The
following article originally appeared at this URL:
http://www.endtimesnetwork.com/ant_chp3.html
THE
DISTINCTION BETWEEN ISRAEL & THE CHURCH
Written
By S.R. Shearer
A
COMMITMENT TO LITERALISM
The first thing
one must do in coming to any meaningful understanding of the Prophetic
Scriptures is to distinguish between Israel and the church. This distinction
is forced on all those who take the Bible literally - which historic
evangelicalism does - i.e., the evangelicalism of men like Hudson
Taylor, C.T. Studd, Dwight Moody, Harry Ironside, C.I. Scofield, etc.
This distinction
is called "Dispensationalism" and is the central core around
which the concept of what we today call premillennialism is arranged(click)
, i.e., the premillennialism embraced by such denominations as the
Assemblies of God, the Conservative Baptists, the Regular Baptists,
etc. Charles Caldwell Ryrie of Dallas Theological Seminary writes:
"A dispensationalist
(i.e., a biblical literalist) keeps Israel and the church distinct.
This is stated in different ways by both friends and foes of dispensationalism.
Fuller (who embraced amillennialism) says the 'basic premise of dispensationalism
is TWO purposes of God expressed in the formation of TWO peoples WHO
MAINTAIN THEIR DISTINCTION THROUGHOUT ETERNITY. Gaebelein, a friend
of dispensationalism, stated it in (the same terms) ..."
"THIS (THE
DISTINCTION BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH) IS PROBABLY THE MOST BASIC
THEOLOGICAL TEST OF WHETHER OR NOT A MAN IS A DISPENSATIONALIST (i.e.,
a biblical literalist), AND IT IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST PRACTICAL AND
CONCLUSIVE ..." [1]
Lewis Sperry Chafer,
first President of Dallas Theological Seminary, agrees with Ryrie;
he emphatically believed that if one read the Bible literally (reading
"Israel" as Israel in the prophetic Scriptures, and the
"church" as the church) one would be led systematically
and logically to the conclusion that -
"... throughout
the ages God is pursuing two distinct purposes: one related to the
earth with earthly people (i.e., the Jews) and earthly objectives
... while the other is related to heaven with heavenly people (i.e.,
the Christians) and heavenly objectives, which is Christianity ..."[2]
All these men
believed that the denial of the distinction between Israel and the
church rested on a very superficial understanding of the Scriptures
and the rejection of a literal interpretation of the Word of God.
The theology which denies that such a distinction exists is known
as Covenant Theology [i.e., post-millennialism (amillennialism is
merely a sophisticated adaptation of post-millennialism)] - and is
the historic theology of the liberal churches and the Roman Catholic
Church.
Covenant Theology
sees the ages of history as the development of a single covenant made
between God and sinners by which God would save, through the value
of Christ's death on the cross, all who come to Him by faith. [3]
While there certainly
is much in Covenant Theology which is in agreement with the Scriptures,
it is woefully inadequate to explain the "doctrine of end times"
(eschatology) and ultimately it leads the church down into the box
canyon of the social, cultural and economic reformation of man-devised
institutions - which institutions are not meant for reformation, but
judgment and destruction.
Chafer writes:
"The
theological terms (so dear to the Covenant theologian), 'Covenant
of Works' and 'Covenant of Grace', do not occur in the Sacred
Text. If they are to be sustained it must be wholly apart from
biblical authority ...
Upon this
human invention of two covenants ... [Covenant Theology (and Post-millennialism)]
... (have) largely been constructed. It sees the empirical truth
that God can forgive sinners only by the freedom which is secured
by the sacrifice of His Son - anticipated in the old order and
realized in the new - but that theology utterly fails to discern
the purposes of the ages; the (differing) ... relationships of
God to the Jews ... and (of God to) the church, with the distinctive,
consistent ... obligations which arise directly and unavoidably
from the nature of each specific relationship to God.
A theology
which penetrates no further into Scripture than to discover that
in all ages God is immutable in His grace towards penitent sinners
(which He no doubt is) and constructs the idea of a universal
church (in which Israel is swallowed up by the church) - a church
continuing through the ages - on the one truth of immutable grace,
is not only disregarding vast spheres of ... (Scripture) but is
reaping the unavoidable confusion and misdirection which part-truth
engenders."[4]
THE RESULT OF
COVENANT THEOLOGY: A WORLDLY CHURCH
The "unavoidable
confusion and misdirection" of the church alluded to by Chafer
(above) results ultimately with the church involved up to its neck
in the social, economic and even military affairs of this world -
which activities are forbidden to the church - after all, how is it
possible for the church to justify, for example, its involvement in
the military affairs of this world in the light of Luke 6:27-35:
"But I say
unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate
you,
"Bless them
that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
"And unto
him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him
that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
"Give to
every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods
ask them not again.
