"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial," (CCC 675) What will that trial be? Only God knows. But soon the US government will be releasing information on UFO's etc. There will also be a new movie by Steven Spielberg called Disclosure Day regarding this subject. Will this be part of the trial, the test God has in store for Christians? It is important that Catholic's and all Christians be informed about what these "UFO's" might be. This blog will be a collection of videos and articles regarding this subject. As always, pray and do your own research. This is for informational purposes only. Blessings and peace, Lynn
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CCC 675 The Church's ultimate trial - Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.(Luke 18:8, Matthew 24:12) The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth (Luke 21:12, John 15:19-20) will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh." (2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3, 2 John 7; 1 John 2:18, 22)
1 Timothy 4:3-4 "As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the divine training that is in faith."
2 Corin 11:3 "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."
Galatians 1:8 "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed."
Disclosure Now: What Catholics MUST Know
A few scripture passages and paragraphs from the Catechism that are helpful when decerning this issue.
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
CCC 326 "The Scriptural expression "heaven and earth" means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other: "the earth" is the world of men, while "heaven" or "the heavens" can designate both the firmament and God's own "place", "our Father in heaven" and consequently the "heaven" too which is eschatological glory. Finally, "heaven" refers to the saints and the "place" of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God"
Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
CCC 355 "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27) Man occupies a unique place in creation: (1) he is "in the image of God"; (2) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (3) he is created "male and female"; (4) God established him in his friendship."
Romans 5:12 "Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned."
1 Corn 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. "
Tobit 8:6 "You made Adam and gave him Eve his wife as a helper and support. From them the race of mankind has sprung."
CCC 36 "Our holy mother, the Church, holds and teaches that God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason. Without this capacity, man would not be ale to welcome God's revelation. Man has this capacity because he is created "in the image of God." (Genesis 1:27)
John 15:15 "No longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends for all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you."
CCC 65 "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son." (Heb 1:1-2) Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one."
Psalm 115:16 "The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to the sons of men."
Sirach 49:16 "Shem and Seth were honored among men, and Adam above every living being in the creation."
CCC 358 "God created everything for man, but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him."
CCC 293 "Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth: "The world was made for the glory of God." St. Bonaventure explains that God created all things "not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it," for God has no other reason for creating then his love and goodness: "Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened his hand."
CCC 294 "The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his goodness, for which the world was created. God made us "to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace,"(Eph 1: 5-6) for "the glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's revelation through creation has already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God." The ultimate purpose of creation is that God "who is the creator of all things may at last become 'all in all,' thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude." (1 Cor 15:28)
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
CCC 2566 "Man is in search of God. In the act of creation, God calls every being from nothingness into existence. "Crowned with glory and honor," man is, after the angels, capable of acknowledging "how majestic is the name of the Lord in all the earth." (Psalm 8:1, 5) Even after losing through his sin his likeness to God, man remains an image of his Creator, and retains the desire for the one who calls him into existence. All religions bear witness to men's essential search for God. (Acts 17:27)
CCC 2567 "God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer. In prayer, the faithful God's initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself, prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a covenant drama. Through words and actions, this drama engages the heart It unfolds throughout the whole history of salvation."
Colossians 1:18 "He is the head of the body, the Church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent."
Ephesians 4: 11 -16 "And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working property, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love."
CCC 792 "Christ "is the head of the body, the Church." (Col 1:18) He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father's glory, "in everything he is preeminent," (Col 1:18) especially in the Church, through whom he extends his reign over all things."
CCC 795 "Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ" (Christus Totus). The Church is one with Christ. The saints are acutely aware of this unity: Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God's grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is the head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man...The fullness of Christ then is the head and the members. But what does "head and members" mean? Christ and the Church." (St. Augustine) Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy Church whom he has taken to himself." (Pope St. Gregory the Great) Head and members from as it were one ad the same mystical person. (St. Thomas Aquinas)"
John 3:29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full."
Mark 2:19 "And Jesus said to them "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast."
Ephesians 4:4-6 "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all."
