This is a multiple part series of videos from On the Journey with Matt, Ken and Kenny which explain Dispensationalism and the Catholic view on this subject. As always this is a place to start when coming to an understanding of Dispensationalism. I bid you God's truth, and His peace on your journey.
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Episode 188
From The Late Great Planet Earth to Left Behind and beyond, millions of Christians have subscribed, knowingly or unknowingly, to the conclusions of a theological system known as Dispensationalism, which makes claims not only about the end of the world and the return of Jesus, but also about the nature of covenants in Scripture. Ken Hensley, a former Baptist pastor who came to faith in the 1970's through the witness of Christian friends who were dispensationalists, shares a window into how that shaped his approach to Scripture, and how his perspective on the Bible has developed since those early days. This is the first in an extended series of episodes on Dispensationalism from a Catholic perspective.
NOTES from Part I:
A general definition of dispensationalism from Ken Hensley - "It is the recognition that salvation history is divided into periods of time called "dispensations" in which God exercises his government over his people and works out his plan of redemption." In a general sense if this is all that was meant by dispensationalism then all Christians would be dispensationalists as we believe that God deals (governs) his people differently in different periods of time. For example, God governed his people differently under the Mosaic Covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant. There were more laws added during the Mosaic time. Life during the New Covenant is different than the Mosaic Covenant. But this isn't all there is to dispensationalism."
Ken Hensley breaks down the complex beliefs of dispensationalism into 7 steps.
Step 1: A person who reads the OT prophets - (especially specific prophecies of Isaiah 2:1-4 and Ezekiel chapters 36 - 40, 37:19 - 22) - that describe a glorious future kingdom that will come after judgment and exile. After exile a day will come when God will gather his people and bring them back into the land. He will make a new covenant with them, forgive their sins, raise up David whom will destroy Israel's enemies and take his seat upon the throne in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 37:24-28). The Temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48) and the Levitical priesthood reestablished (Ezekiel 44:10-31). Sacrifices will be offered and the Gentile nations will stream into Jerusalem.
Step 2: When Jesus came the things described by the OT prophets did not happen. Jesus did not destroy the Romans, he did not take a seat upon the throne in Jerusalem, the Temple described in Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48 did not come into existence. In fact 40 years after Jesus was crucified (70 AD) the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple. Instead of the prophecies being fulfilled in Jesus' time, Jesus is rejected, and crucified. He raised from the dead, ascended into Heaven and on the day of Pentecost the entity called the Church came into existence.
Step 3: Since the Church, which is the Bride of Christ with no distinction between Jew or Gentile, is not the glorious Jewish kingdom prophesied in the OT it has been concluded by dispensationalists that God postponed the fulfillment of the OT prophecies and instituted something new. God must have two plans, one for Israel and one for the Church. This would make the Church a kind of "parenthesis" in the time period. This terminology is used frequently by dispensationalists and refers to the Church Age which is the period between Pentecost and the Rapture. It is viewed as an unforeseen "pause" in God's main plan for the nation of Israel.
Step 4: If the Church Age represents a "parenthesis" for Israel before the prophetic time clock can restart, the Church Age has to come to an end. This will happen when God Raptures away every believer on earth who are members of the Church.
Step 5: According to the dispensationalists, once the Church is raptured away, the prophetic time clock for Israel which was paused will start up again and the prophecies from the OT prophets will be fulfilled. There will be a time of tribulation. Jesus will destroy Israel's enemy, he will take his seat literally on the throne in Jerusalem, and Gentiles will flock to Jerusalem.
Step 6: Dispensationalists believe that the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, nearly 2000 years after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, is viewed as a sign that the fulfillment of OT prophecy will shortly come to pass. We should therefore be prepared for the Rapture at any time.
When did the idea of Dispensationalism first begin and how did it become a popular thought? Ken Hensley breaks this down as: The first appearance of dispensationalism, a pre-tribulation rapture theology, was popularized in the 1830's with John Nelson Darby (1800 -1882) and the Plymouth Brethren. Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899) was instrumental in continuing the popularity of dispensationalism. The Niagara Bible Conference Movement which began in 1875 was critical in spreading the idea of dispensational premillennialism. It emphasized the literal interpretation of prophecy and a distinction between Israel and the Church. In 1909 Cyrus Scofield (1843 - 1921) published his Scofield Reference Study Bible. This bible, with Scofield's own theology promoting dispensationalism, was widely used by Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. In 1924 the Evangelical Theological College was founded. Today this is known as the Dallas Theological Seminary which continues to train pastors and promote the idea of dispensationalism. Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth published in 1970 brought the idea of dispensationalism to the mainstream American culture. 30 million copies of this book were sold. Lindsey wrote that the 1947 founding of Israel was the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy for Israel becoming a great kingdom with Jesus on the throne in Jerusalem. The second coming would happen with in a decade (it didn't). The Moral Majority founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr., continued to push for the support of the State of Israel based on their dispensational understanding of the State of Israel in Biblical prophecy. Between 1995 - 2007 the Left Behind series of 16 books hit Christian books stores. Written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins these bestselling novels expounded on LaHaye's dispensationalist interpretation of the Bible.
Keith Mathison's (a prominent American Reformed theologian) Key Tenants of the Dispensation:
1) God has two distinct programs in history, one for Israel and one for the Church.
2) The Church doesn't fulfill any of Israel's promises from the OT.
3) The Church Age is a "mystery" and thus no OT prophecies foresaw it.
4) The present Church Age is a "parenthesis" during which God has temporarily suspended his primary purpose for Israel.
5) The Church Age began at Pentecost and will end in the pre-tribulation Rapture of the Church before God's second coming.
6) The Church or Bride of Christ consists of those believers saved between the Pentecost and the Rapture.
7) The Church as the Body of Christ therefore doesn't include OT believers.
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Episode 189
In this episode, Ken discusses some of the specific passages of Scripture that were leading him to believe that the central claims of Dispensationalism couldn't hold up to Biblical scrutiny.
