Narratives on the Kingdom of God literally bookend the Bible. The kingdom’s loss and expectation of its restoration is the very saga of the Scriptures. This is the theme of the Bible and the overall story it tells. The kingdom was active at creation, in the Garden of Eden, with God, Adam and Eve. We can reasonably infer that God sought fellowship with Adam and Eve regularly. It is unlikely that the first time He walked through the Garden to visit was when Adam and Eve were hiding in shame (Gen. 3:18). Earth was His chosen place of communing with Mankind. This represents the purest form of the kingdom, a time and place where there is no sin and God’s people fellowship with Him.
Because Adam sinned, he and Eve were exiled from the Garden to work the ground for their food and to eventually die (Gen. 3:17-23). Their exit marked the end of the kingdom, for man was now separated from God by an immeasurable gulf. The LORD was so concerned that Adam and Eve may be able to get back in and eat from the Tree of Life, and thus live forever, that He placed cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the east entrance (Gen. 3:22, 24). Man having access to the Tree of Life is connected to God’s kingdom being in operation. This is why similar trees are present in the Millennium (Ezek. 47:12; cf. Is. 65:22), and why the Tree of Life grows in the Eternal State (Rev. 22:2, 14).
In conjunction with making man in the image of God, He made humans to rule over all the animals of the sea, earth and sky. Adam and Eve were ordered to be fruitful and multiply, subduing the earth (Gen. 1:26-28). Though the kingdom ended with Adam and Eve’s banishment from the Garden, humankind’s dominion over the earth remained. Psalm 8 confirms this in teaching that man is only a little lower than the heavenly beings, crowned with glory and honor (v. 5). God gave men dominion over the works of His hands and put all things under their feet (v. 6), including beasts, birds and sea life (vv. 7-8). Remember that this is the position that Nebuchadnezzar, as the representative over man’s kingdom, is described as having. The kingdoms of man as described in Daniel 2 and 7 are that of men ruling according to their own desires. Man retained his dominion, but his management of it was misdirected away from serving God. The course is corrected with the saints reigning with the Messiah at the commencement of God’s kingdom.
After the fall of man there was no kingdom. In this time, God governed the world primarily through intervention. When the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, He sent the flood (Gen. 6-7). When people came together from the east in a plain in Shinar to build a tower and glorify themselves, the LORD came down and confused their language, dispersing them over the face of the earth (Gen. 11:1-9). God would at times speak to man and even visit with him, as He did with Abraham (e.g. Gen. 18). But these occasions were always brief.
Very good. The only thing I would add is, Adam and Eve did die that day , just like God promised, but it was spiritual death. Because a lot of people do not understand that death.Thanks for doing this, I am looking forward to it.
Thank you for the encouragement ma’am. On Adam’s death what do you think of this Jewish and early church understanding: http://appleeye.org/2013/11/23/adam-died-in-that-day-or-millennium/ ?
The Father made a covenant with The Son to resurrect a family * Rev.13:8 Heb.13:8
The Father with The Holy Spirit (7 Spirits of Virtue) Incarnate The Son …The Word became flesh to Reveal The Father to reproduce** Sons and Daughters … The Expansion… The Heavenly Body Eph.1:18-23 Gen.3:15 …to rule and reign Rev.3:21… For His Pleasure Romans
8:18-23 adoption coming into the mind, will, and purpose of the Father we are His Inheritance to express ,convay ,shine forth His Glory to Him be all praise 1+2 Cor.4:7
*Gen.1:26
**Resurrect John 11:25
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