What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
John2
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What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by John2 »

Here's a new one for me, and I'm mostly curious to learn what others here think rather than making it a huge project since I'm already trying to tackle Babylonian Jewish history at the moment (which spans over a thousand years).

A basic search on the biblehub indicates that this exact expression is only used in the NT, but the concept appears to exist in the OT (and, interestingly, it seems fairly Danielic).

http://biblehub.net/searchot.php?q=kingdom+of+heaven

And I'm surprised to see that the expression in the NT seems to only be in Matthew.

http://biblehub.net/searchnt.php?q=kingdom+of+heaven

Other NT writings use the same concept but call it the "Kingdom of God."

http://biblehub.net/searchnt.php?q=kingdom+of+god

So what is it? If I were to guess, I would say, based on the OT, that it refers to a time when the Torah would be universally observed on earth, including sacrifices, like in Zech. 14:16-21:
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

On that day holy to the Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty.
But does it mean something different in the NT/Christianity? My understanding is that Jesus was pro-Torah and anti-oral Torah, which is why he says in Mt. 5:20, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven," and in 5:23-24, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."

What other meaning does the Kingdom of Heaven/God have in Christianity if not as a time when the Torah, including sacrifices, would be observed on earth?
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Secret Alias
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by Secret Alias »

I had this thought the other day. If the gospel was written post-70 CE then that strongly hints that 'kingdom of heaven' might be anti-messianic. Like the manner in which 'heaven' or 'heavenly' is used to contrast with 'world' or 'worldly' even though - when you think of it - 'heaven,' like ocean might abstractly be a world in itself. For instance fish think of the ocean as a complete 'realm' without any relationship to 'land' or 'air.'

But I strongly suspect that after a failed messianic revolt 'kingdom of heaven' or 'kingdom of God' means what 'heaven' meant to those who emphasized that the 10 commandments were from God - not a man. In the same way 'heaven' or 'God' in kingdom of ... implies something otherworldly.
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Charles Wilson
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by Charles Wilson »

Matthew 23: 13 (RSV):

[13] "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.

So the S&Ps shut the Kingdom of Heaven against MEN - not celestial Beings or Angels and the like. Further, the S&Ps - men themselves - do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Luke 13: 23 - 24 (RSV):

[23] And some one said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them,
[24] "Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

If the Kingdom of Heaven is something that real, physical people keep other, real, physical people from entering, do we have any other indication that the Kingdom of Heaven is a Real, Physical Place? We are told that you must "Strive to enter by the narrow door...". That could certainly be taken as a description of something not Metaphysical at all. Is there more?

Matthew 18: 1 - 4 (RSV):

[1] At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
[2] And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them,
[3] and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
[4] Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

This is not Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The "Narrow Door" is so small that you must "...turn and become like children..." or you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Notice that several Translations have "...CHANGE and become like children...". The Transvaluation need not be on Orders from the Church. Believers will see what they want to see.

The Kingdom of Heaven was a REAL, PHYSICAL PLACE. I'll leave it to each of you to figure out where that Place was (Hint: It's where the Priests stayed when they were in Jerusalem for Mishmarot Service).

CW

Edit Note: For this to make sense, there has to be a reason for someone to have to make themselves small enough to enter through the "Narrow Door" in order to be able to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. That is, the S&Ps are keeping people (Priests) from entering the Kingdom of Heaven through any "regular" door. What would that reason be? One possibility would be the Temple Slaughter of 4 BCE where 3000 are killed at Passover and Passover is cancelled. See: Josephus, Antiquities..., 17, 9, 3 and Wars..., 2, 1, 3. On this view, the Romans rewrite this Story and the Transvalue it as the NT is composed, creating the "Jesus" character. The Kingdom of Heaven thus becomes a "Heavenly Attainment", not a description of Death at the Passover where Archelaus reigned.
John2
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by John2 »

I'm soaking in the comments (thanks guys) as I take a look at the Kingdom of Heaven references in Matthew, and 7:21-23 is jumping right out at me; it seems to illustrate perfectly what I'm thinking the Kingdom of Heaven is (i.e., earthly Torah observance):
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
My impression is that Jesus is saying that believing in him as Lord and performing exorcisms and miracles is not enough to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but rather it is "only the one who does the will of my Father," which I take as a reference to Torah observance. What else would it be in this context? Plus I get this impression anyway elsewhere in Matthew (and from Jewish Christians who used Matthew).
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Ben C. Smith
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by Ben C. Smith »

