PMW 2019-095 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I am continuing a brief synopsis of an interview on postmillennialism of which I was a participant.

7) How do we understand prophecies that speak of “the day of the Lord” are they always talking about the last day or Can it be referring to temporary Judgments?

The day of the Lord often refers to historical events that occur in the OT. The day of the Lord comes against Babylon in Isa. 13; against Idumea in Isa. 34; and against Israel in Joel 2. Interestingly, the “day” of the Lord is not one day, for it occurs many times. Yet it is “one” in the sense that each day of the Lord event is a type of and a pointer to the final, consummate day of the Lord. The AD 70 judgment was a “day of the Lord” against Jerusalem.

8) What about the devil? Isn’t he the prince of this world? What is the current status of Satan in your view?

He is the prince of the fallen world in a limited since, in that sinners are under his influence. But he is not the ultimate prince of the world, for Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18). In the first century Satan was bound so that he could not prevent the progress of the gospel and salvation of sinners: Matt 12:28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” This is why we can resist the devil and he will flee from us (Jms 4:7). Thus, greater is he in you than he who is in the world (1 Jn. 4:4).

Major Bible Prophecies (5 mp3 lectures)
Gentry conference lectures on the Millennium, Daniel’s 70 Weeks,
Man of Sin, Heaven, and Unfulfilled Prophecies.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

9) What is replacement theology? Has the church replaced Israel?

Replacement theology holds that the universal church has replaced Israel as God’s special people. That is partly true but not carefully expressed. It would be better to speak of Fulfilment Theology, in that the universal church fulfills the hope of Israel, while including Israelites in it. One day it will even draw in the vast majority of Israelites (Rom. 11:25).

Israel is currently in rebellion against God (Rom. 11:7–8). But she will one day be drawn back to him and be saved — on the same principles and in the same way as we Gentiles are saved. Thus, Jesus himself said: Matt 8:11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And Matt 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.

10) Is there a special place for ethnic Israel in God’s plan for the end of days?

There is a future place for Israel in God’s kingdom. When she is converted by the gospel in the same way Gentiles are. Rom 11:25-26: “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”

But Israel has no “special” place exalted above saved Gentiles. This was even prophesied in the OT: Isa 19:23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Dispensationalists Pentecost, Walvoord, and Ryrie hold that in the millennium saved, living Gentiles will live on the lowest level of God’s people.

11) What are the seventy weeks of Daniel and how were they fulfilled?

The Seventy Weeks is a prophetic time-frame in which OT Israel is promised a period of 490 years reaching from the decree of Artaxerxes I recorded Neh 2:1 up to the first coming of Christ. This numerical figure is symbolic, using days for years. Thus, one week equals seven years.

The stated goal of the seventy weeks is expressed by six infinitive phrases, forming three couplets: Dan 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

Perilous Times: A Study in Eschatological Evil (by Ken Gentry)

Technical studies on Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, the great tribulation, Paul’s Man of Sin, and John’s Revelation.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

So here, in the seventieth week Israel’s final transgression will occur (i.e., rejection and crucifixion of Christ) and her sins will be sealed up (i.e., reserved for judgment). The next couplet states that this will result in atonement for sin and everlasting righteousness. This speaks of salvation secured by Christ’s death on the cross. The third couplet speaks of Christ’s sealing up vision and prophecy (i.e., fulfilling and confirming prophecy) and the anointing of the most holy (i.e., the baptism of Christ which introduces his ministry).

Christ’s death occurs in the middle of the seventieth week, when he is cut off, crucified. This will eventually cause the destruction of the temple, which occurs forty years later. This is not a part of the original prophecy’s purpose, for it is not stated in the six infinitives. But it is a consequence of the seventy weeks. His confirming of the covenant occurs in the middle of the seventieth week, showing that his death secures covenantal salvation.

Dispensationalism imports a gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth-weeks, out of necessity for their system’s sake. Surprisingly, this prophecy which is dominated by measuring a time-frame of seventy weeks or 490 years is interrupted just before the final week. Then a gap is inserted, which is four times longer than the whole prophetic time frame: for we have gone for 2000 years since Christ’s coming. We do not need a gap because the destruction of the temple occurs after the seventieth week.

12) Doesn’t the book of revelation teach that a future great tribulation is coming before the return of Christ?

Surprisingly to most evangelicals today, Revelation speaks very little about the distant future. The book is book-ended by statements requiring that its events occur soon after John wrote it.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John … 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Rev 22:6 And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place…. 10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.”

The great tribulation mentioned in Rev 7:14 refers to Jesus’ prophecy in Matt. 24:21. There Jesus also spoke of the near-term. For his prophecy is prompted by the disciples asking when the temple would be destroyed (Matt. 24:3), which was in AD 70. And he specifically instructs them to flee Judea when they see the events unfolding (v. 16). Then he concludes (v. 34): “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” This expectation concurs with John’s near/soon expectation.

Tagged: Day of the Lord, great tribulation, replacement theology, Satan, Seventy Weeks