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Essential Studies in Biblical Theology
The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical Theology of God's Reign
The biblical story begins and ends with God as king. Human beings rebel, however, rather than fulfilling their royal calling to rule creation on behalf of their Sovereign—and the world became enslaved to the rule of a dark, serpentine lord.
In this volume of IVP Academic's Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout Scripture, illuminating the challenges, pain, and ultimate hope that the Bible offers. The story of God’s kingship is ultimately the fulfillment of a promise, a promise to restore the rightful rule of humanity over creation by defeating sin and death and to establish a world of peace and justice.
Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (ESBT), edited by Benjamin L. Gladd, explore the central or essential themes of the Bible's grand storyline. Taking cues from Genesis 1–3, authors trace the presence of these themes throughout the entire sweep of redemptive history. Written for students, church leaders, and laypeople, the series offers an introduction to biblical theology.
In this volume of IVP Academic's Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout Scripture, illuminating the challenges, pain, and ultimate hope that the Bible offers. The story of God’s kingship is ultimately the fulfillment of a promise, a promise to restore the rightful rule of humanity over creation by defeating sin and death and to establish a world of peace and justice.
Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (ESBT), edited by Benjamin L. Gladd, explore the central or essential themes of the Bible's grand storyline. Taking cues from Genesis 1–3, authors trace the presence of these themes throughout the entire sweep of redemptive history. Written for students, church leaders, and laypeople, the series offers an introduction to biblical theology.
- GenresTheology
218 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 19, 2024
About the author
Stephen G. Dempster
11 books22 followersStephen G. Dempster is professor emeritus of religious studies at Crandall University, where he taught for 37 years and held the Stuart E. Murray Chair in Religious Studies. With academic degrees in kinesiology, biblical studies, theology, and classical Hebrew from institutions including Westminster Theological Seminary and the University of Toronto, Dempster is widely respected for his work in Old Testament theology. He is the author of Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible, a well-regarded contribution to biblical theology, and a contributor to Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect. He also founded and coached Crandall’s men’s baseball team.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 18 reviews
April 10, 2024
4.5. I'm convinced that the kingdom is the theme that best makes sense of the Bible as a unified story culminating in Jesus. Dempster is an engaging author who excels at articulating the Bible's cohesive narrative. My favorite part of the book was Dempster's overview of the Gospels where he showed how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each focus on different yet harmonious aspects of Jesus's inauguration of the kingdom. This is a terrific, accessible summation of God's reign from Genesis to Revelation. Highly recommend.
January 6, 2024
This is excellent!
October 22, 2024
A great book that is a very concise tracing of the kingdom program through Scripture. Although it is a concise presentation of a major theme of Scripture, it is still packed with astute observations at seemingly every turn. Indeed, one of the reasons it dropped a star is because it felt like it was doing too much in 200 pages. In any case, Dempster writes at an accessible level for the church-goer yet with insights that befits the scholarly world. This book would be great for a church member wanting to go a bit deeper into biblical theology.
April 5, 2024
Reading Dempster's Return of the Kingdom has profoundly rejuvenated my interest in the canonical metanarrative of the Hebrew Bible and Christian New Testament—the story of the "once and future kingdom" and how we fit into this grand picture.
What at first appears to be a tightly knit overview of the Bible turns out to be a discerning, awe-inspiring bird's eye view of Yahweh's intent for the created order. No doubt I will come back to reference this book for years to come, and I further intend to keep Dempster's sketches in mind as I embark on future read-throughs of the Scripture, the next of which will be following the canonical order of the Tanakh, which Dempster so invitingly brings to the fore of the discussion.
In brief: bravo to a biblical scholar who embodies the fullness of logos, ethos, and pathos in his teachings on the kingdom.
What at first appears to be a tightly knit overview of the Bible turns out to be a discerning, awe-inspiring bird's eye view of Yahweh's intent for the created order. No doubt I will come back to reference this book for years to come, and I further intend to keep Dempster's sketches in mind as I embark on future read-throughs of the Scripture, the next of which will be following the canonical order of the Tanakh, which Dempster so invitingly brings to the fore of the discussion.
