Dispensationalism
12/03/24 02:35 PM Filed in: Christianity
Dispensationalists misunderstand scripture for the same reason Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus.
There has been an uptick of dispensationalists posting on X recently, at least, they have been appearing in my timeline more frequently. One poster wrote:
Concerning hermeneutics, John F. Walvoord wrote:
We can argue whether or not this hermeneutical approach is how Scripture says that it should be read, that is, whether this approaches Scripture with a pre-conceived notion that might not itself be scriptural. Paul, for example, says that all things are spiritually discerned. [1 Cor. 1:14]. The opening observation about Nicodemus also calls the literal hermeneutic into question. Nevertheless, assume this principle is valid. When it comes to the claims of dispensationalism, are there "good grounds" for another meaning? My answer is, "yes".
The covenant God made with Abraham contained these promises:
The word translated "descendants" is the Hebrew zera‘ which is like the English word fish; that is, it can be singular or plural. The NRSV uses the plural form. The JPS Tanakh uses "offspring" which, like the Hebrew, can be singular or plural. Paul declares that the singular form should be understood:
Walvoord nowhere references this passage in his book. And it poses a problem for the literal hermeneutic because it can be taken literally either of two ways.
But Paul sees it differently. He wrote:
"World" in the Greek is κόσμος (kosmos), so it can be translated as "world" (as in John 3:16) or even as all creation.
Does Paul have warrant for expanding the boundary from that given in Genesis 15:18 to the entire world? The first promise of the land is in Genesis 12:1, where the boundaries are indefinite. In 12:6, Abraham arrives in the area of the city of Shechem. In Genesis 13:14, Abraham is in Canaan after spending time in Egypt, and he is told the land that he can see will be his. In 13:17, the land that he can walk will be his. In Genesis 15:18 the land is from the Nile to the Euphrates. This area includes parts of modern-day Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Kuwait. In Genesis 17:18 Abraham is given all the land of Canaan. Except for Genesis 17:18, the land area promised to Abraham keeps increasing in size. In Isaiah 54:2-3 the prophet foretells the further expansion of Israel:
So Paul has a scriptural basis for saying that the land promised Abraham was the world.
Along with no treatment of Galatians 3:16, Walvoord nowhere mentions Romans 4:13 or Isaiah 54:2-5.
Concerning these descendants, Walvoord writes:
Paul, on the other hand, says that Abraham's descendants are not according to the flesh (i.e. are neither racial nor political).
Abraham had two sons. Ishmael was born through Abraham's effort with Hagar. Isaac was born through divine intervention, since Sara was barren. Isaac had two sons. Both were born through divine intervention, since Rebekah was barren. But of the two sons, the second was divinely chosen by God to receive the inheritance. Abraham's inheritance goes to those who birth is through divine intervention and divine choice.
And again:
And Paul certainly does include Gentiles in Israel:
At the risk of repeating myself, nowhere does Walvoord reference Romans 9:6-8 or Galatians 3:29. He does reference Ephesians 2:11-22 but only in the context of the church and never in the context of Israel - which is the point of this passage for Paul. Gentile believers are no longer aliens in the commonwealth of Israel (see Acts 22:28 where the Greek word for commonwealth is used to refer to Roman citizenship).
Walvoord says,
Walvoord sees this promise in terms of national ethnic Israel. But the promise was made to Abraham and his descendant Christ and, through Christ, to Christ's children. According to Peter, Christ's children are a "holy nation".
Dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists see the primary blessing as being Christ. But both Israel and the Church are the light to the world:
One might be tempted to argue that there are two lights, but that's trying to fit the data to the doctrine instead of fitting doctrine to the data.
Walvoord comments,
This is certainly true, but it is incomplete. In Ephesians 2:6, Paul states:
We are seated with Christ who is at the right hand of God. We are co-regents with him.
To read scripture as dispensationalists do is to watch the first 10 minutes of a murder mystery and then declare who committed the crime. That is, it is a doctrine based on incomplete data. If we watch to the end of the movie and read Paul literally, we see a completely different view of Israel and the Church emerge. There has always been one people of God.
