OTHER NAMES FOR THE KINGDOM - PART # 3
OTHER NAMES FOR THE KINGDOM # 1 > Although most often called the "Kingdom of God," other terms are sometimes used in describing the Kingdom. Three of the writers of the Gospels__Mark, Luke and John__use the term "Kingdom of God" to refer to it by name. "Kingdom of heaven" is a term used exclusively by Matthew, with 32 references in his account of Jesus Christ. However, he uses the terms "Kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" interchangeably. In Matthew 19:23__24, he uses the terms in consecutive verses, clearly implying that they were synonymous. Often he calls it simply "the Kingdom." # 2 > Why did Matthew call it "the kingdom of heaven"? Not because heaven is where God is, as Jesus Christ made plain ( MATTHEW 5:34, 45, 48 ). Mathew makes it clear that the Kingdom was not, at that time, an earthly monarchy like the kingdoms around them. However, he understood that it would eventually come as a l...