Dispensationalism By Jake Gurley III 1. History A. John Nelson Darby was a priest in the Church of England in the early 1800 s when he was injured in a fall off of a horse. 1) While he was recuperating, he realized he was dissatisfied with the church and joined a Bible study group of others who had the same thoughts. 2) This group became known as the Plymouth Brethren, and grew to over a thousand in number by 1845. 3) By that time, he had developed his dispensational ideas and had traveled around Europe presenting them to churches. B. He also began to travel to America to promote Dispensationalism. 1) He began his work with Plymouth Brethren in Canada, New York, Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis. 2) He found support in the journal Prophetic Times of Joseph Seiss, and James Inglis journal Waymarks in the Wilderness. 3) The Bible Conference movement was beginning with the Niagara Conference led by James H. Brookes attempting to counter the growing influence of liberal theology from Europe. 4) Biblical prophecy became a prominent feature with many dispensationalists promoting Darby s system, until it finally shut down in 1900 due to factional disputes among the premillennialists. 5) In addition, dispensationalist W.E. Blackstone wrote the book Jesus is Coming (1878) to make Dispensationalism understandable to the masses, and C.I. Scofield produced his popular reference Bible with footnotes referencing all possible texts having to do with Dispensationalism. 6) Thus, Dispensationalism came first to the masses, bypassing the church hierarchies to convince believers in Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, and other denominations, regardless of their own church s eschatological doctrines. 7) They developed their own support and marketing through establishing publishing houses (Zondervan, Baker, David C. Cook...); Bibles (Scofield and Ryrie Study Bibles ); colleges and seminaries (Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological and Talbot seminaries ); endless promotions through popular radio and TV preachers (Billy Graham, Charles Swindoll, Chuck Smith ); fictionalized books like Hal Lindsey s Late Great Planet Earth, and Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins Left Behind series; and various Bible and Prophecy conferences. 2. Dispensational Hermeneutics A. Hermeneutics is the method of interpretation. B. Dispensational hermeneutics of the Bible, especially prophecy, is the desire to take the meaning of the text at face value, literally, or its simple or plain meaning.
C. Only when the text is obviously symbolic, or when the literal meaning does not make sense is another option applied. 3. Basic Dispensational Beliefs A. The word dispensation comes from the King James Version of the Bible (1 Cor 9:17, Eph 1:10, 3:1, Col 1:25). 1) It is a translation of the Greek word oikonomia which refers to the household management, or stewardship of a household. 2) Dispensationalism views the world as the household of God, and world history as consecutive periods in which salvation is managed differently. 3) This was not an entirely new idea since there had been previous attempts to categorize history by Irenaeus, Augustine, Joachim and others 4) Darby categorized salvation history into seven segments, or dispensations. 5) The course of church history is also divided into seven segments based on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. 6) According to these divisions, the current time is in the seventh stage of world history, and the seventh stage of church history. 7) What follow the end of these stages are the Rapture, Tribulation, Millennium, and the end of the heavens and earth as they are now known. B. The two plans: Israel and the church. 1) Central to Dispensational teaching is separate plans for God s people. a) The first plan was given to Israel based on the promises and covenants given to Abraham, Moses, and David to be fulfilled in the Millennium. b) Because of Israel s rejection of Christ their plan was paused to enable the Gentiles to move forward as the focus of salvation. c) At the conclusion of the time of the Gentiles (at their rapture), Israel s plan will be resumed to continue into the Tribulation and Millennium. d) The time of Israel is phase one of salvation history and phase two is the time of the Gentiles, and phase three is the resumption of Israel until their promises have been fulfilled. e) The time of the Gentiles is called a pause or parenthesis in which the time of Israel is suspended, and the focus of salvation is on the Gentiles. f) Dispensationalism looks to the prophecy about Israel s salvation of 70 weeks in Daniel 9 pausing in between week 69 (crucifixion of Christ) and week 70 (Tribulation). g) This is rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). 2) The believers who are alive just prior to the Tribulation will be raptured. a) This term is from the Latin raptus referring to the church being caught up in the air (1 Thess 4:17). b) It is commonly used as a term to refer to a specific event involving the partial return of Christ to bring his followers into heaven, kicking off the final sequence of events which will end earth s history as we know it. c) This is called a pre-tribulation Rapture since it will happen before the Tribulation begins.
