I recently ran across a video about
dispensationalism. Actually it was not so much about
dispensationalism as it was the pre-tib rapture, but the first video
in the series was all about why you cannot believe in a pre-trib
rapture, unless you believe in dispensationalism. Thus the video
began by spending a good portion of time showing why
dispensationalists believe in this doctrine of dispensationalism.
I have had trouble understanding why
pre-tribbers have such a hard time seeing the rapture as anything but
a pre-trib rapture, given the multitude of Scriptures that refute it.
I grew up with the dispensational and pre-trib doctrine,
unfortunately, but I guess I never really put it together that
pre-trib is the only
viewpoint one can take if one is a dispensationalist, otherwise the
whole belief system falls apart. This is why it is so heartily
defended. To let go of a pre-trib doctrine is to let go of the entire
dispensational belief system.
In this youtube video (titled Les Feldick Why We Stand on Pre-Trib Rapture) a Mr. Les Feldick from
the Les Feldick Ministries was explaining that hatred is growing for
the pre-trib rapture position. He posits that this is not because
people have studied their Bibles and have found it to be
unscriptural, but that they do not believe in a rapture. He says,
“We're gonna start on the premise that you cannot, you cannot
understand the concept of the rapture and the tribulation, and the
Second Coming, and the kingdom without being a dispensationalist.”
The first error one can see in this
statement, which represents the dispensational viewpoint, is that the
concept of a rapture cannot be understood unless you are a
dispensationalist. (The idea that you cannot understand the concept
of the tribulation, Second Coming and God's Kingdom without being a
dispensationalist is not even worthy of arguing, it is so absurd.)
The truth is, the tribulation, rapture, Second Coming, and kingdom
can all be seen by anyone who studies the Scriptures. What will not
be seen is a pre-trib rapture, unless you adopt a
dispensational approach to the Scriptures. If you do not hold to
dispensationalism, which by definition requires
a pre-tribulational rapture, you will not come to the conclusion of a
pre-tribulation rapture at all. So the situation exists that their
entire doctrine of dispensationalism falls apart if a pre-trib
rapture does not exist and vice versa. Apart from this belief
system, one will not see a pre-tribulational rapture in the
Scriptures.
Mr. Feldick then
continues to explain that the word “dispensation” is hated and
feared by those who do not agree with dispensationalism and a
pre-trib rapture. This view is also an absurd idea. We do not fear
it, although we dislike it, because it leads people astray from the
truth. We see it as an obstacle to the truth and keeping people in
deception. A deception which will cause many to fall from the faith
when their expectations are not fulfilled and they do not understand
what is going on. But that is the end result of the belief. What we
need to examine is how they came to the idea of dispensations at the
start.
It is
then explained that the idea of dispensationalism comes from the
Bible itself, and Mr. Feldick references the only four verses in the
Bible that use the word “dispensation” and from which they build
their doctrine and the use of the word. He says, “Dispensationally
speaking, everything that God has done from Adam in the garden, down
through the very end of the kingdom age and we go into eternity, is
based on a dispensational approach to Scripture. Now we usually
define a dispensation as simply as possible. A dispensation is a
period of time during which God deals with the human race in a
particular way.” He then uses the comparison of a person going to a
doctor and getting a prescription which he gets filled. This first
prescription has instructions. Then going back for another ailment,
the person gets another prescription with different instructions. The
person combines the two prescriptions thinking it more efficient, but
then has no instructions to follow thus creating confusion as to what
to do with the medicine. He says that to use the whole Bible to
understand the rapture and end times is like mixing medicines. You
will only end up with confusion, because you are trying to mix the
teachings of one dispensation with the teachings of another.
The
trouble with this comparison is that it bears no resemblance to the
actual situation. First of all, man has only one ailment. Sin. There
is and has always been only one prescription or remedy for sin -
salvation through Jesus Christ. From the beginning, God's
instructions were to believe in God, have faith in the promise of a
redeemer, and obey whatever commands God gives. That was what was at
the beginning and that is exactly the way it has been ever since. We
have not been given two different medicines which we must not mix.
