Dispensationalism

Definitions:

  • A divinely appointed order or age; A stewardship or administration (οἰκονόμος)
  • A dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the outworking on God’s purpose (Charles Ryrie)

 

The point of this article is to give an overview of Dispensationalism and show how the Dispensational view of things can help us better understand the prophecies of the Endtimes. Of course it must be correct, aside from whether it helps us or not.

In our Statement of Faith you will find a traditional definition of Dispensationalism, but as it relates to Endtimes prophecy, and the idea of Dispensational Premillennialism, allow me to start with the following statements from Lewis Sperry Chafer:

  • Any person is a dispensationalist who trusts the blood of Christ rather than bringing an animal sacrifice.
  • Any person is a dispensationalist who disclaims any right or title to the land which God covenanted to Israel for an everlasting inheritance.
  • Any person is a dispensationalist who observes the first day of the week rather than the seventh

 

The simple reveal here is that most Christians already understand that the Jews were God’s chosen people, and as such, they uniquely had the blessing of the scriptures, the covenant promises and the detailed requirements of God (only for the Jews) explained in the Torah. (the first five books of the Bible.) As Christians we see clearly and intuitively that God worked in a special way with the Jews, and that the New Testament Church is something new and different, and yet dependent on what came before it. (The Gentiles are Grafted in Romans 11:17) There is progression in the revelation of God through his dealing with the subjects of the Age or Dispensation. Therefore, the Church is NOT Israel 2.0. The Church does not REPLACE Israel. It is NOT God’s Plan B, as if the Jews did something unexpected, thus thwarting all of God’s promises to them.

 

Israel lived in the Dispensation of the Mosaic Law.

It can’t be that simple can it? Not quite, but it helps to cut through any confusion or fear that this is too complicated to understand.

The next hint before reading the definition is to recognize that the stated points of Dispensationalism come from observations made during an inductive Bible study. It is not a man-made or manufactured idea. The word does exist in the bible. (Ephesians) Dispensationalism is a term to describe what we see in the Bible at a macro (high-level) view, while the above quote from Chafer contains the more simplified thoughts. Others might interpret the Bible through the lens of the Covenants without the distinctions made here, but we think that may cause problems in getting to the intended meaning.

From our Statement of Faith…

“We believe that the dispensations are stewardships by which God administers His purpose on the earth through man under varying responsibilities.

We believe that the changes in the dispensational dealings of God with man depend on changed conditions or situations in which man is successively found with relation to God, and that these changes are the result of the failures of man and the judgments of God.

We believe that different administrative responsibilities of this character are manifest in the biblical record, that they span the entire history of mankind, and that each ends in the failure of man under the respective test and in an ensuing judgment from God.

We believe that three of these dispensations or rules of life are the subject of extended revelation in the Scriptures, viz., the dispensation of the Mosaic law, the present dispensation of grace, and the future dispensation of the millennial kingdom.

We believe that these are distinct and are not to be intermingled or confused, as they are chronologically successive.”

 

 

Dispensationalism is distinguished by three key principles.

  1. A clear distinction between God’s program for Israel and God’s program for the Church.
  2. A consistent and regular use of a literal principle of interpretation
  3. The understanding of the purpose of God as His own glory rather than the salvation of mankind.

 

The Church has not replaced Israel

God is not finished with Israel. Israel’s rejection of Jesus their Messiah led to their judgement and deportation from the promised land (Titus 70 A.D.), and caused them to be set aside temporarily, as the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 11.

Romans 11 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery – so that you will not be wise in your own estimation – that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved

Note also the Land promise in Genesis 12, and Genesis 13:14-15 is clear. God makes a covenant, a binding agreement with Abraham and his offspring, the Jews, that included an inheritance of land. “The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”

Clearly the land of Israel was not given to the Church, and the Church cannot now claim that land as our everlasting possession. 

A plain reading of the passage says exactly what it sounds like. The promise is to Abraham and his offspring or seed – forever.  We have a deeper dive page that will give much more evidence on this subject: Endtimes in OT Covenants

 

The Literal principle of Interpretation 

The most important anchor of the Dispensational framework is the Literal method of interpretation, or hermeneutic. We go much deeper into this in the Foundations: Interpreting the Bible section. 

We established first that the Bible is God-breathed, inspired by God in the original manuscripts. Next that the normal or plain reading of scripture, which is the norm for anyone that studies the bible, is also to be used for prophetic texts. That is where we take a turn away from many church denominations, who have decided that prophecy should NOT be interpreted literally, but figuratively or symbolically. (described in our Intro to Bible Interpretation)

As a consequence of the plain literal reading, we see Israel as one focus of the Endtimes, the other being judgement of the nations and Satan. The Church is actually nowhere to be found in the Tribulation period of the Endtimes. In fact, the Old Testament describes the Tribulation period of the Endtimes as “the time of Jacob’s trouble”. Jacob is the father of the Jews. (Jeremiah 30:7, Daniel 12:1)

There are 26 New Testament books that precede the book of Revelation, both chronologically in their organization in the NT, and in the order that they were written. Revelation was the last book penned – by decades, and yet, the Church which dominates those 26 books is never mentioned in the last book. The People of the New Testament (The Church) are not found in the book of Revelation after chapter 3 – the letters. The events of the Tribulation period start in Revelation chapter 4. Why is that?

