Posted on 06/07/2012 8:38:38 AM PDT by Gamecock
If we stand within the field of prophetic vision typical of Israel’s prophets after the exile and captivity, and with them we look to the future, what do we see? Israel’s prophets clearly anticipate a time when Israel will be restored to its former greatness. But will that restoration of the nation of Israel to its former glory mirror the days of the monarchy? Or does the monarchy itself point us to the monarch?
Such a prophetic vision includes not only the nation, but the land of Canaan, the city of Jerusalem, the throne of David, as well as the temple in Jerusalem. Since the nation had been divided and the people were hauled off into captivity in Babylon some five centuries before the coming of Jesus, the magnificent temple destroyed and the priesthood gone, such prophetic expectation related to Israel’s future quite naturally spoke of a reversal of fortune and the undoing of calamity which had come upon the nation.
But with apostolic hindsight Peter speaks of how “concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” (1 Peter 1:10-12).
In Isaiah 41:8-9, the prophet spoke of a future restoration of Israel in these terms. “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, `You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off.'” The same promise is reiterated in the next chapter of Isaiah (42:1-7), when the LORD declares of his servant, “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations”( v. 6). Isaiah continues to speak of this servant in chapters 44 (vv. 1-2) and 45 (v. 4).
Dispensationalists, given their so-called "literal hermeneutic," are bound to interpret such passages literally, thereby assign the fulfillment of these prophecies of Isaiah to a future earthly millennium in which Israel co-exists with Gentiles under the reign of the Davidic king (See Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom, 302-304; and Pentecost, Things to Come, 503-508). In effect, this amounts to the restoration of the monarchy as Jesus takes his place on David's royal throne and rules the nations from this restored Israel.
But is this how the New Testament interprets these messianic prophecies regarding the servant of the Lord? Who is this servant of the Lord? It is the nation of Israel, or is it Jesus, Israel’s Messiah?
In order to answer this questions, we must see that the gospel writers interpret these prophecies from Isaiah as fulfilled in the messianic mission of Jesus. First, in Matthew 12:15-21, for example, when Jesus withdrew from the crowds who had followed him, Matthew reports that this event fulfilled what had been spoken in Isaiah the prophet. This event serves to demonstrate that Jesus is the true servant of the Lord.
Second, as Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick, Matthew saw in this the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies of a suffering servant who would take upon himself our infirmities and carry our diseases (Matthew 8:17 with Isaiah 53:4).
Third, in Luke’s gospel, Luke speaks of both Israel (cf. Luke 1:54) and David as the servant of God (Luke 1:69). Yet in Acts, Luke pointedly speaks of Jesus as the servant of God (Acts 3:13). After his crucifixion, God raised Jesus from the dead so that people everywhere might be called to repentance (3:26).
Fourth, when the Ethiopian eunuch hears a reading from Isaiah 53:7-8 and asks Philip about whom this prophecy refers, Luke tells us that Philip informed the Ethiopian that this passage does indeed refer to Jesus (Acts 8:34-35).
But this is not all that is in view here. In Hosea 11:1, Hosea predicted a time when “Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” But in Matthew 2:15, the evangelist tells us that Hosea’s prophecy was fulfilled when his parents took Jesus to Egypt to protect him from Herod’s “slaughter of the innocents” (Matthew 2:3-18). Yet, after Herod had died, God called Jesus and his family to return to Nazareth. Matthew takes a passage from Hosea, which clearly refers to Israel, and tells his reader that this passage is now fulfilled in Jesus Christ! He does this to prove to his largely Jewish audience that Jesus is the servant of the Lord, foretold throughout the Old Testament (especially Isaiah).
By now it should be clear that according to many New Testament writers, Jesus is the true servant, the true son and the true Israel of God. Recall too that it was Isaiah who spoke of Israel and the descendants of Abraham as the people of God. It as through the seed of Abraham that the nations of the earth would be blessed.
Therefore, even as Jesus is the true Israel, he is the true seed of Abraham. This is the point that Paul is making in Galatians 3:7-8, when he says “know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, `In you shall all the nations be blessed.'”
