Tag: Israel

Eph 2 & Dispensationalism (conclusion)

~ Bob Hayton ~ 4 Comments

–continued from part 2

This is the last part of our study of the ramifications that Ephesians 2 has for dispensationalism. The Gentiles are full-fledged members of “the commonwealth of Israel” and they are part of the “one new man” that God has made. As such, they partake in the “covenants of promise”. Galatians 3 declares they are “sons of Abraham”, “blessed along with Abraham”, and as they are “Christ’s” they are also “Abraham’s offspring”.

Now we come to the last element of Eph. 2 which is important for how we come to terms with classic dispensationalism’s teaching concerning Israel being totally distinct from the church. Again, I’m quoting from Dr. Kenneth Gentry on this point, from his article on Ephesians and Dispensatinalism.

The rebuilt temple is the Church of Jesus Christ.

The future rebuilt temple is a distinctive feature of dispensationalism. The Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (Kregel, 1996; hereinafter, DPT) states that:

“The prophecy of a future Jewish temple in Jerusalem . . . is part of the greater restoration promise made to national Israel. This promise, made at the close of the first temple period (cf. Isa. 1:24–2:4; 4:2–6; 11:1–12:6; 25–27; 32; 34–35; 40–66; Jer. 30–33; Ezek. 36–48; Amos 9:11–15; Joel 2:28–3:21; Micah 4:–5; 7:11–20; Zeph. 3:9–20), made again by the prophets who prophesied after the return from captivity (cf. “Dan. 9–12; Hag. 2:5–9; Zech. 8–14; Mal. 3–4), and reaffirmed in the New Testament (cf. Acts 3:19–26; Rom. 11:1–32) contained inseparably linked elements of fulfillment. . .” (DPT 404).

Paul is provides a spiritual interpretation of the promise of a rebuilt temple. In Ephesians 2:19–22 he states:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

The Apostle certainly believes in a rebuilt temple, but not one built of stone. He sees “the whole building” as currently in his day already “being fitted together” and “growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” He allows this despite the fact that the earthly temple is still standing as he writes. And despite the fact that the millennium still lies off in the distance (already almost 2000 years distant, at least).

To make matters worse, Paul sees the rebuilt temple in spiritual terms because it is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets” with “Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” And the current and ongoing building process involves Christians themselves as the building stones for “you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

This is why Jesus could inform the Samaritan woman: “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. . . But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers” (John 4:21, 23). And Jesus presents this “coming” hour as a permanent, final reality not to be withdrawn as a new order of localized, physical temple worship is re-instituted.

This is no stray statement by Paul: he returns to this theme time-and-again. We read of his conception of the spiritual temple in the following verses:

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” (1 Cor 3:16–17)

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Cor 6:19)

“What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “˜I will Dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people'” (2 Cor 6:16).

The third sample in 2 Corinthians 6:16 is important because it specially applies Old Testament prophecy to the New Testament spiritual temple. Notice how Paul argues: “We are the temple of the living; just as God said, “˜I will Dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'” The Old Testament backdrop to this “just as God said” statement is Ezekiel 37:27: “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

What is remarkable about all of this is that this Paul takes this statement from Ezekiel’s prophecy of Israel’s dry bones coming back to life. Thus, Paul commits two hermeneutic sins: (1) he applies a prophecy regarding Israel to the church and (2) he spiritualizes God’s prophetic dwelling, applying it to God’s spiritual indwelling his people, rather than God’s building a new temple.

I would add that this idea of the church being the temple of God is also taught clearly in 1 Pet. 2. Believers are “living stones… being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5b).

Also, on the “dwelling place of God” theme, I would stress this is a recurring thread from Gen. 22 all the way through to Rev. 21. God promises to dwell with His people. He will be our God, and we will be His people.     This was promised to Abraham and we share in that promise, as believers in Christ- the true “seed” of Abraham.

For me, this kind of teaching was not brought home to me as a dispensationalist. Some do stress this as the present church-age reality, but then claim God will go back to the way things were before. Some even stress another physical temple will be made and physical sacrifices offered once more after the rapture occurs to remove the church prior to the tribulation period. This does not seem to do justice to Eph. 2’s teaching in my understanding. Nor does it square with Hebrews and 1 Peter. This passage clearly teaches God has done something new in breaking down this wall of separation, why would He then later build it back up?