"And as ye
would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
"For if ye
love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love
those that love them.
"And if ye
do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners
also do even the same.
"And if ye
lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners
also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
"But love
ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;
and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the
Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
(Luke 6:27-35)
To deny that Covenant
Theology eventually leads its adherents into the useless activity
of social reformation (and even into military activity) - and then
finally into the denial of a literal interpretation of Scripture (which
Covenant theologians must ultimately accept in order to involve themselves
and their churches in this kind of activity - at least in light of
the New Testament) is to deny history itself.
This has been
the historic fate of the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists,
American Baptists and countless other denominations which started
off as conservative, Bible-believing bodies but which are today merely
shadows of their former selves, bodies which at the drop of a hat
are prepared to compromise the Scriptures to accommodate whatever
current social fashion is in vogue (women and homosexuals in the ministry,
the female God, etc.) and whose single aim seems to be nothing more
than the fruitless task of world reformation.
THE SCRIPTURAL
BASIS FOR EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY
Of course, if
we demand of Covenant theologians the Scriptural basis of their theology,
it's only fair to demand the same thing from old-line evangelicals.
What then is the Scriptural evidence upon which old-line evangelicals
base their concept of the distinction between Israel and the church?
What Scriptural proof exists to support the evangelical contention
that Israel is not to be swallowed up by the church and is to maintain
its distinction, as John F. Walvoord puts it, "throughout eternity
...?"
Simply put, evangelicals
base their belief on the eternal distinction between Israel and the
church on a LITERAL interpretation of God's Word and what logically
must follow such an interpretation - specifically, the IMMUTABILITY
of God's "COVENANT TO ABRAHAM" which was reinforced and
expanded upon by the "PALESTINIAN COVENANT," the "DAVIDIC
COVENANT," and the "NEW COVENANT."
DEFINITION OF THE WORD "COVENANT"
Charles F. Lincoln
defines the word "covenant" as follows:
"A
divine covenant is (1) a sovereign disposition of God, whereby He
establishes an UNCONDITIONAL or declarative compact with man, obligating
Himself in grace, by the untrammeled formula, 'I WILL', to bring
to pass of Himself definite blessings for the covenanted ones, or
(2) a proposal of God, wherein He promises, in a CONDITIONAL or
mutual compact with man, by the contingent formula 'IF YE WILL',
to grant special blessings to man provided he (man) fulfills perfectly
certain conditions, and to execute definite punishments in case
of his (man's) failure." [5]
Two additional
points should be noted -
GOD'S COVENANTS
ARE LITERAL
First, God's covenants
are literal. G.N.H. Peters writes:
"In
all earthly transactions, when a promise, agreement, or a contract
is entered into by which one party gives a promise of value to another,
it is universally the custom to explain such a relationship and
its promises by the well-known laws of language contained in our
grammar or in common usage. It would be regarded absurd ... to view
them in any other way ... The very nature of a covenant demands
that it should be so worded, so plainly expressed, that it conveys
a decisive meaning, and not a hidden or mystical one that requires
many centuries to resolve in order to develop." [7]
GOD'S COVENANTS
WERE MADE STRICTLY WITH ONLY ONE COVENANT PEOPLE: THE JEWS
Second, no Gentile
nation (including so-called "Christian" nations like America,
Britain, France, etc.) has ever received a divine covenant from God;
there is only one nation that God has ever covenanted with - Israel.
J. Dwight Pentecost writes:
"Finally,
these covenants were made with a covenant people, Israel. In Romans
9:4 Paul states that the nation of Israel had received covenants
from the Lord. In Ephesians 2:11-12 he states, conversely, that
the Gentiles have not received any such covenants and consequently
do not enjoy covenant relationships with God. These passages show
us, negatively, that the Gentile (nations) were (and are) without
covenant relationships (with God) and, positively, that God had
entered into covenant relationships with Israel." [9]
THE FIVE COVENANTS
OF GOD WITH ISRAEL
The Scriptures
refer to five major covenants with Israel, all of them made by God
with the Jewish people. Four of these covenants answer to the first
formula defined above and are UNCONDITIONAL; one of them answers to
the second formula and is CONDITIONAL. Lincoln writes:
"The four
UNCONDITIONAL covenants, with the formula 'I WILL', are found in (1)
Genesis 12:1-3, where the formula is found either expressed or understood
seven times; (2) Deuteronomy 30:1-10, where it is found either expressed
or understood, twelve times; (3) II Samuel 7:10-16, where it is found
seven times; and (4) Jeremiah 31:31, where it is found seven times.
