CONCEPT OF KINGS

Genesis chapter 1













Today we are walking in: Concept Of Kings







Today we look to the word- KING- H4427- Malak- to reign; inceptively, to ascend the throne; causatively, to induct into royalty; hence (by implication) to take counsel:—consult, indeed, be (make, set a, set up) king, be (make) queen, (begin to, make to) reigning, rule, surely.










The Torah Testifies……………………




Genesis 14:18

And Melchizedek king H4427 of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.











The Prophets Proclaim……………………




Isaiah 44:6

Thus saith the LORD the King H4427 of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.










The Writings Bear Witness…………………..




Psalm 10:16

The LORD is King H4427 for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.







Kingdom Concept #1: Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Kings




In recent times, it has been a popular notion to celebrate the opposition against monarchies, and many have even suggested the eradication of the concept of monarchies from our so-called modern or post-modern world. Popular uprisings against the remaining monarchies in the name of the pursuit of democracy have become the craze of today’s self-proclaimed freedom fighters. In some cases it may be justifiable; in many of the instances cited, these kingdoms are filled with contradictions, abuse, oppression, social extremes, and dictatorial administrations. However, it must also be noted that many of the democracies in our world today are also plagued with the same defects and shortcomings. In essence, the problem is not the king, the kingdoms, or even the form of government, but the defects in the human nature that functions in any of these systems.




Yet the kingdom concept is the only one presented, preached, promoted, taught, and established by Yahusha Hamachiach throughout His ministry. His proposed solution to mankind’s problems on the earth is the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth. As a matter of fact, the message of the Bible and, more specifically, the focus of Yahusha was not a religion or, for that matter, any of the many subjects we have magnified and many have preached as “the gospel” or good news to the world. For instance, Yahusha never preached as a priority public message subjects like faith, prosperity, giving, deliverance, or even His death on the Cross or resurrection as “the gospel.” But He repeatedly promoted and declared “the Kingdom of Yah and Heaven” as His principal message.




I am well aware that what I just said may be cause for much reaction, mental conflict, and religious resistance; but I would encourage you to search and research the four Gospels for yourself and discover this surprising reality. Yahusha also indicated that this message of the “Kingdom” would be His disciples’ message to their world.




Yahusha’ message of the Kingdom was foreshadowed in the Old Testament centuries before He was born in Bethlehem. Here are two examples. The first one indicates Yah’s motivation for delivering the slave clans of Israel from Egyptian oppression:




“Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6).




In the second example, we see the Old Testament Messianic promise declared by the prophet Isaiah, strongly indicating the governmental aspects of the Kingdom mandate:




For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Yah, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 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. The zeal of the Most High Almighty will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6-7).




Yahusha’ message was clearly kingdom focused and not religiously motivated:




From that time on Yahusha began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).




Yahusha went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23).




Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:3-4).




For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).




Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9b-10).




But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).




Yahusha went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness (Matthew 9:35).




As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 10:7).




But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of Yah, then the kingdom of Yah has come upon you (Matthew 12:28).




He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Matthew 13:11).




When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart (Matthew 13:19a).




Yahusha told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field” (Matthew 13:24).




He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field” (Matthew 13:31).




He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough” (Matthew 13:33).




The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field (Matthew 13:44).




Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45-46).




Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish (Matthew 13:47).




I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).




I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom (Matthew 16:28).




And He said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4).




Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants (Matthew 18:23).




For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard (Matthew 20:1).




Yahusha said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of Yah ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31b).




The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come (Matthew 22:2-3).




Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to (Matthew 23:13).




And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).




Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).




After this, Yahusha traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of Yah (Luke 8:1).




And He sent them out to preach the kingdom of Yah and to heal the sick (Luke 9:2).




Then He took them with Him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed Him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of Yah, and healed those who needed healing (Luke 9:10b-11).




I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of Yah (Luke 9:27).




Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).




And I confer on you a kingdom, just as My Father conferred one on Me (Luke 22:29).




Yahusha said, “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).




“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Yahusha answered, “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. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me” (John 18:37).




My purpose for listing all of these statements is to show and emphasize the preoccupation Yahusha had with the kingdom concept rather than a religion. Note in particular the last statement above, where Yahusha declares Himself a “king” and not a president or prime minister or mayor. This is why it is necessary and essential that we rediscover and desire to understand the Kingdom as a concept and a reality. It is the foundation of Yah’s plan for mankind.




The original ideal kingdom concept is distinct from the earthly version even though it contains many of the same components and concepts of all kingdoms. Despite the many failed kingdoms throughout history, the questions still arise: Why did Yah choose a kingdom and not a republic? Why did Yah choose a kingdom and not a democracy or socialism? What are the benefits of being in a kingdom over a democratic republic or a communistic regime? Why is a kingdom better than a democracy or socialist form of government? Why is Yahusha a King and not a president?




What exactly is a kingdom? Very simply, a kingdom is the government of a king. More specifically, a kingdom is the sovereign rulership and governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his will, his intent, and his purpose, manifesting a culture and society reflecting the king’s nature, values, and morals. A kingdom is the governing impact of a king’s will over a territory or domain, his influence over a people, and a government led by a king.




Therefore, the very heart of any kingdom is its king. This definition perfectly describes the relationship of Yah to the heavenly realm. Heaven exists because of the creative activity of Yah. Throughout its entire expanse, it is infused with His presence, character, and authority. There is no corner of heaven where His will is not accomplished. In every way Yah is the unrivaled and unequalled King of Heaven.




The same was true in the natural realm when Yah extended His Kingdom authority to the earth through the man and woman He created in His image and released to rule in His name. They rebelled against the King’s authority, however, and lost their rulership. Control of the earthly realm then passed temporarily to a demonic usurper until the day in the King’s sovereign plan when it would be restored to its rightful ruler.




In the fullness of time, Yahusha came to the earth and reestablished the Kingdom. Because only a king can establish a kingdom, this act alone reveals that Yahusha Hamachiach is the King. The Bible, the constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven, leaves no doubt as to the Kingship of Yahusha. Perhaps the clearest statement of all is found in the 18th chapter of the Gospel of John where Yahusha, mere hours before His execution by crucifixion, has a revealing exchange with Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the province of Judea. Falsely arrested, illegally tried, and wrongfully condemned for “blasphemy” by the Jewish religious authorities in Jerusalem, Yahusha now stands before Pilate for judgment. Pilate has heard the accusation that Yahusha claims to be a king. So the governor asks Him directly:




“Are you the king of the Hebrews?”...Yahusha said, “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.”




“You are a king then!” said Pilate. Yahusha answered, “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. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” “What is truth?” Pilate asked (John 18:33b,36-38a).




Yahusha said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and “My kingdom is from another place,” clearly implying that He was a King. He was speaking of the Kingdom of Heaven. Notice that Yahusha said that His Kingdom was not of or from this world; He never said that it was not in this world. His Kingdom on earth originated in Heaven.




When Pilate pressed further, Yahusha plainly said, “I am a king.” He then said, “I came into the world to testify to the truth.” What truth? The truth that He was a King with a Kingdom. What could be clearer than that? Testify is a word often used to describe what a witness does in a courtroom— testifying or avowing to what he has seen or heard. The original Greek word employed here has an even deeper meaning. It is a word of experimentation from the laboratory and means to verify or validate. Essentially, Yahusha said to Pilate, “I came to earth because I am a King, and I will prove it by putting it to the test. I testify to the truth that a King is here, a Kingdom is here, and this Kingdom is available to anyone who wants to come in.”




The last thing Yahusha said to Pilate was, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” A more accurate rendering would be, “Everyone on the side of truth hears Me.” This is a very important point because it has to do with “connecting” to Yahusha’ message. Everywhere I go teaching the message of the Kingdom, I find that it resonates with people from all religions and walks of life. Yah created us for kingship—for dominion— and inside each of us is a latent kingdom consciousness striving for expression. This consciousness reveals itself in various ways, such as in our natural resistance to being ruled or controlled by any other person and our continual longing to control the circumstances of our own lives. That is what finally connected me to Yahusha—when I realized that He could teach me how to run life, not let life run me. I learned that I could control my own circumstances.




The search for power is a natural human drive. We all seek power over things and over circumstances, and that is what the Kingdom of Heaven promises. Yahusha said, “I will testify to the truth of the Kingdom, and when you hear Me, you will believe it. You will connect with what I have to say because it will resonate with the kingdom consciousness that is already in you.” We connect with the Kingdom message because it addresses the most deep-seated longing of our heart—our longing to be kings.




While it is natural to desire power over things and circumstances, desiring power over people is another matter. Seeking to influence people, public opinion, and public policy through kingdom principles is always appropriate, but pursuing despotic power over other people for personal gain at their expense is a corruption of our natural quest for power. Desiring to control our own life is one thing; desiring to control others’ lives is another.

HEAVEN'S CROWN LAND

Genesis chapter 1










Today we are walking in: Heaven's Crown Land







Today we look to the word- KING- H4427- Malak- to reign; inceptively, to ascend the throne; causatively, to induct into royalty; hence (by implication) to take counsel:—consult, indeed, be (make, set a, set up) king, be (make) queen, (begin to, make to) reigning, rule, surely.










