What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

[CWH]

What is the Kingdom of heaven? What is the purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven? Is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth as it is in heaven?...."our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let's discuss:

Matthew 3:2 (Whole Chapter)
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 4:17 (Whole Chapter)
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 5:3 (Whole Chapter)
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:10 (Whole Chapter)
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:19 (Whole Chapter)
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20 (Whole Chapter)
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 6:10 (Whole Chapter)
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21 (Whole Chapter)
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 8:11 (Whole Chapter)
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 10:7 (Whole Chapter)
And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 11:11 (Whole Chapter)
Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11:12 (Whole Chapter)
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Matthew 13:11 (Whole Chapter)
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Matthew 13:24 (Whole Chapter)
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

Matthew 13:31 (Whole Chapter)
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

Matthew 13:33 (Whole Chapter)
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Matthew 13:44 (Whole Chapter)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Matthew 13:45 (Whole Chapter)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

Matthew 13:47 (Whole Chapter)
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

Matthew 13:52 (Whole Chapter)
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

Matthew 16:19 (Whole Chapter)
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 18:1 (Whole Chapter)
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Matthew 18:3 (Whole Chapter)
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:4 (Whole Chapter)
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:23 (Whole Chapter)
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

Matthew 19:12 (Whole Chapter)
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Matthew 19:14 (Whole Chapter)
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:23 (Whole Chapter)
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 20:1 (Whole Chapter)
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

Matthew 22:2 (Whole Chapter)
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Matthew 23:13 (Whole Chapter)
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Matthew 25:1 (Whole Chapter)
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

Matthew 25:14 (Whole Chapter)
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.


May God lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven

[David M]

What is the Kingdom of heaven? What is the purpose of the Kingdom of Heaven? Is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth as it is in heaven?...."our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let's discuss:


May God lead us into the Kingdom of Heaven

Hello Cheow

I agree, let us discuss. My understanding is that God created this earth specifically to be the environment for humans to live. We have the creation of the animals which have their importance, but humans are the pinnacle of God's creation. God has declared that the earth shall be filled with His Glory which is not the case at present, and God is working to restore the situation. God has promised this, so this is what He will do. I do not think God has any intention of providing another place for humans to go in the next life; this earth is sufficient.

Of course, God has things in store for those in the kingdom to come, which things cannot be spoken about, because they have not been revealed. Sticking with what we know, it appears that God's dealing with humans now and in the life to come (in His kingdom) is firmly based on this earth. How can God's Glory fill the earth, if at the resurrection, those who are saved are sent to an unkown place in the Universe? I think we have to keep our heads and our feet firmly planted on the ground (the earth).

That's my two cents worth.

David

[duxrow]

When the Apostle Paul spoke of "the third heaven", 2Cor12:2, some of us wondered how many heavens there were, and could they possibly be stacked or layered horizontally instead of vertically? Instead of atmosphere, stratosphere, troposphere, etc., maybe it's past, present, and future?

Wouldn't it get tiresome, floating around on a cloud all day -- don't we NEED to be actively challenged on a regular basis? Even if it's like "fishing off the coast of Nova Scotia" and we get to go faster than the speed of light, exploring the extremes of the Cosmos -- wouldn't even that get tiresome?

Just wondering...

[Twospirits]

The Kingdom of heaven.

Numerous verses tell us that the kingdom of God will be a glorious future reality. The book of Daniel predicts a kingdom of God that will rule the earth (Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14,22). The book of Revelation describes its arrival (Rev. 11:15; 19:11-16). We pray for the kingdom to come (Luke 11:2). The poor in spirit and the persecuted await their future reward in heaven (Matt. 5:3,10,12). People 'enter the kingdom' on a future day of judgment (Matt. 7:21-23; Luke 13:22-30). Jesus gave a parable because some people thought the kingdom would become powerful right away (Luke 19:11).

Paul speaks several times of 'inheriting the kingdom of God' as a future experience (1 Cor. 6:9-10; 15:50; Gal. 5:21; Ephe. 5:5), and otherwise indicates by his language that he thinks of it as realized only at the end of the age (1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; Col. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:1,18). The important thing to see here is that some verses are clearly present tense, and some are clearly future tense.

