Posted on 08/06/2025 4:07:23 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
“It is getting gloriously dark.” Those words were uttered by one of my favourite preachers, Adrian Rogers. One day, maybe soon, I’ll get to meet Pastor Rogers. Yet, we won’t be talking about how dark it is. When God’s prophetic program brings to fulfilment the events of Revelation 21, we will both rejoice that in the New Jerusalem: “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there)” (Revelation 21:23-25).
Spend any amount of time online reviewing the content of Christian ministries and laypeople and you will find an intense amount of disdain for Dispensational theology. The one accusation that is constantly thrown at Dispensationalists is that we grow excited when tragedy strikes the world because it means our “escape” is growing ever closer. In effect, they twist the words of Pastor Rogers to mean that we celebrate catastrophe. But is this a fair and accurate assessment of Dispensational theology?
This article will outline the principles of Dispensational theology as we seek to understand why some Christians are so opposed to this method of interpretation.
(Excerpt) Read more at harbingersdaily.com ...
End Times Ping
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Blessings!
In before those who steal from Israel!
It’s absolutely embarrassing how many illiterate Christians wish to steal from Israel.
God knows the heart.
It’s inherently anti Christ and ridiculous.
It basically believes that if you are baptized and believe as a Christian but later officially reject Jesus Christ for Judaism you become a chosen person, and your children and all their descendants will be chosen people.
It’s nice to see the younger generation is rejecting this 19th century heretical doctrine.
Usually when other fellow Christians, including myself, talk about the end times or other time frames withing the Bible, the discussion is presented as though it's POSSIBLE that we're observing God-ordained cycles. "This is how I see...", or "If I'm correct then...". And I'm at least partially a dispensationalist, so I promise I get the logic on the cycles. I tend to see patterns or cycles in how things happen in the Bible (and post-Biblically). For example, I believe we're starting the next Great Awakening (call it the 4th one if you count the late 19th - early 20th century one large enough to be called the 3rd Great Awakening).
I'm just saying the "disdain" or knee-jerk rejection that fellow Christians have for Dispensationalists is how it's often presented as though the cycles are Biblical truth set up by God. When often an exegetical, un-biased, reading of the Bible IMHO doesn't explicitly say that things are happening because of cycles.
Number 1: A name with 22 letters...
Interesting...
When Clinton was elected many of us who were Reagan/Jerry Falwell type people went back to the roots and saw raptures everywhere. We scoured the news each day. I would fight with pastors over it, and they looked at me like I was nuts. I even read all Clarence Larkin’s stuff from pre-WW1. Went to Hal Lyndsey seminars, joined seminary, preached for five years, not a SINGLE sermon on prophecy, which taught me something.
I’m glad I read it. I still believe it, as much as anything, but others may still believe as they wish. I only dislike the anger and rage of the post tribbers who hurl fire and insults and mockery. No need for any brother to do that at another.
What in the world are you talking about?
It’s even more embarrassing that Christians believe that Dispensationalism was a 19th century invention, when a simple reading of 1 & 2 Thessalonians and 1 & 2 Corinthians puts this lie to bed.
Embarrassing!
I was never a fan of Falwell or Lindsey.
Predictions (failed) always make us look stupid.
Jesus Himself referenced the Harpazo in John 14:3 the night before His Crucifixion.
Proverbs 25:2 is a wise verse to utilize when thinking about this subject.
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”
Most Christians have no idea that Daniel predicted to the very day when Jesus would ride into Jerusalem in glory as King - and be rejected.
So there's this guy....who thinks he knows the ways God manages his relationship with people,
each with its own divine revelation, test of faith, and judgment........and lets throw the number 7 in there too.
Really?
