Feb
2
2010
41. The cities of the nations never fell in A.D. 70 (Rev. 16: 19).
This is a symbolic passage, but when we understand its nature, its message is astonishing. The reference to Jerusalem being divided into three parts alludes to Deuteronomy 19:3 concerning cities of refuge. There is also a “trinitarian” judgment in Ezekiel 5. Both are the outflow of the structure of the Tabernacle, which in turn images the pattern of heaven. This verse in Revelation 16 is, ironically, at the Tabernacle/Ascension step in this matrix pattern:
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2 comments | tags: AD70, Dispensationalism, Ezekiel, Melchizedek, Revelation | posted in Biblical Theology, The Last Days, Totus Christus
Dec
12
2009
An interesting excerpt from James Jordan’s review of Wayne House and Thomas Ice’s, Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?: An Analysis of Christian Reconstructionism
The quietist is committed to inaction. The pietist, by way of contrast, is frequently active in social and charitable affairs, but what makes his position inadequate is that pietism is in general uninterested in social theory. (In general, pietist movements are not much interested in theology either.) There is no self-conscious reflection on the concerns of political philosophy in the broad sense. It is simply a matter of “doing good” here and there, without reflection. This is not bad, but it does not go far enough.
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2 comments | tags: Dispensationalism, James Jordan, Philosophy, Pietism, Secular humanism, Theonomy | posted in Quotes
Dec
10
2009
Ending the False Dichotomy of Blood and Spirit
The Old Testament is a bloody book. Beginning with Adam’s “dissection” to build Eve and the animals the Lord made into tunics, it culminates in Revelation with the massacre of saints under Herod/Nero (Revelation 14) and then the massacre of Jews under Vespasian and Titus.
The Land is always bought with blood. Sitting around John Piper’s eschatology round table recently, the premillennialist (Jim Hamilton) and the amillennialist (Sam Storms) had problems understanding that postmillennialism is not about a sudden Utopia on earth. It is about buying the world with blood—this world. Yes, there is martyrdom, but then there is Christian culture. Following the example of Christ, it is being willing to die because you have one eye on the glory that can be bought for God. Like Wycliffe’s prayer from the stake that God would open the King of England’s eyes, it is Visionary Suffering. (See also Postmillennial Suffering.)
But blood is only ever a foundation. Spirit follows. The Law kills but the Spirit gives life. The slaughter of saints actually disarms the old worship, and Christianity fills the void. The atrocities of communism in China and Mongolia cast the ancient demons out of the house and the Holy Spirit finds it swept and garnished. He fills the vacuum like a mighty, rushing wind.
So, the Reformers didn’t need to keep dying. The firstfruits church didn’t keep dying. The “last days” are only ever the last days of the old order. A New Jerusalem is formed on the blood of the apostles and prophets—but then it is also filled! My friend Matthew recently posted:
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2 comments | tags: Amillennialism, Church History, Dispensationalism, Jewish war, John Piper, Martyrdom, Nero, Postmillennialism, Revelation | posted in Biblical Theology, Quotes, The Last Days
Dec
7
2009
or Receiving the Implanted Word
Mary’s song, like most songs in the Bible, seemed to me to contain mostly extraneous material. My modern mind couldn’t relate her words to the version of Christianity I was familiar with. I guess that’s because it was a version bereft of much understanding of the Old Testament.
Mary’s song seems to follow the matrix pattern. As such, it is a new Creation, and a new Tabernacle, (John 1:14, “dwelt” is literally “tabernacled”). It is the liturgical response of the bride to the promise of Covenant succession - the Covenant succession. This new generation was also regeneration.
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no comments | tags: Atonement, Azal, Bible Matrix, Christmas, Daniel, Dispensationalism, Feasts, Holy Place, Luke, Mary, Moses, Revelation | posted in Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Jul
27
2009
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“…preterism is not merely a way of interpreting New Testament prophecy but also provides a framework for understanding New Testament theology as a whole.”
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The Bible was written for us, not to us. This includes the New Testament. We have evangelicals who take both Old and New Testament prophecies concerning Israel and mistakenly apply them to modern Jews (dispensationalism). But then we also have evangelicals who think that the imminent predictions of judgment throughout the New Testament are still somehow “imminent.” This includes most conservative Christian theologians (even smart guys like D. A. Carson), who treat the epistles as though they were written to us. They make the same error as the dispensationalists, albeit on a smaller scale. This misreads the New Testament. It replaces interpretation with application, and unwittingly makes many verses unnecessarily mysterious to modern Christians. Continue reading
no comments | tags: Dispensationalism, Hermeneutics, Old Testament, Peter Leithart, Revelation | posted in Against Hyperpreterism, Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Jul
27
2009
or Jesus and the Stickybeaks
John Barach writes:
In Mark 13:32, Jesus says, “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (cf. Matt. 24:36). That’s somewhat puzzling. Is it a limitation on Jesus’ omniscience, as if God the Father knows things that God the Son doesn’t? That can’t be. So is it saying that Jesus as a man doesn’t know things that God the Son knows? Even so, that’s still puzzling.
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1 comment | tags: Dispensationalism, John Barach | posted in Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Apr
27
2009
From John Barach’s blog:
The Fruit of Dispensationalism
In the Portland airport, on my way back home, I read a new book on eschatology by Auburn Avenue’s associate pastor, Duane Garner. Here are a few paragraphs to whet your appetite. In the context, Garner has been talking about Hal Lindsey’s recommendation that Christians retreat from society because things are going to get worse and worse until Jesus returns:
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no comments | tags: Culture, Dispensationalism, Ethics, Postmillennialism | posted in The Last Days
Apr
19
2009
or The Feasts are the Key to the Revelation
All Christians recognise Christ’s fulfilment of Passover (crucifixion) and Firstfruits (ascension), followed by Pentecost. Futurists, who major on all things Jewish, recognise that Trumpets and Atonement follow, but they push them into the future.
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no comments | tags: Acts, AD70, Against Hyperpreterism, Atonement, Dispensationalism, Herod, Holy war, Jezebel, Passover, Totus Christus, Trumpets | posted in Against Hyperpreterism, Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Apr
15
2009
The apostles were told to stop standing around looking into the air and to get to work. Futurists are like clock-watchers at work. They just want to go home and are distracted from the task at hand.
Read Are You a Schizophrenic Christian? by Gary DeMar
no comments | tags: Dispensationalism, Gary DeMar | posted in Christian Life, The Last Days
Apr
11
2009
Interpretive Maximalism
Need help combating those pesky liberal scholars who insist the Bible has been cobbled together and is nothing but an archaic shambles? Or those premillennialists who gasp in horror when you mention that the church replaced Israel? You need a strong dose of interpretive maximalism. It cuts liberal scholarship and dispensational nonsense to shreds. How? It shows, using repeated typology, that orthodox preterism and postmillennialism flow naturally out of the Old Testament.
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no comments | tags: Dispensationalism, James Jordan, Postmillennialism, Preterism, Replacement Theology | posted in Biblical Theology
