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Replacement Theology, a myth, or common teaching?

Posted on August 12, 2013 by dknezacek

In Gary DeMar’s book, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed, Chapter 6 is devoted to debunking the idea that he, and other traditionalists, are teaching Replacement Theology. By Replacement Theology I mean the idea that there is no prophetic significance to the nation of Israel. That the Christian Church replaces Israel, and God isn’t interested in the land of Canaan, and Jerusalem.

He actually does clear up some of the confusion regarding the idea of Replacement Theology. What DeMar says is that that there is no prophetic significance to the nation of Israel. That the Christian Church is Israel, and God isn’t interested in the land of Canaan, and Jerusalem… It’s just not called “Replacement Theology”!

To be fair he claims, biblically, that believing Jews are a part of the Christian Church. In this he is absolutely correct. Unfortunately he fails to note that this is only for the Church age. After the Church is raptured, along with the believing Jews, God will revert to dealing with the nations through Israel. He will turn back the clock to the last seven years of the age of Israel.

Unfortunately many Dispensationalists have stated that the age of Israel was characterized by Works Salvation, or Salvation through keeping the law. Once again DeMar is correct, that this is a false teaching that has been perpetrated by many Dispensationalists.

Where he is wrong is that he denies the fact that the Temple will be rebuilt, and that the sacrificial system will be reinstated during the millennial reign of Christ, and he denies the millennial reign of Christ. He denies the significance of Jerusalem, claiming that “Jesus is our Jerusalem”.

It seems counter-intuitive that the Sacrificial system could be reinstated, after Christ already went to the cross, and became our perfect Sacrifice. What further need could there be for more sacrifices?

His error is that he doesn’t believe the bible, at least not the whole bible. If the bible teaches that there will be sacrifices during the reign of Christ, then it is the Christian’s duty to believe it. Nothing more! By refusing to believe this plain teaching of Scripture, he is forced to invent a false system of Scripture interpretation! Well, OK. He didn’t actually invent this system, he borrowed it from another who didn’t believe the whole bible either!

Hebrews states that “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin”. This means that it was always impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin. “Impossible” is always impossible. If it was ever possible, at any time, then the writer of Hebrews could not say that it is impossible.

Given the fact that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, why did God institute the sacrificial system to begin with? It was to point to the one future sacrifice that actually could take away sin, the cross of Christ.

So, what purpose could the reinstatement of the sacrificial system fill once Christ is physically ruling the earth from Jerusalem? Remember that the bible predicts the reestablishment of Garden-of-Eden conditions throughout the earth. The lion will lie down with the lamb, and they will eat grass together. Children will play with adders (poisonous snakes), and old men and women will become very, very old. A person who dies at 100 years will be considered a youth. Some people will likely live throughout the entire millennial reign, even longer than Methuselah!

In these conditions, death will be extremely rare. So rare that telling people that Christ died for their sins will have very little meaning. They, mostly, won’t know what death is! Sin will be punished severely, so there will be very little sin. Jesus will be there, in Jerusalem, and you could go and look on His scars, but it won’t mean a lot without a personal knowledge of death.

This is why the sacrificial system will be reinstated; to show the world what Jesus has done for them. Very ugly sacrifices, in a very beautiful world, will remind humanity of just how ugly sin is, and just how seriously God views rebellion.

⁶Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

⁷Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. Isaiah 56:6-7

Jesus did quote this verse when he was cleansing the Temple, but that does not mean it was completely fulfilled at that time. God never changes, and His purposes always remain the same, so He can quote virtually any passage in almost any context, and still be correct. From the beginning He intended that the Temple would be a house of prayer for all people, and it will be, when it is rebuilt for the fourth time! That is the context of this whole passage… the return of Christ.

¹⁵In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.

¹⁷For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. Jeremiah 33:15-18

The Branch is Jesus Christ. This is speaking of His return, and rule, not of His first coming. Judah, as a nation, has never been saved, and Jerusalem has never been safe. Jerusalem has never been called “ The Lord our righteousness”, but she will be when Jesus returns!

See also Zechariah 14:16-21, and Isaiah 60:7.

DeMar,says that God has something better than this in store, and so He won’t reinstate the sacrificial system. Unfortunately, if that were so, it would make God a liar! And that, my friends, is exactly what Satan wants you to believe! So, who is behind Postmillennialism, Amillennialism, and Preterism? These philosophies all deny the literal, earthly reign of Jesus Christ. While Satan may not have originated them, he is certainly using them to his own advantage!

DeMar says that the Jews will be saved, but not 100%, and they don’t have to go back to the land. That is not what these passages say. Like Rick Warren, Rob Bell, and other Emergent leaders, DeMar has a very low view of biblical prophecy.

Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:Romans 9:27
And so allIsrael shallbesaved: as it is written, There shallcome out of Sion the Deliverer, and shallturn away ungodliness from Jacob: Romans 11:26

The bible does indeed teach that at one time all Israel shall be saved. They will be a remnant, but every one of them on the earth at that time, will be saved. This is the only way we can harmonize all of the Scriptures. The only way that both Romans 9:27, and 11:26 can both be true is if all the unbelievers of Israel die during the Tribulation. Then those who are left will be 100% saved. God will not allow unbelievers to go from the Tribulation into the millennial reign, not only for the family of Israel, but for all families on the earth.

DeMar’s eschatology is a denial of a multitude of End Times Scriptures. In their place he inserts his own reasoning, plus the reasoning of church leaders like Augustine and Calvin.

As he says “A seismic shift in prophetic beliefs is taking place around the world because Christians, some for the first time, are willing to question their beliefs based on what the Bible actually says. ” There is nothing wrong with what DeMar says here, but what he does is to dismiss large sections of Scripture. The “seismic shift” he speaks of is actually a shift away from the literal understanding of the Word of God! He is correct that people are questioning their beliefs, but this is not because of what the bible says, but because of their experiences, and their earth-bound focus!

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged amillennialism, postmillennialism, Preterism, return of christ | Leave a comment

Chapter 4 The Myth of the Postponed Abrahamic Covenant

Posted on August 10, 2013 by dknezacek

Throughout 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed , Gary DeMar regularly points to errors made by Dispensationalists and concludes that everything they have taught must therefore be incorrect.

DeMar is correct that some Dispensationalists have made errors, but it does not necessarily follow that everything they have found, in the Scriptures, is incorrect. In fact, it is DeMar’s eschatology, postmillennialism, that consistently takes Scripture out of context. It is DeMar’s eschatology that denies the plain sense, meaning of Scripture.

Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Preterism, the related systems that DeMar upholds, have one thing in common; they all assert that Jesus Christ will not come and reign on the earth! This is in spite of the fact that Revelation 20 says, six times, that Jesus will reign on the earth with His resurrected saints for one thousand years! Essentially they are saying that God is a liar! That God says one thing and does another!

Now that is an attitude that dates back to the Garden!

DeMar points out that the Abrahamic covenant, of Genesis 17, is an everlasting covenant, that makes no mention of being postponed. Ultimately he claims that this covenant was transferred to the Church, and thus no longer applies to the physical descendants of Abraham.

And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. Genesis 17:8

So Israel was kicked off the land, twice. Does this mean that the covenant no longer applies to them? Is Israel, in diaspora, still a nation? When Israel turned their backs on their God, does it mean that He is no longer their God?

After saying that he had divorced Israel, in verse 8, God turns around and says;

Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: Jeremiah 3:14

So, a divorce does not really end a marriage. Not in God’s eyes. So we can understand from this that, though God allowed Israel to go away for a time, He still wants them back. No. He did not transfer His promises to the Church, never to return them back to Israel.