Before I conclude, let me stress that good people will disagree with my conclusions here. This side of glory, we won’t ever completely agree on everything. May God grant us grace to comprehend more fully the glories of His Word and the wonders of His grace.

Eph 2 & Dispensationalism (part 2)

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

–continued from part 1

We are discussing Ephesians 2 and dispensationalism.   In yesterday’s post, we saw that Gentiles are added to the “commonwealth of Israel” and become full fledged members. They with believing Israel become “one new man”. At the very least this teaches that in the dispensation of the church age, there is no distinction between Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians. But I believe given the context of Ephesians as a whole, and the other end times passages in the NT that there is no going back to a 2 people structure.

An additional implication of this teaching, that there is only 1 people of God during the church age, would be that the book of James cannot address Jewish Christians independently of the church. So as it addresses the “twelve tribes in dispersion”, that would be seen to be a descriptor of the church which is like Israel, and was scattered throughout the world being spread through persecution (Acts 8), and also being considered “strangers” or “pilgrims” as 1 Peter ch. 1 describes them. The church finds solidarity with the patriarchs of the faith in Hebrews, and we find in Hebrews 8, and especially 10:15-25, that the new covenant is given to the Church as well.

Now we’ll pick up Ken Gentry’s next point, from his Ephesians and Dispensationalism post.

Paul sees Gentiles as receiving Jewish promises.

In our last comment we noted that Paul saw Jew and Gentile merged “” permanently “” in one body, the church (Eph 2:11–19). Now we would note that in the early part of that text he teaches that this new, merged body “” the church “” receives the Old Testament promises given to Israel. Consider Paul’s statement to these Gentile Christians:

“remember that you were at that time [before your conversion] separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12).

What is happening here? Paul is speaking of matters involving “the commonwealth of Israel.” He is declaring that before these Gentiles came to Christ they were “strangers to the covenants of promise.” This necessarily means that now that they have come to Christ they are no longer strangers to the covenants of promise.

Thus, they are now recipients of “the covenants of promise,” which include the distinctive Abrahamic Covenant with Israel (Gal 3:16–18). After all, he goes on to say that though they were “a that time” (Eph 2:12) excluded and strangers they now “have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13) and that Christ “broke down the barrier of the dividing wall” that separated Jew and Gentile (Eph 2:14).

Thus, if Gentiles are no longer “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel,” if Gentiles are no longer “strangers to the covenants of promise,” if Gentiles “have been brought near,” if Jew and Gentile are merged into one body , and if that which distinguishes Jew and Gentile has been “broken down” (the “dividing wall” ), then by parity of reasoning: the Gentiles receive the promises given to Israel. How can it be otherwise? The two are now one, so that the promises to the old covenant people belong to the new covenant people who have been merged with them.

As members of the commonwealth of Israel, we are partakers in the covenants of promise. In my “understanding the land promise” series, I show how Rom. 4:13-16 teaches that we partake in the land promise as well (Matt. 5:5 & Eph. 6:1-3). Stay tuned for at least one more post in this series on Eph. 2.

A Future for Israel

~ fundyreformed ~ 9 Comments

I came across an excellent article dealing with the question of whether there’s a future for Israel. Lately I’ve discussed how Christians should understand the land promise. I’ve also stressed that America, and Israel are both pagan nations. But what I stumble along in a wordy way trying to say, Dr. Russell Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary spells out in a succinct and truly superb manner in his blog post: Is There a Future for Israel? (HT: Paleoevangelical.)

He argues that all the promises for Israel are fulfilled in Christ, the true Israel of God. And the church receives these blessings only because she is organically united to Christ by faith. So Jesus possesses the future of Israel; and since we share in His inheritance, we do too. I encourage you to read Moore’s short piece for yourself.

Why Not to Visit Israel

~ fundyreformed ~ 22 Comments

Every decent Christian longs to go to the Holy Land.   They would love an opportunity to see the places where Biblical events happened, touch places Jesus may have touched, see where the Temple stood and where the empty tomb may have been.   Right?   Isn’t that true?

