The ministry of John the Baptist begins the New Testament, but he himself was not in the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew 11:11 confirms this: "Among those born of women, there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is smallest in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he." This verse indicates that John was not in the kingdom of the heavens.
Between the close of the Old Testament age and the beginning of the kingdom of the heavens was a transitional period. This was the time in which John lived. He was close to the kingdom of the heavens, but he was not in it.
Matthew 21:43 and Mark 12:9 indicate the kingdom of God existed before the time of John the Baptist. The Lord Jesus told the Jewish leaders that the kingdom of God would be taken from them. At the time when the Lord Jesus was speaking, the kingdom of God was with the Jewish nation, but He was warning them that the kingdom of God would be taken away from them. These verses indicate that the kingdom of God was already in existence among the Israelites. The kingdom of the heavens, in contrast, had only drawn near (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). Here again it is evident that the kingdom of the heavens is different from the kingdom of God.
In Matthew 13 are several parables. The first one is the parable of the sower. When the Lord Jesus came out as the sower to sow the seed, the kingdom of the heavens had not yet come; it had only drawn near (Matt. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7).
It is in the second parable, that of the wheat and the tares, that the kingdom of the heavens is present. The Lord Jesus said, "The kingdom of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field" (13:24). The kingdom of God was there during the preaching of John, of Jesus, and of His disciples. At that time, however, there was not the kingdom of the heavens. In Matthew 3:2 John the Baptist said, "Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near." Jesus began His ministry in the same way, telling people to repent, for the kingdom of the heavens had drawn near (4:17). In 10:7 the Lord Jesus charged the twelve to preach that the kingdom of the heavens had drawn near.
In Matthew 21:43, though, the Lord told the Jewish leaders "that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation producing the fruits of it." From this we see that the kingdom of God was with the nation of Israel from the time of Exodus 19:6. At the time the Lord Jesus spoke the word in Matthew 21:43, the kingdom of God was there, but the kingdom of the heavens had only drawn near.
In Matthew 16:18-19 the Lord Jesus told Peter that He would build His church and that He would give Peter the keys of the kingdom of the heavens. Peter used one of these keys to open the gate for the Jewish believers to enter the kingdom of the heavens on the day of Pentecost. Here is another indication that the kingdom of the heavens began on the day of Pentecost.
On the chart on pages 76 through 77 is an arrow, entitled "The Descending of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:1-4). The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost marks the beginning of the kingdom of the heavens and the beginning of the fulfillment of the parable of the wheat and the tares. On the day of Pentecost, Satan began to sow tares, false believers, in the midst of the wheat, the believers.