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This website is designed to help a deeper understanding of God's Kingdom Government in the sincere believer. Such faithful will leave with a deep knowledge of God's saving message, and application of Scripture to maintaining standing with God. What visitors are exposed to will supply the ointment that soothes the heart and body in times of trials, giving hope and comfort that God promised will be the portion of all those who love and obey Him.

The goal of this endeavor is to aid the strong and weak alike support and sustain a healthy relationship with the creator. The truly repentant will be counted worthy to gain Life Eternal long promised by the Giver of all good things.

Feel free to read the sermons on site by clicking on Reflection in the menu bar. Meditate on the messages there and be blessed!

The book offer is a shade off 500 pages, hardcover, and complete with references and indexes (subject and Scriptural). To read a chapter from it, please click "sample chapter"; or better still, have the entire 21 chapters made available to you by contacting the author. You will be truly blessed while you read. To view the book's table of contents click on "Contents". Also send your comments and questions by email at: nomaren@unfoldinggovernment.org.

                    God’s Kingdom

Defining  the Kingdom                                                                                
            As conceived naturally, a kingdom can be identified by any or all of three basic criteria: by its expression through the specific land area it occupies; by the group of nations falling under its jurisdiction (by either agreement or coercion); or by the reach of its political power from a strong core. The most successful kingdom arrangements that have existed in this present world subsisted by dominance from a well organized political and cultural center, guaranteeing strength, prosperity, and in some cases, longevity. The quality or soundness of the sets of principles by which kingdoms express themselves, the material resources available, and their strategic strength ultimately determine the reach of their power and glory.

For some kingdoms in the past, the cultural arrangements that they derived from their cumulative effort at enlightenment and which were sponsored from the seat of power were so strong and lasting that they have survived to present day, though they themselves were major players in the world’s socio-political arena only thousands of years ago. Prominent examples are the kingdoms of Greece and Rome. It was the resurgence of Greco-Roman culture in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that guided the institutions which became the dominant forces propelling humanity away from the trap of the Dark Ages. Modern institutions still preserve the rudiments of that culture, which packed much greater force when they kindled the Renaissance. Similarly the Christian institutions that forged and dominated the Dark and Middle Ages still play significant roles in a wide segment of modern society and culture.

God’s Kingdom, however, should be understood differently, with a strong emphasis on its subjects' knowledge of and submission to the power of the Highest. Its main strength rests on holy principles patterned on a particular spiritual core set outside the visible realm inhabited by man. Its goal is to modify human society to conform to principles focused on the character of God, who dwells in the celestial heights. She seeks harmony between the visible and invisible realms based on righteousness, so that the material world may perfectly mirror the heavens. This is not to say that the present world and her dominant political powers exist of themselves or are pure products of human experimentation. They are indeed fashioned and inspired from the spirit realm, but outside the righteous prescription of Almighty God for how to wield power. No one should forget the fact which is well attested in Scripture, that man is governed from the celestial realm—be it from the abode of God or from the enclave of fallen angels headed by Satan: “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19 New King James Version; see also, John 8:42-44, Ephesians 2:2 and Revelation 13:2-4). Man will forever be subject to a higher invisible influence. He was made to be the physical expression of the invisible.

When God’s Kingdom is examined through history in tandem with human experimentation outside the divine specifications, a noticeable distinction emerges in the dominant role played by the invisible but potent force known as the Most High God. The Kingdom of Israel was a product of divine experimentation on the practicality of a mirror image of the invisible dominion that would spread its tentacles to a lower plane of existence, the physical. Though there were indeed many other kingdoms alongside Israel that purported to hold divine mandates, none is recorded to have been under the total control of the heavens, even so far as to have had their dominion brought to an end when they were judged to have failed in representing the predetermined character that God expected of Israel.

The Almighty God was widely extolled as the One responsible for lighting the lamp that brought to light the Kingdom of Israel and also One that doused it. Through His relationship with Israel, He imparted to man His plan to organize the entire human race in a Kingdom that would radiate righteousness in all its parts, and His romance with the nation gives insight into the nature and character of the future glory prepared for all who would do well. This kingdom aims to synthesize the spirit and earthly realms of God’s dominion so that His principles will prevail over all thoughts and put an end to the apparent discord between heaven and earth in this regard. When fully implemented, the will of God is certain to dominate the affairs of all creatures that survive everywhere in the universe. It is conceived as a perfect arrangement, where sin will have no place, since all who partake of that existence and age will be righteous: “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir” (Isaiah 13:12). The gold of Ophir was apparently the purest of all in ancient times, and so was used to express the character of those persons who would attain the height expected of citizens of God’s Kingdom. They are the purest of men, exemplified in the soundness of their character, their understanding of the Divine arrangement for man, and their loyalty to that idea.

