Part III, Chapter XXXV, 1

ON THE MEANING IN SCRIPTURE OF KINGDOM OF GOD, HOLY, SACRED, AND SACRAMENT

In the writings of divines, and particularly in sermons and devotional treatises, the Kingdom of God most commonly means eternal happiness after this life in the highest Heaven, which they also call the Kingdom of Glory. Sometimes it means sanctification, the pledge of that happiness, which they call the Kingdom of Grace. But it never means a monarchy: God's Sovereign Power over subjects, acquired by their own consent, which is the proper meaning of kingdom.

On the contrary, I find that in most passages of Scripture the KINGDOM OF GOD means a kingdom properly so called, established in a distinctive way by the votes of the people of Israel. In it they chose God as their King by a Covenant made with him in return for God's promise to give them possession of the land of Canaan. Only rarely is the expression metaphorical, and then it means dominion over sin (and only in the New Testament), because every subject will have such dominion in the Kingdom of God without encroaching on the Sovereign.

From the very Creation, God not only reigned naturally over all men by his might, but also had particular subjects whom he commanded by a voice, as one man speaks to another. In this way he reigned over Adam and commanded him to abstain from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam disobeyed: by tasting its fruit he presumed to be like God, judging Good and Evil not by his Creator's command but by his own senses. His punishment was the loss of the state of eternal life in which God had first created him. Afterwards God punished his descendants for their vices with a universal flood, sparing only eight persons; and those eight constituted the Kingdom of God at that time.

After this, God chose to speak to Abraham and (Gen. 17.7,8.) to make a Covenant with him in these words: “I will establish my Covenant between me and you and your offspring after you through their generations, for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you; and I will give you and your offspring after you the land where you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.” As a memorial and sign of this Covenant he ordained (verse 11.) the Sacrament of Circumcision. This is what is called the Old Covenant, or Testament, and it contains a contract between God and Abraham. By it Abraham binds himself and his descendants in a particular way to be subject to God's positive Law; for he was already bound to the Moral Law, as by an oath of allegiance. Although God has not yet been given the name of King, nor Abraham and his offspring that of Kingdom, the reality is the same: God's particular Sovereignty over Abraham's offspring, established by agreement. When Moses renewed this same Covenant at Mount Sinai, it was expressly called a particular Kingdom of God over the Jews. And it is of Abraham, not Moses, that St. Paul says (Rom. 4.11.) he is the “Father of the Faithful”: that is, of those who remain loyal and do not break the allegiance sworn to God, then through Circumcision and later, in the New Covenant, through Baptism.

This Covenant was renewed by Moses at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exod. 19.5.), where the Lord commands Moses to tell the people: “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant, then you shall be a peculiar people to me, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a priestly Kingdom and a holy Nation.” For “a peculiar people,” the common Latin version has Peculium De Cunctis Populis; the English translation made at the beginning of the reign of King James has “a peculiar treasure to me above all Nations”; and the Geneva French has “the most precious Jewel of all Nations.” But the first translation is the most accurate, as St. Paul himself confirms (Tit. 2.14.) when, alluding to that passage, he says that our blessed Savior “gave himself for us, that he might purify us for himself, a peculiar (that is, an extraordinary) people.” For the Greek word is periousios, commonly opposed to epiousios: as the latter means ordinary, quotidian, or (as in the Lord's Prayer) for daily use, so the former means what is in excess, stored up, and enjoyed in a special manner, which the Latins call Peculium. This interpretation is confirmed by the reason God gives immediately afterward, when he adds, “For all the earth is mine,” as though to say, “All the nations of the world are mine; but you are mine in a special manner.” For they are all his by reason of his Power, whereas these people will be his by their own consent and Covenant, which adds to his ordinary claim upon all nations.

