INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIES AT WOODRIDGE

Inpatient services at Woodridge Hospital include therapists who provide initial assessments and gain information to help develop personalized mental health treatment plans for every patient.

This plan may include family/couples therapy, individual sessions and identification of what group track would be most appropriate.

These paths of treatment may include:

Recovery from addictions
Learning to cope more effectively with life stressors
Overcoming depression or other emotional difficulties
Helping to heal from broken relationships

…and other issues that are presented.

All patients are encouraged to attend group therapy at least twice a day and to be actively involved in their treatment.

Discharge planners will then provide appointments with an outpatient provider to continue the patient’s care when they are discharged from the hospital.

Inpatient behavioral health units

Cedar Unit – inpatient mental health services for acute adult patients

The Cedar Unit is a safe, secure acute psychiatric unit for individuals 18 and older who may be experiencing acute psychiatric symptoms related to a mental health diagnosis.

A team of behavioral health professionals works to stabilize symptoms while providing support for each patient.

Laurel Unit – inpatient mental health services for acute adult patients

The Laurel Unit is often considered a “step-down” unit from Cedar as patients begin to stabilize. It addresses acute illness in patients who are in need of intensive care.

Daily group therapy is provided to help increase coping skills.

Poplar Unit – inpatient mental health and detox services for adult patients

For adults 18 years and older, Poplar Unit provides medical detoxification and treatment for:

Alcohol
Illicit drugs
Methadone
Opiates
Prescription drugs
Stimulants

Our team not only provides detoxification services but also a wide variety of counseling, education, family assessments, therapies and nutritional services to help patients return to a higher level of functioning.

Spruce Unit – inpatient mental health services for seniors

Geriatric behavioral health is dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders in older adults typically ages 55 and older.

These disorders include:

Anxiety
Dementia
Depression
Sleep disorders
Other disorders of the brain that impact personality and behavioral changes

Medications will be assessed, and medication adjustment is often a focus of treatment.

Willow Unit – inpatient mental health services for children and teens

The Willow Unit offers outstanding inpatient mental health care to children and adolescents in a caring comfortable environment. Our staff offers expert consultation, evaluation and referral services to meet the needs of these children and their caregivers.

Family therapy is a focus of treatment and may include guardians or others involved in the child’s care.

The Willow team provides specialized diagnostics and treatment for young patients with a variety of psychiatric issues including:

Anxiety
ADHD
Bipolar disorder
Depression
Destructive behavior
Psychosis
Substance abuse

Read more about our pediatric inpatient behavioral health services.

UMC: What Happened?

The recent 2024 General Conference held in Charlotte, North Carolina brought about significant changes in the teachings and policies of the church. This included the separation of sex from marriage, with clergy no longer mandated to be celibate if single and in a faithful male/female marriage. Additionally, homosexual behavior and related requirements were no longer considered chargeable offenses for clergy. The definition of “immorality” as a chargeable offense was left unspecified.

Moreover, specific bans on adultery and sexual relations before or outside of marriage were removed from §2702 of the Book of Discipline through a vote of 32-13 in committee and 474-206 in plenary. A minority report advocating for the retention of certain chargeable offenses was rejected, further solidifying the changes made.

Furthermore, aspiring ordinands were no longer required to demonstrate “fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness,” as previously stated in §304. This change was approved by 30-19 in committee and 544-121 in plenary. The new language highlighted the need for “social responsibility and faithful sexual intimacy expressed through fidelity, monogamy, commitment, mutual affection and respect, careful and honest communication, mutual consent, and growth in grace and in the knowledge and love of God,” without specific mention of marriage.

The bans on celebrating same-sex unions were lifted, and a new paragraph (340.3) was added declaring the right of clergy to perform or decline any marriage, union, or blessing, including those of same-sex couples. This amendment was passed by 41-21 in committee and 479-203 in plenary.

The revised Social Principles also reflected the changes, emphasizing the affirmation of human sexuality as a sacred gift. It acknowledged that sexual intimacy contributes to fostering the emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of individuals, and to nurturing healthy relationships grounded in love, care, and respect. It also celebrated the diverse expressions of sexuality and affirmed the rights of individuals to exercise personal consent in sexual relationships.

Additionally, the language pertaining to discrimination against clergy based on sexual orientation was revised, emphasizing the open nature of appointments without regard to various factors including sexual orientation.

The Conference also addressed the issue of abortion, affirming a person’s right to make an informed decision in consultation with relevant parties, and pledging solidarity with those seeking reproductive healthcare, including abortion.

Furthermore, the disaffiliation process for churches, which had been in place from 2019-2023, was not renewed.

The General Conference witnessed the predominance of progressive views, with opposition primarily from Africans, a few remaining U.S. traditionalists, and some Filipinos and Europeans. Visa problems hindered a significant percentage of African delegates from attending, prompting a need for decision-making among millions of United Methodists in Africa.

In conclusion, the recent decisions at the General Conference are likely to have significant implications for the future of the denomination, especially with regards to the stance on marriage, sexuality, and the potential regionalization plan.

The Third Year – The Year of Tithing

The passage before us details the final uses of the concept of the tithe to be found in the books of Moses. The first mention was in Genesis 14:20 where it says Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe of all. The passage prescribes nothing. It simply describes what occurred, and nothing more.

In the same chapter of Genesis where Melchizedek is mentioned, Abram’s nephew – Lot – was captured. It then says that Abram armed his servants and pursued and overtook Lot’s captives attacked them, and rescued Lot and all his goods.

Deuteronomy 26:12-19

I. The Holiness (verses 12-15)

¹²“When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase

ki tekaleh laser eth kal masar tebuatekha – “When you complete to tithe all tithe of your increase.” Notice the lack of any article before “tithe” – “all tithe.” The use of the article has been precise and meticulous in all of the tithing verses found in the previous sections that dealt with this issue.

Moses is instructing the people concerning “tithes.” It is a precept that was mandated for the people of Israel. Every year, the people of Israel were to set aside a tenth, a tithe, of their increase. That was first noted, within the law, in Leviticus 27 –

“And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord.” Leviticus 27:30

In that verse, no article is used. “And all tithe of the land.” It is this that is “holy to the Lord.” Nothing was said of what should be done with it. It simply says that tithes were holy to the Lord. Numbers 18:21-32 then details how tithes, the tithes which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord (Numbers 18:24), are to be apportioned to the Levites, and from that a portion (a tithe of the tithe) is to be given to the priests.

The use of the article, or the lack of it – in each instance – is expressive of what is to occur. Tithes are to be set aside as holy to the Lord. Those offered as a heave offering are to be given to the Levites. But Numbers does not say what is to happen to those not offered up as heave offerings to the Lord. That is only explained later, in Deuteronomy.

It is in Deuteronomy 14:22-29 that the disposition of those not offered up as a heave offering is noted. For a bit of comical relief and as a poke at “tithing” pastors, we will journey there one last time and read that passage –

“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. ²³And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, ²⁵then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.” Deuteronomy 14:22-27

It is clear and precise – party time has arrived, and the tithes are the means by which it will come about. The Lord provided the tithes, and it is His will that they be used to glorify Him through rejoicing in His provision. With that stated, the chapter closed out with these words –

“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. ²⁹And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” Deuteronomy 14:28, 29

It is that final passage of Deuteronomy that Moses now readdresses one last time, hoping that in the dispensation of grace that was to come in Christ, pastors wouldn’t make the galactically huge error of reimposing tithing on their congregation, but if they did, they would at least do it in accord with the law and not in accord with their own corrupt agenda. As he next says…

^{12 (con’t)}in the third year

ba’shanah ha’shelishit – “In the year, the third.” Now, there is a distinction being made between the first two years and the third year. All tithes are to be laid aside, but in the third year, there are specific provisions to be adhered to. It is this third year that is…

^{12 (con’t)}—the year of tithing—

Almost all translations state it this way, and such a translation would cause a contradiction to occur. Every year is a year of tithing. That has already been made explicit. A tithe was to be set aside every year as holy to the Lord. The Hebrew says: shenat ha’maaser – “year the tithe.” The article is again expressive.

This clause and the previous clause are in apposition, restating and explaining the other. The Greek translation adds in the words, “the second tithe,” which are not found in the Hebrew. This was certainly translated by rabbi Reuben who didn’t want to lose out on milking his synagogue of any of his desired portion. The word “second” cannot even be inferred in the Hebrew.

Even Cambridge notes that, saying, “a reading which even after the vocalic changes which it involves in the Heb. results in an impossible construction.” Rather, the text has been very clear with each stage of the development of the tithing guidelines.

Of this tithe, the third-year tithe, Moses next says words that are in accord with the words of Deuteronomy 14, repeating them to ensure clarity concerning the precept so that it is understood…

^{12 (con’t)}and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,

The thought is substantially repeated from Deuteronomy 14:29, saying, “And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates…”

Moses is taking care to make it understood that these people, who had no ability to otherwise take care of themselves, would be tended to according to the riches of the blessings of the Lord upon the people of Israel. They were in deprivation, and the year of the tithe was given…

^{12 (con’t)}so that they may eat within your gates and be filled,

Again, the words follow after verse 14:29, where a blessing is included for the people when they observe the precept. There it says, “may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

In this, they will be observant of the command already set forth. And they are then to acknowledge that the reason was for exactly that purpose. It is not a single purpose, as has already been defined, but for the purpose of the tithe in general, meaning all three years of the tithe. That cannot be misunderstood when the next verses are properly considered. As Moses first notes…

¹³then you shall say before the Lord your God:

This would be at the pilgrim feasts.

^{13 (con’t)} ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house,

biarti ha’qodesh min ha’bayit – “I have burnt away the holiness from the house.” The word ba’ar is used. It is the same word used when speaking of purging away evil and purging away guilt. The tithe is holy and thus it is to be considered as such. It would be evil to use it for non-holy purposes.

The words “from my house” are clear. The tithes were kept there until they were to be dispensed with. Two years it was for magnificent partying in the presence of the Lord, and the third year it was to be transferred to the storehouses for the care of those to whom it was set apart for. The latter of those two uses is again stated by Moses…

^{13 (con’t)} and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,

It is the explicitly stated and now repeated mandate for the third-year tithe. But it is not the whole mandate for the three years of tithes. This third-year mandate is for the care of those to whom it is designated. With that again understood, the proclamation of the Israelite continues with…

^{13 (con’t)} according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me;

The translation is exactly correct. What is notable, is that the commandments for the tithe are almost all given by Moses, and yet the acknowledgment to the Lord is that they are commands asher tsivitani, or “which You [the Lord] have commanded me.” It once again speaks of the process of divine inspiration. What Moses has put forth is, in fact, the revealed word of God.

^{13 (con’t)} I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

lo avarti mimitsvotekha – “no have I passed over from your commandments.” The word avar is closely associated with the word ivrim or Hebrew, and this is certainly why Moses says this. A true Hebrew would not cross over the laws of the Lord, but would stay on the side of them that he belonged. He would remember them and not forget.

With that stated, we come to the words of the next verse which clearly and unambiguously reveal to us that there was not a “second” tithe, and that the “holy tithe” mentioned here is the same as that referred to in Leviticus 27:30, the one tithe of Israel which is said to be “holy to the Lord.” The Israelite continues, saying…

¹⁴I have not eaten any of it when in mourning,

lo akalti b’oni mimenu – “No I have eaten in my affliction from it.” The very fact that Moses brings up eating the tithe in affliction (mourning) means that, at times, the tithe was to be eaten by the individual. If it was not ever to be eaten, Moses would have simply said, “I have not eaten any of it.” What he is referring to is what it says in verse 14:26 –

“…you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.” Deuteronomy 14:26

They are commanded to rejoice in the presence of the Lord. This clause now acknowledges that the person has done so. If he were in mourning, he would not be allowed to eat of the tithe. This is what is alluded to in Hosea 9 –

“They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord,
Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him.
It shall be like bread of mourners to them;
All who eat it shall be defiled.
For their bread shall be for their own life;
It shall not come into the house of the Lord.” Hosea 9:4

The bread of mourners is that of eating at a funeral. It is a time of loss and despondency. The tithe was not to be used for such a purpose because the tithe anticipates Christ.

The tenth is the Lord’s claim on the whole. To eat this holy portion in mourning would be equivalent to a Christian being in mourning over being saved. The thought would be confused, contradictory, and quite possibly Calvinist – but there is no place for it in the faith. Christ is the Victor over death. In His presence is to be joy and rejoicing forevermore. Next, he is to say…

^{14 (con’t)}nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use,

v’lo viarti mimenu b’tame – “and no have I burnt it in unclean.” It is the same verb just used in verse 13, ba’ar – to burn away. This is still referring to the person using his own tithes in the first two years. An unclean person was not to enter the presence of the Lord. If he were unclean according to Levitical law, he could not legally participate in the festivities where the tithes were consumed.

^{14 (con’t)}nor given any of it for the dead.

It does not say, “the dead.” It says: v’lo nathathi mimenu l’met – “and not I give from it to dead.” This is not speaking of offering it to dead people as some scholars claim. That would always be forbidden, and it is unnecessary to be stated here.

Rather, it is referring to providing it for those who are in mourning for the dead, such as is seen in Jeremiah 16 where no article is used before “dead,” despite the translation –

“Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; neither shall men lament for them, cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. ⁷Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or their mother.” Jeremiah 16:6, 7

The tithe is not symbolic of a consolation for dead people. It is representative of Christ, the Victor over death, and of His claim upon those who come to Him. The typology must be maintained. In all of this, the Israelite is to acknowledge…

^{14 (con’t)}I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.

The tithe was to be used two years in a row at times of thanks, rejoicing, holiness, and purity in the presence of God. In the third year, it was to be presented to those to whom the Lord, through Moses, designated. In obeying these rules, the Israelite could then be satisfied that he had met the commandments accordingly, and could then petition the Lord for blessing…

¹⁵Look down from Your holy habitation,

hashqipha mimeon qadshekha – “Look down from habitation your holy.” Here is a new word, maon, or “habitation.” It signifies a dwelling place. It can refer to the dwelling place of the Lord, the home of a man, the den of an animal, and so on. The words of this clause are then explained by the next…

^{15 (con’t)}from heaven,

min ha’shemayim – “from the heavens.” The Lord is above, even if his tabernacle is among Israel – be it in Shiloh, Nob, Gibeon, or Jerusalem. He dwells in the heavens, and the request is for Him to look down from there and notice the obedience of His people and to respond…

^{15 (con’t)}and bless Your people Israel

The way the words are structured, it both unites the two objects while having one define the other: u-barekh eth amekha eth Yisrael – “and bless [in the direction of] Your people, [in the direction of] Israel.” Thus, it is affirming that “Your people” are, in fact, “Israel.” And more…

^{15 (con’t)}and the land which You have given us,

v’eth ha’adamah asher nathatah lanu – “And [in the direction of] the ground which You have given to us.” This is a specific request for blessing upon the ground, meaning the soil.

In other words, “You have blessed us with the produce of the ground. We have divided out the holy portion, and we have handled the holy portion according to the instructions You have provided. As such, we ask that you bless the ground from which it came, so that we can then repeat the process according to Your goodness…”

^{15 (con’t)}just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

This is now the fourth of six times this particular phrase is used in Deuteronomy. The word here is different than the preceding clause. There, it spoke of the ground. Here it speaks of the land, meaning the territory, which comprises Israel’s inheritance. The petition is for the ground to prosper in the land in which the Lord said it would prosper.

The Lord promised a land of blessing and abundance, that has been received, and in their obedience to the word, it is petitioned for continued blessing from the land. With that, the long, detailed, and meticulous words concerning the tithes of Israel come to a close. If you missed the previous sermons which built up to this section, it would be worth your time to go back and watch each in order.

So now, you are fully versed on the matter. If you have a pastor (Chinsy Chadwick) who pushes tithing, you are to tell him it is an Old Testament, Law of Moses, precept. If he says, “But tithing predates the law and thus falls under the law of first mention,” you are instructed on how to correct his thinking.

And if he still insists on tithing, then tell him that he must only expect ten percent every third year, and you will think of him and toss him a bone while you are partying with your other two years of tithes. Or, better, find a church where grace is taught in all matters and forget those who pick and choose what they will and will not teach that is in accordance with proper doctrine.

I will rejoice in the Lord my God
I will bless His holy name at all times
Giving thanks to Him along life’s path I trod
Blessing Him in my heart, with songs and rhymes

I will offer my offering as is just and right
And I will do so without compulsion, but with joy in heart
My hand will be open, not shut up tight
Praises and blessings and honor to Him, and that is just the start

How the Lord has blessed my soul
And I shall forever be grateful to Him for this
Towards Him shall I all of my praises roll
And never a chance to praise Him shall I miss

II. His Special People (verses 16-19)

¹⁶“This day the Lord your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments;

The words are more precise, saying, “the statutes, these, and the judgments.” He has carefully set forth the two as being required but being different things.

As far as the term, “this day,” Moses has used it numerous times already in Deuteronomy. Each speaks of the timeframe of the giving out of the laws he set forth, not necessarily any single day.

The words now sum up the body of law that has been given so far by him. A new flavor of words, and a new direction in what is stated will come forth starting in Chapter 27, and so what Moses says here serves as a closing thought to this section.

In saying, “This day the Lord commands you,” it is not merely saying, “Ok, today the Lord is telling you these things.” Rather, it is a way of saying, “This is your law. Each day that you live under it, you are commanded to observe what is herein stated.”

Taken from the hearer’s perspective, it isn’t just, “Moses told us while we were by the Jordan to do these things.” Rather, it is “Moses is telling us, right now, to do these things.” This is why the prophets could speak of the law as “right now” when they spoke to Israel. And this is why Jesus spoke to the people in the same manner –

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
²⁶He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
²⁷So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
²⁸And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” Luke 10:25-28

The law was given, and it continued to be given from itself to the people. As such…

^{16 (con’t)}therefore you shall be careful to observe them

The words now refer back to “the statutes, these, and the judgments” of the previous clause. Moses says, “and you shall keep, and you shall do.” The statutes are to be kept, and the judgments are to be obeyed.

