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Daniel 7:1, 13
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay upon his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, and told the gist of the matter.
I saw in the night visions, and behold, on the clouds of heavens cam One like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of days and was presented before Him. [The Amplified Bible].
“This chapter, in its matter as well as its position in the central part of the book, is to the book of Daniel what the eight chapter of Romans is to that epistle. Next to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah and perhaps the ninth chapter also, we have here the most precious and prominent portion of the sure word of prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah.
The chapter is worthy of the most careful prayer and study. It is referred to directly or indirectly by Christ and His apostles perhaps more than other portions of the Old Testament of similar extent.
It appears to have been regarded by the Old Testament saints, in the centuries preceding the Messiah’s first advent, as pre-eminently the ‘word of prophecy’.” [Homiletic Commentary].
“Notice the four beasts of this seventh chapter of Daniel symbolize the same world kingdoms that were pictured by the image in chapter two, and the ten horns of the last beast answer to the ten toes of the image.
Most of both prophecies have been fulfilled, and at this writing “the blessed hope” of the ages is also showing every evidence of nearing realization.
Both visions show the end of Gentile world power. View today’s events in the light of these disclosures and they will fall into focus and make sense.
The individual child of God is challenged as never before in the world’s history to let go of the trivial and the transient, and yield himself unreservedly to Him Who is coming to fulfill the longings of every true believer – for ever and ever!”
- The Amplified Bible – Page 1005
Some people are seeing a flying cross, or perhaps a Star of David.
Others say it resembles a ninja-style throwing blade or even a science-fiction spaceship from such Hollywood creations as “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “Babylon 5″ or “The Last Starfighter.”
The Hubble Space Telescope has observed a mysterious, X-shaped debris pattern and trailing streamers of dust that may have been the result of a head-on collision between two asteroids.
While scientists don’t think it’s a comet, they’re not exactly sure of the precise origin of the incredible object soaring some 90 million miles from Earth, snapped just a few weeks ago by the Hubble Space Telescope.
“I’ve seen thousands of astronomical images over my career, but this is one of the few absolute jaw-droppers: A flying X-pattern with trailing streamers,” said Ray Villard, a contributing writer to Discovery News. “Whatever it is, nothing quite like it has ever before been seen in the heavens.”
Even the experts who study celestial phenomena seem somewhat perplexed.
“We’re still trying to really figure out what it is,” University of Arizona planetary scientist Jim Scotti told National Geographic. Scotti is on a team observing the object from the Kitt Peak National Observatory outside Tucson.
Some think the mysterious space object has a shape similar to that of a gunship depicted in the 1984 movie, “The Last Starfighter.”
“The truth is, we’re still struggling to understand what this means,” comet expert David Jewitt at UCLA told Britain’s Daily Mail. “It’s most likely the result of a recent collision between two asteroids.”
If it is indeed the result of such a collision, it would be the first time astronomers have gazed upon the immediate result of such a crash.
The official statement from America’s space agency indicates:
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has observed a mysterious X-shaped debris pattern and trailing streamers of dust that suggest a head-on collision between two asteroids. Astronomers have long thought the asteroid belt is being ground down through collisions, but such a smashup has never been seen before.
Asteroid collisions are energetic, with an average impact speed of more than 11,000 miles per hour, or five times faster than a rifle bullet.
“If this interpretation is correct, two small and previously unknown asteroids recently collided, creating a shower of debris that is being swept back into a tail from the collision site by the pressure of sunlight,” Jewitt said.
The discovery of the object, officially known as “P/2010 A2,” is sparking some chatter concerning a possible biblical message regarding end-time scenarios, as well as other theories.
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ predicted celestial signs concerning the end of this current age and His return to Earth to govern the kingdom of God.
“And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” (Mark 13:25-26)
“And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” (Luke 21:11)
“With 2012 doomsday hysteria building, this might get attention on the Internet as yet another omen of the ‘End of Times,’” notes Villard. “Those who’ve overdosed on Nostradamus might see a flying Star of David, or a pentagram.”
Lamentations 1:1
How solitary and lonely sits the city [Jerusalem] that was full of people! How like a widow she has become! She who was great among nations and princess among the provinces has become a tributary – in bond service! – Amplified Bible
One may read the writings of the prophets only as valuable contributions to Old Testament history.
And he may become enriched by familiarity with their forecasts of events which have been startlingly fulfilled, thus proclaiming the divine inspiration of the books and the wisdom and power of the God Who prompted their writings.
But to stop there is by no means to grasp their full and outstanding purpose for today.
