"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up
a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44).
We have seen that Jesus Christ and the apostles preached the gospel—the
good news—of the Kingdom of God. But exactly what is that Kingdom?
There are many ideas about the Kingdom of God. Some think it is the church.
Others believe it is an ethereal concept that resides in the hearts of
Christians. Some think it is the collective good of humanity.
What does the Bible say? What is the Kingdom of God?
The word translated "kingdom" throughout the New Testament is the Greek
word basileia, which denotes "sovereignty, royal power, [and] dominion" (Vine's
Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, "Kingdom").
A careful examination of the Bible reveals that the next phase of the Kingdom
of God is nothing short of a world-ruling monarchy that God will establish
on this earth through Jesus Christ!
An overview of world governments
This amazing truth is made clear in many Bible verses. The prophet Daniel
was inspired to record a description of world governments spanning a period
of thousands of years. His prophecy, recorded in Daniel 2:28-45, describes
King Nebuchadnezzar's vision of five world-ruling empires. When we read
these verses, we see that the fifth kingdom, the Kingdom of God, is a literal
kingdom that has not yet come to earth.
In this passage, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, dreamed of a huge image
of a man consisting of a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly
and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet composed of a mixture of iron
and clay.