The Torah Testifies……………………




Genesis 14:18

And Melchizedek king H4427 of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.











The Prophets Proclaim……………………




Isaiah 44:6

Thus saith the LORD the King H4427 of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.










The Writings Bear Witness…………………..




Psalm 10:16

The LORD is King H4427 for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.










Heaven’s Crown Land




Yah created the earth as a place over which to extend His influence, but He intended to do it through mankind, not Himself. He designed man to be a fit colonizer of the physical world He wanted to colonize. That is why we humans are so well suited physically for life in this world. The Bible says that Yah created man “from the dust of the ground” (see Gen. 2:7). Scientific evidence confirms this. Our bodies are made of the same stuff as the earth. Before Yah created us, He fashioned a physical world that would be a perfect environment for us to fulfill our purpose and destiny. Then He formed our physical bodies from the same material. Man is a triune being just like his Creator. We reflect His image even in our composition. Man is a spirit being after the nature and essence of his source, Father Yah; he lives in a body, which is his earth suit that allows him to relate to the physical environment; and he possesses a soul, which is his intellect, will, and emotional faculties. We are suited for the earth as perfectly as Yah is suited for Heaven.




As we discussed earlier, the foundation and qualification for kingship is rightful ownership of land. In a kingdom, the land is the personal property of the king, and it is this ownership right that designates him as lord. In a kingdom, when referring to the physical land, the territory is called “crown land.” This implies the land is property of “the crown,” referring to the king himself. By creative right, the earth is heaven’s “crown land.” In a kingdom, all the land within the kingdom belongs to the king. Every square foot of territory is his personal property—his “king-domain.” In a true kingdom, therefore, there is no such thing as private property owned by the citizens; the king owns all.




The Bahamas was once part of the United Kingdom of the British Empire. When the British seized the Bahamas from the Spanish, all 700-plus islands immediately became the personal property of the king of England. They did not become the property of the British government; there’s a difference. These islands became the personal property of the British sovereign. All who grew up under that arrangement understood that all the land was known as crown land, meaning it belonged to the one who wore the crown. As a matter of fact, during those years, it was not uncommon for the king or queen of England to give an island as a birthday present to a son or daughter or niece or nephew. Since the islands were crown land, the monarchs, on their own prerogative, could give them away at any time to anyone they wished as personal gifts. As a matter of fact, this land could be given to any citizen as a personal gift of the government at the authority of the king, and many people in our colony received large parcels of land for personal use.




The same is true in Yah’s Kingdom. Yah owns the earth and everything on it; the earth is His crown land. As an ancient poet wrote:




The earth is the Most High’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters (Psalm 24:1-2).




Because Yah owns the earth, He can do with it however He pleases. And it pleased Him to give it to man. Again, in the words of the ancient poet:




The highest heavens belong to the Most High, but the earth He has given to man (Psalm 115:16).




Don’t make the mistake of equating this with ownership. Crown land given to someone by the king remains crown land. At any time the king can take it back and give it to someone else. That is the king’s prerogative. So when Yah “gave” the earth to man, He did not relinquish ownership. We possess the earth as a trust, as stewards, as “kings” under the High King of Heaven. The King gave us dominion over the earth, not as owners but as vassal-kings to extend His heavenly government to the earthly realm. He gave us rulership, not ownership. We have the privilege to rule the earth, and with that privilege also comes the responsibility of wise and righteous management. And we are accountable to the King for how we manage our domain.




It is also on this prerogative of Kingship and Lordship that Yah could, without the permission of its current inhabitants, promise Abraham the land of Canaan as a birthright.




Today we see this understanding of crown land applied in the nation of Israel. The ancient Hebrew law handed down through Moses stipulated that no property sales in Israel were permanent because the land belonged to Yah:




The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine and you are but aliens and My tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land (Leviticus 25:23-24).




Israelites were free to occupy their own plot of land, develop it, cultivate it, live off of it, and even pass it on to their heirs. They were not to sell it, however, especially to non- Israelites. If financial circumstances necessitated selling the property to a fellow Israelite, the law made provision for the land to be returned. Every 50 years Israel celebrated a Year of Jubilee, during which time any land that had changed hands since the previous jubilee year automatically reverted to the original possessor.




In Israel today, a similar principle is in effect. When young couples in Israel marry, the Israeli government provides or assists them with their first house. Why? Because there is no private ownership of property in Israel. Officially, the land belongs to Yah. The principle here is that in a kingdom, living on and using the land is a privilege, not a right.




This practice reflects a kingdom consciousness that we all need to cultivate. It is critical for our understanding of the Kingdom and how it works that we recognize that the whole earth is Heaven’s crown land and that we are merely “aliens” and stewards of Yah’s property.




Yah’s Colonial Intent




Yah never does anything to no purpose. From the very beginning, Yah’s intent for the earth was that it be colonized. Isaiah, an ancient scribe and spokesman for the King, wrote:




...He who created the heavens, He is Yah; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited... (Isaiah 45:18).




Our presence on earth was a colonial decision by our King. He created this planet as new territory, fashioned us out of the same material, planted us here, and issued the colonial charter giving us dominion. We own nothing but have access to everything, as long as we operate within the parameters of the governing principles the King has established for His Kingdom. This is what it means to be a colony of Heaven.




The concept of colonization is the most important component of a kingdom that we must understand or else it will be impossible to fully grasp the essence of the message of the Bible, the prophets, and the focus and priority of Yahusha Hamachiach. It is the misunderstanding or ignorance of this kingdom concept of colonization that has produced all human religions and sects. Christianity as a religion is itself a product of this misunderstanding. The primary purpose, motive, plan, and program of Yah the Creator was to colonize earth with Heaven.




Understanding the concept of colonization is key because once we understand what Yah intended, we will understand what Yah is doing. He put people on this planet for the purpose of expanding His influence and authority from the supernatural realm to the natural realm. A colony, by definition, is populated by people who originally came from another place. It is an outpost inhabited by citizens of a faraway country whose allegiance remains with their home government. Stated another way, a colony is “a group of emigrants or their descendants who settle in a distant land but remain subject to the parent country.”




Colonization involves citizens of one country inhabiting foreign territory for the purpose of influencing that domain with the culture and values of their native country and governing it with the laws of their home government. For example, the message of Yahusha as stated in His mission statement recorded in Matthew 4:17, “...the kingdom of heaven has arrived” (author’s paraphrase), would indicate that the first colony of Heaven had returned to earth through Him. As citizens of heaven, we inhabit the earth for the purpose of influencing it with the culture and values of Heaven and bringing it under the government of the King of Heaven.




Paul of Tarsus, a first-century ambassador and colonizer for the King of heaven, described the King’s colonial intent this way:




...to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in Yah, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of Yah should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Hamachiach Yahusha our Most High (Ephesians 3:9-11).




Yah’s intent was to plant a colony of His citizens on the earth to make His “manifold wisdom”—His heart, mind, will, and desires—known to “the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” In other words, to the spirit world. His purpose in colonizing earth was to show the spiritual powers of darkness how beings created in His own image could be planted on the earth and bring in the government and culture of Heaven so that in the end, the earth would look just like Heaven.




In summary:




1. A colony is a group of citizens established in a foreign territory to influence that domain for their home government.




2. A colony is a foreign territory inhabited by citizens charged to influence that domain with the culture and values of their government.




3. A colony is the presence of a distinct cultural citizenry in a foreign territory governed by the laws and culture of their home government.




Such is the concept of kingdom colonization.




Understanding Kingdom Concepts




Studying the concept of kingdoms is important for a couple of reasons. First, because most of us today, particularly in the west, have never lived in a kingdom, the concept is completely foreign to us. We simply do not know what it is like to live under a king. This might not be a problem were it not for the second reason for studying the Kingdom:Yah’s government, the government of Heaven, is a kingdom, and Yah is the King. And because His Kingdom extends through all creation, encompassing both the supernatural and the natural realms, it covers us also, which is why we need to understand it. A third and critical reason to study and restore this concept of kingdom is because the Bible is not about a religion or an organization but a King and His Kingdom. Therefore, in order to correctly understand, interpret, and apply the Scriptures, knowledge of kingdoms is necessary.




The kingdom is the oldest of all forms of government and the only one that is of divine origin. Yah “invented” the kingdom concept and established it first in Heaven. Simply stated, a kingdom is simply a domain over which a king has rulership. Heaven was the first domain that Yah created. Although invisible, it is a very real place, even more real than what we call reality. The natural came from the supernatural; therefore, the supernatural is always more real than the natural. Heaven is more real than earth, even though we cannot see it with our physical eyes. In the beginning, Yah established a kingdom as the governmental system for ruling the supernatural realm of Heaven.




Once His Kingdom was established in Heaven, Yah desired to extend it to another realm. With this end in mind (the big picture) He created a visible, physical universe with billions of stars, including the one we callSol, the sun around which revolves this planet we call Earth. The King chose this planet specifically as the location of His Kingdom colony in the natural realm. He created it for that purpose. Then He placed on it human beings created in His image to run the colony for Him. In this way, Yah also established the first earthly kingdom, which was merely an extension of His Kingdom in Heaven.




