The kingdom of God is wider in scope and is as universal as the sovereignty of God

over the whole creation which includes heaven as well as earth and finds its occurrences

mainly in the epistles which later develop the heavenly aspect of God's kingdom.

The two phrases are sometimes used interchangeably in the Gospels as the following

references show: Matt. 4: 17 and Mark 1: 15; Matt. 5: 3 and Luke 6: 20; Matt.xix.14

and Mark 10: 14; Matt. 19: 23 and Luke 18: 24; Matt. 11: 11 and Luke 7: 28;

Matt. 13: 11 and Luke 8: 10. There are five passages in Matthew where he departs

from the normal and uses the phrase, "the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6: 33; 12: 28;

19: 24;  21: 31, 43).

However, because these two phrases are sometimes used

interchangeably in the Gospels, we must not assume that they are always identical in

meaning in all their occurrences in the N.T. The kingdom of heaven is the mediatorial

kingdom of the O.T. and is related to God's dominion on the earth which is realized at

the Second Advent when "the Son of Man comes in His kingdom" (Matt. 16: 28) and

takes control of earthly affairs. The kingdom of God is wider and includes all heaven as

well as heavenly beings. The reason why they can be used with a similar meaning in the

Gospels is that the lesser aspect (the kingdom of heaven) is included in the greater (the

kingdom of God). We can say with truth that London is in England, or that it is in Great

Britain, but it would be erroneous to conclude that England and Great Britain are

identical terms.

To Israel alone was the kingdom of heaven made known at the beginning, because, as

the O.T. makes clear, they should be the centre of it and from them the knowledge of its

glories should radiate all over the earth, so that "all families of the earth" might be

blessed (Gen. 12: and many other Scriptures). This is why Israel dominates the kingdom

purposes revealed in Matthew. It is "to the Jew first", but finally not to the Jew only, and

this is what Israel forgot, and in their pride imagined that they alone formed the kingdom

of the heavens on earth.

Between the summary of the Lord's preaching given in 4: 17 and the description of

His Galilean ministry in verses 23-25, Matthew gives the call of the two pairs of

brothers who formed the nucleus of the apostles. They had previously been disciples of

John the Baptist and through him had come to know the Messiah in His preliminary

ministry in Judaea, as recorded by John, about which both Matthew and Mark are silent.

Matthew marks the readiness of both pairs of brothers to obey the call, although it meant

leaving their means of livelihood. They do not hesitate, for it is with regal authority that

the Lord speaks. They were listening to the voice of the King and His authority is not

resented, but immediately obeyed, even to the point of leaving their fishing nets without

waiting to draw them in.

Their response meant that the Lord was not surrounded, as formerly, by a crowd of

casual and constantly changing hearts, but by a select number of constant followers. It is

with these disciples that He traversed Galilee, teaching in the synagogues. In this new

experience they were learning how to become fishers of men, as the Lord had willed for

them. Three of these men, Peter, James and John, seemed to be more intimate with the

Lord than the rest of the Twelve. They were specially privileged to be alone with Him at