place, but not the apocalyptic consummation.

The most unambiguous statement of the presence of the kingdom is found in the words about the binding of Satan. One of Jesus’ most characteristic acts was the exorcism of demons—deliverance from satanic power. The Pharisees admitted his power but attributed it to Satan. Jesus replied, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? . . . But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God is come upon you” (Mt 12:26, 28 OET MAT 12:26 · OET MAT 12:28, rsv). Here the verb has the clear meaning “to come, to arrive” (cf. Rom 9:30; 2 Cor 10:14; Phil 3:16). Here is a clear affirmation that the kingdom of God has come among men.

In explanation Jesus said, “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mt 12:29, rsv). The strong man is Satan; this “present evil age” (Gal 1:4) is his “house”; his “goods” are demon-possessed men and women. Jesus has invaded the strong man’s house to snatch away from him men and women whom he has in his power, and this is the work of the kingdom of God. The kingly reign of God has come into history in the person of Jesus before the apocalyptic consummation when Satan will be destroyed, to render Satan a preliminary defeat. Jesus has already “bound” Satan (i.e., curbed his power). This has been accomplished by the presence of the kingdom of God in the mission of Jesus.

A similar saying is found in Luke 10:18. Jesus had sent a band of his disciples on a preaching mission. Like Jesus, they were to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of God (Lk 10:9). They, too, were to exorcize demons. When they returned to Jesus to report their success, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (v 18, rsv). This again is metaphorical language that asserts that in the mission of Jesus’ disciples, as well as in Jesus himself, Satan has fallen from his place of power. Both “binding” and “falling” are metaphors that describe the same truth: the victory of the kingdom of God over Satan.

Here is the element that sets Jesus apart from the OT and from all of contemporary Judaism. The prophets conceived of the kingdom being established by a heavenly supernatural being (Dn 7) or ruled by a powerful Davidic messianic king (Is 9, 11). The fulfillment of the messianic hope is everywhere in the prophets an eschatological hope. The same is true of the Jewish writers who despaired of history and cast all hope into the future.

In contrast to all that had gone before him, Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God as an event taking place in his own person and mission. God had again assumed the initiative; God was acting. No first-century Jew had any idea of the kingdom of God coming into history in the person of an ordinary man—a teacher who was meek and lowly.

The presence of the kingdom is further seen in the fact that the rule of God, present in Jesus, is a gift to be received. This is also true of the kingdom in its eschatological consummation, where the kingdom is freely inherited by the righteous (Mt 25:34). In answer to the young man’s question about inheriting eternal life (Mk 10:17), Jesus spoke of entering the kingdom (vv 23-24) and receiving the gift of eternal life (v 30) as though they were synonymous. The kingdom is a gift that the Father is pleased to bestow upon the little flock of Jesus’ disciples (Lk 12:32).

If God’s eschatological rule brings to his people the blessings of that kingdom, and if God’s kingdom is his rule invading history before the eschatological consummation, then we may expect God’s rule in the present to bring a preliminary blessing to his people. This fact is reflected in numerous sayings. The kingdom is something to be sought here and now (Mt 6:33) and to be received as children receive a gift (Mk 10:15; Lk 18:16-17). Although it is present in an unexpected form, the kingdom of God in Jesus’ person is like a hidden treasure or a pearl of great price whose possession outranks all other goods (Mt 13:44-46). The gift of the kingdom is also seen in that the deaf hear, the blind see, lepers are cleansed, and the poor have good news preached to them (11:5).

In the Gospel of John the concept of eternal life takes the place of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ teaching. The kingdom of God is mentioned twice (Jn 3:3, 5 OET JHN 3:3 · OET JHN 3:5), and it is placed in connection with eternal life. The kingdom of God is here the eschatological kingdom, and eternal life is the life of the kingdom. Thus, as the kingdom of God in the synoptic Gospels is both future and present, so eternal life is both the life of the age to come (12:25) and also a present blessing (3:16, etc.).

