The Ultimate Dominion of the Kingdom

(An “Ever-Increasing Kingdom” Eschatology)

 I’ve been studying the Bible and the history books. Be warned, this article will probably wreak havoc on the conventional eschatology most Christians have been duped into believing, primarily within the last 100 years. (specifically, dispensationalism including a secret pre-tribulation, pre-Kingdom rapture) Dispensationalism eschatology was originally taught by a Plymouth Brethren evangelist named John Nelson Darby in the mid-1800’s and was popularized by the Scofield Study Bible, published initially in 1909. It has produced a people who think the reign of God and His glorious Kingdom is for some distant future era instead of a present reality. It has contributed to the erroneous belief that all things supernatural ceased with the death of the first century apostles and are now reserved for some future Millennium “Kingdom” age (also known as cessationism) and has produced the very thing Paul warned about in his second letter to Timothy, that there would be some, in the last days, who would hold to a form of godliness but would deny its power. (2 Timothy 3:5)

Beyond that, this errant version of eschatology has produced a people who are fatalistically assuming the “anti-christ” is about to emerge from within a vast and comprehensive world-wide conspiracy of evil, while the church becomes weaker and weaker. It has produced a people who are expecting to escape a spiraling deterioration of humanity through a partial ‘Second Coming of Christ” dubbed “the rapture”; and thus the goal is to get everybody ‘saved”; but ignores Christ’s actual commission in Mathew 28:18-20 to disciple nations. While not understanding the present implications of the Kingdom of God and pervasive implications of the Lordship of Christ Jesus, they have no motivation or interest in bringing the Lordship of Jesus into every area of life beyond a personal level, to every aspect of culture and civilization, including relationships, family, business, education, economics, government, civil law, media and entertainment. Yet that is exactly what the Lord expects us to do.

Why is eschatology so important? It has become my conclusion that how we view the future dramatically shapes our present goals, our ethical behavior and our sense of God’s purpose for our lives, as well as the job description of the Church.

Here are some Biblical facts to consider

The Kingdom was established among men during the first advent of Christ, which occurred over the span of time of approx. 70 years - from the birth of Christ, His rejection by Israel, His death, resurrection and ascension, and the concluding judgment of Israel in A.D. 70. This 70 year period closed out the Old Covenant era and fully launched the New Covenant era. It is now in progress and has continued, and will continue to increase until the end of the world. Multiple Scriptures speak of an ever-increasing Kingdom, NOT one that wanes at the end, and gets rescued from the anti-christ through a secret “rapture”. (The Scriptures do speak clearly of a “translation/immortalization” of the living and a resurrection of the dead at the end of time, but no secret rapture as a separate event)

One example from the Scriptures regarding the ever increasing Kingdom is the well known prophetic word spoken about Jesus in Isaiah 9:6-7 “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder…
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Other clear prophetic declarations of an ever-increasing Kingdom are throughout the book of Daniel as well as other prophetic books. One description Daniel gave of the Kingdom of God was that of a small stone that demolished the Roman Empire and then continually grew into a great mountain that filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:31-45)

Historic census show an “ever-increasing Kingdom” through a continuous growth of the numbers of believers through-out the centuries from the time of Christ - to be expected with the continuous increase of population - BUT it also shows a continuous increase of the PERCENTAGE of that population who are Christians throughout the centuries. At 100  A.D. there was 1/360th of the world wide population that were Christians. By 1,000 A.D. there was 1/220th of the population that were Christians. By 1500 A.D the number rose to 1/69th of the world wide population and by the year 1900, it had risen to 1/27th of the population. (world wide population had, by that time, reached 1.6 billion) By 1990, within most of our lifetimes, the figure rose to 1/7th of the world wide population who are Christians.[1]  It is now estimated that there are 7 billion people on planet earth and that a full 1/3rd of them, or 1 out of every 3 people world-wide, are followers of Jesus!

A unbiased survey of the prophetic Scriptures seem to indicate that before the Second Coming of Christ, the vast majority of Jews and Gentiles will be converted to the Christian faith. The Scriptures actually indicate an unprecedented global revival will precede the Second Coming of Christ. One such Scripture is Acts 15:13-18. "And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things' Known to God from eternity are all His works." 

