Pilgrimer said:
You are defining "the kingdom of God" as the rule or dominion of God which was created for Jesus after he defeated sin and death and sat down on the right hand of God. That is the Hebrew word "misrah" which is translated "government" (Isa 9:6) and the Greek word "hegeomoi" which is translated "governor" in Matthew 2:6.
But there is also "the kingdom of God" meaning the territory or realm or country that is the abode of God which is a heavenly or spiritual kingdom. You are failing to understand many things because you fail to see the distinction between the kingdom of God (the rule) and the kingdom of God (the realm). To clarify his meaning Paul calls it a "country" (patris) in Hebrews 11:16. Elsewhere the word used is "basilea" which can mean either the rule of or the realm ruled over. The context determines which. For example, it is self-evident that the kingdom Jesus spoke of in Matthew 8:11 is that heavenly country Paul explained.
But the rule that Jesus was given was not "created." Jesus' dominion is the Father's rule that the Father has given over into Jesus' hands to administer. That's why Jesus is not seated on a throne of his own, but is in fact seated at the right hand of God in the Father's throne, ruling and reigning until he has subdued all his enemies, the last enemy being death, at which time Jesus will deliver the kingdom back up the Father so that God may be all and in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Is that taken directly from your Bible? Because all of my translations say something drastically different. It states that the 144,000 are Jews, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. The “bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” are “a great multitude, which no man could number.”
And further, Jesus didn’t limit the number of those who would sit in his throne and rule with him to 144,000 Jews, he said “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Revelation 3:20-21
The Watchtower doctrines have many problems and this is only a couple of them.
In Christ,
Pilgrimer
That God's kingdom is a heavenly government (and not just the "abode of God") can be seen that Jesus called it "the kingdom of the heavens" at Matthew 4:17; 5:3, 10, 19, 20; 7:21; 8:11; 10:7; 11:11, 12; 13:11, 24, 31, 33. And that it is a literal working government that can successfully remove all political governments from the earth is seen at Daniel 2:44, for it involves more than just its location, but rather a purpose.
It has unrivaled power and was created long before Jesus Jesus defeats sin and death (having to in order to defeat sin and death and all political governments), for that is yet future, and we all still grow old and die.
Adamic death, as "the last enemy"(1 Cor 15:26), is defeated only after obedient mankind is brought to perfection (like Adam before his rebellion, after the 144,000 joint heirs of Christ [Rom 8:17] apply Jesus shed blood in their behalf as "priests"[Rev 1:6]) at the end of Jesus "thousand year" reign, for Revelation 20:14 says that "(Adamic) death and Hades (mankind's common grave) were hurled into the lake of fire (eternal destruction). This means the second death (from which there is no resurrection, for Adamic death is the 1st death)".
Here at Daniel 2:44, it says that Jehovah God "will set up a kingdom (or bring into existence) that will never be brought to ruin......It will crush (Aramaic
dqaq, meaning "to crumble or crush") and put and end to all these kingdoms (all the political governments now existing), and it itself will stand to times indefinite."
And at Daniel 2:45, it further says that "forasmuch as you beheld out of the mountain a stone was
cut not with hands, and that it crushed the iron, the copper, the molded clay, the silver and the gold", all political governments pictured by the various metals of the "image" (that started with ancient Babylon ["head of gold"] down to the "molded clay" [and iron] or Anglo-American dual world power).
This "stone" did not exist before it was "cut not with hands" by God, who created it for a specific purpose, to restore peace on the earth that was lost when Adam rebelled in the Garden of Eden. This peace involves the removal of sin and death and the transforming the earth into a paradise, that fell through when Adam accepted Satan's rulership.(Gen 3:1-6)
In removing sin and the penalty of death that we each received from our forefather Adam, Isaiah 25 says: "And in this mountain (the same "mountain" as at Daniel 2:45, Jehovah's universal sovereignty) he (Jehovah God) will certainly swallow up the face of the envelopment (sin) that is enveloping over all the peoples, and the woven work (sin) that is interwoven upon all the nations. He will actually swallow up (Adamic) death forever [caused by sin or ' missing the mark ' of perfect obedience, Hebrew
chat·ta’th], and the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces."(Isa 25:7, 8) Sin is likened to clothing that envelops us; that is interwoven into our very being.(that is why we age and die)
Jesus established what the "kingdom" will do, focusing on its role in removing sin and death and transforming the earth into the paradise that is God's purpose for it, by healing people and resurrecting the dead.(Matt 9:35; Luke 7:14,15) He also gave details of who are the ones selected to make up that "kingdom". The nation of Israel, though initially chosen to God's "special property" and make up "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation", proved disloyal.(Ex 19:5, 6)
Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders: "Did you never read in the Scriptures (at Ps 118:22, 23), ' The stone (Jesus as the "tried stone"[Isa 28:16] of the "kingdom") that the builders rejected is the one that has become the chief cornerstone (of the "kingdom"). From Jehovah this has come to be, and it is marvelous in our eyes' ? This is why I say to you, The kingdom of God will be
taken from you (the nation of fleshly Israel and not noted as a place but a people) and be
given to a nation producing its fruits."(Matt 21:42, 43)
The Jews as a nation failed to meet up with Jehovah's requirements, so others (some Jews but mostly from among the nations or Gentiles, see Rom 11:17) were chosen in place of them to form a new "nation" that would produce the ' fruits of the kingdom'.
Thus the 144,000 chosen ones are not all fleshly Jews (as seen from Jesus words at Matthew 21:42, 43), but mostly are made up of Gentiles is seen at Revelation 14:3, whereby it says that "the hundred and forty-four thousand who have been
bought from the earth".
At Revelation 5:9, 10, it says that the "kingdom" is made up of "
bought persons for God out of
every tribe and tongue and people and nation (not just Jews), and you (Jesus Christ) made them to be a kingdom and priests (
a people that is a "special property", Ex 19:5) to our God, and they (the "kingdom") are to rule over the earth.”
These are spiritual Jews, for most are from the “nations” and is called by the apostle Paul “the Israel of God” at Galatians 6:16. Jesus affirmed that the Jews as a nation were rejected, telling them three days before his death: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent forth to her - how often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings ! But you people did
not want it. Look ! Your house is
abandoned to you. For I say to you, You will by no means see me from henceforth until you say (quoting from Ps 118:26), ‘ Blessed is he that comes in Jehovah’s name.! “(Matt 23:37-39) The nation of fleshly Israel has not and will never accept Jesus as Jehovah’s representative, as “his Christ”.(Rev 11:15)
The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans concerning the nation of fleshly Israel: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God; but
not according to
accurate knowledge; for, because of not knowing the righteousness of God but seeking to establish their own, they did
not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”(Rom 10:2, 3)
Thus, as Jesus said, the fleshly Jews are
no longer God’s “special property”, his people, but they were replaced by another “nation” composed of those who would “produce the fruits of the kingdom”, who are “no part of the world.”(John 15:19)