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Episode 190
In this episode, they look at the covenants God has made with His people through the centuries leading up to Jesus, and how it is Jesus Himself who is the most perfect fulfillment of the prophecies and promises made to Israel.
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 191
In this episode, they look at the prophecies throughout salvation history related to how God was gathering together a people, and how the words and actions of Jesus in founding His Church fulfill the promises God made to bless all nations through His people Israel.
Notes on Part IV
Ken Hensley reviews Part III for first 12 minutes. It is a very good review. A few notes I didn't catch the first time:
In the OT reading from Genesis to 1 Kings we see that the promises that were made by God to Abraham, etc were fulfilled quite literally. As promised the descendants of Abraham did become like the sands of the seashore or the stars in the sky. Israel did become a great nation. The 12 tribes of Israel did come to possess the land that was promised. During the reign of King David and his son King Solomon, all that God had promised the people of Israel came to pass. "Not a single promise that the Lord made to the house of Israel was broken; every one was fulfilled" (Joshua 21:45; 23:14) - But from the last part of Solomon's life it all goes downhill. Things begin to fall apart. And by the time we come to the end of 2 Kings the Assyrians have invaded and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Babylonians have invaded and destroyed the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In judgement by God, Jerusalem has been sacked. The cloud of God's glory has left the temple. (Ezekiel 10 and 11)
The prophets who described Israel's exile, which came to pass, then began to describe Israel's glorious future to come after the time of exile. The prophecy which was covered in earlier videos was that God would gather his people back, a new temple would be built, David (or a descendant of David) would reign on the throne over a kingdom that would never end, and the Gentile people would come to Jerusalem learn all about God.
According to dispensationalists all of this has to happen literally. The dispensationalists say that we are living in the "Church Age" but that the Church Age has nothing to do with the prophecies. The Church Age is separate from the promises to Israel. Yet as was covered in Part III, according to New Testament authors, Jesus fulfills these OT prophecies in himself and his Body, the Church.
In the last episode (Part III) we focused on Jesus being the New Israel. That in Jesus, everything that OT Israel was called to, came to be. Was fulfilled. Jesus carries out the mission of Israel. Jesus is the true Israelite. In the Church, which is Christ Jesus' own Body these prophecies are being fulfilled.
(Timestamp 18:00) This episode will focus in on the idea that in Christ (who is the true seed of Abraham) the Church comprised of Jew and Gentile, has become the New Covenant Israel.
Ken Hensley has four arguments for this thesis that the Israel is the Church of the New Covenant:
(1) When the New Covenant if first prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34 it is presented as one of the central keys or aspects of the glorious future promised to Israel. The New Covenant is about Israel and Judah. Taken literally, God in the future is going to gather his people back to the land from where they were scattered [exiled]. God is going to make a New Covenant with them.
Let's go forward to see how this prophecy is fulfilled in the NT. Jesus institutes the New Covenant at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20). "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you." Jesus is echoing the words of Moses when he establishes a covenant with God in Exodus 24:8. "And he [Moses] took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said 'This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you.'" This connects the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah with the New Covenant instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper.
Jesus instituted the New Covenant with 12 Jewish Apostles. Soon the New Covenant consists of 120 Jewish disciples (Acts 1:15). On the day of Pentecost Peter preaches to a multitude of Jews that have come for the feast. On that day 3,000 Jews are baptized. (Acts 2:42) By Acts 4:4 there are 5,000 total including a number of priests. Then Peter is instructed in Acts 10 to go to the Gentiles.
Eventually it is clear that it is not just the house of Israel and the house of Judah that are being baptized it is both Jew and Gentile. They are forming the Church. According to dispensationalists, the Church is not the fulfillment of the prophecies made to Israel in the OT. It is an entirely separate people for which God has an entirely separate plan. And yet in 2 Corin 3:4-7 Paul the apostle to the Gentiles in his writing to a primarily Gentile church, Paul refers to himself as a "ministers of a new covenant." Paul is comparing the old covenant as written on the letter [tablets of stone] and the new written in the spirit [on the heart] (Jeremiah 31:33). Paul is connecting his writing in Corinthians to Jeremiah. The new covenant spoken of in Jeremiah which refers to the house of Israel and Judah turns out in the NT to be the Church made up of both Jew and Gentile. There are not two distinct entities, Israel and the Church, it is one blended community the Church made up of both Jew and Gentile. The Church is the form that Israel takes under the new covenant. (also see Ephesians 3:4-11 )
(2) The second reason for viewing the Church as the new covenant Israel is the image of the olive tree in Romans 11:11-24. The faithful Israelites are the living olive tree. Paul describes the olive tree with many branches being broken off (those Jews who did not accept Jesus as Messiah) and other branches have been grafted on (the Gentiles). If the Jews who didn't originally believe, come to believe, they can be grafted back on the the olive tree. The point is that Paul doesn't seem to be referring to two people, Israel and the Church. He is referring to one people the Church that is made up of Jew and Gentile. Those Jews that come to believe later are not grafted into something else they are grafted into the Church established by Jesus. (also see Ephesians 2:19-22)
(3) A third reason for viewing the Church as new covenant Israel regards the number of terms and titles in the OT that are used to describe Israel, the people of God, that in the NT are applied to the Church.
Exodus 19:6 God says "you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Compare this with what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9 that Christians are "a chosen race a royal priesthood, a holy nation...." The Church is fulfilling the calling of Israel.
More terms used in OT used to refer to Israel that are used in NT to refer to the Church are: "household of God" (Eph 2:19); "children of Abraham" (Gal 3:7); "Abrahams seed" (Gal 3:29); "the children of the promise" (Rom 9:8); "a people of his own" (Titus 2:14); "the elect of God" (Col 3:12); "the temple of God" (1 Cor 3:16); "the true circumcision" (Phil 3:3); "the Israel of God (Gal 6:16); "heirs of the kingdom" (James 2:5) believers have come to "Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb 12:22); "Sons of God" (John 1:12); "Kings and priests unto God" (Rev 1:6).