            God’s Kingdom is not a mere system of ceremonies embracing peoples of mixed orientation and character. It can only be understood from the standpoint of His plan to organize society using sets of principles that will better ensure man’s continued survival in it. These principles that He pioneered harmonize with His very nature and character.1 It is a plan designed to arrest all the propensity to decay and general weakness that naturally plague kingdoms when they overspend themselves and outlive their usefulness: “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). God’s intention is to gather and influence those individuals from among peoples of the world who are willing to imbibe and live by ideals that mirror His own character as enshrined in the Bible. People willing to aspire to the highest form of purity attainable will have the opportunity under God’s Kingdom arrangement to do so: “For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). Walking with God through embracing His holiness fulfills the original purpose that inspired His creation of the first man, Adam. There was a deep sense of fulfillment, happiness, and excitement in heaven when Adam was made (Genesis 1:31; Job 38:4-7).

The very idea of God's Kingdom can only be understood from a detailed study of its prototype in the history of ancient Israel.2  The universal Kingdom, though represented in the physical realm by human beings, is directed from heaven, and its citizens on earth must always look to heaven for direction. This was what God, through Christ, proclaimed in His revelation to the Apostle John on Isle of Patmos. John recorded the fulfillment of the age-long promise to endow man and his dominion with the blessing of a healthy relationship with God who dwells in heaven (Revelation 21:1-7), and in whose image he is physically constituted to live as human. The kings who ruled in Israel were said to have sat on the throne of God: “Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him” (1 Chronicles 29:23). To sit on God's throne is to accept to be governed by certain principles put together by a force that is not literal or material.  God was that force, and its recipients had to trust Him to give guidance and provision as the very standard defining what is good and desirable.

King Solomon’s beautifully fashioned throne was valuable only as long as the man who sat on it projected the righteous character of the invisible One who inspired it. Israel’s constitution as handed down by Moses required her kings to submit humbly to God’s supreme authority over their realm; and to ensure this, each was to keep a private copy of the law for regular perusal (Deuteronomy 17:14, 18-20). God made the nation of Israel happen and expected that fact to be ingrained in their political psyche forever: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priest, and an holy nation….” (Exodus 19:4-6).

            This address to Israel reveals God as having a definite plan that the people He just brought to Himself had no choice but embrace. That was why Israel claimed to be a people called by God’s name (Jeremiah 15:16; 14:9). To be called by the name of God means that the Most High decides to seek a people and enter into an exclusive relationship with them, through which His righteous character finds an outlet to express itself in the world.

Verbally accepting God as ruler does not imply a complete understanding of the process; but does involve the determination to pursue that course of life and seek guidance along the way that makes one really a part of His eternal plan for earth. The idea of a universal Kingdom under God can be understood in part from His dealings with Israel in her days as footstool of the Highest. The present state called Israel does not represent that Ideal, although some individuals within its boundaries do. Some misinformed groups, however, continue to see all Jews as God's people, in keeping with that ancient identity.3 But the state of Israel is rightly seen as a modern secular nation like any other, made up of people of different faiths guaranteed peace and freedom by the common understanding between its inhabitants.4 Thus it does not qualify as God's people in the sense originally understood by the ancients.

Some churches desire and subscribe to a holistic description of the modern state such as prevailed in ancient times5, but that understanding does not fit within the spiritual definition of God's Kingdom. God's children the world over are identified by their individual willingness to respond to the call from the saints and live according to the clearly defined standards that set the righteous apart from others. These standards were written down ages ago and will become the guide for citizens of the Kingdom when it is  fully inaugurated at the end of the rebellious institutions worldwide that is now upon us.

