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P'nei Adonai resources for walking in the presence of God


• Introduction

The Kingdom

• of God? of Heaven?
• as a household
• in Matthew 13

The King

• in the Tenach
• a manifestation of God
• Trinity doctrine

Entering the Kingdom

• who goes to Heaven?
• who goes to Hell?

Sharing the Good News

• praying with people
• praying about sharing
• to the Jew first
• for all cultures
• Messianic Jewish terminology
• countering lies

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Good News

The Kingdom of...?

The writers of the synoptic gospels use the phrases "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven" to refer to everywhere that God's rule is accepted and powerful.

Why are there two phrases that refer to this Kingdom? The word shamayim, heaven, was used by some first-century Jews instead of God's personal name as a sign of respect, in many contexts. To name the Kingdom was just one example of this trend.

To see that the phrases "Kingdom of God" and "Kingdom of Heaven" are synonyms compare Matthew 10:5-8 and 11:11-12 with their parallel passages in Luke, and Matthew 13:10-11, 19:13-15, and 19:22-24 with their parallel passages in Mark and Luke.

There is an ambiguity of which we should be aware. Sometimes these phrases refer to the future, when the Messiah will directly rule all the earth. Sometimes these refer to the present, when this Kingdom is active in the lives of Yeshua's followers but not yet fully established on earth.