The Violence of the Kingdom
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”-Matthew 11:12

Edited from the original “Threshing Floor” radio program:
Broadcast:04/15/05-Randy Maugans-”The Violence of the Kingdom”-
A commentary on the text from Matthew 11:12-…the kingdom suffers violence” and layering it into the Book of Micah—a study on the continuing battles leading to the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord :

COMMENTARY:

“The Violence of the Kingdom”
by Randy Maugans

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

Commentary based upon the “Threshing Floor” Radio Program of April 15, 2005

The scripture reminds us that the “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation” (Luke 17:20), yet Jesus in another of His teaching tells us that: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. ” (Mat 11:12). Like all the Lord’s teachings, we know He spoke to the multitudes and especially to the Scribes and Pharisees in parables and metaphor. In Luke 17 He is addressing questions fielded by the Pharisees and in answering them He is telling them in veiled terms that they are unaware of its coming.

In Matthew 11, he turns to address the “multitudes”—those who gathered to hear Him, and He now presents a seemingly different assessment: “… the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
Here, in replying to John’s questioning if He is Messiah, Jesus uses the moment to teach a deep truth about the Kingdom:

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (verse 12)—Jesus has delineated a time period that begins with John’s ministry. In a sense He has divided time into a very distinct period. John was the first true prophetic voice which Israel had heard in over 400 years, from the time of Malachi. The Lord is addressing prophecy and the fulfillment of all that the ancient prophets had foretold.

Mat 11:13: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”—a clear reference to the present fulfillment of both the LAW and the PROPHETS, by John and Jesus, as He articulates clearly in the verses which follow.

VIOLENCE

The phrase “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence” may best be rendered by seeing how Strong’s Concordance defines it: Greek Number 971-biazo¯ (bee-ad’-zo)
From G970; to force, that is, (reflexively) to crowd oneself (into), or (passively) to be seized: - press, suffer violence.

The root word Number 979 - bios, bee’-os a primary word; life, i.e. (literally) the present state of existence; by implication, the means of livelihood:–good, life, living.

So Jesus tell us here that violence is the present state of the Kingdom and that the violent “take it by force”. The word violent here, again from Strong’s is:
Greek Number 973-biaste¯s (bee-as-tace’)-From G971; a forcer, that is, (figuratively) energetic: - violent.
So what is being stated is that, essentially, there is great warfare involved in the Kingdom, as it is NOW manifested.

This teaching is both a present truth at the time of the Lord stating this, it is also a past truth as witnessed by the Old Testament prophets, AND it is a prophetic truth for future fulfillments.