Recipients of the message must be abreast of the challenges accompanying the inception of the Kingdom. Its present manifestation presents an opportunity for the willing and obedient to draw close to the throne of grace, rising to standards befitting the character of God. God used the children of Israel to demonstrate His magnificence and power to all the other nations living round about it at the time. And to reveal His benevolence and true nature to man, He also extended a hand beyond Jewry to the Gentiles, as was expressed by James: “…..Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name” (Acts 15:13-14). The apostles played a huge part in the shift of focus from Israel after the ransom paid by Jesus and understood that the new and extended field of interest covered the entire earth. After the foundation for world outreach was laid, the last days of the corrupt system were slated to signal the arrival of Christ to refashion humankind to live according to the wishes of God who made them.

God has left no room for the enhancement of His character by man’s personal understanding of what might be more convenient in oscillating circumstances; His design is to rather provide an outlet for willing minds to express themselves through a government instituted to achieve His very purpose. God is depicted in the Bible as not subject to any form of weakness and death and surrounding Himself with principles that endure: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2).  This is why the Kingdom that He establishes is depicted as lasting forever (Daniel 2:44). Obviously, a Kingdom designed to endure cannot be forged in an environment with competing agendas. Hence the Bible is replete with accounts of God’s intention to weaken, and eventually put an end to, all institutions that fail to comply with this humble arrangement guaranteeing peace and tranquility on earth: “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42). Wailing and torments result from failure to comply in an age when the King, having taken his power to reign, is resisted by many willing to re-enact the maltreatments inflicted on the Christ 2000 years ago.

God wishes His people to submit themselves willingly by accepting the standards that are natural to Him and recorded in the Bible: “ God Almighty is a God of order. All His ways are according to His Laws through which His will is expressed. He desires that His people should do things in conformity with His divine standards.”6  This design gives no room for any form of coercion, intimidation or bribery. But His hand is stretched out to people who, after careful research into His nature, conclude that the essence of life resides in embracing those elements of His laws which hold so much promise for man’s welfare and future. This is exemplified in God’s call to the Israelites in the desert of Sinai to give up their treasures to build the tabernacle of worship: “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering” (Exodus 25:2).

The prophets later Identified the offerings as those people of all races who submit themselves to Kingdom project when it is installed at the last days. Hundreds of years after Moses' time, Isaiah the prophet associated the willing submission of converts with offerings. He taught that the offerings presented to God in the wilderness of Sinai for construction of the holy booth foreshadowed better things, namely the willing submission of His human creatures worldwide for the formation of a Kingdom that was decreed to endure forever (Isaiah 66:18-21). That tabernacle became a symbol of human and spiritual bodies designated the temple of God, where He resides in the spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). Just as Moses and Aaron were instructed to keep the tabernacle as pure as possible through washing, anointing, and sanctifying it, so the bodies of worshipers are expected to assume similar purity, so that the higher powers may inhabit them as foretold (Revelation 3:20; 21:3; Psalm 119:9-11; John 15:3). We must expect Jesus and his Father to depart from that dwelling if it ceases to be habitable—that is, once the carrier takes up practices abhorrent to the true nature of God. That was the theme of the controversy attending God’s relations with Israel: “For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men” (Psalm 78:58-60). The tabernacle of Shiloh was a symbol of God’s presence with Israel. Through the tent, and more particularly the office of caring for it, the Holy One and His ways were expressed to the nation. Alas, it never received the careful tending that God expected, to the disappointment of many at the time.

Man’s Best Efforts

Man's recurring drive to recast righteousness and put his own spin on it, without reference to God’s full conception of the ideal, has over the ages set the race at cross-purposes with the Creator’s original intent. The mindset of the rebellious segment of Israel summed this up: “And they said, there is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 18:12). A weak Israel became a fitting illustration of the depraved among earth’s population, while her strength stood for the best God is determined to make of the obedient at the end of the world.

God has long rejected man’s independent effort to organize and preserve a heritage. For Him, such effort is futile due to man's lack of wisdom and the pollution of his sense of judgment. Farinaccio summarized it thus: “It is not within the scope of man's creaturehood to construct ethical standards for himself. Yet this is exactly what man did as Adam and Eve in the fall—and continues to do. God prohibited man from partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden not as a directive against man seeking knowledge per se; it was a prohibition against man autonomously deciding for himself the difference between good and evil.”7  Jeremiah the prophet also pondered this question when he observed the best efforts of the kings of Israel and their subjects. What he found then led him to conclude that man is not independently capable of holding his own. He laid this deficiency squarely on man's diminished sense of judgment, despite copious investment in law and order: “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Left to determine his future by implementing his own devices to ensure it, man would most surely forge an arrangement that would diminish his estate and eventually ruin himself. Viewed quite simply, it is the case of a child that must not be left on his own, or else the outcome will be abundant grief.

