In the Garden of Eden Heaven was on Earth and man had dominion over every animal, every plant, and natural law. It was a perfect earth and man lived in perfect harmony with God. The Kingdom of Heaven didn't need to be restored until Adam violated the Law of God and lost his dominion over the Earth.
In order to restore this perfect Kingdom of Heaven the Old Testament teaches that the land of Israel was first promised to the Hebrew nation. God gave the land of Canaan to the Hebrew nation...not to the Gentile! Abraham was the father of the Hebrew nation. Gen. 14:13. Here is God's promise of the land to Abraham.
Gen 15:7...And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
Gen 15:18...In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Gentiles today are heirs to this promise because of Christ the seed of Abraham. But before Christ died, the Gentile had no claim to this land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God only promised this land to Abraham because Adam had lost the original Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Now, God was going to restore the land and use the Hebrew nation as His vehicle to restore such Kingdom! God is the builder of the Kingdom...not man! God's promise of the land to Abraham to restore His Kingdom was 430 years before the Law of Moses was given to Israel on Mount Sinai. The Bible calls this land of Canaan a good land that flowed with milk and honey.
Lev 20:24...But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.
Deut 1:8...Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
Ex 6:4...And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers
The above verses are not to be spiritualized or taught in a sense that we in the Church today (Jews and Gentile) are Spiritual Israel! If the above verses are misapplied to the Church today Israel is robbed of its promises and the student of God's Word has a misconception of what the Bible actually teaches about the Kingdom of Heaven! False teachings have caused much confusion in the religious world and have plagued the truth of God's Word for hundreds of centuries!
Israel was the inheritor of the land of Canaan! The Law of Moses was given to Israel prior to inheriting or possessing this land. In fact, Abraham recieved the Promise of the land 430 years before the Law of Moses was given on Mt. Sinai. Then it was another 40 years Israel wandered in the wilderness before they entered Canaan to possess the land!
Deut 11:7-12...But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did. Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
When "Spiritual Israel" is taken out of the picture... verses like the following will not be overlooked! Here's an unusual passage concerning this promised land given to Israel. In the Law of Moses we read the following words...
Ex 20:12...Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
The promised land was promised to Israel never to the Gentiles. The promised land was honored in the commandments and all of Isreal was aware of such teaching. What would the Gentile world know about such teaching? The language of the Old Testament records also speak of the land in Israel sinning. In Deuteronomy 24:1-4 we see an illustration of Israel's violation to God's law which in turn causes the land to sin:
Deut 24:1-4... When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
This expression of the land sinning is found many times in the Old Testament records. For example, "thou shalt not cause the land to sin" or "their land was filled with sin" Jeremiah 51:5 which meant Israel had violated the Law of Moses. For that very reason, Israel also had to be in perfect obedience to the Law of God in order to have peace in their land with other nations.
Lev 26:3-6...If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
To stop neighboring nations from rebelling against Israel and to cause Israel's crops to prosper God required perfect obedience to the Law of Moses.
Josh 1:7-8...Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success
Notice the language, Israel was instructed to walk in His statutes, keep the commandments, and do them! Israel had to obey all the commandments in order to prosper and be successful. It's important to understand that Israel's obedience to God under the Law brought prosperity, and Israel could not prosper unless they obeyed "all the commandments". There are 613 laws in the Law of Moses, and they had to obey "all the laws" to prosper. Unfortunately because of the Adamic nature Israel was not able to keep Divine Law...therefore without obedience to the Law of God Israel could not recognize Christ as the promised Messiah.
If Israel would have kept the Law of Moses they would have "accepted" Christ when He came the first time. If Israel would have kept the Law of Moses they would have prospered and had success according to Josh. 1:7. If Israel would have kept the Law they would have had peace with the all the surrounding nations. No more Wars! No more captivities! No more being scattered! No more curse! They would be blessed among all nations!
Many prophecies say that Israel would reject Christ. There are no prophecies that say Israel would accept Him! If Israel would have kept the Law they would have accepted the Kingdom message preached by John the Baptist and the King before Christ went to the Cross. The Kingdom of Heaven would have been restored on Earth in the promised land and Christ would be ruling right now from the Throne of His father David in Jerusalem! In the promised land where God will bring the latter rains upon Israel's crops the Kingdom of Heaven will be restored first, in Jerusalem. In that promised and restored Kingdom the land will once again flow with milk and honey like it did in the Garden of Eden! There are (2) Kingdoms taught within this message...
Both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven were presented to Israel simultaneously. The simple reason for this is that both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven were to be restored by Christ. Christ brings the Kingdom of God (to restore the divine nature), and Christ brings the Kingdom of Heaven (to restore Heaven on Earth). Neither Kingdom is the work of man! Neither Kingdom is the effort of mans intellect, nor the effort of mans will, nor the effort of some physical ceremony man goes through. Both Kingdoms are strictly, the work of God.
It is important to understand that until Jesus Christ comes back, the earth will never be ruled by the righteous. Nor will man have dominion over all the Earth like Adam had in the Garden until that earthly reign. Only when Jesus returns with all the saints to reign on earth will God and his saints enjoy this peaceable Kingdom as it was in the Garden of Eden.
Zech 14:4-5...And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
1 Thess 3:13...To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints
Only then will the Kingdoms of the world become the Kingdoms of our Christ and our God when He reigns on the earth.
Rev 11:...And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
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