“A fundamental question remains: Does the everlasting Abrahamic covenant mention anything about the possibility of postponements or delays? Dispensationalists are quick to point out that there are no conditions to the Abrahamic covenant,13 but they seem to ignore the fact that the postponements and delays they propose presuppose a conditional covenant. Where do we find a verse that reads something like this?: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you although there may be delays or postponements”? If conditions cannot be added ex post facto, then neither should new definitions of everlasting be invented. ” (10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed , by Gary DeMar, page 69)

DeMar is forgetting that “context” in the bible means not only the verse before, and the verse after, but the context of the whole Word of God. God’s promise to Abraham must be taken in context of the whole bible. God made his promise to Abraham in spite of knowing that his descendants would abandon Him one day. Therefore, knowing the foreknowledge of God, it is not possible that God transferred his promises to the Church.

And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. Deuteronomy 28:64

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour. Jeremiah 16:13

DeMar maintains that Jeremiah’s prophecy, that Israel would return after 70 years, is the only prophecy predicting their return, and since that return was accomplished there is no further need for them to return. Zechariah was a post-exilic prophet, who wrote during the reign of Darius, after Cyrus had made his famous proclamation for the return of the exiles. Zechariah speaks plainly of the return of both the Jews, of the southern kingdom, and Ephraim of the northern kingdom. When the tribes returned there were “forty and two thousand three hundred andthreescore” people who went back (Ezra 2:64), but there were millions who went into captivity seventy years earlier.

The majority of Israel never returned, but God Told us through Zechariah that, one day, they would;

6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. 7 And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. 8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. 10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. Zechariah 10:6-10

Since this passage was written AFTER the end of the 70 year exile, it follows that the return spoken of here is a yet future return.

DeMar points out that Israel did indeed possess all the land that God had promised them, implying that He has no obligation to return them again to it. Given the above quote from Zechariah, and numerous other passages in the bible that say Israel will return in the end times, it would make God a liar if He doesn’t give it to them again.

DeMar, in a sneaky sort of way, is actually calling God a liar!

“The New Testament says nothing about there being a need to fulfill the land promises. In fact, we are told, “When [God] had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about four hundred and fifty years” (Acts 13:19). There is no discussion about re-inheriting the land. The physical land of Israel has no role to play in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant since the coming of Christ.” (DeMar, page 75)

Of course Jesus said that “not one jot or tittle of the law will fail”, and the land promises are included as a part of the law!

Not only this but a careful examination of one conversation between Jesus and the disciples reveals that God will restore the land to Israel, in His own time;

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.Acts 1:6-7

While the apostles were thinking in a fleshly way, when Jesus was setting up a spiritual kingdom, the Church, He does not deny that Israel’s kingdom would some day be restored. Actually, He tells them that it will be restored at a time predetermined by the Father.

Even going back to Jesus’ discussion with Pilate, we get a hint that there will be a time when Jesus will restore Israel’s earthly kingdom;

36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

The little word “now” in the last phrase is very important. “Now”, or “at this time” His kingdom is not from here. For the next two thousand years His kingdom is a heavenly kingdom. True believers are in heaven, even as we are on this earth (Ephesians 2:6), but the day is coming when Jesus will return with His raptured, and resurrected saints, and set up His kingdom on earth.

DeMar ends the chapter with the following observation;

“Another major tenet of dispensationalism is that the covenant made with Israel is unconditional. If this is true, then why did God have to suspend the prophetic timetable for Israel? Since modern-day Jews have returned to their homeland in unbelief, and this is said to be a fulfillment of Bible prophecy since, some contend, passages like Ezekiel 36 tell us that Israel will return in unbelief, then why couldn’t God have embraced an unbelieving Israel in the first century? ” (DeMar, page 79)

Evidently DeMar does not believe that the restoration of Israel in 1948 is a fulfilment of prophecy. I wonder what he would consider to be a fulfilment of prophecy?

Acts 1:6 really gives us the answer to DeMar’s final question; The times and seasons have been determined by the Father. God wanted to call out a people for Himself from all the nations of the world.

Once the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, then He will once again revert to dealing through Israel. As I said before, “the fullness of the Gentiles” does not refer to ALL the Gentiles, but to all the Gentiles that will be saved… when the last few stragglers come in! By this time most of the professing Church will be in a state of apostasy!

Jesus is not coming at a time when people are not thinking about Him, or His return. He will come at a time when professing Christians THINK He will not return! He will return at a time when Christians will have latched on to DeMar’s postmillennial idea that Jesus will not physically return to rule the earth! DeMar, as a leader in this movement, could actually be a fulfilment of prophecy, himself!

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:44

I hate to say it, but you will get a better understanding of biblical prophecy from the pages of The Spirit of Prophecy, than you will from reading DeMar’s book! Stepping from Dispensationalism into Postmillennialism is a step backward from a dim light into utter darkness!

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged amillennialism, fullness of the Gentiles, gary demar, postmillennialism, Preterism, return of christ | Leave a comment

Excellent series on Premillennial Eschatology

Posted on August 7, 2013 by dknezacek

I have been listening to an excellent series on premillennial eschatology that goes very well with my current review of Gary DeMar’s book “Ten Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered”.

The series is by T. A. McMahon and Paul Wilkinson exposes a form of rampant anti-Semitism that is invading Evangelical Churches. Post-millennialism, Amillennialism, and Preterism are doctrines that do not come from Scripture, but from the Roman Catholic church. These beliefs have led to much persecution of Jews for the last 1700 years! True believers have no business having anything to do with these philosophies, except to expose them for the frauds they are!

Check out the following links. Download it and listen to it as you drive or walk your dog! You will be glad you did!

T. A. McMahon and Paul Wilkinson Episode 1

T. A. McMahon and Paul Wilkinson Episode 2

T. A. McMahon and Paul Wilkinson Episode 3

T. A. McMahon and Paul Wilkinson Episode 4

At this point I have only listened to the first two episodes, and I must say that I disagree with the idea of an imminent rapture, but they are correct that the bible teaches a pre-Tribulation rapture. There will be signs before the rapture, but that does not take away from the truth of what they are saying.

I have been impressed with the spiritual discernment exhibited by both T.A. McMahon and Dave Hunt, for many years. This exposé of false teaching in Christian Churches is timely and desperately needed!

I recommend it highly,

Dan

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged amillennialism, anti-semitism invading evangelical churches, gary demar, paul wilkinson, persecution of jews, pre-tribulation rapture, religion, theology | Leave a comment

Chapter 3 – Who has a Redemptive Future for Israel?

Posted on August 3, 2013 by dknezacek

In Gary DeMar’s third chapter of 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed, he spends a lot of time attempting to refute statements by John MacArthur, and other dispensationalists, to the effect that “only Dispensationalists have a redemptive future for Israel”.

DeMar spends a lot of time quoting from the Church fathers, and early reformation leaders to show that many of them believed that the End Times would be fulfilled when “the fullness of the Gentiles come in”, and then “Israel will become a Christian nation”.