Since God is the one who knows the end from the beginning, it is easy to understand how He could speak to His prophets about what would happen at the end of time. And if God said it, we can count on it. Scripture says it this way: "I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,' Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it." Isa 46:9-11

The Olivet Discourse

To make such statements we must, of course, address Jesus’ words and the confusion surrounding them in what is known as The Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) There sections of Scripture are primarily used to conclude that there is still coming a future “Great Tribulation”, a sudden secret “rapture” that would snatch some away, and a spectacular Second Coming of Christ. But the Olivet Discourse is a prophecy primarily of the destruction of Jerusalem and the “last days” of God’s Old Covenant with Israel, which did subsequently occur, within their lifetime, in 70 A.D.

The context was that Jesus had just finished saying the temple would be utterly destroyed, to which the disciples then asked “when will these things be?” That is the context into which Jesus spoke. But in that context He then bounced back and forth to address their other two questions, which were “what would be the sign of His coming”, and what would be the sign of “the end of the age”. But astonishingly, Jesus concludes the discourse with these clear and emphatic words, stating the things He was describing were imminent, rather than at some distant future date. “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Luke 21:32 (The accurate and detailed fulfillment of Jesus’ precise prophetic words are documented by the then contemporary historian Josephus in his detailed writing about the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the slaughtering of the Jews) 

The “Sign of His Coming”

In light of that statement, there are scholars who believe Jesus was not actually describing his SECOND coming in this context, but rather His FIRST coming, which included His resurrection, ascension in the clouds, and the BEGINNING of the harvest of the nations, none of which had happened at the time of this discourse. They had not yet seen Him resurrected, glorified, ascended and seated upon the throne of Heaven. In fact, Jesus used some of the specific wording used in Daniel 7 and other places, which prophetically described His first coming and the initial establishing of His Kingdom, and from there it’s perpetual increase.

As is the case with many of the prophetic Scriptures, there are certain overlapping spiritual implications for Christ’s description of the “sign of His coming” and of “the end of the age,” but much of this Discourse had clear and direct application to the “Great Tribulation” of that day and the destruction of the temple, i.e. the Old Covenant system of worship. (Just one example of a literal word having overlapping and seemingly grandiose symbolical spiritual implications is the prophecy to the King of Tyre; a literal person in Ezek. 28, but clearly overlapping into a word about Lucifer himself and his fall from heaven.) That prophetic Scriptures can be parsed in such a way is demonstrated by Christ Himself in Luke 4:19, where He quoted Isaiah 61:2 and proclaimed “The acceptable year of the Lord…” but literally cut the sentence in half and said the first half of the sentence was for that moment. Thus implying the second half would occur at a later time; concluding that the second half of Isaiah 61:2, “…and the day of vengeance of our God” was the fall of Jerusalem.

The “Great Tribulation” referred to by Jesus did occur at that time in specific detail, with the fall of Israel and the horrendous slaughter of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem, and thus, is not a future event. (although Christians in every age have had to endure suffering for the faith) Jesus’ own words in this discourse state there would never again be anything like the great tribulation of those days. (Matt. 24:21) Yet in spite of Christ’s clear statements in that regard, whole doctrines have evolved within the last 100 years compelling believers to store up food and supplies in preparation for some kind of future cataclysmic disaster in conjunction with the arising of the “anti-christ”.

So also, and particularly in light of Jesus’ final comment about all taking place within that generation, the topic of “the end of the age” is more likely a Biblical expression for the period of Christ’s Advent and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. (“Age” being the Greek word aion = an age; an era; or a period of time) When He addressed the topic of “the end of the age”, you might ask “the end of which age?”  The Advent of Christ did bring an end to that age, as the “last days” of Israel as His covenantal people, and the complete and final collapse of the Old Covenant system, i.e. the end of that era. This fits much more accurately into the entire context of Jesus’ Discourse.

The Book of Revelation

The book of Revelation should be addressed as well. The book of Revelation is not to be interpreted “futuristically” as many try to do. Nor can it be viewed as a precise chronological account from beginning to end, as some attempt to do; but rather, in the same manner of all the other Prophetic Scriptures throughout the Bible, it consists of a group of visions which in some cases give us a different picture, or describe from a difference angle, the very same events. An example of this can be found by simply looking at the sporadic, rather than chronological occurrences of the messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah.

For its first century readers, its message was contemporary. The Seven Churches were literal churches and not symbolic of dispensational “phases” of the church over a 2,000 year long “church age”, as the ultra-dispensationalists would have us believe, since, in the book’s own words, the time of fulfillment was “at hand”. (Rev. 22:10) It was written approximately 68 A.D., two years before the final destruction of the “Harlot City” Jerusalem, and thus the final demise of the Old Covenant system in 70 A.D.