The CONDITIONAL covenant, (5) with the formula 'IF YE WILL', is found
besides in Exodus 19:5 ff., also in Deuteronomy 28:1-68; verses 1-14,
'If thou shall hearken diligently ... blessings;' verses 15-68, 'If
thou will not hearken ... cursings'." [6]
Thus, it is to
be observed that there are two kinds of covenants which God entered
into with Israel: CONDITIONAL and UNCONDITIONAL.
THE CONDITIONAL
COVENANT
(The Mosaic Covenant)
In a CONDITIONAL
covenant that which was covenanted depends for its fulfillment upon
the RECIPIENT of the covenant (Israel), not upon the one making the
covenant (God). Certain obligations or considerations must be fulfilled
by the receiver of the covenant (Israel) before the Giver of the covenant
(God) is obligated to fulfill that which was promised. It is a covenant
with an "IF" attached to it. The MOSAIC COVENANT is such
a covenant.
THE UNCONDITIONAL
COVENANTS
An UNCONDITIONAL
covenant depends ALONE on the Giver of the covenant for its fulfillment.
That which was promised is sovereignly given to the recipient of the
covenant on the authority and integrity of the One making the covenant
apart from the merit or response of the receiver. It is a covenant
with no "IF" attached to it whatsoever. In addition, it
should be noted that the unconditional covenants made by God with
the Jewish people are ETERNAL. Lincoln writes:
"All
of Israel's covenants are called eternal except the Mosaic Covenant
which is declared to be temporal, i.e., it was to continue only
until the ... (advent of a better covenant - the New Covenant).
For this detail see as follows: (1) the Abrahamic Covenant is called
'eternal' in Genesis 17:7, 13, 19; I Chronicles 16:17; Psalm 105:10;
(2) the Palestinian Covenant is called 'eternal' in Ezekiel 16:20;
the Davidic Covenant is called 'eternal' in II Samuel 23:5; Isaiah
55:3; and Ezekiel 37:25; and (4) the New Covenant is called 'eternal'
in Isaiah 24:5; 61:8; Jeremiah 32:40; 50:5; and Hebrews 13:20."
[8]
THE FOUR UNCONDITIONAL
COVENANTS OF GOD WITH ISRAEL
Let us now turn
our attention to an examination of the four specific UNCONDITIONAL
and ETERNAL covenants of God with Israel.
A. THE ABRAHAMIC
COVENANT
The Abrahamic
Covenant is the first of the four great ETERNAL and UNCONDITIONAL
covenants made by God with the Jewish people (Genesis 12:1-3; 26:1-5;
28:10-15). It forms the basis for the remaining three. It contains
seven promises:
1. "I WILL
MAKE OF THEE A GREAT NATION." This promise was to be fulfilled
in two ways.
1. NATURAL POSTERITY,
i.e., "as the dust of the earth" through Isaac and the Jewish
people.
2. SPIRITUALLY, i.e., "as the stars of heaven" - that out
from the Jewish people would come Christ (Messiah) and that out from
Christ would come the church.
[It should be
noted that the first hint is made here concerning the two entities
through which God planned to bring into subjection the earth and the
heavens: Israel was to subject the earth ("a" above), and
the church was to subject the heavens ("b" above).]
2. "I WILL
BLESS THEE."
3. "AND MAKE THY NAME GREAT."
4. "AND THOU SHALT BE A BLESSING."
5. "I WILL BLESS THEM THAT BLESS THEE."
6. "AND CURSE THEM THAT CURSE THEE."
7. "AND IN THEE SHALL ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED."
B. THE PALESTINIAN
COVENANT
In the closing
chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy, the children of Israel faced
a crisis in their national existence (Deuteronomy 28-30). They were
about to pass from the proven leadership of Moses to the unproved
leadership of Joshua. They were standing at the entrance to the land
that was promised to them by God. BUT THIS LAND WAS POSSESSED BY ISRAEL'S
SWORN ENEMIES who had shown that they would resist any attempt by
Israel to enter the land promised them.
It was impossible
for them to return to their former status as a slave nation, and the
land to which they were journeying seemed shut before them. As a result,
many of them doubted the efficacy of the original ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.
