A PERSONAL BELIEF STATEMENT
8/17/2018
What is Dispensationalism?
Dispensationalism
is a teaching that divides Biblical time into various ages. According to the theory each age has a
different plan concerning the dealing of mankind by God. The only dispensations we will be discussing
with will be the 1) Age of Law which ended with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This was followed by the current 2) Age of
Grace or the Church Age. The so-called
raptured Church will be followed by 3) Age of the Jewish Kingdom.
The
underlying destructiveness of Dispensational thought is that it destroys the
unity of Scripture and establishes two different standards of measure in the
world, along with two different plans of salvation. First, it
destroys the unity between the Old and New Scriptures instead of seeing it as a
single Book with a progressive unfolding of the divine plan. Second,
it teaches that Grace is a temporary interlude that allows a few
"Gentiles" a window of opportunity to be saved apart from animal
sacrifices. Third, it demands a reversion back to Judaism and to a
very Jewish Kingdom in which God has preferential treatment of certain people
based upon either their genealogy or their religion.
Dispensationalism
has established the mind-set that Jews are saved by the law, while the
"Gentiles" are saved by grace. This "Dual Covenant
Theology" is being espoused by a number of preachers, though some of them
(like John Hagee) actually deny it. They deny it, while at the same time
affirming that Jews are in a Covenant relationship with God apart from Christ.
What Covenant is that? Obviously, it can only be the Old Covenant, since it can
hardly be said that adherents to Judaism are under the New Covenant.
Notice
that the “rapture of the Church” is a necessity for the Age of the Jewish
Kingdom to exist. The Jewish Kingdom
will last for seven years which is called “the tribulation period”. This tribulation period is a result of the
completely inaccurate interpretation of the seventy weeks of Daniel prophecy.
Daniel’s Seventieth Week
A
critical analysis of past misinterpretations of the seventy weeks prophecy is
not presently possible but a few areas will be addressed.
Older
interpretations base their starting point on a decree given by Cyrus, the
Persian King. This decree allowed the
Judahites to leave Babylon and return to Judea, although only a limited number
actually left the comforts of Babylon.
The
counting of the 490 years never ended at the expected time unless time frames
were fudged. There was also a list of
Persian kings that could not be verified at the time and so they were
considered alternate names for known kings.
There are some writers from the early 1900's, such
as Bullinger, Anstey, and Mauro, who denied the existence of three Persian
kings: Darius II, Artaxerxes II, and
Ochus (Artaxerxes II).
The view of these early writers was that the names
of these kings were really just titles, rather than true names, and that they
simply referred to the same king. The result of this theory was that it chopped
out over 80 years of Persian history. Since it is well known by Greek history
that Persia fell in 331 B.C., this meant that king Cyrus conquered Jerusalem
around 455-460 B.C., instead of 537 B.C.
This view (of an unfulfilled 7 years) was formulated
by those who insisted that the edict of Cyrus was the event that began the
countdown of Daniel's 70 weeks leading to the coming of the Messiah. But since
Jesus' ministry occurred around 26-33 A.D. (depending on your view), this would
require the edict of Cyrus to have been issued around 455-460 B.C. These
authors attempted to resolve the issue by moving Cyrus' reign to a later point
in history. But as we said earlier, this view was disproven later in a number
of ways.
Erich Schmidt, in his book, Persepolis I,
page 224, tells us that they discovered an inscription on the wall of the
palace of Artaxerxes III, which listed the three kings in question. (Compare
the names on this inscription with the Persian King List.)
During
the seventh year of Artaxerxes I, Ezra was sent to offer sacrifices at the
rebuilt Temple (Ezra 7: 7). This was done by authority of the edict of
Artaxerxes I. At that time, Ezra
performed the final rite of cleansing in Jerusalem, which allowed Daniel’s 70
weeks to begin the countdown toward the work of Jesus on the Cross.
Daniel’s
70th week extended from 26 to 33 A.D. Jesus’ ministry began precisely in the
midst of that week, in the fall of 29 A.D., with His baptism on the Day of
Atonement. When Jesus was baptized, He was presenting Himself as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world” (John 1:29) Thus “in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a
halt” Dan 9:27, which he did at His baptism (not because of the baptism but
His presentation at that time as the true Lamb of God).