DeMar gives us this challenge on page 63;

‘What MacArthur and his fellow dispensationalists have yet to explain is how their future hope for Israel is more favorable toward Jews than the redemptive expectations of the purportedly Anti-Semitic “Replacement Theologists,” since the dispensationalist future for the Jews is that two-thirds of them will be slaughtered before the promises are fulfilled (Zech. 13:8) in what Charles Ryrie has described as “the worst bloodbath in Jewish history.” ‘

I am glad that he referenced Zechariah 13:8, but I wish he had examined the whole chapter, in context. Such an examination could only conclude that Dispensationalists are correct; that there will be a Hebrew bloodbath before the nation turns to Jesus Christ! His eschatology amounts to a denial of the inspiration of this chapter of Zechariah!

DeMar pretends that the only issue is that many Postmillennialists, Preterists, and Amillennialists, have taught that God has a place for national Israel, contrary to assertions by Dispensationalists like MacArthur. He is correct that Dispensationalists should not make that claim, but I think that a more important subject is the nature of their “redemptive future for Israel” and the biblical accuracy of their claims.

My first impression while reading DeMar’s third chapter was “it sounds good, but what if they are wrong”? Is a wrong view of Israel’s place in prophecy harmful to the cause of the gospel, or to Israel itself? I think we will find that the answer to both questions is “yes!”

The truth is that I see error in every paragraph of this book, and want to argue every point, but I will attempt to focus my comments on the more egregious errors.

One thing I found absolutely shocking was that some of the quotes attributed action to Jesus Christ that were actually intended to apply to the Antichrist!

As it is the undoubted duty of all to pray for the coming of Christ’s kingdom, so all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and know what it is to bow a knee in good earnest, will long and pray for the out-making of the gospel-promises to his Church in the latter days, that King Christ would go out upon the white horse of the gospel, conquering and to conquer, and make a conquest of the travail of his soul, that it may be sounded that the kingdoms of the world are become his, and his name called upon from the rising of the sun to its going down. (1) That the old offcasten Israel for unbelief would never be forgotten, especially in these meetings, that the promised day of their ingrafting again by faith may be hastened; and that the dead weight of blood removed off them, that their fathers took upon them and upon their children, that have sunk them down to hell upwards of seventeen hundred years. (17^th century Scottish minister Walter Smith , quoted on pages 58-59)

The statement that “King Christ would go out upon the white horse of the gospel, conquering and to conquer” is a reference to Revelation 6:8. The rider on the white horse in this passage cannot be Christ, for he has a bow, but no weapon. (Christ has a two-edged sword) This is a reference to the Antichrist conquering the earth, and creating a false peace by use of threats. This is not the peace of Jesus Christ, who gives a peace that is eternal. The next verse has this peace taken away, and war plagues the earth!

A pastor who confuses the rider on the white horse, of Revelation 6:8, with Jesus Christ, is a pastor who cannot be counted on to rightly divide the word of truth, regardless of which era he lives in! Ultimately confusing the Antichrist with Jesus Christ will be a problem that plagues the “Church” in the last days. “Church” is in parentheses because the true Church will have been raptured to Heaven by this time, but there will still be people on earth who will call themselves “the Church”.

The fact that this man also thinks that God holds the Jews responsible for the death of Christ, shows that he has no understanding of the principle that a man is responsible for his own sin (Ezekiel 18:20). And anyway, Jesus prayed that His Father would forgive them! Does Smith think that the Father said “No” to the last request of His Son while on the Cross? Does DeMar?

DeMar also favorably quotes postmillennialist Johnathan Edwards. Edwards’ comments show a real lack of understanding of the literal biblical hermeneutic;

“The degree of their punishment, is the uttermost degree. This may respect both a national and personal punishment. If we take it as a national punishment, a little after the time when the epistle was written, wrath came upon the nation of the Jews to the uttermost, in their terrible destruction by the Romans; when, as Christ said, “was great tribulation, such as never was since the beginning of the world to that time,” Mat. 24:21. That nation had before suffered many of the fruits of divine wrath for their sins; but this was beyond all, this was their highest degree of punishment as a nation. ”

Edwards, as a postmillennialist, believed that the fall of Jerusalem, in 70AD, was the fulfilment of Jesus’ End Times prophecies in Matthew 24. While the fall of Jerusalem was a terrible tragedy, there were six times more Jews killed in World War 2! How could it be said that 70AD was Israel’s highest degree of punishment as a nation in light of the events of the twentieth century? Many End Times prophecies were not fulfilled in Nero’s destruction of Jerusalem, such as the “abomination of desolation” in the Temple, and the mark of the beast. One has to be willingly ignorant to say that the End Times prophecies were fulfilled in 70 AD.

Edwards also forgot that when the Israelites came back from captivity after 70 years in Babylon, there was only a small fraction representative of the ten tribes of the Northern kingdom. Even the majority of Jews stayed away! The vast majority stayed in captivity, and today are still in the nations they were living in when Jerusalem fell. It cannot be said that 70AD was a tragedy that befell the entire nation. Many of them didn’t even learn of it until centuries later.

No, not only was the fall of Jerusalem not the greatest tragedy ever to befall the Hebrew nation, World War 2 was not either! That day is yet to come! We are given the context of the tragedy that Zechariah 13:8 speaks of in the next verse;

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

Verse 9 has never happened in all of history. While Israel and the Jews have had many hard times, they have never come to Christ en-mass as is described here in verse 9. In fact it is the tragedy of verse 8 that will bring them to faith. We have to come to the end of ourselves before we turn to Christ. For the nation of Israel, the Tribulation will be the event that brings them to the end of themselves!

I am greatly disturbed by DeMar’s implication that it is anti-Semitism that drives Dispensationalists to the conclusion that 2/3 of Israel will die during the Tribulation period. Throughout history it has been Amillennialists, Preterists, and Postmillennialists who persecuted the Jewish people, over and over again, NOT Dispensationalists! So why does DeMar speak respectfully of all of these groups, except Dispensationalists!

The day is coming, real soon, when the Christian world, believing Postmillennialism, Preterism, Amillennialism, or a variation of Dominionism, will tell the Jews and other Israelites “Go back to the land! Your dispersion is done! God will bless you if you go back now!” They will go back, and shortly thereafter the Tribulation will begin, and these groups will find that they are partly responsible for the greatest tragedy in Israel’s history! Why? Precisely because their eschatology is faulty!

Paul told us to love the people of Israel, that they are beloved for the sake of the fathers, but he didn’t tell us to tell them that their philosophy is OK without Christ. I have long ago concluded that professing Christians will be largely responsible for the tragedies of the Tribulation. I now believe that there can be only one true eschatology, and it isn’t Preterism, Amillennialism, or Postmillennialism, but a variation of Dispensationalism.

DeMar is correct that a large number of professing Christians are abandoning Dispensational theology, in favour of these older philosophies, but this does not mean that they are correct to do so. Rather than abandon Dispensationalism, we need to move forward, discard the errors and hang on to that which is biblical. This is the only way we can progress into a greater understanding of God’s End Times time-line!

On page 59 DeMar quotes Charles Hodge;

“The great Princeton theologian Charles Hodge found in Romans 11 a prophecy that “the Gentiles, as a body, the mass of the Gentile world, will be converted before the restoration of the Jews, as a nation. ..”

Taking the phrase “the fullness of the gentiles” these theologians teach that this means the majority of the gentiles at some point will be saved, and will take over the world. Nothing could be further from the truth! “The fullness of the gentiles” simply means that the last of the gentiles will be saved. It is a great twisting of Scripture to say that all of the gentiles will be saved. The gospel will go into all the world, and some of every tribe, nation, kindred, and tongue will be saved, but there is no Scriptural warrant to say that at some point the whole world will be converted to Christianity.

