The Equality of Jews and Gentiles in the Church

In a previous blog post, I answered the objections of a brother who did not respond positively to my answer to his questions about amillennialism. Sadly, the brother continued to accuse me of allegorical interpretation, of eisegesis, of promoting "Replacement Theology" heresy, and of pride while failing to interact with the Scriptural arguments I had presented. To these, he added the charge of anti-semitism, claimed that I could not define the church, and claimed Revelation 20 cannot refer to the present time because Isaiah 65:20 teaches that there will be no infant death in the millennium and people would be living to 100 years of age. To his credit, he approved of my view on "salvific essentials," and advised me to pray about my view of eschatology and to keep searching. This blog post includes some of my answer.

Isaiah 65 refers to the eternal state in the new heavens and new earth (Isa. 65:17). It specifically says this in verse 17. It is also, incidentally, a vision using Old Testament pictures and earthly figures to illustrate what the eternal state will be like. If not interpreted as such, one would have to conclude that there is literally death still in the eternal state, which is absurd and contrary to all the rest of Scripture which speaks to the subject of eternal life (e.g., I Cor. 15:53-54). Update: Amazingly, his answer to my explanation of Isaiah 65 was that the "new heavens and new earth" referred to the millennial kingdom--not very literal for a dispensationalist!

I was not previously asked to define the church. Here is my definition: The church is the company of the predestinate. That is, all the elect in Christ from the beginning of history to the end. In the pre-diluvian world, the church was gathered from the line of Seth, until only Noah's family remained. Afterwards, the church was gathered from the line of Abraham. Now, the church is gathered from both Jews and Gentiles, as the Scripture says:

Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham (Gal 3:7-9).

And again:

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him (Rom 10:12).

We are the circumcision: 

For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:3).

We are the true Jews: 

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God (Rom 2:28-29).

Do you, reader, call this heresy and antisemitism? Are you offended by this word? The Jews were also offended, and many to their eternal destruction, as Isaiah prophesied:

As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed (Rom 9:33).

Here is the offence to the unbelieving Jew, that the believer is blessed, and not the mere physical descendants:

And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (Matt. 3:9).

Christ has broken the partition between Jew and Gentile by His cross. We share in the same inheritance and the same promises and the same kingdom:

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but **fellowcitizens** with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:11-21).

And again:

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be **fellowheirs**, and **of the same body**, and **partakers of his promise** in Christ by the gospel (Eph. 3:4-6).

Not those of the law are heirs, but those of faith:

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect (Rom 4:13-14).

And the promise of Canaan was the promise of the world pictured by Canaan: the heavenly country which Abraham desired and looked for.

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city (Heb. 11:16).

God is therefore ashamed of those who look for an earthly kingdom. The gospel which Christ came to preach, and which we believe and follow, is the gospel of the kingdom of heaven:

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).

The Star Falling, the Dragon Cast Out, and Satan Bound

In my last blog post, I answered a brother who asked questions about amillennialism. Since his response was considerably less than positive, I took the opportunity to expand upon my original answer and answer some additional points or queries he raised which I now share in this post, and in (DV) some subsequent posts.

I previously related John 12:31 to Rev. 20:3, concerning in the casting out or down of Satan, and referred in general terms to the casting out of devils in the gospels as a sign of the kingdom of God being near and breaking forth. I neglected to mention Luke 10:18 which speaks of a fall of Satan from heaven during the ministry of Christ (in the sending out of the seventy):

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20).

This directly relates to Revelation 9 which speaks of a star falling (peto; same verb) from heaven:

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon (Rev 9:1-11).

The devil is called a star here like in Isaiah 14, where he is pictured by the king of Babylon and called Lucifer or morning/day star (Isa. 14:12). To him (i.e. to this personified star) was given the key of the bottomless pit, so that he can release upon the earth hordes of scorpion-like locusts from its smoke to torment people (Rev. 9:1-11). Our passage in Luke describes the power of the enemy as being like that of scorpions or serpents with the power to hurt. The later part of the same chapter, though another vision, speaks similarly of a demonic army, like lions or serpents (i.e. like the devil; I Pet. 5:8), with the same character of the smoky, fiery, hellish pit, and which hurt or kill the impenitent (Rev. 9:16-21).

Significantly, both in Luke 10 and in Revelation 9, these demonic spirits are unable to hurt or kill God's people (Luke 10:19; Rev. 9:4). In this important sense, these  terrible lion-like armies of locust-scorpions or horsemen-serpents with human-like intelligence and feminine allurements are bound. With regard to the timing of this vision, considering its connection to Luke 10 is that describes the activity of Satan and his host in the New Testament age (Rev. 1:19).

Revelation 12 also speaks of the casting out of a great dragon, specifically after the birth of Christ:

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time (Rev 12:9-12).

First of all, the dragon in the vision is positively identified as representing the devil, or Satan. Secondly, the timing of this casting out of Satan occurs at the birth and ascension of Christ (Rev. 12:5), and is associated with the coming of the kingdom of God (Rev. 12:10). The result of the casting down of Satan is woe for the inhabitants of the earth, as we just saw in the vision of Revelation 9 (Rev. 12:12). This vision builds upon this further by illustrating that this casting down of Satan also means persecution for the church, but in such a way that the church is miraculously preserved despite all Satan's opposition (Rev. 12:13-17; cf. Matt. 16:18; John 16:33). In this way too, though Satan's casting down means persecution for the church, Satan is nevertheless bound. Incidentally, the Old Testament church pictured by the woman which gives birth to Christ, is the same woman here pictured as the persecuted New Testament church (alluding to the enmity promised in Gen. 3:15).

