In Matthew’s day using the phrase Kingdom of Heaven would help Jewish-thinking people to more quickly see the consistency between what Jesus taught and the prophets of old. Jewish teachers of that time used a short Hebrew phrase to quickly convey this larger concept: Makur Shamayim, meaning Kingdom of Heaven (/articles/9328-kingdom-of-god).ĭaniel’s prophecy is now understood to refer to the time when Christ will return to rule with the power and authority given to Him by the Father.
One such example is from the writings of Daniel in chapter 2, where this kingdom is represented by a stone from heaven that comes down and smashes the kingdoms of this world, then grows to fill the whole Earth. The prophets don’t use the phrase Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God in the Old Testament, but the idea was strongly represented in those sections of Scripture. This Jewish audience already understood the concept of a Kingdom of God based on their knowledge of the writings of the prophets. Matthew’s work was written for a primarily Jewish audience who were familiar with the Scriptures. Did Matthew have a reason for this swapping of phrases, or was he just less consistent than the other writers?Įach of the gospel writers were inspired to create a unique version of Jesus’ life and teachings that viewed the same events from a slightly different angle. Matthew uses the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" 32 times but he also uses the phrase "Kingdom of God" in some places. The other gospel writers stuck with the phrase "Kingdom of God." You can even compare parallel verses like Matthew 4:17 with Mark 1:15 or Matthew 5:3 with Luke 6:20, where Matthew uses the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" while Mark and Luke use "Kingdom of God" in quoting Jesus during their individual accounts of the same events. The phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" is only found in the gospel of Matthew. In this way the power and authority behind the reign of Christ can be said to be both “of God” and “of heaven.” Why would Scripture use two different terms to say the same thing? At a designated future time, the time of His second coming, Christ will then bring this rule to earth from Heaven.
Christ is currently seated at the right hand of the Father. This power and authority to rule has been given to Jesus Christ by the Father, who is enthroned in Heaven. The two phrases are simply two different ways to indicate the same thing: a kingdom or system of government that is ruled by God. There is no real difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.
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