Kingdoms of the World

When Jesus was being tempted, the tempter showed him “all the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5). At that time Rome was the only real kingdom, so he would not have used the word “all” if he was just referring to it. The devil was not just referring to Rome, but all the kingdoms of the world: past, present and future. That included the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Denmark, the United States of America, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, and every other earthly kingdom that has ever existed and will exist in the future. The devil claimed that they had been given to him, and that he could give them to whoever he chose.

Jesus could have accepted control over all these kingdoms and used them to establish his rule on earth, but he chose not to take this step, because the price he would have had to pay was to worship the powers of evil. Instead, he stuck with God’s plan to establish a completely different government, the Kingdom of God, in a totally different way.

If we follow Luke’s account right through, we reach a disturbing conclusion. Many Christians are trying to use a “kingdom of the world” to advance the Kingdom of God, but it cannot be done. If we continue to put faith in our particular kingdom of the world, we are effectively bowing to the devil, who controls and manipulates human government, because it relies on coercion, force and imposed authority.