The same point is again confirmed expressly in the same text: “You shall be to me a priestly Kingdom and a holy Nation.” The common Latin version has Regnum Sacerdotale, agreeing with the translation of that passage (1 Pet. 2.9.), Sacerdotium Regale, a royal priesthood. It also agrees with the institution itself, by which no man except the High Priest could enter the Sanctum Sanctorum—that is, no one else could inquire of God directly what his will was. The English translation mentioned above, following the Geneva version, has “a Kingdom of Priests.” This must refer either to the succession of one High Priest after another, or it does not agree with St. Peter or with the exercise of the High Priesthood. For none but the High Priest alone was to inform the people of God's will, nor was any assembly of Priests ever permitted to enter the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Again, the title of a Holy Nation confirms the same point. For holy means something belonging to God by a special, not a general, right. All the earth, as the text says, belongs to God; but not all the earth is called holy, only what has been set apart for his special service, as the Jewish nation was. It is therefore clear enough from this one passage that the Kingdom of God properly means a Common-wealth established (by the consent of those who were to be subject to it) for their civil government and for regulating their conduct, not only toward God their King, but also toward one another in matters of justice, and toward other nations in both peace and war. It was properly a Kingdom: God was its King, and after Moses' death the High Priest was to be his sole Viceroy, or Lieutenant.

But many other passages clearly prove the same. First (1 Sam. 8.7.), when the Elders of Israel, distressed by the corruption of Samuel's sons, demanded a King, Samuel was displeased and prayed to the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to the voice of the people, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, so that I should not reign over them.” This makes evident that God himself was then their King; Samuel did not command the people, but only conveyed to them whatever God directed him to say from time to time.

Again (1 Sam. 12.12.), Samuel says to the people, “When you saw that Nahash, King of the Children of Ammon, came against you, you said to me, No, a King shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your King.” It is plain that God was their King and governed the civil state of their Common-wealth.

And after the Israelites had rejected God, the Prophets foretold the restoration of his rule, as in (Isaiah 24.23.): “Then the Moon shall be confounded, and the Sun ashamed when the Lord of Hosts shall reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.” He speaks expressly of his reign in Zion and Jerusalem: that is, on earth. And (Micah 4.7.), “And the Lord shall reign over them on Mount Zion.” This Mount Zion is in Jerusalem on earth. And (Ezek. 20.33.), “As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you”; and (verse 37.) “I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the Covenant.” That is, I will reign over you and make you abide by the Covenant you made with me through Moses and broke in your rebellion against me in Samuel's days and in your election of another King.

What Kingdom of God, Holy, Sacred, and Sacrament Mean in Scripture

Theologians, especially in sermons and devotional writings, usually take the Kingdom of God to mean eternal happiness after this life in the highest heaven. They also call this the Kingdom of Glory. Sometimes they mean sanctification, which is a pledge of that happiness, and call it the Kingdom of Grace. They never mean a monarchy: God's sovereign power over subjects who have consented to it themselves. Yet that is what “kingdom” properly means.

By contrast, I find that in most Scriptural passages the Kingdom of God means a kingdom in the proper sense. The people of Israel established it in a special way by voting to choose God as their king. They made a covenant with him in return for his promise to give them possession of the land of Canaan. Only rarely is the term figurative. In those cases, found only in the New Testament, it means mastery over sin. Every subject in the Kingdom of God will have that mastery without taking anything away from the Sovereign.

From the creation onward, God ruled all people naturally by his power. But he also had particular subjects to whom he spoke commands aloud, as one person speaks to another. He ruled Adam this way and commanded him not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam disobeyed. By eating its fruit, he took it upon himself to be like God, deciding good and evil by his own judgment instead of his Creator's command. His punishment was the loss of the eternal life with which God had first created him. Later God punished Adam's descendants for their sins with a worldwide flood, sparing only eight people. Those eight then made up the Kingdom of God.

