Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God?
Mark 1:15
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
KJV
Are the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God the same throughout Scripture? Is one concept taught in one place and another place? Research and discuss at length your conclusions.
Jesus came preaching a Gospel of repentance because the "kingdom of God" was at hand. All of the Gospel writers discuss the kingdom of God and except for Matthew, the question under discussion would not be asked for Matthew primarily uses the term Kingdom of Heaven. Does Matthew discuss a different concept? Are there two kingdoms? Are the two titles different ways of looking at the same kingdom? Or, do the two titles carry some other meaning? To answer these questions one must give full and complete consideration to all of the Scriptures, from Genesis to Malachi, from Matthew to Revelation.
While in biblical interpretations statistics do not mean much, the statistics present an interesting starting point. The phrase "kingdom of God" occurs 69 times in the KJV, all in the New Testament. Of these, five occur in Matthew’s Gospel. The phrase "kingdom of heaven" occurs 32 times in the New Testament in the KJV, all in Matthew’s Gospel. Neither phrase occurs in the Old Testament. This does not mean the kingdom concept does not occur in the Old Testament.
The word "kingdom" occurs 184 times in the Old Testament of the KJV. Most of these references are to earthly kingdoms. However, it is clear that God has a kingdom. The Psalms call God a king, describing His kingdom as one of glory, power, and majesty, as well as everlasting.
Psalm 47:7 (KJV)
7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Psalm 145:1 (KJV)
1 I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Psalm 145:11-13 (KJV)
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; 12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. 13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
Records 1 to 1 of 5
|
|