Through the prophets God is speaking definitely to every individual and nation on earth, right now DEMANDING THAT WE SEE OURSELVES AS HE SEES US, a world of nations and individuals tobogganing toward disaster; and He declares there is no alternative unless we repent and come to terms with Him.
- Amplified Bible: page 914
DISPENSATION OF FAITHFUL ANGELS AND
THE REDEEMED: THE AGE OF THE AGES
Revelation 21:22
And I saw no temple therein; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. Ephesians 2:7
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3:11
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1. NAME: So-called because faithful angels and resurrected saints will be helping God to administer the affairs of the universes from the earth which will be the eternal headquarters of His government. This dispensation is what we know as the New Heaven and new Earth. It could also be called the Eternal Future, the Eternal Perfect State, or the Eternal Sinless Career of the Earth, for it is to be an age of eternal ages, like an endless chain with endless links [Isa. 65:17; Isa. 66:22-24; 2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21:1-22:5].
2. LENGTH: - eternity; world without end. It will be the time of perpetual generations, endless perfection, and eternal life. [see 65 Other eternal things: Dake page 622]
3. FAVORABLE BEGINNING: Not only in the beginning but continuing throughout eternity, there will be perfect conditions and people [Isa. 65:17; Isa. 66:22-24; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:22:5].
4. TEST: There will be no further need or moral or probationary test to see if angels or men will prove true and worthy of eternal trust. All in the eternal ruling class – the elect and faithful among angels and men – will have been purged of all possibility of falling. They will be obedient to God’s laws and will: and will be absolutely and eternally trusted by God to help Him administer the affairs of the vast creation [Eph. 2:7; Eph. 3:11; Rev. 21 – 22]. Perpetual generations to come, who will be ruled by resurrected saints and others, will be born sinless.
5. PURPOSE OF GOD. To be ALL IN ALL again, as before rebellion began with Lucifer and Adam [ 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:10]; and to carry out His eternal plan of having creations and kingdoms which are willingly subject to Him and consecrated to the same end that He, Himself is consecrated to, which is the highest good of being for all in all the universes – that is the purpose of God in the future eternal dispensation. [see 10 fold purpose of God in the Millennial reign p. 311 of N.T. as this applies to the New Heaven and New Earth as well as to the Millennium.]
6. MEANS OF GOD IN ACCOMPLISHING HIS PURPOSE: Throughout eternity He will continue to use Jesus Christ, faithful angels, and redeemed men who will have proved themselves true to trust in ministering to the human race [Heb. 1:13; Heb. 2:9-18], and who will have come with Christ to take over the kingdoms of this world [Zech. 14:1-5; Matt. 13:38-51; Matt. 24:29-31; Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Th. 1:7-10; Jude 14 – 15; Rev. 19:11-21].
7. FAILURE: There will be no failure throughout eternity with elect angels, elect resurrected men, or with elect natural men who will be carrying out their part of the program as natural people in the eternal purposes of God as His plan was, before Adam’s fall. THE FALL DID NOT do away with God’s original plant, it only postponed it until the restitution of all things in the new earth [Acts 3:21; Rev. 21 – 22]
8. JUDGMENT FOR SIN: There will be no judgment for sin again, for all will be righteous and holy. In Rev. 22:3-5 we read: “there shall be no more curse…his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face…and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
9. GOD’S PROVISION OF REDEMPTION: This is the same as stated in point 9 of the 7th Dispensation for man – Dispensation of Divine Government or Millennium. The redemption provided through Christ and the cross is eternal in its scope and benefits to mankind.
- Dake A.R. Bible: page 62
Daniel 11:44
But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
Many teach that Russia is the king of the north of Daniel 11, but this is impossible for the following reasons:
1. Russia never was a part of the old Roman Empire out of which 10 kingdoms must be formed in the last days and out of which Antichrist must come [Daniel 7:8, 23-24]
2. Russia never was a part of the old Grecian Empire, or the 4 divisions of that empire after the death of Alexander the Great, out of which Antichrist must come [Daniel 8:9-14, 20-23]
3. Russia is not once referred to in the wars of Dan. 11:4-34. These were eventually fought between Syria and Egypt in a period of about 150 years, ending with the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, as seen in the notes on that section of Scripture. Therefore, to insert Russia into the future wear between the future king of the north [Syria] and the king of the south [Egypt] is adding to God’s Word. One might as well identify the U.S.A., Britain, or any other country we want to as the king of the north as to do so with Russia.
4. If Russia is the king of the north of Dan. 11:4-45, then what countries are north of Russia that will make war on Russia, fulfilling the war tidings from the north and east of this king of the north of v 44? There are no countries north of Russia that could make war on her, fulfilling this verse. Hence, Russia is entirely out of the picture in Daniel 11.