The Six Biggest Errors of Dispensationalism
1. CHURCH AGE. Dispensationalists would have us believe that the church age is but a parenthesis in history. In other words, the church age constituted an “interruption” in the fulfilment of the kingdom promises to Israel. This doctrine teaches that the gospel will ultimately fail, and Christ will have to return to set up a theocratic POLITICAL kingdom. “Jerusalem will be the center of a world government system, national Israel will be exalted, and the Gentile nations will be subordinated as Israel’s servants. This is the millennial situation as described by Dr. John F. Walvoord and Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost.” But, Christ and the gospel were not a side show. That idea is an abomination and an affront to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The kingdom of Christ (that is, the new covenant/Christian age) is in effect now (Matthew 16:19; Colossians 1:13). Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords NOW (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16). And contrary to dispensationalism, his kingdom has NO END. There are numerous passages which prove that: 2 Samuel 7:13; 1 Chronicles 17:11-12; Isaiah 9:7; Ezekiel 37:26; Daniel 2:44; 4:3, 34; 7:14, 18, 27; Luke 1:31-33; Ephesians 3:21; Hebrews 1:1-12; 5:6; 6:20; 7:16-28; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 1:6; 5:13; 11:15. Furthermore, the New Covenant and the gospel are eternal (Hebrews 12:28; 13:20; Revelation 14:6) and has universal application (John 3:16; Romans 1:16; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 1:21; Titus 2:11; 1 John 4:14; Revelation 5:9; 7:9). And remember, Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, not a physical one (Luke 17:20-21; John 18:36).
2. DUALISM. John Hagee said: “Trying to convert Jews is a waste of time. . . Jews already have a covenant with God and that has never been replaced by Christianity.” Dispensationalists think that Israel is distinct from the church in both destiny and covenant―that Israel will re-emerge as pre-eminent among nations. They will again be God’s people in a unique sense. But, this conception was obliterated with the teachings of Paul that all distinctions between Jew and Gentile have been broken down (Ephesians 3:6) by the gospel (Galatians 3:28-29). Acts 2:36-39 is clear that in the New Covenant, the gospel is the same for both Jews and Gentiles through repentance and faith in Jesus (Acts 20:21-24; Romans 3:30). The New Testament declares that all of God’s covenant promises were fulfilled in Jesus (Luke 1:54-55, 69-75; 2 Corinthians 1:20), the ultimate offspring of Abraham (Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16).
The promises to Israel were contingent on obedience (Deuteronomy 28), but she failed the test (Matthew 23:29-24:3) and had a finite end (Mathew 21:18-19; Romans 11:11-24; Hebrews 8:13; 10:8-10; etc.). The kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to another group, namely the church (Matthew 21:33-45)―melding a remnant of faithful, believing Jews with believers in Christ into a single body (Romans 9:27; 11:1-24; Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 2:13-16; Colossians 3:11, 15). The new Israel of God is no longer fleshly, natural Israel, but rather are those who have faith in Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13; 8:31-47; Romans 2:28-29; 9:6-8; Galatians 3:6-9, 25-29; 6:14-16; 1 Peter 2:4-10; etc.). The modern state of Israel is a secular state that has nothing to do with biblical Israel.
What about the eternal state after the millennium, according to dispensationalists? Gunn said, “The New Testament church is God’s heavenly people and millennial Israel is God’s earthly people. According to Dr. C. I. Scofield and Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, leading dispensationalists in an earlier generation, the earthly seed Israel is to spend eternity on the new earth, and the heavenly seed, the church, is to spend eternity in [the new] heaven. In other words, the dichotomy between Israel and the church even lasts throughout eternity. More recent dispensationalists have put the saints of all ages together on the new earth but maintaining this dualism throughout eternity by eternally excluding Old Testament saints, tribulation saints, and millennial saints from the Body and Bride of Christ.”
3. MISUNDERSTANDING THE LAST DAYS/END TIMES. There are 19 specific mentions of the last days or end times in the New Testament. Without exception, the writers of the New Testament declared that THEY were living in the last days (Acts 2:14-21; 1 Corinthians 7:19-21; 10:11; Hebrews 1:1-2; 9:26; 1 Peter 1:20; 4:7; 1 John 2:18; etc.) Indeed, certain of these texts declare the soon CULMINATION of the last days (Hebrews 3:14; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 John 2:17-18). Thus, the last days/end times marked the end of the old covenant order, not the end of time or the end of the Christian Age. The year 1948 did not mark the beginning of the biblical last days!
