Viewed in this light, the incarnation of Christ is the manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth. Just as the incarnation is a fulfillment of the promise of Messiah in the OT, so it is a kingdom breakthrough rooted firmly in OT revelation. It's important to realize that Jesus did not spontaneously fabricate his teaching on the kingdom in a theological vacuum. Rather, he developed (embodied, really) a preexistent concept, as there are explicit references to the kingdom throughout the OT, beginning with the first mention in the Torah. Exodus features a running kingdom theme, which really begins in chapter 3 when Moses asks God directly, "What is your name?" In response, God discloses the divine name, now rendered in Hebrew script YHWH. Scholars are at a loss as to how exactly it was pronounced, but more important is what it means: "I am who I am." According to Hebrew scholars, the name itself can be read as an assertion of eternal, transcendent being, and implies God's authority to break through into the usual course of human events at any time. Chapters 6-12 of Exodus describe this authority vividly, in Moses' confrontation with Pharaoh accompanied by supernatural signs and wonders by the hand of God. Finally, on the heels of a divinely orchestrated victory of the infant nation of Israel over the Egyptian army described in chapters 12-14, Moses and the Israelites break into song. They celebrate the might and majesty of the Lord, the crushing of their oppressors and their own liberation as God's people. By prophetic inspiration, this event is interpreted as a sign of God's sovereign, kingly authority: "The Lord will reign forever and ever" (Ex. 15:18).
The kingdom theme builds further in the Sinai covenant, as God speaks to the children of Israel: "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:6). God's covenant with Israel resembles the suzerainty treaties of the surrounding nations, in which a conquering king entered into a compact with the conquered people. Unlike the kings dictating the terms of other suzerainty arrangements, however, the king of Israel - God himself - lived among his people in an unprecedented, highly personal, covenant form of suzerainty treaty. In the conquest under Joshua, God's kingdom expands further via military occupation of the Promised Land of Canaan. Then come the glorious years of kingdom dominion and blessing under the rule of David and Solomon. Like the Exodus, the establishment of the Davidic monarchy follows a specific pattern: a kingdom promise (given to David); the securing of dominion through conflict (spiritual and military); and finally, the golden age of blessing, increase and expansion during the years of Solomon as described in 1 Kings 4:25-28. In anticipation of NT revelation, the Davidic monarchy is a prophetic object lesson of the thorough impact of the kingdom in every area of life: physical, material, spiritual, intellectual and emotional.
Finally, the kingdom is not only foreshadowed by OT history but is directly tied to the NT by the OT prophets - particularly Isaiah and Daniel. Their declarations of the coming kingdom under Messiah serve to connect OT and NT revelation as a single prominent and prophetic theme of Scripture. Isaiah announces the kingdom by weaving together a number of diagnostic kingdom messages: the coming king, the coming Spirit, and the coming salvation to be enjoyed by the new people of God (Isa. 9:6-7; 35; 45:1-5; etc.). Isaiah prophesies the inauguration of the Messiah, an event indicative of kingdom authority in Christ (Isa. 61:1-3; Luke 4:16-21). Moreover, Isaiah spoke of the various manifestations of the kingdom later revealed in terms of the "mystery" of NT eschatology. Jesus clearly understood his own ministry in the prophetic context of Isaiah. Likewise, Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of the Messianic concept of the "Son of Man" revealed first by Daniel. Chapters 2 and 7 of Daniel present a comprehensive view of the the history of earthly kingdoms, to be supplanted and superseded finally by a spiritual kingdom. This kingdom was to be ushered in coincident with the advent of the Son of Man himself. As we both know, Jesus repeatedly identified himself with the Son of Man, Daniel's prophetic revelation of the pre-existent yet incarnate, divine yet human, individual yet corporate personality sent from heaven by God to ultimately destroy the sinful kingdoms of the world and establish the kingdom of God. As elsewhere in Scripture, Daniel's revelation of the kingdom is a picture of radical breakthrough, dominion and blessing. It is furthermore a reality to be fully enjoyed by you and I, fellow believers in Jesus Christ, as its rightful possessors. "But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever" (Dan. 7:18).
Throughout both testaments, then, the truth is revealed that a legitimate supernatural experience of the presence of God, through a manifestation of the power and majesty of the kingdom, is now available to all who would believe God for it. The kingdom is ours to possess, brother. Our job is simply to believe it, proclaim it and receive it by faith. This is the mandate of Christ, whose doctrine is sure. Have there been excesses and abuses in the name of "kingdom theology"? Of course there have, just as there have been offenses and divisions in the name of "doctrinal purity." Perhaps the misunderstanding has arisen over the general tendency in the church to view theology in terms of a false dichotomy between supernatural experience and the truth of Scripture. If kingdom theology is true - and on the basis of Scripture itself I would argue that it is - you and I are called to take part in an ever-increasing measure of revival, coincident with the advancement of God's kingdom in time toward his own ultimate purpose in eternity.
"The kingdom of heaven is at hand....."