Tag: Dispensationalism

Bob's Blog Finds: The Apostolic Hermeneutic

~ fundyreformed ~ 4 Comments

In my blog finds I highlight some of the best articles I’ve found online recently. You can see all my blog finds (courtesy of Google Reader) in the sidebar.

It’s been a long while since I posted a Bobspotted Blogroll post. With Google Reader, it’s easier to share my posts one by one. Rather then abandon the blogspot idea altogether, I plan on posting Blog Finds posts where I share articles or links one at a time. This will allow more interaction from you, my readers, and I hope it will serve my blog readers well.

Proponents of Biblical Theology, particularly those who hold to redemptive historical hermeneutics, often speak of the apostolic hermeneutic. We see how the Apostle’s interpreted the OT Bible and draw lessons for how we should interpret it as well.

Now this approach is often misunderstood or even maligned by other Bible scholars, particularly dispensationalists. R. Scott Clark addresses this issue in an excellent post (actually a re-post) at his Heidelblog. I’ll provide some excerpts and encourage you to read the excellent post for yourself. He provides book recommendations for where to pursue this hermeneutical approach further, too.

It’s isn’t that complicated. Pay close attention here:  The Apostolic hermeneutic is to see Christ at the center of all of Scripture. We’re not reading him  into Scripture. We’re refusing to read him out of it. There, I said it. That’s what it is. Perhaps the reason our dispensational friends cannot see it is because they are blinded by their rationalism. They know  a priori what the organizing principle of Scripture  must be and it isn’t God the Son, it’s national Israel….

Yes, Reformed folk (and others) have been reading the bible like this for a very long time. The earliest post-apostolic Christians, in contrast to the Jewish critics of the Christian faith, read the Bible to teach a unity of salvation organized around Jesus Christ. The entire medieval church read the Bible this way as did the Reformation and post-Reformation churches….

What method do we use? It’s grammatical and historical! It reads the Old in the light of the new. It doesn’t set up arbitrary  a priori‘s about what can and can’t be. We don’t begin with an unstated premise, “All reasonable people know p.” We don’t think that any uninspired hermeneutic (system of interpretation) is superior to Paul’s or James’ or Peter’s.

One need not be inspired to read the Bible the way the apostles did. I’m not even sure it’s proper to say that their hermeneutic was inspired. We confess that Scripture is inspired, but was their way of reading Scripture inspired? I doubt it. As John Frame used to ask in class, were the apostolic grocery lists inspired? No. Can we observe  how they read Scripture and imitate it? Yes….

Read the rest of the post for yourself. And let me know what you think of it.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 7

~ fundyreformed ~ 11 Comments

Continuing from part 6….

I hope this post concludes my arguments, responses, and all other considerations of the matter — warning: this is a lengthy post! 🙂 I plan to follow up with a concluding post which explains the ramifications for holding my position.

Conditionality of the Land (follow up)

Before I begin, let me share a passage which I should have listed under my “Conditionality of the Land” point.

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. (Jer. 18:5-10)

On top of the clear verses in Deuteronomy which teach the land is conditional, this passage teaches that in all God’s promises, conditionality is assumed. God reserves the right to pull out of an agreement based on the obedience or lack thereof of his people. This matches how covenants of that day work. The sovereign promises blessings conditioned on the loyalty/obedience of the subject. Of course, as mentioned last time, with salvation, God has accomplished the obedience Himself, through Jesus’ perfect life and death on our behalf. God will work in us through His Spirit to make us continue believing and being loyal to God. If we don’t continue that evidences we are not truly His children.

The Necessity of Faith

We’ve just been talking about how important faith is. And with the land and the promises of it, faith is still prominent. This passage from Hebrews teaches us much about how God’s promises and faith interact:

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Heb. 6:11-12, emphasis added)

Abraham and everyone else for whom God gave glorious promises, inherit them only by means of faith. The same goes for Israel and the land. This is made explicit in Ps. 37, where it doesn’t talk in general terms re: all Israel, but gets specific regarding which individuals will actually inherit the land:

For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more… But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. For those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off. Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever [in the land]. (Ps. 37:9-11, 22, 27)

Notice the wicked are going to be cut off from the land, but the faithful will inherit the land. There is no sure possession of the land for Israel if they do not remain faithful to God.