But, as seen elsewhere, this is not just rote observance that Moses is calling for. There is to be both an appreciation of who gave them, and a willingness to observe them because of who He is. As such, Israel is to keep and do them…

^{16 (con’t)}with all your heart and with all your soul.

One can love in varying degrees. What the Lord calls for is to love Him entirely, both with the intellect and reason, and also with that which animates the person in his walk before the Lord.

To be fully obedient to the law with one’s intellect (meaning the heart) but without the soul (that which animates him), reveals a person who sees the law as a means to an end. “I will obey the law as it is written, and it will be my means of salvation, even if I don’t excel at it. I will just do what is necessary.”

To be obedient to the law with one’s soul (that which animates the person in deed and action) but not with the heart (the intellect) reveals a person filled with pride concerning his accomplishment of the law, even without any true regard for the Lord. His deeds are rote observance and legalistic. He crosses every i and dots every t… wait, switch that. And because he is so good at doing it, he can look down on others. He is like the Pharisee.

A person who observes the law with the heart and the soul is a person who is both in love with the law, and who desires to live out the law because of the One who gave him the law.

Such a person, because he both wants to do the law, and who aggressively tries to do the law, will also be the person who knows he fails in fulfilling the law. But, in his knowledge of this, he knows that his efforts are not futile because the law provides for his failings.

¹⁷Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God,

The translation by the NKJV is possible, but more likely the words are causative: eth Yehovah he-emarta ha’yom lihyot lekha l’elohim – “Yehovah you have caused to say today to you to be to God.” In other words, “Today, you have caused Yehovah to say to you that He will be your God.”

This doesn’t mean they actually caused it, but by agreeing to the covenant, it has brought them into a legal standing with Him to be their God. As a consequence of this, the obligation then rests on Israel to meet their obligations to Him…

^{17 (con’t)}and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice.

It more precisely reads in three successive thoughts, “[1] and to walk in His ways, [2] and to keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments, and [3] and to hear His voice.” To walk in His ways is to emulate Him, e.g. – “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45).

To keep His statutes, commandments, and judgments, is to be obedient to Him, e.g. – “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again” (Deuteronomy 22:4).

To hear His voice is to hearken unto what He says, e.g. – “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place’” (Jeremiah 7:3).

Each aspect is a part of the expected whole. The covenant begins with Moses, but it does not end with Him. Thus, the words here are wholly dependent on the coming of Messiah. The Lord has spoken the words wholly in the singular – “you Israel.”

Because of this, and because the word is new every day to the people, the words must be fulfilled every day. Any day they are not so fulfilled is the failure of Israel to meet the demands of this verse – meaning they never could, ever. As such, the anticipation is the True Israel – Messiah – who would do what Israel is unable to do.

That is more assuredly evidenced in the next words…

¹⁸Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people,

Again, the words are causative: v’Yehovah he-emirekha ha’yom lihyot lo l’am segulah – “And Yehovah has caused you to say today to be to Him to people possession.” In the agreement of the covenant, the people are caused to agree to the Lord – “We are your special possession.”

The word is segulah. It signifies possession or property, coming from an unused root meaning “to shut up” as in wealth. One would take something precious, like treasure, and shut it up and keep it close by. Thus, it is variously translated as peculiar treasure, possession, jewels, special possession, and so on.

As far as the translation, the Lord “caused” you to say, it’s not that the Lord actually made them say it, but in the offer of the covenant, and in its acceptance, the statement is affirmed. This idea of being His possession was first promised in Exodus 19 –

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” Exodus 19:5

It was then restated in Deuteronomy 7 –

“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 7:6

To get what is being said, and it is complicated, you would need to review the Deuteronomy 7 sermon. Israel is a holy people, even if they act in an unholy manner. God has set them apart as holy, that does not change. But they still must be holy, a state that is dependent on their actions. That is then seen in the next words…

^{18 (con’t)}just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments,

More precisely: “According to which He spoke to you, and to keep all His commandments.” The covenant was made, Israel was caused to be His people, just as the Lord spoke to him, which is based upon 1) His declaration of them as a holy (set apart) people, and 2) the keeping of the commandments.

But Israel consistently failed to keep the commandments, even to this day they fail to do so. In order to be set apart as holy, and to be actually holy, Israel must keep the commandments. But in failing to do so, there is a disconnect.

That disconnect remained and remains without Messiah. But in Messiah, that disconnect no longer exists. This is not because of their keeping of the commandments, but because of His. That final and glorious state is seen in the final verse of the Chapter…

¹⁹and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made,

u-l’titekha elyon al kal ha’goyim asher asah – “And He will set you uppermost above all the nations which He has made.” It is not that Israel will just be above the nations, but at the very top of them.” The word Moses uses, elyon, is used to describe the Lord God at times, el elyon, or “God Most High.”

As this has never been fulfilled, then it is a messianic verse which anticipates what lies ahead, even now. Its fulfillment is prophesied by Isaiah –

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
³Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:2-4

The fact that Christ has come, and that He has called for Himself a special people in the church, does not negate a literal fulfillment of these prophecies. The promises are to Israel, and they will be fulfilled. This is not for their sake, but for His toward them…

^{19 (con’t)}in praise, in name, and in honor,

lithilah, u-l’shem, u-l’tipharet – “to praise, to name, to beauty.” Jeremiah uses these same words, saying –

“‘For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’” Jeremiah 13:11

The covenant was made, and the Lord bound Israel to it, like a sash upon Himself. But despite His efforts, they would not do exactly as is conveyed in these words of Deuteronomy.

Thus, there is the need for something new, something better, in order to resolve the dilemma. Israel could not help but to fail. The infection of sin is too deep. But the promises will be fulfilled, not through their effort, but through His. We can look back on this and know it now, but for them – even to this day – it is all about them…

*^19 (fin)and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”

Jeremiah shows that Israel failed in this. Peter, speaking to the Jews who have come to Christ, cites a combination of the words of verses 18 and 19 in his first epistle, saying –

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9, 10

Paul uses the same word in Ephesians 1:14 concerning the Gentiles who have been brought into the commonwealth of Israel. We have become a possession of the Lord through obedience to, meaning calling on, Christ. More directly, however, Paul uses the phrase in Titus 2 –

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹²teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ¹³looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14

These words of the New Testament clearly show that the church fills a special role, but it does not necessarily follow then that the church has replaced Israel. The church – those of Jews and Gentiles – are received as a people, but Israel – the nation – has been selected as a special people.

The church has a mission to perform during this dispensation, but Israel still has the right to the prophecies spoken to her that will come to pass in their due time. The Gentile-led church is grafted into the commonwealth of Israel, but it does not replace the nation in the process. We simply share in the good that has been promised to them.

When Israel, as a nation, calls out to Christ, that promised day will come, and the words of these verses, and of the prophets to come, will come to pass. As far as when this will take place, that is at the Lord’s discretion and the matter belongs to Him alone. But because the people have been rejoined with the land, that day is closer than most probably realize.

Those who understand the times in which we live can look to Israel and know that God has it all under control. Christ Jesus is the key to the entire scenario, both the current state of things as well as the prophetic scenario that is waiting to be unfolded and realized in its fulness.

The wonder and marvel of both sections of our verses today is that God is doing something wonderful in the world – reconciling man to Himself through the offering of His Son. The types, patterns, covenants, and promises are all based on this thought.

The glory of God in Christ is the glory of God above, in, and through creation. All of the glory of God that we can, or ever will perceive, is because of what He has done through Him. Praise be to God for Jesus Christ our Lord.

Closing Verse: “‘At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,’
Says the Lord.” Zephaniah 3:20

Next Week: Deuteronomy 27:1-10 To build this is a lot of work… grunts and groans (An Altar of Stones) (75^th Deuteronomy Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. But He also has expectations of you as He prepares you for entrance into His Land of Promise. So, follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Third Year – The Year of Tithing

“When you have finished laying aside
All the tithe of your increase in the third year
———-the year of tithing, so it is billed
And have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless
———-and the widow
So that they may eat within your gates and be filled

Then you shall say before the LORD your God:
‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, as told to do
And also have given them to the Levite
To the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow too

According to all Your commandments
Which You have commanded me
I have not transgressed Your commandments
Nor have I forgotten them, as you can see

I have not eaten any of it when in mourning
Nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use
———-nor given any of it for the dead
I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God
And have done according to all that You have commanded me
———-just as You have said

Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless
Your people Israel and the land which You have given us
Just as You swore to our fathers
‘A land flowing with milk and honey
———-blessings and blessings and plus, plus, plus

“This day the LORD your God commands you
To observe these statutes and judgments, not in part but in whole
Therefore you shall be careful to observe them
With all your heart and with all your soul

Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God
And that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes
———- such has been your choice
His commandments, and His judgments
And that you will obey His voice

Also today the LORD has proclaimed you
To be His special people, just as He promised you
That you should keep all His commandments
So you are to do

And that He will set you high above all nations
Which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor
———- such shall be the token
And that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God
Just as He has spoken

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

In ancient Israel, God instructed His people to set aside a special tithe to assist those in need, such as orphans, widows, strangers, and Levites (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 26:12-15).

Today, the church meets its Christian duty toward its needy brethren through the third-tithe program. This tithe is additional and entirely separate from the first tithe (Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:21-24), which supports God’s work of preaching the gospel. Like the first tithe, the third tithe is a full ten percent of a person’s increase. Yet, while the first tithe is paid year by year, the third tithe is paid only on the increase earned during the third and sixth years of a seven-year period.

A person should begin counting the third-tithe years soon after he gains the knowledge of it. Since most members of the church learn about this tithe just prior to baptism, they count their third-tithe years from either the Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles closest to the date of their baptism. Some decide to count it from the actual date of their baptism. Whichever way one chooses, it should be adhered to.

In some cases, the individual may give his third tithe to a near relative. A widowed mother, sister, or daughter, for example, would qualify under the guidelines set out in Deuteronomy 14 and 26. Orphans in a similar category would also qualify.

Another option is to send the third tithe to the church office for distribution, since the ministry often knows who the truly needy are among the congregations. When sending third tithe to the church, please indicate clearly that it is third tithe so it will be used appropriately.

The third tithe is God’s way of taking care of those who are in need. Many have learned by experience that God blesses those who faithfully follow His instructions (Deuteronomy 26:12-15).

The Bible’s 8 Dispensations

The list and descriptions that follow are a summary of the eight dispensations of the Bible. It is all of our story, and God’s plan for humanity.

The dispensation of innocence began with the creation of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:26. This dispensation ended with God’s judgment on both Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden in Eden, in Genesis 3:22. God created them innocent and provided perfect living conditions for them. Adam and Eve were instructed to tend to the garden and have fellowship with God during this dispensation. Adam and Eve were created innocent by God, but they were only deemed innocent until they were tested. Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden and were found to be guilty of sin. Because of their sin the whole earth was judged by God and cursed. This ended the dispensation of innocence.
The dispensation of conscience begins with the fall of man in Genesis 3:23 and concludes in Genesis 8:19 with the global flood. During this time period there was no written law for man to live by, so man lived by his conscience. The fault of this dispensation is made evident in the well known story of Cain and Abel. Cain is given to anger because of his brother Abel’s more suitable sacrifice to the Lord. Cain’s jealousy led him to kill his brother Abel. With no written word or law to follow, Cain followed his skewed conscience. Like Cain, the human race fell into wickedness and sinful practices as a result of following their conscience. This diminishing of mankind brought about the famous worldwide flood that destroyed all mankind except for eight people that boarded an ark built by Noah.
The dispensation of human government began in Genesis 8:15 with Noah and his family. It ended in Genesis 11:1-9 when God came down and confused men’s language at the building of the tower of babel. During this dispensation, God instructed man to replenish and fill the earth. To spread out across the globe and govern what God had created. Capital punishment was implemented during this time period and man was to create righteous laws to live by. Man, did not obey God’s commands. Instead of scattering abroad, man came together and tried to build a tower that would reach into the heavens. This was in direct rebellion to God. In conclusion, God had to confuse man’s language in order to stop them from building the tower and scatter throughout the earth as he instructed.
The dispensation of promise began after the tower of babel story in Genesis 11:10. It concluded with the death of Joseph and Israel’s captivity in Egypt, found in Genesis 50:26. During this dispensation the whole world was following after idols and worshiping them. Man’s heart was evil and wicked. God then singled out a man named Abraham and promised to give him as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. Abraham was to be the father of a great nation. This nation was Israel. God Promised Abraham land farther than the eye could see and worldwide blessings. Israel was instructed to obey God, serve Him, and stay in the land that was given to them in order to keep receiving His blessing but they did not. As a result, the nation of Israel ended up as slaves in Egypt.
The dispensation of Israel began while the Jews were held captive in Egypt. This is where God began to deal with his chosen people. The dispensation will end when Christ comes back to the earth at His second coming and He sets up His literal kingdom on the earth. During this dispensation, God gave a man named Moses the law. This law was to govern man throughout the entire old testament all the way to the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. But the nation of Israel rebelled against the law and against serving God. After Jesus was crucified, the Jewish nation rejected God’s Messiah even though God had given them opportunities to repent. It is during this time period that God sent His message of mercy and saving grace to the gentiles and all who would accept His Messiah. God’s prophetic time clock for the nation of Israel has been on hold during this church age or the “age of grace” but He will continue His dealings with them at the conclusion of the dispensation of grace.
The dispensation of grace began with Israel’s rejection of the Messiah. Because Israel would not accept the sacrifice of God’s Lamb, He dispensed His grace to the gentile world. During this time period we no longer live under the laws that God gave to Moses. All those who have accepted God’s Messiah and His sacrifice at the cross, live in God’s grace through faith. This time of grace was hidden since the beginning of the world and was revealed to the Apostle Paul. God would now deal with people individually and no longer through a nation. This dispensation will end when God raptures the church prior to the tribulation period, or the “time of Jacob’s troubles.”
The dispensation of millennium is the one-thousand-year rule and reign of Christ Jesus on earth. This dispensation was prophesied in the old testament through many of God’s chosen prophets. Revelation 20:1-6 details this event. In this time period, Jesus will be King over all things and will rule from a visible throne on the earth. This dispensation is a fulfillment of promises that God made to the nation of Israel. That they would have an earthly kingdom and God would be their King. The Lord’s throne will be located in Jerusalem and He will gather all the Jews back to their homeland. The curse will be broken during this time and nature will be restored. Satan will be held captive in the bottomless pit for the entire thousand-year reign. At the end of this dispensation, Satan will be loosed once more to deceive the nations and some will choose to follow him. In the end, Satan and all that serve him will be cast in to the lake of fire forever. He will never be able to tempt anyone again.
The dispensation of the fullness of times is the final dispensation of the Bible. It is outlined in Revelation 21 and 22. It begins with the end of Christ’s millennial kingdom and the Lord brings in a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus makes all things new, for all that was will have passed away. Everything in heaven and earth will finally be reconciled to God. There will be no more pain, sickness, or fear, in this new heaven and earth. The new city Jerusalem will be on the new earth in all its beauty. There will be no sun or moon in this new setting because Jesus will be our light. There will be kings and nations on the new earth along with the river of life and the tree of life. This dispensation will finally fulfill God’s promise to the nation of Israel. All those who have trusted in Christ Jesus’ finished work at the cross have a heavenly home and heavenly blessings where the Lord God Himself will live among them.

The dispensation time we live in today is what is referred to as the church age. It is rightly called the age of grace. This is not because God’s grace has not been manifested in other ages or dispensations but because in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we have the ultimate manifestation of God’s grace. Grace is Jesus Christ and without Him there is no grace.

What is dispensational theology?

Dispensational theology, also known as dispensationalism, is an evangelical theological system that divides history into distinct periods, each characterized by a specific way in which God interacts with humanity. Let’s explore its key features:

Distinct Dispensations:
- Dispensationalism views history as a series of dispensations, each marked by a unique pattern of God’s work. These dispensations are divinely appointed ages that order the affairs of the world.
- Each dispensation has its own set of rules, responsibilities, and expectations for humanity.
Literal Interpretation of Scripture:
- Dispensationalists emphasize a consistently literal interpretation of the Bible, especially when it comes to Bible prophecy.
- They believe that each word in Scripture should be understood in its everyday usage, allowing for symbols, figures of speech, and types. However, even symbols have literal meanings behind them.
- For example, when Revelation 20 speaks of “a thousand years,” dispensationalists interpret it as a literal period of 1,000 years (the dispensation of the Kingdom).
Distinct Peoples of God:
- Dispensational theology teaches that there are two distinct peoples of God: Israel and the Church.
- Salvation has always been by grace through faith alone, whether in God (Old Testament) or specifically in God the Son (New Testament).
- The Church has not replaced Israel in God’s program, and the Old Testament promises to Israel have not been transferred to the Church.
Israel’s Unique Role:
- Dispensationalists affirm the uniqueness of Israel in God’s plan. They believe that God’s promises to Israel (such as land, descendants, and blessings) will ultimately be fulfilled during the 1,000-year period described in Revelation 20.

In summary, dispensationalism provides a framework for understanding God’s dealings with humanity throughout history, emphasizing literal interpretation and recognizing the distinct roles of Israel and the Church

What Is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that affects everything from how you think to how you feel and behave—but that doesn’t mean it has to control your life.

Causes

While medical experts like healthcare professionals and researchers don’t exactly understand what causes schizophrenia, there is something very important to remember: living with schizophrenia is not anyone’s fault. No one is to blame, and there’s nothing anyone did to cause it. What experts do know is that schizophrenia can be caused or triggered by a combination of factors:

Genetics

Someone might be at a higher risk to develop schizophrenia if it runs in their family’s genes, and/or if they have a naturally occurring imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain.

environment

Environment

In combination with genetic factors, schizophrenia might be triggered by exposure to certain environmental risk factors, like stress, toxins or viruses during brain development, a head injury, or use of certain types of drugs.

