KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN vs KINGDOM OF GOD
Hi Patti.
Interesting study...and I can see why some
people perceive the two kingdoms
separately. However, I would like to
suggest that the two kingdoms are actually one
and the same. Please consider the
following quote by our Redeemer:
-
Then Jesus
said to His disciples, "I tell you
the truth, it is hard for a rich man to
enter the Kingdom
of Heaven. 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."
(Matthew 19:23-24)
I reviewed 5 different
Bible versions (KJV, NKJV, NASV, TLB,
and Stern's Hebrew Bible) of Matthew
19. They all are fairly identical with Jesus
first referencing Kingdom
of Heaven and then He
immediately references Kingdom of God.
To me, that could mean
only one thing...that Jesus considered them to
be identical. And perhaps He knew that
somewhere in the future, Christians would be
having this discussion.
My research shows that the phrase, "Kingdom of Heaven,"
is used only in the Book
of Matthew and nowhere else
in the NT. I find that
interesting, but the argument is that
Matthew, who wrote specifically to the Jews, did
not want to offend Jewish sensibilities.
Another thing that's interesting:
"If you compare the synoptic gospels --
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you will find that
Matthew's King of
Heaven exactly parallels Mark's and
Luke's Kingdom of God.
So there is no doubt that they are different
terms describing the same thing."
http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/157.htm
Scripture examples as
follows:
-
Matthew
5:3/Beatitudes ("...for theirs
is the Kingdom
of Heaven") vs Luke
6:20/Beatitudes ("...for yours
is the Kingdom
of God.")
-
Matthew 8:11
("...sit down with...in the Kingdom of Heaven")
vs Luke 13:29 ("...and shall sit
down in the Kingdom
of God").
-
Matthew 11:11-12
("...he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven")
vs Luke 7:28 ("...he that is least
in the Kingdom of
God").
-
Matthew 18:3 ("...not
enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven") vs Mark
10-14 ("...the Kingdom of God...he
shall not enter").
There are more examples, but hopefully, you
will find the "one kingdom" argument
compelling. Blessings!