Chapter One

The Concept of the Kingdom of God

 Mathews Kingdom of Heaven and Mark-Luke’s Kingdom of God

 The Kingdom of God or Reign of God in is a foundational concept in the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.   In Christianity, it constitutes the central theme of the message of  Jesus of Nazareth in the synoptic Gospels.

 In the synoptic Gospels (which  were all written in Greek),Mark and Luke use the Greek term "Basileia tou Theou," which translate as "Kingdom of God."  In contrast Matthew prefers the Greek term "Basileia tōn Ouranōn" (Βασιλεία τῶν Ουρανῶν) which has been translated as "Kingdom of Heaven."   The phrase “kingdom of God” occurs 68 times in 10 different New Testament books, while “kingdom of heaven” occurs only 32 times, and only in the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew the Kingdom is mentioned 55 times, out of which 35 times it is used with connection to the "Kingdom of Heaven" 

 Scholars think that Matthean text adopted the Greek word for "heaven" instead of the Greek word for "God” because, unlike Mark and Luke, the gospel of Mathew was written by a Jew for the Jewish audience.  Traditionally Jews  avoided the use of the world “God” as much as possible.   This is based on the commandment:

(Exo 20:7)  "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

Avoiding the usage totally will be the easy solution to the chance of misuse.

 During the reading of the scriptures whenever they came across the world “God” (Yhwh  ) they substituted other words. When it refers to the Person of Godhead, the word “Lord” (Adonai  = "Lord")  is used and when it refers to the impersonal ultimate level, the word “Heaven”,   being the place where God is considered to be living, was used.  

[Gen 24:7 The LORD, the God of heaven]

 In Matthew 19:16-24, Christ uses “kingdom of heaven” to speak of the spiritual kingdom. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’” (v. 23). In the very next verse, Jesus says, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  Thus, Christ uses the phrases “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven” interchangeably.

 Thus, the simplest explanation would be that heaven is a name for God.  Thus in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the penitent Son says,

Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you”

 Thus in keeping with their custom, Matthew, used the word "heaven" instead of  "God."  If this is true then we should consider that the two concepts are identitcal.

 However it is also possible that Matthew was using the Jewish mystical understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God.  To understand this we need to look into the Jewish cosmology of Kaballah.

 Thus we can make a distinction between Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven with Kingdom of God including the subset of Kingdom of Heaven. This is the view taken by Scofield.

Five distinctions Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven

 Scofield comments on Matthew 6:33 that the kingdom of God can be distinguished from the kingdom of heaven in five respects.

1. The kingdom of God is universal and includes angels and saints of all ages.

2. The kingdom of God is entered only by the new birth.

3. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven “have almost all things in common.”

4. The kingdom of God is chiefly inward and spiritual while the Kingdom of Heaven is a realized Kingdom in real world.

5.  The kingdom of God merges into the kingdom of heaven when Christ puts all things under His feet.