5. In the past Russia bordered the Syrian division of the 4 divisions of the old Grecian Empire, so in the formation of the 10 kingdoms this will perhaps be true of the border between future Syria and Russia. Hence, Russia could be the only country to fulfill making war on Syria at that time, for Turkey will have already been conquered by him and made part of the 10 kingdoms of Revised Rome, under the king of the north [7: 23-24; Rev. 17:8-17].
ANOTHER FALACY ABOUT RUSSIA:
The only other major fallacy about Russia is that she will invade Palestine, fulfilling Ezek. 38-39. Many are the speculations regarding Russia being the country from which Antichrist comes, of her fulfilling Dan. 11;40-45; Ezek. 38-39, and of her invading Palestine before the battle of Armageddon. Not one of these theories is true. Even if Russia did invade Palestine before Armageddon, no particular prophecy would be involved. Ezek. 38-39 could not be fulfilled by any such war, for these two chapters are to be fulfilled at Armageddon only, and not in some war before then. [see notes on Ezek. 38-39].
If Bible Scholars will recognize one thing, not only will Ezek. 38-39 be clear to them, but also Dan. 11:44. That one thing is, Antichrist from Syria will get power over the 10 kingdoms of Revised Rome in the first 3 ½ years of Daniel’s 70th week, and then the war between him and his 10 kingdoms and the countries east and north of the old Roman Empire territory will be fought. Antichrist will conquer the eastern and northern countries and become the ruler of Russia by conquest, not by being a native of Russia and coming from her [v 44]. At that time he will become the Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal of Ezek. 38-39, at the end of this war or near the end of the last 3 ½ years of Daniel’s 70th week. Then, and then only, will Ezek. 38-39 be fulfilled. The antichrist will lead the newly conquered countries, together with the 10 kingdoms, and other nations that will co-operate with him, through the ministry of the 3 unclean spirits [Rev. 16; 13-16], to their end at Armageddon [Ezek. 38-39; Joel 3; Zech. 14; Rev. 19:11-21].
Thus the king of the north [Syria], will war on the countries north and east of Syria, and they will be defeated, for Antichrist will go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly make away many [44]. Many, if not all the nations north and east of the old Roman Empire territory, will unite to put down this new conqueror who, in 3 ½ short years will have gained complete mastery of all the 10 kingdoms of the Roman Empire territory. Realizing he is set upon complete world conquest they will know that they must defeat him or be defeated eventually by him. So, before he recovers from his bloody wars inside the Roman Empire, they will unite to put an end to his conquest. Antichrist could perhaps conquer more of the world if it were not for Christ’s coming to earth to save Israel when half of Jerusalem is taken [Zech. 14]. Thus, Antichrist’s dream of being a total world-wide dictator will come far short of his goal. Christ will be the one and only world-wide ruler other than Adam and Noah of the human race and Lucifer of the angelic race.
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: page 879-880
RUSSIA NOT KING OF THE NORTH Daniel 11:44
But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.
Many teach that Russia is the king of the north of Daniel 11, but this is impossible for the following reasons:
1. Russia never was a part of the old Roman Empire out of which 10 kingdoms must be formed in the last days and out of which Antichrist must come [7:8, 23-24]
2. Russia never was a part of the old Grecian Empire, or the 4 divisions of that empire after the death of Alexander the Great, out of which Antichrist must come [8:9-14, 20-23]
3. Russia is not once referred to in the wars of Dan. 11:4-34. These were eventually fought between Syria and Egypt in a period of about 150 years, ending with the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, as seen in the notes on that section of Scripture. Therefore, to insert Russia into the future wear between the future king of the north [Syria] and the king of the south [Egypt] is adding to God’s Word. One might as well identify the U.S.A., Britain, or any other country we want to as the king of the north as to do so with Russia.
4. If Russia is the king of the north of Dan. 11:4-45, then what countries are north of Russia that will make war on Russia, fulfilling the war tidings from the north and east of this king of the north of v 44? There are no countries north of Russia that could make war on her, fulfilling this verse. Hence, Russia is entirely out of the picture in Daniel 11.
5. In the past Russia bordered the Syrian division of the 4 divisions of the old Grecian Empire, so in the formation of the 10 kingdoms this will perhaps be true of the border between future Syria and Russia. Hence, Russia could be the only country to fulfill making war on Syria at that time, for Turkey will have already been conquered by him and made part of the 10 kingdoms of Revised Rome, under the king of the north [7: 23-24; Rev. 17:8-17].