Man’s best effort to forge his own future, and the very philosophy that hatched that desire, is pictured for us in Israel’s request to Samuel to provide them with a king to  govern them like other nations. The elders among the people consulted Samuel and made this request: “….Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5). At that time, the Israelites sought to solve their predicament through a process requiring few or no adjustments to their personal character or behavior—which was the heavenly diagnosed source of their national plight. The nation had gone so far away from God that He had given neighboring tribes a free hand to encroach on their territory. Thus Israel’s request to Samuel exposed their apparent ignorance of God’s plan for their future. God had tailored the nation along the lines of grand design for the future Kingdom to be headed by Christ; a land of total freedom, devoid of any semblance of political oppression and strife. Israel in Canaan was designed to be core of that universal righteous government.

But the children of Israel, being immersed in carnality, were not sufficiently equipped in spiritual judgment to yield to the Invisible One who was the anchor of their survival and independence. Their conception of authority hinged on tangible things or persons that could be physically pampered, appeased, coerced, flattered, and, even outright deceived. They craved protection, spiritual and literal, while their hearts went after their idols. While they willingly yielded their bodies to burdens, they detested control of their inner being. This inner being and its inordinate desire for total independence from spiritual control holds the key to understanding human sufferings, transcending even Israel’s rebellion against God. Here are revealed two unequal personalities, both pushing to leave imprints on the universe, but one actually having the power to act independently and be justified.8  God, who owns the universe, is the sole authority capable of acting alone; man, who was dependent on Him for living breath, had to remain so or lose his source of life. The heart of the living man on earth must either respond to the wishes of the Life-sustainer or slowly waste away. However, this heart that motivates human actions is most precious to the living entity, striving tenaciously to act as independently as possible and abhorring any form of slavery to an outside demand for righteousness. That was why relinquishing control of it to God was hard for Israel and continued to be trying, in spite of the promised blessings attending obedience, and the evil consequences of obstinacy.

The Bible itself attributes man's desire to act outside the realm of righteousness to higher powers, though he may pretend not to know it. The chief of these powers is Satan, who holds the upper hand in influencing Man’s judgment. He attains to a certain doubtful success because of the vain-glory that attends forcible domination of one man by another. But notwithstanding this celestial blight on human lives everywhere, if given the opportunity to pursue true liberty,9 man can deduce for himself the limiting effect of inordinate ambition and lusts and be motivated to counter them. Giving free reign to his urges, though presented as good ever since the catastrophe of Eden, have not really put man on track to attaining the highest virtue. For all his vast knowledge of himself and his environment, he continues to show the deepest ignorance of how to preserve his life in face of competing ambition. Well over six thousand years of documented history reveal minimal progress in maintaining harmony with one's fellow man. And there is little prospect of an enduring Life in the horizon, unhampered by the constant threats of warfare and disease.10

God’s Expectation

God holds the secret to peace and Life, and man must look to Him for it. But to yield to the unseen requires a total renewal of our hidden parts, those realms of our lives  that cannot be easily seen by our neighbors except in personal confessions. Jesus once advised a woman from Samaria that the unseen is better served by yielding the parts that are unseen through processes or teachings predetermined for that purpose. He told her: “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). It is a relationship that is cultivated directly with the unseen, comparable to our natural healthy dealings with our fellow men.

Relating properly with God brings peace and harmony. It is our lack of understanding of the required degree of submission that becomes the stumbling block. God expects those in contract with Him to know and embrace all the articles of the agreement binding the parties.11  Those who do not know how God does this type of business will be helped by reviewing the specifics of the agreement He made with Abraham. When invited to make this contract, Abraham loyally complied with its terms and witnessed the foundation of a worldwide heritage built around his sound appreciation of God's supremacy and His right to demand obedience from the human race.