4. LITERALISM. Thomas Ice said, “In order to be a dispensationalist, one has to hold to a literal approach of interpreting the Bible.” Just some questions: Does God literally have hands and arms (Psalm 89:13; Isaiah 41:10; 48:13; 49:16 Luke 22:69)? Should we literally hate our mother and father so that we can be Jesus’ disciple (Luke 14:26)? If your eye causes you to sin, should you literally pluck it out (Mark 9:47)? Is it necessary to literally eat Christ’s body in order to have life (John 6:53)? Did the mountains and the hills really break into song and the trees clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12)? When God judged Babylon according to Isaiah’s prophecy, an event fulfilled in actual history in 539 BC, did the stars and sun literally stop giving their light (Isaiah 13:10) and the heavens literally tremble (Isaiah 13:13)? When God judged Edom in 583 BC, did the sky literally roll up like a scroll (Isaiah 34:4)? Why do you insist on a literal earthly kingdom when Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36)? Is the New Jerusalem literally a future city 1400 miles square that will hover over the Middle East like a space ship? Geeze. Especially this literal millennial stuff, if it wasn’t being taught in Christian churches, it would be considered science fiction! We should interpret the Bible as the author intended. Sometimes this is literal; sometimes it is metaphoric.
5. FUTURIZING DANIEL’S 70 WEEKS. Here are things that cannot be found in the 70 weeks of Daniel 9:24-27: the Antichrist, a covenant being made with the Jews by Antichrist (then broken), a gap of 2,000 years between the 69th and 70th weeks, a post AD 70 rebuilt temple. If these things are not found in Daniel 9, dispensationalism crumbles. Daniel 9:27 is clear that the prophecy ended with the “end to sacrifice and offering” and the Abomination of Desolation (which Jesus told his first-century followers they would witness per Matthew 24:15). These things happened in real time in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed (Matthew 24:2, 34).
6. READING PRESUPPOSITIONS INTO THE TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. The New Testament speaks not a word about there being a need to fulfill the land promises, about a new temple, circumcision, animal sacrifices, a literal future throne of David, or the antichrist making a covenant with anyone. And there is not a single verse in the New Testament to support a pre-tribulation rapture.
Any one of these six points means the end of dispensationalism. It has failed on all six.
“The very idea of a God that planned and predicted the establishment of the kingdom, at a given time in history, and sent His Son to accomplish that, only to see him fail, is surely one of the most shameful theological concepts ever invented. . . . Are we supposed to believe that Jesus ‘did not envision’―the establishment of the church, even though he came to die to purchase it?” (Don K. Preston, Seal Up Vision and Prophecy, pgs. 93, 96)
“Dispensationalism is a theological house of cards. The main reason that it remains the eschatology of choice among fundamentalists is its sensationalism factor. With its parenthesis view of history and a return to the Old Covenant rites of circumcision and animal sacrifices, it is beyond me how anyone can claim that dispensationalism is orthodox Christianity.” (from 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered by Gary Demar, pg. 102
Hal Lindsey has been predicting the end of the world every night since the day he was born.
I think the End Times is coming for Western Civilization, but not the Earth in general.
As for literalism, we are all literalists except when it is inconvenient to be literal.
Hal Lindsey‘s world ended in November 2024, per a quick Wikipedia search.
Hal definitely made some mistakes
but was very friendly with me
when I chatted with him online
over 20 years ago (only once
though)
Still the surprises coming will be
FAR more shocking than COVID-19(84)
Still amazing as we watch things
happening all around us
✝️✝️🙏🙏🛐🛐
Obviously Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles was a Dispensationalist.
Deuteronomy 29:29
“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Ephesians 3:2-13
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery(secret); (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
“It’s inherently anti Christ and ridiculous.”
I can tell by that statement that you are ungospeled. It says, right there somewhere in the New Testament, that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that dispensational stuff is true, then and only then shall you be saved. Otherwise, you are stealing something from Israel and will burn in hell.
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