In brief: bravo to a biblical scholar who embodies the fullness of logos, ethos, and pathos in his teachings on the kingdom.
May 14, 2024
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S THE RETURN OF THE KINGDOM ABOUT?
I'm low on energy, so I'm just going to copy the back of the book here:
After a quick overview of his approach in this book and his understanding of the Kingdom, Dempster surveys the story of the Bible highlighting the teaching of the Kingdom throughout. After spending three chapters covering Creation and the Fall, he then covers Redemptive History--with two chapters on the Gospels. Then he wraps things up with a look at Revelation and the current status of the Church and Kingdom--and what we should expect after the present.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE RETURN OF THE KINGDOM?
Dempster's survey was helpful, and on more than one occasion, insightful. But at the same time, it was a little too much like the other surveys in this series. What he brought wasn't all that distinctive from the rest.
On the one hand, this is a very good thing--while focusing on other themes and motifs than the others, he's picking up the same overarching storyline in the Bible the others were. And there should be a lot of overlap between those.
On the other hand, for the reader, while we can draw confidence from the unity, we can also get bored.
I thought the introduction ("The Return of the Kingdom: The Biblical Theology of God’s Reign", the first chapter "The Big Picture: The Bible’s Bookends"), and the last chapter ("Grand Finale and Kingdom Come: Revelation and the Present") were very strong and helpful. And they pretty much justified the time and money I invested in the book. The rest was utterly fine. I wanted more, but I can be satisfied with what I got.
For people who haven't read all/most of the books in this series, you could probably gain a lot from this book. For those who have read the rest? Go in with the right expectations and you'll be okay.
---
WHAT'S THE RETURN OF THE KINGDOM ABOUT?
I'm low on energy, so I'm just going to copy the back of the book here:
The biblical story begins and ends with God as king. Human beings rebel, however, rather than fulfilling their royal calling to rule creation on behalf of their Sovereign—and the world became enslaved to the rule of a dark, serpentine lord.
In this volume of IVP Academic's Essential Studies in Biblical Theology, Stephen Dempster traces the themes of kingship and kingdom throughout Scripture, illuminating the challenges, pain, and ultimate hope that the Bible offers. The story of God’s kingship is ultimately the fulfillment of a promise, a promise to restore the rightful rule of humanity over creation by defeating sin and death and to establish a world of peace and justice.
After a quick overview of his approach in this book and his understanding of the Kingdom, Dempster surveys the story of the Bible highlighting the teaching of the Kingdom throughout. After spending three chapters covering Creation and the Fall, he then covers Redemptive History--with two chapters on the Gospels. Then he wraps things up with a look at Revelation and the current status of the Church and Kingdom--and what we should expect after the present.
SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE RETURN OF THE KINGDOM?
Dempster's survey was helpful, and on more than one occasion, insightful. But at the same time, it was a little too much like the other surveys in this series. What he brought wasn't all that distinctive from the rest.
On the one hand, this is a very good thing--while focusing on other themes and motifs than the others, he's picking up the same overarching storyline in the Bible the others were. And there should be a lot of overlap between those.
On the other hand, for the reader, while we can draw confidence from the unity, we can also get bored.
I thought the introduction ("The Return of the Kingdom: The Biblical Theology of God’s Reign", the first chapter "The Big Picture: The Bible’s Bookends"), and the last chapter ("Grand Finale and Kingdom Come: Revelation and the Present") were very strong and helpful. And they pretty much justified the time and money I invested in the book. The rest was utterly fine. I wanted more, but I can be satisfied with what I got.
For people who haven't read all/most of the books in this series, you could probably gain a lot from this book. For those who have read the rest? Go in with the right expectations and you'll be okay.
September 4, 2024
Book reviewed for Eleutheria, Liberty Divinity Journal (Volume 8, Issue 1)
Stephen Dempster earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University
of Toronto and is a professor at Crandall University in New Brunswick, Canada.
A distinguished scholar in biblical theology, Dempster has authored several
notable works, including The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical Theology of
God's Reign, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible, and
Micah: A Theological Commentary. He has served as chair of the Biblical
Theology Section of the Evangelical Theological Society and has contributed to
significant publications, such as the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology.
