KINGDOM CONCEPT #7: UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM CONCEPT OF CITIZENSHIP

Exodus chapter 20


Today we are walking in: Kingdom Concept #7: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Citizenship




Today we look to the word- KINGDOM- H4467-mamlakah-dominion, i.e. (abstractly) the estate (rule) or (concretely) the country (realm):—kingdom, king's, reign, royal.



The Torah testifies...............


Deuteronomy 17:18

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, H4467 that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:




The prophets proclaim..................


Amos 9:8

Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, H4467 and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.




The writings bear witness...........................


Psalms 68:32

Sing unto God, ye kingdoms H4467 of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:

The most awesome power and position of national privilege is citizenship. Citizenship is the most valuable asset of a nation and is not easily given because of its power and impact. All governments defend the right of citizenship with the same fervor because of its implications. Citizenship is not membership. Religions function on membership, while nations and kingdoms function on citizenship.

In recent months immigration has become a hot topic in some parts of the world. For example, there is rising concern among many Western Europeans that the continuing influx of Muslim immigrants from the Middle East will soon transform the entire religious, social, and cultural complexion of Europe. Recent sectarian riots in France over unemployment and in many other European countries over the publication of “blasphemous” cartoons of Muhammad have revealed that little cultural assimilation among those immigrants has occurred.

Of even greater concern, however, is the spectacle that has been going on in the United States over immigration. For months, debates have raged over the status of millions of illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico, who live and work in the U.S. Rallies in support of these illegals have drawn thousands out onto the streets. Some legislators have proposed granting all illegal aliens currently in the country immediate legal status and placing them on a short track to American citizenship. Others insist that the U.S. government detain and deport as many illegal immigrants as they can find and increase patrols at the U.S.-Mexican border to prevent further would-be immigrants from crossing over. There are even some who have seriously proposed building a fence along the entire 700-mile length of the border.

It seems that masses of people from south of the border are clamoring to get into the United States. Why? What draws them to risk life, capture, imprisonment, or deportation just to cross that border? It could be many things: better jobs, higher pay, better health care, greater opportunities, and an all-around better quality of life than they feel they can get in their home country. For many, it is the lure of even the possibility of citizenship in the most prosperous nation in the world.

People are attracted to a nation that appears to promise a better life than the one they are living where they are. Some people even become desperate enough to do anything they have to do to become a part of that nation.

So the concept of citizenship is critical to understanding the nature of the Kingdom of heaven. As I’ve said before, all governments and kingdoms operate on governing laws and principles. Citizenship is necessary for the validity and legitimacy of any nation. Not only that, but citizenship is the most sacred privilege of a nation.

THE POWER AND PRIVILEGE OF CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship has great power as well as great privileges. That is why people are willing to risk their lives and cross borders even to the point of death to pursue the hope of citizenship. Citizenship is not only sacred, but sanctified—set apart. A citizen is part of an elite, privileged group. People who have lived as “subjects” of a foreign government rather than citizens understand this distinction much better than people who were born citizens. The same is true for people who have worked very hard to earn the privilege to become a naturalized citizen of their chosen country.

As a sacred privilege, citizenship is the most precious gift that any nation can give. That’s why there are laws to protect people from it and protect it from people. Apart from native-born citizens, citizenship is neither awarded lightly nor obtained easily. And it shouldn’t be. Citizenship is too precious a treasure to hand out indiscriminately like handbills.

When it comes to matters of citizenship, the Kingdom of The Most High Yah is no different from any other country. Remember, the Kingdom of The Most High Yah is not a religion. It is a government with a country. Heaven is that country, and Yahashua Hamachiach is its King. Referring to Hamachiach, the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote:

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders....Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever... (Isaiah 9:6-7, emphasis added).

Like any other country, the Kingdom of The Most High Yah has the principle of citizenship. And, like the example of America above, once people know about the Kingdom, and once they understand what it is and what it has to offer, they clamor to get in. This is what Yahashua was referring to when He said:

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of The Most High Yah is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it (Luke 16:16).

“Everyone is forcing his way into it.” Once people learn about the Kingdom of The Most High Yah, they can’t wait to get in! Picture in your mind all those would-be immigrants desperately clamoring to cross the border, and then you will see what Yahashua meant.

Why then, someone might ask, do we not see people clamoring to get into the churches? Why does the church as a whole seem to have so little impact on our culture? The reason is simple—and sad. Most pastors don’t understand the Kingdom, so they don’t preach it or teach it. Consequently, most of the people in the churches don’t understand the Kingdom either, so they don’t model Kingdom living. My experience has been that once people know about the Kingdom and see it modeled, they want it!

