Kingship and kingdom of God

The phrase "Kingdom of heaven" appears in Matthew's gospel due primarily to Jewish sensibilities about uttering the "name" (God).

[13] The term does occasionally, however, denote "an eschatological event", such as in the Assumption of Moses and the Sibylline Oracles.

In these works, "God's Kingdom is not the new age but the effective manifestation of his rule in all the world so that the eschatological order is established.

"[14] Along these lines was the more "national" view in which the awaited messiah was seen as a liberator and the founder of a new state of Israel.

[18] Within the Synoptic Gospel accounts, the assumption appears to have been made that, "this was a concept so familiar that it did not require definition.

[19] John's Gospel refers to the Kingdom of God in Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus in chapter 3.

[20] Constantin von Tischendorf's text is exceptional in referring to "the kingdom of heaven" in John 3:5, on evidence which Heinrich Meyer describes as "ancient but yet inadequate".

[24] Matthew is likely to have instead used the term heaven because the background of his Jewish audience imposed restrictions on the frequent use of the name of God.

[25] However, Dr. Chuck Missler asserts that Matthew intentionally differentiated between the kingdoms of God and Heaven: "Most commentators presume that these terms are synonymous.

[28] Building on a number of New Testament passages, the Nicene Creed indicates that the task of judgment is assigned to Jesus.

The modern Arabic word for kingdom is mamlaka (المملكة), but in the Quran mul'kan (مُّلْكًا), refers to Heaven, e.g. in 4:54 "Or do they envy mankind for what Allah hath given them of his bounty?

[36] The term "kingdom of God" appears in the writings of the Baháʼí Faith, including the religious works of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and his son `Abdu'l-Bahá.

Bahá'u'lláh claimed that the scriptures of the world's religions foretell a coming messianic figure that will bring a golden age of humanity, the kingdom of God on earth.