Symptoms

There are 3 kinds of schizophrenia symptoms: positive, negative, and cognitive. They can vary greatly from person to person. Not everyone living with schizophrenia will have every symptom and the way symptoms are experienced can change over time.

Positive Symptoms
Negative Symptoms
Cognitive Symptoms

Added behaviors that show a person is experiencing thoughts and emotions that don’t reflect their current environment.

Hearing and seeing things that no one else experiences
Having beliefs that are not true or logical
Having difficulty thinking or speaking

Reaching a Diagnosis

Receiving a diagnosis means you’re able to do something about it. Since the exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown and symptoms vary so greatly, a diagnosis tends to be a process of elimination to rule out other mental health conditions.

Although only healthcare professionals can make a schizophrenia diagnosis, this process can take some time and typically includes:

A physical exam and tests or screenings with a healthcare professional to rule out other conditions that could cause similar symptoms
An evaluation with someone who is specially trained in mental health and will ask questions and make observations to determine if the diagnostic criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association are met

Nation of Israel or Church

Throughout the history of the Christian church, the question of Israel’s place within God’s redemptive purposes has been of special importance. In modern history, with the emergence of dispensationalism as a popular eschatological viewpoint and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the theological question of God’s intention for Israel has become even more pressing.

After the Holocaust, the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews throughout Europe during World War II, the issue of the relation between the church and Israel has also been affected anew by the sad reality of anti-Semitism, which some allege belongs to any Christian theology that insists upon one way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, whether for Jews or gentiles.

In order to orient the discussion of this critical issue, we need to begin with a clear understanding of the major views on this question that are represented today within the church. These views illustrate not only the importance of the question, but the wide diversity of positions.

Premillennial Dispensationalism: God’s Special Purpose for Israel

Although premillennial dispensationalism is a relatively new viewpoint in the history of Christian theology, its position on God’s special purpose for Israel has shaped, even dominated, recent debates among evangelical Christians on the relationship between the church and Israel.

In classic dispensationalism, God has two distinct peoples:

An earthly people, Israel, and
A heavenly people, the church.

According to dispensationalism, God administers the course of the history of redemption by means of seven successive dispensations or redemptive economies. During each dispensation, God tests human beings by a distinct revelation of His will. Among these seven dispensations, the three most important are

The dispensation of law,
The dispensation of the gospel, and
The dispensation of the kingdom.

While it is not possible in a short essay like this to describe all the distinctives of these dispensations, what is important is dispensationalism’s insistence that God has a separate purpose and a distinct manner of dealing with His earthly people, Israel.

During the present era, the dispensation of the church, God has “suspended” His special purposes for Israel and turned His attention, in a manner of speaking, to the gathering of the gentile peoples through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations. However, when Christ returns at any moment to “rapture” the church prior to a seven-year period of great tribulation, He will resume God’s special program for Israel. This tribulation period will be a prelude to the commencement of the future dispensation of a one thousand-year kingdom upon the earth.

For dispensationalism, the millennium marks the period during which God’s promises to Israel, His earthly people, will receive a distinct, literal fulfillment. Only at the end of the dispensation of the millennial kingdom will Christ finally vanquish all of His enemies and introduce the final state.

Though dispensationalism acknowledges that all people, whether Jews or gentiles, are saved by faith in the one Mediator, Jesus Christ, it maintains a clear and permanent distinction between Israel and the church within the purposes of God. The promises of the Old Testament are not fulfilled through the gathering of the church of Jesus Christ from among all the peoples of the earth. These promises are given to an earthly, ethnically distinct people, Israel, and they will be fulfilled in a literal manner only during the dispensation of the kingdom that follows the present dispensation of the gospel.

The Traditional Reformed View: One People of God

Contrary to dispensationalism’s sharp demarcation between God’s two peoples, Israel and the church, historic Reformed theology insists on the unity of God’s redemptive program throughout history.

When Adam, the covenant head and representative of the human race, fell into sin, all human beings as his posterity became liable to condemnation and death (Rom. 5:12–21). By virtue of Adam’s sin and its implications for the entire human race, all people became subject to the curse of the law and heirs of a sinfully corrupt nature.

According to the traditional Reformed interpretation of Scripture, God initiated the covenant of grace after the fall in order to restore His chosen people to communion and fellowship with Himself. While the covenant of grace is administered diversely throughout the course of the history of redemption, it remains one in substance from the time of its formal ratification with Abraham until the coming of Christ in the fullness of time. In all of the various administrations of the covenant of grace, God redeems His people through faith in Jesus Christ, the one Mediator of the covenant of grace, through whom believers receive the gift of eternal life and restored communion with the living God.1

The seed promised to Abraham in the covenant of grace is Jesus Christ, the true Israel, and all who through faith are united to Him and, thus, heirs of the covenant promises.

In the Reformed understanding of the history of redemption, therefore, there is no ultimate separation between Israel and the church. The promise God made to Abraham in the formal ratification of the covenant of grace (Gen. 12; Gen. 15; Gen. 17), namely, that he would be the father of many nations and that in his “seed” all the families of the earth would be blessed, finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

The seed promised to Abraham in the covenant of grace is Jesus Christ, the true Israel, and all who through faith are united to Him and, thus, heirs of the covenant promises (Gal. 3:16, 29).

In the Reformed view, the gospel of Jesus Christ directly fulfills the promises of the covenant of grace for all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles. Israel and the church are not two distinct peoples; rather, the church is the true Israel of God, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).

“Two-Covenant” Theology

In the recent history of reflection upon the issue of Israel and the church, a new and more radical position has emerged. Often linked with the name of Franz Rosenzweig, a Jewish author of a work written shortly after World War I titled The Star of Redemption, two-covenant theology teaches that there are two separate covenants, one between God and Israel and the other between God and the church of Jesus Christ. Rather than there being one way of redemption through faith in Jesus Christ for Jew and gentile believers alike, God‘s original covenant relationship with His ancestral people, Israel, remains separate from His new covenant relationship with the gentile nations through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Within the setting of a post-World War II concern over the legacy of anti-Semitism in the Christian church, the two-covenant theology position has become increasingly popular among many mainline Protestant churches. Even within the Roman Catholic Church, some theologians have appealed to the pronouncements of the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Missio (1991), which advocate dialogue between Christians and Jews, in order to oppose continued efforts to evangelize Jews.

In the two-covenant viewpoint, the Christian confession regarding the person and work of Christ as the only Mediator or Redeemer holds true within the framework of God’s covenant with the church. However, since God’s covenant with Israel is a separate covenant, which is not fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ in the fullness of time, Christians may not impose upon Israel the terms of God’s covenant with the church.

Extreme Replacement Theology

The final position on the issue of Israel and the church that requires comment is what we might term “extreme replacement theology.” While dispensationalists often insist that the traditional Reformed affirmation of one people of God comprised of Jewish and gentile believers in Christ is a form of “replacement” theology, the Reformed view does not regard the gospel as “replacing” the older covenant economy with Israel but “fulfilling” it.

Extreme replacement theology is the teaching that, because many of the Jews did not acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Messiah of promise, God replaced Israel with the gentile church. The gospel of Jesus Christ calls all nations and peoples to faith and repentance, but it leaves no room for any particular focus upon God’s redemptive purpose for His ancestral people, Israel. Because the church is the true, spiritual Israel, any peculiar focus upon the question of God’s saving intention for Israel is no longer permitted.

Extreme replacement theology represents the opposite end of the spectrum from the two-covenant position. Rather than speaking of a distinct covenant relationship between God and Israel that continues even after the coming of Christ and the proclamation of the gospel to the nations, replacement theology maintains that God’s program for and interest in Israel has ended.

Conclusion

The diversity among these various positions on the issue of Israel and the church testifies to the importance of this issue. Does God have a separate purpose and redemptive program for Israel and the church? Or, does the gospel of Jesus Christ fulfill God’s purpose to gather a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, Jews and gentiles alike, into one worldwide family? When the Apostle Paul declares in Romans 1 that the gospel is the “power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile” (Rom. 1:16), he declares that there is one way of salvation for all who believe in Jesus Christ. Yet he simultaneously affirms that this salvation does not displace or supersede God’s redemptive purpose for the Jews but, rather, fulfills it. The ongoing debate about Israel and the church needs to maintain the Apostle’s balance, neither separating Israel and the church nor displacing Israel with the church.

PRESENTING FIRSTFRUITS AND TITHES

(Deuteronomy 26:1-4) Bringing the firstfruits to the priest.

And it shall be, when you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the LORD your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, “I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.” Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.

a. When you come into the land: The Promised Land lay just across the Jordan River, and though there were formidable obstacles (such as a Jordan River swollen by Spring floods and the mighty armies of Canaanites), God still assured them that they will come into the land.

b. Some of the first of all the produce of the ground: Numbers 18:12 speaks of the firstfruits that must be regularly brought to the priests, but the firstfruits described here in Deuteronomy 26 seem to be a special offering of firstfruits, from the first of the harvest they gain in the Promised Land.

c. Set it down before the altar of the LORD your God: Firstfruit giving obviously honored the LORD, because it gave the LORD His portion off the top before any was used for one’s self.

(Deuteronomy 26:5-10) The words of thanks and praise at the giving of firstfruits.

And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God: “My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’; and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O LORD, have given me.” Then you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God.

a. And you shall answer and say before the LORD your God: This wonderful confession of thanks remembered the history of Israel from the time of Jacob and his family in the land of Canaan, to the family’s going down into Egypt, and to the eventual deliverance and Exodus into the Promised Land.

b. He went down to Egypt and sojourned there: Israel spent some 400 years in Egypt. Yet in the course of God’s eternal plan, it was nothing more than a sojourn. We can often focus so much on our own time of trial or misery that we think that it defines our whole life; God saw Israel’s experience in Egypt as a sojourn.

c. Few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous: This was the major reason God had for sending Jacob and his family on their sojourn in Egypt. When they lived in Canaan, there was great risk of the family just assimilating with the wicked, pagan peoples around them. To prevent this, and to allow the nation to grow, God sent them down to Egypt, which was a very racist society, and who would not intermarry with Israel. Therefore, they could go down there few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.

d. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land: This initial giving of firstfruits when Israel came into the Promised Land was an appropriate way to say “thank you” to the LORD. This giving, and all giving done with the right heart, is a proper way to worship before the LORD your God.

(Deuteronomy 26:11) So you shall rejoice.

So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.

a. Rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you: When we receive from the LORD, and give back to Him, it makes us rejoice. It is the proper response of a creature to his Creator, who has supplied him with all good things.

(Deuteronomy 26:12-15) The prayer for the giving of the tithe.

When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year; the year of tithing; and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, then you shall say before the LORD your God: “I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’”

a. When you have finished laying aside all the tithe: The tithe was required of Israel every year, but every third year, the tithe was given not only to the Levites for their support (as was instructed in Numbers 18:21-24), but was to be shared by the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so they may eat within your gates and be filled.

b. Then you shall say: The prayer described here shows that the giving was done with the right kind of heart. God not only wants us to give, but to give with the right heart.

i. Right giving is done according to God’s Word: According to all Your commandments which you have commanded me.

ii. Right giving is done within the context of a whole life of obedience: I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

iii. I have not eaten any of it… nor have I removed any of it: Right giving genuinely sets aside what is to be given unto the LORD.

iv. Nor given any of it for the dead: Right giving is not done superstitiously; “Putting food in a grave with a dead body was a common Egyptian and Canaanite practice, which is most likely what the Israelites were not to emulate.” (Kalland)

v. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people: Right giving is done with the expectation of blessing.

B. Moses’ exhortation to Israel.

(Deuteronomy 26:16) A call to complete obedience.

This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.

a. This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments: Deuteronomy 4:1 began this long section with the words Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe. From Deuteronomy chapter 4 through chapter 26, Moses has reminded Israel of God’s commands. Now he exhorted them to keep the commands.

b. therefore you shall be careful to observe them: Sometimes we need to be instructed regarding the law of God; sometimes we need to be reminded regarding the law of God. But most often, we need to be exhorted regarding the law of God. We know what to do, but we need to be encouraged to actually do it.

(Deuteronomy 26:17) Israel’s proclamation.

Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice.

a. Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God: Israel was to proclaim two things. First, that the LORD to be their God. Second, that they will walk in His ways and keep His statutes. The two go together, because the identity of our God is always demonstrated by the direction of our obedience.

(Deuteronomy 26:18-19) God’s proclamation.

Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.

a. The LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people: Israel’s obedience to the LORD would be more than rewarded. God promised that He exalt an obedient Israel, to set them high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor.

References:

Kalland, Earl S. “Deuteronomy: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary” Volume 3 (Deuteronomy-2 Samuel) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1992)
Updated: August 2022

SIX MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING A JUST SOCIETY

Primary Socialization – Deuteronomy 6
Herem – Deut. 7
Endogamous Marriage – Deut. 8
Worship at the place where I shall put my name – Deut. 12
Cleanliness – Deut. 14
Tithing, Annual and Third-Year – Deut. 14:22-27

Deuteronomy 26 is a testament to the deep bond between God and His chosen people. It teaches us the importance of gratitude, historical remembrance, and unwavering obedience. As we look into our own lives, we are reminded of the blessings we receive daily and the significance of sharing, acknowledging our past, and reaffirming our commitments for the future.

Offering the Firstfruits (Verses 1-11)

When the Israelites enter the Promised Land and reap its harvest, they are commanded to take the firstfruits to the place God chooses for His Name to dwell. Accompanying this offering, they recall their ancestors’ humble origins and the Exodus from Egypt, concluding the ritual by celebrating with the Levites and foreigners among them.

The Tithe and Its Purpose (Verses 12-15)

Every third year, the Israelites are commanded to give a tithe of their produce, ensuring that the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows can eat and be satisfied. This act confirms that they have followed God’s commands and not neglected any of them.

Affirmation of the Covenant (Verses 16-19)

God commands the Israelites to obey His statutes with all their heart and soul. The Israelites, in turn, declare God as their God and promise to walk in His ways. God reaffirms them as His treasured possession and promises to elevate them above all nations in praise, name, and honor.

Deuteronomy 26 paints a vivid picture of the Israelites’ responsibility once they inhabit the Promised Land. Through rituals of offering and reminders of their shared history, this chapter accentuates the value of gratitude, obedience, and the importance of maintaining a special relationship with God.

THE SEVEN MILLENNIAL DAYS OF HUMAN HISTORY

JTC-V16en-Zion-The-7-Millenniums-of-God

Bible chronology shows that there were approximately two thousand years from Adam’s creation until the time of Abraham (Genesis 5; 11), two thousand years more from Abraham until Jesus Christ (the period in which the bulk of biblical history is contained), and, of course, there have been an additional two thousand years since the time of Jesus Christ until the present.

This totals up to six thousand years of human history falling into three neat divisions, each approximately two thousand years in length, with the vast majority of biblical history contained in the second, or middle division.

From Adam to Abraham: 2,000 years
From Abraham to Christ: 2,000 years
From Christ to our time: 2,000 years
Total: 6,000 years

SEVEN DISPENSATIONS

The first dispensation is called the Dispensation of Innocence (Genesis 1:28-30 and 2:15-17). This dispensation covered the period of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In this dispensation God’s commands were to

(1) fill the earth with children,

(2) subdue the earth,

(3) have dominion over the animals,

(4) care for the garden, and

(5) abstain from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God warned of the punishment of physical and spiritual death for disobedience. This dispensation came to an end when Adam and Eve disobeyed in eating the forbidden fruit and were expelled from the garden.

The second dispensation is called the Dispensation of Conscience, and it lasted about 1,656 years from the time of Adam and Eve’s eviction from the garden until the flood (Genesis 3:8–8:22). This dispensation demonstrates what mankind will do if left to his own will and conscience, which have been tainted by the inherited sin nature. The five major aspects of this dispensation are

1) a curse on the serpent,

2) a change in womanhood and childbearing,

3) a curse on nature,

4) the imposing of difficult work on mankind to produce food, and

5) the promise of Christ as the seed who will bruise the serpent’s head (Satan).

The third dispensation is the Dispensation of Human Government, which began in Genesis 8. God had destroyed life on earth with a flood, saving just one family to restart the human race. God made the following promises and commands to Noah and his family:

God will not curse the earth again.
Noah and family are to replenish the earth with people.
They shall have dominion over the animal creation.
They are allowed to eat meat.
The law of capital punishment is established.
There never will be another worldwide flood.
The sign of God’s promise will be the rainbow.

Noah’s descendants did not scatter and fill the earth as God had commanded, thus failing in their responsibility in this dispensation. About 325 years after the flood, the earth’s inhabitants began building a tower, a great monument to their solidarity and pride (Genesis 11:7-9). God brought the construction to a halt, creating different languages and enforcing His command to fill the earth. The result was the rise of different nations and cultures. From that point on, human governments have been a reality.

The fourth dispensation, called the Dispensation of Promise, started with the call of Abraham, continued through the lives of the patriarchs, and ended with the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, a period of about 430 years. During this dispensation God developed a great nation that He had chosen as His people (Genesis 12:1–Exodus 19:25).

The basic promise during the Dispensation of Promise was the Abrahamic Covenant. Here are some of the key points of that unconditional covenant:

From Abraham would come a great nation that God would bless with natural and spiritual prosperity.
God would make Abraham’s name great.
God would bless those that blessed Abraham’s descendants and curse those that cursed them.
In Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed. This is fulfilled in Jesus Christ and His work of salvation.
The sign of the covenant is circumcision.
This covenant, which was repeated to Isaac and Jacob, is confined to the Hebrew people and the 12 tribes of Israel.

The fifth dispensation is called the Dispensation of Law. It lasted almost 1,500 years, from the Exodus until it was suspended after Jesus Christ’s death. This dispensation will continue during the Millennium, with some modifications. During the Dispensation of Law, God dealt specifically with the Jewish nation through the Mosaic Covenant, or the Law, found in Exodus 19–23. The dispensation involved temple worship directed by priests, with further direction spoken through God’s mouthpieces, the prophets. Eventually, due to the people’s disobedience to the covenant, the tribes of Israel lost the Promised Land and were subjected to bondage.

