Category: Pauline Dispensationalism / Dispensational Bible Study

Swords, Plowshares, and Right Division

Sunday, August 31, 2014

“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4 KJV).

Before there is world peace, there must first be world war.

Today’s Scripture is often quoted by Christians and non-Christians to advocate world peace, but they obviously overlook Joel 3:10: “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.” Then, to make matters worse, we find today’s Scripture quoted in Micah 4:3: “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

It is Scriptural to “beat … swords into plowshares, and … spears into pruninghooks” (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). It is also Scriptural to “Beat … plowshares into swords, and … pruninghooks into spears” (Joel 3:10). Why does God’s Word teach two completely different ideas here? Dispensational Bible study is just as important to Israel as it is to us in the Dispensation of Grace! “Rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) is necessary—to not separate (divide) these passages is to confuse them. Again, Israel must also use the Bible dispensationally.

The key to understanding these “Bible contradictions” is to realize that “beating plowshares into swords and pruninghooks into spears” belongs in one dispensation, and “beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruninghooks” belongs in another dispensation. In Israel’s program, there is a time when war and weapons are necessary, and there is a time when war has ended, peace reigns, and agricultural production increases dramatically.

When we study the contexts of these passages, we learn that Joel 3:10 applies to the wars of the seven-year Tribulation period (especially the Battle of Armageddon), and Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 describe the subsequent Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ, when Satan is removed from Earth, and world peace from God will be in effect. What clarity!

If Just One

Saturday, August 30, 2014

“…[B]rethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:” (2 Thessalonians 3:1 KJV).

God’s Word will have “free course”…even to be glorified in “just” one!

I was thrilled when a dear brother once contacted me asking how he should start his ministry. God’s Word had so filled his heart that he was almost bursting, so driven to tell someone—anyone—about the message of God’s grace to us in Christ. He expressed, “If [I] could assist even ONE person….”

It greatly delights a pastor, a Bible teacher, or a soul winner, to hear when even one person is saved unto eternal life or saved unto sound Bible doctrine, spiritual fruit of their ministry, who then reach others. Yet, Christians often give up in witnessing because “no one” wants to listen to God’s Word. (Actually, there is always at least one person somewhere who wants to hear God’s truth. Diligently seek him or her!). Beloved, we are not here to save anyone or to force any saved people to mature spiritually. They have free will, as do we. What we are here to do is reach out to them in love, meekness, and patience—share the Gospel of God’s Grace with lost people and dispensational Bible study with Christians. If you reach just one person, rejoice in Christ. Just imagine if every Christian reached “just one!”

An amazing thought is, the Lord Jesus Christ’s heavenly ministry—His ministry through the Apostle Paul—has lasted almost 2,000 years now. Just imagine, by God saving that one man, the resulting ministry brought the Gospel of Grace to billions of people, and millions upon millions were saved! Right up to our present day, the same Lord Jesus Christ is willing to use us to continue what He started nearly 20 centuries ago. If we each only reach just one, and the Lord continues to tarry, extending our dispensation long after we have passed on, the manifold testimonies of those our converts generations future, will be ours in which to rejoice when we meet all those precious souls in heaven!

And, yes, as you might have guessed, it all starts with “just” one! 🙂

The More Excellent Ministry #5

Friday, August 29, 2014

“For the love of Christ constraineth us… God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:14a,18bc KJV).

Our flesh is ever so weak, but Christ’s love—the unconditional love He has for us—drives us to push ourselves aside and think of others instead.

God never saves anyone to sit and do nothing. Romans chapter 6 is the simplest passage regarding Christian living, and when read with chapters 7 and 8, one unquestionably learns how the Christian life operates. (Read these three glorious chapters to get a blessing!) Father God wants us to let Christ live in us via the indwelling Holy Spirit taking verses we study and believe, and bringing them “to life” in our lives!

