When I was a student in Bible college in the 90’s I remember a group of missionaries coming to the university. We set for many hours talking about scriptures and revelations of the Word of God. During the course of our conversation the lead missionary said, “We are studying to understand the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.”
At that moment I did not even know there was a difference. Or that this was something people were searching to define. That seed stuck with me for all these years. I occasionally remembered the conversation but never gave it much thought.
As I started this search for the Kingdom this question came back to my mind. But the main question I have is, “Is there a difference?”
To solve this conundrum, I first began by searching the internet. Today’s modern advances have given us such an amazing advantage over the generations before us. I quickly discovered this question was one that many people have asked and researched. It has even become a doctrinal issue for many. Different camps have emerged claiming their understanding is better and they have a revelation from God. Nothing good comes from this approach. It just sows discourse and division. There has to be a simple explanation that doesn’t require taking sides based on a personal revelation.
Upon further investigation I began to realize there was a patter to the appearance of the two phrases in the Bible. All the appearances of Kingdom of Heaven are found in the Gospel of Matthew and are found nowhere else in the New Testament.
Matthew (3:2, 4:17, 5:3, 5:10, 5:19, 5:20, 7:21, 8:11, 10:7, 11:11, 11:12, 13:11, 13:24, 13:31, 13:33, 13:44, 13:45, 13:47, 13:52, 16:19, 18:1, 18:3, 18:4, 18:23, 19:14, 19:23, 20:1, 22:2, 23:13, 25:1)
Is the answer as simple as Matthew used the Kingdom of Heaven to refer to the “Kingdom” that Jesus came preaching was at hand?
I looked for the occurrence of the phrase “Kingdom of God” in Matthew to confirm my suspicion. However, this did not clear things up. In my search I found 5 references to the Kingdom of God in Matthew (6:33, 12:28, 19:24, 21:31, 21:43).
Then I look at chapters where the two phrases appeared within the same chapter to determine if a distinction had been made between the two. Matthew 19:23 and 24 were such a location.
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. KJV
This parable appears also in Mark 10:
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! </