d) During the Tribulation period of seven years the raptured saints will be in heaven participating in the marriage feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:7). 3) Arguments for a pre-tribulation rapture. a) Since the Tribulation is the time of Jacob s trouble (Jer 30:7) it will be a time in which Israel will turn to the Lord (Deut 4:27-30) in the absence of Gentile believers. b) In the bulk of the vision the Church is not mentioned, only the 144,000 (chs. 4-11). c) The Church cannot be the object of God s wrath (Rom 1:18-23, 9:22). d) The Rapture is the blessed hope for Christians today (Titus 2:11-13). e) There is no mention of signs accompanying the Rapture (1 Thess 1:9-10) as in the Second Coming (Matt 24), so they must be two separate events. f) The transition of John from earth to heaven (Rev 4:1) alludes to the Rapture at that junction after the Church age and before the Tribulation. g) The promise to the Philadelphians (Rev 3:10) is to be kept from that hour includes all of the Church. h) The removal of the restrainer (the Holy Spirit) means there are no believers left on earth (2 Thess 2:6-8). C. A Tribulation follows the partial return of Christ. 1) The Tribulation is a seven year period (based on Daniel 9) which is divided into two 3 ½ year periods (first good/second bad). 2) It is a time in which the temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and the sacrificial system resumes. 3) There is a world leader (Antichrist) who fools the population into thinking he is a Savior, while in reality he is evil and leads the world into war and destruction. 4) His major support comes from a reconstituted Roman Empire, possibly the Roman Catholic Church, the European Union, the World Bank, or some other force which provide the funding and resources needed to maintain power. 5) Israel will have already been re-established in the land, so this event will happen in one generation later (Matt 24:34). 6) Once the Tribulation begins, Jews will turn to Christ in mass and lead the evangelistic effort. 7) There will be a renewal of supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit which had been suspended since the canon of the New Testament was established. 8) The signs of the times are precursors of the Tribulation that Christians will recognize warning them the Rapture is to happen soon. D. The Millennium follows the return of Christ and the seven year Tribulation. 1) The Millennium (Rev 20:4-5) is a literal 1000 years at which Christ returns fully and physically to earth to reign as king. 2) He will be assisted by the previously raptured Christians, Jews, and others who came to Christ in the Tribulation.
3) Satan will be physically bound and imprisoned for the bulk of the 1000 years, but be released towards the end to rally the forces of God and Magog in rebellion of Christ s rule. 4) This rebellion will be quickly dispatched; God will have the final judgment followed by eternal rewards and a re-made heavens and earth. 4. Critique of Dispensationalism A. Hermeneutics are not what they claim to be. 1) The tie to literalism over simplifies biblical texts and tends to make everything conform unless inconvenient to the system (or the interpreter). a) An example is the insistence that prophecy relate to the end times even though the NT authors relate them to the Incarnation or the Church (Joel 2:28/Acts 2:15-20, Amos 9:11-12/Acts 15:14-18, Jer 31:13/Heb 8:6-12). b) Another example is the OT promises which were stated as being fulfilled rather than applying them to the end times, such as receiving the promised land (Josh 23:14, 11:23, 21:43, 1 Kgs 4:20-21). c) The marriage supper of the Lamb (19:7-8) paralleling the Tribulation does not follow the biblical text s chronology since it comes after the fall of Babylon and during the time of Christ s triumphant return. 2) Implying context which is not stated is not literal interpretation. a) The Rapture s basis on Matthew 24:34 do not state it is a Rapture. b) The restrainer text (2 Thess 2:1-13) does not say he is the Holy Spirit. c) The blessed hope text (Titus 2:13) does not say it is a secret rapture. d) The transition of John to the heavenly realm (Rev 4:1) does not say it represents the Rapture. e) The letter to Philadelphia (Rev 3:10) does not say it applies to all Christians, but to those in the original Philadelphian church audience. f) Neither the introduction nor conclusion to the letters to the seven churches indicates the letters represent the whole of Church history. g) Escape from tribulation is the opposite of Jesus words (John 17:15) and Paul s teaching (2 Tim 3:12). h) The biblical text does not specifically state there will be an Antichrist, a 7 year Tribulation, a Rapture, a rebuilt temple, a return of Israel to the land, a 70 th year parenthesis, or many other issues encapsulated into the Dispensational system. 3) In the end, the hermeneutic becomes a slave to the system rather than honest to the biblical text (ignore context in order to proof-text). 4) However, the goal of literalism first does not make all others obsolete, just secondary in the interpretation process. 5) In addition, there is no universally accepted system agreed upon by all Dispensationalists, meaning there are varieties of textual applications to the system. B. Israel is given preferential treatment in salvation.