Jesus often preached about the kingdom of God, but in what way? Did he describe peace, prosperity, health and wealth, law and order? Did he speak of governmental organization? No, the most important thing Jesus wanted us to know is how do we get there, and that's what Jesus talked about. To illustrate, we look to Matthew 13 where is seen a collection of kingdom parables. Several times Jesus said, 'The kingdom of God is like---' and then he would go on and tell the story.

The kingdom of God is both now and future. Now it is in a stage of growth in which we are given grace. For the time will come when the kingdom will be like a harvest, when accounts must be paid and decisions will be made as to who is in and who is not. We prepare for the future kingdom by living in it now in accordance with Jesus' teaching. As we live in faith, we recognize God's rule as a present reality and continue to hope for a future time when the kingdom will be filled to the full, when then the earth (new earth) will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.

Twospirits

[duxrow]

Do you suppose Agatha Christie and Red Skelton are among the witnesses gazing down at the antics of us earthlings? I don't know if either or them studied the Scriptures, but they were both entertaining in their own fashion. Right?

Heb12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us"..

Scuse my jumping in, guys; didn't mean to interrupt a good discourse..

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Do you suppose Agatha Christie and Red Skelton are among the witnesses gazing down at the antics of us earthlings? I don't know if either or them studied the Scriptures, but they were both entertaining in their own fashion. Right?

Heb12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us"..

Scuse my jumping in, guys; didn't mean to interrupt a good discourse..

You have misinterpreted that verse. The "witnesses" are the Scriptures that tell us about the faith of previous believers like Abel, Enoch, and Abraham. It says nothing about folks in heaven looking down and watching current events here on earth.

[duxrow]

Wasn't serious, Ram - just threw it out for grins, knowing it comes into play whenever the subject is broached. Not sure whether this scripture used by the JW's or not. ??

[Richard Amiel McGough]

Wasn't serious, Ram - just threw it out for grins, knowing it comes into play whenever the subject is broached. Not sure whether this scripture used by the JW's or not. ??

I understand. Sorry for coming across so sternly! I'll try to lighten up.

[bornagain999]

Refer to this site:

THE HEBREW WORD FOR HEAVENS IS שמים shamayim {shaw-mah'-yim} dual of an unused singular שמה shameh {shaw-meh'} from an unused root meaning to be lofty; TWOT - 2407a; n m AV - heaven 398, air 21, astrologers + 01895 1; 420 1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God)

THE GREEK WORD FOR HEAVEN IS ουρανος ouranos {oo-ran-os'} perhaps from the same as 3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; TDNT - 5:497,736; n m AV - heaven 268, air 10, sky 5, heavenly + 1537; 284 1) the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it 1a) the universe, the world 1b) the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced 1c) the sidereal or starry heavens 2) the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings

HEAVEN HAS SEVERAL CONNOTATIONS: first simply, heaven is indeed the sky all around us & throughout the boundles universe, and one constellation is referred to throughout the New Testament that being Orion which came from the greek word ουρανος ouranos {oo-ran-os'}. Other constellations in the Old Testament, are also within the heavenly skies those being Pleiades, Mazzoroth, and Arcturus (with his sons), and sons implies people live in Arcturus. These are actual constellations, meaning they had accurate star maps over 2,000 years ago to know that. Taking you back to certain ancient African tribes that had beings introduce them to star maps before modern day astrologers. Again, simply, relaying Heaven to the skies around us...is not Earth in space like any other planet within a constellation? So, Earth is in Heaven, but Earth is not a Heavenly place, morally speaking.
Remove money, drugs, lust, greed, lies, poverty, crime, weapons, and the likes, then Earth will be as it was in the Garden of Eden, the first heaven on Earth (as it was in the beginning, thus shall it be in end).

In addition, Heaven and Hell are also conditions, which are based totally upon people's actions, for instance the war in Heaven (Rev. 12:7-9). How can there be a war in heaven and it still be considered heaven? Shouldn't a war make it hell instead of heaven? That implies the skies or the etheric dimension where the war was fought is Heaven, not the war itself, that's why it's a war in heaven, not the war is heaven. Thus, heaven can be a place in that case instead of the moral code itself. Yet, the war goes against the moral code of a heavenly place. When heaven becomes based upon moral code, that implies commandments to follow to remain in a perfected state of existence with Angelic Beings, and keep those commandments to maintain that state of divine love, peace, joy etc. Human beings are indeed fallen Angels, like those Angels that sinned in heaven (2 Peter 2:4), because human beings fight wars like Satan and Michael fought in Rev. 12:7-9. The Earth is Heaven, but the people on it are mostly devils of all races, mostly demonically possessed but don't know it. Human beings must overcome their sinful ways to be allowed to
travel intergalactically in the upper Heavens (the other galaxies and dimensions beyond this 3-dimensional earth reality). You can remain in the upper planes if you do not want to use free will, thus you have to "give up" your free will (lose all carnal desire),in order to ascend into the higher planes and remain there by not giving into any lowly carnal desire causing spiritual regression and finally birth into the carnal world.