When we trusted exclusively Paul’s Gospel, the Gospel of God’s Grace—Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)—the Holy Spirit instantly placed us into Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). That moment, we died with Jesus on Calvary’s cross and we were raised again with Him “to walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1-6). We are “dead, freed from sin” (verse 7). Now, Jesus Christ’s life is in us; we are dead to self-living. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” (Galatians 2:20). We read in 2 Corinthians 5:15, the context of today’s Scripture: “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

In Matthew 20:28, Jesus Christ identified the more excellent ministry: “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” As His Father instructed, Jesus did not come to be served (self life), but to serve others (Christian life). Christ’s love for us drove Him to Cavalry’s cross, so His love for us—yea, for lost people—compels us to tell them of that love exhibited at Calvary: “For God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 🙂

The More Excellent Ministry #1

Monday, August 25, 2014

“For the love of Christ constraineth us… God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:14a,18bc KJV).

Our flesh is ever so weak, but Christ’s love—the unconditional love He has for us—drives us to push ourselves aside and think of others instead.

I recently received a most delightful email from a dear brother (his eyes will fall on these very lines). He and his wife have decided to dedicate what time they have left on this earth, to the furtherance of the Gospel of God’s Grace, and to the propagation of other dispensational Bible truths. They are burdened to reach a local retirement home for Jesus Christ’s glory!

We rejoice in Christ with them, knowing that once we grip God’s Word, it surely clutches our hearts. God placed such power in His Holy Bible (Hebrews 4:12), and once we extract that power with dispensational Bible study, and activate it by believing those words of God, that spiritual profit not only enlivens our inner man, it also compels us to share it so others can profit, too. “[T]he word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe…” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Dear saints, this lost and dying world is heading toward a devil’s hell forever. Jesus Christ is not physically here to reach them before they reach it. Today’s Scripture says He left that privilege to us, His Body, but we cannot reach them with the word of reconciliation until we first study and know it (note 2 Corinthians 5:14-21). The great conflict between holy God and sinful man has been ameliorated on God’s side—He has given His only begotten Son for our sins—but the merits of that finished crosswork are of no everlasting benefit to us until we appropriate by faith/trust. God has reconciled sinful man to Himself, but unless man accepts that reconciliation by faith, then the battle between holy God and sinful man will continue, to be finally and fully settled forever in the lake of fire.

May we be willing to get out there and reach them with the message of God’s grace… and quick!

The LORD’S Great Love for Israel

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

“Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine [grape/raisin cakes]” (Hosea 3:1 KJV).

JEHOVAH commissions the Prophet Hosea to live out his message so the children of Israel can see His great love for them!

From Hosea’s perspective, the Jews’ Assyrian and Babylonian captivities are approaching, JEHOVAH’S response to their centuries of idolatry (Leviticus 26:28-39). With a broken heart, He must now rid His Holy Land of the nation Israel, and send them away to foreign lands. His people have not honored His Word but rather have trampled it under foot. They do not believe His Word to them: they have willfully abandoned His Covenant of Law. They have defiled His land with their child sacrifices, violence, injustice, and idols of wood and stone. Like a wife cheating on her husband, the houses of Israel and Judah have been so unfaithful to the God who delivered them from Egyptian, satanic, and sin’s bondage. They have ignored Him and worshipped dead idols!

In chapter 1, God instructed Hosea to marry Gomer. It is soon apparent that she is a prostitute, for, after giving birth to Hosea’s first child, Gomer delivers two children whose paternal origin is unclear. In the context of today’s Scripture, Gomer has since left Hosea and is now prostituting on the streets. Hosea is instructed of God to purchase Gomer back, and God orders him to love Gomer in the same manner He loves adulterous Israel. The children of Israel are to see Hosea’s life and learn the doctrine being communicated.

From our perspective, JEHOVAH—some seven centuries after Hosea—shed His blood on Calvary’s cross to—beyond our day—redeem Israel, buy her back from her satanic and idolatrous captivity, forgive and cleanse her, and despite her infidelity, re-marry her and return her to her Promised Land forever (Hosea 2:14-23). The Apostle Paul affirms that Hosea’s prophecy—Israel’s restoration and redemption—will occur after our program ends (Romans 11:15-36). Saints, what a loving God we serve!

Our latest Bible Q&A’s: “Who will accompany Jesus at His Second Coming?” and “When will the Old Testament saints be resurrected?”