Incomplete Fulfillment

Earlier, I’ve made much of Joshua’s and Solomon’s statements that all of the promises concerning the land were fulfilled. God’s part of the bargain was complete. They viewed Israel’s occupation of the land as a fulfillment of that promise. Yet they didn’t dwell there forever. And they didn’t control all the land to the fullest extent possible. Does this mean the fulfillment is actually in the future? Yes and no.

God’s promises included a forever provision. They would have the land forever. But they didn’t. They had it and lost it. As God made His covenantal arrangements with Israel more fully known in Deuteronomy, he allowed for expulsion from the land as a covenantal curse if Israel did not obey their God. This does not negate the fact that Scripture sees Joshua’s conquest and Solomon’s reign as fulfillments of the Abrahamic promises: “not one good word from the Lord” failed.

Yet, the fulfillment was incomplete. They had a taste of long life and peace in the land, but didn’t experience everything God seemed to promise. In Abraham’s case, he never owned the land but lived like a pilgrim in it. Hebrews informs us that this caused Abraham, with the other patriarchs, to confess they were looking for a heavenly land (see Heb. 11). So Israel’s uneasy time in the land should have pointed them beyond it as well. Israel ultimately broke covenant with God and were driven out, but He did not desert them. God promised to return them to their land. And he did. But even this return (the return from the exile), fell short of the prophetic expectations of a glorious return. The Old Testament closed with promises seemingly unfulfilled. The glory of Israel had faded. Of course the story goes on, and God established the new covenant through Jesus death on the cross and gave spiritual Israel and all the saved Gentiles an inheritance unfathomable in its richness.

The Restoration Promised

Earlier some have pointed to strong promises in Ezekiel about God bringing Israel back to their land. How do we understand these promises? Are they to be literally fulfilled for a national Israel in the millennium period? Well, first off, we should note that these promises are part of a wider array of restoration promises all connected to each other. They all describe a glorious restoration of Israel. If we look at some of the parallel promises, we might be surprised at what we find.

Other Restoration Promises

Isaiah 19:19-24 tell of God blessing the land. However, it is not the land of Israel in view. Egypt and Assyria are claimed as God’s own land. And Israel will just be one with these lands. God will shed His favor on all of them. Other passages speak of Jerusalem as a city “without walls”, having Jehovah as a “wall of fire” around her (Zech. 2:1-5). And others mention the influx of all the nations coming into Jerusalem to worship.

In the wider spectrum of restoration promise, we see God promising a dramatic turn around. God will cause all the earth to worship Him. Jerusalem will be prominent, but God will relate with the formerly pagan nations, Egypt and Assyria as well. They will be lands of God’s covenant as well.

Ezekiel’s Promise of Restoration to the Land

Ezekiel does give specific promises concerning a return to the land. What’s often missed is the context of these promises.

I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God…. Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD;I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. (Ez. 36:24-28, 33-36)

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD….Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God….They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore. (Ez. 37:11-14, 21-23, 25-28 )

The land promises are in dark green above. Notice a couple things however. See the orange lines? Those are new covenant promises. We’ll talk about those in a bit. See the maroon towards the end of each section? A return to the land (not just a return, but a forever, glorious possession by a forgiven people) is a sign to “the nations” around them. Now in the millennium, who are those nations? Don’t they already know the LORD? Hmmm, interesting.

Also notice the olive green section at the start of the second quote. These clear promises are tied directly to Ezekiel’s famous “dry bones” prophecy. The dead bones that will live obviously hearkens to a literal resurrection. Israel is like a dead land and will be revived. It’s interesting that this glorious return to the land is linked to a resurrection promise. This could point two ways. First, it could indicate the glorious land promises are fulfilled in Isaiah’s “new heavens and new earth” which John shows us in Revelation comes after the last judgment (in the eternal state). Second, it could point back to Ex. 36 and the new covenant promise of new life by the Spirit. In which case, Israel doesn’t get the land apart from the new covenant, and the gift of Spirit-life. The same Spirit which gives life to all the spiritual sons of Abraham.

The Restoration and the New Covenant

Again, looking up at our quote, we see explicitly that these land promises are tied into the “everlasting covenant” or the “covenant of peace”. Jeremiah calls it the “new covenant”. Jesus inaugurated this covenant by his death and shedding of blood (at the Last Supper, he said the cup is the “new covenant” in his blood). Hebrews says a covenant requires shedding of blood to enact it. Because of land promises like this and other considerations, dispensationalists like to say the new covenant is made specifically with Israel and points to the millennium alone. Such a conclusion contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture that the new covenant is now, and applies to God’s church (Jew and Gentile). See Hebrews 7-9, especially chapter 8 which quotes Jeremiah’s “new covenant” passage as applying to believers today.

