The Kingdom, Part 1

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Series 5

THE KINGDOM – Part I

June 14th 2026

It is becoming increasingly clear to us that all that we have come to see and believe from the scripture is highly contested by the traditions established before and around us.

That as with any upstart truth in the world, there is, to quote Schopenhauer, three stages - first “ridicule,” followed by “violent resistance,” but ultimately the truth will be seen as “self-evident.”

It has been super important to us to allow all things to flow forth naturally, hopefully by the Spirit of Christ and with our very best intentions, according to the spiritual foundations of the Scripture.

We also readily admit that very few things we have concluded are original, (even if they were original to us along the way) but that most of what we have discussed and even believed was thought of by others before us.

Additionally (and we hope that those of you who have been studying with us will confirm), central to our teachings, findings and positions stands the following,

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We do not offer a new religion but a biblical philosophy open to all people everywhere;

That we do not demand compliance or acceptance of anything we teach and openly admit that we may be wrong on a few (or even many) things, and that,

What we share is free to anyone of any denominational allegiance to use, or embrace according to how they are personally led.

And we stridently maintain that the faith today is subjectively received and understood from a God who knows it all objectively, that there is a Spirit of Man in the world by which we act teleologically and that there is a Spirit of Christ in the world by which we suggest we follow deontologically, and that with God being no respecter of persons, we maintain that all people are individually assessed and rewarded by Him according to His understanding of our hearts individual intentions, will and ways.

Finally, let me say even stress (for the record) that we stand on a foundation of prophets and apostles, with Yeshua the Messiah being the chief cornerstone, and seek to only built upon that Rock and the Spirit of Him that has had victory over everything introduced to us through our first parents.

One of the last items to consider now that we believe we have arrived at a place where a reasonable faith of all of these things rest is on how to understand the Kingdom of God in heaven and on earth.

The answer is far more nuanced than we originally believed, and even very recent realizations have come into our minds that make understanding the Kingdom and how to exist in it simply . . . well, can I say it? Beautiful?

So we want in this fifth series of Sunday Schooled to lay out the foundations for this realization about the Kingdom of God and hope you are able to . . . at least stay awake if not be blessed by the information.

As humans we use language to convey ideas, and language is somewhat limited as words, which means language means different things to different people, depending on age, culture, world view, intelligence, heart and maturity in the things of this world and in the things of the Kingdom.

Because of numerous denominational differences in the world, which God allows, attempts to clarify biblical language which have come forth to the world through creeds, statements of beliefs, and doctrines which have in many ways only served to corral some believers by dividing them and their minds and hearts from others.

The greatest thinkers on linguistics have revolutionized how we understand communication, cognition, and culture relative to language.

So from the structural foundations of language to the biological mechanisms that allow us to acquire it (which is just utterly fascinating), exploring their theories into linguistics offers a fascinating supplement to our respective understanding of others.

Famous human linguists, operating from the Spirit of Man in my estimation, have devoted their entire lives to understanding how humans see and relate to the world around them through words.

The Pioneers of Linguistic structure include de Saussure and Bloomfield, the Revolutionaries of Syntax and Cognition are guys like Chomsky and Steven Pinker, and then the study of the pragmatics and philosophy of Language, Culture and Society come from guys like Austin and Wittgenstein, who, as one of the key figures of 20th-century philosophy, shifted from viewing language as a strict logical code to seeing it as a toolkit of "language games" whose meanings are defined by their actual social use.

I mention all of this today to illustrate how language and linguistics in humans are a foundational wonder that challenge even the most hardened atheists on a Creator but we paradoxically note that words are anything but the absolute bearers of absolute truth to us in this world, in part, because human words are always subject to so many human variables.

Interestingly, when Yeshua asked his apostles, “but who do you say that I am,” we read in Matthew 16:16

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 And Yeshua answered and said unto him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The passages are loaded with meaning with respect to speaking and language.

Three times, references to “speaking or saying” are mentioned here in the communication between Yeshua and Peter but notice that Yeshua declares that the truth of the words that came to Peter came not from man but from “His Father which was in heaven,” emphasizing the import of the Spirit over the words themselves.

Fascinatingly, and to make the point, these very simple words said by Yeshua have been a point of contention between people and have even been used to form the papal line of both the Catholic Church and Orthodoxy.

In other words BILLIONS of souls have devoutly followed these traditions and BILLIONS OF OTHERS have protested the same traditions based on language alone.

Our perspective, after nearly seven thousand years of word wrangling among religious men is that Yeshua’s point was to say that the source that informed Peter of His true identity ought to be the go-to for us, not flesh and blood and not books.

