The Nugget:
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
My Comment:
Matthew 21:43 is one of the most important texts in the Bible about Bible prophecy and the status of the nation of Israel in Bible prophecy. In Matthew 4:17 we see the Kingdom Announced. In Matthew 21:43 we see the Kingdom Withdrawn. In the next Daily Bible Nugget I plan to present material on Luke 21:31, where we see the Kingdom Postponed.
To understand what the Bible teaches about Bible prophecy, it is important to study carefully the material below. What is presented here may not be what you have heard or read from other sources. I believe, however, that what is presented here is strictly Biblical.
The Lesson:
SERIES TITLE: Getting Hooked on the Book
SUBJECT: New Treasury and The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury Introduction
SESSION TWELVE: Christ’s Earthly Ministry. The Kingdom Taken Away or Withdrawn
LESSON OBJECTIVE: To see in prophecy and fulfillment that the kingdom, rejected by the Jewish nation, has been taken from them.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Furnish each student with a Bible and a copy of the cross references presented below.
SCRIPTURE TEXT: Matthew 21:43
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Matthew 21:43
The kingdom of God. +Mat 21:31, Mat 3:2; +*Mat 8:11; +*Mat 8:12; Mat 10:7; +Mat 12:28; Mat 24:14, Isa 28:2, Joel 2:28 note. Mar 1:15, Luk 9:11; Luk 10:10, 11; Luk 11:20; +*Luk 17:20 note, Luk 17:21; *Luk 19:11; Luk 21:31; Luk 23:42, *Joh 3:3; *Joh 3:5, *Joh 18:36, Act 1:3, **1Co 15:50 note. +*Col 1:13.
shall be taken. +Mat 21:41, Mat 13:12; **Mat 22:8, Deut 32:21, %**1Ki 11:39, Jer 22:5; Jer 23:39, Hos 3:4, **+Mic 5:3, Zec 11:3; Zec 11:9; Zec 13:8, Mar 4:25, Luk 14:24; Luk 19:26, %Joh 11:48; Joh 12:35, +Act 13:46.
from you. Mat 4:17; *Mat 8:11; *Mat 8:12; Mat 22:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, Mar 10:31, *Luk 13:28; Luk 14:15-24; *Luk 17:22; Luk 19:11-27; Luk 19:41, 42, 43, 44; +*Luk 21:31, Rom 11:17; Rom 11:28, *Heb 4:6.
and given. +*Isa 65:13, Eze 37:21, 22, 23, 24, **Dan 7:27, Hos 1:10, 11, Mar 12:9, +*Luk 12:32; Luk 14:23, 24; Luk 20:16.
a nation. Mat 17:26, +*Exo 19:5; +*Exo 19:6, Deut 32:21, **Psa 102:18 note. *Isa 26:2; +*Isa 54:1; Isa 65:9; Isa 65:13; Isa 66:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, Luk 3:8, +*Joh 10:16, Act 13:46; Act 18:6, 2Th 2:1, **1Pe 2:9, Rev 1:5, 6; **Rev 5:9; **Rev 5:10; **Rev 20:6.
bringing forth. Mat 21:41, *Mat 3:10; +*Mat 24:45, +*Lev 26:40, 41, 42, *Isa 5:4; *Isa 5:7; Isa 35:7, +*Hos 3:5; **Hos 5:15, +**Act 3:19, 20, 21, *Rom 14:17, 1Co 13:2, *Eph 5:9, +**Col 1:10.
PROCEDURE:
A. Read the Scripture text aloud to the class.
B. Let each of several members turn to, then read in turn to the class, the references in full to each clause of this verse as given above.
C. Raise the questions:
- In the light of Christ’s use of the term “kingdom of God” here, whereas Matthew more frequently uses the term “kingdom of heaven,” are these terms a reference to the same thing, or something different? That is, Is the Kingdom of Heaven different from the Kingdom of God? Note especially Matthew 8:11, 12, where essentially the same prediction is made under the term “kingdom of heaven.”
- Note carefully that Jesus states “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you.” What, then, is the kingdom? Certainly not the church, the gospel, the Christian dispensation, spiritual reign, or God’s reign in the heart. None of these things were taken from the Jews. What, then, did they lose?
- Note carefully the reference to Micah 5:3, which is a prediction that the kingdom would be taken from the Jews, necessitated by the phrase “Therefore will he give them up.” That this is not a permanent condition is signaled by the next word, “until.”
- What is that nation to whom the kingdom is to be given, now that it has been taken from the Jews?
- When will this new nation actually be given the kingdom?
Will national Israel have a part in this kingdom in the future, and if so, what part will Israel take? See 1 Corinthians 15:50 note.
Micah 5:3
Mic 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
Micah 5:3
Therefore. Mic 7:13, Hos 2:9; Hos 2:14.
give them up. Mic 6:14, 1Ki 14:16, 2Ch 30:7, Isa 49:1-23, Hos 11:8, Zec 13:7, 8, 9, **+Mat 21:43.
until the time. +*Psa 102:13; +*Psa 102:16, Hos 3:4, 5; +*Hos 5:15; Hos 6:2, *Mat 19:28; +*Mat 23:39, +*Luk 21:24, +**Act 3:19, +*Rom 11:25.
she which travaileth. *Mic 4:10, +*Gen 3:15, +*Isa 7:14; +*Isa 66:7; +*Isa 66:8, $Mat 1:21; $Mat 1:23; +*Mat 24:8, *Joh 16:21; *Joh 16:22, Gal 4:4, *Rev 12:1; *Rev 12:2.
brought forth. **Mat 19:28, Rev 12:5.
then the remnant. Mic 5:7, 8, Mic 2:12; +Mic 4:7; Mic 7:18, +Isa 1:9; *Isa 10:5; *Isa 10:6; *Isa 10:20-22; Isa 11:11; Isa 37:4; Isa 37:31, Jer 23:3; Jer 31:1; Jer 31:7, 8, 9, Eze 6:8; +Eze 14:22, Joe 2:32, Amos 5:15, Zep 2:7; Zep 2:9; Zep 3:13, Rom 9:27, 28; Rom 11:4, 5, 6.
his brethren. Mat 12:50; Mat 25:40, Rom 8:29, *Heb 2:11; *Heb 2:12.
