Five 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 POLITICAL kingdom. But, Christ and the gospel were not a sidelight. That idea is an abomination and an affront to our Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom of Christ―the New Covenant/Christian Age―is in effect now (Matthew 16:19; Colossians 1:13) and has NO END. There are dozens of 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. DUAL COVENANT THEOLOGY. Dispensationalists think that Israel is distinct from the church―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 by the gospel (Galatians 3:28). Acts 20:21-24 is clear that in the New Covenant the gospel is the same for both Jews and Gentiles―repentance and faith in Jesus. 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 Jews with believers in Christ (Romans 9:27; 11:1-24; Galatians 3:28). 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 has nothing to do with biblical Israel.

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.) 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.

4. INSISTENCE ON ALWAYS READING THE BIBLE LITERALLY. Just some questions: 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!

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).

“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, pg. 102)

WERE GOD’S PROMISES TO ISRAEL FOREVER?

“And I will establish my covenant between you and Me and you and your offspring after you through their generations for an everlasting covenant. . . and I will give to you and your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:7-8; cf. Genesis 13:15; 48:4; Isaiah 60:21)

“The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as He has sworn to you, IF you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. . . But IF you will not obey. . . the LORD will send on you curses. . . until you are destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 28:9, 15, 20; cf. Zechariah 11:10)

Errors of biblical interpretation arise for several reasons, including:

1. Failure to reconcile all passages that seem to be different.
2. Presuppositions from errors arising from one’s denominational echo chamber (“mass formation hypnosis”).
3. Confusing new covenant things with old covenant things.

The two passages above from Genesis and Deuteronomy appear to be contradictory. On the one hand, God’s promises to Israel are everlasting. On the other hand, they are contingent on obedience. How do we reconcile these? Here’s how:

“God’s promises to Israel were forever so long as they were obedient. If they fail the obedience test, the promises are null and void. There is a limit to God’s patience.”

Was Israel obedient? NO. God took the blessings of the covenant away from the Jews as we see in such passages as this:

“Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. . . When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that He was speaking about them.” (Matthew 21:43, 45)― leaving a remnant of faithful Jews to be saved along with believers in Christ―the new Israel of God (Romans 11)

The New Testament declares that all 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 new covenant began at the cross, being announced at the Last Supper when Jesus declared “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).

But we understand from the book of Hebrews that the Old Covenant was washed away in finality in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed―and along with it the animal sacrifices for sin ended forever and the priesthood ended forever:

“In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Hebrews 8:13)

Why did God take the blessings of the kingdom away from the Jews? ANSWER:

1. They were exceeding sinful (Matthew 12:38-39; 16:4; 23:13-38; Luke 9:41).

2. They broke the old covenant (Hebrews 8:8-9).

3. They persecuted and killed Jesus’ followers (Matthew 21:34-36; 22:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16; Revelation 18:20-24). Indeed, the first century Jews would suffer the penalty for all the righteous blood ever shed (Matthew 23:35-36).

4. They refused to accept Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 23:37).

5. They participated with Rome in Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 21:37-39; 27:24-26; John 19:15.)

The truly everlasting covenant would be the New Covenant in Christ (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 37:26-27; Hebrews 12:28; 13:20).

For more about this, see my article about the everlasting Israel of God in the new covenant―and the fundamental change to God’s covenant community:

https://prophecyquestions.com/who-is-the-israel-of-god-in-the-new-covenant/

Origins of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Doctrine

by Charles Meek

The pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is a tenet of dispensationalism which holds that living believers will be taken to heaven to avoid a future Great Tribulation. However, it is noteworthy that no verse in the Bible specifically says that Christ will come to take the church off planet earth to heaven before a 7-year tribulation. Neither is there found in Scripture a distinction between Israel and the church―or a parenthesis that stops the prophecy clock prior to the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27. These are the distinctives that define dispensationalism and the pre-trib rapture.

