Kingdom Come

 

in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

¹² And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

¹³ The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

¹⁴ But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

¹⁵ And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

¹⁶ And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷ And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

¹⁸ But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.

¹⁹ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

²⁰ And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

²¹ Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

²² For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

²³ And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

²⁴ Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

²⁵ Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

²⁶ Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

The LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts / armies…he is like a refiner’s fire…And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (Malachi 3:1-3)

Jesus spent far more time disputing with the rulers of the Jews than performing miracles. A big part of his ministry was to sift and purify the rulers – most of whom were illegitimate Hasmoneans and Herodians instead of Levites and fans of the Son of David.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)

Don’t miss the defiance and deliberate provocation as Jesus continues facing off against his declared enemy.

“There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, [expressly stated to be the nation of Israel] and let it out to

1. husbandmen [the rulers of the nation of Israel], and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near,
2. he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it…
3. last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance [both ruler- and land owner- ship]…

When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them [as the husbandmen / rulers].

But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet.” (Matthew 21)

The nation of Israel is the vineyard, which is not replaced. Only the rulers of Israel.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves…

Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation / a people bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 23:14-15, 43)

Just like “Washington” refers not only to the city location but more importantly to the people in government, the “kingdom” that is taken away is not the entire nation of Israel, but the nation / brotherhood of Hasmonean priests who had replaced the legitimate Levitical priesthood about 150 years before.

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave THEM power / authority...These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:1-18)

“Peter…answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel…those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled…For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me…Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after…have likewise foretold of these days.”(Act 3:12-24)

“[Stephen] said, Men, brethren , and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham…[reviews history of Israel through the son of David, Solomon] Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears (quoting Jeremiah 9:26), ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and the murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” (Act 6:9-11)

An eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians…had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet…And Philip ran thither to him…and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” (Act 8:27-35)

Following the trail of events recorded in the book of the Acts of the apostles, we find that for at least the first 20-30 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection the good news of the arrival of the Messiah / Christ and the coming of the kingdom of God was disseminated throughout the world only by preaching from the Jewish Torah and Prophets to the Jews.

“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand…they will deliver you up to the [Jewish] councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them / the Jews and the Gentiles.” (Matthew 10:1-18)

Acts 1: ye disciples shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem: beginning Acts 1 and in all Judaea: beginning Acts 5 and in Samaria with people who have the scriptures but don’t have leadership to follow them fully, following up on converts Jesus himself taught.

Acts 2: And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven…Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, Cretes and Arabians, strangers /aliens, non-citizens of Rome, [ethnic] Jews and proselytes / converts to Judaism from membership in their national pagan religion to which every citizen must adhere, notably at Rome.  

Acts 3-4: Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour…And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they [usurping their prerogatives and authority] taught the people [of Israel]…Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed….And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul / a congregation of believers

Acts 5: And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord / assembled, an assembly, a church in Solomon’s porch)…And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women…Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

Acts 6-12: And in those days [before any Gentiles had been converted] when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring [rearranging the phrasing to pull out this perspective] against the [cultural] Hebrews. of the [cultural due to the diaspora] Grecians…

• certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen [of the assembly in Jerusalem]…But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven…And said, [quoting Daniel’s prophecy of the destruction of the fourth empire, Rome, with whom the high priest was allied] Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him.
• Acts 8: And at that time there was a great persecution [by the entrenched Jewish rulers] against the church / assembly of Jewish believers in Yeshua which was at Jerusalem [in Solomon’s porch]; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles [who stayed in Jerusalem facing the persecution] …
• Acts 12: Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 

They were following Jesus’ instructions to “go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

I Peter: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered / lost sheep throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

James: who likewise addresses his letter to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad.” 

John’s third epistle: Even towards the end of his life John confirms that his ministry was focused on the Jews even as Gentiles were being accepted into the body of Christ / the church: “unto the wellbeloved Gaius…thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to 1) the brethren, and to 2) strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church…Because that for his name’s sake they went forth [as evangelists], taking nothing of the Gentiles [obviously their target population]. We therefore ought to receive such [Gentile converts into their congregation], that we might be fellowhelpers to the truth . I wrote unto the church / assembly of believers in Jesus as the Christ as a Messianic Synagogue: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not…prating against us with malicious words…neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.”