The Multinational Kingdom in Isaiah
A Study of the Eschatological Kingdom and the Nature of Its Consummation
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
The kingdom of God functions as a key theme that clarifies the direction of redemptive history. The canonical narrative portrays God's dealing with humanity on both individual and corporate levels. Throughout the history of the church, many have claimed that national Israel is best read as a type of an eschatological consummation of individuals drawn from all nations. However, does the direction of redemptive history consummate with a redemption of individuals or does it include national entities? Do the promises to national Israel become fulfilled typologically through a singular corporate reality or in a multinational kingdom, which includes national Israel? In The Multinational Kingdom in Isaiah, Andrew H. Kim addresses arguments from those who claim that Isaiah serves as a turning point in which national distinctions are erased in the eschatological kingdom. Kim argues that Isaiah envisions a multinational kingdom comprised of Israelites and gentiles with national and territorial distinctions.
Andrew H. Kim received his PhD in systematic and biblical theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as an adjunct professor of theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, L.R. Scarborough College at Southwestern, and has taught overseas at Central Asia Baptist Theological Seminary in Almaty, Kazakstan. Andrew and his wife Susan currently live with their two sons in Dallas, where he serves as the lead pastor at the Bridge Church in Carrollton, Texas.
“Clearly the Old Testament prophets envisioned a unified kingdom under a future son of David. But is the unity of redeemed humanity to be a homogeneity that excludes ethnic and national particularity? Contrary to recent attempts to portray Isaiah as a transitional theology promoting eschatological homogeneity, Kim demonstrates a consistent Isaianic theme of a unified yet multi-national, multi-particular eschatological kingdom—one in which God’s particular national promises to Israel are fulfilled while also extending salvation to all nations.”
—Craig Blaising, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
“The role of diverse and distinct nations in the coming kingdom of God has been a blind spot in Christian theology. Andrew Kim fills the gap by showing how God’s plans involve nations as national entities with implications for ethnicities and territories. He does this through looking at the place of nations in the kingdom as explained by Isaiah.”
—Michael J. Vlach, The Master’s Seminary
“This is a rigorous and important biblical-theological study! Andrew Kim’s thesis defends against the popular notion that all of God’s people in the eschatological/heavenly kingdom will be ‘mono-national’ without ethnic or national distinctions. Kim, however, defends an Isaianic theology that sees the nations of the eschaton as a multi-national, multi-ethnic eschatological kingdom.”
—John J. Yeo, Southern California Seminary
“Andrew Kim’s work is a significant addition to a growing number of works emphasizing a holistic redemption of God’s created order. It serves as a challenge to those who envision the redemptive narrative as progressing from national Israel to a mono-national and multi-ethnic kingdom. Arguing that God reveals a plan and purpose for nations as corporate entities, Kim’s conception includes national and territorial distinctions as a part of the consummation of the kingdom of God.”
—Steven L. James, Cartersville First Baptist Church
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