In Acts it seems the earliest disciples generally failed to understand Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God as a present spiritual blessing. They gathered together to await the coming of the eschatological kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6). Acts relates that the disciples continued to preach the kingdom of God, but usually it is an eschatological blessing (8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31 OET ACT 28:23 · OET ACT 28:31). However, the last two references make the kingdom of God synonymous with the gospel about Jesus Christ.

One important theme in Acts is linked to that of the kingdom of God. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter announces that God has seated Jesus at his right hand in fulfillment of Psalm 110:1 (Acts 2:33-35). In the Psalms this is a prophecy of the enthronement of the Davidic king in Jerusalem. Peter asserts that this prophecy is now fulfilled in the heavenly reign of Jesus. Therefore, he has been made both Lord and Christ (Messiah). These are interchangeable terms, “Lord” meaning absolute sovereign, “Christ” meaning the messianic king.

Paul carried further this theme of the heavenly rule of Christ, the anointed King. The kingdom is both an eschatological inheritance (1 Cor 6:9; 15:50; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5; 1 Thes 2:12; 2 Thes 1:5; 2 Tm 4:1, 18 OET TI2 4:1 · OET TI2 4:18) and a present blessing into which believers now enter (Rom 14:17; Col 1:13). The key to this is the interchangeable character of lordship and messianic kingship. Jesus is now exalted as Lord over all (Phil 2:11), and even as his lordship is invisible, it will become manifest to all at his second coming. In the same way, he has been enthroned as messianic King by virtue of his resurrection and heavenly session, and he must reign as King until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor 15:25; Eph 1:22). The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The central message of the Revelation to John is the consummation of God’s redemptive purpose, when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rv 11:15). Revelation pictures the plight of a persecuted church in a hostile world, but it assures the church that Christ has already won a victory over the powers of evil (5:5), by virtue of which he can finally destroy them (19:11–20:14 OET REV 19:11–21 · OET REV 20:1–14). Again, the last enemy to be destroyed is death (20:13-14). Revelation closes with a highly symbolic picture of the kingdom of God (chs 21–22 OET REV 21:1–27 · OET REV 22:1–21) when God comes to dwell among his people, and “they shall see his face” (22:4). Thus the NT ends: divine order is restored to a disordered world. This is the kingdom of God.

The Mystery of the Kingdom

A “mystery” is a divine truth hidden in the heart of God but in due time revealed to people (see Rom 16:25-26). The mystery of the kingdom (Mt 13:11; Mk 4:11) is precisely this: that prior to its eschatological consummation, the kingdom has come in an unexpected form in the historical mission of Jesus. This mystery is illustrated in Jesus’ parables (Mt 13; Mk 4). Modern scholarship recognizes two critical norms in interpreting the parables. First, a parable is not an allegory but a story taken from daily life, teaching essentially a single truth. Second, the parables must be interpreted in the life setting of Jesus’ mission.

Show passage in OET: ROM 16:25–26

OET-RV ROM 16:25

25 There’s someone who, in keeping with my preaching of the good message and the declaration about Yeshua (Jesus; Grk. Yesus) Messiah, is able to strengthen you believers in keeping with the revelation of the mystery that had been kept secret through the ages.

OET-RV ROM 16:26

26 But he’s been there in the prophetic scriptures, and now he’s been revealed in keeping with the eternal God’s command, and been made known to all the nations for faithful obedience.

OET-LV ROM 16:25

25 And to _the one being _able you _all to _strengthen, according _to the good _message of _me, and the proclamation of_Yaʸsous chosen _one /messiah according _to the_revelation of_the_mystery in _times the_eternal having _been _kept _silent,

OET-LV ROM 16:26

26 but having _been _revealed now and by the_scriptures prophetic, according _to the_command of _the eternal god for obedience of _faith, to all the nations having _been _made _known.

Jump to OET ROM 16:25–26 section.

The parable in Mark 4:26-29 is not a parable of stages of growth but an illustration that “the earth produces of itself” (v 28, rsv). The kingdom is God’s reign—a supernatural thing, not a human work.