The sixth dispensation, the one in which we now live, is the Dispensation of Grace. It began with the New Covenant in Christ’s blood (Luke 22:20). This “Age of Grace” or “Church Age” occurs between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel 9:24. It starts with the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and ends with the Rapture of the church (1 Thessalonians 4). This dispensation is worldwide and includes both Jews and the Gentiles. Man’s responsibility during the Dispensation of Grace is to believe in Jesus, the Son of God (John 3:18). In this dispensation the Holy Spirit indwells believers as the Comforter (John 14:16-26). This dispensation has lasted for almost 2,000 years, and no one knows when it will end. We do know that it will end with the Rapture of all born-again believers from the earth to go to heaven with Christ. Following the Rapture will be the judgments of God lasting for seven years.

The seventh dispensation is called the Millennial Kingdom of Christ and will last for 1,000 years as Christ Himself rules on earth. This Kingdom will fulfill the prophecy to the Jewish nation that Christ will return and be their King. The only people allowed to enter the Kingdom are the born-again believers from the Age of Grace, righteous survivors of the seven years of tribulation, and the resurrected Old Testament saints. No unsaved person is allowed access into this kingdom. Satan is bound during the 1,000 years. This period ends with the final judgment (Revelation 20:11-14). The old world is destroyed by fire, and the New Heaven and New Earth of Revelation 21 and 22 will begin.

Augustine’s AMILLENIALISM

Article contributed by http://www.walvoord.com

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Augustine in the history of theology. Not only did his thinking crystallize the theology which preceded him, but to a large extent he laid the foundations for both Catholic and Protestant doctrine.

B. B. Warfield, quoting Harnack, refers to Augustine as “incomparably the greatest man whom, ‘between Paul the Apostle and Luther the Reformer, the Christian Church has possessed.’“1 While the contribution of Augustine is principally noted in the areas of the doctrine of the church, hamartiology, the doctrine of grace, and predestination, he is also the greatest landmark in the early history of amillennialism.

The importance of Augustine to the history of amillennialism is derived from two reasons. First, there are no acceptable exponents of amillennialism before Augustine, as has been previously discussed. Prior to Augustine, amillennialism was associated with the heresies produced by the allegorizing and spiritualizing school of theology at Alexandria which not only opposed premillennialism but subverted any literal exegesis of Scripture whatever. Few modern theologians even of liberal schools of thought would care to build upon the theology of such men as Clement of Alexandria, Origen or Dionysius. Augustine is, then, the first theologian of solid influence who adopted amillennialism.

The second reason for the importance of Augustinian amillennialism is that his viewpoint became the prevailing doctrine of the Roman Church, and it was adopted with variations by most of the Protestant Reformers along with many other teachings of Augustine. The writings of Augustine, in fact, occasioned the shelving of premillennialism by most of the organized church. The study of Augustine on the millennial question is a necessary introduction to the doctrine as a whole.

In the current discussion of the millennial question the restudy of Augustine is especially apropos. Here we have one of the first great theologians of the Roman Church recognized by both Catholic and Protestant as an original thinker and solid contributor to the doctrine of Christendom. The fact that Augustine was amillennial in his viewpoint is noted with pride by modern amillennialists to show that their position is historic and a part of the central teaching of the church. Allis, for instance, loses no time in his attack on premillennialism to point out in the second page of his volume that Augustinian amillennialism was the norm for the church of the middle ages.2 While the significance of much of the material relating to the millennium in writers before Augustine is hotly debated, Augustine is perfectly clear in his position—the general facts of his position are not disputed. We have then concrete teaching which can be treated objectively.

In the previous study in postmillennialism, the current decline of postmillennialism was traced to certain specific factors:

(1) its principle of spiritualizing the meaning of Scripture;

(2) its trend toward liberalism;

(3) its failure to fit the facts of history;

(4) a trend toward realism in philosophy;

(5) the present trend toward amillennialism.

As postmillennialism is suitable for a test case for the principles of the millennial issue as a whole, so Augustinian amillennialism is suitable as a test case for amillennialism. In other words,

Does the viewpoint of Augustine demonstrate a proper method of interpreting Scripture?
Does it provide a basis for liberalism?
Does it fit the facts of history?
Does it fit the trend of modern thought?

While all of these questions are not decisive, it is clear that the question of method of interpreting Scripture, relation to liberalism and fulfillment in history are important bases for judgment of Augustine’s views on the millennium. It is proposed to take his doctrine, which is considered normative amillennialism, and make it a test for the doctrine as a whole.

Augustine on the Millennium

Augustine’s concept of the millennium is not difficult to grasp nor are the major facts subject to dispute, Augustine conceived of the present age as a conflict between the City of God and the City of Satan, or the conflict between the church and the world. This was viewed as moving on to the ultimate triumph of the church to be climaxed by a tremendous struggle in which the church would be apparently defeated, only to consummate in a tremendous triumph in the second coming of Christ to the earth.

Augustine held that the present age of conflict is the millennium. Following as he did the chronology of the LXX which is somewhat longer than Ussher’s chronology in the Old Testament, he found that the Christian era is the sixth millennium from creation.

This age apparently began somewhat before Christ, according to chronology, but Satan in any case was bound, as Allis states, during the lifetime of Christ on earth (Luke 10:18).3

Augustine puts it, “This binding of Satan began when the church began to spread from Judaea into other regions, and lasts yet, and shall do until his time be expired.”4

Augustine considered the progress of the millennium in his day (400 A.D.) well advanced and predicted the consummation would occur in the year 650.5

Augustine, however, qualifled his datesetting. He states: “In vain therefore do we try to reckon the remainder of the world’s years…. Some say that, it shall last four hundred, some five hundred, some a thousand years after the ascension. Everyone has his view, it were vain to try to show on what grounds.”6

Augustine’s interpretation of Revelation 20 is not very specific. As in his entire discussion of this doctrine, the treatment is cursory and brief. He discusses Revelation 20 in three or four pages and dismisses without any real argument the literal view.

In fact, Augustine, like many others, does not seem to grasp the principles involved. His reason for avoiding the literal view is reduced to one reason—some had made the millennium a time of carnal enjoyment, a view which Augustine rightly opposed. As Augustine himself put it: “This opinion [a future literal millenium after the resurrection] might be allowed, if it proposed only spiritual delight unto the saints during this space (and we were once of the same opinion ourselves); but seeing the avouchers hereof affirm that the saints after this resurrection shall do nothing but revel in fleshly banquets, where the cheer shall exceed both modesty and measure, this is gross and fit for none but carnal men to believe. But they that are really and truly spiritual do call those of this opinion Chiliasts.”7 Thus on trivial grounds Augustine abandons the literal interpretation of Revelation 20. Somehow, for all his genius, he did not see that he could abandon this false teaching without abandoning the doctrine of a literal millennium.

In spite of adopting a spiritualized interpretation of Revelation 20, Augustine hews closely to a literal interpretation of the time element—it would be a literal 1000 years. Instead of a future millennium however, he considered it already present. Revelation 20 was, then, a recapitulation of the present age which Augustine held was portrayed in the earlier chapters of Revelation. The present age, for Augustine, is the millennium promised in Revelation 20. Augustine, however, also held to a future millennium, to round out the seven millenniums from Adam which he held comprised the history of man. This future millennium, he held, was not literal but is synonymous with eternity—a use of the number in a symbolic sense only.

In Augustine, then, we have specific and concrete teaching on the millennium.8 There is no future millennium in the ordinary meaning of the term. The present age is the millennium; Satan is bound now; when Christ returns the present millennium will close, the future millennium or eternity will begin. It remains, now, to test this teaching in its principles, implications, and fulfillment.

The Principle of Spiritualized Interpretation

It is clear that in arriving at his conclusion regarding the millennium Augustine used the principle of spiritualizing Scripture freely. While he did not use this principle in interpreting Scripture relating to predestination, hamartiology, salvation, or grace, he found it suitable for interpreting prophecy.

A candid examination of his interpretation leaves the examiner with the impression that Augustine did not give a reasonable exegesis of Scripture involved.

Augustine’s doctrine that Satan is bound in this age—an essential of his system of interpretation—is a notable illustration of spiritualized and strained exegesis (cf. Luke 10:18 and Revelation 20:2-3).

Nothing is clearer from Scripture, the history of the church, and Christian experience than that Satan is exceedingly active in this present age against both Christians and unbelievers. Ananias is declared to have his heart filled with Satan (Acts 5:3). The one to be disciplined in the Corinthian church is delivered unto Satan (1 Cor 5:5; cf. 1 Tim 1:20). The Christian is constantly warned against Satan’s temptations (1 Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:11; 11:14 ; etc.). Paul declares that he is sorely tried by the buffeting of the messenger of Satan (2 Cor 12:7).

While the Christian can have victory over Satan, there is no evidence whatever that Satan is inactive or bound. It is no wonder that Warfield, though a disciple of Augustine, completely abandons this idea of Augustine as far as earth is concerned and limits it to the idea that “saints described are removed from the sphere of Satan’s assaults,”9 i.e., Satan is bound in respect to heaven only. While Warfield’s explanation is no more sensible than Augustine’s as far as an exegesis of the Scriptures is concerned, it at least accords with the facts of church history. It can be stated flatly that Augustine’s exegesis is an outright error as far as the binding of Satan is concerned.

The exegesis of Augustine on Revelation 20 as a whole fares no better. After concluding that the binding of Satan is synonymous with the victory of Christ in His first advent, he draws the strained conclusion that the “first resurrection” of Revelation 20:5 is the spiritual birth of believers. The context in Revelation 20:4 makes it perfectly clear that as far as this passage goes those who are “raised” are those who “were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads.” The subject of the passage is not the living but the dead; not the church as a whole, but the martyrs only. To spiritualize this portion of Scripture to make it conform to the course of the present age is to destroy all its plain literary meaning. Augustine’s view required also, of course, the spiritualization of the many Old Testament passages bearing on the future righteous kingdom on earth, and this he does in his treatment of the Old Testament.

Augustine’s Concept of the Present Age

It is central to Augustine’s theology that he regards the church as ultimately triumphant. While his viewpoint varies somewhat from postmillennial theology, the similarities are so marked that some have taken Augustine to be postmillennial.

Like the postmillennialist, Augustine regarded the present age as a progressive triumph culminating in the second advent and the final judgment of men. He differed from the postmillennialists only in matter of the degree of that triumph. As Augustine held the millennium was already three-fourths past when he lived, he found it necessary to account for the widespread evidence of sin in his day and the comparative inadequacy of the church to bring in a golden age of righteousness. He accordingly did not claim that the present age was a literal fulfillment of the promised age of righteousness, but was rather a time of conflict in which evil often seemed to have the upper hand. Like the postmillenarians, however, he did not doubt that ultimately righteousness would triumph.

While Augustine’s predictions of continued struggle and conflict have been abundantly fulfilled to the present day, there is little evidence that there has been any progress toward the ultimate goal. It is significant that many present-day amillennialists have further retreated from the predictions of triumph and are content to leave a golden age to eternity future or limited to heaven. Premillennialists will not necessarily disagree with Augustine’s basic idea of conflict in the present age nor with the idea that the second atdvent will signal the coming of righteousness to the earth, but they will attach a different meaning to both the present age and the second advent.

The Failure of Fulfillment
The test of any system of interpretation is its correspondence to the facts of history. This is especially true in interpretation of prophecy. The question may fairly be asked whether the history of the church and the world since Augustine has given any confirmation of the essentials of his interpretation.

The Augustinian concept of the binding of Satan has already been shown to be without Scriptural or historical warrant. Certainly there has been no real change in the working of Satan in the world and plainly no lack of activity of Satanic forces. The concept of progress and a triumphant church, while not stressed by Augustine in the postmillennial way, falls far short of fulfillment or even significant attainment. The Christian era has been no golden age of righteousness nor has the church conquered the world. It is more accurate to recognize that the world has to a large degree possessed the church.

One feature of Augustinian millennialism has notably failed. Augustine, as has been previously brought out, considered the coming of Christ within one thousand years after the ascension an essential of his system. So impressed was Augustine with the necessity of interpreting literally the six references to the one thousand years in Revelation 20 that he departed from his otherwise spiritualization of the passage to assert it. Because of his involvement with the theory that the entire history of man would be finished within seven millenniums, he considered it entirely possible that the sixth millennium, the last in ordinary world history, had already begun when Christ was born. Based on calculations from chronology of the LXX, Augustine concluded that the second advent would occur in the year 650 A.D.10 This would seem the most flagrant date-setting one could imagine. In fairness to Augustine, however, it should be said that he is not arbitrary and recognized the possibility of error in the system of chronology which he followed. At the outside, nevertheless, the second advent would certainly occur within one thousand years of the ascension.11 Augustine was positive that in any case the millennium was started no later than the ascension and would last no longer than one thousand years.

The year 650 came and went with no notable events to fulfill the promise in Augustine’s teaching. Attention was soon fastened on the year 1000 A.D. The belief was widespread that the second advent would occur on this date. As Kromminga points out, not only at the year 1000, but also in the year 1044, and again in 1065, when Good Friday happened to concide with the Day of Annunciation, there was hope that the second advent would occur on Good Friday.12 The expectation of the church based on Augustinian eschatology was not fulfilled, and it became evident that by no stretch of the imagination was the Augustinian teaching to be considered fulfilled. For a time they could hope they were in the “little season” (Rev 20:3), but as the years wore away this became increasingly untenable. Both of Augustine’s suggestions—the year 650 and the year 1000 or thereafter—were obsolete.

Two major viewpoints eventuated out of the welter of speculation which continued to regard the coming of Christ as an imminent event. The postmillennial idea that the millennium was literal but would begin someday after the time of Christ had many adherents. All sorts of starting points were suggested. Even to modern times postmillennialists were wont to start the millennium at such time as to bring its consummation in their lifetime. Hengstenberg, for instance, began the millennium in the ninth century, which would bring the second advent in his lifetime. Others began the millennium in more recent times. Allis cites Durham as dating its beginning in 1560.13 Normal postmillennialism follows Whitby, however, in finding the entire millennium or golden age still future. Both Roman Catholic and Reformed scholars were in total confusion as far as arriving at an agreed teaching on this matter. A popular and more tenable position was adopted by some who spiritualized the time element of the millennium along with the teachings which relate to it. Undoubtedly this is a more consistent position even if it leaves the passage indefinite. In any case the outstanding feature of Augustinian amillennialism which captured the church and caused the eclipse of premillennialism proved to be a total failure in the history of the church. There was absolutely nothing to confirm the Augustinian view of the millennium in the centuries which followed him. If the law of fulfillment is essential to establish an interpretation, the Augustinian view is tried and found wanting.

The Amillennialism of the Protestant Reformation
The Roman Church did not make any significant advance in the doctrine after Augustine, and Protestant teachings did not fare much better. Without attempting within the limited discussion possible here an analysis of the whole Protestant Reformation, it is safe to conclude that the early years of Protestantism saw little if any advance over the Augustinian view. It is clear that the great Protestant leaders such as Calvin, Luther, and Melanchthon are properly classed as amillennial. As far as millennial teaching was concerned, they were content to follow the Roman Church in a weakened Augustinian viewpoint. Calvin’s discussion of the millennium is a fair sample of the attitude of the Reformers. They treated the doctrine superficially and arbitrarily, making the view ridiculous by misrepresentation. Calvin, for instance, has this to say: “…not long after arose the Millenarians, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. Their fiction is too puerile to require or deserve refutation. Nor does the Revelation, which they quote in favour of their error, afford them any support; for the term of a thousand years, there mentioned, refers not to the eternal blessedness of the Church, but to the various agitations which awaited the Church in its militant state upon earth. But the whole Scripture proclaims that there will be no end of the happiness of the elect, or the punishment of the reprobate…. Those who assign the children of God a thousand years to enjoy the inheritance of the future life, little think what dishonour they cast on Christ and his kingdom.”14 While Augustine discarded premillennialism because he took a carnal interpretation of the millennium as essential to the view, Calvin commits a greater error in assigning to the premillennial view a limited eternity of one millennium. Neither view would be claimed by any thinking premillennialist of our day. One can wonder what Augustine and Calvin would do with the complete system of premillennial teaching available in modern times.

Modern Amillennialism
Because of the analytic treatment of amillennialism from a modern viewpoint, which will follow, it will be sufficient here to observe the broad trend of amillennialism in modern times. For the most part amillennialists of today such as Allis and Berkhof claim to follow in the hallowed tradition of Augustine while admitting the need for adjustment of his view to the actual modern situation. A new type of amillennialism has arisen, however, of which Warfield can be taken as an example which is actually a totally new type of amillennialism. Allis traces this view to Duesterdieck (1859) and Kliefoth (1874)15 and analyzes it as a reversal of the fundamental Augustinian theory that Revelation 20 was a recapitulation of the church age. The new view instead follows the line of teaching that the millennium is distinct from the church age though it precedes the second advent. To solve the problem of correlation of this interpretation with the hard facts of a world of unbelief and sin, they interpreted the millennium as a picture not of a time-period but of a state of blessedness of the saints in heaven.16 Warfield, with the acknowledged help of Kliefoth,17 defines the millennium in these words: “The vision, in one word, is a vision of the peace of those who have died in the Lord; and its message to us is embodied in the words of XIV.13: ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth’—of which passage the present is indeed only an expansion. The picture that is brought before us here is, in fine, the picture of the ‘intermediate state’—of the saints of God gathered in heaven away from the confused noise and garments bathed in blood that characterize the war upon earth, in order that they may securely await the end.”18

Among amillennialists who are classified as conservative, there are, then, two principal viewpoints: (1) which finds fulfillment in the present age on earth in the church; (2) which finds fulfillment in heaven in the saints. The second more than the first requires spiritualization not only of Revelation 20 but of all the many Old Testament passages dealing with a golden age of a righteous kingdom on earth.