ANOTHER FALACY ABOUT RUSSIA:
The only other major fallacy about Russia is that she will invade Palestine, fulfilling Ezek. 38-39. Many are the speculations regarding Russia being the country from which Antichrist comes, of her fulfilling Dan. 11;40-45; Ezek. 38-39, and of her invading Palestine before the battle of Armageddon. Not one of these theories is true. Even if Russia did invade Palestine before Armageddon, no particular prophecy would be involved. Ezek. 38-39 could not be fulfilled by any such war, for these two chapters are to be fulfilled at Armageddon only, and not in some war before then. [see notes on Ezek. 38-39].
If Bible Scholars will recognize one thing, not only will Ezek. 38-39 be clear to them, but also Dan. 11:44. That one thing is, Antichrist from Syria will get power over the 10 kingdoms of Revised Rome in the first 3 ½ years of Daniel’s 70th week, and then the war between him and his 10 kingdoms and the countries east and north of the old Roman Empire territory will be fought. Antichrist will conquer the eastern and northern countries and become the ruler of Russia by conquest, not by being a native of Russia and coming from her [v 44]. At that time he will become the Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal of Ezek. 38-39, at the end of this war or near the end of the last 3 ½ years of Daniel’s 70th week. Then, and then only, will Ezek. 38-39 be fulfilled. The antichrist will lead the newly conquered countries, together with the 10 kingdoms, and other nations that will co-operate with him, through the ministry of the 3 unclean spirits [Rev. 16; 13-16], to their end at Armageddon [Ezek. 38-39; Joel 3; Zech. 14; Rev. 19:11-21].
Thus the king of the north [Syria], will war on the countries north and east of Syria, and they will be defeated, for Antichrist will go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly make away many [44]. Many, if not all the nations north and east of the old Roman Empire territory, will unite to put down this new conqueror who, in 3 ½ short years will have gained complete mastery of all the 10 kingdoms of the Roman Empire territory. Realizing he is set upon complete world conquest they will know that they must defeat him or be defeated eventually by him. So, before he recovers from his bloody wars inside the Roman Empire, they will unite to put an end to his conquest. Antichrist could perhaps conquer more of the world if it were not for Christ’s coming to earth to save Israel when half of Jerusalem is taken [Zech. 14]. Thus, Antichrist’s dream of being a total world-wide dictator will come far short of his goal. Christ will be the one and only world-wide ruler other than Adam and Noah of the human race and Lucifer of the angelic race.
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: page 879-880
When it comes to the end of time, at least one thing is certain: Southern Baptists have a variety of opinions.
And according to leading Baptist theologians, nearly all of those opinions fall within the bounds of orthodoxy.
“On the whole Baptists have been model kingdom citizens when agreeing on the essentials of a doctrine of last things without attempting to press one another unrelentingly on the particular details,” wrote Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in the book “Baptist Faith and Message 2000: Critical Issues in America’s Largest Protestant Denomination.”
Patterson explained that the committee charged in 2000 with revising the Southern Baptist Convention’s confession of faith articulated the Bible’s core teachings on last things — also known as eschatology — without mentioning the secondary details on which inerrantists disagree. He listed 12 beliefs one must hold to be orthodox.
BEYOND CHRIST’S RETURN
Beyond those essential beliefs, Christians disagree significantly. Theologians have divided on such issues as what happens to believers between their deaths and Christ’s second coming, the nature of the resurrection body and the number of resurrections to occur.
“Frankly, I find some Christian eschatological interpretations embarrassing,” guest lecturer Craig Evans of Acadia Divinity School said during a discussion of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “There are some pulpiteers, TV evangelists, and popular writers who think they’ve got this all figured out.”
When asked his interpretation of Bible prophecy from references to the armies of Belial, armies of Satan, and a mention of Magog, Evans said, “I just say to be cautious about that because we don’t always know what’s going on. Some of this is metaphorical, poetic and so forth, and to bring a scientific precision to it and pigeonhole everything — I think that’s a very questionable approach.”
The only views that qualify as unorthodox are those that deny a future coming of Christ, Russell D. Moore, senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the theology school at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said.
“Any view that does not hold to a future day of what the church has called ‘the resurrection of the flesh’ is outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy,” Moore said. “Christians have and will continue to disagree about whether some of the events of Matthew 25 or Mark 13 or the book of Revelation were fulfilled at the fall of Jerusalem. That can be a disagreement among brothers.
“We, of course, will continue to disagree about the meaning of the millennium in Revelation 20, probably until the millennium itself. We cannot disagree, however, about the future bodily coming of our Lord and the future resurrection of both the just and the unjust. This is clearly and indisputably taught in the Scripture and is essential to the Christian faith.”