The rapture doctrine was introduced to the world, or at least enhanced, in the 1830ss in the British Isles. There were 4 key players that had a hand in its early development:

1. In the spring of 1830, a sickly 15-year-old Scottish girl named Margaret McDonald had a vision (“revelation”) about a rapture event. Her idea was based in part on Bible verses which in the KJV speaks of people being “taken” (Matthew 24:40-41) and “caught up” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). We know about her vision because she wrote to several prominent clergymen about it, and it was later reprinted in a couple of books. McDonald reasoned that only after a literal rapture, when some would be left on earth, would the Antichrist be revealed. It would be a secret event in that only believers would be able to see “the sign of Jesus’ appearance.” No one in the 18 centuries preceding her had ever clearly communicated this totally new doctrine of “escapism.” Scholars have even debated whether McDonald’s vision was strictly a pre-tribulation rapture, as some see elements of historicism and post-tribulation in it.

2. One of those clergymen who received McDonald’s letter was Edward Irving. As early as June 2, 1830, Irving confessed in a private letter that the “substance of . . . Margaret McDonald’s visions or revelations . . . carry to me a spiritual conviction and a spiritual reproof which I cannot express.” Interestingly, Irving was also from Scotland and drew large crowds, so McDonald may have been influenced by him (as well as the reverse).

3. In September 1830 a writer going by the pen name of “Fidus” expressed this novel idea in a prophecy journal which Irving published called “The Morning Watch.” Dave MacPherson, who studied pre-trib history for many years, stated in his 1994/2000 book titled “The Rapture Plot,” that this article is “the earliest moment I’ve found anyone publicly teaching the pretrib rapturescape.” Irving (and “Fidus”) seem to have been the first also to see the seven churches of Revelation as symbolic representations of seven successive stages of the church―a key element of dispensationalism. The identity of “Fidus” is unknown, but if it was not Irving himself, it seems likely that it was one of his associates.

4. John Nelson Darby, Anglo-Irish founder of the Plymouth Brethren church, became aware of the above. He attended at least one of the Albury prophecy conferences, of which Irving was a part. Darby became a champion of the rapture and promoted it extensively, becoming “The Father of Dispensationalism.” It’s uncertain when Darby put together all of the many aspects of dispensationalism. But MacPherson argues that Darby did not fully embrace the pre-trib rapture until about 1839.

The 1830 beginning for pre-tribulationism is an embarrassment to dispensationalists. So, they have desperately tried to find pre-tribulation rapture before 1830, and have sloppily cited numerous church writers as being pre-trib rapturists. But my research finds all such citations suspect, being open to various interpretations based on one’s predilections or presuppositions. Here are some examples:

1. Irenaeus (130-c. 202)―Jeffrey L. Edwards stated, “Irenaeus, while a second century testimony to dispensational premillennialism, ambiguously writes about his views on the tribulation and the rapture.”

Gary Demar said, quoting Irenaeus, “ ‘And therefore, when in the end the church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, there shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be. (Matthew 24:21) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.’ It seems to me that the church goes through the tribulation in Irenaeus’ view, otherwise why write, ‘when they overcome’? Overcome what? The tribulation. It’s difficult to know what Irenaeus meant by ‘caught up from this.’ How can there be a ‘contest of the righteous’ if the ‘righteous’ are no longer on earth?”

2. “Pseudo-Ephraem”―called “pseudo” because this was not the real Ephraim the Syrian. No one really knows who this person was, when his tract was written, or which version of the work to rely on. While some find pre-trib in this writing, MacPherson argued that this person was not a pre-tribulationist, but rather what we would call today a post-millennialist or amillennialist―with Christ’s Second Coming only at the end of history, which he expected very soon (“at hand”). Bob Gundry in his book “First the Antichrist” understood that Pseudo-Ephraem was a post-tribulationist. Stephen P. Bohr points out that Pseudo-Ephraem does not say that the saints will be ‘taken to heaven’ or ‘snatched away” or ‘evacuated.’ In fact, he never quotes any of the choice Bible verses which are used by pre-tribulationists such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and dispensationalists read into the text what is not there, saying “That Lindsey would even dare use this document as evidence for a pre-tribulation rapture in the early church is astonishing and stretches credulity to the breaking point!”