John2 wrote: Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:34 pmMy impression is that Jesus is saying that believing in him as Lord and performing exorcisms and miracles is not enough to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but rather it is "only the one who does the will of my Father," which I take as a reference to Torah observance.
Do you think that Paul has Torah observance in mind when he refers to the kingdom of God?
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John2
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by John2 »

Mt. 18 (as Charles mentioned) is interesting too, particularly Jesus' references to "stumbling" (σκανδαλίζω), which calls to my mind James 2:10, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles [πταίω/ptaio] at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it," since both σκανδαλίζω and πταίω appear to be synonyms.
ptaió: to cause to stumble, to stumble
Original Word: πταίω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ptaió
Phonetic Spelling: (ptah'-yo)
Short Definition: I stumble, fall, sin
Definition: I stumble, fall, sin, err, transgress.

http://biblehub.com/greek/4417.htm
skandalizó: to put a snare (in the way), hence to cause to stumble, to give offense
Original Word: σκανδαλίζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: skandalizó
Phonetic Spelling: (skan-dal-id'-zo)
Short Definition: I cause to stumble
Definition: I cause to stumble, cause to sin, cause to become indignant, shock, offend.

http://biblehub.com/greek/4624.htm
And my understanding is that the Letter of James and Matthew are thought to be related, as discussed in Matthew, James, and Didache: Three Related Documents in Their Jewish and Christian settings, for example.

https://books.google.com/books?id=CkRmO ... he&f=false

Bearing this (apparent) relationship in mind, I see the "stumbling" that Jesus talks about in Mt. 18:1-9 as referring to Torah observance (and thus akin to James 2:10), which, again, would be in keeping with the rest of Matthew (and with the use of Matthew by Jewish Christians). What other kind of "stumbling" would it refer to in this context?

Mt. 18:1-9:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
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John2
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by John2 »

Ben wrote:
Do you think that Paul has Torah observance in mind when he refers to the kingdom of God?
No way, Jose. This (in my view) is what made him so disliked by at least some Jewish Christians (and surely the kind who used Matthew).
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gmx
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by gmx »

Is the kingdom of heaven equivalent to the kingdom of God? Synoptic parallels to Mark 1:15 would indicate that is the case?

Why does Matthew alone alter the phrase?
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Charles Wilson
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by Charles Wilson »

John 2 --

Although we differ a bit on the Organization of Matthew here, I believe you have a good point:

Matthew 18: 8 - 9 (RSV):

[8] And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
[9] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

What must you do to enter life?

Matthew 19: 17 (RSV):

[17] And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments."

This is the sad irony of the Story that was rewritten. The Priests who congregate into the Kingdom of Heaven are without blemish and they Keep the Commandments. Archelaus (supposedly) orders out the troops into the Temple area and 3000 die. A few are saved but they are now in the Kingdom of Heaven - a Place where the Scribes and Pharisees cannot enter - and they are very hacked up.

CW
John2
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Re: What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

Post by John2 »

The parable of the weeds, for example, is thought to be anti-Pauline, and I think it also illustrates the Kingdom of Heaven being about Torah observance (and all of Mt. 13 is looking interesting re: what the Kingdom of Heaven is, but one thing at a time here).

Mt. 13:24-29:
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”
I don't know what word the Recognitions of Clement (which is thought to incorporate an earlier Jewish Christian source) uses, but Paul (or arguably Paul) is called an "enemy" there too. But if this parable is anti-Pauline, I suppose it would mean that it wouldn't be a genuine saying of Jesus, but perhaps a later Jewish Christian one.

But Paul is making me wonder about how the resurrection fits into this "Kingdom of Heaven" idea. Maybe Mk. 12:24-27 (which is picked up by Matthew) is in this vein.
Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
I don't know. Does this mean that the resurrected will be in heaven, or only like angels in heaven (but here on earth)? Does Jesus (or any Jewish Christian writing) foresee a "rapture" to heaven, or is it only in Paul? I can't think of anything offhand, but I've never thought about it before.
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