This Dominionist philosophy goes against statements like;

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8

God always has a remnant, so He is not saying that there will be no faith at all, but He is saying that true faith will be rare. This does not fit with the Dominionist philosophy that Christianity will take over the world. Something that calls itself “Christianity” will indeed take over the world, for a time, but it will be a false form, an apostate form that has fallen away from true faith;

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; II Thessalonians 2:3

The rapture, the gathering together unto Him, shall not happen until there is a falling-away from faith, and the revealing of the Antichrist. This does not mean that the Church will be on the earth for the Tribulation, but that;

Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7

Today the true Christian Church is in the place of the prophets. The Lord will reveal to true believers the events that are about to unfold upon the earth, but he doesn’t make the same promise to those who just pay lip-service to Christianity.

At a time when deception is rampant, God promised that He would reveal more truth at the same time. It is virtually impossible for us to discover the truth unless we are tuned in to the Holy Spirit. DeMar’s reliance on tradition is a dead-giveaway that something is wrong!

And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Daniel 12:9

This is why traditionalists, like Gary DeMar, cannot be trusted. They rely on their traditions rather than the Holy Spirit. Instead of harmonizing the whole bible, they hang on to small sections taken out of context, and ignore large amounts of relevant Scripture!

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, Prophecy | Tagged amillennialism, charles ryrie, dispensationalism, dispensationalists, dominionism, dominionist, gary demar, postmillennialism, Preterism | Leave a comment

Israel and the Rapture

Posted on July 27, 2013 by dknezacek

In Gary DeMar’s second chapter of “10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed”; “The Myth that the Modern State of Israel Is a Sign that the Rapture is Near” he presents some interesting arguments. Most of his arguments are logical, some of which I addressed in The Spirit of Prophecy, but I can’t agree with his conclusions. It does not necessarily follow that if some Dispensational teachings are in error, then everything they have found is incorrect.

The first section is an examination of inconsistencies in Dispensational teaching on the imminence of the rapture. The rapture is said to be the next prophetic event, and always imminent, yet other prophecies keep on being fulfilled during our day. Dispensationalists teach that there can not be any fulfilment of any biblical prophecy before the rapture of the Church, and then they fill their books with modern fulfilments of prophecy.

“This is because, according to dispensationalists, the Church had its beginning at Pentecost. At that point, the prophetic clock as it relates to Israel stopped (the end of Daniel’s 69th week: 483 years). It will not start again until the “rapture” (the start of the 70th week) which they argue is still a future event (Jesus coming for His Church) that is different from the Second Coming (Jesus coming with His Church). Again, following the dispensational hermeneutic, the so-called Church Age has no prophetic history in the Old Testament. This means that no Old Testament prophecy can find any fulfillment from the time of Pentecost when the Church Age had its start and the “rapture” when the Church Age is said to end. ” (Gary DeMar, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed, page 25)

What I find disappointing is that DeMar, while he mentions Daniels 70 week prophecy in both the first and second chapter, does not address this prophecy in either, leaving the reader hanging. Since I haven’t read the rest of the book yet, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, and hope he will address it later. The Old Testament is full of prophecies about both Israel and the Church, which would be fulfilled during the church age, so why didn’t he show us some to prove his point?

His quote from John MacArthur is typical of many Dispensationalists;

“It could happen at any moment. It is a signless, imminent event, it is the next thing, no signs necessary … [There are] signs before the Second Coming, [but there are] no signs before the Rapture. We live in the light that at any moment in any fraction of a moment, trumps sounds [sic], the angel calls and we go. This is the next event in God’s plan. It’s only for those who know and love Christ. We’re here to serve you and help you.” (Gary DeMar, page 27, Quoting from John MacArthur, “The Final Generation of the Future Judgment,” commentary on Luke 21:29–33 (GC 42-264): http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/42-264.htm

It is unnecessary to quote any of the other Dispensationalists he references. This teaching is pretty much universal among Dispensational churches. DeMar sums it up this way; “You’re going to read a lot of prophecy writers who claim this as the fundamental doctrine of their prophetic system. Without it, there would be no modern-day prophecy movement. ” (DeMar, page 27) Again, he is making the claim that “disproving the imminent rapture teaching, would disprove everything Dispensationalists have found in the Scriptures”. I disagree; every teaching must stand or fall based on Scriptural support, and not based on whether it is an essential part of any system.

If parts of a system have biblical support and other parts do not, then we need to revamp the system. If some elements of Dispensationalism have biblical support, and others do not, then remove the unbiblical parts, and see what is left. This is a principle that does not appear to have occurred to DeMar.

As DeMar says on page 28, the imminent pre-Tribulation rapture “is the logical extension of the belief in an unforeseen parenthesis that the Old Testament prophets knew nothing about.” The key here is the phrase “that the Old Testament prophets knew nothing about”. As I showed in my last instalment, the section of Hosea from 5:15 to 6:2, very clearly implies that the Church age would be about two thousand years, and would end with the Tribulation: “their affliction”.

Many details of the Church age were embedded in the Old Testament by the Old Testament prophets. The prophets themselves may not have understood everything they wrote about, but the Holy Spirit surely did!

The Dispensational idea that the Old Testament prophets knew nothing about the Church age is obviously incorrect, but this does not mean that, by default, DeMar is correct.

There is a true biblical doctrine of imminence, and I believe that someone has confused the doctrine of the return of Christ with the doctrine of imminence. Here is the doctrine of imminence as expressed by the Lord Jesus Himself;

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:16-21

The biblical doctrine of imminence is the truth that you, and I, could find ourselves in the presence of God today, before the end of the day, and thus should live our life in that light. The subject of this story lost his life the day he was planning for his retirement. In the same way, this day is not guaranteed to us, so live today as if you might meed God tonight!

Some Dispensationalist confused this principle with the statement about the Lord’s return;
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 25:13

Just because no human has any idea of the day, and hour, of the Lord’s return, does not mean that this is an event that is not part of a schedule; it has a definite appointment in time. The following is about the End Times, about the restoration of Israel, and the Tribulation, and the rapture.

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. Acts 1:7

Jesus told us that there is a definite time-frame for the events of the end times. If it has not happened until now, it was not planned until now, and could not have happened before now. Thus an imminent rapture for the entire Church age is not possible.

Most of the second chapter, until page 41, is spent reciting contradictions made by Dispensationalists, and then he makes the claim that this is all about money. That “The prophecy books that sell hundreds of thousands, even millions of copies are those that (1) tell readers that the rapture could occur at any moment, (2) that there are no signs preceding it, and then (3) go on to list numerous signs that they claim are being fulfilled before our very eyes. ” (DeMar, page 41)

What he is saying is true, a lot of money has been made on prophecy books, but it does not help us get to the truth of the Scriptural teachings on the End Times. The next couple of pages are an attack on the hypocrisy of those who say there are no signs of the rapture, and then say “but there are signs”.

At this point I am somewhat disappointed in this chapter; he hasn’t told me anything that I didn’t already know. If you are going to expose a bible-teacher’s self-contradictions, the best way to do it is to show what the Scriptures really say.