The
crucifixion occurred at the end of the week, in the spring of 33 A.D., which
was precisely 490 years after Ezra began his journey to Jerusalem. The
Crucifixion of Jesus Christ signaled the end of the 70 weeks. There may be some intense tribulation within
the next few years, but there is no future week of seven years.
It
was this decree which initiated the
start of Daniel's 70-week prophecy and the countdown toward the Messiah's work. 490 years from 458 BC takes us to 33AD. Remember, there is no year zero. Thus, there is no future extra week and there
is no tribulation period and there is no Age of the Jewish Kingdom. The rapture/harpazo will occur on some Feast
of Trumpets and the dead saints will rise metaphorically from the ground
followed by the living saints/elect/overcomers (see the Rapture section below).
The Book of the Revelation
The
Revelation of Jesus Christ written by John the apostle was and remains a
prophetic history of the Church from the time of John to the present. The dissolution of Mystery, Babylon,
highlighted in chapter 18, is currently in progress and is yet to be completely
fulfilled. This will be followed by the Millennial
Kingdom of God.
With
an actual Bible in their possession, the early Reformers never considered the
Revelation to be anything other than a prophetic history of the Church. When and how it became a blueprint or roadmap
for the so-called tribulation period remains unknown although it is suspected
the Dallas Theological Seminary based on the Scofield Reference Bible is the
primary promoter (see below).
After
Scofield’s visit to Great Britain and a visit with Darby, the dispensational
theory was soon incorporated into the new Scofield Reference Bible. This Scofield Bible then became the primary
reference work for the Dallas Theological Seminary producing graduates such as
Hal Lindsey.
Besides
the (in)famous Hal Lindsey, other well-known Dallas Theological Seminary
faculty, graduates and authors include: David Jeremiah, Charles Swindoll,
Zane Hodges, Scott O’Grady, Randall Price, Andy Stanley, J. Vernon McGee (host
of Thru the Bible), Daniel Wallace, Jim Rayburn, Ray Stedman, John Walvoord,
Dwight Pentecost, Ken Taylor (translator of the Living Bible), Joseph Stowell
(president of Moody Bible Institute), Charles Ryrie (compiled the Ryrie NIV
Study Bible), Chuck Swindoll, Bruce Wilkinson, Charles Ryrie, Michael Easley,
Bryan Fischer, Paul Nyquist, Merrill Unger, Tony Evans, David Lucca, and Robert
Jeffress.
Dispensationalism
is the New Replacement Theology. Such replacement theology is totally
unacceptable and is rank heresy. It has no business being taught anywhere in
Christian pulpits, because it entirely undermines the cross, the blood of
Christ, and the entire purpose for Christ's coming. This is the great
lawlessness that Jesus warned us about in Matt. 24:10-13 and the apostasy which
Paul warned about in 1 Tim. 4:1.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 KJV Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in
the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils; (2) Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron;
Darby and Scofield
The
roots of Dispensational Theology are traceable to John Nelson Darby and the
Plymouth Brethren group within England. Darby’s teaching has become
enshrined in the Scofield Reference Bible, the most popular of all reference
bibles. Dispensational Theology has been refined to some extent and persistently
defended by Dallas Theological Seminary founded by Lewis Sperry Chafer.
The
prominent groundbreaker of dispensational theology is the Scofield Reference
Bible first appearing in 1909 and revised in 1917. It is said this Bible
with it’s unique (at the time) reference system was financed and encouraged by
Jewish bankers living in England, to enhance and further their goal of
convincing the Christian church of their self-conceived “chosen people” status
in light of their upcoming plan to retake Palestine which became the state of
Israel in 1948.
Although
Darby claims the idea of dispensationalism just came to him “out of the air”, the
Scofield Reference Bible promoted dispensationalism
and the Dallas Theological Seminary turned it into an American Evangelical
doctrine. Scofield's notes on the Book of Revelation are a major source for the
various timetables, judgments, and plagues elaborated on by popular religious
writers such as Hal Lindsey, Edgar C. Whisenant, and Tim LaHaye,
along with many others.
Types of Tribulation
Through
the past several years there has been a controversy about the timing of the
rapture: pre-tribulation;
mid-tribulation; and post-tribulation.
Although pre-tribulation has won the battle among evangelicals, none of
the terms are correct because there is no tribulation period of seven years or even
seven hours.
