As we’ve previously alluded to, the future blessings of Abraham would be brought to the nations through King Jesus and in return through His Kingdom. Yahweh promised that His King would rule over the nations and that Messianic dominion will eventually bring about His worldwide worship, with all these nations of the earth seeking after God’s justice and righteousness at a point in our history all culminating with His 2nd coming. His reign will endure until all His enemies are placed in submission under His feet followed by His coming to deal exclusively with death itself by conquering it through the resurrection of the dead.
One item that we earlier suggested on multiple occasions and now want to expand upon is the progressive nature of the Kingdom. In contrast to the prevailing views among contemporary eschatologists, who typically interpret the Kingdom of God as either arriving suddenly or maintaining a consistent influence without any real change throughout history, the reign of King Jesus is characterized by gradual growth within this world. As it expands, it progressively exerts a broader influence wherever its presence increases. It doesn’t come to have a full sweeping impact over the whole world in a sudden moment in time, like a gun going off in a race, but slowly and progressively takes over the whole earth. That expansion will see moments of tremendous victory but at other times a decline. But even in these low points, as many of us believe we are experiencing now, God will be working to expand the kingdom of His Son. At the close of history, when Christ’s enemies are increasingly under His feet, the nations will finally experience the time when the whole earth is filled with His glory (Psalm 72:19).
Driving Out the Enemy Slowly
The Hebrews who were freed from Egypt and given the land of Canaan were not given that land through an instantaneous miracle but had to go in and take it with the help of the Lord. This serves for us as a type or shadow of the slow progressive take over of the kingdom of Christ.
I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. (Exodus 23:29-31)
This passage, and its parallel passage in Deuteronomy 7:22, helps us understand what God’s expectations were prior to the Hebrews going into the land of Canaan to take it with the leadership of Yahweh. God promised that if they didn’t worship the gods of the Amorites, Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, that He would deliver them. He also promised to bless the Hebrews with plenty to eat, with health, children, and victory over their enemies. But notice when we get to the aforementioned text that this prosperity wasn’t going to happen as a rapid decisive victory, but God will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate, and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. (v.29). The possession of the land from their enemies was to happen little by little until they were fruitful and took possession of the land (v.30). The same can be said of the growth of Christ’s kingdom whereas while Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth, His people will continue to live in this world, and there will continue to be wheat and tares living together for a time. There will still be unconverted souls and enemies of Christ throughout history! But eventually, the wheat will be fruitful, and Christ’s kingdom will take possession of all the earth.
Ezekiel’s Temple & The Spirit of Growth (Ezekiel 47:1-12)
According to Acts 2:33, upon his ascension into heaven, Jesus is described as having bestowed the Spirit of God as a blessing both to the Jewish people and to other nations. Ezekiel certainly saw this expansion of the Spirit of God in the vision of the waters flowing from the temple in Ezekiel 47:1-12. In this section, the prophet saw this water coming out of the threshold of the temple. It began as a small flow of water that would reach the prophet’s ankles (Ezekiel 47:3), rising then to his knees and loins (Ezekiel 47:4) finally rising to the extent that the prophet was required to swim in it (Ezekiel 47:5). Notice, according to this passage, that the outpouring of the water is in stages and progressively expanding. This river created by the waters of the temple will bring blessing (Ezekiel 47:9) and there would be an abundant of fish available for the fishermen, and it would cleanse the polluted waters (Ezekiel 47:9-11). Ultimately it will bring about a sort of paradise where men would be healed (Ezekiel 47:12).
The initial outpouring of the Spirit of God began during Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). The men in that room were able to speak many foreign dialects (Acts 2:4) to prepare them to go into the nations. It began with a small number of believers in a room in Jerusalem and after the coming of the Spirit, their numbers grew by 3000 souls (v.41) and began to grow further day by day (v.47). Christ would appoint them as Fisher of men (Matthew 4:19) who would bring the water of blessing in the Spirit of Christ with them (John 4:14).
Daniel’s Stone
The prophet Daniel saw a similar expansion but in the form of the Kingdom of the Messiah:
You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. (Daniel 2:34-35, 44)
The context behind this passage is based upon Nebuchadnezzar’s dream where he sees a statue with a head of gold representing his kingdom, then the torso and arms of silver representing the Medes and Persians kingdoms to come, the Greeks under Alexander the Great as the legs of iron and finally the feet of iron & clay representing the Roman Empire.
The prophet Daniel envisions a total victory of God’s kingdom over all other great kingdoms. There would come a day when the decisive blow would be struck to rid this world of these kingdoms. The time that this kingdom would appear was in the days of those kings (v.44), the kings of that kingdom are related to the 4th kingdom (Luke 2:1; 3:1). It was during that 4th Kingdom that the Kingdom of God would appear. I emphasize this because according to some other interpretations of this passage, the kingdom that the stone strikes is a renewed Roman empire in the future. They see the feet representing Rome in the past (legs of iron) but also at the end of history (feet of iron & clay) so that the small stone is only to take on its global rule at the end of history. The problem with this interpretation is that Jesus did bring the Kingdom at His first coming and the Roman Empire did eventually fall to the Christians through the conversion of their emperor in 350 A.D. The mixture of the two elements (feet of iron & clay) is incompatible together and shows that with time the footing cannot hold together. This was essentially the situation at the end of the Roman reign when civil wars broke out and Rome eventually fell.