Such is the power of the lure of citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven.

BECOMING A KINGDOM CITIZEN

All nations, including kingdoms, have citizens. And all nations require immigration status. The Kingdom of The Most High Yah is no different. Every Kingdom citizen today is a naturalized citizen. We emigrated from a foreign country—a “dominion of darkness” (see Col. 1:13)— where we as a race had been “exiled” ever since Adam’s rebellion in the garden of Eden. At that time, the human race lost citizenship in heaven. We lost our citizenship because we lost our Kingdom, and we lost our Kingdom because we lost our property—our territory. Don’t forget that without territory, there is no kingdom; and without a kingdom, there can be no kingdom citizenship.

When Yahashua Hamachiach began His public ministry, He announced that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived. That was the only message

He preached. He brought back to earth the Kingdom we lost at Eden and gave us access to it again. We enter the Kingdom of heaven through the process that Yahashua called being “born again” (see John 3:3)—changing our mind and turning from our rebellion against The Most High Yah, placing our trust in Yahashua for the forgiveness of our rebellion, and acknowledging Him as Lord (Owner) of our lives. This “new birth” gets us into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Many believers call this “being saved,” but I think it is more helpful here to think of the new birth as the “naturalization” process by which we become Kingdom citizens. The new birth makes us naturalized citizens of the Kingdom. It also “naturalizes” us in the sense that it returns us to our original “natural” state of authority and dominion over the earth as The Most High Yah intended from the start. When we become citizens of The Most High Yah’s Kingdom, it means that we voluntarily align ourselves with a new government and a new country, embracing its language, its ideals, and its values.

The Kingdom constitution is explicit regarding our citizenship:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with The Most High Yah’s people and members of The Most High Yah’s household (Ephesians 2:19, emphasis added).

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Yahashua Hamachiach, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body (Philippians 3:20, emphasis added).

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves (Colossians 1:12-13, emphasis added).􏰁

Not only does the new birth make us citizens of Heaven, but our citizenship begins immediately. We are Kingdom citizens right now. Our citizenship is a present reality. We “are...fellow citizens with The Most High Yah’s people.” “Our citizenship is in Heaven.” The Most High Yah “has brought us into the kingdom of the Son.”

Why is this so important? Here’s why: Religion postpones citizenship to the future. Religious leaders tell their people, “You will be a citizen...someday. You will be in the Kingdom...you will have joy later...you will be a full citizen. But not today. Not yet. The Kingdom has not yet come.”

They are wrong. The Kingdom has come. Kingdom citizenship is never postponed. The Kingdom of The Most High Yah is present and functional on the earth right now. If you have been “born again,” then you have been naturalized and are a Kingdom citizen right now. And that means that all the rights, benefits, and privileges of Kingdom citizenship are yours right now. You can enjoy your citizenship right now. You don’t have to wait until some indefinite time in the future.

You can never appropriate what you postpone. That’s what you call “locking up the Kingdom of The Most High Yah” to those who want to get in. It is for this reason that I am convinced that the greatest enemy of the Kingdom is religion. Religion keeps pushing the Kingdom away from people: “You can’t get in now; you can’t experience it now; you can’t benefit from it now; wait until later.” And so the people suffer. That is why so many religious people live defeated, destitute, and frustrated lives. They believe they have to wait for their “reward.”

DUAL CITIZENSHIP

Kingdom governments exercise jurisdiction over their citizens no matter where they are. One of the main purposes that nations maintain embassies in other countries is to provide assistance to their citizens who are living or traveling away from home. If you were to visit the Bahamas and happened to lose all your money or face some other crisis, all you would have to do is turn to your country’s embassy and they would help you. That’s what they are there for. One of the responsibilities of any government is to take care of its citizens, whether at home or abroad.

In a very real sense, that’s what the church is supposed to be: an embassy! The church is not a religious place. When Yahashua established His ecclesia, He did not have a religious institution in mind. His purpose was to set up an embassy of His Kingdom—a place where Kingdom citizens (new and old) could receive aid, be trained in the ways, laws, language, and customs of the Kingdom, and be equipped with the Kingdom resources they need for effective life in the Kingdom colony on earth.

All Kingdom citizens carry dual citizenship. Most governments on earth allow dual citizenship, where citizens of one country may hold simultaneously legal citizenship in another. If you are an American or Canadian or German citizen, for example, you could become an official, legal citizen of the Bahamas without being required to give up your prior citizenship. Children born to citizens of one country who are living in another country generally become citizens of both countries.

