On June 16th, Jeremiah Heaton planted the blue flag with four stars and a crown and declared that Bir Tawil, a 800-square-mile patch between Sudan and Egypt, was now the "Kingdom of North Sudan" He was the king and his 7 year old daughter, Emily, was now a princess. "Heaton says his claim...is legitimate...exactly how several other countries, including what became the United States, were historically claimed. The key difference, Heaton says, is that those historical cases of imperialism were acts of war while his was an act of love."[1]
As followers of Jesus, the kingdom of God is planted wherever He sends us. We are his sovereign territory. "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves." (Col. 1:13) As such, we live as foreigners and resident aliens in this world, arguably subversive since Jesus said, of the devil: "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out." (John 12:31) Each home, each office, each shop, each field and school becomes a beach head in God's plan to bring about Jesus' prayer: "...your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10)
But is it a kingdom if no one recognizes its existence? For Jeremiah Heaton, if the neighboring countries with political control or the United Nations don't acknowledge "North Sudan" is it real? For the kingdom of God, the king will receive universal acknowledgement: "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil. 2:10b-11a)
The kingdom of God is not a geographic location, but a new demographic, marked by those related to the king.
[1]Ileana Najarro, The Washington Post as cited in The Sacramento Bee, July 14, 2014, A10
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