Such are the antecedents of modern amillennialism. It remains, now, to analyze this historic doctrine in its modern setting in the light of the Holy Scriptures. Both premillennialism and amillennialism have many honored and historic exponents. The question remains which view provides the best interpretation of the entire Word of God. Obviously the Scriptures do not teach both viewpoints; obviously this is not a trivial matter. The contemporary serious trend of studies in this direction while not always pure in motive finds justification in the significance of the question. What, after all, is the answer of amillennialism to the main issues of Christian doctrine? This is the question which is now to come before us.

Dallas, Texas

(Series to be continued in the January-March Number, 1950)

This article was taken from the Theological Journal Library CD and posted with permission of Galaxie Software.

1 B. B. Warfield, Studies in Tertullian and Augustine, p. 114, citing in part Harnack, Monasticism and the Confessions of St. Augustine, p. 123.

2 Oswald T. Allis, Prophecy and the Church, pp. 2-5.

3 Allis, ibid., p. 3, “He held that the binding of Satan took place during the earthly ministry of our Lord (Lk. x.18 ).”

4 Augustine, City of God, XX, 8.

5 Cf. Allis, op. cit., p. 3.

6 Augustine, op. cit., XVIII, 53.

7 Augustine, ibid., XX, 7.

8 Cf. Augustine, ibid., XX; Allis, op. cit., pp. 3-5; D. H. Kromminga, The Millennium in the Church, pp. 108-113.

9 B. B. Warfield, Biblical Doctrines, p. 651.

10 Cf. Allis, op. cit., p. 3.

11 Augustine, op. cit., XVIII, 53.

12 Kromminga, op. cit., p. 117, citing Glaber, Erdmann, etc.

13 Allis, op. cit., p. 4.

14 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, 1936), II, 250-51 (Book III, 25).

15 Allis, op. cit., p. 5.

16 Allis, loc. cit.

17 Warfield, Biblical Doctrines, pp. 643-44.

18 Warfield, ibid., p. 649.

FROM THE SERIES: MILLENNIAL SERIES

PPT - The Kingdom of God PowerPoint Presentation - ID:3940084

1. The Premillennial View: Christ Initiates His 1,000 Reign | Evidence ...

Was John Wesley Ammelinial?

What is God doing in history? How a preacher answers this question will impact the content of preaching. Is the preacher seeking a great spiritual awakening in history or just trying to get a few souls into heaven as an escape from the downward spiral of Christian culture in this world?

John Wesley looked for a period of great revival in history before God consummates the kingdom on this earth. Though eschatology was not in the forefront of Wesley’s preaching, it was always in the background of his preaching because of what he believed to be the possible, even probable, extent of God’s soteriological work in this world.

Ideas about the so-called millennium or millennial reign of Christ on earth is usually part of the discussion of “end things.” While the millennial reign of Christ on earth is not usually a major discussion point in Wesleyan theology, John Wesley’s speculation about a millennium did occur in some of his later sermons. As we shall see in this article, John Wesley participated in speculation about the coming millennium. What was that speculation and how did it impact Wesley’s preaching?

The Greek word translated “millennium” occurs six times in Revelation 20 and it means a thousand-year period. The concept usually refers to a long reign of the Messiah on earth. The concept of an earthly millennium also harkens back to the dreams of the Hebrew prophets for a period of peace and prosperity on earth. Such an example is Isaiah who wrote,

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (11:6-9).

With an equally exciting vision of earthly hope, the prophet Micah promised,

In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains . . . . Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come . . . . For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. . . . [T]hey shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (4:1-4).

These are just two passages from many in the Hebrew prophets that have fueled dreams of an earthly Messianic rule. The Hebrew Bible is filled with a yearning for God’s perfect rule that blesses the whole earth.

The prevailing view among many early Christians like Papias, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus was that history would end with a Messianic rule centered in Jerusalem that followed the return of Christ (i.e., premillennialism).

After the Roman empire embraced Christianity, it became more common to spiritualize the concept of the millennium as the reign of Christ in the hearts of his people and the reign of the Christian dead in heaven. So the millennium and church history became coterminous in this theological view of history.

Augustine promoted this view that has since become titled amillennialism which technically means no millennium. There actually is a millennium in this theology, but it is just the span of church history. Christians live, then die, then go to heaven. That is the end of the story. This eradication of a paradisiacal earthly kingdom in favor of a spiritualized kingdom only in hearts and heaven was the view that prevailed through the Reformation.

During the 17th century, particularly in Puritan circles, a new view emerged that saw the church age ending with a near-paradisiacal millennial reign of Christ created through the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. This age of gospel prominence and mass conversions would culminate with the return of Christ. Since the millennium occurs before the return of Christ, this theology is termed postmillennialism. This was the view that inspired the First and Second Great Awakenings in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century America. Because of a focus on God’s work in this earth, the revivals of this period were accompanied by great social reform. Postmillennial thought fell out of popularity in American and British Christianity in the last quarter of the nineteenth century with the resurgence of premillennial thought. At the same time, the developing Protestant liberalism did not deal much with eschatology. Many evangelicals embraced the premillennialism that gained popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Much of this modern premillennialism followed the leading of the British preacher, John Nelson Darby (1800-1882), who added the concept of a rapture of the saints seven years before the return of Christ. Darby’s form of premillennialism is referred to as dispensational premillennialism because a strict time barrier is drawn between God’s dealings with Israel and God’s dealings with the Church. After a while, the early Church’s version of premillennialism began to be called historic premillennialism to differentiate it from more modern dispensational premillennialism.

How does John Wesley fit into a discussion of eschatological thought? Was Wesley a premillennialist or postmillennialist, and does it matter? Is this just an esoteric theological discussion that has no bearing on practical Christian living? I think that this is an important question and the answer is important. Wesley’s eschatological considerations greatly impacted his preaching and the same can be true for Wesley’s heirs. What Wesley believed about God’s intended work in history and the coming millennium helps explain some of the motivation and power behind his preaching and the success of the early Methodist movement. In several sermons, Wesley mentioned that a new creation was coming to this earth. His sermons “The General Deliverance” (1781) and “The New Creation” (1785) certainly point to a paradisiacal age on this earth that cannot be spiritualized away or made coterminous with the church age. Because of his view that the earth would be redeemed, Wesley was obviously not an amillennialist, so he parted company with Augustine at this point.

It is difficult to categorize Wesley as either a premillennialist or a postmillennialist. Wesley was not a systematic theologian, especially regarding eschatology. Wesley seemed to create his own eschatological niche that is difficult to categorize. Different eschatological schools have claimed Wesley. The Methodist theologian Harris Franklin Rall declared in Modern Premillennialism and the Christian Hope (1920) that Wesley was not a premillennialist. But on the other hand, an early proponent of the modern resurgence of premillennialism, Presbyterian Nathaniel West claimed enthusiastically that Wesley was a premillennialist in his John Wesley and Premillennialism (1894). (This book was reprinted in 2018 by First Fruits, the academic open press of Asbury Seminary.) I think that both authors are partially right.

What did Wesley preach concerning a future earthly reign of Christ on the earth and how did he think it would be established? Wesley’s Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament (1755) makes abundant use of the writings of Johann Albrecht Bengel (1687-1752). Wesley acknowledged his indebtedness to Bengel in his Preface to the Notes when he referred to him as “that great light of the Christian world.” Bengel was known in his day as a biblical scholar who rather uniquely believed in a dual millennial reign of Christ on earth. Even though Bengel never claimed to have originated this concept, he is remembered for the innovation. According to Bengel, the first millennium will be after the binding of Satan which then will allow for a dramatic spread of the Gospel throughout the world. This first millennium looks like the classic postmillennial hope. Bengel’s second millennium was to be the earthly reign of Christ and the rejuvenation of creation akin to a return to Paradise. This allowed Bengel to be claimed by premillennial thinkers. Bengel saw both millenniums mentioned in Revelation 20.

Drawing on the work of Bengel, Wesley wrote of Revelation 20 in his Notes that it “must be observed, that two distinct thousand years are mentioned throughout this whole passage.” While Wesley did not spend time elaborating on this concept, it appears he accepted Bengel’s view. The concept of a dual millennium would allow for both the postmillennialist hope of a great advancement of the gospel, including the conversion of the Jews as dreamed by Puritan postmillennialists, and an earthly reign of Christ centered in Jerusalem as dreamed by early church premillennialists. Wesley’s hope for the future included both components. He was not willing to let go of either the dream of gospel expansion in this age or a new earth in the age to come. (For a fuller presentation of Wesley’s use of Bengel regarding the concept of a dual millennium, see Kenneth J. Collin’s The Theology of John Wesley, 2007, 314-316. Collins sees both premillennial and postmillennial thought in Wesley, but appropriately emphasizes the dominating role of Wesley’s postmillennial leanings.)

So, again I ask the question, was John Wesley a premillennialist or a postmillennialist and does it matter? I believe that his preaching included elements of both premillennialism and postmillennialism. He was inspired by both eschatological schools particularly where they supported his grace-based optimism. When Wesley touched on eschatological themes, his preaching typically made mention of the major themes of eschatology such as the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead, heaven, hell, and a new creation. Thoughts of an earthly millennium are found in his sermons. Wesley’s dependence upon Bengel certainly allowed him to envision a great earthly kingdom of Christ following the second advent. At the same time, Wesley also imbibed the postmillennial enthusiasm and hope of his age. Wesley’s sermon, “The General Spread of the Gospel” (1783) is an example of the classic eighteenth-century optimism that gave rise to Methodism’s conviction to seek the spread of Scriptural holiness and the conversion of the world. (The United Methodist Baptismal Covenant III still maintains that the Church exists to bring about the “conversion of the world.”) Wesley’s sermon “The General Spread of the Gospel” is based on a favorite text of postmillennial preachers, “The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). Wesley emphatically declares in that sermon, “The loving knowledge of God, producing uniform, uninterrupted holiness and happiness, shall cover the earth; shall fill every soul of man.” The optimism of Wesley was an optimism of grace that could envision the prevailing of perfect love throughout the world. For eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century evangelicals, it would not be a triumph of the Church’s social activism that would change society, but the triumph of Spirit-inspired gospel preaching.

John Wesley believed in the Christianizing of this world before the return of Christ. His blending of the premillennialism of the early Church and the postmillennialism of his age allowed him to show great respect to Scripture as interpreted by the Ante-Nicene premillennialists and to seek revival like an eighteenth-century postmillennialist. Much premillennialism of twentieth-century evangelicalism has been a pessimistic creed that seemed to have given up on the betterment of life on the earth. Because of his view of the transforming power of grace, Wesley would never fall victim to such despair. It is easy to feel the enthusiasm for the mission of the church in the postmillennialism of Isaac Watt’s hymn (1719):

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
doth its successive journeys run;
his kingdom spread from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.

John Wesley shared Isaac Watts’ hope for the prevailing of the gospel in history. In contrast to that hope, note the premillennial missional gloom of P.P Bliss’s “Hold the Fort” (1870):

Hold the fort, for I am coming,”
Jesus signals still,
Wave the answer back to Heaven,
“By Thy grace we will.”

These two very different hymns illustrate a major shift in eschatology. There is a direct correlation between eschatology and evangelistic zeal even if the correlation is unrecognized. A preacher’s conviction about the power of the gospel to change lives has many practical ramifications for both preaching and prayer. John Wesley’s view of the culmination of history was important. He realistically could accept the ravages of sin without yielding to despair. His view of the path and goal of history allowed for the growth of both the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13.34-43), the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God in history. Much Christianity today seems to expect the growth of the tares but looks for little growth of the wheat. Great spiritual awakening comes when large numbers of Christians believe that such an awakening is possible and imminent. For many modern evangelicals, a downward trajectory of the church’s spiritual success is indicative of the soon return of Christ, so it is something to be accepted and relished even if unintentionally. Wesley’s eschatology allowed him to be faithful to the hopes of early Christians and the audacious hopes of the best in revival preaching of his own age. Wesley expected God to bring a revival of primitive Christianity to the whole world before the consummation of history. Perhaps great revival tarries today because Christians have lost the hope that revival can happen on a great scale.

Written by Dr. Jeff Patterson is the Senior Pastor at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in High Point, North Carolina. He is an Elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC.

Bible Verses about Holiness

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 2 Corinthians 7:1

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. Psalm 119:9

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. 2 Timothy 1:9

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16a

You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. Leviticus 20:26

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Ephesians 5:3

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 1 Samuel 2:2

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Romans 6:22

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:15

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. Romans 16:17

And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 38:23

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Amos 5:14

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Psalm 103:1

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows. Proverbs 20:25

I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. Ezekiel 36:23

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. Isaiah 35:8

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5

BE CLEAN -Deuteronomy Chapter 14

1. (1) The command to abstain from pagan burial customs.

You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead.

a. You shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead: Among the pagan cultures surrounding Israel, it was common to cut one’s self, or shave the front of one’s head, for the dead – that is, as a part of pagan burial rituals.

i. “The cutting of the body and the shaving of the head were common mourning rites in the ancient Near East and are referred to in many places in the Old Testament (Isaiah 3:24; 15:2; 22:12; Jeremiah 16:6; 41:5; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16).” (Thompson)

ii. “The mutilation of the body persists still in some countries, e.g. in New Guinea, where a mourner, especially a woman, removes a joint of a finger, and in extreme cases, more than one finger joint.” (Thompson)

b. You are the children of the LORD your God: Among Christians today, there is something wrong if our burial customs are just as the rituals of the ungodly. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13: But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. We may certainly mourn the passing of our loved ones, but as those who have eternal hope in Jesus, we should be different in our mourning.

2. (2) The principle behind the commands for separation.

For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

a. You are a holy people: The idea behind holy is “separate.” The people of Israel were a people separate unto the LORD. In Jesus, we also are a holy people: But you are… a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9).

b. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself: The people of Israel were chosen by God, to be His own special people. In Jesus, we also are a chosen people, special to God: But you are a chosen generation… His own special people (1 Peter 2:9).

c. A special treasure: The people of Israel were a special treasure to God. In Jesus, we also are a special treasure to God: We are His inheritance (Ephesians 1:18).

d. Above all the people who are on the face of the earth: Each of these glorious privileges carried with it a special responsibility. If God regarded Israel as something special among the nations, they had to conduct themselves as something special among the nations.

3. (3-21) The command to separate in regard to foods.

These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals. Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses. These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales. And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. All clean birds you may eat. But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; every raven after its kind; the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the seagull, and the hawk after their kinds; the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat. Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. You may eat all clean birds. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

a. These are the animals which you may eat: Only certain mammals were allowed to be eaten, and the rule was simple. If an animal had a divided hoof (not a single hoof as a horse has), and chewed its cud, it could be eaten. For example, the camel, the rock hyrax, and the hare all chew the cud, but do not have divided hooves – instead, they have paws – so they are considered unkosher. Additionally, the swine has a divided hoof, but does not chew the cud – so it is considered unkosher.

b. These you may eat of all that are in the waters: Only certain sea creatures could be eaten, and the rule was simple. Any water creature having both fins and scales was kosher and could be eaten. Therefore, most fishes were considered clean – except a fish like the catfish, which has no scales. Shellfish would be unclean, because clams, crabs, oysters, and lobster all do not have fins and scales.

c. All clean birds you may eat: Only certain birds could be eaten; though there is no rule given to determine if a bird is clean or unclean, the specifically mentioned unclean birds (and flying creeping things) are either predators or scavengers; these were considered unclean.

i. Among these animals, they fall into one of three categories: predators (unclean because they ate both the flesh and the blood of animals), scavengers (unclean because they were carriers of disease, and they regularly contacted dead bodies), or potentially poisonous or dangerous foods such as shellfish and the like. Eliminating these from the diet of Israel no doubt had a healthy effect, and one of the reasons for the dietary laws of Israel was to keep Israel healthy!

d. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself: If any animal dies of itself, it has not been properly bled; therefore, it is unkosher.

i. It was important to bleed animals before eating them, because the blood represented the life principle of the animal (Leviticus 17:11), and the life principle belonged to God and God alone. Another reason for the dietary laws was to project an important symbolism to Israel regarding blood and the sanctity of the life principle.

e. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk: This unusual law was a command to not imitate a common pagan fertility ritual. It illustrated the third principle behind the dietary laws of Israel: They were a statement of separation from the nations and prevented Israel from having easy fellowship (sitting down at a common meal) with Gentiles.

i. This law, because of strange rabbinical interpretations, became the reason why one cannot have a kosher cheeseburger. Observant Jews today will not eat milk and meat at the same meal (or even on the same plates with the same utensils cooked in the same pots), because the rabbis insist that the meat in the hamburger may have come from the calf of the cow that gave the milk for the cheese, and the cheese and the meat would “boil” together in one’s stomach and be a violation of this command.

B. The command of the tithe.

1. (22-23) The command to tithe.

You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

a. You shall truly tithe: The word truly is important; since the tithe described giving ten percent, God commanded that it really be ten percent. One might easily imagine Israelites discovering ways to give God less than truly ten percent.

b. All the increase of your grain: Seemingly, this meant the grain left over after the seed-grain was taken out. This meant that the tithe was assessed on the income, not on the total assets.

c. You shall eat before the LORD: When the tithe was delivered to the tabernacle (and later, to the temple), a portion of the tithe was enjoyed in a ceremonial meal “with” the LORD. The remainder was given to the priest.

d. That you may learn to fear the LORD your God always: This was the purpose of tithing; to build an honor and reverence for God. The paraphrase in the Living Bible puts it plainly: The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives (Deuteronomy 14:23b, Living Bible).

2. (24-27) “Long-distance” tithing.

But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

a. But if the journey is too long for you: Since the tithe was to be brought to one place for the whole nation, some would be farther than others. And, if someone was far away, they would find it difficult to transport the grain and livestock the tithe required.

b. You shall exchange it for money: If distance prevented the easy transport of the animals, they could exchange their tithe for money, and then use the money to tithe with when they came to the tabernacle (and later, the temple).

c. You shall rejoice, you and your household: Laws like this show us that God is a common-sense God. He does not place unreasonable demands on His people. He made a way for them to more conveniently tithe.