The fact of the matter remains, human beings all see through a glass darkly, we all come from different places and points of view, and God, being no respecter of persons, reads the heart of all, not their understanding of Greek, bible passages, or tradition – because the gates of hell have prevailed against these.

In the face of all of this (plus much more) supplied by the ancient text (which again, can only be rightly discerned by the Spirit) we maintain that especially in the age of fulfillment where God has been reconciled to the world, that knowing Him in spirit and truth triumphs over knowing Him in chapter and verse.

What makes this declaration problematic however is by and through the chapter and verse of the sacred text individuals grow in faith, mature in love, and are strengthen in His Spirit as His Spirit inspires, guides and teaches us what the language conveys.

Taking as many of these things as possible into account, we seek to help create, or begin to create, an understanding of the Kingdom of God in a way that will improve the past leanings that can be confirmed in Spirit and truth AND by the text.

Because the Spirit is involved, here on earth, that tacitly makes understanding subjective which is why we tend to define the Yeshuan approach not as dogmatists nor demanders of doctrine but as

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“individual devotees of the Living God by and through the Spirit of Christ within them.”

And leave it at that. Well, sort of. Because we have also realized that while the faith and maturity of each individual is subjectively lived, there is a need, so to speak, to clarify the overall theme of the Kingdom of which we are apart – and here is the tricky part – the theme of the Kingdom here in those of it, and there of those in it.

We have decidedly stood on the biblically supported notion that all people have a modicum of the Spirit of Christ in them, with or without belief which supports the forgiveness of Adams sin upon us and that has reconciled the world to God.

Again, and without ANY reservation, this model stands on all that Christ has done for the world past, present and future.

Perhaps the best place to begin to try and establish a better understanding of the Kingdom here and there from the Yeshuan perspective of fulfillment is to read the prophetic words of Isaiah who wrote these amazing words,

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the YAHAVAH of hosts will perform this.

So inspiring are these passages that composer Handel included them in His Messiah oratorio known the world over.

They make for good universal feelings of admiration and glory for the King – at least emotionally.

But we have talked about the difficulty of language and words, haven’t we? And even this simple straightforward, King James version there is trouble to be found, therefore disagreements to be had, therefore division that has and will continue to occur.

Because we suggest that unity is a central theme of the Kingdoms members and therefore God’s genuine children, even in these amazing passages we are left to ask –

Wherein lies the truth? In the words themselves or in the Spirit of the words?

Scholars will say, “okay, what resources do we have to vet out the truth of translation?

Knowing the undue influence the Masorite Jews had on the Hebrew Bible version we might say, let’s look to the Septuagint – the one it seems Yeshua quoted when He cited the Tanakh during His incarnation.

Allow a moment of clarification on this tool if you will. Surprisingly, there is no single "correct" English translation of the Septuagint, as different versions were created and designed for entirely different goals, audiences, and reading styles.

What we laymen refer to as “the Septuagint" is actually an eclectic collection of ancient Greek manuscripts (instead of a single unified text) and modern translators approach each collection with different purposes and therefore??? Arrive at different understandings.

We can summarize these versions of the Septuagint into four main collections.

First, the NETS version, which stands for the New English Translation of the Septuagint.

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The NETS – New English Translation of the Septuagint.

The NETS is widely considered the academic standard as it treats the Greek text as a translation of the Hebrew and bases its wording on the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) but alters it to precisely reflect the unique textual variants of the Greek.

The second main Septuagint reference is

Called the SAAS

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The NETS – New English Translation of the Septuagint.

The SAAS – St. Athenasius Study Bible.

(I already have an issue with it because of the word, Saint in front of Athanasius) and it serves as the Old Testament text within the Orthodox Study Bible (known as the OSB).

This version uses the New King James Version (NKJV) as a baseline but adjusts the text wherever the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew Masoretic text (which I think is a step in the right direction).

The third main LXX is called the LES

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The NETS – New English Translation of the Septuagint.

The SAAS – St. Athanasius Study Bible.

The LES – Lexham English Septuagint

And acronym for the Lexham English Septuagint which is a newer translation and unlike the NETS (which views the text through its Hebrew origins), the LES translates the Greek text as a standalone piece of Greek literature as it would have been read in the ancient world.

I like this one best personally. And the fourth is known as the Brenton 1844 LXX

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The NETS – New English Translation of the Septuagint.

The SAAS – St. Athenasius Study Bible.

The LES – Lexham English Septuagint

Brenton 1844 Translation

Which has been sort of the standard for over a century. The Brenton translates the Greek into formal, Elizabethan-style English (similar to the King James Version) but relies on fewer manuscripts than the more modern versions mentioned above.