Had the inauguration
of the MOSAIC COVENANT, which all agreed was CONDITIONAL, set aside
the UNCONDITIONAL ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, the promises of which were now
in doubt? To answer these important questions, God stated again His
covenant promise concerning Israel's possession of and inheritance
in the Land of Palestine.
The PALESTINIAN
COVENANT promised the following:
1. It reaffirmed
title to Israel of the land of promise.
2. It substantiated to Israel the fact that the introduction of the
TEMPORAL and "CONDITIONAL" MOSAIC COVENANT had not set aside
the UNCONDITIONAL and ETERNAL promises of the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT.
3. It enlarged the boundaries of the promised land given in the ABRAHAMIC
COVENANT. IN ADDITION, THE PALESTINIAN COVENANT contained certain
statements:
1. That the nation
would be punished because of its unfaithfulness vis-á-vis
the MOSAIC COVENANT (Deut. 28:63-68).
2. That Israel would be eventually restored to the land of promise
after an as yet future dispersion among the Gentile nations (Deut.
30:5).
3. That Messiah would come (Deut. 30:3-6).
4. That there would be a future repentance of Israel (Deut. 30:1-3).
5. That Israel would embrace Messiah as a nation (Deut. 30:4-8; cf.
Rom. 11:26-27).
6. That Israel's enemies would be judged (Deut. 30:7).
7. That the nation would receive her full and eternal blessing (Deut.
30:9). [10]
It is interesting
to note that the exact conditions which prevailed at the time wherein
the PALESTINIAN COVENANT was given, prevail again today. We do well
to stand with Israel despite temptations to the contrary; it is a
fearful thing to be found fighting against the God of Israel for ANY
reason.
C. THE DAVIDIC
COVENANT
These promises
made by God to Israel are contained in II Samuel 7:12-16. The historic
background of the DAVIDIC COVENANT is well known. Inasmuch as David
had come to power and authority in the kingdom and now dwelt in a
house of cedar, it seemed incongruous that the One from whom he derived
his authority and government should dwell in a house of skins - a
tent. It was David's intention to build a suitable dwelling place
for God. But because he had been a man of war, David was not permitted
to build this house. However, God made certain promises to David concerning
the perpetuity of his house. These promises pertained to the eternal
nature of:
1. David's House.
2. David's Kingdom.
3. David's Throne. [11]
John Walvoord,
past president of Dallas Theological Seminary, writes:
"What
do the major terms of the (DAVIDIC) covenant mean? By 'David's
House' it can hardly be doubted that reference is made to David's
posterity, his physical descendants. It is assured that they will
never be slain in toto, nor displaced by another family entirely.
The line of David will always be the royal line. By the term 'throne'
it is clear that no reference is made to a material throne, but
rather to the dignity and power which was sovereign and supreme
in David as king.
The right
to rule always belonged to David's seed. By the term 'kingdom'
there is reference to David's political kingdom over Israel. By
the expression 'forever' it is signified that the Davidic authority
and the Davidic kingdom or rule over Israel shall never be transferred
to another family, and its arrangement is designed for eternal
perpetuity. Whatever its changing form, temporary interruptions,
or chastisements, the line of David will always have the right
to rule over Israel and will, in fact, exercise this privilege."
[12]
As with the PALESTINIAN
COVENANT, certain prophetic implications resulted which naturally
followed from the provisions of the DAVIDIC COVENANT:
1. Israel must
be preserved as a nation.
2. Israel must be brought back into the land of her inheritance (including
not just her 1948 boundaries, but also the so-called West Bank, the
whole city of Jerusalem, and much of present day Jordan, southern
Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, etc.
3. David's "Seed," the Lord Jesus Christ, must return to
the earth bodily to reign over David's promised kingdom.
4. A literal earthly kingdom must be constituted over which Messiah
will reign. Peters writes: "The fulfillment of the covenant promises
implies, in view of this restored Davidic throne and kingdom, that
the Messianic Kingdom is to be a visible, external kingdom, not merely
a spiritual one ..."
5. This kingdom must become an eternal kingdom.[13]
D. THE NEW COVENANT
The NEW COVENANT
as stated in Jeremiah 31:31-34 guarantees to Israel what the temporal
and conditional MOSAIC COVENANT could never accomplish - a converted
heart as the foundation of all her blessings:
"Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I WILL make a NEW COVENANT
WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH: not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that
I took them out of the land of Egypt (the MOSAIC COVENANT); which
covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith
the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I WILL make with
THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; after those days (i.e., the "last days")
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write
it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people.