Through rebellion against the King, however, man lost his rulership. We have been trying to get it back ever since. Even though we lost our earthly kingdom, we still retain the original kingdom idea that the King implanted in our spirit. We are searching for the Kingdom all the time, but without Yah we can never find it because it is from Him.




In our Kingdom search through the ages, man has developed and experimented with many different systems of government, as we saw earlier in this teaching. Every one of them, including those we call kingdoms, are defective because mankind is defective. But they all are driven by our desire to regain and restore the original Kingdom. This is not a “utopian” fantasy. In the beginning, Yah established utopia in heaven—and then extended it to earth. Our utopian dreams are simply expressions of our yearning to regain the Kingdom we once had but lost.




According to the “colonial charter” stated in Genesis 1:26 that we looked at earlier, man originally was given an earthly kingdom to rule over, which was perfect. Adam and Eve were overlords of the physical domain, corulers who themselves were ruled only by Yah, their Creator-King. They were His people, and He was their Yah; there was no intermediary rulership.




Human kingdoms, which at best were but dim and flawed reflections of Yah’s Kingdom, had citizens who were also subjects of the king, meaning that they were “subject” to the king’s personal ambitions, goals, whims, and desires. Yah’s Kingdom is different. In the Kingdom of Yah there are no subjects, only citizens—but every citizen is a king (or queen) in his or her own right. This is why the Bible refers to Yah as the “King of kings.” He is the High King of Heaven who rules over the human kings He created in turn to rule over the earthly domain.




The Kingdom Is Here




Adam and Eve’s rebellion cost them their kingdom. Chapter 3 of Genesis relates the sad story of how the human pair fell victim to the lies and deceptions of the serpent, which embodied the prince of darkness, that fallen angel known as Hasatan or lucifer. With Adam and Eve’s abdication, lucifer seized control of their earthly domain as a brazen, arrogant, and illegal pretender to the throne.




Immediately the King of Heaven put in motion His plan to restore what man had lost. And what did man lose? A kingdom. Adam and Eve did not lose a religion because they had never had a religion; they had a kingdom. So when Yah set out to restore what they had lost, He set out to restore a kingdom, not a religion. Religion is an invention of man, born of his efforts to find Yah and restore the kingdom on his own. But only Yah can restore the kingdom man lost.




After the disaster in Eden, the King confronted His rebellious corulers and their deceiver and addressed each one in turn. Of greatest interest to us in this context is what the King said to the serpent, because it has kingdom implications:




I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel (Genesis 3:15).




Referring to the woman’s “offspring” by the singular pronoun “He,” indicates that the King was speaking of one specific offspring—one who would strike a fatal blow against lucifer and his schemes by “crushing” his head. As the rest of Scripture makes abundantly clear, this one specific offspring appeared thousands of years later as the man Yahusha Hamachiach of Nazareth, who was the Son of Yah embodied in human flesh.




When Yahusha appeared on the scene in real, space-time history, He brought a message not of a religion, new or old, but of the Kingdom:




From that time on Yahusha began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).




These are the first recorded words of Yahusha. The phrase “that time” refers to the arrest of John the Baptist, a prophet whose mission was to announce the arrival of the King. Now the King Himself was on the scene, and He was announcing the arrival of the Kingdom. This was the only message Yahusha preached. Search all four of the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you will find that Yahusha always talked about the Kingdom. Everything He said and did related to the Kingdom and its arrival on earth.




Yahusha said, “Repent” (which means to change your mind or adopt a new way of thinking), “for the kingdom of heaven is near” (which means, in effect, that it has arrived). In other words, Yahusha was saying, “Change your way of thinking! The Kingdom of Heaven is here! I brought it with me!” When Yahusha brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, He brought also the promise of restoring to mankind the dominion over the earth that Adam and Eve had lost in Eden. He brought back our rulership.




Before we could be fully restored to our Kingdom, however, the matter of our rebellion against Yah had to be dealt with. This rebellion is what the Bible calls sin, and it is universal in human nature, a legacy of Adam and Eve’s treason in Eden so long ago. Yahusha’ death on the crucifixion stake paid the price for our rebellion so that we could be restored to a right standing with Yah, our King, and be reinstalled in our original and rightful place as rulers of the earthly domain. The “gospel” message— the “good news”—is more than the crucifixion stake. The crucifixion stake is the doorway that gets us back into the Kingdom. The crucifixion stake of Hamachiach, therefore, is all about Kingdom restoration. It is about restoration of power and authority. It is about regaining rulership, not religion.




Sons, Not Servants




Why did Yah wait thousands of years from the promise in Eden of Kingdom restoration to its realization with the coming of Yahusha? He had to allow the course of human history to flow until the timing was right. In order for us to understand what we lost when we lost the Kingdom, much less understand kingdom principles, Yah needed the right prototype as an example. Across the millennia, many human civilizations and kingdoms rose and fell until finally a kingdom appeared that had everything Yah needed to show how His Kingdom was supposed to work. When the Roman Empire came to power, it had a concept of citizenship. It had a concept of lordship (ownership). It had a king and a domain. It practiced colonization. Rome had such an influence that wherever it advanced, that part of the world became like Rome. When Yah saw Rome, He said, “That’s exactly what I want.”




When the time was right, the King of Heaven sent His Son to restore His Kingdom on earth. Paul of Tarsus stated it this way:




But when the time had fully come, Yah sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons (Galatians 4:4-5).




The fullness of time has nothing to do with clocks but everything to do with seasons. When the season of history was right, when the Roman Empire had risen to serve as a living example, when everything was in place according to divine purpose, Yah sent His Son into the physical world with the message that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived. What was His purpose in restoring the Kingdom? Not to give us a religion but to restore to us our “full rights” as sons and daughters of the King.




The King of Heaven wants sons and daughters, not servants. Religion produces servants. It revels in the spirit of servitude. Please don’t misunderstand me. A servant heart is, as Yahusha said, the key to greatness in the Kingdom of Yah (see Matt. 20:26-27). And He said that He Himself came to serve rather than to be served (see Matt. 20:28). But this kind of service should always proceed from the place of security in our knowledge that we are sons and daughters of the King and simply are following His example. Servanthood in the religious spirit, on the other hand, proceeds from a sense of false humility and self-deprecation where one sees oneself not as a son or daughter, but as a slave. Sons and daughters of the King see service as a privilege; religious people see it as an obligation. And therein lies the difference. Sons and daughters serve willingly because they are sons and daughters. Religious people serve grudgingly because they feel they have no choice if they hope to win the approval of the King. Never confuse serving with being a servant.




Yahusha came that we might “receive the full rights of sons.” This is legal language. There is not a bit of religion in these words. They refer to legal rights and entitlements based on relationship of birth. We are sons and daughters of Yah. Sonship is our right by creation. Hamachiach did not die to improve us; He died to regain and confirm us. The price He paid in His own blood was not to make us worthy but to prove our worth. He did not come to earth to enlist an army of servants. He came to restore the King’s sons and daughters to their rightful position—rulership as heirs of His Kingdom.




If we are heirs and are destined to rule in our Father’s Kingdom, then we had better learn to understand His Kingdom and how it operates. We had better learn its principles and concepts. We must learn how to think, talk, and live like Kingdom citizens. The Kingdom is the most important message of our age and the answer to the dilemma of ancient and modern man. According to Yahusha Hamachiach, everyone is trying all they can to find it and forcing their way through life to lay hold on it:




Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of Yah is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it (Luke 16:16b).




Everyone of the over six billion people on earth are searching for this Kingdom. This series is to help you and your fellow planet dwellers discover and understand it. With this end in mind, the remaining teachings of this series will examine in detail key concepts of the Kingdom of Heaven.




Principles




1. Colonization is Heaven’s system for earthly influence.




2. Yah’s original intent was to extend His heavenly government over the earth, and His plan for accomplishing this was to establish a colony of Heaven on the earth.




3. By creative right, the earth is Heaven’s “crown land.”




4. The King gave man rulership of the earth, not ownership.




5. A colony is “a group of emigrants or their descendants who settle in a distant land but remain subject to the parent country.”




6. As citizens of Heaven, we inhabit the earth for the purpose of influencing it with the culture and values of heaven and bringing it under the government of the King of Heaven.




7. Yah’s government, the government of Heaven, is a Kingdom, and Yah is the King.




8. A kingdom is simply a domain over which a king has rulership.




9. In the Kingdom of Yah there are no subjects, only citizens—but every citizen is a king (or queen) in his or her own right.




10. When Yahusha brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, He brought also the promise of restoring to mankind the dominion over the earth that Adam and Eve had lost in Eden.




11. The King of Heaven wants sons and daughters, not servants.




12. Yahusha came that we might “receive the full rights of sons.”

COLONIZATION OF THE EARTH

Genesis chapter 1













Today we are walking in: Colonization Of The Earth










Today we look to the word-DOMINION- H4475 memshalah--rule, dominion, realm, rule, dominion, realm, domain









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






Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.