Taking Isaiah 9:6-7 and comparing the four Septuagint versions we discover that

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the Greek Septuagint (LXX) differs sharply from the familiar Hebrew Masoretic Text (and its English translations like the KJV).

And while the Hebrew lists the beautiful and multiple adjectives for the Messiah (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace), all the Greek translations interpreted these terms with the single line that He would be a, “Messenger of Great Counsel.”

Both the Hebrew and the Septuagint note in the prophecy that a human child would be born to us, and that He would be, “a son given.”

This supports the incarnation and the idea that in and through the incarnation He would be known as “a son” (Son of Man, Son of God Himself) and that is all good, right?

But the Septuagint versions unitedly differ significantly on a few key lines from the Masoretic. How?

Where the Masoretic reads,

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For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (Hebrew Bible)

For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, (LXX)

Another significant difference is the Masoretic Text reads,

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“and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

The LXX translation that incorporate the Hebrew reads,

and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Potentate, Prince of Peace, Father of the Age to come.

This is a super significant difference in the text.

Finally, both the Hebrew and the Septuagint say,

7 His government shall be great, and of his peace there is no end.

Now, we have not gone through all of this to besmirch the Bible nor its insane value to humanity but we have done it to show how words alone will not ever lend “to His government being great as the Father of the Age to come,” but have only led to His governance being divided.

Taking all of this let’s repeat the words of Yeshua to Peter when He, commending Him for saying that, He is the Christ, tSon of the Living God, that Yeshua replied,

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (which we suggest is the Rock of the Father revealing truth to each of us in our hearts and minds, that ) He would build (his called out ones or ekklesia/church) and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

In other words, we maintain that the only thing on earth that the gates of Gehenna could not prevail against was not the information transmitted by flesh and blood nor brick and mortar but the undeniable power of God who brings to man spiritual truths that cannot be shaken.

I want to spend the remainder of our time looking at what the Scripture has to say about both the Kingdom over which He would reign and the increase of it forever and ever and His government as described by Isaiah.

In the Book of Daniel chapter 2 we read the following, cited and interpreted by many in different ways today.

Daniel 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.

4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.

5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.

6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof. {rewards: or, fee}

7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.

8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.

9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.

10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

14 ¶ Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:

15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.

Da 2:16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.

17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:

18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.

25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.

30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

I want to focus on verses 44-45 where the following prophetic words about this kingdom Daniel specifically says,

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:

(compare that to the Kingdom of Israel utterly destroyed between 70 and 134AD)

Then three key lines –

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1, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,

2, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,

3, and it shall stand for ever.

POINT ONE

“and the kingdom shall not be left to other people”

Unlike the Kingdoms around them and even the Nation itself, this promised Kingdom would not be in the hands of any other but God – it will be His alone, governed by Him through His Spirit and not by any other people.

Most of the monolithic religions out to retain religious control in the world (Catholic, Muslim and Jew, most protestant denominations but especially the LDS) try to pass off a Corporatized McDonalds like empire on earth that will govern the world as God’s Kingdom on earth. But God plainly said to Daniel that the Kingdom He would establish WOULD NOT BE LEFT TO OTHER PEOPLE.

So let us disabuse ourselves of the man-made idea that we are needed in any capacity to govern the work of God here on earth. Before the Kingdom came in full, set in the heavenly New Jerusalem and reigning therefrom, Christ left apostles to bring His Bride through the abomination of desolation occurring all around them, but once He returned and saved Her, the Kingdom doors swung wide and God through the Spirit of His Son governs.

Then speaking of this Kingdom Daniel says something else remarkable, ready?

but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,

Notice that the Kingdom itself is prophesied to break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms Nebuchadnezzer emblematically saw in his dream.

This is also a picture very different from a corporate same in all ways Kingdom of Man on earth.

No, His kingdom will break in pieces and in that way is said to comsume all the others.

We maintain that this is happening today by the Spirit of the Reigning Christ from and in the hearts of all who are His in Spirit and Truth.

Finally, we read, echoing Isaiah’s words about the ever increasing kingdom of Christ that will never end, Daniel adds,

3, and it shall stand for ever.

Before leaving Daniel altogether I want to end with another verse in Daniel chapter 7:14 that also describes this Kingdom – listen carefully to what Daniel reports there,

Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

“that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

We maintain that this Kingdom, present in ALL PEOPLE, NATIONS and LANGUAGES would serve Him in this His EVERLASTING DOMINION, which will not pass away and cannot be destroyed.

Much much more on this Kingdom next week in Part II.

Questions/Answers.

Prayer