Category Archives: Old Testament

CALVIN, ISAIAH 19, AND POSTMILLENNIALISM (1)

Old Testament, Optimism October 6, 2026 Leave a comment

5 out of 6PMT 2014-001 by John Calvin

In this and the following ones, I will be citing John Calvin’s commentary on Isaiah 19:18–25. We find in his exposition a strong encouragement to the postmillennial hope. Before I begin citing Calvin, I will cite Isaiah since he is almost as good as Calvin! 😉 Be aware, I am citing the NASB which Calvin refused to use.

“In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction. In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near its border. It will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them. Thus the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it. The LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to them and will heal them. 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. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.’” (Isaiah 19:18-25 NASB).

Now let us hear Calvin. Continue reading →

OT SUMMARY OF POSTMILLENNIALISM

Old Testament October 3, 2025 Leave a comment

Old Testament scrollsPMW 2025-078 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

We can adequately understand God’s sovereign plan for the world only when we approach it in light of its historical inception. In the Bible’s account of universal origins we discover the very purpose of history. God creates man in his own image (Ge 1:26) as a materio-spiritual being (Ge 2:7). Man’s God-ordained purpose is to bring honor and glory to God by exercising godly dominion in the earth (Ge 1:26–30). Protology leads to eschatology for eschatology is rooted in creation.

Because God possesses almighty power (Job 40:1–42:6); Isa 40:12 –28), and governs by inscrutable wisdom (Isa 55:8–9; Ro 11:32–35), the Christian actually should be predisposed to the historical victory postmil-lennialism expects. The postmillennial system best balances the material and spiritual aspects of Scripture and gives full significance to both the temporal and eternal features of God’s plan and man’s obligation to him. The Lord creates man and history for his glory; therefore, man and history will bring glory to him. “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Rev 4:11). “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Ro 11:36). Continue reading →

INTRODUCING GENESIS (2)

Creation, Old Testament June 24, 2025 1 Comment

PMW 2025-051 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is my second in a two-part, rather extensive series introducing Genesis. We now move on to consider its:

Genre
Moses was a gifted writer, as both the careful structure of Genesis as a whole and the exalted prose of Genesis 1 particularly testify. He was also quite capable of writing compelling poetry; in fact, and he did so frequently, both in Genesis (e.g., 2:23; 3:14–19; 12:1–3; 27:27–29; 49:2–27) and elsewhere (e.g., Exo. 15:1–8; Num. 6:24–26; Deut. 32:1–43; Psa. 90). But what is the basic genre of Genesis?

The content and structure of Genesis show that he wrote in narrative, historical prose. This is expected in that Israel possessed a factual, real-world oriented faith. As noted above, Genesis serves as the prologue to the Pentateuch. This is significant in that the Pentateuch is a lengthy narrative of the historical formation of Israel as a nation. Genesis would be useless for its purposes if we discount its historicity. Scholars do not doubt the basic historical nature of his genre in Exodus through Deuteronomy, even when they dispute its accuracy. And only a few scholars from critical schools of thought doubt his historical intent in Genesis 12–50. Nor do we have any evidence of a genre shift in the historical narratives from Genesis through the rest of the Pentateuch. Continue reading →

INTRODUCING GENESIS (1)

Creation, Old Testament June 20, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-050 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Title
Genesis is the first of the five books of Moses (the Pentateuch). The titles to the first five books of the Bible are actually the first words of the Hebrew text in each book. Thus, the Jews called the first book Bereshith, which is the first word in the Hebrew of Genesis 1:1. It means “by way of beginning, or in beginning.”

The title by which we today call this book is derived not from the first words of the Hebrew, but from its Septuagint title. The Septuagint title is directly transliterated as: Genesis. Each of the Greek titles of the Pentateuch summarize the subjects of the books, rather than presenting their first words. Had the ancient Greek translators used Genesis’s first words, it would have been called: En archē (“in beginning”). They apparently derived the title we use from Genesis 2:4a which reads: “This is the book of the generation [geneseos] of heaven and earth.” The Greek word means “origin, source, or generation.”
Continue reading →

WAS EVIL KING MANASSEH SAVED?