When John describes the completed Church in Revelation, he says "and I saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (Rev 21:2). And finally Rev 21:12-14 where the gates of the new Jerusalem have both the names of the twelve tribes but also the twelve apostles. Linking Israel with the Church again!
If the NT authors believe that God has two separate plans for Israel and the Church why would they in so many ways use all of this language in the OT that is used to describe God's people Israel and use it in the NT to describe the Church in the new covenant.
Matt interjects: God has not changed his plan, it just grows with each covenant to its fulfillment in Jesus. This was not a replacement [Replacement Theology] of the old covenant. It was God's plan all along for everything to be fulfilled in Jesus.
(4) Fourth reason for viewing the Church as new covenant Israel is the form that Israel takes in Christ under the new covenant. Paul says so here (Gal 3:16) "Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his seed. It does not say, 'And to seeds,' as referring to many; but rather to one, 'And to your seed' that is, Christ."
What Paul does is he identifies Christ as the seed to whom the promises of God were made. The ultimate seed is Christ.
In Gal 3:26 - 29 "for you all are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ. Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring [seed], heirs according to promise." Here Paul says that Christ is the true offspring of Abraham through whom the entire world is going to be blessed and that those who have been baptized into Christ have become themselves the true offspring of Abraham, seed of Abraham, sons of Abraham, and the heirs of the promises. He is saying that the Christian Church, either Jew or Gentile are the heirs of the promises.
In Philippians 3:3 Paul writes to a primarily Gentile Church these words "For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh." Christians are the true circumcision. Then in Gal 6:15-16 Paul writes "For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God." What matters is that you have been created new in Christ. This is what counts with God. The Israel of God is the Church, the people both Jew and Gentile in the Church.
Last question Ken posses: How does Paul speak of those Jews who have not accepted Jesus as the Messiah? (timestamp 1 hour to end) Ken suggests that Paul speaks about them as needing salvation in Christ. See Romans 9:1-5. Then Ken backtracks a bit and says Paul doesn't specifically say that they need salvation in Christ, but why is Paul in so much anguish? The thing that specifically anguishes Paul is that the people of Israel were chosen to be the channel of God to the world but they refused it. The fact that he is in so much sorrow over this is that he does not believe that his kinsman are okay as they are. So they need to do something. Ken suggests that this something is being converted to Christ so that they can be grafted back to the olive tree. Roman's 11:11-15 speaks of a remnant that will be saved. Paul anticipated a day when the Jews will have a conversion to Christ. And when they do it will be to the Church.
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 192
In this episode, they look at the prophecies about God's coming Kingdom throughout salvation history, and compare that with the way Jesus preached the Kingdom during his earthly ministry. They also look at examples in the writings and preaching of Peter and Paul to unpack how they and the other apostles understood the kind of Kingdom that Jesus had come to establish.
Notes on Part V
Ken Hensley gives short summary of earlier videos in the first 5 minutes. Here is his summary: We have looked at Jesus as the true seed of Abraham. And we have looked at those who are in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, as heirs of the promises. In the old covenant God promised Israel that if they would be faithful to the covenant he gave them through Moses, they would be a royal priesthood, and a holy nation (Ex 19:6). In the end Israel was not faithful to the old covenant. It was Jesus, the true Israelite, the true suffering servant of Isaiah who alone was faithful to the covenant. He fulfilled the old covenant and he established the new covenant spoken of by Jeremiah chapter 31. Now those who are in Christ through faith and baptism, whether Jew or Gentile, these have become the kingdom of priests. 1 Peter 2:1 - 9, Peter who is writing to Christians says "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people...(1 Peter 2:9)." Or as Paul put it in Philippians 3:3 "For you are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh."
In this video Ken beings by talking about the expectation that the people of Israel had with respect to the OT prophecies, the promises of the kingdom. These expectations were:
2 Samuel 7:12-13 we read that God prophecies through the prophet Nathan that David will have a royal dynasty that will never end. "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." This is the Davidic Covenant. David's son was Solomon. Under King Solomon Israel enjoyed the "Golden Era" of the OT covenant of Israel. The people of Solomon's time would have seen Solomon as the fulfillment of the OT promise. But then comes the fall of Solomon which leads to the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah and the exile of God's people from their land. The question that must have been in the Israelites mind at the time when Jesus appeared at the incarnation would have been exactly the same question that Paul asks in Romans 11:1 - 10 has the promise of God failed. What about this promise that God made to David. The promise about this kingdom that would never end. Catholics and many Protestants believe this was fulfilled in Jesus. Orthodox Jews and dispensationalists are still waiting for these prophecies to be fulfilled.
Ken asks the question, why were the Jewish people at the time of Jesus' incarnation anticipating that at any moment the prophecies of the OT were going to be fulfilled? The answer comes from three scripture passages as follows:
During the time of the exile, Ezekiel and other prophets wrote that, no the promise of God had not failed. That exile is not the end for Israel. The promises made to David are one day going to be fulfilled. The first passage to look at is Ezekiel 34: 1-13, 23, 24. From this, the Jewish people would have looked forward to a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy.
Jesus was born about 500 years after the writing of Ezekiel. The next important scripture passage is Daniel 2:17 - 45. Many Jews would be familiar with this passage as well as the rest of Daniel. In Daniel 2:17-45 Nebuchadnezzar's has a dream that is interpreted by Daniel that there will be four consecutive kingdoms beginning with Babylon (the head and shoulders of gold) then the Persians, Greeks and Romans that will rule over Israel. During the time of the fourth kingdom Daniel says, "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be let to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms (all four of them) and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever." (Dan 2:44)
Many Jews living under time of Jesus that were familiar with the prophecy of Daniel knew that they were living under the fourth kingdom, that of the Romans. The Jews understood that at some point during the Roman empire God would set up his kingdom. The one prophesied in Ezekiel. The Jewish people were expecting one kind of Messiah, the one from Ezekiel that would come as a political ruler. When Jesus came, he didn't fit that mold.
