Acharei Mot/Kedoshim “After the death” / “Holy Ones” Leviticus 16:1–20:27 Amos 9:7–15 Luke 14–17 The Kingdom Is Among You It is interesting how our minds tend to fog our view of what God is doing in the world around us. At least that is the case when we trust more in our own intellect than in listening for His voice. This was true in the time of Yeshua, and I would dare say it is just as true today. Let’s first look to the time of Yeshua. Close to the end of our readings in Luke this week, the Scribes and Pharisees once again test Yeshua. Keep in mind that they are not really seeking truth. They are looking for ways to trip Him up, not too smart to begin with. They ask Him when the Kingdom of God will come. What are they expecting, It to come on a trailer being pulled by a yoke of oxen? Are they expecting It to float down on a cloud from the sky? They are asking a question they know nothing about because they are trying to understand the Kingdom of God with only the mind of a man. That, ladies and gentlemen, is just not going to work! In order to understand His Kingdom we must think outside the dimensions of our natural minds and begin to think with the mind He has offered us, His mind. Most people today have not progressed further that the Scribes and Pharisees, however. If we were to ask a typical "believer" in our day about the Kingdom of God, how would he or she answer? Most would say it is in Heaven, or maybe that it will be when the New Jerusalem is upon the earth and Messiah is here to rule and reign. I imagine many would not even have an answer. So what did Yeshua mean when He said the Kingdom of God was among them? Was it that He was there, so the Kingdom was there, and when He left the Kingdom would leave with Him? I don’t think so. In order to understand, let us first take the word kingdom apart. It is made of two parts, king and dom. The first word king is very easy to understand. In order to have a kingdom you must first have a king. Sounds pretty easy so far. Not so fast though as most of us westerners do not know what a king truly is. In the Biblical definition of king, he is one who has complete and total control over your life. There is no room for opinion when you come before a king, the only response is to bow humbly, state a hardy "Yes sir," and then go and do what it is he is telling you to do, no questions asked. This goes against our western way of doing things, we want to take a vote first then make a decision whether to do it or not. First point is this. If you desire a kingdom besides your own to be established in your life then the first thing you must do is to change kings. Either we are the king or He is the King. No room for shared thrones on this one. This brings us to the second point and part of the word, dom, which is short for dominion. A king must have people who have submitted themselves to him. Otherwise he is merely a king over one, himself. A dominion is a group of people who have submitted themselves to the king and to his authority in their lives. From there the king and his dominion is not a place, but a being of its own. If the king and his dominion move from one place to another place, say Miami to Dallas, the kingdom does not cease to exist because of the move, because a true kingdom is not a place. It is a people. Let us take these principles into The Kingdom of God. First question to answer is, “Who is the king?” Answer: God is, whether anyone likes it or not. One can choose to not believe there is a Kingdom of God or not even believe there is a God. His being King is not based upon belief, but rather upon truth. The next step of dominion is where you and I come in. When we accept Him as our personal King we become His dominion, willing servants to His will and to His rule over our lives. When one person says yes to Him and takes His authority in their lives, he or she becomes the Kingdom of God expressed upon this earth. No matter where you go, if you are part of His Kingdom when you walk in a room or take a walk down the street, the Kingdom of God is "among" the world. The Scribes and Pharisees had forgotten that the Kingdom was not a place, that it was not something you are born into. Whether we want to be part of the Kingdom is a decision each of us makes during our time on this earth. One last point. The instructions for how to live in The Kingdom, given to us by The King Himself, are in the Torah. We are reading many of these instructions in Leviticus this week! So what is our response when we read these instructions? "Yes sir, king" or "Let me think about that for a while?" The answer proves whether the Kingdom is really in each of us personally or whether we are like the Scribes and Pharisees, members of another's kingdom?