And they shall
teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least
of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I WILL
forgive their iniquity, and I WILL remember their sin no more."
(Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Ryrie writes:
"The NEW
COVENANT promises:
1. "An UNCONDITIONAL,
grace covenant resting on the 'I WILL' of God. The frequency of the
phrase in Jeremiah 31:31-34 is striking (cf. Ezekiel 16:60-62).
2. "An EVERLASTING covenant. This is closely related to the fact
that it is UNCONDITIONAL and made in grace ... (Isa. 61:2; cf. Ezek.
37:26; Jer. 3135-37).
3. "The impartation of a renewed mind and heart which we may
call regeneration ... (Jer. 31:33; cf. Isa 59:21).
4. "Restoration to the favor and blessing of God ... (Hos. 2:19-20;
cf. Isa. 61:9).
5. "Forgiveness of sin: '... for I WILL remove their iniquity,
and I WILL remember their sins no more' (Jer. 31:34).
6. "The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is seen by comparing
Jeremiah 31:33 with Ezekiel 36:27.
7. "The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit will be manifested
and the will of God will be known by obedient hearts ... (Jer. 31:34).
8. "As is always the case when Israel is in the land, she will
be blessed materially in accordance with the provisions of the NEW
COVENANT ... (Jer. 32:41; Isa. 61:8; Ezekiel 34:25-27).
9. "The sanctuary will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, for it is written,
' ... I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My
tabernacle also shall be with them'. (Ezek. 37:26-27a)
10. "War shall cease and peace shall reign according to Hosea
2:18. The fact that this is also a definite characteristic of the
Millennium (Isa. 2:4) further supports the fact that the NEW COVENANT
is Millennial in its fulfillment.
11. "The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation of
all the blessings of the NEW COVENANT, for 'by the blood of THY COVENANT
I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water'.
(Zech. 9:11)
"By way of
summary, it may be said that as far as the "Old Testament"
teaching on the NEW COVENANT is concerned, the covenant was made with
the JEWISH PEOPLE. Its period of fulfillment is yet future, beginning
when the Deliverer shall come and continuing throughout all eternity.
Its provisions for the nation of Israel are glorious, and they all
rest ... (solely) on the WORD OF GOD." [14]
COVENANT THEOLOGY
AND EVANGELICALISM
In an era of spiritual
confusion, when truth is being sacrificed for political expediency.
when growing numbers of evangelical Christians think nothing of forming
alliances with the Roman Catholic Church for political gain - stand
up and be counted - e-mail: Dene McGriff.
Covenant theologians
(once again, those theologians who deny that modern day Israel has
any biblical significance) have attempted to appropriate the provisions
of the NEW COVENANT wholly and exclusively to the church. But to do
so is to (1) deny the LITERAL nature of the Word of God which should
be taken at face value (because the wording of all four UNCONDITIONAL
COVENANTS make clear that these covenants were made specifically with
the Jewish people), and / or (2) make God out as a liar. There is
simply no way to get around it: Israel is CLEARLY the recipient of
these covenants.
Covenant theologians
base their contention that the church is now the exclusive recipient
of the UNCONDITIONAL COVENANTS on certain passages in the New Testament
which link the church to these covenants, specifically, Luke 22:20;
I Corinthians 11:25; II Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:8; and 9:15.