Paul’s words here, are important for several reasons. First, Paul tells us that Abraham believed the very same gospel that he preached to the Gentile Galatians. There has only been one plan of salvation and one gospel from the very beginning. This, of course, raises very serious questions about the dispensational notion of “clearly distinct” redemptive purposes for national Israel and the Gentiles, as is evident when Paul goes on to say in Galatians 3:29, that “if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”
Second, the one gospel promise from the very beginning of redemptive history is that the true children of Abraham, whether they be Jew or Gentile, are heirs of the promise, if they belong to Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham. But as Robert Strimple points out, an important word of clarification is certainly in order. “We [amillennarians] say: `Yes, the nation of Israel was the people of God in the old covenant. Now in the new covenant the believing church is the people of God.’ And thus we quickly run past (or we miss the blessed point entirely) the fact that we Christians are the Israel of God, Abraham’s seed, and the heirs to the promises, only because by faith, we are united to him who alone is the true Israel, Abraham’s one seed.” (See Strimple, “Amillennialism,” in Bock, ed., Three Views of the Millennium and Beyond, 89).
The ramifications for this upon one’s millennial view should now be obvious. If Jesus is the true Israel of God, and if the New Testament writers apply to Jesus those Old Testament prophecies referring to Israel as God’s son or servant, then what remains of the dispensationalist’s case that these prophecies remain yet to be fulfilled in a future millennium? They vanish in Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled them!
it would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. your post contains many false asserions, let’s review:
1. the Apostles kept the Sabbath. before Pentecost yes, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, NO.
please provide any evidence that the Apostles kept the Sabbath after Pentecost or any NT verse instructing Christians to keep the 7th day sabbath. ( i’ll save you the trouble, there aren’t any )
2. they did not worship on SUN day worshipping Mithra. I AGREE! they worshipped on the first day of the week, the day known as Sunday. i don’t know of anyone who worships “mithra”, can you provide proof of someone who does?
3. they did not celebrate Mithra’s birthday on 12/25. I AGREE! do you know someone who celebrates “mithra’s birthday on 12/25? i know many Christians who celebrate Jesus’s birthday on 12/25.
4. they did not worship “ishtar” queen of heaven. I AGREE! do yo know anyone who worships ishtar?
5. please provide proof that i worship the golden calf.
the problem is Jesus foretold false teachings in Matthew 24.
if you don’t think Jesus takes persecuting the Church seriously ( and these false charges certainly are persecution ), then you have never read Acts 9:4-5.
woops, i forgot your Lev.23 feasts comment.
these feasts all pointed to Jesus Christ and were fulfilled by Him.
for example, the feast of first fruits was fulfilled when Jesus rose from the day on the first day of the week, on the feast of first fruits. Jesus is our first fruits. there is no reason to keep this type and shadow, Jesus is Risen!!
Christians celebrate this first fruits resurrection every first day of the week. ( i realize you have a problem with SUN day , so i’ll use first day of the week )
To those of you who may be interested; here is Dr. Kim Riddlebarger’s lecture, titled “The Church As The Israel of God”.
This is a mp3 file that contains 10 meg of content. Dr. Riddlebarger speaks for about an hour, then takes questions and answers them for approximately 15 minutes.
This mp3 file is from my Dropbox account. To download this file to your hard drive, simply click the link, then click SAVE..then choose where to place the file on your hard drive, then click SAVE again.
For those of you who simply wish to listen to the lecture, click the link, then click OPEN.. the mp3 will then begin to play through your browser. =
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16063967/16.%20The%20Church%20as%20the%20Israel%20of%20God.mp3
I think you’ll find Dr. Riddlebarger’s presentation to be quite scholarly as he deals with the arguments presented by the Dispensationalists, then examines Scripture to REFUTE the Dispensationalist claim that “Israel is Israel, and the Church is the Church, and never the twain shall meet”, which is a well known phrase that I heard often while attending Bible College.
This mp3 file is from my Dropbox account. To download this file to your hard drive, simply click the link, then click SAVE..then choose where to place the file on your hard drive, then click SAVE again.
No need. The whole series is freely available from Dr. Riddlebarger's blog.
(Those interested in this would also profit from the author's forum from Rev. Riddlebarger's church, especially G. K. Beale's discussion of his book The Temple and the Church's Mission, which is the author's summary of a dense (but very good. recommended!) 500 page book.)
Will they listen?
Lee, I thought that a few people might be more inclined to listen to one of the lectures, rather than take the time to download or listen to a lengthy series on the subject at hand. Whether they will actually listen, well, that’s not up to us, is it?
1. Acts 15:21
2. Jewish Believers gathered at the end of the Sabbath, our Saturday night their Sunday. They had a Havdalah ceremony where they say good bye to the Sabbath. They gather in homes to share a meal, teaching and worship. The next day, Sunday they go to work.