Heaven is associated with the coming of a Holy City, Kingdom: New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-2) It says I will make a NEW HEAVEN, as if something is wrong with the OLD HEAVEN, and a NEW EARTH. A new heaven is the result of planetary alignments, star holocausts, and supernovas happening which are all interconnected though happenning billions of miles or light years away. That's an interplanetary to intergalactical relationship that happens in cycles, causing life to cease in solar systems (or heavens as in outerspace), which is why it seems Earth is the last planet left with sustainable & abundant physical life, for life did exist on mars, the moon as well, and this Earth will pass away. This could definitely end if the planet is destroyed by Nuclear war, causing a star holocaust, thus affecting the heavens relative to the skies. But, the Kingdom coming down from Heaven is like the so called moving star that the wisemen followed which is not a star at all, because stars don't move. Because stars are suns with planets rotating around them. Actually, the star they followed was a so called UFO, which are sometimes the bodies of Angels (such as Ezekial's wheel) when Angels slow down their vibration appearing as a craft of light(s), while some UFO's are the size of planets, where Angels live and they can materialize it or dematerialize the planet at will (such as Nibiru, a heavenly place). Which is why Jesus said in my father's house, there are many mansion, some are crafts and/or planets. John 4:24 God is a spirit, those that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth means when you die and leave your body, you become an etherian or ether being,
existing on the other side of hydrogen, where life exist where you do not need a sun nor planet nor body, nor anything physical, it's all ether, like unto a gas, where God and most angels dwell by choice, and those dimensions have interdimensional laws relative to carnal desires and spiritual perfection, and all within Heaven, as a manifestation of the degrees of heaven.

Notice Nimrod oversaw the building of a brick tower /city that could possibly reach heaven as it states in Genesis Ch. 11. Is it possible to a build tower to reach heaven? Is heaven really that close to Earth? That tower would have to be tall, so tall that it's beyond where telescopes can see! If so, and it would need to be logically, then was it really a tower? How could they transport the bricks that high, and breath once they got up so far up? What about
the various spheres that surround the planet, ionosphere, mesosphere, troposphere, etc. ....a tower was not intended to go that far! If this LORD in Genesis Ch. 11 was the Creator God who came down to see what they were building...why did they (plural: let us go down, it says) why did they come down if God is suppose to be ALL Seeing and ALL Knowing and Omnipresent, ALL Powerful? He shouldn't have to go anywhere, he should already be there! So, they came down to see from heaven?!?!? Making heaven a set place, no longer just the skies which is the general meaning of shamayim (heavens).
Evidently the LORD thought it was possible to build a tower & city to reach heaven, or else he would have no need to come down, nor confound their tongue (which makes God the author of confusion at that point, a contradiction). God is not the author of confusion, but confound is the same as confuse, thus babel like babbling, confusion. Where was this heaven that a tower could reach? Was it really a tower or a craft of some sort? Was it the LORD (Most High God) or a group of Angelic Beings who came down in Genesis Ch. 11? Can the LORD God see from heaven, or does he need to come down to see (Gen. 11:5)? Is heaven just a tower away?

Peace and love,;
Born Again 999 - (one of the many students of Melchizedek, aka: Michael, Al Khidr, Murdoq, Atum Re, commonly referred to as Malachi Z. York)
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[Richard Amiel McGough]

Born Again 999 - (one of the many students of Melchizedek, aka: Michael, Al Khidr, Murdoq, Atum Re, commonly referred to as Malachi Z. York)
John 4:24 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I moved the posts discussing Dwight York to a new thread devoted to that topic:

Dwight York, a.k.a. Malachi Z. York, Issa Al Haadi Al Mahdi

So now let's get this thread back on topic.