Evangelicals,
however, do not deny that the church, as a "MYSTERY" is
"hinted" at in these covenants:
"Now to him
that has the power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY,
which was kept secret since the world began. "(Rom. 16:25)
Moreover, these
"hints" are substantiated and made real in the New Testament
in innumerable passages as when Paul declares that Christians are
children of Abraham by faith (Gal. 3:7 and 3:29). But these passages
do not make void the original promises of God to Israel; they point
out, rather, that in some "peculiar" way, Christians are
to be made "joint heirs" with Israel. How? Not by displacing
Israel or even making the church a partaker in the EARTHLY promises,
but by GRANTING THE CHURCH THE HEAVENLY COUNTERPARTS OF ISRAEL'S EARTHLY
PROMISES - so that now the following situation pertains and is made
real:
[NOTE
from Lion of Judah site owner: I will be formatting the following
information in the near future, so that it is laid out in the way
it was in the original article]:
The Earth
Israel
THE PROMISES
The Heavens
The Church
The Abrahamic Covenant
The Palestinian
Covenant
The Davidic
Covenant
The New
Covenant
The Earth
Israel
(1) The children of God
(2) The household of God
(3) The children of Abraham
(4) Abraham's seed
(5) The children of Promise
(6) A people of His own
(7) Heirs of God
(8) Heirs according to promise
(9) The Temple of God
(10) The circumcision
(11) The Israel of God
(12) A chosen generation
(13) A royal priesthood
(14) A holy nation
(15) A peculiar people
(16) Heirs of the kingdom
(17) The sons of God
(18) Kings and priests of God
(19) The New Jerusalem
(20) The holy city
(21) The people of God
(22) Mount Zion
(23) The city of the living God
The Heavens
The Church
Rom. 8:16
Eph. 2:19
Gal 3:7
Gal 3:29
Rom. 9:8
Ti 2:14 RSV
Gal 3:29
Rom. 8:17
I Cor. 3:16
Phil 3:3
Gal 6:16
I Pet. 2:9
I Pet. 2:9
I Pet. 2:9
I Pet. 2:9
Jas. 2:5
Jn. 1:12
Rev. 1:6
Rev. 3:12
Rev. 21:2
Heb. 4:9
Heb. 12:22
Heb. 12:22
So now, what do
we have? A church that has replaced Israel? - by no means! Rather,
two entities, one heavenly - the church; and one earthly - Israel,
which compliment and mirror the other; both of whichreflect the glory
of God, each in its own respective sphere.
Lastly, one additional
point: this is not simply an academic exercise in "peripheral
matters." How one answers the question concerning Covenant Theology
as opposed to pre-millennial dispensationalism has very grave consequences
- and these consequences go far beyond whether it's permissible for
the church to participate in the political and military activities
of this world. Ultimately, it also colors one's attitude towards Israel
and the Jewish people.
ANTI-SEMITISM
& THE TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE CHURCH ON JUDAISM AND THE JEWISH
PEOPLE
Historically,
anti-Semitism developed in the Western World as a response by the
church [and the Gentile governments that the church's authority ultimately
came to undergird (i.e., the Roman, the Frankish, the Germanic, etc.)]
to the Jewish community's stubborn refusal to give up its claims to
the promises of the Old Testament and quietly disappear as a separate
entity.
If the church
was indeed the "New Israel of God" (as Covenant theologians
postulated) it stood to reason that after the establishment of the
church [and the greater "reality" that the church seemed
to represent], the Jewish community should have been absorbed into
the church, and/or absorbed into the nations into which they had been
dispersed.
After all, was
not Israel merely a "type" or "shadow" of the
church, and when the reality appears, should not the "type"
or the "shadow" disappear, there being no further need of
it? But this was not what occurred.
And not only that,
but the Jewish community - despite the fact of its dispersion - gradually
developed into an astonishingly tightknit, well organized, and - in
some countries - influential community whose organization and arrangement
transcended national boundaries; a community that was international
in scope at a time of growing particularizm, provincialism, and insularism.
What possible
explanation could there be for such a phenomenon? The continued existence
of the Jewish people seemed to defy explanation by any normal standard.
And that was the rub! - it could not be explained on a normal or rational
basis.
No people had
ever before survived so long as a separate entity after losing their
national homeland and being dispersed so widely. The explanation for
such a phenomenon could only be accounted for on some supernatural
ground. But if this was so - and all seem to agree that it was - was
the supernatural presence which so obviously seemed to surround the
Jewish people malevolent or benevolent?
For Covenant theologians,
there could be but one answer to such a question, and that answer
was but the natural consequence of Covenant Theology. It was an "either/or"
situation that the church had created for itself in relation to Israel
and the Jewish people - either the church, or Israel and the Jewish
people.
There was no middle
ground. And if it one believed that the church was of God, than the
presence which surrounded the Jewish people, and which empowered their
continued existence beyond all reason, had to be of the Devil. There
could be no other answer!! And once this conclusion was reached, than
everything else followed - from the stories of their "apostasy"
to the "Judeo-Masonic world-conspiracy" and the Illuminati.
But if, on other
hand, the church could see its way clear to give up its misplaced
earthly ambitions and seek its heritage in the sphere proper to it
(which was to say, the heavens), and on spiritual terms rather than
material terms - than there was room for both.
The "either/or"
situation which had been the traditional approach of the church to
the problem of the Jewish people and Israel dissolved into an arrangement
approximating a partnership. No longer was the relationship between
the church and Israel (the Jewish people) one which was adversarial,
but one which could be based on cooperation.
The concept which
embraced this kind of thinking was called "dispensationalism."
