The Kingdom of God: Expect the Unexpected

 

by Doug Reed

To say the kingdom of God was misunderstood in Jesus' day would be an understatement. The Messiah that came was not the Messiah most expected, and the kingdom He brought was far different than the majority imagined. This misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom led to eschatological confusion in the first century and continues to do so today.

In this article I would like to take an in-depth look at the economic and political climate of first century Palestine. In doing so, we can get a glimpse at why the kingdom of God was so misunderstood in Jesus' day and why this misunderstanding persists until today. It is my hope in doing so we might learn to expect the unexpected when it comes to the kingdom of God in our own lives.

 

The Romans

 

In 63 BC the conquering Roman general Pompey marched into Jerusalem. His first stop was the Jew’s most sacred building, the temple. He walked straight into the second court which was forbidden to gentiles and into the Holiest of Holies which was forbidden to all but the High Priest. This was a harbinger of things to come for the people of Palestine.

 

The gentiles had once again put their foot on the neck of the Jewish people. Except for a period of around one hundred years after the Maccabean revolt, such had been the condition of God's chosen for over four hundred years. First, there were the Babylonians then the Persians and the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Syrians, and now the Romans.

 

When the Romans came, they brought with them high taxes, paganism, and an almost unimagined brutality. The burden and humiliation Rome placed upon the common man made life virtually unbearable.

Even without excessive taxes the average family in Palestine existed only slightly above the poverty level. Add a huge tax burden and many people went from making it to desperation.

 

The people faced not only Roman taxes and tributes but also religious taxes (temple tax, tithes, etc.) and taxes imposed by Herod the Great and later his sons. Among the taxes paid were tributes and direct taxes such as land taxes and a head tax. There were also duties, sales taxes, and extra taxes on items such as salt. In addition there were taxes for the building and upkeep of the temple and various tithes.

 

All these taxes, tithes, and tributes created a burden the average man could not bear. Land was everything to the people of Israel. The land they owned was the land of their fathers. It was God's promise to His people. Yet, many were having to sell what amounted to their very identity to pay their debts. The progression was often from land owner, to tenant or day laborer, and finally to indebted slavery or debtor's prison.

The rich were getting richer and the poor poorer. Land was increasingly held by a wealthy few. For example, there is one account of over 60 peasant families sharing what amounted to about one half of an acre in Jerusalem. Sixteen people often occupied a small room. An enormous amount of the population lived in poverty. A large part of the population was undernourished, and many poor families had to feed themselves with grass and roots when all resources became exhausted. It is no wonder that in the final Jewish revolt one of the first acts was to burn the debtor's records in Jerusalem.

 

The Romans did not collect taxes directly. They sold the right to collect taxes to the highest bidder. However, failure to pay tributes and taxes often lead to devastating consequences. The Romans would sometimes destroy an entire village for late payment either enslaving or killing all its inhabitants.

 

When an individual could not pay his debts, he was often tortured. Tax collectors also had the right to torture or enslave a debtor's family. It is easy to understand why tax collectors were considered the worst sinners of the day.

 

The Romans used extreme force against all who opposed them. Josephus mentions the crucifixion of almost 10,000 people in Jerusalem alone during the many rebellions prior to AD 70, and many more in peace time. The average Roman soldier had the right conscript any individual to carry whatever needed moving for the distance of one mile. Failure to comply with any Roman demand was often met with a backhand across the face.

 

The Romans brought with them not only excessive taxes and violence, but also paganism. The fact that the Romans worshipped multiple gods and even Caesar himself was an intolerable offence to the devout Jews of the day. Temples to foreign gods and to Caesar now inhabited the promised land. Although the Romans allowed the Jews to practice their religion, they were forever encroaching upon the Jewish beliefs and practices. For instance, in AD 37 Caligula tried to erect a giant statue of himself in the temple-- an amazing exercise in not getting it!

 

Foreign occupation brought great pain and suffering to the Jews. Yet, the Romans were not the only ones troubling the inhabitants of Palestine.