There is only one way of God's dealing with man and man responding to
God. God extends us grace to believe, have faith, and obey Him.
Nothing has changed. There are not two medicines with two completely
different set of instructions. Belief and faith, which are the
essential aspects, never change. Neither does the command to be
obedient. The essential rules, the Ten Commandments, were around long
before Moses and always will be around. They have not been done away
with. Other rules (such as temple rules) may have only been for a
particular time as most of the civil, temple, dietary, and etc. laws
were for a nation under a theocracy, not for the world at large nor
for all of time. Before the flood God forbid the eating of flesh.
After the flood He instituted it. These rules are not about
salvation, they are simply rules for living under the conditions God
has given, which change, so thus do the rules for living. The Ten
Commandments on the other hand are the guide for living a holy life in righteousness, pleasing to God, so they are unalterable, but salvation comes through faith in the
redeemer alone, not through the laws. This is how it has always been from Adam and Eve to
today and will be up through to eternity.
Abraham
knew about God's commandments and statutes, and I suspect so did the
patriarchs before him, or he would not have known them either.
Genesis 26:5 “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and
kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
God told Israel to remember the
Sabbath. It was a statute from the very first week of creation. I am
pretty sure “thou shalt not kill”
was instituted after Cain killed Abel. For those who think Christians
are under no obligation to keep the commandments, Christ told us in
John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
I know many a Christian who argue that Christ reduced them to simply
“love”, but if one looks at the Ten Commandments, one sees that
the guidelines for how to love both God and our neighbor are found
there. Therefore we should be keeping them. The testimony (which is
what God calls the Ten Commandments) is found in the ark in heaven. I
think if God has established them there, they are pretty important
for us to observe. Revelation 11:19 “And the temple of
God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of
his testament: and there were lightnings, and
voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”
One of
the first problems we encounter in this laying down of the foundation
of the doctrine of dispensation is that a completely wrong definition
of the word “dispensation” is used to build the doctrine. While
the dictionary might define it as “a system of order,
government, or organization of a nation, community, etc., especially
as existing at a particular time,” the Greek word “oikonomia”
which has been translated “dispensation” does not mean that, even
though it seems that the dispensationalists use that definition to
build their doctrine. They are wrong. It means, according to
Strong's concordance, “administration of a household or estate,
stewardship.” In other words, it is not a system of government or
organization that God changes with each new era. It means to have
stewardship over something that belongs to another. If one looks at
the four verses that are quoted, one sees that this is the way it
should be understood, not as a way of God dealing with man, which has
never changed, or a time period. It is merely the outer trappings
which have changed. To use a metaphor, the clothes on the man, as it
were, have changed, not the man inside them. The following four
verses are the basis for a dispensational doctrine.
1 Corinthians 9:17 “For if I do
this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a
dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”
Ephesians 1:10 “That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth; even in him:”
Ephesians 3:2 “If ye have heard of
the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward:”
Colossians 1:25 “Whereof I am made
a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me
for you, to fulfil the word of God;”
In 1 Corinthians it does not say that a
period of time of God's dealing with man has been committed to Paul.
It says that the stewardship of the gospel (keeping it in truth,
watching over it) has been committed to Paul as he will spread it.
In Ephesians 1:10 Mr. Feldick says that
this verse does not refer to our present dispensation, but to another
time period in the future. Does it not rather say that in the
administration of the household of God, Christ will gather all which
are in heaven and earth unto Him under His stewardship?
In Ephesians 3:2 it is not talking of
the time period of God's grace which is given to Paul for us. It is
the stewardship of the administration of the house of God which was
given to Paul over the church. Paul was an apostle. He was an
authority on what God's house should be. It is not speaking of a time
period, it is speaking of stewardship. We look to Paul's writings to
help us understand how we relate to the Old Testament, not how we can
forget it exists.