THE MILLENNIUM
Among Southern Baptists, differences of opinion arise on the nature of the millennium referenced in Revelation 20. That passage describes a 1,000-year period, known as the millennium, during which Satan is bound. Disagreement occurs regarding the timing of Christ’s return relative to the millennium and whether the number 1,000 is literal or symbolic.
Premillennialists believe Christ will return prior to a literal 1,000-year period.
Among premillennialists, there are varied opinions on whether Jesus will remove Christians from the earth prior to a tribulation preceding His return. Some, known as dispensational premillennialists or dispensationalists, believe in such a rescue for Christians. Others, known as historic premillennialists, believe Christians will not be taken out of the world until Jesus returns. A minority of premillennialists believe Christians will be raptured halfway through a period of tribulation preceding Christ’s return.
Postmillennialists believe the 1,000-year period will occur before Jesus returns. Adherents of this position generally believe the millennium will be a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity under the lordship of Christ. Although postmillennialism has enjoyed proponents such as Jonathan Edwards and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary founder B.H. Carroll, the view faded from Baptist life in the last century.
Amillennialists believe the number 1,000 is figurative and that we are currently in the millennium (some premillennialists and postmillennialists also believe 1,000 is figurative). They argue that Satan was bound by Christ through His finished work at the cross and has limited power until Christ returns. Thus, the millennium refers to the current era when Christ reigns in the hearts of believers without Satan’s interference. Christ’s return will mark the close of this era, amillennialists believe.
James Leo Garrett, distinguished professor of theology emeritus at Southwestern Seminary, said these millennial positions have a long history of interaction in the SBC. For the first half-century following the convention’s founding in 1845, premillennialism and postmillennialism were the two dominant viewpoints, he said.
“Heaven and hell, the bodily resurrection, final judgment, the second coming and all of that was pretty well set in the confessions of faith,” Garrett said. “But on the millennial question, which has become so important in America, there was a tendency at the beginning to be postmillennial and to have a continuous historical view of the book of Revelation so that the pope and others could be identified as various marks or symbols in the book of Revelation.”
Amillennialism’s origins often are traced to the fifth-century North African bishop Augustine of Hippo, but the view rose to prominence in the SBC between the 1930s and 1980s as postmillennialism died out. Many scholars date the decline of postmillennialism to World War I, when it seemed evident that the universe would not gradually improve leading up to a glorious millennial kingdom.
The late Oklahoma pastor and former SBC president Herschel Hobbs helped popularize amillennialism along with seminary professors H.E. Dana, Ray Summers, and Edward McDowell. At Southwestern Seminary, amillennialism was the dominant position among the faculty from the 1930s until the 1990s, Garrett said.
But not all sympathized with amillennialism. R.G. Lee, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis from 1927 to 1960, quipped that he refused to say “ah” even at the dentist, and many agreed.
Dispensational premillennialism arose as the major competitor to amillennialism in the 20th century. Initially developed by the Brethren Movement in early 19th century Britain, C.I. Scofield popularized dispensationalism by teaching it in the notes of his Scofield Reference Bible first published in 1909. Subsequent editions of the Scofield Bible continued to teach dispensationalism in revised forms. Today, the Scofield Bible is available at many LifeWay Christian Stores in the Holman Christian Standard translation.
Dispensationalism teaches that history is divided into different periods or dispensations, in which God deals with humans differently. While all evangelicals agree that God acted differently in different periods of history, dispensationalists hold some distinctive views of the dispensations which earned them their title.
In America, the Moody Bible Institute, the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola University) and Dallas Theological Seminary played important roles in spreading dispensationalism. Gradually other schools and even entire denominations embraced the system. Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley and W.A. Criswell were among the most prominent Southern Baptist dispensationalists.
Although dispensationalism likely is the most popular eschatological position among Southern Baptists today, Garrett noted that it was a new development in the 19th century with no antecedent in the Baptist past.
“You had Graves, you had [Fort Worth pastor] J. Frank Norris, and then you had W.A. Criswell espousing dispensationalism,” he said. “But nobody back behind that period was at all inclined. And I would argue the reason is because it didn’t come before … the 19th century in Britain.”
‘ALREADY & ‘NOT YET’
By the mid-20th century, dispensationalism and amillennialism appeared to be hopelessly at odds in the SBC and the larger evangelical world. But a movement led by Baptist theologians Carl F.H. Henry and George Eldon Ladd brought the two poles together.
Henry and Ladd argued that both groups got something wrong. Dispensationalists, they said, viewed the Kingdom of God as entirely a future reality to be established during the millennium. On the other hand, amillennialists, who often fell in the Reformed tradition of “covenant theology,” argued that the Kingdom was entirely a present spiritual reality.