The
earth is currently undergoing a certain amount of tribulation in the form of
earthquakes (predicted by Jesus in Matt 24); droughts in some areas; floods in
other areas; high temperatures in places; exceptionally low temperatures in
places; hurricanes; monsoons; tornadoes; massive hail storms; forest fires;
etc. This could be a secondary
fulfillment of the disasters contained in the Revelation which were originally
metaphorically describing the attacks of Huns, Mongols, Arabs, other European
groups, and several others.
The Rapture
Although
the word “rapture” is not in the Greek New Testament there will be a
rapture. The actual Greek word is “harpazo”
and “rapture” is the Latin equivalent.
However, the entire Church will not be “gathered up in the air”, as
explained by Paul.
Moses
was instructed by God to make two silver trumpets (Numbers 10:2-4 as listed
below). The playing of both trumpets
would assemble the entire community, but one trumpet would only summon the
leaders and not the entire congregation.
In this case as Paul points out in 1 Corinthians 15:52 there will only
be one trumpet sounded. This will summon
only the leaders (i.e. the saints/the elect/the overcomers) both alive and dead
to be resurrected and meet the Lord in the air.
“In
the air means above ground since the dead are metaphorically considered to be “in
the ground”. This does not mean floating
away in the stratosphere as some people have interpreted. Actually, there is no air in the stratosphere
so this could not be literally true, as some claim.
Numbers
10:2-4 NET "Make two trumpets of silver; you are to make
them from a single hammered piece. You will use them for assembling the
community and for directing the traveling of the camps. (3) When they blow them
both, all the community must come to you to the entrance of the tent of
meeting. (4) "But if they blow with one trumpet, then the leaders, the
heads of the thousands of Israel, must come to you.
1
Corinthians 15:52 NET (52) in a moment, in the blinking of an eye,
at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed.
1
Thessalonians 4:16 NET (16) For the Lord himself will come down from
heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in
Christ will rise first.
The
Feast of Trumpets prophesies of the resurrection of the dead. It has been
called in Jewish circles, "the Day of the Awakening Blast." Because
this festival fell on the first day of the seventh month, it fell on a new
moon--that is, when the first sliver of the new moon appeared in the evening
sky at the beginning of each lunar month. There was always some uncertainty as
to when the new moon would appear or could be seen (if cloudy). For this
reason, Jesus spoke of His coming in Matthew 25:13, saying,"Be on the alert then, for you do not know
the day nor the hour."
The
phrase of Jesus about not knowing the day nor the hour is a peculiar Hebrew
saying, which they specifically applied to the Feast of Trumpets, whose
beginning was unknown until the new moon was sighted. Any internet listing of Feast of Trumpets
days, always lists two adjacent days as possibilities. Also, any literal literalists can see that
Jesus specifically stated that the day or the hour was unknown. The exact year is also unknown by default but
there is a high probability it will occur on some Feast of Trumpets. It is also highly likely that no one will be completely
aware of this event until the resurrected elect, both past and present, return
from the Father and begin their work on the earth.
Hell and the Lake of Fire
The
Scofield reference notes are also responsible for giving life to the idea of a
burning hell as eternal punishment for unsaved sinners and unrepentant, ungodly
individuals. This disregards the scriptural statements claiming that
Jesus died “for ALL people” and that “at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow”. Are these people to confess that Jesus is Lord and then be
placed into the fiery furnace of hell? I don’t think so.
Philippians 2:10-11 KJV That at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things
in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.
It
also overwhelmingly emphasizes the chosen status of Jews as the “apple of God’s
eye” regardless of the prophecies and teachings of Jesus claiming the Judahites
of His day are fig trees with leaves but no fruit. Jeremiah prophesied
that Jerusalem and Judah would be destroyed as an old pottery vessel broken
into a thousand pieces which could never be repaired. Isaiah 29 states
that Ariel (i.e. Jerusalem and Judah) would be destroyed in a manner that
appears very similar to nuclear destruction. It also disregards Paul’s
statement that true Israel consists of people believing in the Name and
lifestyle of Jesus Christ.
Who
is a liar? Anyone denying Jesus is the Christ. Who is an
antichrist? Anyone denying the Father and the Son. Is John Hagee
correct is saying the Jews have the Old Testament and worship God the
Father? NO, not at all. Any person who denies the Son does not
worship or have the Father either. Only by confessing the Son does not
worship the Father.