Mr. Feldick says that God used rules to
deal with man until Christ came and gave us grace. Adam and Eve had
one rule. After they sinned a new dispensation began. Then another
new dispensation under the Laws of Moses. This is not true. The
original rule itself was irrelevant. It was the obedience that
counted. The knowledge of good and evil did not exist in the fruit.
It existed in the disobedience. It has not always been about the
rules and each new dispensation brought a new set of rules that
provided the means of salvation for their time period. God has not dealt with man in different
ways at different times, because He had different rules. God has
always extended grace to those who had faith. By grace through faith
has always been the way of salvation. Adam and Eve didn't need
salvation until after they sinned. That was when God started dealing
with man about salvation. Rules were merely in place to show us a
guide for living righteously before God, or in the case of Israel as
the laws of a nation for civil and religious obedience. And in the case of the Ten
Commandments, to also show us our sin. Rules and sacrifices were never a means of
salvation....... ever. They were a way of showing obedience and belief and faith in the promise. God did not deal with man by rules alone.......
ever. He punished disobedience just as He still punishes
disobedience. The rules have nothing to do with how God deals with
man on the issue of salvation. The means of salvation has been and
always will be by grace through faith.
God's grace has existed from the
beginning. Genesis 6:8 “Noah found grace in
the eyes of the LORD.” Exodus 33:17 “And the LORD said
unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou
hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by
name.” Jeremiah 31:2 “Thus saith the LORD, The people
which were left of the sword found grace in the
wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”
God has always dealt with man in one way, by grace through faith. It
was always belief and faith that brought God's grace, along with
obedience. The rules were merely for us to show God our love and
obedience, not to earn our salvation.
James 2:23 “And the scripture was
fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and
it was imputed unto him for
righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.”
Hebrews 11:3-39 “Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear. By faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he
obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith
Enoch was translated that he should not see
death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before
his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned
the world, and became heir of the righteousness which
is by faith.
By faith Abraham, when
he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. Through faith also
Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she
judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in
multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them,
and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly
that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of
that country from whence they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country,
that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their
God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
By faith Abraham, when
he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac
shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him
up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when
he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped,
leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph,
when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of
Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. By
faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of
his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were
not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of
God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he
had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith
he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured,
as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith
he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that
destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they
passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians
assaying to do were drowned.
By faith the walls of
Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that
believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what
shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon,
and of Barak, and of Samson,
and of Jephthae; of David
also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight
the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life
again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they
might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins;
being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not
worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and
caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise.”
It does not say that all of these
people obtained salvation through obeying the laws of their
dispensation. God dealt with all of them the same way. They believed
and had faith. They obtained the good report through faith, even
though they never saw the promise of the Savior in their lifetimes.
In Colossians 1:25 Paul says he has
been made a minister by the dispensation of God. God chose him to be
a steward of the gospel. He was responsible for presenting the gospel
and training Christian believers. That is what is meant here. He is
not teaching them to forsake the Old Testament and adopt an entirely
new belief that has nothing to do with Judaism. Not at all. Christ
is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The trappings were to
change, but the message is the same one Israel was given. They were
to expect a Savior to save them from their sins. One who would
eventually set up His kingdom on earth. We also believe in a Savior
who saves us from our sins and will set up His kingdom on earth.
There is no difference in the message. God is dealing with us through
His plan of redemption which existed from eternity.
While Mr. Feldick would have us eschew
the Old Testament, in Hebrews we are told to move on from the basics
of the faith, repentence, baptism, etc., which is the “milk” and
move on to the “meat”. As the only other “meat” at the time
was the Old Testament, given that the New Testament was not created
yet, and all people heard and knew was the gospel of Jesus Christ
through the apostles, the only thing they had to study was the Old
Testament. Hence it was the meat. If they were being told to study it
for discernment, as it is the “meat” or the really deep theology
(the bulk of prophecy is there), should we not also be studying it,
so that we learn how to discern the prophecies in the New Testament?