The Fig Tree

On page 44 DeMar switches to the parable of the fig tree from Matthew 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

DeMar tells us what people are saying about this parable; That the fig tree is Israel, and that this must be a reference to the re-establishment of Israel in 1948. Again, I can’t argue with everything he says, but I must note that DeMar points out that Israel is sometimes compared to other trees;

“Sometimes Israel is compared to a fig tree (Judges 9:10–11), a vine (Hosea 9:10; Judges 9:12–13), an olive tree (Judges 9:8–9), and the cedars of Lebanon (Judges 9:15)”. (DeMar, page 44)

DeMar then quotes a couple of authors, including John F. Walvoord, who say that the fig tree is never a reference to Israel in the Scriptures, but he doesn’t actually search the Scriptures themselves to see if this is true;

6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.Joel 1:6-7

So here, in an End Times prophecy, the land of Israel, God’s land, is definitely referred to as a vine and a fig tree. So much for the pronouncements of his “experts”!

He goes on to say that this prophecy can’t be about Israel because Luke’s version of the prophecy refers to the Fig tree “and ALL THE TREES”

29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Luke 21:29-32

Given the above statement from DeMar himself that Israel is compared to multiple different trees, then the statement “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees” could actually still be a reference to Israel. Though DeMar has proven that other trees could at times represent Israel, he has not proven that the fig tree can not be Israel. I would have to say, however, that “all the trees” could be a reference to “all of Israel”, and not merely to the southern tribes of Judah. All of Israel has not yet returned to the land.

It is entirely possible that Jesus was referring to the final return of all the tribes of Israel. If that is the case then we might still have some time to go. Not only are there millions of Jews living in North and South America, there are millions of the other tribes of Israel living in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China, Burma, as well as all over the world, really.

I expect that the two major End Times wars of Psalm 83, and Ezekiel 38-39, will cause the last remnants of Israel to return. Some of them have converted to Islam, and they will not return to the God of their fathers until the God of the Qur’an is proven powerless. I think the generation that Jesus is referring to is the generation that returns at this time. Man has a tendency to rush God, but He has His own schedule.

The events we see today in the Middle East are preparing the stage for the Psalm 83 war. The return of that generation could be very close indeed!

The reason, I believe, that Jesus is saying the End Time events are related to one generation, is because 144,000 of them are going to be His chosen missionary army, to go back into all the world. If they returned to Israel for very long, they would learn Hebrew, and forget the languages of their captivity. God’s job for that army is to send them back to the nations they were from, with the gospel. They wouldn’t blend-in if they were unilingual Hebrew speakers, which would happen if they spent too much time in Israel.

This is why I believe the generation Jesus is speaking of is the last remnants of the Hebrew diaspora, and their return to Israel.

Unbelieving or Believing Israel?

DeMar only spends one page on the question of whether Israel will return in a state of belief or unbelief, and he only uses one passage to back up his claim;

1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. Deuteronomy 30:1-3

I admit that it is hard to explain this passage, at first glance it appears that Israel will come to a state of belief while in captivity, and then return to the land.

Remember that all of Scripture is written by the same Author, and He cannot contradict Himself. Therefore we have to harmonize all of Scripture’s teaching on a particular subject, and not take portions alone, or out of context.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 appears to be a general statement; a general account of a general time-frame, but Zechariah gives a more detailed account of the same event;

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.Zechariah 13:8

Who is the man that is the “fellow” of the Lord of Hosts? It would have to be the Jews, the people He came to, and was born, and lived among! The fire referred to here is not the ancient dispersion, but the Tribulation period! Being “cut-off” is self explanatory, these are the Jews who will fight the Antichrist in their own strength, with carnal weapons like guns and rockets. The one third who call upon the Lord will be saved.

You shouldn’t quote Deuteronomy 30:1-3, in a prophetic context, without quoting Zechariah 13:7-9 with it. They are companion passages. It is the same when the bible says “all Israel shall be saved”. It clearly does not mean every Hebrew who has ever lived, nor does it mean every Hebrew of a particular generation, it means every Hebrew who survives the fire of the Tribulation period. 100% of the survivors will be saved, and they will be the highest number, and percentage, of Hebrews ever saved in the history of the world!

While Gary DeMar does indeed speak some truth in Chapter 2 of “10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed”, I would have to give him a failing grade, for neglecting some very relevant Scriptures!

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged dispensational, dispensationalism, gary demar, inconsistencies in dispensational teaching, the fig tree | 2 Comments

DeMar’s “The Myth of an Israel-Church Distinction”

Posted on July 19, 2013 by dknezacek

Welcome to my exposé of Gary DeMar’s book, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed, chapter 1, The Myth of an Israel-Church Distinction.

As I have been reading DeMar’s book, I have noticed his frequent implication that “if Dispensationalists have made any sort of mistake, then we must revert to the older ideas, like Post-Millennialism”. I disagree with this attitude, and I think I can show you why;

“Dispensationalists have perpetrated the myth of an Israel-Church distinction that they say is based on a straightforward reading of the New Testament where at a particular point in biblical history God’s redemptive program changed from Israel to a new entity called “the Church.” It’s at this point, dispensationalists argue, that Israel’s prophetic clock stopped and a “mystery parenthesis” called the Church Age was inserted between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan. 9:24–27). The Church Age will end, so the argument goes, when the Church is “raptured.” It will be at this time that the prophecy clock will begin ticking again and God will once again deal with Israel during the seven-year Great Tribulation, Daniel’s 70th week.” (DeMar, chapter2, page 11)

I hate the way he says it, but DeMar is correct that the idea of a distinction between Israel and the Church is a myth, to a point.

The bible itself does speak of the Church as being a mystery hidden in the Old Testament (Romans 11:25 and 16:25). 1 Corinthians 15:51 speaks of the removal of the Church, the rapture, as also being a mystery. So the use of the term “Mystery”, in relation to the Church, should not necessarily indicate that a system is wholly inaccurate.

A straight forward reading of Hosea 5:15 – 6:2 does indeed imply that this “Mystery Parenthesis”, the Church age, would be about two thousand years in length.

DeMar spends the rest of the chapter showing that the Greek word Ekklesia, which is translated as “Church” actually means “an assembly of people”, and was used hundreds of years before Christ in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, or LXX. This is true, but it does not necessarily follow that the Old Testament Saints, and the New, are the same Ekklesia.

I was very disappointed that DeMar failed to address Daniel 9:24-27 in the entire chapter, as if proving that Ekklesia means an assembly would somehow render the last seven years of Daniel’s prophecy irrelevant.

“So then, without an Israel-Church distinction and a shift in prophetic programs from Israel to the Church, there is no dispensationalism. If it can be shown that this Israel-Church distinction and two-program view is based on a redemptive fiction, then the entire dispensational system collapses. ” (DeMar, page 12)

The problem is; Who says that “if Dispensationalists have made any mistakes, the whole system is in error”? As he shows, some Dispensationalists do say this, but Dispensationalists are not infallible! What if some of their findings are true, while others are not?

DeMar’s error is that he teaches that the older system must be correct simply because of its antiquity. Since several books in the New Testament were written to combat errors, like Gnosticism, and Judaizing, errors that are still with us, it is obvious that the antiquity of an idea is no guarantee of its truthfulness.

Given the above statement, and a statement by Charles Ryrie, to the effect that a “a dispensationalist keeps Israel and the Church distinct”, DeMar spends a lot of energy attempting to show that the believing of Israel, and the believing of the gentiles, are one in the Church. He does a good job, really, but he fails to address the big questions; “Does the bible make some sort of distinction between some believers, and others? Which ones? When, and how?”

If the bible makes any such distinction, then the teachings of Dispensationalists are closer to the truth than those who hold to the idea that all believers of every age have the same status with God. I agree with DeMar that the Dispensational teachings on these distinctions are incorrect, but the distinctions themselves really are there!

