Typically, Bible students either believe the Kingdom is a literal, physical time and place or is merely a metaphor for something else. HI all, This verse is found in Matthew 11:12.I have searched a few commentaries but they waffle on the key points and it is most frustrating. Set a priority. While Matthew, who addresses himself to the Jews, speaks for the most part of the “kingdom of God,” which has the same meaning as the “kingdom of heaven,” but … I have two questions: 1) How does the kingdom of heaven suffer violence /who is violent against it? Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. In Biblical times, many people believed that someone who was poor or suffering was being punished by God for sins. Jesus goes on to tell the multitudes, "& from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of God suffers violence.." 1. kingdom suffers violence. Matthew 11:12 The key to understanding Jesus' words lies in understanding how the phrase "kingdom of God" or "kingdom of heaven" is used.We know that the Kingdom of God has a future aspect, when Christ will rule over the nations and His glorified brothers and sisters will reign with Him. The kingdom of heaven suffered violence from those who wanted to force their way in instead of the way announced. The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus’ preaching, according to the Synoptic Gospels. God’s Kingdom is a real government established by Jehovah God. All Nations Hating God Unable To Do Other Things Not Hating Satan, Kingdom Of The Witness Of Christ World Opposed To God Hatred Persecution, Forms Of The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” In fact, he is more explicit than that in Luke 11:20: “If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God … The Bible says: “He cares for you.” ( 1 Peter 5:7 ) In fact, God hates to see suffering much more than we do. If you asked a group of people to define it, you would probably get a variety of answers. The Law and the Prophets … 15 So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. The phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ (also ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ or ‘Kingdom of Light’) appears more than 80 times in the New Testament. In order to understand how a first century Jewish audience might have understood the phrase “kingdom of heaven” or “kingdom of God” is to examine messianic expectations from the Second Temple Period. This is purely a judgment call on the part of the translators and commentators. Jehovah has deep love for people. The weekly Sabbath, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which we recently observed with others of faith at time of this writing, both are intended to point us toward the time when God’s Kingdom will be established on the earth. You cannot lack these (and many more) in you and claim to have the kingdom of heaven. 4 At Habakkuk 2:2, 3, we read God’s answer to Habakkuk’s questions and His promise to correct the situation. The kingdom of God was one of Jesus’ most talked about topics, but it’s hardly a well-grasped concept for believers today. He says in verse 28, "If it is by the power of the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Good question! To show by the Scriptures the difference between the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God," the Holy Spirit has put this little nugget of truth within the Gospel of Matthew: "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it … So Jesus Christ says that, when John the Baptist preached the Word of God the Kingdom of God suffered violence. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God … When Jesus does battle with Satan by the Spirit of God, and begins to plunder the strong man's house (v. 29), freeing people from his bondage, the powers of the kingdom are at work and the kingdom is already present. Adam Clarke Commentary. I have 8 professors on my dads side of the family and I hate almost everybody on his side including my mom because they are godless money worshiping heathen who think it’s okay to abuse their family and slander poor people. a.) “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” The “violence” that the Lord said the kingdom had suffered since John’s day was the violent resistance that the unbelieving leaders in Israel waged against the proclamation of the kingdom gospel. Conversely, wealth was believed to be a sign of God… (Mark 1:14, 15; Matthew 4:17, King James Version) It shares many attributes of human governments, yet it … Kingdom of God, also called Kingdom Of Heaven, in Christianity, the spiritual realm over which God reigns as king, or the fulfillment on Earth of God’s will.The phrase occurs frequently in the New Testament, primarily used by Jesus Christ in the first three Gospels. Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and … Verses 12-15: “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence” (Greek biazomai): The meaning of this saying, and the connection of (verses 12-14), with proceeding and following contexts, indicates that John opened the kingdom of heaven to sinners and thus became the culminating point of Old Testament witness. The kingdom of heaven “suffers violence” (passive), but men “enter violently” into it (middle). For what is prized among men is detestable before God. The kingdom of God is not going to appear immediately, and yet repeatedly, Jesus says, “The kingdom is at hand. Why does the bible say the kingdom of heaven suffers violence? The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence - The tax-gatherers and heathens, whom the scribes and Pharisees think have no right to the kingdom of the Messiah, filled with holy zeal and earnestness, seize at once on the proffered mercy of the Gospel, and so take the kingdom as by force from those learned doctors who claimed for themselves the chiefest places in that kingdom. Let me stop and say something about this violence. The Kingdom Suffers Violence. Understanding this point is vitally important in terms of entering the Kingdom of God because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Within these two broad categories, there are multiple variants of belief. Jesus is the ruler of a new kingdom, and he calls His followers to make pursuing His kingdom a priority. John is called the greater because he was the transition to turning the work over to the Messiah (Jn.3:30) and then Jesus states that those who are least are even greater than he in the kingdom. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence [G971], and the violent [G973 from G971] take it by force. Luke 17:20-21 ESV / 351 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. In Luke 16:16 ("the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it"), the Greek word translated as "pressing" in the New King James is the same word translated as "suffers violence" in Matthew 11:12 (biazo). II. The kingdom of heaven consists all of the following; joy, peace, patience, happiness, love, fear of God, righteousness, wisdom, understanding, purity, holiness, hate of evil, etc. This background should shed some light on the phrase “kingdom of God.” A former student of mine once asked something like, “If the… “The kingdom of God” is also called “the kingdom of heaven” in the Bible, since it rules from heaven. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. Jehovah has deep love for people. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. Most of these references occur in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.While the exact term is not found in the Old Testament, the existence of God’s Kingdom is expressed similarly in the Old Testament. It is wrong to assume that someone who suffers is being punished for his or her sins or those of an ancestor (Job 1:1, 1:13-22, John 9:1-3). Matthew 11:12: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Luke 16:16: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.” Matthew 3:1-2 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is one of those scriptures that can only be understood through context and the spirit - taking it out of context and viewing it as a skeptic leads to interpretations that Jesus clearly would not have intended. Oh my dear friends, this violence is a picture of how people feel internally in their hearts and minds when they really come to understand the danger that they are in. 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