Category Archives: Israel

CRITIQUE OF DISPENSATIONALISM

Church, Dispensationalism, Israel October 20, 2014 Leave a comment

Hoekema futurePMT 2014-127 written by OPC pastor Shane Lems

Excerpts from Anthony Hoekema’s book, The Bible and the Future

The Bible does not teach a millennial restoration of the Jews to their land. …To understand these prophecies (about returning to the land) only in terms of a literal fulfillment for Israel in Palestine during the thousand years is to revert back to Jewish nationalism and to fail to see God’s purpose for all his redeemed people. To understand these prophecies, however, as pointing to the new earth and its glorified inhabitants drawn from all tribes, peoples, and tongues ties in these prophecies with the ongoing sweep of New Testament revelation, and makes them richly meaningful to all believers today.

Anthony Hoekema (d. 1988) wrote a helpful critique of dispensational premillennialism in his excellent book, The Bible and the Future. Because I think they are helpful, I’m going to summarize and edit them below. I strongly recommend reading the entire 20 page chapter for the full discussion – along with exegesis and detailed explanation. Continue reading →

TONGUES AND ESCHATOLOGY (6)

AD 70, Israel, Preterism, Theology June 6, 2014 Comments: 10

PMT 2014-068 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.Tongues 6

Tongues have a peculiar relevance to Jewish unbelief in this regard.

Jewish judgment

In Acts 2 God attracts the attention of the Jews by tongues-speaking, after which Peter charges them with slaying the Lord of glory (vv. 22-24). The two-edged sword of curse falls upon these men, with the result that many are cut to the heart (Acts 2:37) and repent, thereby leaving apostate Judaism to become Christians (Acts 2:38-41). Peter cites and applies Joel’s prophecy as indicating the coming judgment:

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.” (Acts 2:16-20)

Then he warns the Jews: “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40b). Continue reading →

TONGUES AND ESCHATOLOGY (5)

AD 70, Israel, Theology June 4, 2014 Leave a comment

Tongues 5PMT 2014-067 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Tongues-speaking is an unusual phenomenon that has caused confusion among Christians. I am offering a series on tongues because they have eschatological significance. In this study I will be showing that God gave tongues as a sign of covenant curse on Israel.

Probably the least understood aspect of the function of tongues is its serving as a sign to Israel of God’s covenant curse due to her unbelief. Yet Paul explicitly suggests this in 1 Corinthians 14:21-22: “In the Law it is written: ‘By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,’ says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers.” To properly grasp Paul’s biblico-theological intent here, I will survey some of the Old Testament’s covenantal background, as well as some of the cultural and historical factors influencing the Corinthian church. Continue reading →

ISRAEL & TIMES OF REFRESHING (2)

Israel, New Testament April 14, 2014 Leave a comment

Sunrise on wheatPMT 2014-045 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In this article I am concluding a two-part study of Acts 3:21. Please consult PMT 2014-043 for previous material.

As we continue, perhaps the Jews would lament their having destroyed the only One who could bring them divine consolation — a fear much like Peter had encountered before (Acts 2:37). In order to circumvent such, the Apostles sets a promise before them. That promise is that Christ will yet come to them in salvation: ‟and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you” (Acts 3:20 NASV). It is true that He is in heaven physically away from them; in fact, ‟heaven must receive [Him] until the times of restoration of all things” (3:21). Still, there is the promise that God will send Him to them in salvation. Though He is in heaven He is not beyond their reach, for He comes to dwell in those who have faith in Him (John 14:23). As the gospel is preached, the hearers discern the voice of the living Christ (Eph. 2:17).

Continue reading →

ISRAEL & TIMES OF REFRESHING (1)

Israel, New Testament April 11, 2014 Comments: 5

PMT 2014-044 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.refreshing

Acts 3:19-21, a favorite passage for the dispensational search for a special future for Israel in the New Testament record, is thought to establish the premillennial expectation against all others. This passage reads:

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

Continue reading →

BABYLON IS JERUSALEM (Part 2)

Israel, Revelation January 31, 2014 Comments: 20

PMT 2014-014 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Harlot drunk 2In my last blog article I began a brief argument for John’s Babylon being a metaphor for first-century Jerusalem. In this study I will bring the argument to a conclusion. Though I welcome questions!

John clearly engages in a literary contrast between the harlot and the chaste bride, suggesting that he is counterposing the Jerusalem below with the Jerusalem above (Rev 21:2; cf. Gal 4:24ff.; Heb 12:18ff.). In Revelation 17:2–5 and Revelation 21:1ff the contrast is remarkable and detailed. We must remember that Revelation specifically designates the bride as the “New Jerusalem” from heaven. We see at least five contrasts: Continue reading →

BABYLON IS JERUSALEM (Part 1)

Israel, Revelation January 29, 2014 Comments: 11

Harlot drunkPMT 2014-013 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In Revelation John uses Babylon as a metaphor of Jerusalem. Before I can demonstrate this, I must rehearse two important interpretive keys to the Book of Revelation:

(1) Revelation is dealing with events “which must soon take place” (Rev 1:1; cp. 1:3; 22:6, 10). It is not prophesying events thousands of years distant from John’s original audience. Continue reading →