Dempster's goal is to explore the theme of kingdom and kingship in Scripture. His
primary purpose is to shed light on how these themes reveal God's promise to
restore humanity to their rightful roles as sovereign stewards of God's creation
and to show their significance in understanding the overall narrative of Scripture.
Dempster organizes his work canonically, from Genesis to Revelation. He
illuminates the themes of kingdom and kingship throughout the biblical narrative,
illustrating the underlying themes in scripture and how the kingdom and kingship
are crucial to understanding the Bible. In The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical
Theology of God’s Reign, Dempster illustrates that the Bible is one coherent story,
complete with a beginning and an end. He argues that the Bible tells the story of a
kingdom begun, lost, and restored, with each chapter building on the previous to
create a complete picture of how the kingdom narrative has evolved over time.
The book's final sections discuss the present state of creation, and the future
ending of the redemptive narrative as described in Revelation. Dempster closes
his book by emphasizing that the return of Christ has been delayed due to God’s
patience and that Christians should use this time to grow in their spiritual
relationship with God. Dempster's work is highly recommended for theologians,
scholars, and seminary students. It can serve as an excellent textbook for courses
on biblical theology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels due to its
comprehensiveness and ease of understanding.
Stephen Dempster earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University
of Toronto and is a professor at Crandall University in New Brunswick, Canada.
A distinguished scholar in biblical theology, Dempster has authored several
notable works, including The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical Theology of
God's Reign, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible, and
Micah: A Theological Commentary. He has served as chair of the Biblical
Theology Section of the Evangelical Theological Society and has contributed to
significant publications, such as the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology.
Dempster's goal is to explore the theme of kingdom and kingship in Scripture. His
primary purpose is to shed light on how these themes reveal God's promise to
restore humanity to their rightful roles as sovereign stewards of God's creation
and to show their significance in understanding the overall narrative of Scripture.
Dempster organizes his work canonically, from Genesis to Revelation. He
illuminates the themes of kingdom and kingship throughout the biblical narrative,
illustrating the underlying themes in scripture and how the kingdom and kingship
are crucial to understanding the Bible. In The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical
Theology of God’s Reign, Dempster illustrates that the Bible is one coherent story,
complete with a beginning and an end. He argues that the Bible tells the story of a
kingdom begun, lost, and restored, with each chapter building on the previous to
create a complete picture of how the kingdom narrative has evolved over time.
The book's final sections discuss the present state of creation, and the future
ending of the redemptive narrative as described in Revelation. Dempster closes
his book by emphasizing that the return of Christ has been delayed due to God’s
patience and that Christians should use this time to grow in their spiritual
relationship with God. Dempster's work is highly recommended for theologians,
scholars, and seminary students. It can serve as an excellent textbook for courses
on biblical theology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels due to its
comprehensiveness and ease of understanding.
April 6, 2025
Here’s the latest in this delightful series on biblical theology. Several of the volumes take the same subject—the sweep of the biblical story—and tell it from a unique vantage point. So it’s Genesis to Revelation again, as always in this series it is in chunks, this time told from the standpoint of kingdom.
Perhaps more than other title in the series it tells the broader story more, and perhaps better, than that of its perspective—kingdom in this case. The book had so many interesting tidbits and theological nuggets with even a dash of helpful exegetical hints. In this volume, I’d especially glance at the footnotes if I were you.
On kingdom it was helpful. Many passages you’d expect are covered. I figured the messianic Psalms would get great coverage, but he clearly didn’t see them as essential to his discussion. Where, in the most critical omission, was Psalm 110? It seemed to me he presented more depth up to David, but was more streamlined thereafter. He saw Matthew as having its obvious importance in his theme, but could have developed it more.
He didn’t really touch Israel versus either the church or whether it was substituted, etc.. That’s a battleground for dispensationalists and covenant theologians. Most books written on kingdom would pick a hill to die on, but that wasn’t an intense theme for him. It’s obvious to me which side he is on, but he wasn’t as explicit as some in this series either. On the plus side, he was never condescending either.