Show passage in OET: MRK 4:26–29

OET-RV MRK 4:26

26 And then, “God’s kingdom is like a person throwing some seed onto the ground.

OET-RV MRK 4:27

27 Whether the person sleeps at night or stays up night and day, the seed will sprout and grow either way, and they don’t know how it does it.

OET-RV MRK 4:28

28 The earth is designed to multiply the seed: first a sprout appears, then a bigger plant, and then the full head of grain.

OET-RV MRK 4:29

29 Then when it’s ripe, the harvester is sent in because it’s ready for harvest.”

OET-LV MRK 4:26

26 And he _was _saying:
Thus is the kingdom of_ the _god:
as a_man may _throw the seed on the earth,

OET-LV MRK 4:27

27 and he _may _be _sleeping and may _be _being _raised night and day, and the seed may _be _sprouting and may _be _growing, he has_ not _known how.

OET-LV MRK 4:28

28 The earth is _bearing _fruit automatic:
first a_blade, thereafter a_head _of _grain, thereafter full grain in the head _of _grain.

OET-LV MRK 4:29

29 But whenever it _may _give _over the fruit, immediately he _is _sending _out the sickle because the harvest has _presented.

Show passage in OET: MRK 4:28

OET-RV MRK 4:28

28 The earth is designed to multiply the seed: first a sprout appears, then a bigger plant, and then the full head of grain.

OET-LV MRK 4:28

28 The earth is _bearing _fruit automatic:
first a_blade, thereafter a_head _of _grain, thereafter full grain in the head _of _grain.

Jump to OET MRK 4:26–29 section.

Jump to OET MRK 4:28 section.

The parable of the four soils (Mt 13:3-9, 18-23 OET MAT 13:3–9 · OET MAT 13:18–23) does not intend to teach that there are precisely four kinds of hearers of the word of the kingdom. The central truth is that the word of the kingdom must be received; otherwise it does not bear fruit. In other words, the kingdom as Jesus proclaimed and embodied it requires a human response to be effective.

The parable of the wheat and weeds (Mt 13:24-30) teaches that the kingdom of God has actually come into history without effecting the eschatological judgment that will separate the good from the bad. Both are to grow together in the world (v 38) until the Day of Judgment, when the eschatological separation will take place.

Show passage in OET: MAT 13:24–30

OET-RV MAT 13:24

24 Then Yeshua (Jesus; Grk. Yesus) told them another parable, saying, “The heavenly kingdom is like a farmer who’s planted good seed in his field.

OET-RV MAT 13:25

25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and spread black-grained ‘wheat’ seeds around his wheat field and left again.

OET-RV MAT 13:26

26 Then when the wheat grew and produced grains, the poisonous ‘wheat’ could also be seen.

OET-RV MAT 13:27

27 The farmer’s slave came and told him, ‘Master, wasn’t it good wheat seed that you planted? So why is there so much false wheat?’

OET-RV MAT 13:28

28 ‘An enemy must have done this,’ the farmer replied. ‘So should we go and pull out the bad stuff?’ asked the slaves.

OET-RV MAT 13:29

29 ‘No,’ said the farmer, ‘because pulling that out might also pull up some of the wheat plants.

OET-RV MAT 13:30

30 Let them all grow together, and then at harvest time I can just tell the harvesters to pull the false wheat plants out first and put them in bundles to be incinerated, and then harvest the wheat to go into my barn.’ ”

OET-LV MAT 13:24

24 He _set _before to _them another parable saying:
The kingdom of _the heavens was _likened to_a_man having _sown good seed in the field of _him.

OET-LV MAT 13:25

25 But at the time the people to _be _sleeping, the enemy of _him came and sowed darnels among midst of _the wheat and went _away.

OET-LV MAT 13:26

26 But when the grass sprouted and produced fruit, then the darnels was _seen also.

OET-LV MAT 13:27

27 And the slaves of _the home _owner having _approached said to _him:
Master, you_ not _sowed good seed in the your field?
Therefore from _where it _is _having darnels?

OET-LV MAT 13:28

28 And he was _saying to _them:
An_enemy man did this.
And the slaves are _saying to _him:
Therefore are _you _wanting having _gone _away, may _we _gather them?