3-4. Key similaritiesMithras was born from a virgin on December 25, a date later co-opted by Christians as Christ’s birthday in 320 AD. A traveling teacher and master, Mithras also performed miracles. He had twelve companions as Jesus had twelve disciples. Mithras died for man’s sins and was resurrected on the following Sunday. The crucifix, water baptism and the breaking of bread and wine are also shared by both religions.[1] Weikepedia
5. The Golden Calf worship was a mixture of Hebrew and Pagan worship. When Jesus said he would give only one sign he was the Messiah, that as Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days and 3 nights so would he be in the earth 3 days and 3 nights. When you celebrate Good Friday as the crucifixion and Sunday(2 days/ 2 nights) as the ressurection you are mixing Pagan religions with Hebrew faith, which is Golden Calf worship. This is just ONE of many deceptions of traditional christianity.
oh my, a lot of failure here. let’s review:
1. Acts 15:21 does not teach we are to keep the seventh day sabbath, it doesn’t say the Apostles kept it either. it merely says Moses was read the synagogues on the Sabbath. Christians met on “the Lord’s Day” the first day of the week, since Jesus rose from the dead on this day.
2. the NT does not say anywhere Christians had a havdalah ceremony, this is a figment of sameone’s imagination. please provide chapter and verse to support this.
3. “key similarities”? you are kidding right? are you saying Jesus didn’t perform miracles? He didn’t have 12 Apostles? He didn’t die for the sins of the world? He wasn’t raised from the dead on the first day of the week? He didn’t institute Baptism or the Eucharist? the fact that some pagan religion opposed by the Church copied some Church doctrines doesn’t make those doctrines false.
4. golden calf worship? again, you must be kidding.
Jesus Himself tells us in Luke 14:32 how to Biblically count days “ Behold i cast out demons and perform cures TODAY and TOMORROW and the THIRD DAY i finish my course”
now let’s apply this method to when Jesus died and when He rose from the dead. Jesus died on Friday ( that would be “TODAY” according to Luke 14:32. The Sabbath or Saturday would be the second day or TOMORROW of Luke 14:32 and the first day of the week or Sunday would be the THIRD DAY of Luke 14:32. There you have it, Biblical proof that Jesus rose on the THIRD DAY, Sunday. ( just as the Church has taught for 2,000 years )
Jesus warned about false prophets arising right before the end and they would lead many astray. it looks like you have been taught by one or more of these false prophets.
I am completely intrigued by your Biblical perspective. Have you gone to Seminary? May I ask what church you recieved your teachings from?
my father did, until he realized that he would not be able to be celibate.
i learned the Faith from great nuns and priests who were not infected by moderism. ( plus my mom and dad were strong Christians )
Once one realizes that the Church is the Body of Chrsit on earth and not a man made organization like the moose club, then you know you are hitting on wisdom.
true Faith is a gift from God, so all praise and honor belong to Him.
No, the logical fallacy is yours because the ground of our belief is not something that is merely in the realm of logic or thought. There is no circular assumption of authority because our belief is grounded, not just by claims of authority, but by things that happened in space/time history. Events of the past are not just a logical or mental construct of some kind. Your assumption that our beliefs are grounded merely in circular claims of authority is false.
Cordially,
Quite the contrary. Chrstianity acknowledges the Revelation at Sinai, which also occurred historically. Chrstianity then claims to be the "fulfillment" of that Revelation, despite the fact that that Revelation requires no further "fulfillment" whatsoever. All chrstians can do is point to messianic prophecies and claim J*sus fulfilled them based on his own, chrstianity's, and the "new testament's" claims that he did so.
The fact that the claims of chrstianity are based on historical events itself means nothing. Many religions are based on historical events. Mormonism claims that "gxd" appeared to Joseph Smith. Catholics claim that a great multitude (including atheists) witnessed the "miracle of the sun" on October 13, 1917. Does that make mormonism or Catholicism true? Of course not.
The Revelation at Sinai, unlike every other claim of revelation in history, was a national revelation in which some three million people experienced the Revelation of G-d Himself. Chrstianity acknowledges this. On what basis, then, does it claim to "fulfill" this Revelation? On the basis of its own claims, which are assumed to be "self-evidently true" and "self-evidently authoritative." They are neither.
Better sit down. You're going to get dizzy.
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