[1] For a whimsically literal approach to this passage, I asked an AI agent to estimate the number of stars and grains of sand. It gave a range of 5-7 sextillion (a number with 21 zeroes). I then asked for it to estimate how many years it would take for this number of people to have lived, estimating human birthrates and longevity. The ballpark number is 52.5 billion years. If Jesus doesn't return until the fulness of Abraham's descendants have been born, we have a long time to wait.
Even though I'm dispensational, it doesn't bother me when other Christians try to put dispensationalism down. All I need to respond with is, "Let's study the prophets together," or, "Let's examine your hermeneutics," and that pretty much ends the ranting. –Jeremy Howard
Concerning hermeneutics, John F. Walvoord wrote:
The presentation of this study of prophecy as it relates to the church has certain presuppositions. The Bible is considered to be the final court of appeal and its words are regarded as infallibly inspired of God. In the interpretation of prophecy, the same general principles of exposition of the Word of God are followed as in other areas of theology, namely, the normal or literal meaning of the words is assumed unless good ground is discovered for another meaning. –The Church in Prophecy, Preface
We can argue whether or not this hermeneutical approach is how Scripture says that it should be read, that is, whether this approaches Scripture with a pre-conceived notion that might not itself be scriptural. Paul, for example, says that all things are spiritually discerned. [1 Cor. 1:14]. The opening observation about Nicodemus also calls the literal hermeneutic into question. Nevertheless, assume this principle is valid. When it comes to the claims of dispensationalism, are there "good grounds" for another meaning? My answer is, "yes".
How about studying Paul? If you read Paul literally, you’ll see why dispensationalism is wrong.
The covenant God made with Abraham contained these promises:
- A promised descendant (Gen. 15:18)
- A promised land (Gen. 15:18, et. al.)
- Promised descendants (Gen. 22:17)
- A promised nation (Gen. 12:2)
- Promised blessings (Gen. 12:3)
- Promised royalty (Gen. 17:6)
A Promised Descendent
The covenant with Abraham is ratified in Genesis 15, especially verse 18, where a smoking pot and a flaming torch passes between the severed animal carcasses and God says to the comatose Abraham:“To your descendants 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, NRSV
The word translated "descendants" is the Hebrew zera‘ which is like the English word fish; that is, it can be singular or plural. The NRSV uses the plural form. The JPS Tanakh uses "offspring" which, like the Hebrew, can be singular or plural. Paul declares that the singular form should be understood:
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, “And to offsprings,” as of many; but it says, “And to your offspring,” that is, to one person, who is Christ. – Gal. 3:16
Walvoord nowhere references this passage in his book. And it poses a problem for the literal hermeneutic because it can be taken literally either of two ways.
A Promised Land
Concerning the land grant, Walvoord says:In the covenant given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, God not only promised to make Abraham great and to provide through him the Messiah who was to be a blessing to all nations of the earth, but He made the pronouncement, "And I will make of thee a great nation." To this nation God promised perpetuity in an everlasting covenant (Genesis 17:7), and gave the perpetual title to the land of Canaan defined in Genesis 15:18 as extending from the River of Egypt unto the River Euphrates. – pg. 14
But Paul sees it differently. He wrote:
For the promise that he would inherit theworld... – Rom. 4:13
"World" in the Greek is κόσμος (kosmos), so it can be translated as "world" (as in John 3:16) or even as all creation.
Does Paul have warrant for expanding the boundary from that given in Genesis 15:18 to the entire world? The first promise of the land is in Genesis 12:1, where the boundaries are indefinite. In 12:6, Abraham arrives in the area of the city of Shechem. In Genesis 13:14, Abraham is in Canaan after spending time in Egypt, and he is told the land that he can see will be his. In 13:17, the land that he can walk will be his. In Genesis 15:18 the land is from the Nile to the Euphrates. This area includes parts of modern-day Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Kuwait. In Genesis 17:18 Abraham is given all the land of Canaan. Except for Genesis 17:18, the land area promised to Abraham keeps increasing in size. In Isaiah 54:2-3 the prophet foretells the further expansion of Israel:
Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.
So Paul has a scriptural basis for saying that the land promised Abraham was the world.