CCC 796 The Church is the Bride of Christ - The unity of Christ and the Church, head and members of one Body, also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptists. (John 3:29) The Lord referred to himself as the "bridegroom." (Mark 2:19) The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride "betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. (Matt 22:1-14, 25:1-13, 1 Cor 6:15-17, 2 Cor 11:2) The Church is the spotless bride of the Spotless Lamb. (Rev 22.17, Eph 1:4, 5:27) "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her." (Eph 5:25-26) He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring or her as for his own body (Eps 5:29)."
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.
Catholicism and Dispensationalism, Part I: 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.
Catholicism and Dispensationalism, Part II: 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.
NOTES from Part II
Ken Hensley reviews his definition of dispensationalism as being rooted in the literal fulfillment of the OT prophecies regarding the glorious kingdom of Israel. When Jesus came at his incarnation, the things that the prophets described in the OT did not happen. At least they didn't happen literally.
Kenny Burchard former Pentecostal preacherinterjects that the Dispensationalists, at least in some ways, retain many of the Messianic expectations of the group of Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah, because Jesus didn't do the things that they expected him to do. - Kenny asked a Rabbi why he didn't accept Jesus as the Messiah and he said, "because he [Jesus] didn't kick the Romans out of Palestine."
"Dispensationalists insist upon a rigid application of an exact literal interpretation, particularly as it has to do with Israel and the Church. They insist on an unconditional literal fulfillment of all prophetic promises. This leads to an exact futuristic fulfillment of every detail of early prophetic statements. The covenant with Abraham must be fulfilled in every detail to satisfy this principle of interpretation." Background to Dispensationalism by Clarence Bass
Ken Hensley explains the options for understanding the prophecies of the OT?
(1) If one insists that they are literal, then Jesus must not have been the Messiah. The things that God promised would happen when the Messiah came, didn't happen. This is the position that most Jews at the time took. This is the position that Orthodox Jews have now.
(2) If one insists on the literal fulfillment of these prophecies and they believe that Jesus is the Messiah, it must be that while Jesus offered the kingdom, it was rejected by the Jews and so God has postponed the fulfillment and it is going to happen later. In the meantime, there is the dispensationalist system which believes that the Church, which came into existence instead of the promised kingdom, must be some kind of parenthetical (subordinate, incidental) thing in the prophetic timeline. It must be that God has two plans for two people. He has a plan for his earthly people Israel and a plan for his heavenly people the Church. Two people, two plans, totally distinct. And when God has finished his plan for the Church (this parenthetical entity) then God will remove this Church so that the prophetic timeclock can start again and he can fulfill the promises to Israel. Removing the Church is what is called the Rapture. This is the position that dispensationalism takes.
(3) A third option was held historically by Christians and most of the original Reformers, and is currently held by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestant denominations. Jesus was the Messiah contrary to Judaism, and Jesus did bring the kingdom contrary to dispensationalism. The OT prophecies did begin to be fulfilled, but in a way unexpected. They were fulfilled, and they are being fulfilled to this day in Christ and the Church which is his Body.
Ken Hensley's Story (timestamp 17:29) - Ken was brought up in a dispensationalist church. This is his story on how his understanding of dispensationalism began to break down. There were two main issues which follow:
(1) Issue number 1 occurred as Ken was trying to understand all the OT prophecies literally. In doing so he began to come to some strange conclusions.
(A) Example one dealt with what prophets describe as the day God will gather Israel and Judah and bring them back into the land. (Ezekiel 36:24; 34:11-13) There is nothing wrong with this promise but Ezekiel goes on to say who will be king. This posses a problem - " And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the Lord, have spoken." (Ezekiel 34:23-24)
(i) Ken began to wonder, if dispensationalism takes everything literally, is God going to resurrect David from the dead to literally fulfill this prophecy? But dispensationalists don't believe this part of the prophecy liberally. They don't believe that David will be resurrected and become king again, they believe that Jesus will take that role. So in this point dispensationalists are allowing for a less than literal fulfillment. This became the first sticking point for Ken.