With the explicit tie in to the new covenant, we should see how new covenant texts teach us to understand the land promise.

The World as the Land

We’ve repeatedly emphasized that the New Testament expands the boundaries and concept of the land. I can’t stress enough how important this observation is. Rom. 4:13 teaches that Abraham was promised the kosmos — i.e. the world. Not just “land”. And all the children of promise (Gentiles included) share in Abe’s inheritance. Eph. 6:1-3 stresses that Gentile children inherit the land promised to Israel. And “the meek” “inherit the earth”.

Typology of the Land

Hebrews is a very important book for understanding the Old Testament. It clearly teaches that the OT rituals and practices were shadows or types of things to come. It teaches that Christ is a better priest than the Levitical priesthood. Christ’s offering as “once for all” truly atoned for sin, unlike the continual animal sacrifices. The tabernacle and the Temple were “earthly” patterns with “heavenly” archetypes. (See Hebrews 8-9). These types pointed forward to the spiritual realities of the new covenant age of Christ.

While we could point to Gal. 4, which compares earthly Jerusalem with Heavenly Jerusalem, instead we will focus on another important passage in Hebrews. In chapter 12 we read:

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken””that is, things that have been made””in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Heb. 12:18-29)

Here we are taught that believers today share in the “heavenly Jerusalem”. We “have come to Mount Zion”. We are participants of the new covenant. This mention in Hebrews is signficant. Hebrews contrasts the old covenant shadows with the new covenant spiritual realities. On this point, I’d like to quote O. Palmer Robertson from his book The Israel of God, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (P&R, 2000):

Just as the tabernacle was never intended to be a settled item in the plan of redemption but was to point to Christ’s tabernacling among his people (cf. John 1:14), and just as the sacrificial system could never atone for sins but could only foreshadow the offering of the Son of God (Heb. 9:23-26), so in a similar manner Abraham received the promise of the land but never experienced the blessing of its full possession. In this way, the patriarch learned to look forward to “the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). Because of the promise that was set before them, the patriarchs never returned to the land of Ur, since “they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16). (pg. 13-14)

So just as the Temple pointed forward to Christ and the church (1 Pet. 2:5), and as the sacrifices pointed forward to Christ, so also the land pointed forward to spiritual fellowship enjoyed by the church now and forever. Remember, Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…” (Jn. 4:21, 23). We share in the worship of heaven, as we come to the “heavenly Jerusalem” as we worship God today.

The “Forever” Factor

Finally we should mention that some will not be convinced by this presentation. They will hold on to phrases like “forever” and insist that the promise must literally apply only to Israel. Remember God interprets his own meaning best and clearly reveals that believers today inherit the land promise of Abraham (Rom. 4:13-16). The word “forever” in our mind must mean always, eternally. But there are various ways of understanding that term in Hebrew. David was promised a “forever” lineage on the throne of Israel. Dispensationalists are fine with Jesus ultimately fulfilling this literal promise through his eternal rule. Yet they must admit there have been thousands of years without a Davidic heir on the throne of Israel.

If such a fulfillment is possible for David, it is possible with the land promise. Joshua tells us that in Joshua’s day none of the promises had failed. Yet, full possession and “forever” possession did not happen. Why can’t we see an ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s rule in the eternal state, when the whole earth is recreated and restored? When the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to earth and God dwells with His people (Jew and Gentile) forever?

Beyond these considerations, something else must be reckoned with. Ps. 37:29 declares:

The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.

Forever. The righteous have a promise of dwelling in the land forever! So a believing, righteous Jew who trusted God and this promise had a hope of eternal life! And eternity was the only way to experience the “forever” promise of dwelling in the land forever. This goes well with the Ezekiel dry bones idea of resurrection. Ultimately the land hearkens to our heavenly Beulah land where we will dwell with God forever.

God fulfills His promises in the way He intends. Such an all-encompassing spiritual fulfillment is by no means a let-down. In no way does this make God a liar. God gives Abraham not just a plot of land but the entire kosmos. God sets his favor not just on the “holy land” but all the earth. God pledges to redeem all creation, and He will.

I apologize for the length of this post but I wanted to bring our study to an end. In the last post, I’ll share some resources, recommended books, as well as discuss some ramifications that flow from this understanding.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 5 (Answering Objections)

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–continuing from part 4.