DeMar actually quotes from Hebrews 12:24 yet fails to note that the Church-age believer is under a new covenant, and has a better sacrifice than that of Abel;

And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Hebrews 12:24

Everything about the New Covenant is superior to the Old!

Probably the most striking example of the difference comes from the Lord Himself;

Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Matthew 11:11

For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Luke 7:28

Now ask yourself; “Was John a true believer?” Of course he was. “Was John in the kingdom of Satan?” Absolutely not! “Isn’t everyone, even those in the kingdom of God, born of a woman?” Absolutely! “Didn’t John, as a great prophet, know the Holy Spirit?” Yes, absolutely! “Wasn’t John a part of an assembly of believers, an Ekklesia?” Yes, he was.

So what was Jesus talking about here?

John was an Old Testament believer. He was a saved man like Moses, Abraham, David, and many others, and like them, he was not permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came and went with John, and the other prophets.

This is why, when David sinned with Bathsheba, he cried unto God “Take not thy Holy Spirit from me”(Psalm 51:11)! He knew the delights of communion with the Holy Spirit, and He knew the Spirit would not stick around when he was embroiled in such deep sin.

In the Church age, however, we have another promise regarding the Holy Spirit;

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John 14:16-17

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5

Nowhere in the Old Testament are believers universally given the Holy Spirit, but Jesus was speaking of the indwelling of believers as a future event;

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:39

The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was a new thing. This event is in view in John 7:39. It is not as if the Old Testament believers were indwelt, and then He was taken away, only to come back later. Such an event is not mentioned, because it never happened!

In John chapter 3, when Jesus said “Ye must be born again” he was speaking of a time yet to come. This is the defining element of the age in which we live; the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all true Church members. Pre-Christian Believers, including John the Baptizer, were not given the Holy Spirit, nor were they ever said to be “born-again”. The true Church today is 100% born again, by the Spirit of God, and permanently indwelt by the same!

This is why Jesus said that John was the greatest among those who are born of women. John was only born of a woman. He missed out on the born-again experience! Church members who are indwelt will never be without Him for all eternity, whether on the earth, in Heaven, or in some other place that the Lord has yet to create! John, in order to be close to the Lord has to be in His physical proximity!

Gary DeMar is correct to note that salvation has always been the same; by grace through faith. Whether referring to Abraham, or Adam, or any other Old Testament believer, no one has ever been saved by keeping the law, or by animal sacrifices. The law shows us our sinfulness, that was all it was intended to do, and the sacrifices pointed to the only sacrifice that can work for salvation, the cross of Christ.

When Dispensationalists say that anyone was ever saved by keeping the law, they are incorrect. Seriously, biblically incorrect! This type of statement actually accuses God of being inconsistent with His own character! On this point I have to stand solidly with DeMar, but I’m afraid he has missed the major difference between the New and Old Testament believers.

Some Dispensationalists give the Jews a pass, as if Christ’s death on the cross wasn’t needed for them! No! The New Testament was written by Jews, who had received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, His death was for Jews first, and also for Gentiles! In this age, Jews and Gentiles are saved in exactly the same way, and DeMar is correct for pointing this out. Unfortunately he missed out on the prophetic implications of Daniel 9 because he was focussed on one Dispensational error.

DeMar’s proves that there was an Old Testament “Ekklesia”, an assembly of believers, but this does not prove that the last seven years of Daniel’s chapter 9 prophecy has already happened. Rather than look through the Scriptures for an alternative explanation he has fallen back on tradition, a real shame.

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged 10 popular prophecy myths exposed, dispensationalism, gary demar, ye must be born again | 65 Comments

Review of 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed

Posted on July 13, 2013 by dknezacek

How does one go about critiquing a book like Gary DeMar’s, “10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed; the last days might not be as near as you think”?

Perhaps the best place to start would be the subtitle; “ The last days might not be as near as you think”. It is clear that Gary DeMar thinks that the amount of time the earth has left, is indefinite. This is actually something he does have in common with Dispensationalists! They have been teaching that the rapture could happen at any moment, and could have been so since the Lord’s ascension, some 2,000 years ago. In other words Dispensationalists also believe that the earth’s time is indefinite!

The bible actually make some definite statements about the length of time the Lord will give fleshly humanity on this planet! No, it doesn’t give us a day, nor an hour, but it does give us a general time-frame for the total history of the world, and it just might be shorter than you, or Mr. De Mar, want to think.

Peter, in the context of the Lord’s return, tells us that this event is related to the fact that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8)

Hosea speaking for the Lord, told us that the Lord would leave for two days, and would return IN the third day;

5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. 6:1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. (Hosea 5:15-6:2)

When did the Lord return to His place? Was it not at His ascension, some 40 days after He rose from the dead? We are not yet past two thousand years since that date.

This means that the rapture could not have happened at any time before the end of the second thousand-year “day”. If Jesus had returned at any time before this date, he would have contradicted Hosea! Not only this but the “affliction” spoken of here is the Tribulation period. In other words the time when Israel will return to the Lord is the Tribulation, and not before!

So Mr. DeMar is correct that the date-setters are in error, at the same time he is incorrect that the earth’s future length is indefinite. Interestingly, DeMar avoided this passage from Hosea, in his entire book!

So, where are we now? We are very close to the end of the second thousand years since the Lord returned to His place, but no one knows exactly. The earth’s sixth thousandth year of existence is rapidly approaching, but we can’t know to the exact day. We are probably within one to three decades from that date.

The author of Hebrews tells us that the seventh day is the sabbath rest for the saints. This is the millennial reign of Christ;

4 For he spake in a certain place of theseventh day on this wise, And God did rest theseventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus (Joshua) had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. (Hebrews 4:4-5, 7-9)

The Sabbath rest for the people of God is not some vague time, way off in the future, but a specific time; the earth’s seventh millennium of existence! If this passage is not about the millennial reign, then it has to be about the Sabbath day, and how many Christians set aside the Sabbath (Saturday) as a day of worship? No! This is about the millennial reign; that seventh day!

As I have gone through the preface and introduction I have found that DeMar points out some real errors that some Dispensationalists have made, and then paints everyone with a broad brush! I believe this is called a “straw-man argument”. Well, how do I prove that that is not what I believe? At other times he selects verses that seem to support his position, while ignoring nearby verses that do not.

In the Preface, DeMars goes through a litany of Dispensational teachers’ failed prophecies. While the list is long, it does not represent every pre-millennial, pre-tribulationist. Here is one example;

”John F. Walvoord, described as “the world’s foremost interpreter of biblical prophecy … [expected] the Rapture to occur in his own lifetime.’” It didn’t. Walvoord died in 2002 at the age of 92. Consider these statements of prophetic certainty:

• “Never in the history of the Church has there been a time during which more evidence existed that the Rapture is near.”

• “Never before in the history of the Church has there been more evidence that the end of the age is at hand.”’

Walvoord wrote these nearly identical predictive statements in books that were published 36 years apart. Notice his use of “near” and “at hand.” In a 1952 book, Walvoord stated, “The twentieth century has witnessed the most significant array of prophecy being fulfilled in any century since the time of Christ.” As Francis Gumerlock has pointed out in his 2000 years of prophetic predictions, Walvoord was in similar company. ” (Gary DeMar, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed page viii, ix)

DeMar is correct that Walvoord made significant errors in his prognostications, but does this mean that he was wrong about everything? Should we throw out the baby with the bath water? Shouldn’t the Scriptures be the judge? It has to be the Scriptures, because I have yet to meet a Christian who is 100% correct about everything!