Old Testament, salvation June 10, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-041 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

On this blog site I define postmillennialism as follows:

Postmillennialism holds that the Lord Jesus Christ established his kingdom on earth in the first century through his preaching and redemptive work. Since then he has continued to equip his Church with the gospel, empower her by his Spirit, and charge her with the Great Commission to disciple all nations. Postmillennialism expects that eventually the vast majority of men living will be saved. Increasing gospel success will gradually produce a time in history prior to Christ’s return in which faith, righteousness, peace, and prosperity will prevail in the affairs of men and of nations. After an extensive era of such conditions, the Lord will return visibly, bodily, and gloriously, to end history. Associated with his return will be the general resurrection and the final judgment after which the eternal order follows. Because of its worldwide historical implications, postmillennialism generates an holistic worldview touching on all areas of life.

That being the case, we must be alert to an important distinction between true and false conversions. Postmillennialists are glad for the general influence of Christianity on the world. But what we labor for and ultimately expect is a dramatic impact on the world that is rooted in true conversions by the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). We are all aware that much of Christianity is today made up of falsely-professing “believers.” These people should be targets of our evangelistic outreach, for being “almost persuaded” is not enough. Continue reading →

THE APOCALYPSE AND THE OLD TESTAMENT

Old Testament, Revelation of John June 3, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-042 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Revelation is a difficult book to interpret. We must read it carefully to detect clues as to John’s meaning. One important issue regarding Revelation’s interpretation regards it extremely Hebraic style. In this brief series I will be highlighting several elements of its Hebraic character.

As a Redemptive-historical Preterist I believe that John is writing about the soon-coming destruction of the Jewish temple in AD 70. When we read Rev we are immediately struck by John’s strongly Jewish presentation. No competent commentator fails to mention this. Fiorenza notes that “it is often judged to be more Jewish than Christian.” Charles argues on the basis of its style that it is obvious that John was a “Palestinian Jew.” Buchanan agrees with J. F. Whealon who “observed that Rev 4:1–22:7 was a Jewish document that was later Christianized by the introduction, conclusion, and a few editorial additions.” Continue reading →

COMPREHENSIVE HOPE IN ESCHATOLOGY

New Creation, Old Testament, Optimism March 28, 2025 Comments: 8

PMW 2025-024 by Donald E. GowanGowan eschatology

Gentry note:
The following is a series of thoughts selected from a very helpful book by Gowan on Eschatology on the Old Testament (pp. 122 ff.). Though he is not writing as a postmillennialist, he has many helpful observations that this article will share. His book basically argues for a holistic concept of redemption, both man (body and soul) and the broader creation (new heavens and new earth). He is not a conservative evangelical (as far as I can tell), but he is a good scholar insightful analyses of important eschatological issues.

Gowan’s Observations
The OT’s expectations and longings are distinct from those to be found in other religions and cultures. Thereby they offer a challenge for alternative forms of hope — Christian and otherwise — and insight into the nature of the eschatologies of the Western world.

1. Old Testament eschatology is a worldly hope. The OT does not scorn, ignore, or abandon the kind of life which human beings experience in this world in favor of speculation concerning some other, better place or form of existence, to be hoped for after death or achieved before death through meditation and spiritual exercises. This sets the OT in sharp contrast to Gnosticism, to the otherworldly emphases that often have appeared in Christianity, and to the concepts of salvation taught by Hinduism and Buddhism. Whether it is better and truer than those other forms of hope, or is just irredeemably “unspiritual,” remains, of course, a matter for faith to decide. But this quality of the OT hope surely ought to commend its outlook to an age that is equally worldly in its concerns. Continue reading →