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Future Things - Interpretation

Interpretive Approach

I will approach this study from a futurist approach, from a premillennial, dispensational perspective. More will be said in a later chapter about the differing methods of interpretation.

Dispensational premillennialism can be identified by two basic features: 

First, a literal hermeneutic. In other words, the words and statements in Scripture should be interpreted in their normal way, in the same way we would customarily interpret any other literature unless, of course, the text demands that it be interpreted in some other way. For example, concerning Christ’s first coming, those prophesies that were made about it were fulfilled literally. Why then would we not interpret prophesies concerning His second coming in the same way? Why would we interpret the Bible literally except when it comes to prophecy, particularly when already fulfilled prophecy was fulfilled literally?

Second, dispensational premillennialism maintains a clear distinction between Israel and the Church. Paul Enns writes,


The term Israel always refers to the physical posterity of Jacob; nowhere does it refer to the church. Although non-dispensationalists frequently refer to the church as the ‘new Israel,’ there is no biblical warrant for doing so. Many passages indicate Israel was still regarded as a distinct entity after the birth of the church ((Rom. 9:6; 1 Cor. 10:32). Israel was given unconditional promises (covenants) in the Old Testament that must be fulfilled with Israel in the millennial kingdom. The church, on the other hand, is a distinct New Testament entity born at Pentecost (1 Cor. 12:13) and not existing in the Old Testament, nor prophesied in the Old Testament (Eph. 3:9). It exists from Pentecost (Acts 2) until the rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18).[1]

     There is no basis in the text of any biblical passage to support, confusing, or interchanging the terms Israel and the church.

     What is the relationship between Israel and the church? The fact that God has two peoples—Israel and the church—in His single plan for history should not be interpreted as there being two ways of salvation. The only way of salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, whether you are a member of Israel or the church.

The Bible clearly supports the notion that the church is a distinct work in God’s household from His people Israel. 

(1) Israel has been in existence for centuries and the church was born at Pentecost in A.D. 33 (Acts 2). In Matthew 16:19, in speaking of the church, Christ did so in the future tense,


And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

 

Paul referred to the church born on Pentecost as the body of which Christ was the head (Colossians 1:18). In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul talks about being baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body, yet according to Acts 1:5, that would happen in the future, while in Acts 10 links the baptism of the Holy Spirit to the past, thus confirming that the church began on the Day of Pentecost.

(2) Certain events in the ministry of the Lord were critical to the establishment of the church, without those events the church would not have come into existence. For example, there would be no church without the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens— far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way (Ephesians 1:20-23).

(3) The church was a mystery never revealed until the New Testament.


The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit… and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things (Ephesians 3:3-5, 9).

 

The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:26-27).

(4) Paul writes in Ephesians 2:15,

 

He made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.

 

Notice the unique relationship between redeemed Jews and Gentiles called one new man. In the present church age, God is redeeming from Israel and the Gentiles, the two previous entities, and bringing them together into a new entity—the church. This unity exists only between the birth and the rapture of the church, a time we call the church age. After the rapture of the church, God restores Israel and completes her destiny.


Simeon has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for his name. And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written: After these things I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, so that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord—even all the Gentiles who are called by my name—declares the Lord who makes these things known from long ago (Acts 15:14-18). 

Paul points out that division when he writes in 1 Corinthians 10:32,


Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God.

(5) Paul makes a clear distinction between saved and unsaved Jews. In Galatians 6:16 he writes,

May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God.

Replacement theology proponents argue that this verse demonstrates that the church has supplanted Israel. The problem with that is that the Bible teaches that the church is made up of a combination of elect Gentiles with a remnant of Israel (Eph. 2). They further argue that when Paul describes believers as Abraham’s seed, this is the equivalent to saying that they are the church. But is that really the case? When Paul says that believers are Abraham’s seed, he is pointing out that they participate in the spiritual blessings that come from Israel.


Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to them in material needs (Rom. 15:27).

 

If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you?...In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:11, 14).

Believing Gentiles are never said to participate in the physical, material, or national promises of Israel, they only participate in their spiritual blessings. So those promises made to Israel are still awaiting fulfillment.

(6) Israel and the church continue to exist simultaneously and as separate entities after the birth of the church on the Day of Pentecost. Throughout the book of Acts, the term Israel occurs twenty times and the term church (ekklesia) occurs nineteen times, and they are always distinct from each other.

The unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant guarantees Israel’s existence as a permanent nation. It was God Himself who declared it to be a permanent covenant with the people of Israel (Genesis 17:7, 19; 1 Chronicles 16:15–17; Psalm 105:8–10). Israel as a nation will exist forever since a covenant cannot be permanent if one of the covenant parties ceases to exist.


Why Is this Distinction Important?

If we do not properly distinguish Israel from the church, then we eliminate the basis for seeing a future for Israel and the church as a new and unique people of God. We would have to claim, as replacement proponents do, that the promises made to Israel are spiritually fulfilled by the church, even though that is a clear contradiction of what the Bible teaches. We will improperly interpret unfulfilled prophecies regarding Israel by using a different hermeneutical method used in our interpretation of the rest of Scripture. If we eliminate the distinction, the destiny of Israel and the church will be made one, and the need for the future restoration of God’s original chosen people is removed, thus causing the promise in Deuteronomy 28:13 that Israel (will one day be made “the head and not the tail”) to remain unfulfilled.

Will God’s promises to Israel in the Old Testament covenants be fulfilled literally by Israel or figuratively by the church? The biblical evidence supports the position that Israel and the church are two distinct entities. Therefore, the promises that God made to Israel in the Old Testament covenants will be fulfilled, not by the church, but by Israel.


Other Ground Rules for Interpreting Prophecy

God has given us the gift of language and made language to be fully capable of communicating to us everything God wanted to say. In Scripture, God communicates with language that conveys truth. Scripture, this includes the prophetic portions, is revealing things from God, not hiding them.

(1) Compare one prophecy with another. Peter stated,

Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation (2 Peter 1:20). 

What Peter is saying here is that no prophecy should be interpreted in isolation; it should be interpreted considering everything God has said on the given topic. Prophets were simply contributing pieces to the puzzle since no single prophet received the entire puzzle. As each prophet contributed his piece, the puzzle would start coming together until it was complete. The entire Bible offers us the whole picture, prophecy is just a part of that whole.

(2) Remember the valleys or time intervals between the mountain peaks. Just because two or more future events are predicted one right after another, does not mean that those events will be fulfilled without gaps of time between them. There are instances in which two future events are predicted one right after the other, but the fulfillment of those two events is separated by many years. An illustration of this is found in Isaiah. We find that in that Old Testament book, events connected with both the first and second comings are separated by large time gaps (i.e., Isaiah 9:6-8 and Isaiah 61:1, 2). As the prophet would write about a prophecy, often from his perspective all he could see was one peak right after another, thus missing the valleys or time gaps between them simply because he could not see them. 

(3) Remember the law of double reference. Simply stated, this means that a prophecy could have a double fulfillment. An example of this is Isaiah 7:14. Ahaz was given a sign because of a child who was born in his time, yet this prophecy found its complete fulfillment when Jesus was born. Often God would, in the same prophecy, give both a near and a far fulfillment of it. In either case, both fulfillments were literal ones. 

 (4) Figurative language must be interpreted scripturally. Prophets did not have the benefit of technology that we have today for communicating a message. They were limited to the language they used; therefore, they used symbols as a device to better communicate the message. Those figures of speech and symbols always represent something literal. To properly interpret figurative language used in a prophecy, considering the immediate, larger, and historical-cultural context is critical.

(5) Prophetic passages should be interpreted literally. This is a critical principle. As students of the Bible and prophecy know, there are many prophetic passages containing symbols and figures of speech, so what do we mean when we are talking about interpreting prophecy literally? By literal interpretation we mean that we approach the words in the prophetic passages in the same way we would approach any other literature.

(6) The obscure passages should be interpreted in light of the clear passages. This is a simple but critical principle. Often, what is obscure in one section of Scripture is presented clearly in another section of Scripture.

(7) Remember the law of fulfillment. When interpreting prophecy that is yet future, prophecy that has already been fulfilled should form the pattern. In other words, when you consider the hundreds of prophecies that have already been literally fulfilled, why would you not expect future prophecy to be fulfilled in the same way? Why would we not use the same interpretational approach to prophecies regarding the second advent of Christ that have been used concerning His first advent? 


[1] Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1989), pp. 389-390.

Copyright © 2020 by Miguel J Gonzalez Th.D.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

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