The kingdom itself should be distinguished from the people who enter it. It is true that the rule of God implies a people to be ruled, and Jesus called upon people to enter the kingdom. This rule is independent of all geographical areas or political entities. Rather, the kingdom of God is God's ruling. He was not speaking of a group of people such as His disciples or the church. He was not speaking of a political entity such as the nation of Israel or the Sanhedrin. He was not speaking of a geographical area such as the Holy Land or the Temple. This is best understood if it is distinguished from what Jesus did not mean. What did Jesus mean when he spoke of the kingdom of God? He meant, quite simply, the rule of God. Mark, Luke, and John translated Jesus' words as “kingdom of God.” Matthew sometimes used this phrase too, but often he preferred to translate Jesus' Aramaic words as “kingdom of heaven.” The two phrases mean exactly the same thing, because they are translations of the same Aramaic words of Jesus. Jesus spoke Aramaic the Gospel writers translated Jesus' sermons and parables into Greek. He spoke also of the glad tidings of the kingdom ( Luke 8:1 ) and of the mystery of the kingdom of God ( Mark 4:11 ). He said that the kingdom is like a farmer ( Matthew 13:24 ), a seed ( Matthew 13:31 ), a yeast ( Matthew 13:33 ), a treasure ( Matthew 13:44 ), a pearl merchant ( Matthew 13:45 ), a fishnet ( Matthew 13:47 ), an employer ( Matthew 20:1 ), a king inviting people to a marriage feast ( Matthew 22:2 ), and ten young women ( Matthew 25:1 ).

In His parables Jesus spoke of the kingdom in many different ways. The kingdom of God is the heart of the summary. The kingdom of God was the central image in Jesus' preaching as clearly seen in Mark 1:14-15, a summary of the preaching of Jesus. More than a hundred references to the kingdom appear in the Gospels, many in Jesus' parables. Jesus made the kingdom of God central in His preaching. The Old Testament emphasis on God's sovereign power over all kings and kingdoms sets the stage for the New Testament teaching. However, in the Old Testament God is spoken of as ruling (for example, Psalm 47:2 Psalm 103:19 Daniel 4:17 ,Daniel 4:17, 4:25-37 ). The Old Testament contains no references to the kingdom of God.

Kingdom of heaven game