I hope I haven’t made it sound like I dislike this book, or that it is a failure. It’s still a very pleasant and helpful read. It will give you a lot to chew on about biblical theology, even if I wouldn’t call it the most important book on the theme of Kingdom itself.
I don’t line up exactly where the writers of this series do theologically, but every book in the series, including this one, has been a great blessing to me.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Perhaps more than other title in the series it tells the broader story more, and perhaps better, than that of its perspective—kingdom in this case. The book had so many interesting tidbits and theological nuggets with even a dash of helpful exegetical hints. In this volume, I’d especially glance at the footnotes if I were you.
On kingdom it was helpful. Many passages you’d expect are covered. I figured the messianic Psalms would get great coverage, but he clearly didn’t see them as essential to his discussion. Where, in the most critical omission, was Psalm 110? It seemed to me he presented more depth up to David, but was more streamlined thereafter. He saw Matthew as having its obvious importance in his theme, but could have developed it more.
He didn’t really touch Israel versus either the church or whether it was substituted, etc.. That’s a battleground for dispensationalists and covenant theologians. Most books written on kingdom would pick a hill to die on, but that wasn’t an intense theme for him. It’s obvious to me which side he is on, but he wasn’t as explicit as some in this series either. On the plus side, he was never condescending either.
I hope I haven’t made it sound like I dislike this book, or that it is a failure. It’s still a very pleasant and helpful read. It will give you a lot to chew on about biblical theology, even if I wouldn’t call it the most important book on the theme of Kingdom itself.
I don’t line up exactly where the writers of this series do theologically, but every book in the series, including this one, has been a great blessing to me.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
June 18, 2025
In The Return of the Kingdom, Stephen G. Dempster discusses a biblical theology of God’s reign.
Dempster begins by declaring the return of the kingdom as the return of the life that existed in the garden. This book offers the most comprehensive and insightful look at the Fall that I have read.
Kingdom and Covenant
It leaves you not only with hope for the return of the kingdom, but also with an awareness of the blessings that come with it. The people’s love for God and God’s love for the people become the highest commitment. It is here that true life will be experienced in relational covenant.
I was moved to read that the return of the kingdom comes despite suffering. The stories of Jacob, Joseph, and Judah show this truth: the kingdom will return triumphant. Even as our earthly kings failed, and the prophets spoke to people with hard hearts, we can remain optimistic about the future.
Christ’s Rule and Reign
As Jesus sheds light on the true nature and reality of the kingdom, we see it expand through the Acts of the Apostles and the rise of the Church. We see a community that thrives in the midst of a sinful and decaying culture.
By the time the book reaches Revelation, we are eager to see the culmination and fruition of Christ’s rule and reign—not only in the kingdom, but in the lives of the people.
I received a media copy of The Return of the Kingdom and this is my honest review.
Dempster begins by declaring the return of the kingdom as the return of the life that existed in the garden. This book offers the most comprehensive and insightful look at the Fall that I have read.
Kingdom and Covenant
It leaves you not only with hope for the return of the kingdom, but also with an awareness of the blessings that come with it. The people’s love for God and God’s love for the people become the highest commitment. It is here that true life will be experienced in relational covenant.
I was moved to read that the return of the kingdom comes despite suffering. The stories of Jacob, Joseph, and Judah show this truth: the kingdom will return triumphant. Even as our earthly kings failed, and the prophets spoke to people with hard hearts, we can remain optimistic about the future.
Christ’s Rule and Reign
As Jesus sheds light on the true nature and reality of the kingdom, we see it expand through the Acts of the Apostles and the rise of the Church. We see a community that thrives in the midst of a sinful and decaying culture.
By the time the book reaches Revelation, we are eager to see the culmination and fruition of Christ’s rule and reign—not only in the kingdom, but in the lives of the people.
I received a media copy of The Return of the Kingdom and this is my honest review.
October 21, 2025
This is the first book in the Essential Studies in Biblical Theology Series (ESBT) that I have read, but it was fantastic.
Yahweh has been reigning as the Creator since the beginning, and his design has been for humans to reign with him as priest-kings over his creation worshiping him, obeying him…enjoying him and making much of his name.
Dempster ingeniously traces the theme of God and his Kingdom throughout the canon of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, showing how the covenants contribute to the kingdom and how the coming of the Christ is the culmination of the kingdom.
