The Kingdoms that exist are worthy of a bit of exploration. As we have seen, satan has a lease that was stolen from Adam by deception. He has a set time to rule and deceive. He does not have ruler-ship over everything but over some of the things here on earth. He is a ruler over fallen angels as Jesus points out in Matthew. Satan is not the lord over hell or even in charge of who goes there. He doesn’t have the authority to send anyone there or to even torment anyone there. He can gather, by deception, as many humans as he can to go to hell, but he has no rule over it. Enoch visited hell, which was in existence before Adam. However our citizenship is not in the kingdom of satan, or the kingdom of man, but our citizenship is in the kingdom of God.
He is called the god of the age in 2Corithians 4:4. The word world is the word aion, age. He is not a creator but a ruler over this time period.
2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. KJV
World NT:165 aion (ahee-ohn'); from the same as NT:104; properly, an age; by extension, perpetuity (also past); by implication, the world; specially (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future):
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Who is satan allowed to rule over? He does not rule over the kingdom of plants, or the kingdom of animals but can rule over the kingdom of man. He also can rule over other angelic beings that have fallen, as well as the disembodied spirits that are here on earth. The kingdom of man is the time when men rule and reign. There are kings, and leaders, and presidents, all ruling over other men and women. Satan can influence humans to do what he wants them to do so that their ruler-ship can be oppressive, or evil. He can send disembodied spirits to antagonize humans.
Matt 12:25-26 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? KJV
The Kingdom of God is a present reality for those who are alive and believe, as well as an inherited reality for the future. It is the citizenship of people who believe on Jesus, who are now expatriates of the kingdom of man. We change our citizenship when we believe, and are given some benefits from the indwelling Holy Spirit, namely power and authority. People who dwell in the kingdom of man do not have their spirit made holy by the Holy Spirit. They have a spirit of man, but it is not renewed, therefore they have no power or authority from the Holy Spirit. Jesus preaches about the kingdom of God, revealing it to people. He also shows people the power of the kingdom of God by casting out devils. He points out that this gospel of the kingdom has to be preached in the whole world, and then the end (of the age) will come.
Matt 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. KJV
Matt 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. KJV
1 Cor 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.KJV
Matt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.KJV
Nicodemus asked about the kingdom of God, Jesus’ answer was that you had to be born of water, natural flesh birth, and be born of Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to enter the kingdom of God. Paul explains that the unrighteous cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So there are conditions for gaining entrance to the kingdom of God. Your flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God either. Only those which are washed, set apart, and are justified by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The terms for changing our citizenship are clearly stated as having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which makes our spirit new.
John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. KJV
1 Cor 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. KJV
1 Cor 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. KJV
Kingdom of Heaven is talked of exclusively in Matthew. It depicts what happens when you die, and your spirit is out of your body. Do you go to the kingdom of heaven or to the outer darkness? Abraham Isaac and Jacob are in the kingdom of heaven, but not everyone goes there. The twelve apostles will eventually rule over the twelve tribes. The word for heaven means sky, as opposed to earth bound. So when we are no longer earthbound we may be able to enter the kingdom of heaven, of which, one of those places in heaven is paradise. But there is the option of the outer darkness, where people weep and grind their teeth.
Heaven NT:3772 ouranos (oo-ran-os'); perhaps from the same as NT:3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; by extension, heaven (as the abode of God); by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specifically, the Gospel (Christianity): KJV - air, heaven ([-ly]), sky.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.KJV
Matt 8:11-12 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. KJV
We see the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, in order to enter, the violent have to take it by force, in other words fight for it. The words take by force are the greek word harpazo, the same as used as in referring to the rapture of the church, caught away, caught up or plucked out. It denotes by force, just as we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with them.
Matt 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.KJV
Take it NT:726 harpazo (har-pad'-zo); from a derivative of NT:138; to sieze (in various applications): KJV - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
People’s hearts were hardened and the mysteries Jesus spoke about were not for them. It would seem that at the time Jesus was speaking, only a select few could understand. If the people whose thoughts and feelings were hardened softened their hearts, they could be converted and healed. This shows that it is possible for people to change their eternal destiny.
Matt 13:10-16 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.KJV
Next we learn that the heaven bound people grow together with the hell bound people. And at the harvest they are separated.
Matt 13:24-30 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. KJV
We see that rich people trust in wealth and live as if that is all there is to life. But as Peter points out, they all gave up their lives to follow Jesus, and Jesus tells them because of that they will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. We see that the time period here is the millennial reign when Jesus sits on the throne of glory and rules the nations.