Riches and the Ages to Come #5

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5 KJV).

If Israel’s believing remnant is to endure the seven-year Tribulation’s economic depression, she must remember that faithful JEHOVAH is with her, and that He will bless her in due time.

Today’s Scripture applies to both Messianic Jews in the first century A.D. (specifically the Acts period) and to Messianic Jews who will live after our Dispensation of Grace. Our program is a parenthetical dividing the first part of Israel’s program from the second. To wit, had our Dispensation of Grace not been implemented, Israel’s program (the seven-year Tribulation, the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ, and the New Heaven New Earth) would have been fulfilled right after Calvary, 2,000 years ago (notice how God kept our dispensation secret from Psalm 2:1-9 which outlined Israel’s program). Israel’s prophetic program is still delayed, and will not operate again until our mystery program is finished (Romans 11:25-29).

When the believing Jews of the seven-year Tribulation see the material prosperity of the Antichrist’s followers, and then consider their own poverty, they will be tempted to covet (just as the poor Jews were attempted to envy the wealthy Christ-rejecters during Acts when their common account depleted). So, we see how today’s Scripture has a dual application—first-century Messianic Jews and Tribulation Messianic Jews. As today’s Scripture says, the very lifestyle (“conversation”) of a believing Jew in Israel’s program is not to be one of covetousness: he or she is to be satisfied with having JEHOVAH (whom the [wealthy] Antichrist’s followers do not have!).

While Israel’s little flock hiding out in the wilderness will not enjoy unfathomable riches until Jesus Christ returns (His Second Coming), the writer of the book of Hebrews encourages them to be thankful for the basic necessities that JEHOVAH will meet out in the wilderness (Matthew 6:24-34; Luke 12:22-34; Revelation 12:6,14). Just as Moses told Israel (Deuteronomy 4:31; Deuteronomy 31:6,8), just as God told Joshua (Joshua 1:5,9), and just as David told Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:20), JEHOVAH, even in disappointing circumstances, will never disappoint because He will never leave or forsake His people….

Riches and the Ages to Come #4

Monday, August 11, 2014

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5 KJV).

If Israel’s believing remnant is to endure the seven-year Tribulation’s economic depression, she must remember that faithful JEHOVAH is with her, and that He will bless her in due time.

When Jesus gave the “Our Father” Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, He provided for His little flock a summary of her prophetic program. This prayer would continually remind Israel’s believers of their future that God had already pre-planned. After our Dispensation of Grace closes with the Rapture, our catching up to meet the Lord in the air, Israel’s program will resume where it paused (Romans 11:25-29). Those believing Jews will follow what Jesus taught in the Four Gospels, but they will progress in that doctrine with Hebrews through Revelation (Hebrews 5:11–6:3 urges Israel to move onward in spiritual maturity).

Approximately halfway through the seven-year Tribulation, the Antichrist will defile Israel’s Temple in Jerusalem by sitting in it and declaring himself to be God (Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:36; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4), and he will institute his religious mark that will govern the world’s economics (Revelation 13:7,16-18). Jesus warned that, at the time of this “abomination of desolation,” Messianic Jews dwelling in Jerusalem were to flee for their lives, to immediately go to the wilderness, and not bother wasting time gathering material possessions (Matthew 24:15-22; Mark 13:14-20). Now, we see why Jews are praying for “daily bread” in Matthew 6:11!

The Apostle John picked up the narrative in Revelation chapter 12, “[6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. [14] And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

So, we see that Israel’s believing remnant in Jerusalem will flee into the mountainous wilderness, where JEHOVAH will feed, clothe, and shelter them during the last half of the Tribulation period….

Riches and the Ages to Come #3

Sunday, August 10, 2014

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5 KJV).

If Israel’s believing remnant is to endure the seven-year Tribulation’s economic depression, she must remember that faithful JEHOVAH is with her, and that He will bless her in due time.