OET-LV MAT 13:29

29 But he is _saying:
No, lest gathering the darnels, you _all _may _uproot the wheat together _with them.

OET-LV MAT 13:30

30 Allow both to _be _being _grown _together until the harvest, and in the_time of _the harvest I _will _be _saying to _the harvesters:
Gather first the darnels and bind them into bundles in _order that to _burn _up them, and gather _together the wheat into the barn of _me.

Show passage in OET: MAT 13:38

OET-RV MAT 13:38

38 and the field is the world, and the good seeds are the heirs to the kingdom. The false wheat seeds are the evil one’s apprentices,

OET-LV MAT 13:38

38 and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of _the kingdom, and the darnels are the sons of _the evil one,

Jump to OET MAT 13:24–30 section.

Jump to OET MAT 13:38 section.

The parables of the mustard seed and leaven (Mt 13:31-33) are parables of contrast between present insignificance and future magnificence. The emphasis is not upon how the kingdom progresses from small beginnings. Jesus never spoke of the growth of the reign of God. What is now like a tiny seed—a Galilean prophet and a handful of followers—will one day be like a great tree.

Show passage in OET: MAT 13:31–33

OET-RV MAT 13:31

31 Another one of his parables went like this: “The heavenly kingdom is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.

OET-RV MAT 13:32

32 Even though it’s a very small seed, it grows larger than most garden plants, and becomes such a large bush that birds even come and nest in its branches.”

OET-RV MAT 13:33

33 In another parable, Yeshua (Jesus; Grk. Yesus) said, “The heavenly kingdom is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a month’s worth of flour, and eventually all of it rose.”

OET-LV MAT 13:31

31 Another parable he _set _before to _them saying, the kingdom of _the heavens is Similar to_a_seed of _mustard, which a_man having _taken sowed in the field of _him,

OET-LV MAT 13:32

32 which on _one _hand it _is smaller of _all the seeds, on _the _other _hand whenever it _may _be _grown is greater than the garden _plants and is _becoming a_tree, so _that the birds of _the sky to _come and to _be _nesting in the branches of _it.

OET-LV MAT 13:33

33 Another parable he _spoke to _them:
the kingdom of _the heavens is Similar to _leaven, which a_woman having _taken, hid _in in three satons of _wheat _flour, until all of _which was _leavened.

Jump to OET MAT 13:31–33 section.

The parables of the treasure and pearl (Mt 13:44-46) teach that this apparently insignificant appearance of the kingdom in Jesus nevertheless merits every effort to attain it.

The parable of the net (Mt 13:47-50) teaches that the movement set up by the presence of the kingdom in Jesus brings together a mixed people. (Jesus’ disciples even harbored a traitor.) There will nevertheless be an eschatological separation.

Show passage in OET: MAT 13:47–50

OET-RV MAT 13:47

47 “The heavenly kingdom is also like a dragnet that was thrown into the lake and picked up everything from under the water.

OET-RV MAT 13:48

48 When it was full, they pulled it up onto the beach and sat and sorted the catch—throwing the good catch into containers and throwing out the bad stuff.

OET-RV MAT 13:49

49 It’ll be just like that at the end of this age—God’s messengers will come out and separate the evil people from the godly people,

OET-RV MAT 13:50

50 and they’ll throw the evil ones into the incinerator. There’ll be crying and a lot of anguish.

OET-LV MAT 13:47

47 Furthermore the kingdom of _the heavens is similar to_a_dragnet having _been _throw into the sea and having _gathered _together of every kind,

OET-LV MAT 13:48

48 which when it _was _filled, having _pulled _up on the shore and having _sat _down, they _gathered the good into containers, and the bad they _throw out.

OET-LV MAT 13:49

49 Thus it _will _be in the completion of _the age, the messengers will _be _coming _out, and will _be _setting _apart the evil from the_midst of _the righteous,

OET-LV MAT 13:50

50 and they _will _be _casting them into the furnace of _the fire.
There will _be the weeping and the grating of_ the _teeth.

Jump to OET MAT 13:47–50 section.