1 John 2:22-23 NET Who is the liar but
the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ ? This one is the antichrist:
the person who denies the Father and the Son. (23) Everyone who
denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the
Son has the Father also.
In
the ancient land of Canaan and Moab, worship of Molech (or Moloch) was
particularly focused upon child sacrifice by burning them alive. The doctrine of a burning hell to pay for sin is somewhat
derived from the worship of Moloch.
God Is Fire
God
is fire. He is described in the Bible as
fire. He speaks with fire. He appeared to Moses and the Israelites as
fire.
Ex 20:18 All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and
heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain
smoking…..
Deut 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire; he is a
jealous God.
Deut 4:33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the middle of fire,
as you yourselves have, and lived to tell about it?
Deut 4:36 From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach
you, and on earth he showed you his
great fire from which you also heard his words.
Psalms 50:3 NET Our God approaches and is not
silent; consuming fire goes ahead of
him and all around him a storm rages.
He
speaks with fire.
Deut 33:2 …..With his right hand he gave a fiery law to
them.
Deut 5:24 …..we have heard him speak from the
middle of the fire.
His
corrective justice is fire.
Zechariah 13:9 Then I will bring the remaining
third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test
them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will
say, 'These are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.' "
Jeremiah 23:29 My message is like a fire that purges dross! It is like
a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces! I, the LORD, so affirm it!
Malachi 3:2-3 Who can endure the day of his
coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's
fire, like a launderer's soap. (3) He will act like a refiner and purifier of
silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then
they will offer the LORD a proper offering.
Matthew 3:11-12 "I baptize you with water,
for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am -- I am
not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire. (12) His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his
threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but the chaff he
will burn up with inextinguishable fire."
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 (12) If anyone builds on
the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, (13)
each builder's work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear,
because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work
each has done. (14) If what someone has built survives, he will receive a
reward. (15) If someone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself
will be saved, but only as through fire.
Clement of Alexandria (Origen's teacher), described it:
"Fire is conceived of as a beneficent and strong power, destroying
what is base, preserving what is good; therefore this fire is called
"wise" by the Prophets . . . We say that the fire purifies not the
flesh but sinful souls, not an all-devouring vulgar [earthly, natural] fire,
but the "wise fire" as we call it, the fire that "pierceth the
soul" which passes through it." (Stromata VII, 2:5-12)
Fire
flows from His throne as described in Daniel
7:9-10
"….. the Ancient of Days took his seat…..His throne was ablaze
with fire and its wheels were all aflame. (10) A river of fire was streaming
forth and proceeding from his presence…..
The area around
His throne is a “lake of fire”.
Rev
19: (20)
Both
of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. Rev 20: (10) And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire….. (14) Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death — the lake of
fire. (15) If anyone's name was not found written in the
book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.
Unlike
the American justice system, the laws of God do not penalize any crime, other
than murder, rape, or adultery, with the death sentence. The death penalty offenses of murder, rape,
and adultery will be judged by God at the second resurrection. All earthly punishments will have an end according
to the laws of God. There are no life
sentences in the mind of God, only in the minds of humans. There is no prison system in the laws of God,
only in the laws of men.
God
does not punish forever. Those put to
death under the Law will be properly punished and rehabilitated by God after
the White Throne Judgment but there will be a time limit and it is not forever
(as in eternal). Punishment under the
Law took the form of a whipping or stripes (no more than 40). More serious crimes required a double and
sometimes triple replacement of value, or the accused was sentenced to labor (servant
work) until either the sentence was fulfilled and paid for or the advent of a Jubilee
which rescinded all debts. Eventually,
everything was restored and the victim was properly repaid for any damage when
possible.
That
brings us to the “lake of fire” and the interpretation of many who consider the
lake of fire as an eternal punishment of burning without death. If God did not allow a life sentence of
punishment in the law given to Moses, why would God allow an eternal punishment
of fire at the end of the age? There is
no eternal fiery hell and many are merely misinterpreting the scriptures
because of their own mindset. God is in
the business of atonement (reparation), not eternal punishment. God did not create souls to eternally
punish. He created everything and
everything rightfully belongs to Him. Rather,
He created them to worship the King of the Kingdom and to acknowledge and obey
the laws of God although a form of punishment will be required as specified in
the laws of God as transcribed by Moses.