 

The Herods

 

The Romans declared Herod the Great king of Judea in 40 BC. It was the beginning of even greater misery for the people of God. In the Jew's mind there were three criteria for judging whether a king was a true king of God. One was his relationship with the temple. A true king would set the temple aright or build the true temple of God. Another was that he would deal with the enemies of Israel and put them asunder. Finally, a true messiah/king would establish the true kingdom of God in the land. Such ideas went way back to David and Solomon are were reinforced in the Maccabean revolt. Herod must have thought one out of three ain't bad. This watermark is normally invisible. This article is copyrighted (c) 2006 by Planet Preterist. If this copyright watermark is visible, please email webmaster@planetpreterist.com and report this copyright violation.
Herod set out to build the grandest temple of them all to give him his place in history and perhaps in the people's hearts. He began rebuilding the temple in 19 BC. Solomon’s temple took seven years to build. Herod’s grand design was not completed until AD 63. It was a project so monumental that it took over eighty years to finish.

 

There is considerable debate over the exact size of Herod's temple. Josephus records that the temple walls were about six hundred feet in length and formed a perfect square. Many modern scholars dismiss Josephus’ description as highly exaggerated. The reason is that Josephus’ description is too large for what they believe to be the location of the temple mount. However, if we place the Roman fort Antonia at the modern temple mount and place the temple about a third of a mile to the south where Josephus and other writers of the day placed it, it becomes a perfect fit.

 

The buildings within the temple were utterly amazing for their day. The inner structures of the temple complex were at least twice as large as they were in Solomon’s temple. Many walls were covered with solid gold. The best artists from all over the world contributed to the mighty structure. Only the finest materials were used, for example the walls were made of a white limestone that made the structure appear as if it was glowing. It was said that if a person had not seen Herod’s temple, he had not yet seen a beautiful building.

 

Herod’s temple was magnificent in its spectacle and customs. However, beneath it all lay corruption, compromise, and greed. Rome was the seat of power in the first century world, and its influence reached even to the sacred courts of Israel’s most holy place. At one time Herod the Great had a large golden eagle placed over the main gate to the temple to pay homage to Rome. One could only imagine the horror this would cause in the Jews of the day. The Law of Moses strictly forbid any graven images, yet the king placed one over the very entrance to the temple. Moreover, Herod not only placed the eagle over the temple, but also placed other symbols associated with Rome in the temple’s various courts. It is no wonder that many of the Jews considered both Herod and those who ran the temple as illegitimate.

 

The temple was a sight to behold, and it did bring employment to many craftsmen and workers in Jerusalem. However, someone had to pay for it. Some of the funds came from the temple tax collected from the Diaspora. Yet, a great burden also fell upon the poor of Palestine.

 

Unfortunately, Herod's appetite for building projects was not satisfied with the temple. In Jerusalem alone he built the Antonia fortress, a palace, theater, and amphitheater. He also built or rebuilt certain cities such as Caesarea. Apparently, Herod liked covering all the bases, so he also built a temple to Caesar in Caesarea and Greek temples and structures both in Palestine and throughout the world. Of course, the average man paid for all of these projects.

 

It could be said that Herod the great was quite mad, at least at the end of his life. He was afraid that there would be no morning upon his death, so he gave orders that renowned and beloved men across the land would be put to death at his passing. In Herod's mind this would ensure that the land would morn at the death of the "great" king. Thankfully, his orders were never carried out.

 

At Herod's death, Rome divided the kingdom among Herod's sons Antipas, Archelaus, and Phillip. None of them were any better than their father. The Jews did not have an official king over the land until AD 41 when the Romans gave Agrippa, Herod the Great's grandson the throne. Agrippa truly thought himself to be a god (messiah/king). Josephus records that he wore a tightly woven silver suit in public in order to give himself the appearance of a god. In fact, in Acts 12 we see many did refer to him as divine. God only allowed his arrogance to continue for a short time.

 

The Priesthood

 

Herod, who was himself a pawn of Rome, had his own pawns installed in the Jewish priesthood. By the first century the election of the High Priest was more political than religious. The Romans wanted the priesthood to support their occupation, and the Herods made sure their desire was carried out. However, it would be unfair to categorize all of the priesthood as sympathetic to Rome. Some did support the rebellion, but those at the highest levels were undoubtedly in Rome's back pocket.