Actually, as we have already discussed, it was not a new theology,
for it had been the theology of the early church, but it was new insofar
as the last 1500 years of church history was concerned.
The development
of this "new" theology was cataclysmic in its reconstruction
of the church's relationship with the Jewish people - just how cataclysmic
can best be judged by comparing the following views, each representative
of the two views mentioned above (i.e., Covenant Theology and pre-millennial
dispensationalism).
First, the traditional
view: Covenant Theology. Great care has been taken to choose as representative
of the "traditionalist" image of the Jewish people and the
state of Israel a view which encompasses in its presentation no overt
anti-Semitic overtones. Nonetheless, it should be noted how easily
such overtones could be injected into such thinking. It is precisely
this kind of thinking which has provided the necessary intellectual
(and theological) nourishment for anti-Semitism.
"We
stated ... that God's promises to Israel were conditional. Dispensationalists
... greatly error in teaching that God ... gave Israel a blank check
... They teach that God's promises to national Israel are binding
upon God - regardless of what Israel does or does not do ...
"...
the crucifixion was Israel's most heinous crime against God. It
was at this point - their treatment of the Messiah - that Israel
failed the most miserably to keep the conditions laid down in
God's promise to her ... What was the penalty for Israel's failure
to meet the conditions laid down by Jehovah, and which climaxed
in her heinous treatment of the Messiah? ...
God withdrew
his presence from Israel as a nation. The Jewish state come to
a bitter end in A.D. 70. Nor will national Israel ever again be
a fruitful nation ... The historic Christian teaching holds that
national Israel was a type or forerunner of the church, and that
the church replaced Israel on the day of Pentecost.
This view
holds that God made two sets of promises to national Israel -
national promises, and spiritual promises. All earthly promises
to Israel have been either fulfilled or invalidated because of
disobedience.
All spiritual
promises are being fulfilled through the church ... The New Testament
teaches that the church is the true heir to the Old Testament
promises, that it alone fits the description of the chosen people
referred to in the Old Testament, that it alone is God's special
instrument for consummating His eternal purpose, and that in the
sight of God there is no longer any difference between the Jewish
nation and all the other nations of the world ...
Once upon
a time there was a real difference between the nation of Israel
and the other nations of the world.
"At Calvary,
however, that distinction vanished as the universality of Christianity
replaced the provincialism of Judaism.(click) ... The church is
the new and spiritual Israel which has replaced the old, natural
Israel.
There are
many people, however, even many believers who embrace instead
the belief that God today does not have only one chosen body of
people, which is the church, but that He has two bodies - the
church which is His 'heavenly' people and the nation of Israel
which is His 'earthly people'.
Israel was
a type of the church, and as such its personalities, institutions
and experiences are for the church 'examples', ... 'figures',
... 'patterns', ... and 'shadows' ... of the new and better things
that were unveiled at Calvary. The great lessons enshrined in
the Old Testament are for the admonition ... and instruction ...
of the church ...
The Scriptures
teach us that in all of God's dealing with mankind, from the time
of Adam ... we may discern the same divine principle at work,
namely, 'first the natural, then the spiritual ...'
God has progressively
revealed His purpose through, first, His dealing with natural
Israel and, second and finally, His dealings with spiritual Israel.
There is no Scriptural basis for the regressive idea that God's
dealing will again be centered ... in natural Israel at some future
date."
*
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
And now the "new"
theology, "dispensationalism" - mark the mighty change.
Hostility (or at least indifference) has given way to love, and scorn
to deep respect.
"For
upwards of 4000 years, amid all civilizations and countries and
under all conditions of government, there has existed a distinct
people, with laws, habits, and customs distinctly their own. The
history of the Jewish race reads like a story from the 'Arabian
Nights', and is without parallel in human history.
Though oppressed,
downtrodden, carried captive to other lands, scattered among the
nations, like the fabled Phoenix they have risen from the ashes
of their dispersions, and appear ... again and again on the pages
of history. They are remarkable in the first place for their 'Antiquity'.
No nation can trace back its lineage by the clear light of reliable
history so far as they.
In comparison
with the Jews the nations which are making the history of the
world today are young. The 'Golden Age' of Israel's glory was
long before the palmy days of Greece and Rome. Long before Socrates
and Plato taught philosophy, or Herodotus wrote history; in the
dim ages of which Homer's 'Iliad' preserves traditions and memorials;
before all other authentic and circumstantial records, the nation
of Israel was an organized, civilized, and well-established people.
They had
a literature before most nations had letters, a literature that
today, in the Scriptures, is more widely diffused than the literature
of any other people.
