Postmillennial Worldview

PMW 2024-005 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Deuteronomy 7:1-26 is one of the most difficult passages in Scripture for the world to accept. It calls for the absolute extermination of the Canaanites (which is pursued in Joshua, e.g., Josh. 10:40).

This is not the destruction of a hapless people who happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rather God’s wrath is to be executed upon the Canaanites for much the same reasons it was exacted against the entire world in Noah’s day (Gen. 6:5–7, 11–13; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5) and upon Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham’s day (Gen. 19:13–15, 24–25; cp. Jer. 23:14; Lam. 4:6; 2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7). That is, this is special charam [Heb., “ban, devoted to destruction”] warfare legislation which calls for the absolute destruction of the Canaanites.
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PMW 2024-004 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

The Davidic Covenant states that Israel is God’s people forever (2 Sam. 7:24), and that David’s throne is established forever (vv. 13, 16, 25, 29).

We must understand, though, that the very nature of a covenant implies conditions and responsibilities, whether these are stated or not — despite the Davidic Covenant’s seeming unconditionality. Nothing in the Davidic Covenant declare that Israel’s king is freed from the obligation to obey God’s law. Indeed, it is very clear that: (1) God declares that the Davidic dynasty would continue only if it obeys God (e.g., 1 Kgs. 9:4–9; Psa. 132:11–12) and (2) the Davidic line was, in fact, removed from rule about 450 years after David, when the southern kingdom of Judah was defeated by the Babylonians (2 Kgs. 24:11–15).

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PMW 2023-094 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Christ upholds God’s Law. And this includes his upholding one of the laws most commonly misunderstood and employed today. This law is often used in arguing against the continuing relevance of God’s Law in the civil sphere. He upholds the law calling for capital punishment for incorrigible criminality. Even the parents of a dangerous individual are expected to turn him over to civil authorities for capital punishment:

And He answered and said to them, “And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever shall say to his father or mother, “Anything of mine you might have been helped by has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And thus you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (Matt 15:3–6)

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PMW 2023-068 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the third and final installment of my series on the benefits of God’s Law in today’s world. In this article, I will provide a few examples of particular societal benefits that accrue from an approach to culture based on God’s Law.

1. God’s Law establishes stable monetary policies
It obligates government to maintain just monetary policies by requiring that “you shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Deut 25:13–15; cp. Lev 19:35–37; Prov 11:1; 20:23; Eze 45:10; Mic 6:11). The Law thereby prohibits three contemporary monetary phenomena that have contributed so heavily to the economically precarious position of modern nations: fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and deficit spending.
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PMW 2023-067 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the second in a three part series on the benefits of God’s Law for today. In my last article I dealt with the practical (personal) benefits of the Law. But the Law of God is not simply a system of personal morality. It also reveals to us a corporate morality covering the social, political, and judicial spheres as well.

1. God’s Law provides an unchanging foundation for society
In the self-consciously Christian approach to social ethics, an unchanging Law becomes the basis of social order, rather than the changing whims of legislators, the mood of the populace, or the fads of revolutionaries. God’s Law is unchanging: “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, / And Your law is truth” (Psa119:142). “The sum of Your word is truth, / And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting” (Psa 119:160). Therefore, Moses warns God’s people: “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it” (Deut 12:32; cp. Psa 119:44, 137, 142, 144).
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PMW 2023-066 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the first in a three-part mini-series on the benefits of God’s Law for today’s world. I will begin by noting that God’s Law promises practical benefits for the individual living according to its directives. We may see this in just a few random samples.

1. God’s Law outlines specific moral behavior
Thus, it eliminates guesswork from moral conduct. “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, / And a light to my path” (Psa 119:105). The Christian should not be one who gropes in darkness, but one who walks in the light (1 John 1:7). Thus, God’s Law keeps us from stumbling morally by informing us of God’s will for “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, / Who walk in the law of the Lord” (Psa 119:1). We read of the righteous man: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, / Nor stand in the path of sinners, / Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! / But his delight is in the law of the Lord, / And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psa1:1–2).
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