So Henry “combined the ‘already’ kingdom emphasis of the covenant theologians with the ‘not yet’ kingdom expectancy of the dispensationalists,” explains Moore in his book “The Kingdom of Christ: The New Evangelical Perspective.” The resulting view, known as inaugurated eschatology, argued that the Kingdom is already present as Christ reigns spiritually in the hearts of believers but is also a future reality in which He will reign over the physical universe perfectly and eternally.
Because of Henry and Ladd, evangelicals who disagree on minor details of eschatology now agree on the overall “already-not yet” framework of God’s Kingdom, Moore writes.
“In a reaffirmation of the Protestant principle of sola Scriptura, covenantalists and dispensationalists have reexamined their respective systems in the light of biblical theology, and have come to strikingly similar conclusions,” he writes. “Thus, the topic of eschatology no longer serves to threaten the evangelical coalition, but actually may contribute to its doctrinal cohesion.”
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary’s John Shouse, a Christian theology professor, is one who adopted Ladd’s view, describing himself as “premillenial, posttribulational and decidedly not dispensational.” Shouse told the Southern Baptist TEXAN, “I would hold the amillennial view if I could, however, I hold to the historic premillenial view of George Ladd, among others, as this does better justice, in my opinion, to the entirety of the biblical witness than do any of the other views.”
One position to emerge from the new consensus developed by Henry and Ladd is progressive dispensationalism. Developed in the late 20th century, this position agrees with older varieties of dispensationalism that God divided history into different eras and that there will be a secret rapture of the church prior to a period of tribulation on earth. However, progressive dispensationalists disagree with classic dispensationalists’ assertion that God has different plans of redemption for Israel on the one hand and the church on the other.
Craig Blaising, executive vice president and provost at Southwestern Seminary, coauthored with New Testament scholar Darrell Bock a pioneering book on progressive dispensationalism.
“The appearance of the church does not signal a secondary redemption plan, either to be fulfilled in heaven apart from the new earth or in an elite class of Jews and Gentiles who are forever distinguished from the rest of redeemed humanity,” Blaising writes in “Progressive Dispensationalism.” “Instead, the church today is a revelation of spiritual blessings which all the redeemed will share in spite of their ethnic and national differences.”
Patterson, himself a dispensationalist, told the TEXAN that progressive dispensationalism brought valuable correction to older forms of dispensationalism and he categorized himself as holding a position similar to Blaising’s.
“The problem with ‘revised dispensationalism’ [an older variety of the position] is that its advocates may actually hold that Israel and the church are forever separated,” Patterson said. “I see them instead as one people before God in the eternal state. The key to this, to me, is the 24 elders who appear before the throne in the Book of Revelation who seem to be representative of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the Lamb — hence, Israel and the church.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the distinction should be made in God’s work through Israel in the Old Testament and then again in the tribulation and the millennium, but there is also no question in my mind that once the eternal state is inaugurated, the church and Israel will all be together as the people of God.”
PROFS VARY ON VIEWS
SBC seminaries employ professors who hold a wide variety of eschatological positions but agree on inaugurated eschatology and the 12 basic beliefs cited earlier as a standard of orthodoxy. The TEXAN polled the six seminaries regarding the positions of their faculty and discovered that historic premillennialism may have slightly more adherents than any other position. Included in the survey’s findings:
– Among Southwestern School of Theology faculty, 20 are historic premillennialists, 15 hold to premillennial and pretribulational views, three are amillennialists and two abstained.
– Southern Seminary faculty members hold to historic premillennialism most often, although a small number hold to amillennialism or progressive dispensationalism.
– New Orleans Seminary faculty members tend to be historic premillennialists.
– Of the eight Midwestern Seminary faculty members who responded, all but one are premillennialists, two of them specifying historic premillennialism and another amillennialism.
– At Southeastern Seminary, premillennial, pretribulational faculty edged out historic premillennialists 12-6, while one professor is still undecided on his millennium commitment.
– A survey of Golden Gate faculty was incomplete. But President Jeff Iorg indicated that he holds to a premillennial, pretribulational view while two faculty members identified themselves as historic premillennialists.
In addition to debates regarding the millennium, Southern Baptists divide on several other eschatological issues. For example, Criswell College in Dallas requires professors to be premillennialists while some Southern Baptists see such a requirement as inappropriately narrow.
“The college has always required professors to believe in a premillennial return of Christ,” said James Bryant, senior professor of pastoral theology and Criswell’s founding dean. “While Dr. Criswell believed in a pretribulation rapture, which the sequential language in the [articles of faith] indicates, he never enforced a pretribulation rapture on professors that he hired,” adding that one former president held to a posttribulation rapture.