Assyria has
perished, Babylon is in heaps, Rome has tottered and fallen, Egypt
has become a 'base' kingdom, but the Jew has outlived his conquerors
and walks ... amid the general wreck.
Dispersed
for centuries among all nations, without a national center, capital,
government, flag ... he has never been absorbed by the nations,
nor lost his identity or national peculiarities and characteristics,
and we have the unique spectacle of a nation without a king, government,
or land retaining its national existence, and a land (the Holy
Land) that seems to be under a curse, awaiting the return of its
legal owners [it should be noted that this commentary was written
in 1918, thirty years before the re-establishment of the nation
of Israel].
"No nation
has ever had such manifest and visible tokens of the 'divine presence'.
For them the Red Sea was driven back and the Jordan parted. They
were miraculously fed in the Wilderness, and divinely sheltered
and guided by the Pillar of Cloud and Fire. At the blowing of
ram's horns the walls of a besieged city fell, and the sun and
moon stayed in their courses that they might have time to slay
their enemies.
The angel
of the Lord encamped about them, and one angel slew 185,000 of
the army of Assyria for their deliverance. No nation has given
to the world such a number of great men. Such a man of faith as
Abraham; such a great leader and lawgiver as Moses; such a statesman
as Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon; such a king as David,
and wise man as Solomon. In the First Century there is no name
that shines more resplendent than that of the Apostle Paul ...
"The
preservation of the Jews is the 'Miracle of History'.
"How
are we to account for the wonderful preservation of the Jewish
people? We can only account for it on the supposition that God
had, and still has, some great work for them to do.
In the first
place the Jewish people were raised up to reaffirm and teach that
there is but one God. In the days of Abraham the nations of the
earth were given over to universal idolatry, pantheism and polytheism.
For 2,000 years ... no other people but the Jews believed the
'unity' of God, or taught it.
The Jews
have been the teachers of 'monotheism' to the nations. No Gentile
nation, untouched by Jewish influence, ever became monotheistic.
In the second place, the Jewish people were raised up to be the
writers, preservers, and transmitters of the Holy Scriptures.
To them were committed the 'Oracles of God'. (Rom. 3:1,2) In the
third place, the Jewish people were raised up that God through
them might give the world a Savior. Who was Jesus?
A Jew!! How
carefully His genealogy has been preserved in the Scriptures from
Abraham to His birth at Bethlehem. In the fourth place the Jewish
people were raised up that they might save the world from moral
degradation. When Jesus said, 'Salvation is of (from) the Jews',
(John 4:22) did He simply mean that from them should come the
Savior of the World - Jesus?
Or did he
not mean when he said 'Ye are the salt of the earth' that the
Jewish people were to be the means of preventing the moral degradation
of the world ... that is, the salvation of the nations, morally
and physically, and that the preservation of the human race on
the earth, depends on the preservation and continuance of the
Jews as a people (nation).
"(The
Covenant) with Israel is not a conditional promise, and there is
not a passage in the Bible anywhere that revokes it."
It is this love,
this respect, this awe of the Jewish people which - in the concept
of dispensationalism - came to replace the "Traditional"
view of the church towards Israel and the Jewish people in the thinking
of thousands upon thousands of Christians in America.
And it is this
theology which became a bulwark against the spread of anti-Semitism
here in America before and during the Second World War, a bulwark
which threw back the assaults of this pestilent disease here at a
time when these same assaults were swamping European civilization
on a scale never before witnessed by man.
FOOTNOTES
1. Charles Caldwell
Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today. Chicago: Moody Press, 1965, 44-46.
2. Lewis Sperry Chafer. Systematic Theology. Dallas: Dallas Seminary
Press, 1947, pg. 107.
3. Please see J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1958, pg. 65.
4. Ibid., pg. 42.
5. Charles Fred Lincoln, "The Covenants." Unpublished Doctor's
dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas, 1942, pg.
26.
6. Ibid., pg. 26.
7. G.N.H. Peters, Theocratic Kingdom I, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1952,
pgs. 290-291.
8. Lincoln, op. cit., pg. 181.
9. Pentecost, op. cit., pg. 69.
10. Please see Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, IV, pgs.
317-323; also J Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come, pgs. 96-97.
11. Please see J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come, pg. 101.
12. John Walvoord, "Millennial Series," Bibliotheca Sacra,
110:98-99, April, 1953.
13. Pentecost, op. cit., pg. 118.
14. Please see Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today. Chicago:
Moody Press, 1965, 44-46.
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