So it can be seen that the whole idea
of dispensationalism is not Scriptural, but a made up doctrine. Quite
honestly it is a doctrine of demons, for this doctrine has led to the
church separating themselves entirely from the teachings found in the
Old Testament. This is exactly what Mr Feldick says we should do - not
study the Old Testament to give us understanding of the end times,
for that would be mixing dispensations. The truth is, you cannot
understand the New Testament teachings on the end times and rapture
unless you have a thorough
working knowledge of the Old Testament. Without all the information
it gives you to help decipher what is in the New Testament, you can
make a great many errors in foundational beliefs.
Mr. Feldick refers
to the Pharisees of Jesus' time and says that their problem was that
they missed the signs of His coming. The irony is, Mr. Feldick and
those who believe in an imminent return of Christ, which is not
taught in Scripture, do not know the signs of His Second Coming, and
therefore will be as blind to it as the Pharisees were to the first
coming.
One of the first
rules of brainwashing people or mentally preparing people to accept
something that would not be readily acceptable under normal
circumstances (knowing their Bible in this case) is to change the
normal definitions of terms that will be used to change a belief
system. In the case of a pre-trib rapture that is exactly how it was
managed to get people to start believing in a concept that is not
Scriptural. As shown above, the first definition that was changed was
“dispensation,” which laid the foundation for creating the idea
that Israel was under a different dispensation from the Church,
therefore God would never deal with the two at the same time. It
seems to have escaped the notice of dispensationalists that God did
not destroy the temple for forty years after Christ died, while the
Church began to grow. A Church that was made up of both Jews and
Gentiles.
A
second definition that was changed was the term “tribulation.”
Christ defines the term for us in the Olivet Discourse. Matthew
24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was
not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be.” This time of great
tribulation of which Christ speaks is the time which follows the
setting up of the abomination of desolation, which Christ tells us
can be found in more detail in the book of Daniel. A reference in
Revelation in the letter to the church at Thyatira is the only other
reference to a specific time called the great tribulation. These two
places alone are the only places that use that term “tribulation”
to describe this time period, which clearly is said to start at the
abomination of desolation. Dispensationalists go to Daniel, as
instructed by Christ, and in Daniel 9:27 where it says,
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in
the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation
to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it
desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be
poured upon the desolate,”
they take the term “tribulation” and make it synonymous with the
“one week” mentioned in this verse. There is absolutely nothing
in Scripture that would indicate that one should do this. In fact,
just the opposite. It says that in the middle of the week, the
abomination will occur. Christ tells us that it is from that point on
that the time of tribulation will take place. So to apply the term
tribulation to the entire week (of seven years) is to deliberately
mis-define the word “tribulation” for the sake of confusing the
issue The entire seven year period is not anywhere defined as all a
time of tribulation. But in so mis-defining the time period, it allows
them to further misrepresent what that time is about.
The next thing that
needed to be done to the word “tribulation” to make this doctrine
work, was to also redefine it as meaning wrath. In particular they
redefine the word to mean God's wrath. Tribulation is a translation
of the Greek word “thlipsis” which means “anguish, persecution,
and trouble.” Wrath is either the Greek word “orge” which
means “violent anger, passion, punishment, indignation, vengeance”
or “thumos” meaning “passion, fierceness, indignation.” The
Hebrew word for wrath of God is “ebrah” meaning “outburst of
passion, anger, rage.” In all cases, wrath means the same thing,
which is not at all the same as tribulation. Clearly these are two
(in English) different words (tribulation and wrath) with two
different definitions. If they were the same, the Greek words would
have been the same, but they are not. One speaks of God's anger,
indignation, and rage. The other speaks of persecution, anguish, and
trouble. Persecution is something humans suffer at the hands of
either Satan and his minions or other humans. God does not persecute.
God punishes. Persecution is aimed at God's people from Satan and his
followers. God's wrath is aimed at God's enemies and comes from God.
God does not aim His wrath at His people, but He does allow Satan to
persecute us. The great tribulation is a time of great persecution.
We find this time mentioned in Daniel 12:1 using another term –
trouble. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall
be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even
to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
every one that shall be found written in the book.”