Still, Tom Nettles, a premillennialist and professor of historical theology at Southern Seminary, sees Criswell’s requirement as too restrictive. He said he does not fault anyone for being strongly convinced of a millennial position but thinks it an error to require a specific position given Scripture’s ambiguity.
“I would see it as something that is dubious confessionally to force a large group into taking a position in which there is obviously such massive disagreement and, it seems to me, a lack of certainty given the whole biblical record,” Nettles said. “I think it’s difficult to force everyone into a specific confessional position on that.”
“Admittedly, Criswell College has many narrow doctrinal perspectives that are in keeping with sound exegesis of the Word of God,” said Lamar Cooper, interim president, executive vice president, provost and professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Criswell College.
“We require professors to believe in the inerrancy of the Scripture, also a narrow doctrine…. We require professors to teach that Jesus is the only way to be saved — Acts 4:12 — a narrow but true doctrine,” he added.
Cooper noted the college’s doctrinal statement is that of First Baptist Church in Dallas. Citing the college’s namesake, W.A. Criswell, who was senior pastor at the church for 50 years, Cooper said Criswell’s “eschatology flows naturally out of Scripture…. When he became pastor, the church added the statement on premillennialism to the church statement of faith, following Dr. Criswell’s leadership.”
“We have never had any problem hiring faculty, and no one has ever complained about having to sign the statement of faith annually. Professors are expected to teach all of the approaches to the doctrine of last things,” Cooper said. “They are then expected to be able to explain, in light of other positions, why they are premillennialist. Students are allowed to formulate their own eschatology.”
THE MIDDLE EAST
Another area of disagreement is the extent to which believers should look to current events in the Middle East as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Some dispensationalists see the state of Israel as playing a central role in the end times while historic premillennialists and amillennialists do not see God’s Kingdom as linked to a single political state.
Jim Sibley, director of the Pasche Institute of Jewish Studies and associate professor of Jewish ministry at Criswell, represents the dispensationalist side of the argument.
Current events in the Middle East “are prompting Christians to take a greater interest in eschatology,” Sibley said. “I think the novels of Joel Rosenberg have helped that. I think it’s fading now, but the influence of the ‘Left Behind’ series was certainly huge. But the fact that Iran and its surrogates are encircling Israel through Hamas and Hezbollah with the development of nuclear capability at the same time is causing a lot of Christians to sit up and pay attention.”
Moore, a historic premillennialist, disagrees. In his book “The Kingdom of Christ,” he argues, along with Reformed theologians and progressive dispensationalists, that the modern state of Israel does not now play a central role in God’s Kingdom.
“Developments toward a kingdom-oriented eschatology … do not give such a blanket endorsement of the present Israeli state, at least not on the basis of biblical prophecy,” Moore writes. “This is because of the Christocentric nature of the messianic kingdom, a theological contention covenant theologians have always maintained in relation to any future for the state of Israel.”
Sibley said most dispensationalists do not endorse everything the Israeli government does and see greater prophetic significance in the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel than to the actions of their secular state. He dismissed any caricature of dispensationalists “as Israeli flag-waving zealots who unthinkingly endorse everything the Israeli government does and whose theology was only cooked up in the 19th century.”
“When the apostles asked the Lord, ‘Is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel,’ he addressed the issue of the timing of the kingdom, but he did not dispute that it would be restored to Israel,” Sibley noted.
He referred to Jesus’ instruction to His apostles in Luke 22:28-30, quoting: “You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and just as my Father has granted me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
“Just as the Father gave the kingdom to Christ, so Christ has related it to Israel, through the apostles,” he argued. “For those who think the relationship between the Kingdom and Israel is ambiguous or unclear, I would answer that it is no less clear than the relationship of the Kingdom to Christ.”
Despite minor disagreements, Patterson urged Southern Baptists to remain united on the beliefs articulated in the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.
He wrote in “Baptist Faith and Message 2000: Critical Issues in America’s Largest Protestant Denomination”: “What may be seen as most remarkable about the 2000 statement is that within a postmodern ethos, which generally desires to skirt issues of judgment, the Southern Baptist Convention has maintained the emphasis from former years on the certainty of the judgment of God, associating that judgment with the return of the Lord, insisting that there are two classes of people — the righteous and the unrighteous — and that people will spend eternity in either heaven or hell.”
As we consider instances of fulfilled prophecy, there is no more crucial example than the prophecies of the life of Jesus Christ. A central theme of the entire Biblical panorama is the actual presentation of the Coming One, the central person of all history whom the Hebrews call the Messiah: “The volume of the book is written of me” (Psalm 40:7, also quoted in Hebrews 10:7); “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).