In Daniel 9: 20 - 27 Daniel is visited by the angel Gabriel. In this vision Gabriel tells Daniel that the time required to complete Israel's exile that was prophesied in Jeremiah 25:11 was not going to be 70 years. The angel Gabriel tells Daniel that the end of Israel's exile which would bring in everlasting righteousness, and the anointed one (Dan 9:24-25) was not going to be 70 years. It was going to be 70 x 7 years (seventy weeks of years or 490 years). At the time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem those Jews who had read prophecy and could count were sure that the time was near as it had been about 500 years since the prophecy of Ezekiel 34.
Instead of bringing the kingdom the Jews expected, Jesus was crucified, raised and ascended into the clouds. So according to orthodox Jews and dispensationalists, the kingdom prophesied in Ezekiel must have been postponed. The expectations of the Jewish people that rejected Jesus as the Messiah are the same as the expectations of the dispensationalists.
(Time stamp 26:00 minutes) Ken Hensley then moves into the NT to make the case that Jesus actually did bring the kingdom prophesied in Ezekiel.
When dispensationalists read the NT, Ken Hensley (who was a dispensationalist) makes the point that Jesus and his Church can not be the fulfillment. Ken explains that dispensationalists feel that the apostles and Paul in their writings are just making "spiritual applications" of the OT promises. The literal fulfillment will come later.
Something that dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists can agree on is that Jesus was the Messiah and the promised king.
When Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus he is saying, this is the one. Jesus is the one that fulfills the prophecies of the OT (Matthew 1:1-1). Jesus is the seed of Abraham and David. Gabriel says to Mary you shall "bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:31-33) When Jesus is on the cross, a sign is over his head proclaiming in three languages this is "his is the King of the Jews." (Luke 23:38) Jesus will establish a kingdom, he is the king, and is the one who will sit on the throne.
The question Ken puts forth is: Did Jesus merely offer the promised kingdom which has been rejected and postponed, or did Jesus bring the kingdom that was promised? He makes three points:
(1) The first is that Jesus announces the his kingdom in the Gospels. Jesus comes announcing the kingdom in Matthew 4:17 "from that time Jesus began to preach saying, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He doesn't say the kingdom might be established if the Jewish people would accept it, he presents the kingdom as something that is present in his ministry.
In Matthew 11:2-3 John the Baptist's disciples ask Jesus, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" Jesus responds (Matthew 11:4-5) "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." When Jesus says this, he is alluding to Isaiah 35:3-7 which is a prophecy of the future kingdom. Isaiah is talking about the day when God comes into the world to bring his kingdom. Jesus is saying, you go back and tell John that Isaiah 35 is being fulfilled in my ministry and in the ministry of my apostles.
In Luke 4:16-21 this is when Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth and he is given the scroll of Isaiah 61:1-2 and begins to read. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then Jesus says, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy in Isaiah.
In Luke 11:14- 23 Jesus was accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebul (Luke 11:15). Jesus responds by saying "If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." (Luke 11:20). Jesus is saying that the kingdom is present. The reign of God, the kingdom is active in what Jesus is doing in his ministry.
In Luke 10:8-9 Jesus has commission the 70 to go ahead of him and "heal the sick and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" The Apostles are the kingdom ambassadors and they are 100% Jewish. They are announcing the kingdom of God.
The first point is that there are many ways in the Gospels where Jesus says the kingdom is here and active in his ministry. He doesn't say, I am offering the kingdom but since you are rejecting it I am putting it off to the future.
(2) The second point is this, in a number of ways, Jesus has made it clear that the kingdom has come, but that it has come in a way unexpected. It is as though Jesus recognizes that if you had read Ezekiel and the other prophets, and if you expected a fulfillment exactly as written, you might actually miss the kingdom that he is bringing.
If you were expecting the Messiah of Ezekiel you would be expecting someone to crush Israel's enemies, the people of Israel would then rule with this person from Jerusalem. This didn't happen. Instead Jesus comes and preaches the Beatitudes "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)
As Jesus responds to Pilate at his trial, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not of the world....You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth." (John 18:36-37)
In Jesus' parables, Jesus describes his kingdom as something that is not easily recognized (Luke 17:20-21). He describes the kingdom in parables as something hidden from view. Something that takes the eyes of faith to even perceive. (Matthew 13:1-51). According to Jesus the kingdom is like a man who sows seed into a field (Matt 13:18 - 23), it is like a mustard seed (Matt 13:31-32), it is like leaven (Matt 13:33) it is like a treasure hidden in a field (Matt 13:44) a merchant in search of fine pearls (Matt 13:45-46). The kingdom Jesus announces is not the kingdom that the Jews or the dispensationalists expect from the readings of the prophets.
In Luke 17:20 - 21 Jesus tells the Pharisees, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Behold, here it is' or 'There' for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst."
(3) The third point (Timestamp 54:00 minutes) is that Jesus is ruling his kingdom now. In the first sermon of the Christian era in Acts chapter 2 to thousands of Jews gathered for the feast of Pentecost, Peter explains that Jesus the king (Acts 2:36), Jesus the son of David (Acts 2:29) took his seat on the throne of the kingdom at his resurrection (Acts 2:29-36).
Beginning in Acts 2:30 Peter tells the crowds because David a patriarch knew "that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of Christ." Peter is saying that the Messianic king has ascended the throne of the kingdom of David. It is not what was expected and probably not what Peter thought would happen.
Peter continues with Acts 2:32-36 "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens; but he himself says, 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a stool for your feet.' (Ps 110:1) Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." Ken states that the kingdom is here. The Holy Spirit being poured out is all the evidence we need.
