The Kingdom of God in the Lord’s Prayer

Readers of the Bible will find in the book a variety of biblical descriptions of the kingdom of God.  The Lord’s Prayer, taught by Jesus to his disciples, is memorized by most Christians who consider it as a model for their own petitions to God.  As given in the gospel of Matthew, it starts with the following words:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)

These starting verses recognize God’s sovereignty and refer to Jesus’ primary mission, which is about the kingdom of God.  That kingdom already exists in heaven and must be established on earth.  Today, many Christians actually believe that the kingdom of God only exists in heaven, and that they will become part of it only after they die.  This of course is a serious misunderstanding of one of the most important parts of Jesus’ teaching.  It is true that he taught about eternal life and rewards in heaven.  But all his moral teaching was driven by the need to provide guiding principles for life in the kingdom of God on earth.

Biblical Descriptions of the Kingdom of God: The Old Testament

Long before Jesus came, Old Testament prophets had visions of a future era brought about by God himself, an era of enlightenment ushered in by a messianic leader.  The prophets provided descriptions of the state of affairs when this kingdom of God is established.  A few of them are given below.

“In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains;
It will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Many people will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many people.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2:2-5)

This amazing vision of peaceful coexistence between nations is also found in Micah 4:1-3, but Micah adds to it the notion that fear itself will disappear.

“Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.” (Micah 4:4)

Indeed there is no fear in a transformed world where the most unlikely partners will be able to live together without harming each other:

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-8, see also Isaiah 65:25)

This state of affairs is possible because God himself puts his knowledge in his people.  He enlightens them and teaches them his will.  Through his light, they come to recognize that his peace and his righteousness should be their guiding principles:

“I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler.
No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.
Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.” (Isaiah 60:18-21)

These verses put a special emphasis on the fact that light from the Lord is a necessary ingredient for the establishment of the kingdom of God.  Indeed, all members of the kingdom must submit themselves to the Lord’s will and let his light shine inside them and make all of them righteous.  The author of Revelation has the above passage in mind when he describes the New Jerusalem that emerges at the end of the cosmic battle between good and evil (Revelation 21:22-23).  In fact, the book of Revelation endorses Isaiah’s insights regarding new heavens and a new earth where there will be prosperity for all, and people will live long:

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands.
They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.” (Isaiah 65:17-23)

According to these verses, the longer lifespans described in the book of Genesis will be restored, and the curse of Adam, according to which toiling is required for subsistence, will be lifted.  People will be able to enjoy the fruit of their labor for a long time, and humans will no longer take advantage of each other.  The idea of prosperity and longer lifespans for all is even pushed further in Isaiah 25:6-8 as seen below:

“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
He will swallow up death forever.  The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:6-8)

The concept of death swallowed up forever, which is picked up by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54, takes man back to the immortality he presumably had in the Garden of Eden.

Restoration Without the Use of Violence

However, it is clear that God will only accomplish these things among people who have surrendered to his will.  His will is brought to mankind by his Son, Jesus Christ, who set the standard by which man must live in the kingdom of God.  That standard is based on the ideas of love, peace and mutual forgiveness.  In particular, it is important to notice that the idea of emancipation from oppression, as it applies to the Israelites in the Bible, progresses from violent resistance or even aggression to non-violent action and reliance on God.  Indeed, while the liberation from Egyptian domination and the conquest of Canaan occur through a combination of military action and what might be described as violent divine intervention, history progresses towards less use of violence.  The Jews are able to return from Babylonian exile not because of their military might, but because God himself protects them, orders their captors to free them and even pays the appropriate ransom as explained in Isaiah 43:1-7.

For future times, the Jews are told to rely on God’s intervention rather than military preparation.  This point can be understood by examining Ezekiel’s insights as provided in the story of a king he calls Gog, of the land of Magog.  This king makes preparations to invade the land of the returned Jews, thinking that they are completely defenseless (Ezekiel 38:11-12).  The Jews are saved, not because they fight back, but through divine intervention.  This divine intervention takes the forms usually assumed by Old Testament prophets, such as powerful natural phenomena which do not require human action (Ezekiel 38:18-20, 22, 39:6).  It also occurs by the sword, which implies that men participate in the process.  However, Ezekiel excludes participation from the Jews by describing, instead, a battlefield where “every man’s sword will be against his brother” (Ezekiel 38:21).  In other words, Gog’s men will destroy each other.  This story is picked up by the author of Revelation (Revelation 20:7-10), and again, the final victory of good over evil is obtained through divine intervention and with no acts of violence committed by the saints.

In summary, the idea of the kingdom of God was, before Jesus came, presented by prophets such as Isaiah who linked it with the future restoration of Israel, even though there was no specified date for its coming.  That kingdom must be built on earth, and Jesus came to explain God’s expectations of mankind in order to build it.  These expectations require a radical change in man’s attitude, and Jesus warned his disciples that there was a high cost associated with following him.  His followers must accept that cost while hoping for the rewards associated with the pursuit of the kingdom of God.  It is quite obvious that today, two millennia after Jesus started his movement, even the Christian world is very far from Isaiah’s vision.  Could it be because, somewhere along the way, Christians decided to circumvent the more difficult half of his message, the one about the high cost?