Along with no treatment of Galatians 3:16, Walvoord nowhere mentions Romans 4:13 or Isaiah 54:2-5.
Promised Descendants
In Genesis 22:17, the LORD says to Abraham:I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.1
Concerning these descendants, Walvoord writes:
Though Israel was in some sense a spiritual community, its character was principally racial and political rather than a spiritual entity. While the term, "the seed of Abraham, " is used in Galatians 3: 6-9 to represent anyone, either Jew or Gentile, who follows Abram's example of faith in God, the term, Israel, or Jew or seed of Israel, is never used to include Gentile believers. – pg. 18
Paul, on the other hand, says that Abraham's descendants are not according to the flesh (i.e. are neither racial nor political).
It is not as though the word of God had failed. Fornot all Israelites truly belong to Israel, and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants; but “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.” 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 descendants. – Rom. 9:6-8
Abraham had two sons. Ishmael was born through Abraham's effort with Hagar. Isaac was born through divine intervention, since Sara was barren. Isaac had two sons. Both were born through divine intervention, since Rebekah was barren. But of the two sons, the second was divinely chosen by God to receive the inheritance. Abraham's inheritance goes to those who birth is through divine intervention and divine choice.
And again:
And if you belong to Christ,then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. – Gal. 3:29
And Paul certainly does include Gentiles in Israel:
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ,being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
At the risk of repeating myself, nowhere does Walvoord reference Romans 9:6-8 or Galatians 3:29. He does reference Ephesians 2:11-22 but only in the context of the church and never in the context of Israel - which is the point of this passage for Paul. Gentile believers are no longer aliens in the commonwealth of Israel (see Acts 22:28 where the Greek word for commonwealth is used to refer to Roman citizenship).
A Promised Nation
In Genesis 12:2, God tells Abraham:I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Walvoord says,
In the covenant given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, God not only promised to make Abraham great and to provide through him the Messiah who was to be a blessing to all nations of the earth, but He made the pronouncement, "And I will make of thee a great nation." – pg. 14, op. cit.
Walvoord sees this promise in terms of national ethnic Israel. But the promise was made to Abraham and his descendant Christ and, through Christ, to Christ's children. According to Peter, Christ's children are a "holy nation".
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – 1 Peter 2:9
Promised Blessings
In Genesis 12:3, Abraham is told:I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Dispensationalists and non-dispensationalists see the primary blessing as being Christ. But both Israel and the Church are the light to the world:
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.” – Mt. 5:14
I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. – Isa. 42:6
One might be tempted to argue that there are two lights, but that's trying to fit the data to the doctrine instead of fitting doctrine to the data.
Promised Royalty
In Genesis 12:6, the LORD says to Abraham:I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
Walvoord comments,
Among the wonderful prophecies unfolding God's purpose were the promises of God to the nation Israel containing predictions of a future kingdom. This is anticipated in the promise to Abraham that "kings should come out of thee" (Genesis 17:6). The line of the promised king is narrowed to the tribe of Judah in Genesis 49:10, and subsequently is outlined in detail to David in God's covenant with him (II Samuel 7:12-16). David is promised that his physical posterity would continue forever and that one of his seed would sit on the Davidic throne forever (II Samuel 7:16). Conservative scholarship agrees that this promise is fulfilled in Christ.
This is certainly true, but it is incomplete. In Ephesians 2:6, Paul states:
... and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...
We are seated with Christ who is at the right hand of God. We are co-regents with him.
Conclusion
To read scripture as dispensationalists do is to watch the first 10 minutes of a murder mystery and then declare who committed the crime. That is, it is a doctrine based on incomplete data. If we watch to the end of the movie and read Paul literally, we see a completely different view of Israel and the Church emerge. There has always been one people of God.
[1] For a whimsically literal approach to this passage, I asked an AI agent to estimate the number of stars and grains of sand. It gave a range of 5-7 sextillion (a number with 21 zeroes). I then asked for it to estimate how many years it would take for this number of people to have lived, estimating human birthrates and longevity. The ballpark number is 52.5 billion years. If Jesus doesn't return until the fulness of Abraham's descendants have been born, we have a long time to wait.
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