Paul states in 1 Cor 15:22-26 "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Ken summarizes that Jesus is reigning now and Jesus must continue to reign until all enemies are put under his feet the final one being death. There is nothing about the kingdom being in the future. In Paul's mind Jesus is reigning now in heaven.
Also see Matthew 26:63-64 where Jesus tells the high priest regarding about whether or not he is the Messiah "You have said so, But I tell you: From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Ken's conclusion for this episode: Act 1:6-8 "So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." It sounds like the Apostles still expect some kind of literal kingdom. But Jesus doesn't rebuke them.
Here is Protestant scholar F.F. Bruce commentary on this: "The apostles maintained their interest in the hope of seeing the kingdom of God realized in the restoration of Israel's national independence. They had in earlier days been captivated by the idea that in such a restored order they themselves would have positions of authority (Mark 10:35, Luke 22:24). So now; hearing their Master speak of the coming gift of the Spirit, the mark of the new age, they asked if this was to be the occasion for restoring the kingdom to Israel. Jesus' answer did not take the form of a direct "No." He told them that the epochs of the fulfilment of the divine purpose were matters which lay within the Father's sole authority... Even for the nation of Israel according to the flesh, God may have purposes of His own; but these were not the concern of the messengers of Christ. The question in verse 6 appears to have been the last flicker of their former burning expectation of an imminent political theocracy with themselves as its chief executives. From this time forth they devoted themselves to the proclamation and service of God's spiritual kingdom, which men enter by repentance and faith, and to which chief honor belongs to those who most faithfully follow the King Himself in the path of obedience and suffering. Instead of the political power which had formerly been the object of their ambitions, a power far greater and nobler would be theirs. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, Jesus assured them, they would be clothed with heavenly power...to carry out His work.
Kenny Burchard comments on this that in Acts 1:6-8 Jesus is telling his apostles to basically MYOB (mind your own business) and just get about my business, spreading the Gospel. You can also look at these verses of Acts as a front bookend because it is really interesting on how the book of Acts ends with Paul in conflict with some of his kinsman in Rome. The last portion of Acts 28:25-26 "So, as they disagreed among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: "The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: "Go to this people, and say You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive." Then Acts 28:28-31 "Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles they will listen. And he lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered." - So Kenny concludes, at the beginning of Acts the disciples are asking, are you going to restore the kingdom of God then by the end of Acts Paul was opening talking about the kingdom of God through Jesus.
Notes on Part VI
Matt, Ken and Kenny summarize the last video (Part V) in the
first 13 minutes of this video. Here is
a short summary:
In this series titled deconstructing dispensationalism we
have been making the case for a non-dispensationalist way of looking at how the
OT and NT’s are related in the Bible and how old covenant Israel and new
covenant Israel are related in the scripture.
Rather than allowing the New Testament to tell them how they
should understand the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises and prophecies
regarding Israel, dispensationalists begin by insisting that in order for these
promises and prophecies to be taken seriously they must be understood as being
fulfilled literally as written. This results in a postponed fulfillment of
those promises and prophecies into the distant future. This is problematic because
dispensationalists will minimize the interpretation of these promises and
prophecies that Jesus and the apostles give us in the New Testament. Ken then
reviews examples of this given in earlier videos.
Matt highlights another scripture that was not covered
earlier. That is Luke 24:13 – 35, the
walk to Emmaus. This takes place Easter
Sunday. Jesus appears to two people who
are sad (Luke 24:17). They were sad
because they “had hoped that he [Jesus] was the one” (Luke 24:21). These disciples felt this way because they
were expecting the same kind of Kingdom that the dispensationalists are
currently expecting. But Jesus came
along and explains the Gospel beginning with Moses “interpreting to them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27) By the end of the episode
they recognize Jesus in the “breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35) and are no
longer downcast. This is the end of the Gospel of Luke that leads into Acts chapter
1 with the ascension of Jesus and the commissioning of the apostles to go
preach. In the Acts chapter 2 the Holy
Spirit falls upon the apostles at Pentecost and Peter preaches that Jesus is
the rightful successor of David and Jesus has taken the throne on his Kingdom in
the resurrection.
Kenny interjects the point that when dispensationalists say
that these things are “spiritual applications,” are they actually saying that
what happened wasn’t real? Kenny as a
former Pentecostal who believes the word spiritual means something that is
real. The example he used was the gifts
of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12.
These spiritual gifts are real. Kenny is just asking the question, is a “spiritual
application” something that is real? Or
is it something that is symbolic?
(Timestamp 13:07) Moving on to this video Ken will be looking at the prophetic vision of the temple as described in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48. Dispensationalists and orthodox Jews believe that this will literally be fulfilled as described. Catholics and some Protestant denominations believe that this has been fulfilled by Jesus.
To make this point Ken wants to use typology. All Christians understand the basic idea of
biblical typology as a person a place or an event in the Old Testament that
prefigures something greater in the New Testament.
Ken uses an example from an earlier series of On the Journey called Embracing the Catholic Gospel. Ken explains that the entire story of the Exodus in the Old Testament is really an example of biblical typology. The children of Israel are literally enslaved in Egypt compare to how we start out enslaved to sin. The Israelites are delivered from slavery by the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. This prefigures our deliverance from slavery to sin by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus. The Israelites in the crossing of the Red Sea prefigure our baptism into Christ. The Israelites 40 years in the wilderness is a type of our spiritual wilderness that we live through on our way to the promised land with God in Heaven. The manna that feeds the Israelites on their journey in the wilderness prefigures the Eucharist. This point that Ken is making is that in this episode he is going to discuss this topic from a typological angle. The old covenant Tabernacle and temple are types that prefigure and find their fulfillment in something better. That something better is Christ and in those who are in Christ. The new covenant is God and the people of God’s Church.
Ken now starts in the OT with Exodus 33:7 – 11. Here Moses would enter the tent of the meeting and “the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.” (Exodus 33:9). Here God is communicating in a simple way his desire to dwell in the midst of his people. At Mt. Sinai God gave to Moses instructions for the building of a much larger tent of meeting called the Tabernacle. This would function as a portable large scale tent of meeting during their travels through the wilderness to the promised land.