Specifically this is called Jacob's trouble in another verse.
Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like
it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out
of it.” Because it is called Jacob's trouble, dispensationlists further use this as proof that this time is for Jews alone. What else would it say in the Old Testament? The church was unknown at that time. The writings of the prophet were given to Israel. It is in reading the New Testament that we see that the Church is also included in this time period, as well as Israel. In fact, in retrospect we can see that God did clue us in that the church was a part of this in the Old Testament, for in Daniel it says the "saints" will be given over to the beast. We are the saints.
Now, by redefining
tribulation as God's wrath, and redefining Daniels' week all as the
tribulation, and now going to a verse 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ,” the idea that Christians cannot be around
through Daniel's week is “proven” through the manipulation of
redefining words. Thus by their deduction, if Christians cannot be
here during that seven year period, they must by necessity be
raptured before it begins. Hence a dividing line between the Church
and Israel, hence a different dispensation. It seems to matter not to
them that multitudes of verses refute this idea. As far as they are
concerned they have created a pre-tribulation rapture and have
“proven” it Scriptually. But as we can see, this proof rests
upon misdefining words to create a situation which does not exist. So
what does Scripture actually say?
The
Bible says that there will be a seven year period, otherwise referred
to as Daniel's 70th
week. Halfway through that week we have an event called the
abomination of desolation. From that point for an unspecified length
of time, we are told there will be a time called the great
tribulation. Tribulation by definition means persecution, and we are
told that this persecution of God's people will be greater than
anything the world has ever seen before. So far, there is no
indication that the Church, as God's people, cannot be a part of this. Rather, a
number of Scriptures tell us we will be there during it. This is not
God's wrath. So where does God's wrath come into this?
An Old
Testament term for God's wrath is the “Day of the Lord”. We are
told that when the Day of the Lord comes, God will pour out His
wrath. We are also told of signs to look for that will occur before
the Day of the Lord occurs. As
Mr. Feldick pointed out about the Pharisees who missed the signs of
Christ's first coming, there are signs of His Second Coming that
Christ clearly tells us, that dispensationalists are totally
ignoring. We are told the following about the Day of the Lord. Isaiah
13:10 “For the stars of heaven and the constellations
thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his
going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.”
Isaiah 34:4 “And all
the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be
rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as
the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig
tree.” Joel 2:31 “The
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.”
Joel 3:15 “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and
the stars shall withdraw their shining.”
Acts 2:20 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord
come:”
So in
multiple verses we are told that there will be particular signs in
the heavens before the
Day of the Lord, God's wrath, occurs. These signs will herald the
coming of the Day of God's wrath.
Those signs are 1) the stars will stop shining and fall from the
sky, 2) the sun will be darkened, 3) the moon will be darkened/turned
to blood, 4) the sky will be rolled up like a scroll. These are very
specific signs that do not occur in the normal course of events.
While the sun can be eclipsed, and the moon can be eclipsed, these
two are never eclipsed at the same time. We do have a phenomena of
“stars” falling from the sky in the form of meteor showers. But
again, they do not occur when the eclipses do. And the sky is never
seen to roll up as a scroll. So when we see these signs listed again
in Scripture, we should take note that it is speaking of the same
event, the signs that herald the approach of God's wrath being poured
out on the world.
So
where do we see these signs in relation to Daniel's 70th
week and the great tribulation? Christ tells us exactly where these
signs will occur in relation to the great tribulation. He says, and I
quote from Matthew 24:29-30 “Immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son
of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory.” Christ tells us that
the signs that God's wrath is going to be poured out occur
immediately after
the great tribulation.
So now
if we go to the verse that says we are not appointed to God's wrath,
we see that there is no reason to not go through the great
tribulation, for it is not God's wrath. We have not been exempted
from persecution. In fact, it is quite the opposite. We are told to
expect persecution and tribulation in life. The entire idea of a
pre-trib rapture has evolved from something as simple as erroneous
definitions. Erroneous definitions have laid an erroneous foundation upon which an
erroneous doctrine (dispensationalism) has resulted. All of Scripture
teaches that the Church must endure Satan's wrath and persecution and
in fact we are told exactly that in Revelation. Chapter 12:7-17 “And
there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not;
neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our
God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is
cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters
of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is
come down unto you, having great wrath, because
he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw
that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted
the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were
given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and
times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent
cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might
cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the
woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was
wroth with the woman, and went to make war with
the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.”