The prophets proclaim...............…





Jeremiah 34:1

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, H4475 and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,










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






Psalm 103:22 - Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: H4475 bless the LORD, O my soul.

his dominion. H4475







The Original Kingdom Concept: Colonization of Earth




From our discussions thus far, two things at least should be perfectly clear at this point. First, every person on earth, without exception, is seeking a kingdom. Consciously or unconsciously, every human activity and endeavor is directed in one way or another toward this pursuit. And second, as we have just seen, the kingdom concept of government, the original and first governmental concept, is far superior to any governmental system devised by man. The caveat, of course, is that such a kingdom be ruled by a righteous and benevolent king. Otherwise, a kingdom will prove to be no better than any other system.




The inherent superiority of a kingdom over other systems of government is an especially difficult concept for many people in the west. As I stated earlier, few westerners have ever lived under a kingdom and thus know little or nothing of how one operates. This difficulty is even more acute for citizens of the United States whose nation, after all, was established in rebellion against a kingdom.




Nevertheless, a kingdom ruled by a sovereign, righteous, and benevolent king remains the best system of government humanity could ever hope for. The reason is simple:The k ingdom concept is of heavenly, not earthly, origin . Its appearance on earth is due to another concept that originated in heaven—the concept of colonization.




Simply stated, colonization is Heaven’s system for earthly influence.




Seeing the Big Picture




In order to understand this, it is important to look at the big picture.




We humans, divided as we are by religion, ethnicity, geography, national identity, and differing governmental systems and economies, have trouble grasping the overall picture that we are one global village. Religious and cultural differences and territorial loyalties often prevent us from seeing how much we truly have in common with one another. At heart, we all share the same fears, hopes, dreams, and longings. We all share a common desire to be able to control the circumstances of our lives. Consciously or not, we all are searching for a kingdom in which all are equal, enjoying the same rights, benefits, liberty, security, health, and abundance —lives with meaning and purpose and fulfilled potential.




In the midst of our myopic pursuit of self-advancement, we fail to recognize that such a kingdom is available for the having. But we will never see it until we step back to take in the big picture.




When I studied art in college, one of the fundamental concepts I learned is always to see the end first and then work my way back. In other words, a good artist sees the finished product in his or her mind before beginning to paint or sculpt or draw. That is what it means to get the big picture—to see the end from the beginning and keep that end clearly in view throughout the creative process. Only then can the artist ensure that the finished product conforms to his or her original vision or design.




A casual observer of any given phase of the process often cannot make any sense out of it because he or she lacks the big picture of the finished product that is in the mind of the artist. A few brush strokes on a canvas may mean nothing to someone watching the painter, but a good artist will know exactly what he is doing. He will know exactly where he is going and how to get there because he already sees the end result in his mind. He sees the big picture. That is why you should never judge an artist while he is working. It is only in the finished product where his full vision and intent can be seen.




Whether you are painting a picture, carving a sculpture, or building a house, it is critical to keep the big picture—the finished product—clearly in view. Otherwise, your original dream or vision will never be realized, and you will end up with something quite different from what you intended.




The biggest problem in our world today, including the religious world, is that we are so preoccupied with the phases that we cannot see the big picture. We are so caught up with our own little part—and with fighting and arguing with everybody else over their little part—that we have lost sight of our purpose. The most important thing in life is the big picture.




But all we have are snapshots. Somewhere along the way humanity lost the big picture of our purpose, and all we were left with were tiny snapshots that provide only a narrow and very misleading impression of the whole. Long ago we lost the end of our existence. Now all we have to work with are disconnected means—futile pursuits with no significance.




Purpose defines the big picture. In other words, the big picture is the original purpose or intent of the artist or builder —the desired end result. What was Yah’s purpose as the Artist who created humanity? What was the end result He desired? As Designer of the human race, what was Yah’s original intent? This is a critical issue for us because without purpose, human life has no meaning or significance. And that is exactly what the philosophers of our day are saying: Human life has no purpose or significance, so each of us must create or derive meaning for our lives wherever we can find it. We have lost the big picture—Yah’s original intent for mankind— and without it our lives are nothing more than disjointed phases that make no sense.




If our lives are to have meaning, we must recover the big picture of Yah’s original intent for us. In the beginning, Yah undertook a wonderful building project called the human race. Why? Yah’s original purpose in creating mankind—His big picture—was to extend His invisible rulership to the visible world. He wanted to extend His heavenly country to another territory. His desire, then, was to establish on earth a colony of Heaven.




Yah’s Big Picture




Colonization as a concept was not invented by man. It is not the product of any human kingdom or culture. Colonization originated in the mind of Yah. It was His idea. Yah’s original purpose was to establish a manifestation of His heavenly Kingdomon earth without coming to earth Himself.




A colonizing authority, such as a king, does not have to be present physically for colonization to occur. The mere presence of the influence of that authority is sufficient. As long as Yah could extend His kingly governing authority over the earth through delegated representatives, His influence would hold sway here without the necessity of His physical presence.




Yah’s original intent was to extend His heavenly government over the earth, and His plan for accomplishing this was to establish a colony of heaven on the earth. This was Yah’s big picture. The King of Heaven has a big agenda, bigger than national or international affairs. His is an inter- realm agenda. Yah deals with inter-realm affairs, the relationship between the invisible realm of Heaven and the visible realm of earth. His plan was to connect these two through colonization. However, Yah was not content merely to establish His influence on the earth; He wanted to take some citizens out of heaven and put them on earth to establish the colony.




How did He accomplish this? Let’s examine some statements from the Bible, which is the constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven. Like any other constitution, the Bible lays out the laws, principles, and characteristics that define Yah’s Kingdom. Consider first the opening words of this constitution —its “preamble”:




In the beginning Yah created the heavens and the earth

(Genesis 1:1).




This opening statement establishes Yah’s universal kingship by divine right of creation with absolute authority to do whatever He pleases. A little further down we find earth’s “colonial charter”:




Then Yah said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So Yah created man in His own image, in the image of Yah He created him; male and female He created them. Yah blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:26-28).




With these words Yah, the King and Most High of Heaven, declared His colonial intent. This colonial charter delineated the purpose and defined the parameters of the colony. It also designated the persons who received responsibility for carrying out the King’s desire.




Notice that this statement says nothing about religion. This charter is not a religious declaration; it is a government document that defines governmental intent and establishes governmental authority. So the King, in this one statement, declares His big picture—to create some beings just like Himself, place them on the earth, and let them rule it for Him as vice-regents of His heavenly government. This was His plan and His purpose for creating man. Because the purposes of Yah are unchanging, this is still His purpose and plan today.

KINGDOM OF YAH VS GOVERNMENT OF MAN

Genesis chapter 1













Today we are walking in: Kingdom of Yah VS Government of Man













Today we look to the word-KINGDOM- H4467 mamlâkâh, (mam-law-kaw') -dominion, (abstractly) the estate (rule) or (concretely) the country (realm):—kingdom, king's, reign, royal









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





Numbers 32:33




And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom H4467 of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom H4467 of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.







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






Jeremiah 18:9




And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom H4467, to build and to plant it;









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





1 Kings 9:5




Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom H4467 upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.




The Kingdom of Yah Versus the Governments of Man




There is no business more serious than government.




Ninety percent of all the national and international problems facing our world today are the result either of government or religion. This includes global hunger, health epidemics, wars, terrorism, racial and ethnic conflicts, segregation, nuclear tension, and economic uncertainty.




Throughout history, man’s greatest challenge has been to learn how to live in peace with himself and his neighbors. Whether it is the continent of Africa, Old Europe, Norsemen of England, the Mongols of Asia, Indians of North and South America, or the Eskimos of Iceland, tribal warfare, racial and ethnic conflicts, and full-scale war have been the human story. In all of these social and cultural expressions of humanity, the one thing that has always evolved was some kind of authority structure, a form of leadership or government mechanism to establish and maintain social order.




From the painted walls of native caves and the hieroglyphics of the tombs of ancient Egypt, to the historic pyramid structures of the Aztec worshipers, evidence abounds of man’s desire and need for some form of governmental structure. The need for government and order is inherent in the human spirit and is a manifestation of a divine mandate given to mankind by the Creator. Man was created to be a governor and ruler, and therefore, it is his nature to seek some authority mechanism that would bring order to his private and social world. Government is necessary, desirable, and essential to man’s social context no matter how primitive or modern. This is why man continues to search for an effective way to govern himself.




Man’s need for some formal government structure is an outgrowth of his need for social order and relationship management. This need begins in the smallest prototype of society, the family, and extends all the way to the manifestation of national expressions of constitutional order. Nations need government.




The first Book of Moses, Genesis, reveals that the first prototype of government was introduced by the Creator Himself long before the first humans existed on the earth. In fact, it gives evidence of a government structure that preexisted earth and the physical universe itself. This expression of government structure was a result of a desire to bring order to chaos and productivity to emptiness.




Now the earth was formless [no order] and empty [chaotic emptiness], darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of Yah was hovering over the waters. And Yah said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:2-3).




Here we see that the impact of a divine, invisible, supernatural government was necessary because of disorder and chaos. Thus, the purpose for government is to maintain productive order and management. Furthermore, the creation of mankind was also a result of disorder and the need for management. A little later in Genesis we find evidence of this as one of Yah’s motives for creating man.




