What did the Old Testament promise about the coming kingdom?
The Old Testament promised the coming kingdom would be a perfect utopia: no poor, no need for food, no corruption—the perfect utopia man had been looking for. It would be just over the horizon, and once set up, houses, lands, and possessions would be unnecessary.
Les explains that the early Jewish believers were ready to sell their possessions because they believed the kingdom was just over the horizon. They expected the nation of Israel to respond, Christ to return, and the kingdom to be established. Because the Old Testament promised that the kingdom would be the perfect utopia—no poor, no need for food, no corruption—they saw no reason to hold onto private property. They sold gladly, thinking this was in the immediate future, and continued daily in the Temple and from house to house, eating with gladness and singleness of heart.