(B) Another example comes from Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48. This describes the future temple in grand detail. Dispensationalist's believe that this temple will be the temple that will exist during the millennial reign of Christ. In Ezekiel 43:1-5 we read of the glory of God coming to fill the temple. Then Ezekiel goes on in chapters 43 to 46 to describe the altar in the temple, the Levitical priests, the worship that will take place in this future temple and the laws that will apply. In Ezekiel 43:18-22 we read "These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings to it and for throwing blood against it, you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok who draw near to me to minister to me...a bull for a sin offering..." and Ezekiel 44:9 - saying that no one who is uncircumcised in the flesh will be allowed into the temple. These prophecies are to take place after Jesus, and after St. Paul has taught in the NT that the wall has been broken down there is no longer Jew or Gentile. Being circumcised or uncircumcised means nothing to God. And how can there be animal sacrifices to make atonement after Christ? Dispensationalists say that there will be animal sacrifices but they will be in remembrance of Christ. But the problem with that is that Ezekiel says that these sacrifices will be for atonement (Ezekiel 43:20; 45:15). Is this really to be fulfilled literally after Jesus has come and died on the cross as the true Lamb of God. Jesus is king, God, and sacrifice. "Christ our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed." (1 Corin 5:7) For Ken, this put another chink in the dispensationalist argument.
Kenny Burchardinterjects how at Pentecost Jews from all over the Diaspora were brought back together (Acts 2:5-6). It literally happened. They received and accepted the Gospel, believed and were baptized (Acts 2: 37-47). In a sense this fulfills the prophecy of Ezekiel 34:13 there it says that God "will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land." Jesus literally relocated the temple in his resurrected and ascended body. (John 2:19-21)
(2) Issue number 2 occurred when Ken read the New Testament and found that the prophecies made about Israel in the Old Testament appeared to be fulfilled in Christ and in his Church which is his Body. These questions came to him while he was attending Bible College. Here are four examples:
(A) This first example deals with the New Covenant. OT prophecy states that one day God is going to gather his people back into the land and he is going to make a new covenant with them (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The new covenant is a covenant that God will make with the Jewish people, the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It is true that when Jesus instituted the new covenant at the Last Supper, he did it with his 12 Apostles, 12 Jews. And it is true that when Peter preached the gospel at Pentecost, 3000 Jews were converted. But very soon thereafter in the book of Acts it becomes clear that this community is now spread to the Gentiles. What is being formed here is the Church. In 2 Corin 3:6 Paul refers to himself as a minister to the new covenant. Clearly Paul has the same new covenant in mind that Jeremiah had in mind from chapter 31:33 ["written on human hearts"] when he says "who has qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit; for the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life." Yet according to dispensationalism Israel and the Church are two completely separate people for which God has two completely separate plans. Ken began to wrestle with this question: While the new covenant was promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, how is it that the community that is formed by this new covenant (instituted by Christ at the Last Supper), the community we see growing in the book of Acts, how is it that this community (made up of Gentiles as well) turns out to be the Church? Instead of being two separate people, the Church, instituted by Jesus, is a blending of both Jew and Gentile.
(B) The second example regards the king on his throne. The prophets describe that David (or a descendant of David, the Messiah) will sit on a throne and reign over them. This didn't happen. According to dispensationalists, Jesus did offer this kingdom to the Jews in the first Advent, but it was rejected by the Jews. Instead of being hailed as king, Jesus was mocked as king at the crucifixion. Because of this, according to dispensationalists, the kingdom will come, and Jesus will reign, but it is at some point in the future. Ken is suddenly convicted while reading Acts chapter 2 and the sermon of Peter that, Peter sees Jesus as having taken his seat on his throne in his kingdom at the resurrection and the ascension to the right hand of God (Acts 2:30-36; Psalm 110:1). The promise of Psalm 110:1 is fulfilled at the resurrection of Christ as well as after the ascension with Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father. Peter says in Acts that the promise was fulfilled but in a manner different than what was expected by the Jews [and dispensationalists who believe it won't be fulfilled until Jesus returns and he will take his literal throne]. Jesus isn't going to return to be this king, he is the King.