Biblical prophecy is written in both literal and symbolic language. To interpret it rightly takes a familiarity with the “language” of prophecy and the themes of prophecy found throughout the rest of the prophetic Scriptures; and proper exegesis depends greatly upon understanding which parts are literal, and which parts are symbolic. This applies especially to the four most dramatic and controversial symbols found in this prophetic book; the “Beast”, the “Harlot”, the “Millennium” and the “New Jerusalem”. Without expansive proof texting which space will not allow, I will summarize what many scholars have come to believe these symbolic topics actually mean.

The “Beast” of Revelation was a symbol of both Nero in particular, and the Roman Empire in general, and was identified as such in Daniel’s prophecy as well, with specific detail. Nero was the emperor in power at the time of John’s writing so it is not surprising that his references to him and descriptions of him would be cloaked under numerological codes (666 being the Hebrew alphabet/numbers of his name), and he was described as anti-christ in other of John’s writings. And it is no wonder.

Both Nero and his Empire were sunk in degrading, degenerate bestial activities. Nero, who murdered numerous members of his own family, (including his pregnant wife whom he kicked to death); who was a homosexual, the final stage of degeneracy according to Romans 1:24-32; whose favorite aphrodisiac consisted of watching people suffer the most horrifying and disgusting tortures; who dressed up as a wild beast in order to attack and rape male and female prisoners; who used the bodies of Christians burning at the stake as the original “Roman Candles” to light up his filthy garden parties; who launched the first imperial persecution of Christians at the instigation of the Jews, in order to destroy the Church; this animalistic pervert was the ruler of the most powerful empire on earth. And he set the tone for his subjects. Rome was the moral sewer of the world.[2]

The “Harlot” was none other than Jerusalem and the adulterous religious leaders there, who sold out the very Son of God Who came to save them, and gave their loyalty to the Roman Empire instead.

The “Millennium” is symbolic of the Kingdom era and the dispensation of Christ’s rule on the earth. While there are certainly instances when a thousand meant a thousand in Scripture, there are many other places in Scripture that the term means a generally unlimited expanse of time or an unlimited quantity of some sort. Ezekiel’s measurements of the “City of God” in Ezekiel 48 was probably one such example. Another example is Psalm 50:10 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” To take that literally would mean that the cattle on hill 1,001 were not His. (see also: Psalm 84:10; 90:4; 105:8;  Ezek 45; Ezek 48)

The “New Jerusalem” is the symbolic description of none other than the City of the living God, the general assembly of believers who’s citizenship is in heaven, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, from where and through whom, King Jesus rules all things.(see Eph. 1:22,23) Also note Hebrews 12:22-24 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,”

Conclusion

The Bible teaches us to have hope, not despair: to expect victory and dominion for the gospel, not flight and defeat. God has declared He WILL have a glorious end-time Church in the earth. God WILL have a latter "house" that will be more glorious than the former. God WILL cause His glory to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. God WILL raise up the fallen tabernacle of David (the worshiping/governmental Church) and cause the ends of the earth to come to the glory of its rising. Great boldness, faith and optimism should arise in the hearts of believers when we realize we are part of an unstoppable Kingdom and have inherited a grand prophetic mission in our generation, according to the Scriptures and in accordance with God's inexorable purposes.

Sure there are those who are quick to proclaim doom and gloom, but the fact is, we are living in a most incredible season of spiritual history. We are living in a season of great harvest. Every one of the Kingdom benefits described in Scripture belong to us NOW and are being progressively appropriated by faith. It is not time to wallow in fear or some kind of fatalistic expectation of the darkness overtaking the light. Rather, it is time to recognize that our job is to hasten His return through fulfilling the things He has for us to do in regard to restoring the earth, advancing the Kingdom and bringing all under the dominion of the Lordship of Christ Jesus.

Note again His parting words in Matthew 28 and their implications to us for this current age.  “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matt 28:18-20

Will He come again? By all means. But the real fact is, the Church has for a large part, been sitting back waiting for Jesus to do something, while Jesus is sitting in heaven waiting for us to do something. In the meanwhile, He has sent us His empowering, enabling and indwelling grace in the person of His Holy Spirit to do all He called us to do and be all He called us to be. These concluding two sections of Scripture give us another take on the criteria to be accomplished and our responsibilities in it before His return. HE IS WAITING FOR US!

 “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:18-21

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, 2 Peter 3:10-13

See also by the same author: Why I Have an Optimistic Eschatology