1) Israel s promises to continue as a people (Gen 15:5) should not be confused with covenantal promises which were always conditional based on faithfulness (Deut 1:35, 4:25-27,5:33, 6:14-15, 8:19-20 ). 2) Two plans or two covenants equal two paths to salvation which is rejected by Paul in Romans (4, and 9-11), and opens the door for even more plans. 3) Paul stresses the lack of distinction between Christian Jews and Gentiles (Gal 3:28) and they exist as one commonwealth (Eph 2:11, 22). 4) Israelite prophets looked forward to a time when Gentiles would be grafted in as God s chosen people (Isa 66:17-24, Zech 14:16-21, Gal 3:8). 5) The future role of Israel has lead to unquestioned support of modern Israel even though it is largely a secular country today. 6) However, just because Israel is largely secular today does not mean that God cannot work miraculously to cause their hearts to turn to Christ eventually. 7) In addition, Hebrews 11 tells of the faith in God of OT saints are covered by the sacrifice of Christ in their future, as ours are covered by the event that is in our past. 8) Just because Israel is chronologically ahead of the Church in terms of being God s people does not mean they are superior (Rom 1:16). C. Dispensationalism breeds pessimism, fatalism, political and activist apathy. 1) A pessimistic view of the world leads to an insulated mindset and a lack of concern about involvement into the affairs of culture and state (living in God s waiting room ready to go). 2) Dispensationalism feeds the narcissism of our culture which is disconnected from the past and unwilling to commit to the benefit of the future (Lasch). 3) Francis Gumerlock identified over 1000 times millennialists have predicted the return of Christ at a specific time in history (The Day and the Hour), usually in their own day (they were 100% wrong). 4) Failed guesses to perceived prophetic fulfillment is often met with tweaking certain minor details with the expectation that it will correct the system rather than standing back and re-evaluating its entirety. 5) False hope displays a false message which appears as a false gospel, and can lead to a crisis of faith or validate rejection of Christ. 6) The commitment to this moment; the fear of tribulation by the prosperity gospel; the judgment that things have never been worse; and the longing for the confidence and certainty in Revelation being as accurate as one standing at the end of history describing the past; may be factors leading to the popularity and staying power of modern Dispensationalism. 7) However, it may very well be getting worse in the world with the degeneration of entire cultures, and the lack of interest in the things of God. 8) In addition, many dispensationalist Christians are spearheading political efforts at cultural reform such as the Religious Right and the Tea Party; are the first to disaster relief areas; are leaders in improving water accessibility and better crop management in 3 rd world countries; not to mention active in the growth of the Church all over the world where the gospel has not been heard before.
D. There are too many unanswered questions. 1) If the Holy Spirit is gone with the raptured Christians, how do the 144,000 Jews receive salvation? 2) What happens to those who become saved during the Tribulation (in between resurrections)? 3) How can those who have been raptured reign with Christ on earth in resurrected bodies? 4) How does evil continue in the Millennium, to be rallied by Satan against Christ? 5) Why is there no mention of the nature of apocalyptic literature and its possible influence on the imagery of Revelation? 6) However, all interpretations have gaps which are unexplainable or do not make sense to modern mankind. E. If all these scriptures, including Revelation, relate to the end of time it is useless for the rest of history. 1) It has no direct meaning to the original audience of John, not any others beyond the fact that God wins in the end. 2) The benefits and blessing of knowing that Christ fulfilled hundreds of OT prophecies are lost. 3) An inconsistency of application of the text is inevitable if only anchored in the future. 4) However, all biblical prophecy has a dual audience: the ones hearing the words are motivated to action based on hope/fear of an impending historical judgment, and those in the future are made aware as a warning to their behavior to avoid an eschatological judgment (Ladd). 5) In addition, the key elements in Revelation are not the sequence, timing, or players, but the clear understanding of the heavenly realm s involvement, God s unequalled supremacy, and eventual vindication of the righteous and judgment on the wicked. F. God is reduced to human roles. 1) The God who had the power to speak the universe into existence must finish the job as any human king would in battle with his enemies. 2) The God who knew the entire course of human history before it was began must adjust his plan to accommodate the rejection of Israel with a parenthesis. 3) The God who is described in the Bible as intimately engaged in the lives of mankind is standing by, allowing events to take their own path to a predetermined end. 4) The great sacrifice of God inserting Jesus into the corrupted created order to provide the ultimate sacrifice for sin becomes a secondary factor in the course of salvation history. 5) However, although God s foreknowledge provides us with a peek at the end, history must be played out in order for every person to have the ability to choose to follow Christ and stand before God in judgment without excuse.