51. 'I saw in the night visions, and, behold, One like the Son of Man came with the clouds
of heaven, and came t o the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And
there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not
pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.'
How imperfectly Israel understood this Kingdom, our previous investigations have
shown. In truth, the men of that period possessed only the term - as it were, the form.
What explained its meaning, filled, and fulfilled it, came once more from heaven.
Rabbinism and Alexandrianism kept alive the thought of it; and in their own way filled
the soul with its longing - just as the distress in church and State carried the need of it to
every heart with the keenness of a nguish. As throughout this history, the form was of that
time; the substance and the spirit were of Him Whose coming was the Advent of that
Kingdom. Perhaps the nearest approach to it lay in the higher aspirations of the
Nationalist party, only that it sought their realisation, not spiritually, but outwardly.
Taking the sword, it perished by the sword. It was probably to this that both Pilate and
Jesus referred in that memorable question: 'Art Thou then a King?' to which our Lord,
unfolding the deepest meaning of His mission, replied: 'My Kingdom is not of this world:
if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight.'52
52. St. John xvii. 33-37.
According to the Rabbinic views of the time, the terms 'Kingdom,' 'Kingdom of
heaven,'53 and 'Kingdom of God' (in the Targum on Micah iv. 7 'Kingdom of Jehovah'),
were equivalent. In fact, the word 'heaven' was very often used instead of 'God,' so as to
avoid unduly familiarising the ear with the Sacred Name.54 This, probably, accounts for
the exclusive use of the expression 'Kingdom of Heaven' in the Gospel by St. Matthew. 55
And the term did imply a contrast to earth, as the expression 'the Kingdom of God' did to
this world. The consciousness of its contrast to earth or the world was distinctly
expressed in Rabbinic writings.56
53. Occasionally we find, instead of Malkhuth Shamayim ('Kingdom of Heaven'),
Malkhutha direqiya ('Kingdom of the firmament'), as in Ber. 58 a, Shebhu. 35 b. But in
the former passage, at least, it seems to apply rather to God's Providential government
than to His moral reign.
54. The Talmud (Shebhu. 35 b) analyses the various passages of Scripture in which it is
used in a sacred and in the common sense.
55. In St. Matthew the expression occurs thirty-two times; six times that of 'the
Kingdom;' five times that of 'Kingdom of God.'
56. As in Shebhu 35 b; Ber. R. 9, ed Warsh, pp. 19 b, 20 a.
This 'Kingdom of Heaven,' or 'of God,' must, however, be distinguished from such terms
as 'the Kingdom of the Messiah' (Malkhutha dimeshicha57), 'the future age (world) of the
Messiah' (Alma deathey dimeshicha58), 'the days of the Messiah,' 'the age to come'
(soeculum futurum, the Athid labho59 - both this and the previous expression60), 'the end of
days,'61 and 'the end of the extremity of days ' Soph Eqebh Yomaya 62). This is the more