Afterward, God chose to speak to Abraham. In Genesis 17.7,8, he made this covenant with him: “I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you through their generations, an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. I will give you and your descendants after you the land where you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession.” To memorialize and mark this covenant, he established the sacrament of circumcision in verse 11. This is called the Old Covenant, or Testament. It is an agreement between God and Abraham. By it Abraham binds himself and his descendants in a special way to obey God's stated law. He was already bound to obey the moral law, as if by an oath of loyalty. God is not yet given the title “king,” and Abraham and his descendants are not yet called a “kingdom.” But the reality is the same. By an agreement, God establishes his special sovereignty over Abraham's descendants. When Moses renews this covenant at Mount Sinai, it is explicitly called a special Kingdom of God over the Jews. St. Paul says of Abraham, not Moses (Romans 4.11), that he is the “father of the faithful.” That means the father of those who remain loyal and do not break the allegiance they swore to God, first through circumcision and later through baptism under the New Covenant.

Moses renewed this covenant at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19.5), where the Lord ordered him to tell the people, “If you truly obey my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a people belonging especially to me, for all the earth is mine. You will be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation to me.” For “a people belonging especially to me,” the common Latin version has Peculium De Cunctis Populis. The English translation made early in King James's reign says “a special treasure to me above all nations”; the Geneva French says “the most precious jewel of all nations.” But the first is the most accurate. St. Paul confirms it in Titus 2.14, alluding to this passage when he says that our blessed Savior “gave himself for us to make us pure for himself, a special”—that is, an extraordinary—“people.” The Greek word is periousios, commonly contrasted with epiousios. The latter means ordinary, everyday, or, as in the Lord's Prayer, “for daily use.” The former means an extra supply, stored up and kept for special use, which the Latins call peculium. God confirms this meaning by giving the reason immediately afterward: “For all the earth is mine.” It is as if he said, “All the nations of the world belong to me, but you belong to me in a special way.” All nations belong to him because he has power over them. The Jews would belong to him by their own consent and covenant as well. That gives him an additional claim beyond his ordinary claim over all nations.

The same text confirms this explicitly: “You will be a priestly kingdom and a holy nation to me.” The common Latin has Regnum Sacerdotale. The translation of 1 Peter 2.9 agrees: Sacerdotium Regale, “a royal priesthood.” So does the way the kingdom was set up. No one but the high priest could enter the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Most Holy Place, to ask God's will directly of him. The English translation mentioned above follows the Geneva version in saying “a kingdom of priests.” This must either refer to one high priest succeeding another or else conflict with St. Peter and the practice of the high priesthood. Only the high priest ever had the task of informing the people of God's will, and no gathering of priests was ever permitted to enter the Sanctum Sanctorum.

The phrase “holy nation” confirms this too. “Holy” means belonging to God by a special right, not just a general one. As the text says, the whole earth is God's. But the whole earth is not called holy. Only what is set apart for his special service is holy, as the Jewish nation was. This passage alone makes it clear that the Kingdom of God properly means a Commonwealth. The people who would be subject to it established it by consent for their civil government. It regulated their conduct toward God their king, toward one another in matters of justice, and toward other nations in peace and war. It really was a kingdom. God was king, and after Moses died the high priest was to be his sole deputy or lieutenant.

Many other passages clearly prove the same point. In 1 Samuel 8.7, the elders of Israel, upset by the corruption of Samuel's sons, demanded a king. Samuel was displeased and prayed to the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to the people, for they have not rejected you. They have rejected me as their king.” Clearly, God himself was their king at that time. Samuel did not command the people; he only delivered what God directed him to say from time to time.

Again, Samuel says to the people in 1 Samuel 12.12, “When you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, ‘No, a king must rule over us,’ even though the Lord your God was your king.” Clearly God was their king and governed the civil affairs of their Commonwealth.

After the Israelites rejected God, the prophets foretold the restoration of his rule. Isaiah 24.23 says, “Then the moon will be put to shame and the sun disgraced when the Lord of Hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.” This explicitly places his reign in Zion and Jerusalem, on earth. Micah 4.7 says, “The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion.” Mount Zion is in Jerusalem, on earth. And Ezekiel 20.33 says, “As I live, says the Lord God, I will surely rule over you with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and fury poured out.” Verse 37 continues, “I will make you pass under the rod and bring you into the bond of the covenant.” That means: I will reign over you and hold you to the covenant you made with me through Moses. You broke that covenant by rebelling against me in Samuel's day and choosing another king.