 

We see evidence of this loyalty to and fear of Rome in the Gospels.

 

“Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.

 

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.

 

If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.’”

 

John 11:45-48

 

“But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’

 

Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’

 

The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’

 

Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.” (John 19:15-16)

 

Josephus recorded that the priesthood went so far as to authorize a daily sacrifice for Caesar in the temple. This was a source of continual angst for the Jews. In the final Roman/Jewish conflict the cessation of the daily sacrifice for Caesar was considered an act of war that helped lead to the destruction of Jerusalem.

 

The priesthood lived in luxury well beyond that of the average man. They supported their lavish lifestyles with a temple tax which every Jew was required to pay. Richard Horsley in his book “The Message and the Kingdom” describes what archeologists have discovered about the living conditions of the priesthood.

 

“…impressive archeological remains of their Jerusalem residences show how elegant their life style had become. In spacious structures unhesitantly dubbed ‘mansions” by the archeologists who uncovered them in the 1970’s, we can get a glimpse of a lavish life in mosaic floored reception rooms and dining rooms with elaborate painted and carved stucco wall decorations and with a wealth of fine tableware, glassware, carved stone table tops, and other interior furnishings and elegant peristyles.”

 

The priests lived lavish lifestyles while the average Jewish peasant struggled to survive. The temple taxes combined with taxes imposed by Herod and Rome were literally threatening the existence of the Jewish people. The people of the land were carrying a burden they could scarcely bear or tolerate. Palestine had become a powder keg waiting to ignite.

 

In the midst of such troubled and turbulent times, Jesus began to announce that the kingdom of God was at hand. In Luke chapter four Jesus entered the synagogue and quoted the following passage from Isaiah announcing that it had been fulfilled in their midst.

 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

 

What would you have thought he meant? The end of Roman rule? No more oppressive taxes and the forgiveness of debt? A true king in Israel after the order of David? A true temple run by a true priesthood?

 

The Messiah would come to make things right, and indeed He did, but not in the way most anticipated. The coming kingdom was misunderstood because it was first spiritual. Yet, the coming of that which was heavenly would change the realm of humanity. Moreover, many did not recognize the kingdom because of the nature of God's wrath. Those who were first became last, and those who were last became the first. And finally, many misunderstood the kingdom because of its means and its treasure. Its rule brought not a perfect world but a perfect love. Let us examine these things.

 

Not of this world

 

The first order of God's kingdom is spirit for God is Spirit. If we study the scriptures we will see in God's mind when something is done in the heavenly realm, it is done. For example, when Jesus died on the cross, He cried out, "It is finished!" All the eye saw was yet another Jew dying on a Roman cross, one among countless thousands. (Actually, God did give signs such as the split veil and the dead being raised, yet even then no one seemed to understand that anything great had been accomplished.) One might have said, "That is supposed to fix things? Maybe if Caesar and his legions fell dead or the Herods and all the tax collectors disappeared, that would be making it all right." However, if a person could see what God saw at that moment, they would agree. Everything had changed.

 

Jesus came to set His people free first and foremost from oppressors that could not be seen with the eyes (See John 8:31-59). Most thought the Messiah would defeat tangible enemies with tangible weapons. Yet, Jesus came to defeat the power of sin, death, and Satan. What many did not understand was that the defeat of these powers and the coming of the righteousness of God would ultimately change the tangible forever. Again, the order of God's kingdom is firstly spiritual. Perhaps this is why Jesus admonished his followers to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (things not seen with the eyes) and all these things (things seen with the eyes) would be added to them (Matt. 6:33).

 

From Pentecost to the Parousia all things that were accomplished in Christ were revealed from glory to glory culminating in the destruction of the temple in AD 70. No doubt many in that day as well as in ours would say, "So what? God knocked down a building. Are we really to believe that means that God made everything right?" The destruction of the temple was merely an outward sign that the age ruled by sin and death had ended. It was in a sense a picture of what God had now completed.

 

From the time of Moses to the time of Christ the temple or tabernacle was considered the center of the universe. Later when God’s people were established in the promised land, Israel was considered a holy land. The center of Israel was Jerusalem, the center of Jerusalem was the temple, and the center of the temple was the Holiest of Holies. The Holiest of Holies was most sacred, because it was literally the place where the infinite touched the finite.