When the Most High Yah made the earth and the heavens—and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Most High Yah had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work [manage or administrate] the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground (Genesis 2:4b-6).




From these verses we see that the Creator allowed no productive growth to take place on the earth because “there was no man to work the ground.” The word “work” here implies management, administration, orderly development, and making fruitful. Thus, one of the principal motives for the creation of man was to provide a manager, administrator, and ruler of the planet earth. This is why the Creator expressed it in these words:




Then Yah said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule [or have dominion] over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26).




The mandate of the Creator for mankind was rulership and dominion. As we saw earlier, the word “dominion” here translates the Hebrew word, mamlakah, meaning “kingdom” or “sovereign rule” or government. Therefore, the first command given to man by his Creator was to establish a “government” on the earth to destroy chaos and to maintain order. Government is Yah’s solution to disorder.




The logical conclusion one can derive from this scenario is, first of all, that government is Yah’s idea; second, that the absence or lack of correct government will always lead to chaos and disorder; and third, that wherever there is chaos, disorder, or lack of productivity, the answer is correct government.




The fall of mankind as recorded in the third chapter of Genesis was the result of man declaring independence from the government of heaven, resulting in anarchy and social and spiritual chaos. Ever since that fatal fall from governing grace, man has been attempting to establish a form of self- government that would alleviate the internal and external chaos he continues to experience. Of course, that chaos is also manifested in the natural physical creation he was mandated to govern—the earth. This is the reality behind the statement of the first-century biblical writer, Paul, when he wrote:




The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of Yah to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of Yah (Romans 8:19-21).




Paul’s statement reveals the fact that government affects not only the people of the land but also the land and physical environment itself. Governing is serious business. When man rejected heaven’s government, he became the source of his own governing program. The results ever since have proven that we need help. The Creator’s intent was to administrate earth government from Heaven through His image (nature) in man and thus manifest His nature and character on earth. Yah’s government is a unique structure that is yet misunderstood. I would at this point describe it as a corporate kingdom government. Government by corporate leadership! The theocratic order of a King over kings as partners in governing! This is what we would call the “Kingdom of Heaven.” The kingdom government concept is Yah’s idea.




However, when man rejected heaven’s government, he had no choice but to accept as an alternative the disappointing plethora of human attempts at government. When the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, as recorded in the Exodus story, Yah instructed Moses to advise them that they would be governed by the laws of heaven and led by Yah Himself as their heavenly King on earth. This was the first step in Yah’s plan to reinstate the Kingdom of Heaven on earth once again, using a small nation of slaves as His prototype. He expressed His divine desire through Moses, stating:




“Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6).




Here we see Yah’s intent for the nation to be governed by heaven from heaven and to be an expression of His Kingdom on earth. Israel rejected theocracy, the rule of a gracious and loving King who would protect and provide for them. Instead, they substituted a king for the King. Their decision led to calamitous consequences.




The Fall of man was not the loss of heaven but rather the loss of the Kingdom government of heaven on earth. Any honest human taking a serious look at the conditions of our planet would have to conclude that earth is in need of a new, or in this case, an alternative form of government. The spiritual, social, economic, physical, environmental, and cultural conditions of our earth demand a government that is superior to any we have yet invented. Perhaps the answer to man’s need for an effective and just government is found in the first official words of Yahusha Hamachiach two thousand years ago as He announced His primary mission and commented on the human condition:




From that time on Yahusha began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).




Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).




Here we note that Yahusha’ assessment of man’s spiritual and social hunger and poverty of soul can be satisfied only by receiving the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom is the only source of true joy for the heart of man. Yahusha’ announcement identified His stated solution to man’s earthly condition: “The kingdom of heaven is near [or ‘has arrived’].”




The kingdom concept originated in the mind of Yah and was the original governing system designed for earth. The ideal kingdom concept is unique, distinctive, and provides for the greatest benefits to its citizens. The ideal kingdom is such a beautiful idea that only Yah could have thought of it. And it is the only system of governing that can bring the peace, equality, and fulfillment that mankind longs for. I use the term “ideal kingdom” concept because historically man has attempted to imitate and duplicate the heavenly design of the Kingdom with disappointing results. Man’s efforts to establish kingdom government has produced defective, oppressive, and destructive models that have not only fallen short of the noble aspirations of man but has also inflicted negative repercussions on his fellowman. In essence, mankind’s rejection of Heaven’s Kingdom model has led to the abolition of peace and the installation of inferior forms of government. Some governments are better than others, but all are inferior to Yah’s government—the Kingdom of Heaven.




The Government of Man versus the Government of Yah




The Bible is the most misunderstood book on planet earth, not only by those who do not prescribe to it, but also by many of those who claim to know and embrace its message. Simply stated, the Bible is about a King, a Kingdom, and a royal family of children. The Bible is not about religion and was never intended to be a religious book. Rather, its story and message are about the desire of a King to extend His Kingdom to new territories through His royal family. The Bible, therefore, is about government and governing.




What is government? Government is about order, influence, administration, distribution, protection, maintenance, accountability, responsibility. and productivity. Technically speaking, government is the person, group, or organization that executes the functions of governing. This is manifested in the exercise of authority and jurisdiction over territory and a citizenry. Government was first established by the command and mandate of Yah to Adam and incorporates the need to order, work, oversee, guard, and protect.




The roots of government in the western world reach back to the world of the Greeks. In Greek,government (kubernites) literally means to steer, to pilot, or to act as a rudder. Without law and government we have chaos. So, government is the power given or derived for the purpose of making and enforcing laws for a certain territory.




Governing incorporates the concepts of both power and authority. These two are distinct from each other and must be fully understood in order to appreciate the proper context of government. Both authority and power must be in balance for government to be successful. Authority has to do with responsibility while power has to do with ability. Authority has to do with empowerment; power focuses on exercising authority. Authority gives power its legality. Power without legitimate authority is dictatorship and inevitably results in abuse, oppression, and destruction. Authority gives power its rights.




Authority is the key to successful government. If the ruling power does not have authority, it cannot govern. The authority to govern either is given by way of a popular vote or derived by way of inherent authority. Earthly governments derive their authority from the people either through a process of choice or by usurping authority through force. For instance, a president or premier or prime minister is imbued with authority by the people who voted him or her into power.




In kingdoms, however, authority is inherent and a product of the rights of ownership. This concept is crucial in understanding the nature of kingdoms. Yah’s authority as King is inherent. No one gives Him authority. He has authority because of who He is and because He created the earth and everything that lives on the earth. That is why Yahusha could say that all authority had been given to Him. His Father had all authority and therefore had the right to give it to His Son. The Father had creative rights to the whole universe.




The governments of this earth get their authority by way of vote or violence. It is not inherent authority. The only government on the earth that represents inherent authority is a monarchy. A king has the power and can give it to whomever he chooses. All other governments are formed by casting a vote or by launching a revolution. In the final analysis, all human governments are substitutions for the ideal, no matter how good these governments might be. Let us take a brief look at some of man’s attempts at government and structures of rulership. The most important one we will discuss will be the form of governing we call feudalism.




Feudalism




Feudalism describes a governing or ruling system that was established by virtue of the power of ownership. As a matter of fact, the authority in this system was called a “feudal lord,” meaning a landowner. During the early Middle Ages, the economic and social power of societies were related to agriculture; therefore, land was the key source of power. He who owned the land owned the power. When land is power, then whoever owns the most land controls everyone and everything. This is where the idea of “real estate” originated. Landowners were the ones who were considered to possess real estate. The landowner was the “Most High” of the land. Thus we find the word landMost High used to describe those who owned land.




Therefore, the primary pursuit of all who desired power was land. Landowners were known as Most Highs and eventually became “rulers” of their land. The more land they owned the greater their Most Highship, or rulership. Individuals who owned significant parcels of land became known as “kings.” In other words, the prerequisite for becoming a king was the ownership of land. This is also where the idea of earthly kingdoms gets its birth. “Kingdom” was the word used to describe the territory over which a local king, or landowner, ruled or exercised ownership right and authority.




It is also important to note that because all the land was personally owned by the landlord, then private property was not possible; thus, all the people who lived on and worked the land did so at the pleasure and mercy of the king or landlord. Everything in the land, including animals, natural resources, and all other materials, were considered the personal property of the king or Most High.




In many cases, where the Most High or king was kind and benevolent, the people who lived, worked, and served on his land enjoyed the benefits of his kindness. And because they made his land productive and added prosperity to him, he provided, protected, and cared for them. This is why a good king tended to attract many to his kingdom. Feudalism as a concept of governing was a derivative of the original government established in the Garden of Eden under the first man, Adam, who himself was made the landMost High of the earth. Yah’s original plan was a feudal system where all men served as kings and Most Highs of the earth, ruling not humans but the animal, plant, bird, and water kingdoms.




However, in cases where the landlord or king was not kind and merciful, the result was abuse and oppression of the people by virtue of noble status. Whoever owned the land controlled those who lived on the land. Feudalism is an illustration of the danger of putting the authority that belongs to the King of heaven into the hands of unYahly and unrighteous human kings and Most Highs. When the culture migrated away from agriculture to industry, the noble Most Highs eventually lost their power.