Matt 19:23-30 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. KJV
So the order of things at the changing of the end of the age is that after Christ was resurrected and ascended those who were dead, and will die in, Christ head for paradise. Then those that are alive at his coming will join with the others for the millennial reign when Christ will put down all rule authority, power, and all enemies. Then the last enemy will be death, which will be thrown in the lake of fire. Then Christ will deliver up the entire kingdom to the Father. Now there are a tremendous amount of details I left out, this is the short version.
1 Cor 15:22-26 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.KJV
Rev 20:12-14 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.KJV
Looking back at the prophet Enoch, who wrote about his journey to sheol, or hell, we see that that place has been in existence for a long time. I entered the journey of Enoch to sheol in the end notes. What we see is that there are heavenly hosts that are being punished for ten thousand years. If we are at a time frame of six thousand years after Adam, then there were disobedient beings prior to Adam. In a previous blog about the Devil and Us, I discuss that we are not the center of the universe; we are a piece of a bigger story. We know that by Genesis 3:15 Lucifer was already fallen. We also know there was a cataclysmic disaster by Genesis 1:2, again, see previous blogs. What Enoch saw was a place for the disobedient heavenly host as well as a place for those who left heaven and cohabitated with earthly women, creating the race of the Nephilim. An interesting book, the Book of Nicodemus, tells us that satan is not in charge of hell, but the prince of hell is Beelzebub. In this dialogue, Beelzebub is angry with satan having killed Jesus as he knows that Jesus will open hell and take out humans. (We’ll look at that next week.) If satan is not in charge of hell, the world, or creating new “hells” then we have been victimized by literature which has glorified and inflated satan as being more important than he is. Jesus’ death was more then we relize, not only was he the Passover Lamb he freed the captives.
End Notes
XVII-XXXVII. Enoch's Journeys through the Earth and Sheol.
XVII-XIX. The First Journey.
CHAPTER XVII.
1. And they took ⌈and⌉ brought me to a place in which those who were there were like flaming fire, and, when they wished, they appeared as men. 2. And they brought me to the place of darkness, and to a mountain the point of whose summit reached to heaven. 3. And I saw the places of the luminaries ⌈and the treasuries of the stars⌉ and of the thunder ⌈and⌉ in the uttermost depths, where were a fiery bow and arrows and their quiver, and ⌈⌈a fiery sword⌉⌉ and all the lightnings. 4. And they took me to the living waters, and to the fire of the west, which receives every setting of the sun. 5. And I came to a river of fire in which the fire flows like water and discharges itself into the great sea towards the west. 6. I saw the great rivers and came to the great ⌈river and to the great⌉ darkness, and went to the place where no flesh walks. 7. I saw the mountains of the darkness of winter and the place whence all the waters of the deep flow. 8. I saw the mouths of all the rivers of the earth and the mouth of the deep.
CHAPTER XVIII
1. I saw the treasuries of all the winds: I saw how He had furnished with them the whole creation and the firm foundations of the earth. 2. And I saw the corner-stone of the earth: I saw the four winds which bear [the earth and] the firmament of the heaven. 3. ⌈⌈And I saw how the winds stretch out the vaults of heaven⌉⌉, and have their station between heaven and earth: ⌈⌈these are the pillars of the heaven⌉⌉. 4. I saw the winds of heaven which turn and bring the circumference of the sun and all the stars to their setting. 5. I saw the winds on the earth carrying the clouds: I saw ⌈⌈the paths of the angels. I saw⌉⌉ at the end of the earth the firmament of the heaven above. And I proceeded and saw a place which burns day and night, where there are seven mountains of magnificent stones, three towards the east, and three towards the south. 7. And as for those towards the east, 〈one〉 was of coloured stone, and one of pearl, and one of jacinth, and those towards the south of red stone. 8. But the middle one reached to heaven like the throne of God, of alabaster, and the summit of the throne was of sapphire. 9. And I saw a flaming fire. And beyond these mountains 10. is a region the end of the great earth: there the heavens were completed. 11. And I saw a deep abyss, with columns ⌈⌈of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns⌉⌉ of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards the height and towards the depth. 12. And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it, and no birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. 13. I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, 14. The angel said: 'This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. 15. And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times. 16. And He was wroth with them, and bound them till the time when their guilt should be consummated (even) ⌈for ten thousand years⌉.'
CHAPTER XIX.
1. And Uriel said to me: 'Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women, and their spirits assuming many different forms are defiling mankind and shall lead them astray into sacrificing to demons ⌈⌈as gods⌉⌉, (here shall they stand,) till ⌈⌈the day of⌉⌉ the great judgement in which they shall be judged till they are made an end of. 2. And the women also of the angels who went astray shall become sirens.' 3. And I, Enoch, alone saw the vision, the ends of all things: and no man shall see as I have seen.
XXI. Preliminary and final place of punishment of the fallen angels (stars).