3. (28-29) The third-year tithe.

At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

a. At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year: Some have said this speaks of another tithe (sometimes called the “poor tithe”) to be brought every three years. Yet since it speaks of the tithe, and since it also went to the Levite and not only to the poor, it is best to understand that this was not an additional tithe, but a command that once every three years the tithe also be available to the poor, not only to the Levite.

i. As Kalland points out: “The Jewish rabbis have usually held that there were three tithes: (1) for the priests and Levites, (2) for the communal meals, (3) every third year for the nonlanded (i.e., the Levites, aliens, fatherless, and widows).” Kalland goes on to object to this rabbinic approach, and accurately observes, “So all the designations of tithes speak of one basic tithe to be put to various uses.”

b. That the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do: God will bless the giving heart. Ask anyone who gives as the Bible instructs them to give – they are blessed.

i. The New Testament nowhere specifically commands tithing, but it certainly does speak of it in a positive light if it is done with a right heart (Luke 11:42).

ii. It is also important to understand that tithing is not a principle dependent on the Mosaic Law; as Hebrews 7:5-9 explains, tithing was practiced and honored by God before the law of Moses.

iii. What the New Testament does speak with great clarity on is the principle of giving; that giving should be regular, planned, proportional, and private (1 Corinthians 16:1-4); that it must be generous, freely given, and cheerful (2 Corinthians 9).

iv. Since the New Testament doesn’t emphasize tithing, one might not be strict on it for Christians (though some Christians do argue against tithing on the basis of self-interest). Yet since giving is to be proportional, we should be giving some percentage – and ten percent is a good benchmark – and starting place. For some to give ten percent is nowhere near enough; for others, at their present time, five percent may be a massive step of faith.

v. If our question is, “How little can I give and still be pleasing to God?” our heart isn’t in the right place at all. We should have the attitude of some early Christians, who essentially said: “We’re not under the tithe – we can give more!” Giving and financial management is a spiritual issue, not just a financial one (Luke 16:11).

Deuteronomy’s role in the Bible

Deuteronomy reviews the Torah and foreshadows the rest of the Old Testament‘s story. In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people of God’s actions in the past:

His promises to Abraham in Genesis
His faithfulness in rescuing Israel in Exodus
His holiness in Leviticus
His punishment on the disobedient in Numbers

Moses also gives directions, blessings, and warnings, for the children of Israel in the future:

The appointment of Joshua as the new leader
God’s expectations of kings—which take effect when Saul becomes king in 1 Samuel
Prosperity for obeying God—which happens during David‘s and Solomon‘s reigns (1 Kgs 8:56; 10:14–29)
Exile for disobedience—which happens when the tribes are conquered by Assyria and Babylon (2 Kgs 17:6–23; 25:1–26)
God’s promise to restore Israel—which happens when Cyrus allows the Jews to return from Babylon in Ezra.

Deuteronomy is primarily the retelling of Mosaic law, but its text is still important today.

When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mk 12:30). Jesus quotes Deuteronomy three times when the devil tempts Him in the wilderness (Mt 4:1–11).

Deuteronomy focuses on loving God and keeping His commandments (Dt 11:1), which is exactly what Christ expects of us (Jn 14:15).

Quick outline of Deuteronomy

Recap of Israel’s journey from Egypt (Dt 1–3)
Recap of Israel’s relationship with God (Dt 4–10)
How to love God and keep His commandments (Dt 11–26)
Blessings, curses, and restoration (Dt 27–30)
The death of Moses (Dt 31–34)

Forty years earlier, God had rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. In the wilderness, the people agreed to form a special agreement (a covenant) with their God: he would give them the land of Canaan and protect them as their God, and in return they would keep his laws. However, the people of Israel violated God’s laws almost as soon as he gave them. That generation forfeited the promised land (which you can read about in Numbers), and now a new generation is about to make the journey into the land instead.

Before they do, Moses rallies the people to remind them of God’s law—and why they should obey Him. This is how the book of Deuteronomy gets its name: it’s the “second giving” of God’s law.

Theme verses of Deuteronomy

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.

So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

(Dt 30:19–20)

Covenant Theology & Dispensational Theology

Covenant theology centers on one overall covenant known as the covenant of grace. Some have called it the covenant of redemption. This is defined by many as an eternal covenant among the members of the Godhead including the following elements:

(1) the Father chose a people to be His own;

(2) The Son was designated, with his agreement, to the pay the penalty of their sin; and

(3) the Holy Spirit was designated, with His agreement, to apply the work of the Son to this chosen people.

This covenant of grace is being worked out in history on earth through subordinate covenants, beginning with the covenant of works and culminating in the new covenant, which fulfills and completes God’s work of grace to man on earth. These covenants include the Adamic covenant, Noahic covenant, Abrahamic covenant, Mosaic covenant, Davidic covenant, and new covenant.

Covenant theology does not see each covenant as separate and distinct. Instead, each covenant builds on the previous ones, including aspects of the previous ones, including aspects of the previous covenants and culminating in the new covenant.

An Overview of Dispensational Theology:

Dispensational theology looks on the world and history of mankind as a household over which God is superintending the outworking of His will. This outworking of His purpose and will can be seen be noting the various periods or stages of different economies whereby God deals with His work and mankind in particular. These various stages or economies are called dispensations. Their number may include seven: innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law, grace, and kingdom.

God’s People in Covenant Theology:

God has one people, represented by the saints in the OT and the saints of the NT era.
God’s People in Dispensational Theology:

God has two peoples—Israel and the church. Israel is an earthly people, and the church is a heavenly people.
God’s Plan for His People in Covenant Theology:

God has one people—the church—for whom He has one plan, in all ages since Adam: to call out this people into one body, in both the Old and New Testament ages.
God’s Plan for His People Dispensational Theology:

God has two separate peoples—Israel and the church—and also has two separate plans for these two distinct peoples. He plans an earthly kingdom for Israel. This kingdom has been postponed until Christ’s coming in power since Israel rejected it at Christ’s first coming. During the church age God is calling out a heavenly people. Dispensationalists disagree over whether the two peoples will remain distinct in the eternal state.

God’s Plan of Salvation in Covenant Theology:

God has one plan of salvation for all his people since the time of Adam. The plan is one of grace, being an outworking of the eternal covenant of grace, and comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

God’s Plan of Salvation in Dispensational Theology:

God has only one plan of salvation, though this has often been misunderstood because of inexactness in some dispensational writings. Some have wrongly taught or understood that OT believers were saved by works and sacrifices. However, most have believed that salvation has always been by grace through faith, but that the content of faith may vary until the full revelation of God in Christ.

Eternal Destiny for God’s People in Covenant Theology:

God has but one place for His people, since He has but one people, one plan for His people, and one plan of salvation. His people will be in His presence for eternity.

Eternal Destiny for God’s People in Dispensational Theology:

There is disagreement among dispensationalists regarding the future states of Israel and the church. Many believe that the church will sit with Christ on His throne in the New Jerusalem during the Millennium as He rules over the nations, while Israel will be the head of the nations of the earth.

The Birth of the Church in Covenant Theology:

The church existed prior to the NT era, including all the redeemed since Adam. Pentecost was not the beginning of the church but rather the empowering of the NT manifestation of God’s people.

The Birth of the Church in Dispensational Theology:

The church was born on the Day of Pentecost and did not exist in history until that time. The church, the body of Christ, is not found in the Old Testament, and saints are not part of the body of Christ.

The Purpose of Christ’s First Coming in Covenant Theology:

Christ came to die for our sins and to establish the New Israel, the NT manifestation of the church. This continuation of God’s plan placed the church under a new manifestation of the same covenant of grace. The kingdom that Jesus offered was the present, spiritual, and invisible kingdom.
Some covenantalists (especially postmillennialists) also see a physical aspect to the kingdom.

The Purpose of Christ’s First Coming in Dispensational Theology:

Christ came to establish the messianic kingdom. Some dispensationalists believe that this was to be an earthly kingdom in fulfillment of the OT promises to Israel. If the Jews had accepted Jesus’ offer, this earthly kingdom would have been established immediately. Other dispensationalists believe that Christ did establish the kingdom in some form, in which the church participates, but the earthly kingdom awaits the second coming of Christ to the earth. Christ always intended the cross before the crown.

The Fulfillment of the New Covenant in Covenant Theology:

The promises of the new covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31ff (verses 31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”) are fulfilled in the NT.

The Fulfillment of the New Covenant in Dispensational Theology:

Dispensationalists differ over whether only Israel is to participate in the new covenant, at a later time, or whether both the church and Israel participate jointly. Some dispensationalists believe there is one new covenant with two applications: one for Israel and one for the church. Others believe that there are two new covenants: one for Israel and another for the church

How The Millennium is Viewed in Covenant Theology:

Historically, covenant theology has been either amillennial, believing the kingdom to be present and spiritual, or postmillennial, believing the kingdom is being established on earth with Christ’s coming as the culmination. In recent years some covenant theologians have been premillennial, believing that there will be a future manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth (Historic Premillennialism). However, God’s dealings with Israel will be in connection with the church. Postmillennialists believe that the church is bringing the kingdom now, with Israel ultimately to be made a part of the church.

How The Millennium is Viewed in Dispensational Theology:

All dispensationalists are premillennialists, though not necessarily pretribulationalists. Premillennialists of this type believe that God will again turn to the nation of Israel, apart from His work with the church, and that there will be a 1,000-year period of Christ’s reign on David’s throne in accordance with and in fulfillment of the prophecies of the OT.

How The Second Coming is Viewed in Covenant Theology:

Christ’s coming will be to bring final judgment and the eternal state. Those who are premillennial assert that a millennial period will precede the judgment and eternal state. Postmillennialists believe that the kingdom is being established by the work of God’s people on the earth until the time when Christ will bring it to completion at His coming.

How The Second Coming is Viewed in Dispensational Theology:

Most dispensationalists believe the Rapture will occur first, then a tribulation period followed by the Second Coming of Christ with the saints and a 1,000-year reign of Christ, after which there will be a judgment and the eternal state.

Covenant theology / Federal Theology

Covenant theology, also referred to as covenantalism, federal theology, or federalism, constitutes a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for comprehending the overall structure of the Bible within the domain of Biblical Theology. It is often juxtaposed with dispensational theology, representing a competing form of biblical theology. This theological perspective employs the concept of a covenant as a guiding principle for Christian theology. The conventional form of covenant theology delineates the progression of God’s interactions with humanity, from Creation to Fall to Redemption to Consummation, under the framework of three overarching theological covenants: those of redemption, of works, and of grace.

Adherents of covenant theology designate these three covenants as “theological” because, while not explicitly delineated as such in the Bible, they are deemed to be theologically implicit, encapsulating and summarizing a wealth of scriptural data.

In historical Reformed systems of thought, classical covenant theology is not merely treated as a doctrinal point or a central dogma, but as the foundational structure by which the biblical text organizes itself. The most prominent form of Covenant Theology is affiliated with Presbyterians and derives from the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Another variant is occasionally referred to as “Baptist Covenant Theology” or “1689 Federalism”, distinguishing it from the standard covenant theology of Presbyterian “Westminster Federalism.” This variant is associated with Reformed Baptists and is based on the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. Within Methodist hermeneutics, a variation known as Wesleyan covenant theology is traditionally utilized, aligning with Arminian soteriology.

As a framework for Biblical interpretation, covenant theology stands in contrast to dispensationalism regarding the relationship between the Old Covenant (with national Israel) and the New Covenant (with the house of Israel [Jeremiah 31:31] in Christ’s blood). The existence of such a framework appears at least feasible since, from New Testament times, the Bible of Israel has been referred to as the Old Testament (i.e., Covenant; see 2 Corinthians 3:14 [NRSV], “they [Jews] hear the reading of the old covenant”), in contrast to the Christian addition, which has become known as the New Testament (or Covenant).

Critics of covenant theology often label it as “supersessionism” or “replacement theology,” citing the perception that it asserts God’s abandonment of the promises made to the Jews and their replacement with Christians as His chosen people on Earth.

Covenant theologians refute the notion that God has forsaken His promises to Israel; instead, they perceive the fulfillment of the promises to Israel in the person and work of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who established the church in organic continuity with Israel, rather than as a separate replacement entity. Many covenant theologians also anticipate a distinct future promise of gracious restoration for unregenerate Israel.

God’s covenantal relationship with God’s creation is not made automatically or out of necessity. Rather, God chooses to establish the connection as a covenant, wherein the terms of the relationship are set down by God alone according to God’s own will.

THEOLOGICAL COVENANTS

Covenant of works
The covenant of works (Latin: foedus operum, also called the covenant of life) was made in the Garden of Eden between God and Adam who represented all humankind as a federal head (Romans 5:12–21). God offered Adam a perfect and perpetual life if he did not violate God’s single commandment, but warned that death would follow if he disobeyed that commandment. Adam broke the covenant, thus standing condemned as representative for all humankind.[9]

The term foedus operum was first used by Dudley Fenner in 1585, though Zacharias Ursinus had mentioned a covenant of creation in 1562. The concept of the covenant of works became commonly recognized in Reformed theology by 1590, though not by all; some members of the Westminster Assembly disagreed with the teaching in the 1640s. John Calvin writes of a probationary period for Adam, a promise of life for obedience, and the federal headship of Adam, but he does not write of a covenant of works.[10] It is not referred to as a covenant in the opening chapters of Genesis, but is referred to as a covenant in Hosea 6:7, “But like Adam, they transgressed the covenant; there, they dealt faithlessly with Me.”

Adamic covenant
Covenant theology first sees a covenant of works administered with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Upon Adam’s failure, God established the covenant of grace in the promised seed Genesis 3:15, and shows His redeeming care in clothing Adam and Eve in garments of skin—perhaps picturing the first instance of animal sacrifice. The specific covenants after the fall of Adam are seen as administered under the overarching theological covenant of grace.

Mosaic covenant
There is debate among the reformed if the Mosaic covenant was in some way a republication of the covenant of works.[11] The view that there was such a republication was advocated by Thomas Boston, Edward Fisher, Meredith Kline and John Owen.[12][13][14][11]

Covenant of grace
The covenant of grace promises eternal life for all people who have faith in Christ. God also promises the Holy Spirit to the elect to give them willingness and ability to believe.[15] Christ is the substitutionary covenantal representative fulfilling the covenant of works on their behalf, in both the positive requirements of righteousness and its negative penal consequences (commonly described as His active and passive obedience). It is the historical expression of the eternal covenant of redemption. Genesis 3:15, with the promise of a “seed” of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head, is usually identified as the historical inauguration for the covenant of grace.

The covenant of grace runs through the Old and New Testaments, and is the same in substance under both the law and gospel, though there is some difference in the administration. Under the law, the sacrifices, prophesies, and other types and ordinances of the Jews signified Christ, and men were justified by their faith in Him just as they would be under the gospel. These were done away with the coming of Christ, and replaced with the much simpler sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.[16]

Reformed orthodox theologians taught that the covenant was primarily unilateral or monopleuric (Latin: foedus monopleuron) on the part of God, but also entailed conditions on the part of men. The conditions of the covenant of grace were spoken of as assumptive and confirmatory rather than duties required in order to receive the covenant. The covenant was therefore also bilateral or dipleuric (Latin: foedus dipleuron). Scholars have challenged the notion in contemporary scholarship that Genevan Reformers taught a unilateral and unconditional covenant relationship whilst the Rhineland Reformers taught a bilateral contractual relationship. Mark Jones, Richard Muller, J. Mark Beach, and John Von Rohr have argued that Leonard Trinterud’s identification of the apparent polarisation between Calvin and Olevianus on the one hand and Luther, Bullinger, and the Puritans on the other hand is a faulty reading of history.

Noahic covenant
The Noahic covenant is found in Genesis 8:20–9:17. Although redemption motifs are prominent as Noah and his family are delivered from the judgment waters, the narrative of the flood plays on the creation motifs of Genesis 1 as de-creation and re-creation. The formal terms of the covenant itself more reflect a reaffirmation of the universal created order, than a particular redemptive promise.

Abrahamic covenant
The Abrahamic covenant is found in Genesis chapters 12, 15, and 17. In contrast with the covenants made with Adam or Noah which were universal in scope, this covenant was with a particular people. Abraham is promised a seed and a land, although he would not see its fruition within his own lifetime. The Book of Hebrews explains that he was looking to a better and heavenly land, a city with foundations, whose builder and architect is God (11:8–16). The Apostle Paul writes that the promised seed refers in particular to Christ (Galatians 3:16).

The Abrahamic covenant is:

Exclusive: it is only for Abraham and his (spiritual) descendants. Genesis 17:7
Everlasting: it is not replaced by any later covenant. Genesis 17:7
Accepted by faith. Genesis 15:6
The external sign of entering into the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision. Genesis 17:10, but it has to be matched by an internal change, the circumcision of the heart. Jeremiah 4:4, Philippians 3:3
According to Paul, since the Abrahamic covenant is eternal, the followers of Christ are “children of Abraham” and therefore part of this covenant through faith. “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7
According to covenant theology, Paul makes it clear that baptism is the external sign of faith in Christ (“…you were baptized into Christ…”), and that through faith in Christ the believer is part of the Abrahamic covenant (“Abraham’s seed”). This provides the basis for the doctrine that baptism is the New Testament sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, Galatians 3:26. Non-covenantal theology does not teach that the Abrahamic covenant is inherited by gentiles, and thus presents a different view of baptism.[citation needed]
Romans 11 teaches disobedient Jews are broken off of the family tree of Abraham. It is only after the full number of the Gentiles have been grafted into Abraham’s family tree that God will pour out His mercy on the people of Israel.

MOSAIC COVENANT

The Mosaic covenant, found in Exodus 19–24 and the book of Deuteronomy, expands on the Abrahamic promise of a people and a land. Repeatedly mentioned is the promise of the Lord, “I will be your God and you will be my people” (cf. Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12), particularly displayed as His glory-presence comes to dwell in the midst of the people. This covenant is the one most in view when referring to the Old Covenant.