The verb translated "cast" throughout this chapter is variously, ballo, ekballo [out], or kataballo [down/against]. This is the same verb used in Revelation 20:3, John 12:31, and Matthew 12:28, to which we previously referred. Other details of the vision differ from Revelation 9. In Revelation 9, the key of the bottomless pit given to Satan only allows him to open the bottomless pit to let loose demonic armies on the earth. In Revelation 20, a very different angel with a very different key of the bottomless pit (with a great chain) binds Satan, casts him into the bottomless pit, shuts him up, and sets a seal on him so that he can no longer deceive the nations. This seal does not mean that he cannot loose his demonic armies upon those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads, nor does it mean that he cannot persecute the church upon the earth. Rather it means that his efforts and abilities are strictly limited. His demonic armies cannot hurt God's elect (Revelation 9), and his persecution cannot destroy the church (Revelation 12) or prevent the gathering of the church from all nations (in Revelation 20). Interpreted correctly, these visions teach exactly what the rest of Scripture teaches about Satan's power and its limits in the New Testament age.

When confronted with the same event or concept described in different places in Scripture by different visions or accounts, the typical tactic of dispensationalists is to propose that these are multiple events. So in warring against the essential unity of Scripture, they have multiple resurrections, multiple comings of Christ,  multiple final judgement, multiple kingdoms of God, multiple peoples of God, multiple covenants of God (not just multiple administrations or revelations), and even multiple new heavens and new earths. Now, the dispensationalist must propose multiple castings down of Satan, but how can he be cast down out of heaven again unless he somehow got back up into heaven? The absurdity of the dispensationalist scheme never fails to reach new depths.

Finally, Revelation 20 describes the loosing of Satan to deceive the nations to gather them together under the anti-christian beast and false prophet to make war against the church (Rev. 20:7-10). Until his "little season," he could not do achieve this goal. This restraint of Satan to prevent the coming of antichrist and the deceiving of the nations before the time is exactly what is described elsewhere:

And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (II Thess. 2:6-12).

The Kingdom Without End

A brother asked various questions about amillenialism which I think are worthwhile to share here because I find the answers edifying: How can the millennial kingdom of Revelation 20 be the kingdom that is promised forever and where this kingdom is now? How can we reign with Christ, when we are not yet perfectly holy, and the world is full of suffering and bloodshed? And why should Revelation 20 be interpreted figuratively, but Christ's coming must be a literal bodily event?

Some pertinent Scriptures to these questions are as follows:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-6).

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:1-3).

When Christ came preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and then suffered and died, and was raised up, even to be seated upon the throne in heaven, and given the name above all (i.e. Lord), this is the kingdom to which He referred (Luke 1:32-33). And this is the kingdom which His parables explain. And this is the kingdom which shall have no end, and which kingdom was prophesied in the Old Testament. This is the kingdom in which all Christians are citizens already, and even, by our union with Christ, already seated with Christ in this heavenly kingdom, as sharing in His anointing by the Spirit, so that we are all prophets, priests and kings. Now, a little, and weakly, hampered by sin, and only seen by faith, but after we have also suffered a little while, our reign will be more full, free, and glorious. Even now, having been born again into a new life, we fight as kings against our sinful flesh, bringing our bodies into subjection ("But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway," I Cor. 9:27), and triumph, making progress and taking ground, by the power of Christ.

When John saw the vision of the binding of Satan, ushering in the millennial kingdom, undoubtedly the same kingdom which Daniel saw, smashing the kingdoms of this world) which begins in the age for a "thousand" years and extends into eternity after the final judgement in the new heavens and new earth, he says, "Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed." (Rev. 20:4; cf. I Cor. 6:2-3). He describes these as the glorified saints, who were persecuted and martyred for their witness, which is given to all Christians to greater or lesser measure ("For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake," Phil. 1:29):

Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Rev. 20:4)

This is a kingdom which the world cannot understand and cannot touch (Luke 17:21). Its power is from heaven and nothing can stand against it. The victory of this kingdom, and for all its citizens is assured. And though we walk now in the midst of earthly kingdoms and groan inwardly amidst our own sins and failures, we even now enjoy and partake in the spiritual blessings of this kingdom, which has not even yet reached its final consummation, as it will at the end of the age. And we are assured of its victory, even if the whole world appears to go after the antichristian beastly kingdom, because Christ (and we in Him) is already seated upon the throne in heaven, bringing all of history to the end which He has appointed, gathering His church, and hardening others so that this present evil age becomes fully ripe for the judgement at His coming.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Rom. 8:35-37).

Lastly, Revelation 20 is a vision, and therefore intended to be interpreted as figurative language. Revelation 1 explains this, as in fact, all other visions in Scripture. But the literal bodily coming of Christ, in the same way as He ascended, is taught in historical narrative and direct didactic teaching, which is absolutely not intended to be interpreted as a pictorial vision or allegory.

Which [angels] also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)