Dictatorship




Dictatorship is the form of government derived from the concept of “divine authority,” which is built on the belief that certain individuals are chosen by the gods or by providence to rule the masses and exercise authority over the less fortunate or so-called “inferior” peoples. This is the form of governing we find in the biblical records and other sources such as the Egyptian pharaohs, who believed they were products of the gods and were destined to rule people by virtue of birthright.




Dictatorships have emerged in every generation and continue to do so to this day. They come in many forms and titles, but the principle and results are the same. A dictatorship is government that concentrates its power and authority in the hands of one individual who wields absolute authority unrestricted by laws, constitution, or any other social/political factor.




Dictators are considered despots and usually are driven by personal ambition or private interests. They focus in on themselves and their goals. Self-worship is also common in this form of governing. Historically, dictatorships have never succeeded for long, usually ending in tragedy and chaos. No dictatorship will survive forever. At some point, the people will revolt.




The dictatorship is also a twisted attempt by man to reestablish the original form of government established by the Creator in the Garden of Eden when He delegated total rulership and dominion control to the man. Adam was given absolute power, but the distinction was that his power and dominion were never intended to rule over other human beings but over the animal, bird, plant, and water kingdoms. Whenever the attempt is made to dominate humankind through any form of dictatorship, the natural result is rebellion and resistance. This is natural and always will be. Dictatorship over humanity is not Yah’s original form of government.




Communism




As a form of government, communism is a combination of the first two types of governing. Communism is man’s attempt to control land and people by the exercise of dictatorship. This is why a communist state repossesses all private property and attempts to enforce productivity through oppression and coercion. It seeks to accomplish this by attempting to legislate love and sharing, an approach that never succeeds because human nature cannot be forced to love or to care. These behaviors result from natural motivation and internal convictions. No law can accomplish that.




It is my view that communism is man’s attempt to reestablish the Kingdom of heaven on earth as given to the first man Adam, but without the involvement of the source of creation Himself. In essence, communism is an attempt to establish a kingdom without righteousness. One can find in the writings of Marx and Engels a certain sincerity as they sought to find a way to bring power to the people (proletariat) by wresting that power from the hands of the nobility (bourgeois). It was an attempt to take ownership of land away from the nobles and put it in the hands of the people. They believed in a dictatorship of the people. Great idea? Maybe. The only problem is that government is in the hands of people.




Whenever man is involved, government will fail. Communism simply exchanged power by wresting it from the hands of the czars and placing it in the hands of a new set of dictators.




Socialism




Socialism, a stepchild of communism, is another endeavor to bring the state closer to the needs of the people. It substitutes the state for the king and attempts to control society for the benefit of society. Like all the others, socialism is another failed attempt by man to govern himself. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the state loses its concern for the individual as it becomes more obsessed with its own power.




This leads us to our final look at man’s attempt to govern himself.




Democracy




Democracy has its roots in the writings of the Greeks and is viewed by many people (even those in the Western religions) as the perfect government. Plato called it the fairest of constitutions but did so only reluctantly because he saw weaknesses within democracy that would lead to its downfall. The rule of the people, by the people, and for the people is a fine idea. It is man’s attempt to get further away from despotism and tyrannical rule. Democracy as a principle is man’s reaction to all the other forms of government such as feudalism, dictatorship, communism, and socialism.




A close study of the roots of western democracy will reveal that it was a reaction and rebellion against a divine choice or feudal system of governing called a kingdom. In reality, America was built on rebellion against a kingdom. The founders and framers of the American concept of governing championed the cause of democracy and adopted the Greek ideas and refined them to accommodate their aspirations. America rejected a kingdom. America’s dream and guiding principles were independence, self-determination, and individuality; but while these principles serve as the bedrock of Western democracy, they remain contrary to the Kingdom principles.




Americans have never understood the potential power of a king and his kingdom because they were exposed to corrupt kings. Out of that fear they created a system of rule that would limit the power of a single man. The system of checks and balances was installed to guard against power and authority being consolidated into the hand of one individual.




This fear of totalitarianism and dictatorship is the engine that drives the motor of Western democracy, and unstably so. In the absence of the original perfect and ideal kingdom government concept, the concept of democracy is the best form of government invented by mankind and serves to protect him from his own defective nature and character. However, despite the fact that democracy is the best civil form of governing in our stressful world of demiYahs, democracy itself is plagued with defects that leave it wanting. The fundamental problem of democracy is its very foundation, power, and authority by majority vote.




Democracy is the best form of civil government as we know it because of its basic tenets and because of the checks and balances of the system. It is also built on the premise and principle of the “majority rule” and the protection of individual rights. Democracy has served our nations well in that it has given voice to the people and provides opportunity for broad- based participation in the political process by the people of a nation. Its checks and balances system further protects the masses from monopolization of power by one or by the few.




Despite its advantages and benefits, however, democracy does come with a few crucial defects. One such defect is its fundamental and major principle of “majority rule.” This defect is critical because even though it gives power to the majority of the people, at the same time it places morality, values, and the standards for law at the mercy of the majority vote, thus legitimizing the majority’s values, desires, beliefs, aspirations, and preferences.




If the power of democracy is in the people, then “we the people” become the sovereign of our lives and corporate destiny, and thus become our own providential ruler and god. This is the reemergence and manifestation of the age-old philosophy of humanism. Humanism is simply man becoming his own measure for morality, judgment, and justice that places man at the mercy of himself. So no matter how educated man may become, he can lead himself only as far as he goes himself. The record of history and the present state of the world gives evidence that man left to himself makes a poor god. Therefore, democracy without accountability to one greater than the people is an exercise in moral roulette. Simply put, democracy without Yah is man’s worship and elevation of himself and his own intelligence. What a tragedy!




Democracy cannot succeed without Yah any more than communism can succeed without Yah. Yah is not subject to our politics, nor can He be, but He has created His own political system and governmental structure which, as this series will demonstrate, is far superior to all forms of earthly government. From the Creator’s perspective, life is politics, and He is the essence of life. In Him there is no distinction between government and spirituality. They are one and the same. The assignment given to the first man in the Garden of Eden was a political assignment given to a spirit being living in a flesh body. Therefore, in the context of the original biblical mandate, the concept of the separation of church and state or religion and government is a lofty idea that has no root in biblical logic or fact. The original biblical mandate provides no foundation forit.




Everyone is religious in the sense that they bring to life their moral convictions no matter what their religious claim. We all are political and religious. There can be no separation. You cannot legislate a dichotomy between a man and his belief system. Legislation itself is the result and manifestation of a belief system and moral judgment. Therefore, democracy can succeed only where there is a clear accountability to a moral code accepted by the majority as being good, civil, and right, and which serves as the anchor and foundation for national governance.




In essence, the problem with democracy—rule of the people—is that the vote of many can be the wrong vote. Another weakness of democracy is that it is not absolute. Its concepts and laws can blow like the wind. It can be easily influenced by the changing culture. Because the citizens can be so easily manipulated by a shift in the culture and by the will of people at the top, they can be induced to abandon their rights and transfer them to those who rule over them.




Plato knew that eventually the rule of the people would deteriorate into the rule of the state. I predict with great sadness that even democracy, with all of its promises and aspirations for a good, civil, and just society, will not survive as a human government. When your best is not good enough, the only alternative is to look elsewhere for something better. There is a better alternative...and that is the heart of this series.




The Return of the King and His Kingdom




What is this alternative? It is to return to the original governing concept of Yah the Creator, which is the kingdom concept. Of course, people who have lived in the context of a democracy or a republic all their lives usually find it not only difficult but almost impossible to understand or accept easily this concept of a kingdom. Compounding the problem is the historical educational process that paints the concept of kingdoms in a negative light due to experiences with corrupt kings and kingdoms in the past.




As a matter of fact, to many people, in their limited understanding, a kingdom is simply a dictatorship in the hands of a family. If this is true, then the message of Yahusha Hamachiach 2,000 years ago was the promotion and establishment of a dictatorship with Himself as the dictator. He called Himself a “King” and said He came to bring back to earth a “Kingdom.” According to this message, which was the only one He preached, the ultimate key to successful human earthly government is the restoration of a King and a Kingdom on earth, albeit a righteous, benevolent and good King. There is only One who can fit that role. It is the One who created us and designed each one of us with a unique purpose. We must bring back the King. This King cares for His citizens. His rule is a righteous rule.




It is this ideal, original kingdom that the heart of all humanity seeks. All of mankind throughout history, and still today, is searching desperately to find that perfect kingdom.




Man has tried every imaginable way to create a flawless government. What he has failed to understand is that the original Kingdom, established by the King, is what he has been searching for all along. The kingdoms of this world must accept the Kingdom of the Most High and of His Hamachiach. The original and ideal King and Kingdom are superior to all other forms of government. This series will prove that point as we continue our journey to understand this majestic concept.




Even within the Church we argue over government, not knowing that there is only one government. We must come to understand the superiority of a kingdom over all other forms of government.




