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Kingdom of Heaven vs. Kingdom of God
When reference is made to the
kingdom of heaven,
the rule of God in the earth is
contemplated. This is in marked contrast to the
kingdom of God, which
includes His rule throughout the universe
and over all beings who are in subjection to Him.
Of necessity, there is much in common
between these spheres of authority, which fact accounts for the
interchange of these terms; what in Matthew is predicated of the kingdom
of heaven, and he alone employs the term, is in Mark and Luke predicated
of the kingdom of God. This interchange has been made the basis of a
supposition that these terms are identical in their representation,
The difference between these spheres
of authority will not be discovered within the range of their
similarities, but rather in the range of those instances in which they
differ. The kingdom of heaven, since it embraces the rule of God in the
earth, is subject to various modes of manifestation in Israel’s history
and that of the world.
(1) The theocracy of the OT was a form
of divine rule in the earth, and hence an aspect of the kingdom of
heaven. (2) The covenant with David is the kingdom of heaven in covenant
form. (3) Prophecy concerning the scope and character of the kingdom of
heaven is that rule in prophetic form.
(4) The announcement of that kingdom
by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:1, 2), by Christ (Matt. 4:17), and by
the disciples (Matt. 10:5–7), was the kingdom of heaven offered. (5)
The subsequent rejection and postponement of the kingdom of heaven
became a phase of that kingdom. (6) The present dispensation [more
accurately a heavenly parenthesis], though so wholly
without comparison with that which went before or which follows, does,
nevertheless, include a form of divine rule in the earth.
The purpose of the present
dispensation [sic] is the realization of those features which
are styled mysteries,
that is, hitherto unrevealed divine
purposes. God is now ruling in the earth to the extent that He
accomplishes all that is embraced in these mysteries. This dispensation
[sic] thus becomes the
kingdom
of heaven in its
mystery
form
(cf. Matt. 13:11). In the last analysis, there is nothing in the realm
of authority which is outside the permissive will of God.
(7) The final form of the kingdom of
heaven is that which will be set up in its full manifestation in the
earth [millennial], and in compliance with all that God has spoken. What
that final form is to be is disclosed in the predictions, covenants, and
promises of God.
It has been a constant disposition on
the part of certain writers to invest the OT saints with the same
positions, qualities, and standing as those which belong to the
believers who comprise the Church; and there is more recently a
propensity to carry the same realities which belong to the saved of this
dispensation [sic] over into the kingdom age, and to Jews and
Gentiles alike. Such assumptions are avoided when it is recognized that
to the Church alone is accorded the
heavenly
position and glory.
Of the Church alone it is declared
that each of her members who make up Christ’s Body is made meet to be a
partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. What enters into the
earthly
purpose, though of
knowledge-surpassing character, is to be precisely what the Scriptures,
which deal with the past and future dispensations [or ages], declare. —
L.S. Chafer
That form of
interpretation which rides on occasional similarities and
passes over the vital differences is displayed by those who
argue that the
Kingdom of heaven,
as referred to in Matthew, must be the same as the
Kingdom of
God since some parables
regarding the
Kingdom of heaven are
reported in Mark and Luke
under the designation, the
Kingdom of God.
No attempt is made by
these (mainly Covenant) expositors to explain why the term
Kingdom of heaven
is used by Matthew
only, nor do they seem to recognize the fact that the real
difference between that which these designations represent
is to be discovered in connection with the instances where
they are not
and cannot be used
interchangeably, rather than in the instances where the
interchange of terms is justified.
Closer attention will
reveal that the
Kingdom of heaven is
always earthly, while the
Kingdom of
God is as wide as the
universe and includes as much of earthly things as are
germane to it. Likewise, the
Kingdom of heaven
is entered by a
righteousness exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees (Matt. 5:20), while the
Kingdom of God
is entered by the new
birth (John 3:1–16).