Revelation
13:7 “And it was given unto him to make war
with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given
him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
This
idea is not just found in Revelation. It is also found in Daniel 7:21
“I beheld, and the same horn made war with the
saints, and prevailed against them;”
The
saints, the remnant of the seed of Israel who have the testimony of
Jesus Christ is the Church. We are the seed of Abraham by faith, so
we are also the seed of Israel. Dispensationalism
wants to separate the Church from Israel, but while Israel as
a nation has a different place
in the scheme of things, Christianity is not a separate entity from
the faith of Judaism. It is the culmination of Judaism. Had Israel
not rejected her Savior, there would have still been a temple, just
as there will again be in the millennium. God would have continued to
deal with man as He always has, by grace through faith in the Savior.
The only difference between then and now being that instead of being
on the front side of His coming, we are on the backside. Just as God
spent forty years preparing the Church to take over for Israel as His
spokesman, so He will spend seven years preparing Israel to take over
from the Church. They overlap each other; there is no dispensational
dividing line. It is just that the torch is being passed from one runner on the team to
the other and back again.
It is,
always has been, and always will be the job of the faithful to spread
the good news or gospel of the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the
world. That is the only dispensation there has ever been. Ever since
God gave Eve the promise of a redeemer, the faithful have looked
forward to His coming. First they looked for what we know to be His
first coming. Now we look for His second coming. Israel was the
steward of that good news, (although they failed by adopting paganism
into their beliefs and rejecting Him when He came because they did
not know the signs) and now we are the stewards (and the Church has
done the same thing by adopting paganism into our beliefs and not
knowing the signs of His second coming). Israel's whole way of
living as a nation- the temple, synagogues, the Scriptures, and the
feasts - taught that the Savior would come to save the world from
their sins and bring in a new kingdom, and was a witness to the world
of God's redemptive plan. We have churches and teach through the
words of Scripture, ordinances, and our personal testimonies that He
did come to save us from our sins and will come again to reign in a
new kingdom. Our way of living as individuals within an invisible
corporate body is supposed to be a witness to the world of God's
redemptive plan. In the millennium the kingdom will finally come to
pass as Christ reigns over the world through both the nation of
Israel with a new temple, and through the Church who will act as His
judges. They will not be separate, because they are not separate
dispensations. If they were, how could they work together in the
millennium?
Using
Mr. Feldick's definition of dispensation, faith in that Savior is
the only dispensation (way that God deals with man) there has ever
been from Adam and Eve, (she was given the first prophecy of a
Savior) to the present time, and on into eternity. There is only one
dispensation when defined that way. God is merely using different
trappings to teach that redemptive plan. Israel was given writings, the
Temple, feasts, and prophets to teach about His first and
second coming. The Church was given the same writings (O.T.) plus
more writings (N.T.), the Holy Spirit to all believers (in place of
the temple and unlike the O.T. where the Spirit was only given to
certain individuals), and ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper
(observing the feasts is optional, although technically the Lord's
Supper is the Passover seder) to teach about His first and second
comings. The message has remained the same through all time. The Redeemer will(has) come, die(d) for our sins, rise(n) from the dead, and set up His kingdom on earth. Christ has come and died,
Christ has risen, Christ will come again and reign. Israel didn't always
understand that message, but that does not mean God had not given it
to them. The Church also doesn't seem to understand a lot of the
message about His Second Coming either. History seems to repeat
itself. God said that faith and belief in that Savior by His grace
would save people. That message was the same then, now, and always.
It has never changed. There have merely been different delivery
systems. God did not deal with man in a different way, He merely
wrapped the package differently.