(C) (time stamp 45 minute) Matt Swaim interjects the third example, that of the sacrifice being reinstated. This is another concept dispensationalists take literally from Ezekiel 43:18 - 46:24. Dispensationalists believe that this sacrifice for atonement will take place in the future (Ezekiel 43:20; 45:15). According the the Catholic Church Jesus fulfilled this one sacrifice once and for all. It is referenced in prophecy in Malachi 1:11 "For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering, for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts." This is also refenced in the Didache chapter 14 [the earliest Christian document outside the New Testament]
14:1 But on the Lord's day, after that ye have assembled together, break bread and give thanks, having in addition confessed your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure. 14:2 But let not any one who hath a quarrel with his companion join with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be polluted, 14:3 for it is that which is spoken of by the Lord. In every place and time offer unto me a pure sacrifice, for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the Gentiles. (Didache chapter 14)
Matt reminds us that the consensuses of every Church Father was that the sacrifice has been fulfilled (in Jesus). No more sacrifices are needed. Here the Didache is describing an early Mass (break bread). The sacrifice from east to west that makes God's name great among the nations is the Mass. Most specifically the Eucharist which is the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of the Lord sacrificed for us at Calvary outside of time at every Mass. See Revelation 5:6 where Jesus resides by the throne as the Lamb standing as though slain. Jesus resides outside of time forever as our one pure sacrifice.
(D) The last example is the kingdom of God. In Matthew 11:3 where John the Baptist asks Jesus "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" Jesus answers in Matthew 11: 4-5 (also see Luke 7:18-23) "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." In Jesus' answer he is almost quoting Isaiah 35:3-7 which is a prophecy of the future kingdom. One chapter later in Matthew 12:28 Jesus replies to the Pharisees, "But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Dispensationalists say that the kingdom is a literal kingdom but it was postponed because it was rejected by the Jewish people, it will come later after the second coming of Christ. But Jesus says no, the kingdom is here, it is among you, it has just come in a way you didn't expect.
Conclusion by Kenny Burchard: No one in the New Testament is acting like a dispensationalist. They are acting like Jesus has fulfilled all the messianic prophecies of the OT.
Conclusion by Ken Hensley: Dispensationalists tend to give a literal reading to the OT prophecy primacy over what the NT actually tells us about the fulfillment of those prophecies. It seemed to Ken that the NT should be given the primacy over the OT. Dispensationalists give primacy to OT prophesy giving authority over anything that the NT says about it. Dispensationalists allow their understanding of the OT to control their understanding of the NT. Ken began to think that the teaching of Jesus should have taken authority over the prophets.
Catholicism and Dispensationalism, Part III: 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.
"The new testament in is in the old concealed and the old testament is in the new revealed." - St. Augustine
Notes on Part III
Ken Hensley's premise for this part is that the New Testament authors do not see the Old Testament prophecies of a future glorious kingdom of the Jewish people as being fulfilled literally at some point in the future as dispensationalists hold. Rather the NT authors see these prophecies as being fulfilled in Christ and Christ's Body the Church. In this part a detailed case will be presented for a non-dispensational reading of Scripture. Rather than insisting up front that the OT prophecies must be fulfilled literally what this video will do is allow the NT to tell us how the prophecies have been fulfilled. In this video we are going to let the NT be our guide in how we understand the OT.
The main question in this part will be Who is Israel? In summary, to the dispensationalist Israel is either the ancient nation we read about in the OT, or the modern state of Israel, or a reference to Jews in general. There is truth in this but there is more. To the Catholic Church, and some Protestant denominations [other than dispensationalists], the answer to the question who is Israel - ultimately it is Jesus. Catholics do not believe in Replacement Theology. We are not replacing Israel with Jesus. Jesus is the literal son [descendent, seed] of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). The Israelites [nation of Israel] failed to keep the covenant and Jesus came alone and fulfilled all that was promised to Abraham.
From here Ken takes us through scripture to tell the story of Who is Israel.
"...For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel and not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but "Through Isaac shall you descendants be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants....though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call..." (Romans 9:6-13) The natural and biological descent from the patriarchs of blessing the first born is not guaranteed. Divine blessing depends upon the grace of God and his plan. Ishmael and Esau (first-born) are sons by the flesh but excluded from the covenant plan of God, while Isaac and Jacob are sons called by the Lord to carry his promises forward.
In Genesis 3:15 when Adam and Eve are still in the garden and sin has entered the world we have the protoevangelium (the first Gospel). The promise of the seed of the woman who will one day crush the head of the serpent and, it is implied, deliver the human race, meaning reverse the work of the devil.
It is in Genesis 12:1-3 in the call of God to Abraham that we learn that this blessing is going to come through the Hebrew people. It begins with Abraham but it becomes clear that the blessing will come through Abraham's son Isaac (Genesis 26:4). Soon we learn that this blessing will come through the Isaac's son Jacob whose name God changed to Israel. A little later we learn that this blessing will come through the line of Judah one of Israel's sons. And much later through the line of David.