Daniel then utilizes the language of a stone harder and more powerful than any of these other elements since it was cut out without hands signifying it was cut out by God. This stone wouldn’t only destroy these other kingdoms but, with pertinence to our study, would engage in growth beginning small but then growing into a great mountain and filling the whole earth. Again, we have the language of increase from a small start to a mighty growth. This kingdom would conquer all other kingdoms, kings and nations. It would never be defeated and endure forever.
The Mustard Seed
The progressive growth of the Kingdom is a well-established notion found in the New Testament as well. This is found in the parable of the mustard seed and in the parable of the leaven.
He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)
In his parable, the Lord Jesus compares the Kingdom to a mustard seed that is planted in a field. In the previous parable of the wheat and tares, the Lord identifies the field as the world (Matthew 13:38). The seed is planted and while it is smaller than all other seeds, it grows immensely, so much so that it eventually becomes a large plant. It becomes so enlarged, that the birds of the air come and nest in it. Trees in the Old Testament were symbols of kingdoms, and the expression birds of the air will nest was generally associated with nations. We see this in a parallel passage in Ezekiel 17:22-24. The Ezekiel passage speaks of a different tree, a cedar, in which the Lord God will take a small part and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. This plantation will spring forth boughs and bear fruit and become a stately or royal cedar. It will grow into something magnificent! Then, the birds of every kind will nest under it, they will dwell in its branches, probably referring to peoples of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation living in it, not in hostility, but under its authority making their home in it.[1]
The Leaven
He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13:33)
In the same breath, the Lord then compares the Kingdom of Heaven to leaven. A woman hid three pecks of flour in the dough. The leaven then slowly expands until all of it becomes leaven. This Kingdom would not only grow but expand to the extent that it would takeover. While the Kingdom began as an insignificant movement in Palestine, it would grow to take over the entire world and bring about the blessings promised with this kingdom.
Evil Birds & The Leaven of Sin?
In passing, we should note that there are brothers & sisters that have a different interpretation of these two parables than ours. They relate the birds of the air to evil nations and the leaven to sin. This interpretation is meant to show that the Kingdom would not be victorious in this age but that it would be taken over entirely by evil or corruption, only to be saved by the 2nd coming of Christ.
As a brief response, we would acknowledge that they are correct in arguing that the birds of the air are generally symbolic of evil or even an evil nation. The Kingdom grows and eventually attracts all evil nations, to the extent where they will want to make their home in the Kingdom. That tree will see the birds of every kind, which we believe symbolizes people of every tribe, tongue, people and nations, finding shade (or refuge) in it. They will be drawn to it and find their rest in it. There is no mention of the birds attempting to take over or destroy the tree or even corrupting the tree. The Lord Jesus’ point in this parable is that the kingdom which begins small will grow and as it does, it will include the Gentiles.
In terms of the leaven being a symbol of evil, we once again agree with our brothers and sisters on this point. They are correct in saying that leaven is almost exclusively symbolic of sin in scripture but that is not always the case (See Leviticus 23:17). In this short parable, would it not be better to let the context drive the interpretation? This is the only place in the New Testament where the leaven is associated with the Kingdom. If the leaven is in fact a comparable to the Kingdom, as Jesus insinuates, then those who argue that the leaven is sin, are they implying that the Kingdom is one of sin? Did Jesus inaugurate a sinful Kingdom that would grow until the whole world is affected? The leaven is meant to show that which the woman has begun, will permeate and take over the nations, which is defined in this instance as the Kingdom of Jesus.
The Wheat & the Tares?
There are others who disagree with our interpretation of the growth of the Kingdom on different grounds. They point out that the parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven are not exclusive. While they agree to the growth of the Kingdom in a positive sense, they don’t believe that it will be to the extent of a takeover. To substantiate this, they refer to the parable of the Wheat and the Tares found in Matthew 13:24-30 & it’s explanation in vs.36-43. The parable begins with the Kingdom being compared to a man sowing wheat seeds in a field but then, when he was asleep, an enemy came and planted tares. Both these plants are very similar and even at times hard to tell apart. In the parable, this man is asked by his servants if they should remove them, but the man denies this request and allows them to grow together until the harvest when, at that point, they will be burned up. This argument has been deemed a slam dunk example to show that the Kingdom is made up of both good and evil that will grow together until the end of history and hence the idea of a total victory of the kingdom is unwarranted. We feel their interpretation of this parable is lacking. We need to begin by pointing out that this is not a tare field, but a wheat field. As the Lord was explaining the details of the parable to His disciples, He describes Himself as the Sower of the good seed which He describes as the sons of the Kingdom and the Sower of the tares as the Devil who sows sons of the evil one. What’s important to notice is that the field is the world. At the end of the age, the reapers (angels) come to gather up and burn the tares. But notice the text tells us that these angels are not gathering up the tares from the world but from the Kingdom. This is significant since it seems to imply that this world in which the seeds were planted has become the Kingdom. Could it be that there has been a complete takeover of the world by the kingdom of God?
In our next segment, we will conclude this series.
[1] In Ezekiel 31:6 and Daniel 4:12, we see similar language being used of the kingdom of Assyria and the Babylonians.
The Moncton Herald 