In Exodus 40:17 “the tabernacle as erected.” In Exodus 40: 34 “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.” This is where God's presence would be with his people. Fast forward several centuries when Israel has conquered the land the 12 tribes have been allotted their inheritance of the land and we go to the period of the Kings when King David expressed his desire to build the Lord something even better, as they were still using the portable Tabernacle. It was King David’s son Solomon who built the Temple. When it was finished and dedicated, we read in 1 Kings 8:10-11 “And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord….for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” In simple terms, the Temple speaks of God’s desire to dwell with his people. This is where God's presence will be, specifically in the Holy of Holies.
But there is another layer to the Temple and that is the
Temple is also where Atonement for sin is made. We read in Habakkuk 1:13
“You who are of purer eyes than not behold evil, and cannot look on wrong, why
do you look on faithless men, and are silent when the wicked swallows up the man
more righteous than he?” This one verse
is the image of God being so pure that for the holy God to dwell in the midst
of his unholy people, atonement for sin has to be made. This was made continually in daily sacrifices. and on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement when the High Priest would make
a special sacrifice.
The point is that the Temple represents God's presence with
his people and it speaks of the need for atonement.
Kenny interjects that a Temple is a meeting place between heaven and earth. He goes on to say that God himself built the first Temple in the Garden of Eden. God created the world. He created a sacred space, the Garden of Eden. He set up an image of himself there, Adam and Eve. And it was here that he dwelt with humans. But Adam and Eve sinned and banished from the Garden and the Garden [Temple] is closed.
With the Israelites God desires to create a new sacred space where he can dwell with his people. It has always been about communication with God. He always wants to be with us. Eventually there is a permanent Temple built in Jerusalem. Kenny goes on to say that what the Bible is setting us up to anticipate is the full restoration of the unity between heaven and earth with a representative of God's own presence. This would be Jesus in his Church.
The Church being the one to communicate God to the whole world. God himself tells us what he wants in Genesis 1 and 2 and the language of what happens after God builds his temple in Genesis 1 and 2 is found at the end of the seven-day creation in which it says after God finished all the work that he had done on the 7th day, he rested. He rested is temple language for God coming to inhabit his temple. He comes to dwell in his temple and his priest is there, and his presence is there, and everything is right.
(Timestamp 27:00 minutes) Ken brings us back to where we
left off on our survey of Bible history where the temple in Jerusalem has been
erected and God's glory cloudy fills the Temple and God is residing with his
people.
But God’s covenant with Israel was always conditional on
their faith and obedience. So long as
God's people Israel listened to his voice and so long as they walked in ways, God's presence would remain within the cloud
of God's glory and would fill the temple.
On the other hand if Israel did not listen to his voice, if they did not
walk in his ways then things would not go well with God’s people.
Shortly after the dedication of the Temple we read in 1
Kings 9:6-8 “But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children,
and do not keep my commandments and my statues which I have set before you, but
go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the
land which I have given them; and the house which I have consecrated for my
name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a byword
among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins; every one
passing by it will be astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has
the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’”
Ken goes on to say that if he had the story of the Exodus as his family’s historical narrative it
might be easy to forget that God’s covenant required faith and obedience. Jeremiah tries to warn the people of Israel
to change their ways or face destruction In Jeremiah 7:1-15. “Hear the
word of the Lord all you man of Judah…Amend your ways and your doings and I
will let you dwell in this place (Jer 7:2-3)... You trust in deceptive words to
no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense
to Baal, and go after other gods, that you have not known and then come and
stand before me in this house which is called by my name, and say, “We are
delivered” only to go on doing all these abominations? (Jer 7:8-10)” But the Israelites as the Chosen People call
out, “This is the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the
Lord (Jer 7:4).” But the Temple wouldn’t
save them. God goes on “… And now because
you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you
persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name and in which you
trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to
Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my
sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.” (Jer 7:13 – 15)
Just being the Chosen People would not save them. In 722 BC the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel are conquered and in 586 BC the two remaining tribes of the Southern Kingdom of Judah are taken into captivity under Nebuchadnezzar. In a vision by the prophet Ezekiel in 11:23 Ezekiel sees “the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain…” The Glory Cloud of the Lord would leave the Tabernacle.
The same Ezekiel, who during
the time of the exile spoke of this future glorious Temple that would one day
be rebuilt. Ezekiel saw God's glory return to fill this Temple in Ezekiel 43:
4-5 “As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the
Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory
of the Lord filled the temple.” This is part of the sequel of the prophesy that
after the time of exile God would gather his people together and he would bring
them back into the land. Some Jews did
return after the exile to the land, and they did rebuild the Temple that had
been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but that Temple was not the Temple envisioned
by Ezekiel. In fact Ezra tells us that
when the priest looked at this Temple and compared it mentally with what they
remembered of the great Temple that Solomon had built, Ezra tells us they wept.
It was not a glorious Temple and not the one described in Ezekiel 40.
It is important to remember that the cloud of God’s Glory never entered the second Temple built after the exile. Nor was it present in the larger Temple expanded on by Herod at the time of Jesus. God’s Glory Cloud didn’t reside in the Jewish Temple. So the Jews of the 1st century Palestine were still looking forward to the literal fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Orthodox Jews and Dispensationalists are also
looking forward to this. The Temple Institute is an
organizations in Jerusalem that currently are creating all of the items
necessary for this Temple.
(Timestamp 40:00 minutes) Now we come to the NT, that is the
time of fulfillment. What we will learn is that the Tabernacle and the Temple
were nothing more than types foreshadowing something better. This is not a
better Temple built on the Temple mount; it is Christ and Christ’s body the new covenant
people of God.
What did the Temple represent? It represents God's desire to dwell in the
midst of his people it represents God's desire to be present with his people.