In summary it is through the people of Israel that the seed will come who will crush the head of the serpent and bring blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 22:18). While God's covenant with Abraham was unconditional in the sense that God will make this happen. One way or the other God will bless all the nations of the earth through the seed of Abraham. Whether or not any descendant of Abraham or any generation of Abraham would benefit from this blessing, this was always conditioned on obedience of faith.
There was no promise that all the descendants of Abraham, or that any Israelite in particular would be blessed. We hear about this when God enters into covenant with Moses in Exodus 19: 5-6 - "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among all people; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
But what if God's people do not obey what then? This is spelled out in Deut 30:15-19 "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances then you shall live and multiply and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away and you will not hear but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you this day, that you shall perish, you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you life and death blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live."
For clarity sake, Ken explains, the promise is unconditional, meaning that through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the people of Israel through their decedents all the families of the earth are going to be blessed. But what is conditional is that not everyone will be a part of that. To be a part of this blessing one must be obedient in faith to the covenant and keep God commandments and statutes.
So what in fact happened to the Israelites? We read what happened to Israel in the books of Judges, Samuel, Chronicles and Kings. These tell the story. Israel as a nation failed in the mission that God had given her and experienced the judgement of God. It happened in two major waves.
(1) 722 BC the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were conquered and the people taken into captivity by the Assyrians. In order to completely destroy the nation of Israel the Assyrians mixed all of the Israelites into the surrounding pagan nations. Then they took people from the surrounding nations and planted them in Israel's land. These became the Samaritans.
(2) in 586 BC the two remaining tribes that comprised the Southern Kingdom of Judah were taken into captivity by the Babylonian's under Nebuchadnezzar. And although some of these came out of exile and returned to the land about 70 years later, Israel as a nation was never great again. They lived under the domination of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. They were still living in sort of an exile at the time of the Messiah's birth.
Unconditional or Conditional Question
When you begin to listen to God talk about blessings and curses and the threats and the fact that Israel was taken out of their land by their enemies then you can begin to see that the promises are conditioned upon covenant faithfulness. What is not conditional is the fact that God is going to fulfill his world blessing through someone who comes from the seed of Abraham. But what is conditional is that not everyone will be a part of that. To be a part of this blessing one must be obedient in faith to the covenant.
If Israel as a nation failed in the mission that God had appointed to her, (to be a nation of priests, to be a light to the Gentiles) when what happens to this promise?
When we come to the NT it is clear that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of this. Jesus is the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:14, 16) "That the blessing Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus...Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant... And to your descendant, who is Christ." Paul is pointing to Jesus as the seed through whom all the nations will be blessed.
In 2 Samuel 7: 12-13 the Lord promises David that his heir will "make his royal throne firm forever. Jesus will be that royal heir from Luke 1: 31-33 where the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that her son "will be great and will be called Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father...and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."
When Matthew begins his Gospel with "the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1) the son of David, the son of Abraham." Any Jew reading these words at the time would understand that Matthew is saying, Jesus is the one. This is the one that was promised in the garden as the seed of the woman who will one day crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15). This is the one that was promised to Abraham through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. (Gen 12:2-3) This is the one promised to David (2 Samuel 7: 12-13). Jesus is also the servant from Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12. Jesus is the true Israelite. He is the one who fulfills the mission that the people of Israel did not. We can see this in the way that Jesus summarizes the story of Israel in his own life.
No sooner was Israel born as a nation when she was taken down into Egypt and brought back up out of Egypt. In the very same way, no sooner is Jesus born that his family has to flee into Egypt and then later come out of Egypt. Jesus coming out of Egypt implies that a new Exodus has begun. Jesus is recapitulating in his own life the story of Israel.
Another parallel - Israel is baptized in the Red Sea and she is led by a cloud and pillar of fire to be tempted for 40 years. After Jesus is baptized in the Jorden River by John, he is immediately led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted for 40 days.
