THE KINGDOM

The Kingdom Part 4

And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. Luke 9:2

Jas 1:27... to keep himself unspotted from the world.

As we discussed in Part 3 James gives us instructions about remaining unspotted from the world. We asked what is that world, of which, we are not to be a part?

When Jesus was brought into the Roman court of Pontius Pilate he said, "My kingdom is not of this world"

In today's society when someone says the word 'world' we might picture a blue planetary globe hanging marble like in the blackness of space as photographed from the moon.

But is that what Christ meant when John used the word 'world' in the gospel to communicate to us what Jesus was telling the judge of that court? There are five different words in the New Testament that are all translated into the single English word 'world'.

Which one was used by Jesus according to John?

Was it the word aeon?

'Aion' means an unbroken age and is far more often translated into variations of the word age.

Another Greek word is 'oikoumene' which originally meant "the portion of the earth inhabited by the Greeks, in distinction from the lands of the barbarians" it commonly has to do with inhabited places including Israel. Kind of a home town world concept. But it does not mean planet.

The word 'ge' is also translated world once but is translated earth about 188 times, land 42, ground 18, country 2 times. This is the closest word to meaning planet earth.

We see it used in John 17:4 "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." But 'ge' is not the word used by Jesus concerning his kingdom not being of this world when he spoke to Pilate.

And then there is the word 'erets'. It is translated land 1543 times, earth 712 times, country 140 times, ground 98 times, world 4 times, way 3 times and common, field and nations once each, for a total of 2504. It means 1) land, earth, soil. But no that is not the word John uses to describe Jesus meaning. This is a good example of how translations can be deceptive. If all these words are produced from the same Greek word then translators may need to be watched more closely.

There are other words like 'epigeios'¹ used by John which means "existing upon the earth, earthly, terrestrial" which clearly could mean planetary but that is not the word used in John either.

So, what word did the author use to describe the world that Jesus Kingdom was not of?

The word 'world' in John 18:36 is translated from the word 'kosmos' which is defined "an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government."² It probably came from the word komizo meaning "to care for, take care of, provide for" or "carry off what is one's own." This is what governments have been doing as ordered or organized systems of men like Cain's first city State, Nimrod's Babylon, Pharaoh's treasure cities, Caesar's Rome and other social Democracies.

When Jesus was born, Augustus was the first Emperor of Roman world order.

"He [Augustus] was now, to quote his own words 'master of all things,' and the Roman world looked to him for some permanent settlement of the distracted Empire. His first task was the re-establishment of a regular and constitutional government, such as had not existed since Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon 20 years before.'"

Rome had not yet "conquered" Israel but had been invited to settle a civil war between two brothers. Back in 66 B.C.when, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, were playing Cain and Able over the Kingdom of God on earth there was a civil war. One brother got the bright idea to invite Pompey, his Roman legions and their benevolent aid to assist in the settlement of this internal dispute.

Aristobulus had made the request in international law for aid. Many countries accepted Roman aid and were required to pay into the Roman effort toward world peace, Pax Romana. These agreements were by treaty. They created mutual legal obligations and bound Rome to keep world peace by force if necessary, maintaining local government integrity.

Aristobulus gained Pompey's favor by giving him gold but when Pompey investigated after complaints from Aristobulus he found by Jewish law that Hyrcanus had a better claim and was the rightful heir to that throne. It is important to note that Rome was a government of laws and understood laws. It did not simply impose their personal whim but through the reason they decided disputes based on the basic laws of man and the specific customs and ordinances of individual countries.

Pompey removed Aristobulus' the usurper and his adherents, the Sadduccees, who still occupied the Temple illegally. He was assisting the supposed lawful holder of dominion in Judea. Hyrcanus did not appealed to Rome but his followers the Pharisees.

First, Aristobulus then the followers of Hyrcanus appealed to Rome for the establishment of their king's dominion. Jesus would not appeal to Rome for protection from the Pharisees and Sadduccees who wish to kill him. If Jesus' kingdom was of the world of Rome the people of Rome would defend him according to the law.

Jesus and His kingdom was not a part of the constitutional order of Rome and its well ordered international world empire. The authority for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth was Our Father in Heaven, the Father of Adam and Noah and Abraham. The will of that heavenly Father is revealed in the hearts of the individual faithful who do not exercise authority one over the other but love their neighbor. All our prayers and applications are to be to our Father who art in heaven and not to any other Father on earth.

Call no man Father

http://www.hisholychurch.net/sermon/father.HTM

The Pharisees had begun to pray and apply to other gods.

There are gods many

http://www.hisholychurch.net/sermon/theosgod.HTM

How was this possible? They had the old testament which told of God's ways. Jesus was constantly quoting from and pointing out where these learned men had read the divine text but got it completely wrong. Could men do that again today? Could they return to the mire of faithless religions and denounce the king of God's kingdom and not even know or understand their folly?

Joh 19:15 But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

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Answering questions about the kingdom.
Flesh and blood,
eating in the kingdom
First Response.