Although it is a gracious covenant beginning with God’s redemptive action (cf. Exodus 20:1–2), a layer of law is prominent. Concerning this aspect of the Mosaic Covenant, Charles Hodge makes three points in his Commentary on Second Corinthians: (1) The Law of Moses was in first place a reenactment of the covenant of works; viewed this way, it is the ministration of condemnation and death. (2) It was also a national covenant, giving national blessings based on national obedience; in this way it was purely legal. (3) In the sacrificial system, it points to the Gospel of salvation through a mediator.

Moabite covenant
Some commentators, like John Gill, see in the passage that begins in Deuteronomy 29:1 a distinct and gracious covenant, involving circumcision of the heart, which foresees the embrace of the Gentiles and which is looked back upon as distinct from the Mosaic Covenant by the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:6–8.[19][20]

Levite covenant
Other commentators, such as Douglas Van Dorn, recognize a separate priestly covenant, independent of the Mosaic covenant (which he takes as a prophetic covenant). In taken with the Davidic (kingly) covenant, this represents the three offices of Christ. Van Dorn argues this case on the basis of Nehemiah 13:29 which refers to “the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites”, Malachi 2:8 who speaks of “the covenant of Levi,” and Jeremiah 33:21 who points to the “covenant with the Levitical priests.” Van Dorn argues that the covenant document for this covenant is the book of Leviticus itself.[21]

Davidic covenant
The Davidic covenant is found in 2 Samuel 7. The Lord proclaims that He will build a house and lineage for David, establishing His kingdom and throne forever. This covenant is appealed to as God preserves David’s descendants despite their wickedness (cf. 1 Kings 11:26–39, 15:1–8; 2 Kings 8:19, 19:32–34), although it did not stop judgment from finally arriving (compare 2 Kings 21:7, 23:26–27; Jeremiah 13:12–14). Among the prophets of the exile, there is hope of restoration under a Davidic king who will bring peace and justice (cf. Book of Ezekiel 37:24–28).

New Covenant
Main article: New Covenant
The New Covenant is anticipated with the hopes of the Davidic messiah, and most explicitly predicted by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31–33). At the Last Supper, Jesus alludes to this prophecy, as well as to prophecies such as Isaiah 49:8, when he says that the cup of the Passover meal is “the New Covenant in [His] blood.” This use of the Old Testament typology is developed further in the Epistle to the Hebrews (esp. chs. 7–10). Jesus is the last Adam and Israel’s hope and consolation: he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17–18). He is the prophet greater than Jonah (Matthew 12:41), and the Son over the house where Moses was a servant (Hebrews 3:5–6), leading His people to the heavenly promised land. He is the high priest greater than Aaron, offering up Himself as the perfect sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 9:12, 26). He is the king greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42), ruling forever on David’s throne (Luke 1:32). The term “New Testament” comes from the Latin translation of the Greek New Covenant and is most often used for the collection of books in the Bible, but can also refer to the New Covenant as a theological concept.[citation needed]

The covenant of grace became the basis for all future covenants that God made with mankind such as with Noah (Genesis 6, 9), with Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17), with Moses (Exodus 19–24), with David (2 Samuel 7), and finally in the New Covenant founded and fulfilled in Christ. These individual covenants are called the biblical covenants because they are explicitly described in the Bible. Under the covenantal overview of the Bible, submission to God’s rule and living in accordance with His moral law (expressed concisely in the Ten Commandments) is a response to grace – never something which can earn God’s acceptance (legalism). Even in His giving of the Ten Commandments, God introduces His law by reminding the Israelites that he is the one who brought them out of slavery in Egypt (grace).

Subservient Covenant
Moses Amyraut and few others proposed that the Mosaic Covenant is a third kind of substance, called the Subservient Covenant, as opposed to most covenant theologians Moses Amyraut did not hold that the two substances are only the “Covenant of Grace” and the “Covenant of Works”.[22]

Covenant of redemption
The covenant of redemption is the eternal agreement within the Godhead in which the Father appointed the Son through the Spirit to become incarnate, suffer, and die as a federal head of mankind to make an atonement for their sin. In return, the Father promised to raise Christ from the dead, glorify Him, and give Him a people. Two of the earliest theologians to write about the covenant of redemption were Johannes Cocceius and John Owen, though Caspar Olevian had hinted at the idea before them. This covenant is not mentioned in the Westminster Standards, but the idea of a contractual relationship between the Father and Son is present. Scriptural support for such a covenant may be found in Psalms 2 and 110, Isaiah 53,[23] Philippians 2:5–11 and Revelation 5:9–10. Some covenant theologians have denied the intra-Trinitarian covenant of redemption, or have questioned the notion of the Son’s works leading to the reward of gaining a people for God, or have challenged the covenantal nature of this arrangement

All Dispensational followers believe in Pre-millennialism

Premillennial dispensationalists believe Christ will have three advents. Pre- refers to the church’s catching up (rapture) before the seven-year tribulation before Christ’s second advent (Revelation 20:1-6). The Old Testament passages cited for this view are Isaiah 9, 11, and Zechariah 14.

Dispensationalism is a popular and widespread way of reading the Bible. It originated in the nineteenth century in the teaching of John Nelson Darby and was popularized in the United States through the Bible Conference movement. Its growth was spurred on even more through the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible, which was published in 1909.

Scofield’s Bible contributed to the spread of dispensationalism because it included study notes written from a distinctively dispensationalist perspective.

The founding of Dallas Theological Seminary in 1924 by Lewis Sperry Chafer provided an academic institution for the training of pastors and missionaries in the dispensationalist tradition. Some of the most notable dispensationalist authors of the twentieth century, including John F. Walvoord, Charles C. Ryrie, and J. Dwight Pentecost, taught at Dallas Seminary.

Dispensationalist theology is perhaps best known for its distinctive eschatological doctrines, particularly the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. According to this doctrine, this present church age will be followed by a seven-year period of tribulation. Before the tribulation begins (thus “pre-tribulation”), the church will be caught up to heaven where believers will be with Christ until the second coming, which occurs at the end of the tribulation. At that time, they will return with Christ, who will then inaugurate His millennial kingdom (dispensationalists are thus also premillennialists).

Although dispensationalism is best known for its eschatological doctrines, at its heart is the distinction between Israel and the church. Every other distinctively dispensationalist doctrine rests on this idea. What this distinction means for dispensationalists is that there are two peoples of God. Israel is one of these and consists of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The church is the other, and it consists of all those and only those (whether Jew or gentile) who are saved between the Day of Pentecost and the rapture. Part of the reason for the pre-tribulation rapture is to remove the church from earth so that God can begin dealing with national Israel again.

Dispensationalism differs from Reformed covenant theology in a number of ways, but the most significant is this idea of two peoples of God.

Covenant theology affirms that there is one people of God and thus continuity between the people of God in the Old Testament and the people of God in the New Testament.

Covenant theology is not, as some dispensationalists assert, “replacement theology” because in covenant theology, the church is not technically replacing Israel. The church is the organic continuation of the Old Testament people of God.

FROM AMMELIANIAL PERSPECTIVE

Consider first the olive tree analogy in Romans 11. In this passage, Paul is addressing gentile believers and urging them not to be arrogant toward Jewish believers. He uses the illustration of an olive tree to explain. Note that in the illustration there is one good olive tree. Paul explains that branches were broken off this olive tree and gentile “wild shoots” were grafted into it. The one olive tree represents the people of God that has long existed. Unbelieving Jewish branches (e.g., Pharisees) have been broken off this tree by God, leaving only believing branches (e.g., Jesus’ Apostles). Believing gentiles have been grafted into this one tree so that it now consists of believing Jews and gentiles. This tree is the church. If Paul were illustrating the dispensationalist doctrine, we would have numerous gentile trees and one Jewish tree (Israel). God would then plant a new tree (the church). He would take believing Jews from the Israel tree and believing gentiles from the gentile trees and graft them into this one new tree. Paul says nothing like this. The one tree that existed in the Old Testament continues, but now God has removed unbelieving Jews and grafted believing gentiles into it.

In this light, consider what Paul says to gentile believers in Ephesians 2:11–22. Paul first tells these gentile believers what they used to be: “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (v. 12). If that’s what they used to be, the implication is that the opposite of each is true of these gentile believers now. They are now part of the commonwealth of Israel and partakers of the covenants precisely because they’ve been grafted into the one tree representing the one people of God. But there’s more than implication. Paul goes on to say explicitly in verses 19 and following that these gentiles are “no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Dispensationalists have a difficult time grasping this because of their idea that the seed of Abraham is only the physical offspring of Abraham. Again, Paul begs to differ. In Galatians 3:16, he explains that “the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.” He then explicitly identifies the offspring as Jesus Christ. But note what he then adds a few sentences later in verse 29: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Paul defines Abraham’s seed in terms of Jesus Christ. Christ is a literal physical descendant of Abraham. However, because believers, whether Jew or gentile, are united to Christ, we too are Abraham’s offspring if we belong to Christ.

Does Paul continue to use the terms Israel, church, and gentile in the New Testament? Of course. But not in the way that these terms are used by dispensationalists. He continues to speak of ethnic Jews and ethnic gentiles, both inside and outside the church. But he does not do so in a way that results in two peoples of God. There is one tree in the Old Testament that consists primarily of ethnic Jews, although some gentiles (e.g., Ruth) are brought in. This is the one tree that exists when Christ comes. He doesn’t chop it down, and He doesn’t plant a new tree. He prunes the unbelieving Jewish branches off, leaving only the believing Jewish branches. He then begins to graft believing gentiles into this one tree. This tree with ingrafted gentile branches does not “replace” the old tree. These gentiles are now part of the old tree by faith in Jesus Christ.

If the biblical teaching regarding the one people of God is allowed to stand, all of the distinctive dispensationalist doctrines that rest on the doctrine of two peoples of God are left without any foundation.

Church or Church and Israel?

The discussion of the relationship between Israel and the church is a fascinating topic that has captivated the hearts and minds of Bible scholars and students alike.

From the pages of the Old Testament to the narratives of the New Testament, the story of Israel unfolds, painting a vivid picture of the people of God through the generations. Even as the New Testament dawns, the enduring role of Israel remains palpable. Jesus is depicted as the culmination of the promises made to Israel, and the early followers of the promised Messiah were predominantly Israelites. However, poignant conflicts between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel have prompted some to ponder whether the church has supplanted Israel.

Diverse theological standpoints present contrasting viewpoints, including dispensationalism and replacement theology. Yet, a meticulous examination of the New Testament proposes an organic progression in the relationship between the people of God in the Old Testament and the New Testament, emphasizing continuity rather than abrupt segregation or substitution. The distinction between national Israel and true Israel, notably evidenced in the faithful remnant throughout the Old Testament, illuminates the connection between the church and Israel. Indeed, the genuine Israel of the Old Testament evolved into the core of the New Testament church on the day of Pentecost, underscoring a seamless link between the two.

The Book of Romans, particularly chapter 11, delves into the future of national Israel, with Paul stressing that God has not forsaken his people. It elucidates that Israel’s present hardening serves a distinct purpose in God’s plan, paving the way for the inclusion of the nation of Israel in the true Israel through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Comprehending the relationship between Israel and the church in the New Testament necessitates delving into the disparities between national and true Israel, while acknowledging the enlightenment offered in Romans 11 concerning the future restoration of the nation of Israel.

The conventional dispensationalist perspective contends that God has not replaced Israel with the church; rather, God has orchestrated two distinct programs throughout history—one for the church and another for Israel. Among conservative interpreters, two distinct schools of thought emerge:

(a) the belief that Israel is the recipient of a special program from God, commencing with Abraham and extending into eternity, and

(b) the notion that the programs for Israel and the church are essentially unified, both being beneficiaries of God’s salvation.

The two fundamental tenets of Dispensationalism revolve around two peoples of God, each with unique programs and destinies—

theocratic and earthly for Israel, and
spiritual and heavenly for the church.

The pivotal question remains whether God has delineated a unique program for Israel, distinct from His plan for the church, or if the two programs are synonymous.

According to Genesis 12:1-3, God made explicit promises to Abraham, stating, “‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing.’“

The immediate question that arises concerns the literal nature of these promises. It is evident that Abraham truly embarked on a journey from his homeland to a new land and was genuinely separated from his relatives and father’s house. This is corroborated by the fact that Abraham journeyed to the promised land. The promise to Abraham, that a great nation would spring forth from him, despite his lack of children at the time, has unmistakably come to fruition in history.

God undeniably blessed Abraham in myriad ways. His name is revered not only in Christendom but also in Judaism and Islam. The life and ministry of Abraham have indeed been a blessing to the world. The principle that God would bless those who blessed Abraham has been abundantly exemplified throughout history, and those who have persecuted Israel have faced the forewarned repercussions.

The ultimate promise that all families of the earth would be blessed through Abraham has been tangibly fulfilled, not only through the writing of Scripture by Jewish authors but chiefly through Jesus Christ. Amidst this pattern of literal fulfillment, it seems perplexing to cast doubt on the literalness of these promises.

Conservative amillenarians typically acknowledge the literal fulfillment of these promises up to a certain point that aligns with their eschatological perspectives. However, they assert that any literal fulfillment of these promises should not lead to the conclusion of a separate program for Israel.

A substantial portion of the debate revolves around the interpretation of “the seed of Abraham” (AV) or the meaning of his “descendants” (Gen 12:7). Both Testaments seem to substantiate the notion that the descendants of Abraham are conceived in three categories:

(a) the natural or physical descendants of Abraham,

(b) those who are descendants of Abraham in the sense of being believing Israelites or true believers like Abraham, as echoed in the contrast between natural Israel and spiritual Israel in Romans 9:6-8;

(c) those who are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, whether Jews or Gentiles, by virtue of their faith in God akin to Abraham, as evidenced in Galatians 3:6-9.

Hence, Gentile Christians are regarded as among the descendants of Abraham by virtue of their union with Christ, who is a descendant of Abraham.

However, upon recognizing this distinction, it is imperative to note that the promises also pertain to one or more of these three concepts. Certain promises apply to all physical descendants of Abraham, such as the promise that he would be the father of many nations (Gen 17:4).

In the enactment of the Mosaic law, where specific promises are conveyed to Israel for obedience or disobedience, the focus pertains to spiritual Israel, not Gentiles. When considering the third aspect—spiritual descendants of Abraham—it should be underscored that Galatians 3:6-9 notably alludes to the blessings promised to the Gentiles in Genesis 12:3, that is, blessings to “all the families of the earth.” Hence, the principle of literal interpretation is affirmed, while ensuring that clear distinctions do not blur the delineations among

(a) the nation as a whole,

(b) spiritual Israel or believing Israelites, and

Following the original promise extended to Abraham, further details are divulged, primarily pertaining to the natural descendants of Abraham, or the specific segment of his descendants who are spiritual. As we explore the promises regarding the land, commencing in Genesis 12:7, it becomes apparent that these promises are to be construed literally for the physical descendants of Abraham and are not transferred to Gentiles. The same applies to other promises related to the nation of Israel as a whole, and the promises concerning the Davidic kingdom specifically concern the physical descendants of Abraham, excluding Gentiles.

Amillenarians or nondispensational premillenarians who reference Romans 9, Galatians 3, or analogous passages seem to disregard that they are assuming what they seek to substantiate. As far as the Old Testament is concerned, the promises made to Abraham were indeed fulfilled literally, engendering an expectation among those to whom they were revealed, that a literal fulfillment was forthcoming. This is affirmed and sustained through an analysis of predictions relating to the nation of Israel, the promised land, and the Davidic kingdom.

In the realm of promises related to the nation Israel, it’s important to understand the distinction between the spiritual and natural aspects of Israel. The descendants of Jacob, as opposed to the descendants of Ishmael, Esau, or the children of Keturah, play a significant role in the unfolding of God’s plan as revealed in the Book of Genesis.

The promises given to Israel as descendants of Abraham, including becoming a great nation with innumerable numbers and abundant blessings, are a source of optimism. Furthermore, the promise of blessing for those who support Israel and the assurance of continuity for the nation are emphasized in the Old Testament.

The predictions concerning the land of Israel also offer hope, as they demonstrate the literal nature of the promises, from Abraham’s journey to the promised land to the subsequent possession and warnings of potential exile for disobedience. The prophecies concerning the regathering of Israel from worldwide dispersion, the rebuilding of ruined cities, and the permanent possession of the land provide a positive outlook for the future.

Similarly, the predictions concerning the kingdom, particularly the Davidic covenant, convey a sense of optimism as they promise the continuity and righteous reign of the descendants of Jacob, ultimately fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The earthly kingdom with spiritual blessings, as stated in the prophecies, adds to the hopeful narrative.

The examination of the promises and prophecies in the Old Testament fosters an optimistic outlook for the future fulfillment of God’s plan for the nation Israel, inspiring confidence and hope in what is to come.

“Systematic Theology”

Protestant systematic theology had its origin in the early works of the Reformers. Among the first was the Loci Theologici of Melanchthon published in 1521.

Zwingli produced his Commentarius de vera et falsa religione in 1525. William Farel brought out his theological manual in 1534 with the title, Summaire briefue declaration daucuns lieux fort necessaires a ung chascun Chrestien pour mettre sa confiance en Dieu et ayder son prochain.

The most famous early work was that of John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, first published in 1536, and later entirely rewritten and enlarged through successive editions until the definitive edition of 1559.

No one can question that these works shaped the theological thinking of their own and successive generations and played a large part in the formation of creeds still recognized today. They were in the main a return to Biblical teaching in the fields of bibliology, anthropology, soteriology, and ecclesiology.

The issues were the doctrine of illumination—the work of the Holy Spirit teaching the Scriptures without the medium of priest or church, the priesthood of every believer, justification by faith, and the authority of the Bible.

The Protestant theology of the Reformers was occasioned by the revolt against the corruption and misuse of Biblical revelation. It concerned itself largely with correcting these abuses by a return to the Scriptures. deity of Christ, and substitutionary atonement for which the Reformers stood.