3. Morgan Edwards (1722-1792). MacPherson said that Edwards was a “historicist post-tribulationist” and not a pre-tribulationist. Stephen P. Bohr, in response to Hal Lindsey, states, “There is no indication in the statement [by Edwards] that there will be two comings of Jesus. It seems, rather, that Edwards tacks on three and a half years to the beginning of the millennium to allow for the righteous to participate in a work of judgment. It is notable that Edwards does not mention the tribulation or the reign of Antichrist. He doesn’t even tell us where he gets the three-and-a-half-year figure. Furthermore, he doesn’t even hint that only the church will disappear and that literal Israel and unbelievers will be left behind. . . At best, Edwards taught a mid-tribulation rapture, a view that Hal Lindsey vigorously rejects in his book. At worst for Lindsey’s view, Edwards was not teaching a mid-tribulation rapture at all. . . Therefore, in the light of the evidence, it is safe to say that the idea of a pretribulation rapture was first introduced upon mainline Protestantism in the early 19th century.”

4. Manuel Lacunza (1731-1801). Lacunza was a Jesuit priest from Chile. Irving translated Lacunza’s book, “The Coming of Messiah,” into English. MacPherson said that Lacunza was a post-tribulationist, not a pre-tribulationist. Irving added the pre-trib rapture theory, which he may have gotten from Margaret McDonald. Others note that Lacunza thought the resurrection would be after the millennium, clearly contrary to dispensationalism. However, it is true that Lacunza in his book promoted elements of dispensationalism: (1) saying “the Antichrist would [re]build the city and the temple” (page 301) and (2) “the restoration of the Jewish nation, to be again be the Church of God.” Lacunza used the word “dispensation” numerous times in his book. Influenced by Lacunza, Irving taught the pre-trib rapture at the Albury and possibly the Powerscourt conferences―thus the effective origin of dispensationalism can be realistically identified with Edward Irving more than any other person.

For more on dispensationalism, check out this section on my website:

https://prophecyquestions.com/category/dispensationalism

In addition to the endnotes below, here are some helpful links:

Rapture - Wikipedia
Genesis of Dispensational Theology - YouTube
https://fortheloveoftruth.wordpress.com/rapture

Apocalypse of Pseudo-Ephraem - Wikipedia

Alan Patrick Boyd – PREMILLENNIAL DISPENSATIONALIST – Preterist Archives

Who Is Israel and the Demise of Dispensationalism

by Charles Meek

The biggest error of dispensationalists is the confusion over who is Israel. The New Testament uses the term “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). How is this different from Old Covenant Israel? Answer: The Israel of God is no longer ethnic Israel. Believers in Christ, that is the church (including both Jewish and Gentile believers) are the new spiritual Israel through faith—the Israel of God.

Jesus told the Jewish leaders of his day that the blessings of the covenant kingdom were being taken from them and given to another group—obviously Christians (Matthew 21:33-45). The text says that the Jews knew he was talking about judgment against them. Jesus put an exclamation point on the coming wrath against the Jews in Matthew 23:29-39 in which He declared that ALL THE RIGHTEOUS BLOOD EVER SHED ON EARTH would be judged against THEM (Old Covenant Israel) in THEIR GENERATION.

The Old Testament, beginning with Deuteronomy 28-32, and reiterated numerous times by the prophets, foretold an END to Israel. “THE TIME OF THE END” (Deuteronomy 31:20, 29; Daniel 12:6, 9) would be when the Jews would become so unfaithful that God would take VENGEANCE (Deuteronomy 32:35, 43) and DESTRUCTION (Deuteronomy 28:61-64) on them. This would happen when the “power of the Holy people would come to an end” (Daniel 12:7 and the burnt offering ceased (Daniel 12:11). This was fulfilled in history in AD 70 when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.

Their rights to the kingdom of God were always conditional and would be forfeited for unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy 28:1, 9, 15, etc.) in the last days (Deuteronomy 32:29). In Luke 21:22, speaking of his generation, Jesus said that the DAYS OF VENGEANCE had arrived. In Luke 9:41 Jesus proclaimed his Jewish contemporaries to be the faithless and twisted generation prophesied in Deuteronomy 32:5.
Paul, in Romans 11:11-13-26, emphasized the importance of this. The Gentiles were grafted into the line of God’s people, and the unfaithful were “broken off.” Only a remnant (Romans 11:5) who accepted Jesus maintained the covenant lineage through faith (Romans 4; Galatians 3:26-29). Thus, salvation is now open to all who believe (John 3:16; Romans 1:16). There is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile (Romans 10:12; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). This is not “replacement theology” but rather “inclusion theology.”

