The Kingdom of God

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Luke 17:20-27
The central theme of this portion is the Kingdom of God. Throughout history the Kingdom of God has been manifested in different forms. Those forms have included a political-ecclesiastical form, an ecclesiastical form and a political form. We'll review these forms and consider what the Kingdom of God will look like at the Endtime with Israel's restoration.

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The Kingdom of God has three primary elements:

God as King
His System of Law, and
An Organizational Structure enumerated in His Law


Three Forms
In history, the Kingdom of God has been manifested in three forms - a political-ecclesiastical form, an ecclesiastical form and a political form.


Ancient Israel
The first organized form we see in the Bible is with Ancient Israel.  God established Israel as a nation and a political state.  The Law God gave to Israel included an organizational structure for maintaining order.  This structure included an executive head with Moses, a council of seventy elders, twelve tribal chiefs and a system of captain-judges that were elected by the people.

But Ancient Israel was more than a political state - it had an ecclesiastical aspect also with a system of priests, a high priest and teachers of the law.   So with Ancient Israel, we see a political-ecclesiastical ​ form.


The Primitive Church
When Jehovah condescended and became Yeshua, the Romans held political power.   So a political aspect to the Kingdom of God was not possible.  What Yeshua did do is to create a ecclesiastical organization that mirrored what God had revealed to Ancient Israel with Peter as head, a council of Seventy (Luke 10:1), Twelve Apostles and  a system of Elders that shepherd the church selected by the people then approved by church leaders.  These leaders and fathers held priesthood and taught the law.  Moreover, New Testament leaders had a judicial function as well.


America
Our last form of the Kingdom of God takes a purely political form.  America patterned its national government from the Bible first by recognizing that the rights of men come from God, an executive head in the President, a Senate similar to the council of Seventy, and a House of Representatives/State Judges elected by the people.  Commenting on adopting Ancient Israel's pattern for national government Cleon Skousen, JD wrote in his book, The Majesty of God's Law, 

"...[the Founders] mind was ripe for the nuggets of God's political science as they carefully read the writings of Moses.  As we shall see later, this penetrating insight led them to reject the most elementary aspects of British political science on which they had been tutored from early youth. Instead, they gave top priority to the teachings of Moses.  It all began with the national structure of Israel." p 136.


You might enjoy this video lecture from Dr. Daniel Dreisbach on the Bible and the American founding.

​Endtime Restoration with Israel
Some of the Founder's of America view of a full-blown covenant society based on a biblical law and principles did not come to fruition during their time, but with the Endtime Restoration of God's Law in preparation for the Millennial rule of the Messiah this view will be realized. Commenting on this Endime Restoration, Dr. Gileadi wrote about Isaiah's Endtime prophecy said,

​"Israel’s end-time judges assist in purifying and sanctifying the establishment of God’s people so that Jehovah may reconstitute all institutions that once existed: “I will restore my handover you and smelt away your dross as in a crucible, and remove all your alloy. I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as in the beginning. After this you shall be called the City of Righteousness, a faithful city” (Isaiah 1:25–26). In the millennial age that ensues, both king and judges govern God’s people in the pattern of Moses and Israel’s judges: “Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the community of Jacob. He was king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people and Israel’s tribes gathered together” (Deuteronomy 33:4–5); “A king shall reign in righteousness and rulers rule with justice” (Isaiah 32:1).

So our table summary looks like this.

Ancient Israel (political-ecclesiastical)	Primitive Church ​(​ecclesiastical)	America ​(political)	Endtime Restoration (political-ecclesiastical) ​
Moses	Peter	President	Endtime Servant
70 Elders	Office of the  ​Seventy	US Senate	Council of Seventy
Twelve Tribal Chiefs ​System of Captian-Judges	Twelve Apostles ​System of Elders	House of Representatives ​System of Judges	Twelve Tribal Heads System of Leader-Judges
High Priest Priests System of Teachers of the Law	Priesthood was held by fathers and leaders	None	Priesthood held by fathers and leaders

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After Thoughts from Last Week's Review

The review for last week include two primary topics - the concept of God and becoming like the Messiah.

God
When we think about God, one thing we need to remember is to understand the context that terms are being used in.  For example when we see the words of Father and Son,  these words can be used in the Bible in a creation context or a covenant context in relation to God.

In a creation context, our and Yeshua's Father is the Most High God - Heavenly Father.

In a covenant context, our Father is Yeshua-Messiah who condescended as Jehovah and saved us from eternal death.  Yeshua's Father in a covenant context is the Most High God - Heavenly Father.  Go here for a table summary - HERE.


Becoming like Messiah
Another concept that may be hard for some to understand is how can we become like Yeshua when keeping the commandments is difficult in our fallen condition.  Dr. Gileadi explains that in Isaiah's Hebrew Gospel that when we have proven our loyalty to God under distress, the power of God comes into us and changes us, which then increases our capacity to be perfect as Yeshua and the Father are perfect.  So if we believe in a God of miracles, this process of re-creation to be prefect becomes a reality.  

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Resources for this Weeks Portion

John 8:51-58

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