So, again, the
Kingdom of heaven
answers the hope of Israel
and the Gentiles, while the
Kingdom of
God answers the eternal
and all-inclusive purpose of God. To be more explicit:
Matthew 5:20 declares the condition upon which a Jew might
hope to enter the
Kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 8:12; 24:50, 51; 25:28–30 indicate that
children of the
Kingdom of
heaven
are to be cast out.
Neither of these truths could apply to the
Kingdom of God.
Further, the parables of
the wheat and the tares, Matthew 13:24–30; 36–43, and
the parable of the good and bad fish, Matthew 13:47–50,
are spoken only of the
Kingdom of heaven.
However, the parable of
the leaven is predicated of both spheres of divine rule;
leaven, representing evil doctrine rather than evil persons,
may corrupt, as it does, the truth relative to both
kingdoms.
Such contrasts might be
cited at great lengths, but the important objective has been
gained if it has been made clear that there is an
eschatology of Judaism and an eschatology of Christianity;
and each, though wholly different in details, reaches into
eternity.
One of the great burdens
of predictive prophecy is the anticipation of the glories of
Israel in a transformed earth under the theocratic reign of
David’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God.
There is likewise much prediction which anticipates the
glories of the Church in heaven. — L.S. Chafer
One of the
contributing factors to the kingdomization of
the Church is the breakdown of the distinction
between the “kingdom of God,” and the
‘”kingdom of heaven.” During the
last 20 years or so dispensational leaders have
been forsaking the distinctiveness of the
kingdom of heaven as set forth in Matthew,
more and more making it synonymous with the
kingdom of God. But when the kingdom of
heaven is no longer considered to be
strictly Israel’s coming Messianic Kingdom,
there emerges a loss of the scriptural
separation between earthly Israel and the
heavenly Church. Grace is made to partake of
law. — M.J. Stanford
Yes, there are no dispensations in heaven.
What does it mean when someone speaks of an
alleged church age as "a heavenly age"? In
the [Scofield] age-ism scheme, ages and dispensations are
equated. The "heavenly age," then, is a
heavenly dispensation. There are no
dispensations in heaven. There is no
heavenly dispensation on earth. The talk
about an earthly age being a "heavenly age" is
but an attempt to preserve the heavenly
character of the church while imposing an
age-ism scheme upon dispensational truth.
It is an attempt to circumvent the objection
that the idea of "a church age" makes the church
an earthly age among the earthly ages.
[Because] that is exactly what it does; and
inserting the word "heavenly" in front of the
word "age" does not change its true character.
Defect, or feebleness, in view may
not apprehend some of these things.
But it should be obvious that neither
the Jews nor the Gentiles are being
tested in an age whose beginning and
ending coincides with the time during
which God is gathering a heavenly people
out of the world.
Long before this time [Pentecost to
the Rapture] when God
is gathering a heavenly people, He
removed government from Israel and gave
it to the Gentiles. The period
during which government is in the hands
of the Gentiles is called "the time of
the Gentiles" (nations) by our Lord in
Luke 21:24. "The times of the
Gentiles" is depicted by the image in
Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2).
This period runs from the time of
Nebuchadnezzar until the "smiting stone"
smashes the image on its feet1,
which smiting depicts the coming of our
Lord from heaven, at His appearing in
glory, to smite the nations and set up
the Kingdom [Age]. That Kingdom is
symbolized in Daniel 2 as the smiting
stone becoming a great mountain and
filling the whole earth.
Simultaneous to the transfer of
government from Israel to the Gentiles,
the nation of Israel was pronounced Lo-ammi
(meaning, "not-my-people"). See
Hosea 1. The nation remains in
that status until the appearing of the
Lord in glory to set up the Kingdom--at
which time all Israel will be saved
(Romans 11:26), the rebels having been
purged out (Ezekiel 20; Zechariah
12-14). Then Israel will be the
center of earthly government once again.
— R.A.
Huebner
1
The fact that the nation,
Israel, was [re-]established in 1948 does not
mean "the times of the Gentiles" is over.
The worst time for the Jews in that land is yet
to come (Matthew 24:21-22).
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