 

When the Parousia came, God destroyed the Old Covenant’s most holy place and established in fullness a new most holy place. That place was not built by the hands of men but by God. The new holiest of holies was now in the hearts of men, both Jew and gentile. What God had accomplished in the spirit was staggering. He had made peace between God and man and ultimately between all men.

 

It is easy to see how the split veil and the destruction of the temple showed that God had made peace between himself and humanity. Yet, if we look closely, we will see that salvation is just as much about reconciliation between us and our neighbor as it is about reconciliation between us and God. This watermark is normally invisible. This article is copyrighted (c) 2006 by Planet Preterist. If this copyright watermark is visible, please email webmaster@planetpreterist.com and report this copyright violation.

Much of the animosity in Jesus’ day was because of righteousness issues. Many of the Jews despised the gentiles because they were considered unclean. Who they were was wrong. They were not descendants of Abraham. What they did was wrong. They did not keep Torah. This made them dogs in the sight of many.

 

The difference between the righteousness of a Jew and a gentile was reflected in the temple. At the entrance to the second court of the temple was a large sign forbidding gentiles to enter. Fragments of this huge warning etched in stone have been recovered. Written in Greek and highlighted in red it said:

 

“No foreigner is to enter within the forecourt and the balustrade around the sanctuary. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death.”

 

Yet, when the righteousness of God replaced the righteousness of man, the distinction between Jew and gentile was lost. Who a person was or what a person did was no longer the measure of their closeness to God. The new measure had become Who Jesus is and what He had done. By God’s own doing, He brought all close to Himself.

 

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…(Eph 2:11-14).

 

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God… (Eph 2:19).

 

The wording Paul uses in this passage is certainly not accidental. The middle wall of separation Paul speaks of is probably a reference to the wall that divided Jew and gentile in the temple. When the New Covenant came, there was no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile. God had made them into one new man. In verse 19 Paul tells the gentiles that they were no longer foreigners. Paul’s wording is surely another reference to the temple. As you recall there was a great sign at the entrance to the court of the Jews that said “NO FOREIGNERS ALLOWED!” Now, there were no longer any foreigners with God.

 

If a gentile was acceptable to God, then the Jews must accept the gentiles as brothers. This relationship worked the other way as well. How could gentiles hate the Jews if they were both part of God’s family? By accepting all, God had made peace between all.

 

There were other self-righteous distinctions in the temple that we do not have time to discuss in this article. There were divisions between men and women and between the priesthood and everyone else. Yet, when God gave the gift of His own righteousness to all, the worth of even the most lowly human being was elevated to the heavens. All the separations of the temple vanished along with any other separation humanity has made in its arrogance.

 

The entire world as it was represented in the temple changed when Jesus died, rose from the grave, and returned to consummate His kingdom. No one could ever look at their relationship with God the same nor could they ever look at their relationship with their neighbor the same. Reconciliation between God and man had come, likewise, reconciliation between man and man had also come. Jesus had made things right. In two millennia humanity has only begun to grasp what Jesus completed the day Herod’s temple fell.

 

The First shall be last and the last first

 

To many one of the most puzzling aspects of the kingdom of God was undoubtedly who was received and who was rejected. Most believed that when salvation came, God would put the gentiles in their rightful place beneath the Jews. God indeed put gentiles in their place, but that place was right along side the Jews as brothers! Such a deed was so astonishing that Paul called it a mystery.

 

Moreover, the ones God was inviting into the kingdom were the very ones thought to be rejected under the Old Covenant. The lame, blind, and lepers were considered unclean, not even to be touched. It was common thought that they were rejected of God either because of their sin or their parents sin (John 9:1-7). It was no accident that Jesus preferred method of healing ones such as these was to touch them. Such an act was not so much a technique as it was a statement. It was saying that ones such as these were acceptable to God. He touched what you weren't supposed to touch. What a glorious picture of the kingdom. God was accepting those whom He was supposed to reject.