  • Israel is mentioned by name in Revelation 7, Revelation 12, Revelation 21
  • Jesus describes and warns the Jews about the Endtimes in Matthew 24. “those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.”
  • Jesus makes it clear that he believes in a literal interpretation of Daniels prophecy about the AntiChrist. “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet” (Matt 24:15-16)
  • Note: the Multitude of Martyr’s standing before the throne in Revelation 7 are once again called The Nations – Gentiles. This is a very important distinction.
  • Christians will not be participating in animal sacrifices in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Church will be long gone. 

 

Therefore, one of the key conclusions of Dispensationalism is the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. The Christian Age is over at the start of the Tribulation, and the time of Jacob’s trouble begins. (see Church in Prophecy, The Rapture)

 

Israel’s Legacy in the Endtimes, and place of honor in eternity

In the Endtimes we see Israel back in the promised land, and at some point, as Jeremiah 31 says – cleansed, and given a new heart. (Gen 12, Deut 30, 2 Sam 7, Jeremiah 31)

Surely a people (Israel) that are disenfranchised, cut off from God will not be named in the gates of the (eternal) new Jerusalem, will they?

Revelation 21:12 – It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

Revelation 21:14 – And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Luke 22:28-30 – “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

These verses support the literal reading of the Old Testament Covenants, the Dispensational view of Israel from Romans 11, and the idea that the Tribulation period has God focusing again on Israel, as foretold in Daniel 9.

 

Conclusion

Using the Literal-Grammatical Historical method of interpretation for the OT covenants and prophecy leads to a specific set of core beliefs about God’s kingdom program, and what the future will hold for the Nation of Israel and for the Church. We therefore recognize a distinction between Israel and the Church, and a promised future earthly reign of Christ on the throne of David (2 Samuel 7) (Luke 1:30) – as the Jews understood it, and as the literal reading makes clear. This leads to a more clear and understandable view of the Endtimes, especially as it relates to the Purpose and People of the Endtimes.

  • Israel must be re-gathered to their land as promised by God. Against all odds this happened in 1948.
  • Daniel’s seventieth week prophecy specifically refers to the purging of the Nation of Israel (Ezekiel 20), and not the Church. These were the clear words spoken to Daniel. The church doesn’t need purging from sin. It is already clean.
  • The warnings in Matthew 24 are directed at the Jews, and not the Church
  • A Pre-Tribulation rapture – Israel is seen in the book of Daniel as the focus during the tribulation, not the Church. God removes the elect when he brings judgment on the world. i.e. (Noah, John 14, 1 Thess 4:16, Revelation 3)
  • Premillennialism – A literal 1000 year Millennial Kingdom, where Christ returns at the end of the Tribulation (Revelation 19) and before the Millennium starts. Revelation 20 doesn’t give us a reason to interpret the 1000 years as symbolic. In this expanded revelation we see the fulfillment of the promised literal earthly reign of Christ. Note the chronological order of events between Revelation 19-21.

 

The outstanding characteristic of the dispensationalist is the fact that he believes every statement of the Bible and gives to it the plain, natural meaning its words imply. Lewis Sperry Chafer

 

Charles Ryrie in his book Dispensationalism points out that some Christians have called Dispensationalism heretical. None of the points made above, such as the literal 1000-year messianic kingdom, impacts one’s belief in any essential Christian doctrine. However, the distinction between Israel and the Church described here does lead to a more clear understanding of Endtimes prophecy. Dispensational thinking does not need to explain away things that sound literal, but don’t line up with some preconceptions or theological systems. The dilemma is similar to those that deny miracles. They are forced to interpret the miracle non-literally since they don’t believe in miracles.

 

The History of Dispensationalism

While the opponents of Dispensationalism will point out that as a system of theology it is relatively new, it is notable that there is evidence from the early church writers that there was clearly an understanding that God dealt with His people differently in progressive dispensations, and that Israel wasn’t seen as replaced by the Church. A small reference to some of these writings is found in ‘The Moody Handbook of Theology” by Paul Enns. He mentions the following Christians as being in the history of the development of Dispensationalism.

  • Justin Martyr (A.D. 110-165)
  • Iranaeus (A.D. 130-200)
  • Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-220)
  • Augustine (A.D. 354-430)

 

Of the above Ryrie says “It is not suggested nor should it be inferred that these early Church Fathers were dispensationalists in the modern sense of the word. But it is true that some of them enunciated principles which later developed into Dispensationalism, and it may be rightly said that they held primitive or early dispensational concepts.” With this understanding, the following have written in support of some or all dispensational principles.

 

Some Dispensational writers

  • Pierre Poiret (1646-1719)
  • John Edwards (1637-1716)
  • Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
  • John Nelson Darby (1800-1882)
  • C.I. Scofield (1843-1921)
  • Lewis Sperry Chafer
  • Charles Ryrie
  • Dwight Pentecost
  • John Walvoord

 

Seminaries

 

 

Book Recommendation
Dispensationalism – Charles Ryrie