I thought that the fifth post would be the last, but Will Dudding brought up some objections in the comments of the last post. This has caused me to dig a little deeper, and in the end has only increased my confidence in this understanding of the land promise. So before drawing out the implications of this view of the land promise (and then concluding our series), I need to pause and answer some objections. Answering these objections will also serve to recap this series and help us gain an even better appreciation for how the land promise applies to us.

Answering Objections

Will’s comments focused on several questions relating to the specific promises made to Abraham. He focused on two places in Genesis where the land promise is specified, but I’d like to quote all the places the land promise to Abraham is mentioned:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country… to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation….” “To your offspring I will give this land”. (Gen. 12:1-2a; 7)

“Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth…. Arise, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” (Gen. 13:14b-17)

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites”. (Gen. 15:18-21)

“I have made you the father of a multitude of nations…. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. (Gen. 17:5b-8]

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed…” (Gen. 22:17-18]

From reading these promises, it is easy to see why Will sees problems with my view. He sees unconditional promises made to Abraham, concerning a specific plot of land to be given to Abraham’s offspring to possess forever. He fears I am saying God has cast off Israel and replaced her with the Church, and that I am ignoring these “forever” promises, and turning them into a spiritual pseudo promise so I can say they are fulfilled. It’s as simple as this: Abraham’s descendants haven’t possessed this land, so the fulfillment must still be expected in the future.

To respond to these objections is a large task, because so many fundamental assumptions are wrapped up in them. Nevertheless, I will give this a try.

The Possession of the Promised Land

I am claiming that Joshua 21:43-45 declares that God fulfilled his promise to give the land to Israel. Nehemiah and Solomon also declare God did not drop the ball on any of his promises. In studying this further, I realize I neglected an important passage in 1 Kings.

Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1 Kings 4:20-21)

The inspired author of 1 Kings certainly means to grab our attention here. He is proclaiming the promises concerning Abraham’s seed being as numerous as the sand of the sea, have been fulfilled. He is also pointing us to the exact dimensions of the land promised in Gen. 15, as being now inhabited and ruled over by Solomon. Of course, later in 1 Kings 8:56, Solomon will actually declare that all the promises have been fulfilled. So in one sense clearly, God declares through inspired authors of Scripture, that the Israelites did indeed possess the land. Hold with me here, as we go on to address some other objections.

The Inheritors of the Promised Land

Now the promises above stipulate that Abraham’s descendants will inherit the land. But we observed previously (in part 1) that the New Testament states that the very promise that Abraham would inherit the world, was given to all the spiritual descendants of Abraham (see Rom. 4:11-16). To expand on this, let’s note a few important passages below:

For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Rom. 9:6b-8]

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. (Gal. 3:7)

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. (Gal. 3:16)

…you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:28b-29)

…the Gentiles are fellow heirs… (Eph. 3:6a)

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. (Gal. 4:28]

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise [re: the land, see v. 13] may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring””not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (Rom. 4:16)

See how all the above verses go hand in hand with Rom. 4:16 (the last verse cited above). This is clear New Testament teaching here. Unequivocal. “Offspring of Abraham” = “those who believe in Jesus, who is the specific Offspring of Abraham”. We know that Abraham saw Christ’s day, and his faith was in a future deliverer (John 8:58, Rom. 4, Gen. 3:15). And so we know this New Testament assertion must mean something. If we believers are co-heirs with Abraham and descendants of him, than this seems to change how we are to view the promises made in Gen. Again, suspend disbelief until our next point.

The Nature and Concept of Land

When we talk of land, we must think in ancient terms. Land was always sacred, and vastly more important in ancient times than today. A King and his realm was totally tied up in his land. Like a King, so a god. It was assumed that deities were tied up to the land, and the god of the Canaanites wouldn’t hold sway in Nineveh. Remember Namaan? He gets healed of leprosy by Elisha the prophet and what does he request? A barrel full of dirt! He felt he needed part of the land to take back to Syria so that he could be a worshiper of Jehovah.

Of course, Jehovah declares that he is the One True and Living God. He alone is God. And He owns the whole Earth. Nevertheless, land is integral in how God relates with his people. Adam and Eve needed an Eden. A place where they fellowshipped with God. If you note Abraham’s wanderings, the only places he builds altars are in the land God was giving him. Fellowship with God stemmed from being on His land.