Dispensationalists are prone to the same errors that the rest of humanity is prone to; It is easy to hang on to one statement, while ignoring others. They should have realized that the bible is all true, and every passage must be harmonized with the whole book. I’m afraid, however, that DeMar makes the same kind of error.

Mr. DeMar accuses Dispensationalists and Pre-Tribbers of having malicious intent towards Israel;

“Claiming that a debate over “Replacement Theology” is comparable to abortion is absurd, especially when my critic’s own prophetic system envisions “the worst bloodbath in Jewish history.”3 Then again, maybe the topic is similar to abortion since dispensationalists teach that after the “rapture” “two-thirds of the Jewish people [living in Israel during the Great Tribulation] will be exterminated.” (DeMar page 2)

Mr. DeMar is implying that Dispensationalists want 2/3 of Israel to perish, in the same way that a pregnant woman has an abortion because she wants to be rid of an unwanted child! This is slanderous, and is not borne out by the facts.

What is the truth on this subject? What does the bible say?

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It ismy people: and they shall say, The LORDismy God. (Zechariah 13:8-9)

The land here is a reference to physical Israel, not the Church.

Dispensationalists, and other pre-Tribbers, love Israel more than any other Christian group. This is why there are so many missions focused on Jews, like Jews for Jesus, or Chosen People Ministries. Every saved Jew will be raptured with the Church, and will miss this coming slaughter!

The slaughter of Zechariah 8, however, is the judgment of God against an unbelieving nation. This is not something that we want, as DeMar implies, but something that the Lord has decreed!

At the day of the rapture of the Church, 100% of Israel will be lost, people who have rejected the gospel, yet from this nation one third will be saved! The 144,000 witnesses that God will call for a special, world-wide, mission will come from Israel (Revelation 7)! These Jews will turn the world upside-down!

God has a special plan for Israel, which is something that DeMar seems unaware of.

As I noted in The Spirit of Prophecy, the Tribulation death toll in the rest of the world will actually be higher than in Israel, both in numbers and in percentage! We are not proclaiming something we “like”, we are proclaiming the truth of God’s judgment, like-it-or-not!

The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. (Psalm 37:30)

The idea that the earth will be taken over by the Church, and will avoid judgment, reminds me of the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day who proclaim peace, when judgment is coming!

“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11)

That would put DeMar, and the post-tribulationists, in the camp of the false prophets!

“The idea of an Israel-Church distinction, which is a fundamental doctrine of dispensationalism, is built on an interpretive fiction. There is continuity between the covenants. There were Israelite believers prior to, during, and after Jesus’ earthly ministry.”

There is some subtle twisting going on here; Yes indeed there were true believers before Christ came, in Israel, and even a few gentiles, but there is a distinction between Old Testament believers, and New. Hear the word of the Lord;

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11)

Wasn’t John a believer? Of course he was, and he is in heaven today, but there is a distinction between the type of believer John was, and the new type of believer in the Church. John was only born of a woman, but today true believers are born-again, of the Spirit! True believers today are permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, but in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came and went. John was not indwelt by the Holy Spirit on a permanent basis.

This is why it is wrong (a sin and a lie) to teach tithing to the church. We are not tenants on the land, but children of God, and joint heirs with Christ!

And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.(Matthew 17:24-26)

The reason that Jesus had Simon catch a fish, with a coin in its mouth, and give that coin to pay the temple tax, was because Peter had already given his word that Jesus would pay it. Had he asked Jesus first, he would have had a different answer!

This special relationship the believer has with the Holy Spirit will end at the rapture of the Church. The Church is a “Limited Time Offer” from God to you and me! If you are left behind at the day of the rapture, you will never know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, though you still may be saved! At that point in time, the world will revert to the age of Israel, which was interrupted by the cross and the church age.

DeMar’s statement that the idea of a distinction between Israel and the Church is “interpretive fiction” is also slanderous. The bible teaches that God has a plan for national Israel, and this can be seen throughout the bible, even in the last book! Read through Revelation 7, and you will see that the tribes of Israel are represented by the 144,000, and there is not one gentile among them!

On page 3 DeMar states, “there is no new body of believers called the Church. ” and yet we have already seen that the greatest of the Old Testament prophets has a lower status than the lowest member of the Church.

He goes on to say “Since its inception, dispensationalism has been considered biblically aberrant by a number of theological traditions. ” (DeMar page 3) So, I have to ask, do we interpret the bible by our traditions, or do we simply read what is there, and allow the Holy Spirit to do the interpreting? Jesus spent a lot of time debunking traditions while He was here with us. Why would we revert to traditions rather than listen to the Master?

On page 9, under a heading entitled “There’s Only One Tree” he says;

“Two additional points need to be discussed. First, contrary to J. W. Brooks, Gentiles are grafted into Israel; “Jews or Israelites” are not absorbed “into the Gentile Church.” The believing Jews and believing Gentiles make up a single body of believers (Eph. 2:11–22) that draws its sustenance (blessings) from the original Israelite Olive tree. This means that Israelites and Gentiles alike partake of what the original tree represents.” (DeMar page 9)

Who was cut-off from what, and who was grafted-in to whom? Is the Church the true Israel? Has Israel been cut-off from Israel? His statement that “Gentiles are grafted into Israel” does not have biblical support. We are grafted-in to the source of life, Jesus Christ.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5

And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Romans 15:12

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. Revelation 22:16

Look at the horticultural references here, in fact there are places where Jesus Himself is called the “branch”, because He submits to the Father. In relation to the Church, and Israel, however, He is the source of life, the vine or the root. Israel has been cut-off from the root, Christ, and the Gentiles have been grafted-in, to Christ. Both Jewish and Gentile believers are grafted into Christ, not Israel.

There is no place in Scripture that says that the Church is now Israel. The “Israel of God” mentioned in Galatians 6:16, is a reference to the believing Jews, a part of the Church, and not to the Church as a whole.

DeMar’s statement that the Church “draws its sustenance (blessings) from the original Israelite Olive tree”, is incorrect. The Church draws its sustenance from the Lord Jesus Christ, not from Israel.

“The tree does not stop dispensing covenant blessings to Israelites now that Gentiles are grafted in, and neither are these blessings withheld from Gentiles because they were first promised to Israelites. ” (DeMar page 9)

Of course, God always wanted to reach Gentiles. There were several Gentile believers during the Old Testament including people like Noah and his family, Melchizedek, Rahab, Ruth, and king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He wanted Israel to be His missionary nation to the world. After the rapture they will take on that role.

DeMar’s statement that “There is one tree, not two. There is one people of God, not two. ” is misleading. At any one time there is only one people of God. Today the Church is that people, made of both Jewish and Gentile believers. Nevertheless, there are two distinct classes of people, among the people of God; there are the pre, and post-Christian believers, and then there is the Church.

When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, it was a new thing! This never happened before… to anybody! His relationship with the Church began on that day, and will end at the rapture. Well, His relationship with the Church will never end, and His role of convicting people of sin on the earth will continue, but his indwelling of people on the earth will end. His relationship with the Church will be translated to Heaven, hence the Rapture.

DeMar takes a lot of time attacking Dispensationalism, and he is correct that they have made many errors, but his system is also fraught with error. There is room for only one system of eschatology to be true, although it is possible that all systems are in error. As I have studied the Scriptures I have found that the Dispensational system, of a pre-Tribulation rapture, a seven year Tribulation period, and a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, is exactly what the bible teaches.

