A DIFFERENT KIND OF A KINGDOM
A DIFFERENT KIND OF A KINGDOM
“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end but it will itself endure forever” (Dan. 2:44).
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and the above verse is part of Daniel’s inspired interpretation of the dream. In the king’s dream he saw an enormous dazzling statue that represented four earthly kingdoms: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. In his essay on The Fate of Empires Sir John Glubb (1897 – 1986) estimated the average duration of an empire is about 250 years. The four kingdoms in this dream lasted less than that. The kingdom in our text, however, endures forever!
In the days of “those kings”, that is “the Roman kings” God promised to establish a different kind of a kingdom. Both John the Baptist and Jesus called it “The Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). They both preached that “the kingdom of heaven is near”. This new kingdom would be different from earthly kingdoms. It would never be destroyed and it would endure forever!
The four earthly kingdoms were part of the same statue. They were similar. The people in all those kingdoms were the same kind of people. The people in this new kingdom, however, had a different origin. They are represented by a rock quarried without the use of human hands. This rock struck the statue at its feet and it collapsed and became like chaff on a summer threshing floor. Then the rock grew to such proportions that it filled the whole earth. It was a different kind of a kingdom!
The four earthly kingdoms all relied upon force. Nebuchadnezzar, for example, was an absolute dictator. All the people and nations of every language feared him. Those he wanted to put to death he put to death he put to death. Those he wanted to spare he spared (Dan. 5:18,19). Those who dared to disagree with him he could cut in pieces or throw into a fiery furnace. His mighty kingdom, however, came to an end in a single night (Dan. 5:30). The other three kingdoms also perished.
While all earthly kingdoms depend upon force the practice of “decimation” by the Romans is particularly brutal. If a commander in the army saw the need for discipline he divided his soldiers into groups of ten. Each group drew lots, and the soldier upon whom the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades. The other nine were also eligible for execution and so were given reduced rations and forced for a few days to live outside the camp. These soldiers were controlled by force and fear!
Jesus, by comparison, never forced anyone to do anything. When the multitudes deserted Him He turned to the Twelve and asked: “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Peter answered: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn. 6:66-69). The following verse reveals that Jesus knew Judas would betray Him, but even Judas was not cast out or disciplined. This was a different kind of kingdom.
Napoleon Bonaparte said: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for him.” The Kingdom of Christ endures forever!
When Jesus was on trial Pilate asked Him: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place” (Jn. 18:33-36). As we have said, this was the kingdom of heaven. It did not destroy the Roman Empire by physical force, but it quietly and peacefully transforming it from within. Jesus said: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matt. 13:33). The Roman Empire did not change the church, the church changed the Roman Empire!
Jesus truly is king of a different kind of kingdom. When asked “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’” (Matt. 18:1-4). Little children, of course, cannot rely on force to get their way.
LET US DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO BELONG TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN!