Dr. Couch, I hear some Reformed folks criticize dispensationalists and say that
they are but Judaizing the prophecies by taking them literally, as the
orthodox Jews did. How do we answer?
The orthodox and pious Jews, along with Christ and the disciples, took
all the words of the OT prophets in a literal manner. They looked for
the Messiah to both die for the sins of the people, but also to reign
and rule on the throne of David over Israel and the entire world.
Christ’s first coming was literal and historic, and His second coming
will be literal and historic. The NT confirms this in so many places but
it also “assumes” this fact from the OT, and therefore does not have to
continually repeat over and over again all the details of His second
coming.
Take for example the following in the NT:
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, He will sit on His glorious throne” (Matt. 25:31).God will “send Jesus the Christ appointed for you (Israel), whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient times” (Acts 3:20-21).“Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many, SHALL APPEAR A
SECOND TIME for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him”(Heb. 9:28).
The orthodox Jews believe everything
dispensationalists believe except they do not believe that Jesus was the
promised Messiah. They believe in a worldwide tribulation, an
antichrist, a regathering of repenting and believing Israel, a judgment
of the nations, the reign of the Messiah in restored Israel.
Dispensationalists are in good “interpretative” company. It is the
Reformed guys who use pagan Greek allegory to rewrite what the Bible
says in the OT about the earthly reign of the Messiah! They replace the
promises to Israel with the church. The church becomes the “new” Israel
and God is through with the Jews!
Thanks for asking,
Dr. Mal Couch
