The argument goes that if you begin with a thorough study of the Old Testament writings, you will see that the concept that the Kingdom would be a Spiritual One would have been foreign to all the Biblical authors.
While this may seem like a viable argument against this interpretation, it actually stands in perfect clarity in support of it. Consider, for a moment, the content of what Paul wrote concerning His revelation of it.
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.
Colossians 1:25-26
And, in Ephesians,
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.
Ephesians 3:4-5
As we have already established, the Gospel that Paul preached, and all the apostles, was the “Gospel of the Kingdom” (Acts 8:12, Acts 28:31). This, here, then, illustrates our point.
Paul wrote that this mystery of the Gospel, the Kingdom, the church, was not made known to previous generations. The whole point is the “Kingdom” was a promise in the Old Testament, purposefully talked about, and just as purposefully concealed in its meaning.
As Acts 28:31 says Paul preached the “Gospel of the Kingdom”, the Ephesians passage above indicates that this Gospel was also hidden from the previous generations. The actual intent of the Old Testament prophecies, in the mind of God, was to conceal as well as reveal (Matthew 13:34-35, Psalm 78:2). Therefore, the argument that it was foreign to the Old Testament Biblical authors is actually in its favor! If, through the scriptures, the enemies of God had known what they were doing, they would not have crucified the King of glory. God showed enough to say that it was coming, providing hope, but kept it hidden, so in order to shame the wise and uplift the lowly.
God’s Kingdom, His Eternal one (Psalm 145:13), has always been. If it is “at hand” or the Lord is “coming” in it, it refers to its relation to humanity, by access of its One and Only Door, not its inauguration or fulfillment. The “Kingdom Now” position is generally wrong for the same reason because they attempt to take the power of the Spirit and re-define the Kingdom based upon their own flesh and unrenewed mind and soul. But, the Kingdom of God looks like sacrifice, like service, like a child, and like a cross. And, everyone, save a few, missed it, and that was the express intent all along, according to Jesus (Matthew 13:11). This was true from the prophets of the OT to the apostles of the New.
And, ultimately, one must be clear. This definition of the Kingdom does not come from somewhere outside of the Bible, but by it’s most faithful Interpreter, Jesus Himself.
So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?
Luke 13:18
This is Jesus’ interpretation of the Kingdom, and it should be ours as well. Blessed is the one who hears!