 

Jesus also received sinners. Remember who the tax collectors were. Remember the atrocities in which they participated. Yet, they were coming into the kingdom of God. (It is ironic that many today will reject a brother for something as little as doctrinal disagreement. Talk about missing the point!)

 

Just as unexpected was who it was that actually faced the wrath of God. In many cases it was those who appeared, at least outwardly, to be the most upright. Perhaps no other parable illustrates this as well as the story of the Publican and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. The Pharisee who fasts twice a week and pays tithes on all he gets finds himself rejected of God. Yet, the man who is a lowly tax collector finds acceptance.

The righteousness of God in Christ Jesus was being revealed. The ones in danger of judgment were those who rejected God's righteousness holding instead to their own righteousness and all the separations that came with it. It seems the King was holding a feast, and it was a very foolish thing not to come (Matt. 22:1-14).

 

The Kingdom's Treasure

 

A third thing that was astonishing about the kingdom was its ways and its treasures. We might think of many things Jesus should do to make everything right for us. We may think that He should get rid of all of our enemies and the people that make our lives difficult. Yes! That would make our lives so much better. Then He should give us everything we need and everything we want. Oh, and no more troubles or pain. What a wonderful world it would be if the Lord would do these things and do them quickly. Yet, if we study Jesus teachings, we should discern that He is far more interested in bringing us a perfect love than giving us our idea of a perfect world. In fact, perfect love is the treasure. Its beauty is unsurpassed. Its majesty inspires awe, and its value is infinite.

 

We are amazed at the power of the God who created the universe. We are awed by His ability to do miracles and show that He is the true God. We all love those "Go God!" moments in the Bible-- the parting of the Red Sea, the slaying of Goliath, the raising of the dead. Wow! Yet, what moves us most is not God's ability to show He is greater than all. It is the fact that He lowered Himself and became the servant of all. The world worships at the feet of such love. Surely this love is at the heart of the kingdom of God, and its manifestation to us and through us is the greatest prize. This watermark is normally invisible. This article is copyrighted (c) 2006 by Planet Preterist. If this copyright watermark is visible, please email webmaster@planetpreterist.com  and report this copyright violation.

Consider what Jesus said about our enemies. He did not say we would be better off without them. He said that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. The kingdom of God does provide a way to escape the grasp of our enemies, but it is not to hate them or to destroy them. It is to forgive them.

 

Furthermore, Jesus pointed the way to being truly full. It is not to get whatever we desire. The idea that getting what we want is the way to be full has more in common with lust than it does with love. Instead, Jesus said the way to be full is to be given. "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38).”.

 

The presence of the kingdom of God is no more the absence of troubles than it is the absence of our enemies. In fact, our troubles and our enemies can sometimes be the very tools God uses to teach us about His kingdom. Considering these things and all that Jesus taught, it is no wonder the nature of the kingdom of God was so unexpected, and it is no wonder that it is still misunderstood in our day.

 

Who will contend with God?

 

John Adams in 1765 wrote the settling of America was “the opening of a grand scheme and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”

 

While it is true that America has had a part in bringing freedom to the world, perhaps Adams was looking at the wrong beginning. In the first century the fullness of the kingdom of God came to earth through the works of Christ. All good beginnings have their roots there. And there are many more good beginnings ahead, for what God has called done is done, and who can contend with God?

 

An early sermon from a fellow named Melito (AD 195) describes this thought in the most profound way. His words are really quite preterist in their assumptions and are a perfect ending for this article. Speaking of Christ, he writes:

 

But he rose from the dead

 

And mounted up to the heights of heaven.

 

When the Lord had clothed himself with humanity,

 

And had suffered for the sake of the sufferer,

 

And had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned,

 

and had been judged for the sake of the condemned,

 

and buried for the sake of the one who was buried,

 

 

and cried with a loud voice:

 

Who is he that contends with me?

 

Let him stand in opposition to me.

 

I set the condemned man free;

 

I give the dead man life;

 

I raised up one who had been entombed.

 

Who is my opponent?

 

I, he says, am the Christ.

 

I am the one who destroyed death,

 

And triumphed over the enemy,

 

And trampled Hades underfoot,

 

And bound the strong one,

 

 

And carried off man

 

 

To the heights of heaven.

 

I, he says, am the Christ.