Well, I agree with John Piper.   I don’t really want to go to the Holy Land.   I don’t feel I need to.   This past Sunday, in Pastor Piper’s message, he declared that he’s never been to Israel, and he doesn’t want to go.   He even asked the church not to send him.   His sermon is available here, but Junior transcribed the part about Israel.   I’ll post his transcription here, and then the edited version in the print copy of his sermon.

Jesus is where we meet God. If you want to say, “Where on the planet today is a holy place that I can do a pilgrimage and be in the house of God?” Answer, “Jesus!” You want to go to a holy place on the planet? Stand still and come to Jesus. There aren’t any holy sites in the Christian religion. Zero. I’ve never gone to Israel mainly for that reason. Please, when I’m here 30 years don’t give me a free trip to Israel – fix my car. I got no problem with you going to Israel. I don’t want any emails. There’s just no more Jesus in Israel than there is in your pew right now.   [Actual quote]

Now Jesus is the new Beth-el. He is the place where God is present. Heaven has opened, and Jesus has appeared. And from now on, Jesus will be the place where God appears most clearly among men, and where men find their way into fellowship with God. There are no holy geographic places any more designated by God as his meeting place with man. Jesus is that meeting place.   [Edited revision of this part]

The reason pastor Piper says these things is that the Bible doesn’t teach that Israel is some special holy land that believers should long for.   No Israel–the land–pointed to a greater reality, that of spiritual fellowship with God.   We don’t need to go anywhere to be closer to Jesus, we are members of His Body.   We don’t need to look for a future Temple, we are the reconstituted Temple.

For more on this idea, I’d encourage you to check out my series of posts on Understanding the Land Promise.

“The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” by O. Palmer Robertson

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Author: O. Palmer Robertson
Format: Softcover
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Presbyterian & Reformed
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN: 0875523989
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like most any American evangelical, how the Bible views the modern state of Israel is a topic that interests me. I’ve grown in my understanding of this issue, even as I’ve evaluated competing theological systems such as dispensationalism and covenant theology. For me, the Bible is most important, as I don’t feel compelled to be loyal to any particular theological system.

Perhaps that is why O. Palmer Robertson’s writings have been so helpful to me. I greatly appreciated his Biblical treatment of the various covenants of Scripture in The Christ of the Covenants (see my review). In The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Robertson far exceeded my expectations.

Robertson doesn’t have to convince anyone that interpretations concerning the Bible’s view of Israel are varied and extremely influential. In his book, though, he manages to bring the focus to where it should be: on what Scripture actually says concerning the topic.

And this is where he excels. He doesn’t settle for a few proof texts. Rather he carefully traces out a Biblical theology of the land, the people Israel, their worship and lifestyle, and the Kingdom as it relates to Israel. He offers a careful exposition of Galatians 6:16, Hebrews 7, and Romans 11. All the while, he examines Scripture’s entire testimony on these subjects letting all of Scripture weigh in on this issue.

The book shows how the essence of the land promise was spiritual fellowship with God. This is enjoyed by the church today (Matt. 5:5, Rom. 4:13, Eph. 6:3). It argues that the worship and lifestyle of Israel is radically altered with Christ’s provision of a better covenant (Heb. 7). It goes on to examine how Scripture defines the people of Israel, and it details how Gentile believers in the church are Abraham’s children and heirs, true Jews, yes, even the Israel of God (Gal. 3:26-29, 6:16; Rom. 2:28-29, 4:11-12; Eph. 2:14, 19).

One may well disagree with Robertson’s conclusions. But anyone who cares about Scripture will appreciate his emphasis on letting Scripture speak for itself. I would hope those differing with Robertson would at least give his Biblical presentation fair consideration. His exposition of Romans 11 in particular has the potential of changing the mind of many on this subject. Not because it is novel, but because he shows how clearly the chapter as a whole argues for a present-day focus in Paul’s concern.

I won’t explain all of Robertson’s arguments for you. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book yourself. Its a fairly quick read (196 pages), which will definitely keep your interest. I’m sure you’ll be glad you gave this book a hearing.

For more on the covenant theology vs. dispensationalism discussion, see my blog posts related to this issue. You may also be interested in my series entitled “Understanding the Land Promise“.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com, or direct from P & R Publishing.