1 Corinthians 15:50
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
1 Corinthians 15:50
this I say. 1Co 1:12; 1Co 7:29, Rom 10:19; Rom 15:8, 2Co 9:6, Gal 3:17; Gal 5:16, Eph 4:17, Col 2:4.
that. 1Co 6:13, Mat 16:17, **Luk 20:35; **Luk 20:36, Joh 3:3, 4, 5, 6, *2Co 5:1.
flesh and blood. *FS171Q11, +Mat 16:17. There are two classes of people who will live eternally upon the earth: (1) the saints, who as co-heirs with Christ (+*Rom 8:17) are given glorified bodies (1Co 15:52), who possess the kingdom (Dan 7:18) and rule over the kingdom (Rev 20:4; Rev 20:6) as its inheritors (Mat 25:34); (2) natural people, described here as “flesh and blood” who are the eternal subjects of the kingdom, who eternally perpetuate the natural race of earthly men in the flesh (+Psa 72:5, Isa 59:21, *Eze 37:25, Luk 1:32, 33, *2Pe 3:13 note). These two distinct and separate classes are symbolized by the “barren woman” and the “married woman” (+*Isa 54:1), the latter depicting the body of Christ, the glorified saints, who are a fixed number, and do not increase (Luk 20:35). The “barren woman,” representing Israel, depicts those who will live on the earth in the flesh and continue to multiply, eventually surpassing in number the glorified saints (see Peters, Theocratic Kingdom, vol. 2, pp. 130-140). +Psa 72:5, *+Mat 16:17, %+*Luk 24:39, %Joh 3:13, Gal 1:16, %+*Eph 5:30; Eph 6:12, Heb 2:14, 15.
cannot. +**1Co 6:9, **Joh 3:3; **Joh 3:5; **Joh 3:7, *Gal 5:21.
inherit. Those who inherit the kingdom are the resurrected and glorified saints who rule and possess the kingdom as joint heirs with Christ at the second advent. “Flesh and blood” refers to the natural people in the flesh who are subjects of the kingdom (See Peters, Theocratic Kingdom, vol. 2, pp. 552, 573, 588), who will live forever on the earth ( +*2Pe 3:13 note). T976x, T978x.
1Co 15:45. Mat 11:11. Mat 21:43, %*Joh 3:13, %+*Act 2:34 x, +*Rom 8:17, +*Eph 1:11 note. *1Pe 3:18.
the kingdom of God. Those (often of materialist and Arian persuasion) who cite this text in proof that a saved person does not go immediately upon death to be with Christ (**2Co 5:8, *Php 1:23) have confused the “kingdom of God” with heaven, which it is not. Neither is the church the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven (Isa 60:21 note). The kingdom of God or Heaven is the future permanent and eternal (Dan 7:14, Rev 11:15) earthly reign of Jesus Christ in a theocratic kingdom whose capital is Jerusalem (Jer 3:17, Mic 4:7, Zep 3:15), a reign which extends to all the earth (Zec 14:9), in fulfillment of the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants (+**Gen 12:2 note. +**2Sa 7:10 note. +**Act 7:5; +**Isa 55:3). The kingdom of God is identical to the kingdom of heaven. Those (particularly dispensationalists) who make a distinction between the “kingdom of heaven” and the “kingdom of God” have confused the “kingdom of God” with the “sovereignty of God.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses, who make much of this text, fail to note the one essential requirement to enter the earthly kingdom, the new birth (Eze 36:25, 26, **Joh 3:3; **Joh 3:5; **Joh 3:7 note. +**Act 3:19, 20, 21), a requirement which they deny, which is proof enough that they, like the unbelieving Jews of Jesus’s day, will have no part or place in it (+*Mat 8:11; +*Mat 8:12). +**1Co 6:9, Jer 3:17, Mic 4:7, Zep 3:15, **Zec 14:9, +**Joh 3:3; +**Joh 3:5; +**Joh 3:7, +*Act 14:22, *+Rom 14:17, Rev 11:15.
neither doth. FS96B1, 1Co 15:12, i.e. can. Paul shows that the kingdom of God is yet future (Col 1:13 note. 2Ti 4:1 note), it is inherited (+*Eph 1:11 note) only by regenerated saints as co-heirs with Christ (+*Rom 8:17), who will enter the kingdom with glorified bodies, as his subsequent discussion (1Co 15:51, 52, 53) shows, by means of resurrection or glorification. +*Mat 19:28, +*Act 3:21, Rom 8:17, Col 1:13, +*2Ti 4:1.
corruption. +1Co 15:42, Psa 16:10, Rev 20:13.
incorruption. 1Co 15:42; 1Co 15:52, +*Mat 6:20, *1Pe 1:4.
CONCLUSION:
- After consulting the references supplied to each clause of this lesson’s Scripture text, answer the question: “What common thread of truth ties this set of references together?”
- What What conclusions do you draw about the Bible’s own teaching regarding the subjects dealt with in this lesson’s Scripture text?
- What instruction or encouragement do you derive from the insights received from this comparison of related Bible texts?