Israel becomes a type and Jesus becomes the fulfillment of the type. Everything that Israel was about and was called to do, is fulfilled in Jesus. The difference between the first Israel and the second Israel Jesus is that while the first Israel failed the test of 40 years in the wilderness, the second Israel Jesus passed the test of his 40 days in the desert. Jesus accomplishes what Israel fails to accomplish.
Luke 4:18-19 Jesus explicitly identifies himself as fulfilling another servant passage from Isaiah. (compare Luke 4:18 - 19 to Isaiah 61:1-2). After Jesus reads the words from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue he states "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:21) Jesus is the servant from Isaiah.
Ken Burchardinterjects on Matthew 28:16-20 where Jesus commissions his Jewish apostles to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." Ken makes this point that Jesus is saying, here is the vocation of Abraham, we have it now. You my Jewish brothers. Now go wait for 50 days, the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you and then we are going to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth. This mirrors Genesis 12: 1-2 which says that the descendants of Abraham will bless the world. Jesus is that descendant, he is the faithful Israel. Jesus has all authority from his Father and commissions his apostles to carry on this promise through the Church.
Ken Hensley poses a final question: If Jesus is the true Israel, the one who accomplishes in himself the mission that God gave Israel to accomplish, what about those of the nation of Israel who do not believe in Christ?
FromJohn 1: 11-12 we read of Jesus "He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name."
In Romans chapter 9:1 -5 Paul wrestles with this exact question. Though sad that so few of his fellow Jews came to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, Paul wrote:
Romans 9:6-7 "But it is not that the word of God has failed. For not all who are of Israel are Israel...." In this passage Paul reminds himself that the blessings of the covenant were always conditional. It was never promised that every descendant of Abraham or every generation of descendants of Abraham would be blessed. There had to be faith. There had to be obedience. There had to be covenant faithfulness.
In Matthew 3:9, John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees "do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones." Being a descendent of Abraham doesn't necessarily make you a child of Abraham.
This is also why Jesus replies to the Jews when they say "our father is Abraham," - "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham." (John 8:39)
And finally Paul again in Romans 9:27. "And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though the number of Israelites were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved."
Ken summaries the answer to this question: According to the NT the promises were made to Abraham and his seed. Paul tells us that Jesus was that seed. Paul tells us that the promises are fulfilled in Jesus. Through Jesus and in him all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Who according to Paul shares in the blessing? Galatians 3:26 - 29 "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Paul tells us that believers in Christ are the true offspring of Abraham and the true heirs of the promises made to Abraham. He is speaking of Christians, the Church, Christ's Body, his Bride. Prior to dispensationalism the Church has always taught that the Church is the spiritual Israel. Also see Philippians 3:1 -6. The Catholic Church believes that the Jews do have a place in salvation history as God's chosen people and that they will convert to believe in Jesus as Messiah.
Catholicism and Dispensationalism, Part IV: 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.
Catholicism and Dispensationalism, Part V: 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.
Deconstructing Dispensationalism, Part VI:
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 193
Deconstructing Dispensationalism, Part VII: On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 194
Deconstructing Dispensationalism, Part VIII: On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 195
Deconstructing Dispensationalism, Part IX:
On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 196
Deconstructing Dispensationalism Part X: On the Journey with Matt, Ken, and Kenny, Ep. 197
Dispensationalism has its roots in the teaching of John Nelson Darby (1800 - 1882), an English Plymouth Brethren preacher. The concept was made famous by an American preacher C. I. Scofield (1843-1921) who incorporated the system into his Scofield Reference Bible which was first published in 1909.
Darby created a timeline that divided history into “dispensations,” either six or seven in number. These indicated various ages in which God dealt with humans in distinct ways. Dispensations were “administrations” through which God tested humans and proved their utter sinfulness before him. According to Darby we live in the dispensation of the Church, which began during the ministry of Paul. For Darby the Church forms a “parenthesis” between the dispensation of the Law (from Moses to Christ) and the coming dispensation of the Kingdom. It is an era of grace in which the rejected Messiah is building up his heavenly people, the Christians. Meanwhile, God’s real issue in human history is with his earthly people, the Israelites. The Rapture will be the necessary removal of the heavenly people from the world so that God’s work with the earthly people might be finished.
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).
The Catholic Church does not endorse or use the Scofield Reference Bible because its foundational theology, dispensationalism, is contrary to Catholic doctrine. But for reference here are