Jesus’ story is a love story written in blood on a wooden cross that was erected in Judea about two thousand years ago. His crucifixion wasn’t a tragedy; it was an achievement! Announced in advance in the Garden of Eden at the dawn of history, He made His human debut in a manger in Bethlehem, paid a cosmic price on our behalf at the Cross, and now appears ready to finalize His climax of all human history on our near horizon.
In the Biblical record, every detail, every place name, every number, has been skillfully tailored by deliberate design. And they all point to Him. He is on every page, intricately hidden in every detail of the text. Deciphering these “codes” is our ultimate challenge.
Jesus: The Ultimate Prophecy Fulfilled
Jesus confounded the religious leaders of His day when they couldn’t break the code of the Old Testament text:
“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They said unto him, The Son of David. He said unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? [Jesus is quoting Psalm 110:1.] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.” -Matthew 22:41-46
They couldn’t break the code. They couldn’t understand that He, Jesus Christ, was the embodiment of prophecies from the Old Testament. It is essential for each of us to make sure we don’t fall into the same quandary by failing to see Christ for who He was prophesied to be.
It is interesting that Jesus chose to open His ministry at the synagogue of Nazareth by reading from the prophet Isaiah:
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” - Luke 4:16-22
Furthermore, it is interesting to compare His reading with the complete passage in Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.” -Isaiah 61:1-2
It is significant that Jesus stopped at what is a comma in our text. He deliberately omitted the additional phrase, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” Because of details like this, I continue to embrace a very literal view of the Biblical text and have learned to respect its precision. Jesus intentionally limited His reading to the mission of His first coming: “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
The “day of vengeance” has been deferred until His Second Coming. The “pause” of that comma in Isaiah 61 has lasted almost two thousand years, and it appears that it is about to be concluded. But by quoting the Old Testament, a prophecy all of His listeners were familiar with, He wanted to state clearly He was The Messiah, the long-awaited One.
And again, at one of His first appearances after His resurrection, on that Sunday afternoon walk to Emmaus, Jesus spoke of Himself in the context of Old Testament history: “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
Jesus led them in a Bible study entirely from the Old Testament, highlighting the very things that had so shaken them during the previous few days. He reinforced His Father’s sovereignty by speaking of a plan that had been unfolding for centuries, a plan that involved the salvation of mankind.
Some deny that He claimed to be God. But anyone who is unaware of His claims hasn’t read the Bible. His claim to be God was the very reason that they crucified Him. The issue is, were His claims valid? Our individual destinies will hinge on that issue.
There never has been a more exciting time to undertake a serious study of the Bible. I join many Biblical scholars who believe we are on the threshold of the most climactic era of all time. There is a classic Biblical scenario that has long been espoused by many who take the Bible seriously, and that may soon be subjected to some decisive empirical tests. Be ready! See www.StudyCenter.com to sign up with the Koinonia Institute.
[This article was excerpted from Chuck Missler's book, Prophecy 20/20.]
Isaiah 16:5, 13-14
Then in mercy and loving kindness shall a throne be established, and One shall sit upon it in truth and faithfulness in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and being swift to do righteousness.
This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known].
But now the Lord has spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling [who will not serve longer than the allotted time], the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt, in spite of all his mighty multitude of people; and the remnant that survives will be very small, feeble and no account. [Amplified Bible].
Isaiah apparently puts these words in the mouths of the Moabite ambassadors to the king of Judah, but in “language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days under King Messiah, when the Lord shall bring again [reverse] the captivity of Moab.’” [Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary.]
This prophecy was fulfilled after the death of King Ahaz of Judah [Chapter 14 – 28] and the third year of King Hezekiah, three years before the conquest of Israel by Assyria.
Moab was not left completely without population at this time; there was still a “remnant.”
The final desolation of Moab was reserved for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, five years after the taking of Jerusalem.
The ruins of Elealeh, Heshbon, Medeba, Dimon, etc., still exist definitely to confirm through modern research the accuracy of the fulfillment of the prophecy.
- Amplified Bible: page 779
Ezekiel 28:13
You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the carnelian, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and your settings and your sockets and engravings were wrought in gold. On the day that you were created they were prepared. [Cf. Genesis 3:14-15; Matthew 16:23; Isaiah 14:12-15].
This speech, though not addressed to Satan in his own person, seems to be ironically spoken of his evil genius fulfilling itself in and through the human ruler who appropriates to himself the honors due only to God, as in the case of the king of Babylon [Isaiah 14:12-15].
Here is to be seen a foreshadowing of the “beast” who is to attribute to himself divine rights in the time of the end [Daniel 7:8-28; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 13:19:20].
- Amplified Bible: page 960
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