Christ the new Adam, God-man, the ultimate priest-king has brought Gods eternal eschatological kingdom into the present by his life death and resurrection in fulfillment of the scriptures.
Now that Christ is seated at the right hand of God and poured out his Spirit on his people, the church lives out the kingdom of heaven on earth, by faith presently ruling with Christ, by faith presently seated with Christ, but in hope of the coming King. We wait for Christ the Warrior King to come from heaven to earth in the consummation of the kingdom, when faith will become sight, where we will rule and reign over creation with/under Christ to the glory of the God.
(This helped me understand why I love LOTR so much lol)
Yahweh has been reigning as the Creator since the beginning, and his design has been for humans to reign with him as priest-kings over his creation worshiping him, obeying him…enjoying him and making much of his name.
Dempster ingeniously traces the theme of God and his Kingdom throughout the canon of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, showing how the covenants contribute to the kingdom and how the coming of the Christ is the culmination of the kingdom.
Christ the new Adam, God-man, the ultimate priest-king has brought Gods eternal eschatological kingdom into the present by his life death and resurrection in fulfillment of the scriptures.
Now that Christ is seated at the right hand of God and poured out his Spirit on his people, the church lives out the kingdom of heaven on earth, by faith presently ruling with Christ, by faith presently seated with Christ, but in hope of the coming King. We wait for Christ the Warrior King to come from heaven to earth in the consummation of the kingdom, when faith will become sight, where we will rule and reign over creation with/under Christ to the glory of the God.
(This helped me understand why I love LOTR so much lol)
July 8, 2024
I feel a little torn. The first two thirds of the book were solid. Dempster dove deep and elaborated on the important “kingdom” elements through the OT. He said so much and so few words for many of the chapters. I was somewhat disappointed, however, we try his treatment of the theme in the NT. He continued to cover the text canonically (which worked well for the narratives of the OT) but this resulted in simply noting where themes of “kingdom” surfaced in the NT with almost no elaboration, synthesis, or development. Many of the “kingdom” NT texts he noted didn’t have any immediately obvious kingdom elements to them. I almost gave this book 3 stars, but his treatment of the OT is pretty good.
October 24, 2024
I'm a huge fan of Dempster's body of work; Dominion and Dynasty is one of my go-to volumes on the Old Testament. So perhaps I went into his latest project with unfair expectations? Overall I couldn't help but feel the page/word constraints all throughout the book. The pacing was noticeably uneven. Dempster spent 150 pages walking through the Old Testament, and then blitzed through the New Testament in the final 50 pages. Moreover, he only devoted about 15 pages to the Writings and just over 5 pages to the Latter Prophets. I still took away some great exegetical insights and connections, but much of this work seemed to rely on abbreviated summaries.
June 10, 2024
This book did a great job of taking the reader through the entire biblical narrative while tracing the theme of the Kingdom of God. It makes incredible connections which unify every part of the Bible under this theme. In light of this it also encourages one to live life differently as a result of this incredible kingdom and in light of all the depth of understanding regarding the nature and goodness of this kingdom and particularly of this King. It’s one that I definitely want to read again to continue to glean from its insights.
October 24, 2024
Dempster's concise tracing of the central theme of "return of the kingdom" is compelling. Dempster utilizes a variety of biblical-theological choices, including the Bible’s big picture and story, meaning of biblical books, compositional analysis, and canonical awareness of the books. These hermeneutical choices enable him to articulate and defend the thesis that all of Scripture tells the single tale of a kingdom that was instituted, lost, redeemed, and will be fully established by God for the benefit of his people. This book is worth picking up and considering.
January 7, 2025
This is an excellent overview of the kingdom from Genesis to Revelation. None of this presupposition or taking from headlines to prove a point, but straight from Scripture to show the already and not yet of God's kingdom.
November 15, 2024
A helpful lay-level biblical theology.
January 27, 2025
Great book that will help you understand the kingdom of God better.
November 29, 2025
Wonderful! At just about 200 pages, this is one of the best brief overviews of Scripture’s storyline with a kingdom focus.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 18 reviews