In eschatology, amillennialism became more vocal, divided into different systems of interpretation within themselves, and postmillennialism, an offshoot of Socinianism, came into vogue. For the most part, the Roman background of amillennialism and the unitarian background of postmillennialism did not deter many who continued in the Reformed theology as a whole from embracing one or the other view of eschatology.

While theologians were grinding out reproductions of Reformed theology, it remained for a widespread movement for direct Biblical studies to find the fatal defect in the Reformed treatment of Roman doctrine. Springing from Bible study groups such as the Plymouth Brethren, attention was directed to the teachings of the Scripture on such important subjects as the nature of the true church, the need for consistent literal interpretation of Scripture, and the important place given to eschatology in the Bible. The result was a revived interest in the second coming of Christ, a movement away from the established church as a decadent institution, and a return to the more simple Biblical and apostolic concepts, methods, and beliefs. The movement was not without its excesses, but it came as a refreshing breath of new life to Biblical interpretation.

In the course of time, this new interest in Bible study and the new recognition that the Bible was intended to be understood by all Christians in its apparent literal meaning gave rise to many new groups. Bible institutes sprang up. There were great revivals. Gradually the doctrines of the new movement came to be known by the name of Fundamentalism and by similar titles. Without any organizational unity, a system of doctrine gradually developed, greatly aided by the widespread use of the Scofield Reference Bible, the teachings of Bible institutes, prophetic conferences, and summer Bible conferences. literal interpretation made impossible an objective study of the great body of Scripture dealing with this doctrine.

The divine program for the ages, the contribution of prophecy as a whole, the divinely purposed illustrations afforded in typology, and the blessed hope of the imminent return of Christ are important doctrines which determine the value and content of the message of the preacher. Yet these are either denied or ignored in the traditional method of theological study. The need for a new definitive work in systematic theology which would be unabridged, premillennial, dispensational, and following a literal interpretation of Scripture became imperative.

Lewis Sperry Chafer‘s Systematic Theology

Chafer, pioneering president of Dallas Theological Seminary had felt called of God to undertake this sacred and unprecedented task. The result of ten years of reducing the studies of a lifetime to writing was recently completed and has now been reproduced in eight beautiful volumes, totalling 2,700 pages.

The importance of this new treatise in the field of systematic theology is highlighted by the current disrepute of theology. The inroads of higher criticism on the doctrine of the inspiration anid infallibility of Scripture and the current indifferentism and secularism in the organized church have reduced the recent notable theological works to a trickle. About the only works which have gained widespread recognition in theology have been the restatements of modernism and liberal theology in the form of crisis theology and neo-orthodoxy which have in some respects indicated a reaction from extreme liberalism. As far as furnishing a new and effective approach to Biblical studies their doctrines have been utterly opposed to the theology of the Reformation as well as to modern premillennialism. Modern Christianity has too often been reduced to promotion of an idealistic moralism and a desire for organizational unity.

The general features of Systematic Theology by Chafer make it clear that we have here something entirely different than any previously written theology. For the first time the whole scope of theology is considered from the standpoint of premillennial interpretation. The work is remarkably Biblical. The appeal is constantly to Biblical authority rather than to philosophy, tradition, or creed. There has been proper appreciation of the doctrinal heritage of the Church Fathers and the Protestant Reformers. The work is in no sense iconoclastic.

In the treatment of bibliology and theology proper as well as in later discussions President Chafer quotes extensively with approbation from the best theological statements extant. In general a broad and moderate Calvinism is followed in the theology. The work as a whole definitely belongs within the limits of Reformed theology with certain important additions and qualifications. It is however quite distinct from various restatements of Reformed theology. It is a fresh and creative work, a pioneer in a new field, a gathering together in theological system of an interpretation of Biblical doctrines never before treated in this way. It is essentially an exposition and systematization of premillennial and dispensational theology rather than an apology for it.

The doctrines which it contains have been preached in various forms by most of the great premillennial Bible teachers of the last fifty years. For the first time these doctrines have been reduced to a written system of theology, related to theological problems, and expanded into all the fields in which revelation has provided teaching. It provides for all who hold the premillennial interpretation of the Scriptures a systematic statement of the content, implications, and relations of their doctrines. For those who would be instructed in what are the proper inclusions of premillennialism it provides an ordered statement of the doctrine as a whole such as has never been provided in one work before. Regardless what theological position may be assumed by the reader, he will find this work definitive in its field.

An analysis of the content of each volume provides ample proof of these general conclusions. While it is impossible within reasonable limits to reproduce the scope of contents, the contribution of each volume may be considered in its separate presentation. race are presented. Of great value from a practical viewpoint is the discussion of the divine remedy for sin, whether the sin nature, imputed sin, or sin in the life of the Christian. The treatment is again fresh, original, Biblical, and practical. The discussion covers a field which is usually neglected in most discussions of anthropology.

The contribution of President Chafer in the field of soteriology has been hailed as the most important of all his theological works. The treatment is divided into six sections, the first dealing with Christ as the Savior. The positions of Christ, His offices, His sonship, the hypostatic union, and the sufferings of Christ are included in this discussion. The doctrine is presented in such a complete way that it is difficult to make adequate comparisons. The second and third sections deal with the doctrine of election and the answer to the question, “For whom did Christ die?”

In general the Calvinistic position characterizes the teaching here, but the viewpoint of unlimited atonement is maintained. The saving work of God and the doctrine of eternal security occupy the fourth and fifth sections. The wonders of the saving work of God, the grace of God and the contrasting positions of Calvinism and Arminianism on eternal security are discussed in full.

The discussion of soteriology concludes with a division on the terms of salvation in which the simple exhortation of “Believe” is contrasted to all confusions which arise from adding other conditions. The final section is most practical and helpful. The volume on soteriology, if it stood alone, would in itself assure the author a place among notable writers of Christian doctrine. There is no volume in the field of systematic theology which approaches it in Biblical insight, spiritual comprehension of the saving work of God, and unabridged treatment of the great work of God in salvation. It deals fully with the technical problems of theology in this field and yet is brilliant and moving in its presentation. elements, by its close adherence to Biblical teachings, and by its unfolding of premillennial truth in this field. The entire volume again reflects the original approach of the author and constitutes a new landmark in the field of eschatological literature.

Christology
Having treated the doctrine of Christ in theology proper and soteriology, President Chafer presents here the entire doctrine systematically in new form and additional content. In general following the chronological pattern, the preincarnate person and work of Christ are considered first. Major attention is given to the incarnation, which is presented as an event of immense theological significance. Considered first are His birth, childhood, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, miracles, and His extensive teachings. The sufferings and death of Christ and the resurrection which followed are treated historically and doctrinally. A thorough discussion follows on the ascension and heavenly session of Christ—material often omitted from theologies. The treatment of Christology is concluded by discussion of the second coming of Christ, the Messianic kingdom and His eternal kingdom.

Pneumatology
The need for a comprehensive statement of the entire doctrine of the person and work of the Holy Spirit called for this volume. After an introductory chapter on the name of the Holy Spirit, the deity of the Spirit is sustained by delineation of the Scriptural evidence found in His divine attributes and in His divine works. Also treated are the types of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, and the distinct character of His present work.

With rare clarity and insight into Scriptural revelation, President Chafer presents the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and in the Christian. The Holy Spirit convicts the world. He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, and seals the Christian. All of these great works of the Spirit are accomplished simultaneously in the believer when he is saved.

Of greatest importance is the presentation of the believer’s responsibility in relation to the Holy Spirit. The intdwelling Spirit is presented as the source of power to overcome sin and is the author of the fruit of the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit is offered to all who meet the three conditions: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit,” “Quench not the Spirit,” and “Walk in the Spirit.”

The same clear distinctions which have made his earlier work, He That Is Spiritual, such a blessing to the Christian public are followed in this volume. It presents material almost always omitted from systematic theologies. The writer knows no volumes on systematic theology that even approach the clarity and insight into the doctrine which appear here. Like the volume in Christology, Pneumatology is complete in itself and at the same time gathers together previous material in the series on the subject. It will take its place among the truly great works on the Holy Spirit.

Lewis Sperry Chafer

Lewis Sperry Chafer (February 27, 1871 – August 22, 1952) was an American theologian. He co-founded Dallas Theological Seminary with his older brother Rollin Thomas Chafer, served as its first president, and was an influential proponent of Christian Dispensationalism in the early 20th century. John Hannah described Chafer as a visionary Bible teacher, a minister of the gospel, a man of prayer with strong piety. One of his students, Charles Caldwell Ryrie, who went on to become a world-renowned theologian and scholar, stated that Chafer was an evangelist who was also “an eminent theologian.”

Chafer is widely recognized as one of the founders of modern Dispensationalism and was vehemently opposed to covenant theology. Yet, he did not reject the idea of a covenant of redemption, covenant of works, and covenant of grace. He affirmed all three along with the Edenic, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenant.

He was a premillennial, pre-tribulation dispensationalist. His overall theology could be generally described as based on the inductive study of the entire Bible, having similarities to John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren, a mild form of Keswick Theology on Sanctification, and Presbyterianism, all of these tempered with a focus on spirituality based on simple Bible study and living.

Chafer’s theology has been the subject of much study and debate in and out of the theological community since his death, especially on the two larger topics of dispensationalism and Christian Zionism, specifically that the Jews are a people called unto God with a separate historical purpose and plan from the Church. Chafer held much in common with Free Grace theology and influenced many of its later advocates. Similarly to Charles Ryrie, Chafer defined repentance as being a mere synonym for faith, denying that it refers to sorrow for sin.

Ministry

Ordained in 1900 by a Council of Congregational Ministers in the First Congregational Church in Buffalo and in 1903 he ministered as an evangelist in the Presbytery of Troy in Massachusetts and became associated with the ministry of Cyrus Scofield, who became his mentor.

During this early period, Chafer began writing and developing his theology. He taught Bible classes and music at the Mount Hermon School for Boys from 1906 to 1910. He joined the Orange Presbytery in 1912 due to the increasing influence of his ministry in the south. He aided Scofield in establishing the Philadelphia School of the Bible in 1913. From 1923 to 1925, he served as general secretary of the Central American Mission.

When Scofield died in 1921, Chafer moved to Dallas, Texas to pastor the First Congregational Church of Dallas, an independent church where Scofield had ministered.[5] Then, in 1924, Chafer and his friend William Henry Griffith Thomas realized their vision of a simple, Bible-teaching theological seminary and founded Dallas Theological Seminary (originally Evangelical Theological College). Chafer served as president of the seminary and professor of Systematic Theology from 1924 until his death. He died with friends while away at a conference in Seattle, Washington in August 1952.

SANCTIFICATION

Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer stated: “Though clearly stated in the Bible, no doctrine has suffered from misunderstanding and misstatement more than the doctrine of Sanctification.” Dr. Chafer continues to set forth three laws to be observed in the proper interpretation of the biblical doctrine of sanctification summarized here:
(1) The doctrine of sanctification must be rightly related to every other Bible doctrine. Though the doctrine of sanctification is a very important doctrine and the subject of this overview, it must fit into harmony with other equally important doctrines and principles of Scripture.
(2) The doctrine of sanctification cannot be interpreted by experience. Experience may be explained, illustrated and proven by scripture, but scripture is never to be interpreted by experience.
(3) The right understanding of the doctrine of sanctification depends upon the consideration of all the scriptures bearing on this theme. The same root word of being “set apart” is translated in the scriptures as “sanctify,” “holy,” and “saint.”

Salvation solves the problem of sins between man and God. Sanctification involves the
resolution of sin and holiness in the life of the believer. As the doctrine of sanctification has been
developed in the church over the years five major models have surfaced. It is the purpose of this
presentation to introduce and survey the five prominent models of sanctification.

33 Blessings in Christ
Lewis Sperry Chafer, the first president of Dallas Theological Seminary, listed these benefits of salvation in his Systematic Theology, Volume III (pp. 234-266). These points, along with brief explanations, give the born-again Christian a better understanding of the work of grace accomplished in his life as well as a greater appreciation of his new life.

In the eternal plan of God, the believer is:
a. Foreknown – Acts 2.23; 1 Pet. 1.2, 20. God knew from all eternity every step in
the entire program of the universe.
b. Predestined – Rom. 8.29-30. A believer’s destiny has been appointed through
foreknowledge to the unending realization of all God’s riches of grace.
c. Elected – Rom. 8.38; Col. 3.12. He/she is chosen of God in the present age and
will manifest the grace of God in future ages.
d. Chosen – Eph. 1.4. God has separated unto himself his elect who are both
foreknown and predestined.
e. Called – 1 Thess. 6.24. God invites man to enjoy the benefits of his redemptive
purposes. This term may include those whom God has selected for salvation, but
who are still in their unregenerate state.
A believer has been redeemed – Rom. 3.24. The price required to set him/her free from sin
has been paid.
A believer has been reconciled – 2 Cor. 6.18, 19; Rom. 5.10. He/she is both restored to
fellowship by God and restored to fellowship with God.
A believer is related to God through propitiation – Rom. 3.24-26. He/she has been set free
from judgment by God’s satisfaction with his Son’s death for sinners.
A believer has been forgiven all trespasses – Eph. 1.7. All his/her sins are taken care of –
past, present, and future.
A believer is vitally conjoined to Christ for the judgment of the old man “unto a new
walk” – Rom. 6.1-10. He/she is brought into a union with Christ.
A believer is “free from the law” – Rom. 7.2-6. He/she is both dead to its condemnation,
and delivered from its jurisdiction.
A believer has been made a child of God – Gal. 3.26. He/she is born anew by the
regenerating power of the Holy Spirit into a relationship in which God the First Person
becomes a legitimate Father and the saved one becomes a legitimate child with every
right and title – an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ.
A believer has been adopted as an adult child into the Father’s household – Rom. 8.15,
23.
A believer has been made acceptable to God by Jesus Christ – Eph. 1.6. He/she is made
righteous (Rom. 3.22), sanctified (set apart) positionally (1 Cor. 1.30, 6.11); perfected
forever in his/her standing and position (Heb. 10.14), and made acceptable in the
Beloved (Col. 1.12).
A believer has been justified – Rom. 5.1. He/she has been declared righteous by God’s
decree.
A believer is “made right” – Eph. 2.13. A close relation is set up and exists between God
and the believer.
A believer has been delivered from the power of darkness – Col. 1.13; 2.13. A Christian
has been delivered from Satan and his evil spirits. Yet the disciple must continue to wage
a warfare against these powers.
A believer has been translated into the Kingdom of God – Col. 1.13. The Christian has
been transferred from Satan’s kingdom to Christ’s Kingdom.
A believer is planted on the Rock, Jesus Christ – 1 Cor. 3.9-15. Christ is the foundation
on which the believer stands and on which he/she builds his/her Christian life.
A believer is a gift from God to Jesus Christ – John 17.6, 11, 12, 20. He/she is the Father’s
love gift to Jesus Christ.
A believer is circumcised in Christ – Col. 2.11. He/she has been delivered from the power
of the old sin nature.
A believer has been made a partaker of the Holy and Royal Priesthood – 1 Pet. 2.5, 9.
He/she is a priest because of his/her relation to Christ, the High Priest, and will reign on
earth with Christ.
A believer is part of a chosen generation, a holy nation and a peculiar people – 1 Pet. 2.9.
This is the company of believers in this age.
A believer is a heavenly citizen – Phil. 3.20. Therefore he/she is called a stranger as far as
his/her life on earth is concerned (1 Pet. 2.13), and will enjoy his/her true home in heaven
forever.
A believer is in the family and household of God – Eph. 2.1, 9. He/she is part of God’s
“family” which is composed only of true believers.
A believer is in the fellowship of the saints. John 17.11, 21-23. He/she can be a part of the
fellowship of believers with one another.
A believer is in a heavenly association – Col. 1.27; 3.1; 2 Cor. 6.1; Col. 1.24; John
14.12-14; Eph. 5.25-27; Titus 2.13. He/she is a partner with Christ now in life, position,
service, suffering, prayer, betrothal as a bride to Christ, and expectation of the coming
again of Christ.
A believer has access to God – Eph. 2.18. He/she has access to God’s grace which enables
him/her to grow spiritually, and he/she has unhindered approach to the Father (Heb.
4.16).
A believer is within the “much more” care of God – Rom. 5.8-10. He/she is an object of
God’s love (John 3.16), God’s grace (Eph. 2.7-9), God’s power (Eph. 1.19), God’s
faithfulness (Phil. 1.6), God’s peace (Rom. 5.1), God’s consolation (2 Thess. 2.16-17),
and God’s intercession (Rom. 8.26).
A believer is God’s inheritance – Eph. 1.18. He/she is given to Christ as a gift from the
Father.
A believer has the inheritance of God himself and all that God bestows – 1 Pet. 1.4.
A believer has light in the Lord – 2 Cor. 4.6. He/she not only has this light, but is
commanded to walk in the light.
A believer is vitally united to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – 1 Thess. 1.1; Eph.
4.6; Rom. 8.1; John 14.20; Rom. 8.9; 1 Cor. 2.12.
A believer is blessed with the earnest or firstfruits of the Spirit – Eph. 1.14; 8.23. He/she is
born of the Spirit (John 3.6), and baptized by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12.13), which is a work of
the Holy Spirit by which the believer is joined to Christ’s body and comes to be “in
Christ,” and therefore is a partaker of all that Christ is. The disciple is also indwelt by the
Spirit (Rom. 8.9), sealed by the Spirit (2 Cor. 1.22), making him/her eternally secure, and
filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5.18) whose ministry releases his power and effectiveness in the
heart in which he dwells.
A believer is glorified – Rom. 8.18. He/she will be a partaker of the infinite story of the
Godhead.
A believer is complete in God – Col. 2.9, 10. He/she partakes of all that Christ is.
A believer possesses every spiritual blessing – Eph. 1.3. All the riches tabulated in the
other 32 points made before are to be included in this sweeping term, “all spiritual
blessings.”