Throughout Deuteronomy, a constantly reoccurring idea is that these laws are to be obeyed, “in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess — as long as you live in the land” (Deut. 12:1 NIV). Obedience is intricately connected to the land. And the land was a good land. “A land flowing with milk and honey”. This points out that the land is a new paradise — a place of communion with God and blessing. And throughout Deuteronomy it is clear that God is graciously giving this to the Israelites, even though they are exhorted to take it.

The land is intimately tied up with God’s redemptive work toward Israel. At the conclusion of laws regulating life in the land (Deut. 12-25), there is a powerful ceremony highlighting the importance of Israel viewing themselves as stewards of God’s land (Deut. 26:1-11). We will explore the nature of the land further as we look at conditionality and a few other topics in the next post.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 2

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–continuing from yesterday’s post.

The Land Promise Fulfilled?

But was the actual promise fulfilled? Were the boundaries of the land promised in Gen. 15:18-21 ever completely owned by Israel? The dispensationalists say no, and they point to history and the Biblical record of what land Israel possessed. The Philistines and other groups remained in the land such that Israel never truly owned all the land.

However, as  I started studying these claims on my own a few years ago, I came across an article by my friend Nathan Pitchford which pointed out that Scripture Itself declares that the promise of the land was fulfilled. In his article entitled Land, Seed, and Blessing in the Abrahamic Covenant, Nathan pointed me to Joshua 21:43-45. Since then, I’ve also seen this restated in other scriptures, which I will quote below.

So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:43-45)

So the descendants went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness. (Nehemiah 9:24-25)

Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. (1 Kings 8:56)

Nathan goes on in  his paper to explore how Abraham himself viewed the land. He was looking for a heavenly city and not satisfied with an earthly inheritance, according to Hebrews 11:10, 13-16. Nathan shows how even in Genesis we can see this heavenward focus  about Abraham. I encourage you to read his paper for more.

In the  next post in this series, I will explore a Scriptural justification for “spiritualizing” the land promise. And I’ll link you to another  resource that may put everything into perspective for you.

Understanding the Land Promise: Part 1

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Some of you probably know that I am a former dispensationlist. I have since embraced Covenant Theology, at least in a broad sense. One of the key factors in my change concerning this position centered on the promise of the land.

In my experience, the promise concerning a land for Abraham’s descendants plays a vital role in supporting the claims of Dispensationalism. Since the specific plot of land promised in Genesis 15 has not yet been completely occupied by Israel, we must expect a future literal fulfillment of this promise. This leads to the conclusion that God still has dealings with physical/national Israel and promises He must keep for them, which in turn leads us to understand that God’s plans for the Church are different than His plans for Israel. God thus has two peoples, Israel and the Church, and two purposes (at least) for His interactions with man in this world.

My particular understanding of Dispensationalism included the notion that the church age was basically a parenthesis from his plan for Israel. And that his plans for Israel would be culminated in a physical thousand year reign in which the Temple and its physical sacrifices would be reinstated. Many dispensationalists today do not agree with these particular views, but nevertheless there are many who still hold to them, largely because of their support of Dispensationalism.

Since land was so central to Dispensationalism, when I saw how the New Testament treated the land promise, I soon became more and more convinced that Dispensationalism is flawed, and Covenant Theology or something similar to it, must be the preferred way of understanding how Scripture fits together.

New Testament View of The Land Promise

Compare these verses to the Dispensational understanding of the land promise:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matt. 5:5)

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith….. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring“”not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,… (Rom. 4:13, 16)

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” (Eph. 6:1-3)

Notice that the meek inherit the earth. The very promise given to Abraham concerning the land is promised to his spiritual descendants. And also the Gentile Ephesian children are promised long life in “the land” (or “the earth” as the NASB has it). Compare Eph. 6:3 with the promise as stated in Exodus 20:12b: “that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” Paul holds up this promise for the Ephesian Christians.

This NT understanding of the land promise certainly seems to spiritualize the promise [should the Ephesians really expect to live long in Canaan? or should the meek expect to inherit Canaan?] or more properly, to expand it to include the whole world (Rom. 4). And indeed the promise that God would be with Abraham’s descendants, dwell with them and be their God (see Gen. 17:7-8, also Ex. 29:45, Lev. 26:12, and Ez. 37:27) is repeated and realized in Rev. 21:3: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them”. Certainly the New Testament seems to indicate that the land promise points us to this ultimate reality.

In the next posts, I will look at the land promise a little more closely, and provide some links which may prove helpful for further study.