Was
the lake of fire always considered an eternal punishment of the damned? It appears from various commentator’s
research, that many of the early Church Fathers considered the lake of fire as
a purifying aspect and only when the Church moved to Rome with the writings of
Augustine as the central source of commentary was the idea of eternal
punishment established according to the mindset of the Romans.
What is God?
It
should be apparent that no created human being has the mental capacity of the spiritual
capability to know or understand anything about God unless it is written in the
Word of God.
God is scripturally associated with fire in many instances. In the first year
of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream filled with visions while he
was lying on his bed.
In
Daniel 7:9 he sees God as “the Ancient of Days” with a throne of fire: "While I was watching, thrones were set up,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His attire was white like snow; the hair
of his head was like lamb's wool. His throne was ablaze with fire and its
wheels were all aflame”.
Ezekiel
was testifying to the deported ten tribes of Israel who were currently living around
the Kebar (also Khabur or Chebar) river when he received a vision: “while
I was among the exiles at the Kebar River, the heavens opened and I saw a
divine vision (1:1)”. In this vision
he saw, “an enormous cloud, with
lightning flashing, such that bright light rimmed it and came from it like
glowing amber from the middle of a fire (1:4)”. Then he saw, “High above on the throne was a form that
appeared to be a man (1:26)”.
Moses
saw God as a burning tree or bush; Daniel as an ancient man surrounded by fire;
Ezekiel as a figure that appeared to be a man surrounded by fire. But is God any of those things? Jesus said that, “God is (a) Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth” John 4:24 KJV. Spirit:
pneuma – a breath; a current of air. God
is not seen unless He wants to be seen in some form.
Romans 11:34-36 NET
(34) For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who
has been his counselor?
(A quote from
Isaiah 40:13: “Who comprehends the mind
of the LORD, or gives him instruction as his counselor?
(35) Or who has first given to God, that God needs to
repay him?
(A
quote from Job 41:11: Who
has gone before Me that I should repay? All under the heavens, it is Mine!)
(36)
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory
forever! Amen.
All
things, whether physical or spiritual, come from (ek, "out of") Him. This has to do with the
origin of the building material by which God created the heavens and the earth.
Theologians have used three Latin terms to describe differing views:
creatio ex nihilo, "creation out of
nothing"
creatio ex materia, "creation out of some
pre-existent, eternal matter"
creation ex deo, "creation out of the
being of God"
The
second-century Church fathers began to teach that God created all things out of
nothing, based on 2 Maccabees 7:28, written over a century before Christ. This was the belief of Henry Morris, the
founder of the Creation Science Institute.
The
ex materia view was the Greek
classical view that matter was eternal and chaotic before being formed and
organized. They also believed that the devil ("demiurge") was the
creator, because they believed that matter was inherently evil, and only spirit
was good.
However,
the Apostle Paul tells us that God created everything from Himself and through
Himself (i.e. “creation out of the being of God”). Thus nothing was created from nothing, and
there was no pre-existent matter prior to creation. The only thing that existed prior to creation
was God and God created all things from His being.
Dimensions
God
is not anywhere. He is everywhere
because He created everything and everything is His nature. Scientists can invent theories such as: The Big Bang; Black Holes; The Red Shift
(i.e. the appearance of an expanding universe); Quantum mechanics; the String
theory; Einstein’s relativity; the so-called Higgs-Bosom God particle; and many
other things but very few know God.
Back
in the stone-age I had a Sunday school teacher of an adult class who claimed
that God was located possibly in an area of the universe where there weren’t
any stars.
I
occasionally use the phrase, “the dimension of Heaven”. It is not a Biblical comment and
it may have no validity. But in my mind
(and a few others I have read) it creates a place for God that is everywhere
but currently a separate existence other than the so-called dimension of
humanity. It should say that the
dimension of humanity is within the dimension of God but humans do not have contact
with God other than through prayer. We
cannot see Him and we can’t personally speak to Him in a face-to-face
manner. On the other hand, God knows all
our thoughts and actions and He hears us when we spiritually speak to Him in
prayer.
It
has been said by someone who has intently studied these things, that
scripturally speaking, during the Millennial Kingdom of God, an overcomer, an
elect, or a saint can minister on the earth or can enter the realm of God’s
heaven. Thus these areas or places or
dimensions (which is only a word) must be very close but are not currently the
same.
Beautifully put
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