I have only very recently (within the last year or so) become aware of various attempts to replace the word, ‘Kingdom’ with other words. Some people live in societies where the word ‘kingdom’ itself has taken on such terribly negative connotations – attaining an inherent negativity of which I was completely unaware – that they deem it necessary to replace it entirely.
But what did Yeshua do?
Critics argue that the word ‘Kingdom’ carries heavily patriarchal, imperialist, and militaristic connotations that contradict the actual teachings of Yeshua; I fully appreciate and acknowledge this criticism. Because a ‘kingdom’ historically evokes images of colonial subjugation, and of a dominant male monarch exercising an unequal, authoritarian and top-down authority, consisting of strict social hierarchies, and geopolitical borders enforced by the “power of the sword”, some scholars argue it misrepresents the divine vision rooted in love, equality, a borderless community, and a shared co-operative commonwealth.
But what did Yeshua himself do?
In his day, the Aramaic word malkhuthā had become loaded with many of the same negative connotations as the English word ‘kingdom’ has now. Did he seek to replace it with something else? Like qārivūthā קָרִיבוּתָא (kinship), or ʽiddath qyāmā עידת קימא (commonwealth of the covenant)? No.
So what did Yeshua do?
He sought to radically redefine it, instead of replace it.
In his time, violent messianists sought to establish a messianic kingdom, such as various rebel and seditionist movements, like the Zealots. Some sought to establish a kingdom of authoritarian rule (notoriously like Bar Kokhba). However, where they spoke of the Kingdom of a Davidic messiah, Yeshua spoke of the Kingdom of God.
Yeshua taught parables, often beginning them with words such as, “What is the Kingdom of God like?” or, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?” These weren’t just idle words; they expressed his radical intent. Yeshua, as a prophet of God, sought to redefine the very meaning of ‘Kingdom’ itself, not replace it. So as a faithful follower of Yeshua, who seeks to disseminate and broadcast his transformative message, I’m going to follow in his footsteps, and do the same.
The Kingdom of God is not like any existing human Kingdom – YHVH our God is nothing like any human king. When I myself hear the term, “Kingdom of God”, I only hear what Yeshua defined it as, not what understandably disillusioned people today comprehend the term to mean, nor even what authoritarian elements in Yeshua’s own society 2000 years ago saw it as meaning.
Man’s kingdom is patriarchal and hierarchical; God’s Kingdom is egalitarian and co-operative. Man’s kingdom is subjugation and imperialism; God’s Kingdom is freedom, fairness and justice towards all. Man’s kingdom is unequal and often violent; God’s Kingdom is classless and peaceful. Man’s kingdom is excluding and marginalising; God’s Kingdom is inclusive, and brings the forgotten, the outcast and the oppressed into the fold.
In God’s Kingdom, the first is last, and the last is first; God’s Kingdom is one based on Love, Compassion, Justice, and Equality. God’s Kingdom radically transforms human society, as well as its individual members. Yeshua redefined the Kingdom as a family built, not on bloodlines or national citizenship, but by those who do the will of God. It was a shared banquet, a sumptuous feast, to which everyone was invited – especially those who would normally be excluded from the tables of royals and nobles.
So, what did Yeshua do? He didn’t replace the negative word malkhuthā ‘kingdom’ with something else. He sought to subvert and redefine the very word itself.
If you are interested in examining the definitions that Yeshua himself gave the term, “Kingdom of God”, I have written the following article on the four different but interconnected meanings of the Kingdom as Yeshua explained it (the opening section is an abbreviated form of what I’ve written above): The Four Meanings of the Kingdom of God.