God’s people are now SPIRITUAL Israel and specifically not fleshly Israel of the Old Testament. The New Testament reiterates this in numerous passages, which you can read for yourself: John 1:11-13; Romans 2:11-29; 9:6-8; Galatians 3:6-8, 29; 4:22-31; 6:14-16; Ephesians 2:11-3:13; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11; 1 Peter 2:9-10 (ref. Exodus 19:5-6).

In Ephesians 2:14-18 we see this statement by Paul, “For He himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that He might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. . . . For through Him we both have access to one Spirit to the Father.” Thus, the two covenants became ONE. As put by the Reformation Study Bible, “Christ offered in his own body the final sacrifice to which the temple’s sacrifices merely pointed. The ceremonial laws of the Old Testament that separated Jews and Gentiles are no longer appropriate after their fulfillment in Christ.”

Biblical Judaism ended in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed. At that time animal sacrifices for sin ended and the priesthood ended forever. The genealogical records were also destroyed. Interestingly, DNA testing shows that the genetic identity of modern Jewish populations is not the same as biblical Judaism.

The old covenant vanished away, replaced by the new covenant (Hebrews 8:1-13), through the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb at the end of the ages (Hebrews 9:1-28). The New Covenant in Christ is eternal (Isaiah 9:6-7; Hebrews 13:20; Revelation 5:13; 11:15; 14:6; etc.).

The land promises to Abraham were fulfilled in Joshua 21:43-45; 23:14-15 (cf. 1 Kings 8:56). The promise of a return to their homeland in Jeremiah 16:15 was fulfilled at their return from the Babylonian captivity in 539 BC. The promise of restoration for Israel in Ezekiel 37:26-27 was ultimately fulfilled in the first century with the everlasting New Covenant of Christ (Hebrews 13:20). The sanctuary of Ezekiel 37:26-27 was replaced by Jesus per Revelation 21:22. Similarly, the promise of restoration in Zechariah 8, 10 was fulfilled in Messiah: Zechariah 12:10; 13:7-9 (ref. Mark 14:27); Zechariah 14:8 (ref. John 4:17; John 7:38, and Revelation 21:6).

Dispensationalists, who teach that the land promises to ethnic Israel are forever, and that the temple will be rebuilt complete with animal sacrifices are reading something into the text that is not there. Worse, they are denigrating the finished work of Christ (Hebrews 10:10).

In Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus curses the fig tree. The Old Testament metaphorically identifies the Israel with a fig tree (Jeremiah 24; Hosea 9:10). Matthew 21:12-17 confirms this metaphor by linking the curse on the fig tree with the cleansing of the temple. This was a PERMANENT CURSE against Old Covenant Judaism (“may no fruit ever come from you again” per Matthew 21:19).

Old Covenant Judaism is not a “branch.” Rather, it is a DEAD TREE: “The axe is already laid at the root of the tree; therefore, every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “ (Matthew 3:10)

The modern state of Israel is not biblical Judaism and has nothing to do with the promises to Israel. Israel today is not even a religious state. So, 1948 has nothing to do with Bible prophecy. That date was supposed to mark the beginning of the end of all things, and in one generation (40 years, thus by 1988) the culmination of all “end-times” things would happen. But 1988 has come and gone. The tribulation/rapture/end-of-the-world theology has proven to be a cruel hoax. Dispensationalism, however, has reached its own end time. Having been born in 1830 with John Nelson Darby, dispensationalism died in 1988. Like my father used to tell me about a dead snake that is still writhing—it’s dead but it just doesn’t know it yet.

See also my article “Prophecy Questions for Dispensationalists”:

https://prophecyquestions.com/prophecy-questions-specifically-for-dispensationalists/

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