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and
bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” which means God with us.”
John 1:1, 14 “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And
the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The word dwelt is translated as “tabernacled.”
Colossians 2:9 “For in him the whole fullness of deity
dwells bodily.”
Hebrews 1:3 “He reflects the glory of God and bears
the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
John 14:8 – 9 “Philip
said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long,
and yet you do not know me, Philip. He
who has seen me has seen the Father.”
Ken concludes that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Temple in
terms of what it represented, the presence of God among his people. Jesus is the place where God dwells and comes
to dwell with his people.
Jesus is also the place where atonement for sins takes
place. Jesus is the sacrifice. Jesus
forgave sins which is the entire sacrificial system in the Temple. The Temple was about purification. Well Jesus could touch a leper, the dead, a
woman who needed ritual purification. He
could touch them all without needing purification. It was fulfilled in him. When Jesus touched someone who was unclean,
rather than Jesus becoming unclean the unclean person he touched became clean.
Matthew 12:5 – 6 When Jesus was caught plucking grain
on the sabbath, he challenged the Pharisees, “Have you not read in the law how
on the sabbath the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are
guiltless? I tell you, something greater
than the temple is here.”
Mark 14:57 – 59 When Jesus was arrested witnesses
came forward and said “we heard him say, “I will destroy this temple that is
made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.”
John 2: 19 -21 “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,
and will you raise it up in three days?”
But he spoke of the temple of his body.”
The Temple was a type.
It prefigures something better. Jesus
was that something better. Jesus represents everything that the Temple was
about. Jesus the Messiah is the
fulfillment of the Temple.
Matthew 21:42 "The stone that has been rejected has become the cornerstone."
John 19:34 "But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water." When this occurred at the end of Jesus' crucifixion the blood from the Temple sacrifices was flowing from the Temple into the water outside. The symbolism of the OT sacrifice that did not atone completely for sins against the blood and water that flowed from the side of Jesus the one true and final sacrifice for sin.
According to dispensationalists the Temple from Ezekiel must be rebuilt literally. But according to the NT and to Jesus, the Temple is here, it is Jesus.
(Timestamp 54:00 minutes) In Jesus the Christ the seed of Abraham the Church has become the Temple of God. The place where God's glory dwells. The place where God's glory will dwell forever. That is the people, whether Jew or Gentile that are in Christ.
Ephesians 2: 20 -22 "So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." A lot of temple image.
1 Peter 2:4-5 "Come to him, to the living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
2 Corinthians 6:16 "For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." See Jer 31:31
The new covenant people of God. The new covenant Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) is the Temple. The idea that God would reside in his people is far greater than God dwelling in a Temple. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Temple. We are temples of the Lord. God resides in us. (also see Isaiah 66:1 -2) God's design was always to live in his people. "What is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest [that place of rest is in each one of us] ...But this is the man to whom I will look [the man that I want to dwell within], he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word."
1 Corinthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own."
1 Corinthians 3: 16 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"
John 17:21 "That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
Acts 17:24 - 25 "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, wince he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything."
The OT temple prefigured something better and that something better is Jesus as the temple living within each of us believers.
Kens final conclusion: How could God's people not understand that the temple prefigured something better, and that the fulfillment would be God dwelling within them. God dwelling within his people. In Jeremiah where the New Testament is prophesied, and God said "I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their hearts they will be my people I will be their God they will be my people again no one will have to say to his brother know the Lord for they will all know you." Ken's conclusion here is when the Jews and when the dispensationalists insist that in order for the prophecies of Ezekiel and others to be fulfilled a temple needs to be built in Jerusalem, the Levitical priesthood needs to be reinstituted, and animal sacrifices need to be offered once again, they're mistaking the type for the fulfillment in Jesus.
In episode 2 of this series I mentioned that one of the things that made me begin to doubt the dispensationalists understanding of the Old Testament prophecies was the fact that when the temple was described by Ezekiel there are animal sacrifices and there are Levites offering animal sacrifices. This is in Ezekiel 40 and following. It just seemed weird that we would have the types and shadows of the Old Testament sacrificial system then Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world would come. Then then we would reverse back to types and shadows in the future with animal sacrifices again while Jesus reigns on earth for 1000 years. This literal fulfillment didn't make sense.
Rev 21:3 "I heard a great voice from the throne saying, "Behold the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them."
Rev 21:22- 23 "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb."
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 194
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 195
Notes on Part IX
(Timestamp 48 minutes)
Ken asks the question: If the Church is comprised of Jew and Gentile, and this is the highpoint of God's eternal purposes in Christ, what about the people of Israel in general, the Israelites according to the flesh? Ken says to more fully answer this question we need to look at two trees that appear in the New Testament. The Fig and the Olive.
Fig Tree
Luke 13: 6-9 "And he [Jesus] told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, 'Behold, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, 'Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well, and good; but if not, you can cut it down."
Thinking about Jesus' three years of ministry, 'Behold these three years I have come.' Jesus is speaking here about the nation of Israel at his time. He came seeking fruit and he [Jesus] found very little. Often the fruit that he found was from the Gentiles. Rather than repenting at Jesus' message, many of the Jews were content to say "but we have Abraham as our father." (John 8:39) Soon the leadership of Israel would be demanding Jesus' crucifixion. The axe was laid at the root of the fig tree. After three years, it was time to cut it down.
There are also a number of passages where Jesus prophesized the imminent judgement on the Israel. It was Jesus who said in Matthew 23:35 - 36 "that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the alter. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation." It was Jesus who said in Matthew 23:37 - 39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
This desolation came to pass in 70AD when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and burned the temple to the ground. This is the Fig Tree story. Not a good story, but it is not the end of the story. Turn to Romans 11 and the Olive Tree.
