Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson
In the gospels we find Jesus Christ and John The Baptist both preaching the Kingdom of God or The Kingdom of Heaven was near or at hand.
But why isn't the term Kingdom Of God mentioned in The Old Testament ?
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1 Chronicles 29:10-12, 1 Kings 9:5, and
Daniel 4:3
The phrase itself won't come up with a search through the OT, however the idea is present. Among Jews, the idea became even more fervent in the intertestimal period.
They had lost their earthly kingdom that God had appeared to have said was "eternal" (
1 Kings 9:5) when the Babylonians invaded. Okay, just a 'set back' due to some disobedience they reasoned, but then the Seleucid Empire (one of Alexander's successor empires) dominated the Israelite state and produced severe persecution against the worship of the Lord. This led to a rebellion and the Maccabean or Hashmonean state. That was good until the coming of Herod the Idumean (Edomite) and his Roman patrons. Then after Herod died the Romans appeared to want to stay.
So the whole "eternal kingdom" idea took a bit of a beating over the years. That is, until Jesus came and pointed out what should have been obvious: the "kingdom" does not come "with your careful observation..." (NIV) but is "within you..." (
Luke 21:20-37).
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