God’s contract with Abraham was indelible, being signed not in ink but by the removal of the foreskin of everyone forming part of Israel, whether born such, bought with money, or a sojourner (Genesis 17:7-14). Anyone whose foreskin had been excised was bound to exercise all the other requirements of that agreement, just as the pioneer Abraham did (Galatians 5:3). God expressed satisfaction in His dealings with Abraham and the other patriarchs and prophets for obvious reasons, part of which lies in their faithfulness in keeping their part of their agreement with Him. Reinforcing this by reference to Abraham and his spouse through Isaiah, He said: “Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him” (Isaiah 51:2). The prophet Ezekiel provided similar testimonials of other righteous men in antiquity, this time for Noah, Job, and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:13-14).

Combined with the ritual of circumcision was the oath that God at other times required of His people. Those who took that oath did so not only for themselves but also on behalf of their children: “And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD Hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD” (Exodus 19:7-8). Consider also Joshua 24:23-27 which shows that God regards this oath binding on those who took it and on future generations as well. Persons receiving circumcision affirmed their acceptance of the oath that the ancients had taken on their behalf, irrespective of age, time, and place; their own circumcision became part of the overall arrangement for Israel. And punishment for violators could be visited on any generation acting contrary to articles of the law setting them apart.

God was mindful of His own part of the agreement. He went on to protect, direct and bless any generation that had made the conscious decision to love and obey Him. Where they deviated from His precepts, He admonished and buffeted them accordingly. He did not hurriedly abandon the contract, nor change His position to disappoint His faithful partners because of urgent circumstances: “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). For obvious reasons, He expected His partners to be equally reliable and predictable. It was the unpredictability of many individuals that disqualified them from receiving the blessings ordained by God.12

Right from when it attained nationhood, God demanded of Israel to yield the heart, the inner self, for close scrutiny; the parts deemed the very essence of religious devotion. Moses reminded the liberated Israelites in the wilderness on the way to Canaan: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked” (Deuteronomy 10:16). The whole nation was required to show appreciation for God's deliverance by embracing His provision for their journey with open arms, not grudging every difficulty and railing against His servants for every misfortune. This loyal submission also included adjusting all conduct inappropriate to the requirements of God’s new order of things as enshrined in the commandments given to Moses and doing so from a perfect heart, with cheerfulness.  Woodgate expressed it this way: “What God asks for is our love and so a well-kept Rule means not just one where we can tick what we have done, but one where we are keeping it in the right spirit.”13 

The ministry of Jesus further exposed the deep-seated nature of that difficulty two thousand years after its initial institution through Moses. He criticized the Pharisees, who were the custodians of God’s heritage at the time, for substituting their own tradition for the laws of God: “…thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6). The Pharisees were characterized by their stubborn rejection of the essence of the law, combined with their fixation with its letter. They gladly and actively paid the tithes and offerings due to the temple, but neglected caring for the needs of the poor. Instead of directing minds to God, the rites and services of the temple served to swell the coffers of the privileged, who thus fed themselves at the expense of the nation’s soul. Sound familiar? An advice from a Christian financial consultant on how to augment parish coffers reads like this: “know who the non-givers in your parish are and communicate with them. Set a minimum annual contribution to find out if they really intend to remain parish members. (Be sure to provide exception for families with financial hardships.) Do the review, analysis and updating every year.”14 One wonders if the spiritual health of parish members would get the same amount of attention. The financial health of a parish would be sure to improve without such meticulous tending if the energy and skill directed at securing the books were diverted to helping believers overcome their propensity to morally offend their Creator. 

Traditions of men, if not well monitored, eventually rub off on the refined values that God enshrined His word. Attempts to empathize with the spiritually reckless among men, in whose hands the reins of power invariably resides, wreak havoc on the path of righteousness meant to guide society towards peace and happiness. To be spiritually weak is to wield power through means that violate the requirements for true leadership as outlined in the word of God. It is to aspire to leadership without due attention to spiritual qualification. It is to play to the human gallery. It is to direct more of one's energy towards the satisfaction of unwholesome urges, in a bid to secure the support of the governed at whatever cost. It is to see man as the final arbiter of human affairs. This is in sharp contrast to the Divine concept of humility as meant to guide man to true holiness: “The spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue…..he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” (2 Samuel 23:2-3). Neglect of God’s determination for man ultimately alienates him from the Creator and sets culprits on that slippery-slope from which no one can be reclaimed. And once a society is on that road, all efforts at reformation become an unwanted burden. Anyone who would try to go back is deemed an enemy, and may be persecuted....