Re: Kingdon Of Heaven suffereth Violence -- Mosaic Board

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Date Posted: 23:17:57 08/31/04 Tue
Author: Rabbi Stanley
Subject: Re: Kingdon Of Heaven suffereth Violence
In reply to: Gordon Brown 's message, "Kingdon Of Heaven suffereth Violence" on 11:49:34 08/19/04 Thu

Sorry it's taken so long to reply.

This is a poor translation of this passage. The translators don't agree on what it means. Here are a few other translations and then I will share with you what I think it means.
Weymouth New Testament (WEY)
But from the time of John the Baptist till now, the Kingdom of the Heavens has been suffering violent assault, and the violent have been seizing it by force.

Bible in Basic English (BBE)
And from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven is forcing its way in, and men of force take it.

Amplified Bible (AMP)
12And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)
12From the time of John the Baptist until now, violent people have been trying to take over the kingdom of heaven by force.

The Message (MSG)
12For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God's kingdom.

New Living Translation (NLT)
12And from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people attack it.

New Life Version (NLV)
12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the holy nation of heaven has suffered very much. Fighting men try to take it.

New Century Version (NCV)
12 Since the time John the Baptist came until now, the kingdom of heaven has been going forward in strength, and people have been trying to take it by force.

So you can see there is quite a bit of difference in what the translators think it means. Some teachers think it means that the literal heaven (i.e. G-d's Throne) is under some kind of attack by Satan and his cohorts. Some teach that it means that violent men are somehow attacking paradise. I think both of these ideas are in error. I think it simply means that the Kingdom of G-d (that being the Believers here on earth) are under attack spiritually by evil people and that there are Christians who are under physical attack, suffering persecution.
Spiritually, it's a struggle being a Christian these days. We are mocked and passed at times for promotion at our jobs because of our high morals (not all of us, some are fortunate to have good Christian bosses etc). We are looked down at by the liberal run media. There are movies out that make fun of Christians. We are under attack in many ways. The writers of the Gospels were often under physical attack as well. All of them died a martyr�s death except for John the Beloved. They were attacked by violent men. I think it was meant both ways... physically and spiritually. We had friends who recently came back from China and they had horror stories to tell us of what the Church there was going through. They were suffering violence. It was true when it was written and it is still true today. It will stop when The Prince of Peace puts a permanent ending to it. May it be in our day Omain.

>Please explain the meaning of MATT.11:11-13 "Kingdom
>of Heaven suffereth violence..." / Also the difference
>of Kingdom of Heaven / Kingdom of God. Thank you!
>Gordon

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