It is no different with the Kingdom of Heaven. All Kingdom citizens are simultaneously citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven as well as citizens of the earthly nation of their birth or their naturalization. We don’t give up our earthly citizenship when we become citizens of the Kingdom. And in the same way, we don’t have to be in Heaven to benefit from heavenly jurisdiction. Our citizenship is constant, and the Kingdom government exercises jurisdiction over us wherever we are.

The Kingdom constitution says that we are in the world but not of the world. Even though we are in a foreign territory—actually, our government’s colony—our registration is not here. When it says our citizenship is in Heaven, it means that our registration, our official documentation, is not on earth. When we are born again, our names are written in Heaven’s “official registry” as valid confirmation that we are now citizens of Heaven, even though we still live in the colony. So even though we are physically away from the Kingdom “country,” we are still citizens of the Kingdom.

When Yahashua stood before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (John 18:33b), to which Yahashua answered:

My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place (John 18:36).

It is important to note here both what Yahashua said as well as what He did not say. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world”; He did not say, “My kingdom is not in this world.” He said, “My kingdom is from another place”; He did not say, “My kingdom is not in this place.” As the official representative of the emperor, Pilate possessed kingly authority in Judea. Speaking as one king to another, Yahashua acknowledged His kingship. In fact, He stated plainly to Pilate:

You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth” (John 18:37b).

And what was that truth? The truth that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived—the only message Yahashua preached. So Hamachiach’s Kingdom was in the world but not of the world. It was from another place but also resident here on earth. It was here now, but it was not from here.

So all Kingdom citizens possess dual citizenship—in heaven and on earth. That status will continue until the day when the present heaven and earth pass away and the King re-creates them both. Then there will be no more separation because the time will have come when:

...the dwelling of The Most High Yah is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and The Most High Yah himself will be with them and be their The Most High Yah (Revelation 21:3).

On that day the government of heaven will exercise full dominion over the new earth under the co-regency of all kingdom citizens.

INVISIBLE CITIZENSHIP

Someone may ask, “If the Kingdom of heaven is here now, why can’t we see it? Why isn’t there more evidence of it all around us?” The answer is very simple: We cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven because it is invisible. And so are its citizens. In fact, all colonial governments and citizens are invisible.

In the same way, the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is invisible does not mean that it has no impact. Yahashua taught this truth about the Kingdom more than once. On one occasion He illustrated it this way:

What shall I compare the kingdom of The Most High Yah to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough (Luke 13:20-21).

That’s how yeast works—slowly but inexorably until all the dough feels its influence. Once mixed with the dough, the yeast is invisible, but if you think that means no impact, just try baking bread without it!

People have been debating the nature and timing of the coming of the Kingdom of heaven for centuries. It was no different in Yahashua’ day. One day He spoke of the invisibility of the Kingdom in response to a question from some of the religious leaders:

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of The Most High Yah would come, Yahashua replied, “The kingdom of The Most High Yah does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of The Most High Yah is within you” (Luke 17:20-21).

The Kingdom of The Most High Yah is invisible. We cannot detect it simply by observation. And if the Kingdom of The Most High Yah resides within its citizens, this means that all Kingdom citizens are invisible also. We bear no physical or outward signs that broadcast to the world, “I’m a Kingdom citizen!” Our citizenship must become known in other ways.

Citizenship is invisible. The only way you can actually know someone is from a particular place is by listening to them and observing their behavior over time.

The same is true with us as Kingdom citizens. There is no way for people to tell by looking at us that we are citizens of the Kingdom. Our language and our behavior should make that known to them. In other words, they should recognize us by our distinct culture.

Culture is a product of the language, ideals, and values of a people or a nation. Even though people cannot recognize us as Kingdom citizens by our outward appearance, our distinctive language, ideals, and values should give us away. Our culture should reflect and reveal our citizenship as being here but not from here, as being in the world but not of the world.

PRINCIPLES


Citizenship is the most sacred privilege of a nation.


Citizenship is the most precious gift that any nation can give.


Like any other country, the Kingdom of The Most High Yah has the principle of citizenship.


Every Kingdom citizen today is a naturalized citizen.


The new birth makes us naturalized citizens of the Kingdom.


Not only does the new birth make us citizens of heaven, but our citizenship begins immediately. We are Kingdom citizens right now. Our citizenship is a present reality.


Religion postpones citizenship to the future.


You can never appropriate what you postpone.


All Kingdom citizens carry dual citizenship.


All colonial governments and citizens are invisible.


The Kingdom of The Most High Yah is invisible.


All Kingdom citizens are invisible also.


Our culture should reflect and reveal our citizenship as being here but not from here, as being in the world but not of the world.https://youtu.be/5yABx9ViGlg