Olive Tree
According to Paul the Olive Tree is a good tree. The olive tree has its roots in the faithful remnant of the nation of Israel. The remnant of those sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Church is comprised of the faithful remnant of Israel and all those, Jews or Gentile, who are joined to that faithful remnant. This is the olive tree in Romans 11:17 -24,
The olive tree is a Jewish tree and in Paul's mind it has its roots in the faithful remnant of the people of Israel. Paul's heart was broken over the fact that only a small minority of his fellow Jews at the time had come to believe in Christ (Romans 9:1 - 13).
"I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises....But it is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants..." (Romans 9:1-7)
Paul is saying that simply being a descendent of Abraham doesn't make you a child of Abraham. Paul quotes Isaiah 10:22-23 in Romans 9:27 "And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved."
In Romans chapter 11 Paul is asking if God has rejected his people. He answers "By no means. But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.(Rom 11:11) "For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole batch; and if the root is holy so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot [Gentiles], were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches." (Rom 11:14-18) "You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches [Jews], neither will he spare you [Gentiles]. (Rom 11:19 - 21) "And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them [Jews] in again. For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches [Jews] be grafted back in to their own olive tree." (Rom 11:23 - 24)
Paul is asking the question, has God rejected his people as a whole? Paul answers the question by talking about the remnant. He doesn't answer the question by saying, don't worry the Jewish people are all saved merely by being Jews. (Timestamp 56:07) Or merely by being the descendants of Abraham. Paul answers the question, has God rejected his people, by talking about the remnant.
Romans 11:1-5 "I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means. I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. "God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace."
Ken comments that Paul's answer is not to say that Israel is saved merely by being children of Abraham. His answer is to remind his readers that God never promised that Israel would receive his blessing merely by being Israel. Or that any particular Israelite would receive his blessings merely because they were a particular Israelite. Paul writes that it has always been the case that those blessed by Abraham are those who possess the faith of Abraham.
Jewish branches have been broken off the olive tree because of unbelief and Gentile branches are being grafted on to the olive tree because of their faith. If the Gentiles don't continue in faith, their branches can be broken off. And if the Jews come to believe their branches will be grafted back on. It is all a matter of faith.
In Romans 11:25 - 27 Paul says that many Jews will come to faith. "Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "the Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins."
There has been endless debate over this passage. Is he saying that every Israelite who has ever lived dead or alive will be saved? Is he saying all Jews living at the time will be saved? Or is he wanting to communicate that a great number will be saved? (Timestamp 59:48) The difficulty is, this is the only place in Scripture where this statement is made, making hard to know exactly what is meant by the statement.
Ken's thought on this is: Paul has just quoted Isaiah 10:22-23 in Romans 9:27 "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved." Saying only a remnant will be saved. He has already made an entire case that God has not rejected his people on this notion of the remnant. Also see Romans 11:1-5 regarding a remnant where God has kept 7000 as a remnant for not bowing the knee to Baal. So to turning around and saying "all Israel will be saved," and mean literally all will be saved and not a remnant, would seem to contradict what Paul has just said about the remnant.
Whatever the actual meaning Paul had in mind, he sees good in the future for his fellow Israelites, once the full number of Gentiles come in. Whatever Paul means, is there any reason to think that those Jews that are saved will be saved into anything other than the olive tree, which is clearly the new covenant Israel, the Church? Ken says no.
Matt interjects that Paul does give meaning to the statement "all Israel will be saved" when he says in Romans 11:33 - 36 "O the depth of he riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen."
Matt comments that the answer to the question Is all Israel saved? is "Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? " Or to put it another way, God has a plan and maybe it is not completely up to us to know the answer now. Yet Ken interjects any [Jew] who is going to be grafted back into the olive tree will do so through repentance and faith. But in the end only God can tell us how this will pan out.
A few more verses mentioned by Kenny: John 1:12-13 "Yet all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God....children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." Kenny says that according to John, the new covenant is the only way for anybody to be saved. Jew or Gentile.
Galatians 3: 27 - 29 "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise."
Part X: On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 197
Dispensationalists see Revelation as a blueprint of future events, chiefly concerning the Jewish people, leading up to a future, earthly reign of Christ known as the Millennium. During the Millennium, they believe, Israel will be restored as a nation, will return to offering animal sacrifices (in commemoration of Christ’s death on the cross), and will be the most favored nation on earth, with Jesus physically ruling in its capitol. In dispensational thought, the Jews may also have a special status in the eternal order that follows the Millennium.
Along with the dispensationalists the Catholic Church acknowledges that God does still have plans for the Jews as a unique people (Catechism of the Catholic Church 674). Paul clearly indicates this in his writings, especially in Romans 9–11, where he indicates God continues to fulfill his promises about the Jewish people by preserving a remnant of Jewish believers in Christ (Romans 11:1–11). This indicates a special place for Israel, for no other people has a promise that there will always be a believing remnant. God also has future plans for the Jewish people: One day the Jewish people as a nation will return to Christ, and this will be one of the signs of the Second Coming and the resurrection of the dead (Romans 11:12, 15).
But here is where Catholics differ from dispensationalists, Catholics believe that the Church is spiritual Israel or, in Catholic parlance, the “new Israel” (cf. CCC 877). This too is indicated in Paul’s writings: In Romans 9:6 he says that “not all who are of Israel are Israel.” This indicates the existence of two Israel's. One—”all who are of Israel”—indicates the ethnic people, not all of whom believe in Jesus. The other Israel, the context reveals, does not include those who have rejected the Messiah. This new Israel, founded by Messiah, exists in spiritual continuity with the Old Testament saints and so counts as a “spiritual Israel.” It includes Gentiles who believe in the Messiah and so through baptism are spiritually circumcised (Col. 2:11–12) and are reckoned as spiritual Jews (Rom. 2:26–29).
In his letter to the Ephesians Paul is even more explicit about the Gentiles’ spiritual inclusion when he states that “you Gentiles in the flesh . . . were [once] separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel . . . But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near . . . So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints” (Ephesians 2:11–13, 19).
Selected Notes from the Scofield Bible
No comments:
Post a Comment