The world needs a benevolent King. We have that King; we just don’t recognize Him. I said earlier that one qualification of a legitimate king is ownership of land, which automatically makes him a Most High. Yah, who has revealed Himself in Yahusha Hamachiach, is the ultimate Most High and owner of all things. Who makes Yah to be King and Most High? Nobody! He is King and Most High by right of creation. Creative rights give Him incontestable ownership rights to earth and the universe. He created all things and that automatically makes Him Most High of all. We don’t give Yah the earth. He doesn’t need us to make Him King. We can only acknowledge Him as King. His original purpose and plan was to extend His invisible Kingdom of Heaven to earth through His offspring in His image—mankind—and to rule through man as a heavenly agency. In essence, with Yah’s Kingdom on earth, His territory, through all mankind, we would be rulers under the Ruler.




Once we are under the rule of this gracious, merciful, benevolent, loving, caring King, He takes personal responsibility for us, not as servants or serfs, but as family and royal children. This care of the citizens by the king is a concept called “kingdom welfare” and describes the king’s personal commitment to look after the needs and wants of his citizens within his land. Therefore, the word welfare is a concept that can only be understood fully in the context of a kingdom. Whenever we submit to a king and his kingdom, we come under His welfare. Welfare is not a word that can be used in a democracy.




For many, the very word welfare paints negative pictures in their minds, and they believe it to be a societal curse. In the context of a kingdom, however, welfare is a beautiful word and describes something to be highly desired. It is a word that is used to express a king’s commitment to his citizenry. This is why in all true kingdoms the concept of prosperity and national social services is called “common wealth.” Again, this concept can only be understood within the concept of a kingdom. In any of the other forms of government, no regime or person has ever been successful in effectively caring for “all” of the citizens.




As a matter of fact, even under the best form of human government, democracy, there is the plight of the rich versus the poor, the have’s compared to the have not’s, the extreme and unequal distribution of wealth, discrimination, racism, divisions, social classifications, and ethnic segregation. History continually fails to show us a government that manifests the equality, harmony, stability, and community that man has desired and sought after from the day of the fall of Adam. Even our best is defective. No government has been able to take care of its people equally. In a true ideal kingdom, however, all the citizens’ welfare is the personal responsibility of the king. This is why the original kingdom concept, as in the Kingdom of Yah taught by Yahusha Hamachiach, is superior to all other governments.




Therefore, in a kingdom, the concept of “commonwealth” is also very important, and the word correctly describes the nature of the relationship the king has with his citizens and subjects. The wealth in a kingdom is common. Therefore, in a true ideal kingdom there is no discrimination or distinction between the rich and the poor, for in such a kingdom all citizens have equal access to kingdom wealth and resources provided by the benevolent king. In essence, the King’s interest is the welfare of the Kingdom and everything in it.




If none of the human systems of government are adequate, how then do we adopt Yah’s original kingdom concept into our world? It begins by understanding the kingdom concept of colonization.




Principles




1. Ninety percent of all the national and international problems facing our world today are the result either of government or religion.




2. The need for government and order is inherent in the human spirit and is a manifestation of a divine mandate given to mankind by the Creator.




3. Man’s need for some formal government structure is an outgrowth of his need for social order and relationship management.




4. The mandate of the Creator for mankind was rulership and dominion.




5. Some governments are better than others, but all are inferior to Yah’s government— the Kingdom of Heaven.




6. Feudalism as a concept of governing was a derivative of the original government established in the Garden of Eden under the first man, Adam, who himself was made the landMost High of the earth.




7. Feudalism is an illustration of the danger of putting the authority that belongs to the King of Heaven into the hands of ungodly and unrighteous human kings and lords.




8. A dictatorship is a government that concentrates its power and authority in the hands of one individual who wields absolute authority unrestricted by laws, constitution, or any other social/political factor.




9. Communism is man’s attempt to control land and people by the exercise of dictatorship.




10. Communism is an attempt to establish a kingdom without righteousness.




11. Socialism substitutes the state for the king and attempts to control society for the benefit of society.




12. Democracy is the best form of civil government as we know it because of its basic tenets and because of the checks and balances of the system.




13. One major defect of democracy is its fundamental principle of “majority rule,” which even though it gives power to the majority of the people, places morality, values, and the standards for law at the mercy of the majority, thus legitimizing the majority’s values, desires, beliefs, aspirations, and preferences.




14. Our best alternative is to return to the original governing concept of Yah the Creator, which is the kingdom concept.

REDISCOVERING THE PRIORITY

Genesis chapter 1










Today we are walking in: Rediscovering The Priority













Today we look to the word-FIRST-H7218 ro'sh --top, upper part, chief, front, beginning; chief, choicest, best










The Torah Testifies.............................








Exodus 12:2




This month shall be unto you the beginning H7218 of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.










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





Isaiah 41:4




Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? H7218 I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.









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




1 Chronicles 26:10




Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons; Simri the chief, H7218 (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief;) H7218







The Priority of the Kingdom




Rediscovering the Priority




The greatest secret to living effectively on earth is understanding the principle and power of priorities. Life on earth holds no greater challenge than the complicating daily demand of choosing among competing alternatives for our limited time. Our life is the sum total of all the decisions we make every day, and those decisions are determined by our priorities. How we use our time every day eventually defines our lives. Life was designed to be simple, not complicated, and the key to simplifying life is prioritization. Identifying the correct and right priority of life is the key to a successful and fulfilled life. So then, what is the principle and concept of priority?




Priority is defined as:




The principal thing.




Putting first things first.




Establishing the most important thing.




Primary focus.




Placing in order of importance.




Placing highest value and worth upon.




First among all others.




If our priorities determine the quality of life and dictate all of our actions and behavior, then it is essential that we understand and identify our priorities. The greatest tragedy in life is not death but life without a purpose—life with the wrong priorities. Life’s greatest challenge is in knowing what to do. The greatest mistake in life is to be busy but not effective. Life’s greatest failure is to be successful in the wrong assignment. Success in life is measured by the effective use of one’s time.




Time is the true measure of life. In fact, time is the currency of life. How you spend your time determines the quality of your life and death. You become whatever you buy with your time. Always be aware that everything and everyone around you is vying for your time. Your time is important because your time is your life. And the key to effective use of your time is establishing correct priorities. First things first!




When your priorities are correct, you preserve and protect your life. Correct priority is the principle of progress because when you establish your priority according to your purpose and goals then your progress is guaranteed. Correct priority protects your time. When you set the right priorities, then you use your time for intentional purposes; your time is not abused or wasted. Correct priority protects your energy. Correct priority protects your talents and gifts. Correct priority protects your decisions. Correct priority protects your discipline. Correct priority simplifies your life.




Failure to establish correct priority causes you to waste your two most important commodities: your time and your energy. When your priorities are not correct, you will find yourself busy with the wrong things, majoring on the minor, doing the unnecessary, or becoming preoccupied with the unimportant. Incorrect priorities in your life will cause you to invest in the less valuable, engage in ineffective activity, and abuse your gifts and talents. Ultimately, it will cause you to forfeit purpose, which results in failure.




Why is this principle of priority so important to our discussion of the Kingdom? Because if priority is the essence of life, then we should want to know what our priority in life should be so that we can live effectively. It may surprise you to know that most of the people in the world are driven by incorrect priorities that occupy and control their entire lives. What are these priorities that master most of the human race?




The answer is perhaps found the in the work of behavioral scientist and psychologist Abraham Maslow who, after studying the motivations of human behavior, concluded that all human behavior is driven by the same basic “hierarchy of needs”:




1. Water.




2. Food.




3. Clothes.




4. Housing.




5. Protection.




6. Security.




7. Preservation.




8. Self-actualization.




9. Significance.




It is important to note that Maslow listed these motivational needs in order of priority. Perhaps if we are honest, we would agree that the human rat race does indeed strive for all of these things. We go to work every day, and some even hold down two or more jobs, just to secure water, food, clothing, housing, and protection. What a tragedy, to think that the basic priority driving most humans is that of simple survival!




Would it surprise you to learn that most religions are built around the promise to meet these very same needs as a priority? Meeting human needs is the premise of all religions. One common denominator of all religions is the effort to please or appease some deity in order to secure basic needs such as a good harvest, favorable weather, and protection from enemies, etc. Another factor that all religions have in common is that their primary focus is on the needs of the worshiper. Priority in religious prayers and petitions is for personal needs. Human needs drive religion. Much of what we call “faith” is nothing more than striving for the very things on Maslow’s list.




The Priority of Yah




Yah established His priority at the beginning of creation and made it clear by His own declaration to mankind. Yahusha Hamachiach came to earth and reestablished Yah’s number-one priority. Should it surprise us to discover that Yah’s priority for mankind is completely opposite to man’s priorities? Let us read Yah’s priority for mankind as stated by the Most High Yahusha. During His first discourse introducing His mission and primary message, Yahusha established Yah’s priority for all mankind with several powerful and straightforward statements:




Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (Matthew 6:25).




Notice that this statement directly challenges Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and contradicts its order. Yahusha’ statement also exposes man’s defective priority and confirms our preoccupation with the less important. His admonition to us not to worry implies that these basic needs for maintenance should not be the primary motivator for human action. The word worry means to consume in thought, to establish as our first interest, mental preoccupation, priority concern, fretting, fear of the unknown, and to rehearse the future over which we have no control.




Continuing on, Yahusha says:




Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:26-27).