Dispensationalists are correct that there are distinct ages in earth’s history, but they are incorrect that salvation was by anything other than grace, through faith, during any age.

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged 10 popular prophecy myths exposed, dispensational, dispensationalism, dispensationalists, gary demar, John F. Walvoord, post-millennialism, religion, theology | Leave a comment

Post-Trib, or Pre-Trib?

Posted on July 4, 2013 by dknezacek

I recently purchased a video by Sye Ten Bruggencate, How to Answer the Fool. I was initially impressed by his rationale, and still believe that he is on the right track. We are to uphold the bible, and Jesus Christ, and we can’t do that if we make men the judge of God.

I am more concerned with the company Mr. Bruggencate keeps. How wise is it for a Christian to hang with heretics?

As I was browsing through the bookstore at American Vision I quickly became aware of an attack on my understanding of biblical eschatology. American Vision is unashamedly Post-Millennial, and Dominionist.

My first response was to close the window and go somewhere else, but then I thought “I need to know what they are saying”, so I purchased a book by the site’s owner, Gary DeMar “10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered”.

An attack on the literal Interpretation of biblical prophecy

Is my faith strong enough to withstand an attack like this? Is my knowledge of bible prophecy complete enough to see his errors and answer them?

I am well aware that the popular books and videos, like the Late Great Planet Earth, and the Left Behind series are flawed, and poorly done, but am I able to sort the wheat from the chaff?

This will be my task for the next few days/weeks; I have set my goal to read this book and report on it chapter by chapter. I am committed to be fair, and to commend truth, but also to reprove error.

With the Lord’s help I will be able to do this, so I covet your prayers.

In Christ,

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, Prophecy | Tagged biblical eschatology, dominionism, gary demar, how to answer the fool, late great planet earth, post-millennialism, post-trib, theology | 2 Comments

Yehovah or Yahweh?

Posted on June 30, 2013 by dknezacek

I have come across a couple of excellent articles this week regarding the name of God and the vowel point system of the Hebrew alphabet.

The question is; Are the Hebrew vowels inspired of God? If they are, then the name of God is Yehovah, or Yehowah, and the name “Yahweh” is a late addition and an impostor!

As a child the name used in our church was Jehovah, a transliteration of the Hebrew Yehovah, but sometime in the 1980s the name Yahweh began to be used. We were told that Yahweh is the correct pronunciation.

We were also told that the point system was a late addition to the biblical text, perhaps as late as 800-900 AD. In other words the claim was made that only the consonants of Scripture were inspired, and the vowels are in dispute.

The author, Thomas D. Ross, makes a strong case that the vowels of the Hebrew text were used as early as Moses, and were given so that there would be no ambiguity in the meaning of Scripture. I won’t go through all of the evidence here, since there is a mountain of it, but I will make note of one thing;

We were told that Jesus statement of Matthew 5:18, the jots and tittles, was a reference to the smallest consonant in Hebrew and the smallest mark in Greek.

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

That statement was made in a Fellowship Baptist church, Emmanuel Baptist of Barrie Ontario, way back in the 1980s. The preacher, however, failed to note that the New Testament had yet to be written, and so none of what Jesus was saying could apply to the New Testament Greek, except by extension. The context of the statement was the Hebrew Scriptures alone.

The “jot” is the Hebrew Yod, the smallest consonant which looks like a ‘ and is pronounced as a “Y”. The word translated as “tittle” was the Greek word In Matthew 5:18, keraia, known as a chireq in Hebrew. This is the smallest vowel, a single dot.

Mr. Ross has presented substantial evidence from both the bible, and extra-biblical sources, that the vowel points were used at the time of Christ, and even before.

So what Jesus was saying is that even the vowels of the Hebrew are inspired. Therefore, since there are several places where the name of God is spelled out, as Yehowah, or Yehovah, God has preserved his name. There is no ambiguity about it, and the modern “scholars”, who are basing their theory on dubious sources, have got it wrong!

The name Yahweh, which is now even being used in some new bible translations, is the name of a pagan god, and has no business in the bible, or being used by Christians!

Is the use of this name a part of the End Times apostasy? Could the use of this name be something that irritates and angers the Lord? I think so.

Do the research. Check out the evidence and decide for yourself;

http://kentbrandenburg.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-covenant-name-of-god-jehovah-or.html

Click to access VowelPointPaper.pdf

Click to access Evidences4TheInspirationOfTheHebrewVowels.pdf

Posted in Christian Doctrine | Tagged emmanuel baptist barrie ontario, fellowship baptist, fellowship baptist church, hebrew scriptures, hebrew vowels, the name of God, theology, vowel point, yehowah or Yahweh | 2 Comments

Lawless Sinai

Posted on June 28, 2013 by dknezacek

Reading a Debka analysis of current events in Egypt, I was immediately aware that the subject has everything to do with preparations for the Psalm 83 war. One statement that sums up one of the combatants, the tribe of the Amalekites and the land they live on is “Lawless Sinai”.

There are rumours that the Amalekites disappeared many years ago. In fact, they are not mentioned in the bible after 1 Chronicles 18:11, except for one place; Psalm 83.

Now, if Psalm 83 is an End Times prophecy, then we have evidence that the tribe of Amalek is still with us today. In fact they still inhabit the land of their ancestors, the Sinai peninsula, just to the south of Israel.

The term Arab, or Bedouin, today is used as a catch-all for the Arabic speaking peoples of the Middle East, and northern Africa, and while these peoples are all related, they still trace their ancestry to the ancient tribes of the same area.

As Israel was wandering in the desert, after their escape from Egypt, they were attacked several times by the Amalekites. After the establishment of Israel on the land, the conflict with these people continued for several hundred years. Even after the seeming disappearance of the Amalekites, the book of Esther records the plot of Haman, a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag, to destroy the Jews in the Persian empire.

Was Haman the last Amalekite? No. They are still there, living in Lawless Sinai, smuggling rockets, bombs, and other weapons, into Gaza. A thorn in Israel’s side. In fact they are also a thorn in Egypt’s side.

1Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. 5For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. Psalm 83:1-8

In the list of combatants in Psalm 83 you will note that Egypt is not mentioned, but that does not mean they will not be a part of that war. The Sinai peninsula is now a territory of Egypt, and its inhabitants are Egyptian citizens. While Egypt has kept its peace treaty with Israel, and have even arrested people caught smuggling arms into Gaza, the day is coming when the Amalekites of Sinai will drag Egypt into war with Israel.

What will be the result of this war for Egypt? Isaiah tells us in chapter 19;

18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.

Could the “city of destruction” be a reference to Cairo? I think so. This war will be so bad that Israel will be forced to use her nuclear arsenal, and Cairo will take on this new name. The inhabitants who are left will speak Hebrew, and Israel’s border will move all the way to the Nile, the “river of Egypt”.

In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: Genesis 15:18

Egypt will, one day soon, rue the day they became associated with Amalek.

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, World Events | Tagged amalek, ancient tribes, current events in egypt, egyptian unrest, end times prophecy, lawless sinai, psalm 83, river of egypt, the amalekites | Leave a comment

housetops

Replacement Theology, a myth, or common teaching?

Chapter 4 The Myth of the Postponed Abrahamic Covenant

Excellent series on Premillennial Eschatology

Chapter 3 – Who has a Redemptive Future for Israel?

Israel and the Rapture

The Fig Tree

DeMar’s “The Myth of an Israel-Church Distinction”

Review of 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed

Post-Trib, or Pre-Trib?

Yehovah or Yahweh?

Lawless Sinai

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