The so-called “Lord’s Prayer,” repeated today ad nauseum, has this third petition: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Who should be uttering this? Not prosperous Gentiles in this the Dispensation of Grace, but Jews who are so poverty-stricken they lack daily meals! Why would they be asking for “daily bread?” Remember, did not Israel’s little flock do as Jesus said, and sold all their possessions and gave to the poor (Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:31-34; Luke 18:22; Acts 2:44-47; Acts 4:32-37)? Just as God blessed Israel with manna, “daily bread,” in the wilderness, with Moses (Exodus 16:1-36), so He will during the seven-year Tribulation (Micah 7:14,15; Revelation 2:17).

Recall Jesus’ words: “[25] Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? [31] Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? [32] (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: ) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. [33] But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. [34] Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:25,31-34; cf. Luke 12:22,29-34).

Jesus Christ taught that, provided His little flock sought first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, He would meet all their physical needs (food, drink, clothing, et cetera). Unlike us, they would not have to work for their food (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). Let us see exactly how this principle will operate after our Dispensation of Grace….

Riches and the Ages to Come #2

Saturday, August 9, 2014

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5 KJV).

If Israel’s believing remnant is to endure the seven-year Tribulation’s economic depression, she must remember that faithful JEHOVAH is with her, and that He will bless her in due time.

Had God not interrupted Israel’s prophetic program by saving Saul of Tarsus and commissioning him as the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 9 (and starting our program, the Dispensation of Grace), Israel’s seven-year Tribulation would have begun in late Acts chapter 7 (the Holy Ghost speaking through the Apostle Peter in Acts 2:16-21 [cf. Joel 2:28-32] taught the seven-year Tribulation would follow the day of Pentecost of Acts chapter 2).

From Acts chapter 9 onward to the end of Acts, we read about God’s transition from Israel’s prophetic program to our mystery program. The books that come after Acts—Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon—focus on our program. The book of Hebrews, which comes after Philemon, is the transitional book from our program back to Israel’s prophetic program. Hebrews through Revelation focus on the resumption and conclusion of Israel’s program (Hebrews was written sometime during Acts in the event that Israel’s program would not be delayed 2,000 years like it has been up until now). Thus, the books of Hebrews through Revelation are an advancement of the kingdom doctrine first taught to Israel in the Four Gospels and early Acts (note John 14:26 and John 16:12,13).

Observe Hebrews 2:3-5: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord [Matthew through John], and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost [early Acts], according to his own will? For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.”

Today’s Scripture is God’s Word to Israel regarding “the world to come…,” the recommencement of her program after our program concludes….

Riches and the Ages to Come #1

Friday, August 8, 2014

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5 KJV).

If Israel’s believing remnant is to endure the seven-year Tribulation’s economic depression, she must remember that faithful JEHOVAH is with her, and that He will bless her in due time.

Two verses of Scripture never heard in today’s “Hollywood Christianity” are Jesus Christ’s words of Luke 18:24,25: “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Thus, we see that no “God-wants-to-add-many-zeros-to-the-end-of-your-bank-account” sermons can be extracted from the Four Gospels.

If a Jew in Israel’s program were to be Jesus Christ’s follower in the last days, Jesus said (Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:31-34; Luke 18:22) that he had to sell all of his material possessions and distribute to the poor (notice how Israel’s little flock of believers did just that in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:32-37). They did this for two reasons. Firstly, material wealth was a hindrance while Israel’s prophetic program was beginning to end: Jesus foreknew personal material riches would entice Jews to submit to the coming Antichrist’s wicked world system, where material wealth could be retained (and gained) by participating in Satan worship (Revelation 13:16-18). Secondly, Jesus taught His Jewish disciples that they were to love and care for each other (John 13:34,35): in perfect accordance with spontaneous, selfless, kingdom living, the Jewish kingdom saints sold their possessions and gave the money to the apostles so they could distribute it to their poor Jewish brethren who had also trusted Jesus as Messiah.

Dispensational Bible study is ever so critical because these passages that are so problematic to so many suddenly become so clear and marvelous. They are not burdensome or confusing to us because we understand they do not describe our program, but Israel’s program. Let us see how today’s Scripture will build on the doctrine that Jesus taught about material wealth, and what awaits the nation Israel, particularly her little flock….