This statement implies that our self-worth is more important than our basic needs and should never be sacrificed for the sake of those needs.




And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how Yah clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30).




The thrust of these verses is that our confidence in our Creator’s obligation and commitment to sustain His creation should lead us to transfer our priority from our basic human needs to the priority of cultivating and maintaining a healthy relationship with His Kingdom and with Himself.




So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them (Matthew 6:31-32).




The word “pagans” here implies that religion should not be motivated by the base drives of human needs for food, water, clothing, shelter, and the like.




But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33, emphasis added).




Here Yahusha states Yah’s number-one priority: Seek first His Kingdom.




This is the most important statement made by the Most High Yahusha, and it establishes what should be the first priority in our lives. Yahusha identifies the Kingdom as being more important than food, water, clothing, shelter, and every other basic human need. According to His assessment, then, what should be mankind’s priority and primary preoccupation in life? The Kingdom of Yah. Yah’s number-one priority for mankind is that we discover, understand, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is this priority that motivated me to bring this series. The priority of all human beings is concealed in the words, “Seek first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and everything you need for life will be added to you.”




This declaration by Yahusha also suggests that there must be something about the Kingdom that all of mankind has missed and misunderstood. If everything we pursue and strive for to live and survive are found in the Kingdom, then we have been misguided and perhaps have imposed on ourselves unnecessary hardship, stress, and frustration.




Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34).




Yah’s Priority Assignment for Mankind




For the last 35 years this simple mandate laid down by Yahusha Hamachiach has been my life’s mission. And it continues to regulate my life decisions today. The benefits that have come from this commitment have been beyond my expectations, which is one reason why I am wholeheartedly committed to assisting you in understanding this wonderful reality of Kingdom living. Below I have laid out the practical process of fulfilling this mandate so that you can see clearly that this is one priority we must reorder.




Our first instruction from Yahusha is to seek. This means to pursue, study, explore, understand, learn, and consider. Seekers must have a desire to know, and possess a passion for the object of their search. To seek means to give diligent dedication to and to preoccupy one’s self with that which one is seeking. The Kingdom must be pursued, studied, understood, and learned.




Second, Yahusha tells us to make the Kingdom First. In other words, the Kingdom must be our top priority, the principal thing to place before all others as most important. We must place the highest value on the Kingdom of Yah, setting it above everything as our primary focus. The Kingdom must be placed above everything else and should have no competition. It must be our highest priority.




Yahusha then instructs us to seek first the Kingdom. This is the most important aspect of the mandate and must be carefully considered. First, it is important to understand that because a kingdom is not a religion, the priority of mankind should not be to seek a religion or some form of ritual. The word for “kingdom” in this verse is basileia (NT: 923), the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew mamlakah (OT: 4467), translated in Genesis 1:26 as “dominion.” Both words mean dominion, sovereign rule, kingdom, reign, or royal power. In this series, we will focus on this concept in detail because it should be our priority and because it is generally an unknown or misunderstood concept in most modern cultures.




In practical terms, a kingdom may be defined as “the sovereign rule of a king over territory (domain), impacting it with his will, purpose, and intent.” In this biblical text, the word “kingdom” as used by Yahusha refers to Yah’s government, Yah’s rulership, Yah’s dominion over the earth. The Kingdom of Yah means Yah’s will executed, Yahs’ jurisdiction, Heaven’s influence, Yah’s administration, and Yah’s impact and influence.




In this series, we will use the following working definition:




A kingdom is...




The governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his personal will, purpose, and intent, producing a culture, values, morals, and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desires and nature for his citizens.




Yahusha’ final instruction to us in this verse is to seek also the righteousness of the Kingdom. This is another vitally important concept that has been diluted in the waters of religion and must be recovered if we are to understand the Kingdom and experience the abundant life all humans deserve. The word righteousness is actually from the discipline of law, not religion, and implies right positioning. To be righteous means to be in alignment with authority, to be in right standing with authority, to have correct fellowship with authority, to be in right relationship with authority, to be in legal or lawful alignment, and to be in correct standing with the law or regulations (principles) of and to fulfill the requirements of authority.




In essence, righteousness describes the maintenance of the rightly aligned relationship with a governing authority so as to qualify for the right to receive governmental privileges. This is why Yahusha emphasizes the Kingdom and the need to be righteous so that you can receive “all things added unto you.” This promise includes all your physical needs, all your social needs, all your emotional needs, all your psychological needs, all your financial needs, and all your security needs, as well as your need for self significance and a sense of self-worth and purpose.




Therefore, as we have seen above, Yah established only two priorities for mankind:the Kingdom of Yah and the righteousness of Yah. Kingdom refers to the governing influence of Heaven on earth and righteousness refers to right alignment and positioning with that government authority. Our highest priorities and greatest desires should be to enter the Kingdom of Yah and thirst for a right relationship with Yah’s heavenly government.




But seek first the kingdom of Yah and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33 NKJV, emphasis added).




Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6, emphasis added).




The Concept of Kingdom




The concept of “kingdom” was not invented by mankind but was the first form of government introduced by the Creator. This concept appears first in the Book of Genesis at the creation of man. Man’s original assignment from Yah was a Kingdom assignment: “Let them have dominion over...the earth.” Yah’s plan for man was to extend His heavenly Kingdom (government) to the earth through the principle of colonization. Man’s assignment was to establish the influence and culture of heaven on earth by representing the nature, values, and morality of Yah in the earth. In this way, Yah’s heavenly rule would manifest itself on earth through His extended image in mankind. This was the first Kingdom: Yah, the King, extending His heavenly Kingdom to earth through His offspring, man. This is the wonderful story and message of the Bible—not a religion, but a royal family.




Ever since the Fall of man, he has tried to imitate this concept of kingdom; but throughout history, man’s every attempt to establish a heavenly kingdom on earth has failed. This is why religious governments always fail, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or any other form. It is for this reason that Yah Himself had to come to earth to bring the heavenly Kingdom back to this planet. The earth cannot give rise to the Kingdom of Heaven independently; the Kingdomof heaven must issue forth from heaven. Man lost a kingdom, and a kingdom is what he is looking for. Yahusha came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven back to the earth, not to establish a religion. And mankind seeks not a religion but the Kingdom we lost so long ago. This is why religion cannot satisfy or fulfill man’s spirit. The Kingdom of Heaven has top priority by virtue of its role in the original purpose of man’s creation. As such, the Kingdom was the first form of government on earth.




Loss of a Concept




The kingdom concept as a whole has been lost to contemporary human culture, especially in the Western world. In his attempt to create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, man has opted to design his own forms of government. But his experiments continue to fail: evil kingdoms, empires, dictators, communism, socialism, democracy...and the list goes on. The desire for righteous government burns in the heart of every human. All of us are seeking the Kingdom even if we all don’t realize it.




Many historical kingdoms of the past contained several components that resemble the Kingdom of Yah and can be beneficial to us when studied. This experience has made it easier for me to understand the Bible because it is a book about a King and a Kingdom.




My goal in this present writing is to reintroduce the concept of the Kingdom to a world that has lost it. Most people alive today have never had any contact or relations with a kingdom. Consequently, ignorance of the kingdom concept makes it difficult to understand fully the message of the Bible. In the teachings that follow, I will unveil many of the unique concepts and components of a kingdom that will help you immediately understand the words, claims, promises, and methods of Yah as well as the life and message of Yahusha.




According to Yahusha, the most important priority and preoccupation of all mankind should be the seeking and studying of the heavenly Kingdom government and administration of the Creator Yah and His purposed plan and program to impact earth. But in a practical sense, how does one go about seeking this Kingdom? How does one explore the concept, nature, function, program, components, principles, and power of the Kingdom? Answering these questions is the purpose and intent of this series. To accomplish this purpose we must:




Understand kingdom concept.




Understand kingdom philosophy.




Understand kingdom government.




Understand kingdom law.




Understand kingdom culture.




Understand kingdom society.




Understand kingdom economy.




Understand kingdom citizenship.




Understand kingdom provision.




Understand kingdom worship.




Understand kingdom protocol.




Understand kingdom representation.





The secret to a full and fulfilled life is discovery, understanding, and application of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Religion postpones the Kingdom to a future experience. But you must remember that you cannot appropriate what you postpone. Yah’s desire for you is that you enter the Kingdom life now and experience, explore, apply, practice, and enjoy living with the benefits, promises, and privileges of Heaven on earth. Let the adventure begin!




Principles




1. The greatest secret to living effectively on earth is understanding the principle and power of priorities.




2. The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but life without a purpose—life with the wrong priorities.




3. Our self-worth is more important than our basic needs and should never be sacrificed for the sake of those needs.




4. Yah’s number-one priority for mankind is that we discover, understand, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.




5. A kingdom is the governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his personal will, purpose and intent, producing a culture, values, morals, and lifestyle that reflect the king’s desires and nature for his citizens.




6. Yah established only two priorities for mankind: the Kingdom of Yah and the righteousness of Yah.




7. The concept of “kingdom” was not invented by mankind but was the first form of government introduced by the Creator.




8. Ignorance of the kingdom concept makes it difficult to understand fully the message of the Bible.