Verses Used by Amillenialists

Dr. Couch, what are some of the verses the amillennialists use to claim that the Abrahamic covenant is almost exclusively about spiritual descendants with no physical promises given to the physical descendants of Abraham? ANSWER:  They use Matthew 5:5; Galatians 3:29; Romans 4:13-15, and Revelation 21-22. On: (1) Matthew 5:5. This passage is to the Jews in regard to the "kingdom of heaven" which we know by Jewish history is the messianic Kingdom. The promises have to do with spiritual blessings, and physical blessings (the land) that will be given to Abraham's physical seed, Israel, in the Kingdom. The Jews will then "own" the world. First of all, it only has to do with those who are "gentile". If they have certain spiritual and emotional qualities, they will be blessed by the things of the earth, and then only in the Kingdom. This section even closes by saying that those Jews who are persecuted "for the sake of righteousness," theirs "is the Kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:10). All of the good things about that Millennial Kingdom will belong to them. The amils will do anything to broaden their point so that they can say these verses "indicate that the blessisngs promised to Abraham pertains not so much to his physical descendants but to his spiritual descendants through faith in Christ." Christ gave these Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1-11) in offering the Kingdom to Israel. This is not aimed at Abraham's spiritual seed! (2) Galatians 3:29. Paul says in Romans 4:16 that we are "of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." We are Abraham's seed by faith in Christ not by our physical relationship to him (Rom. 3:29). I am therefore a son of God by faith and "an heir through God" (Rom. 4:6-7). Galatians 3:29 says "if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise." The only thing this has to do with us is salvation as Paul explains in Galatians 3:6-9. "By faith I am a son of Abraham" (v. 7). And Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'All the nations are blessed in you (Abraham).' So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer" (vv. 8-9). The physical seed receives both the land promises and the spiritual promises but the spiritual seed (the Gentiles) receive the spiritual promises. We read in the OT, to Abraham, "To your seed I have given this land" (Gen. 15:18). Read Genesis 17:6-8. To Abraham's seed Isaac it was said: "For to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will give your descendants all the nations of the earth [they shall be] blessed" (26:3-5). And Joseph said to his brothers "God shall bring you up from this land (Egypt) to the land (the Holy Land) which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob" (Gen. 50:24). That's not me! (3) Romans 4:13-15. All this passage says is that Abraham's descendants would be heir of the world, not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. By context, this has to do with his physical seed not his spiritual seed. It was the Jews who were trapped in Law keeping not the pagan Gentiles. This is true in that the Kingdom is worldwide. Christ will reign from shore to shore in the Millennium. And of course the church will be there but this is not a spiritual promise but the physical promise from the verses above and many, many more!    When studying the Bible keep the lines straight. Don't wrongly mix the various parts that should not be mixed.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (Apr., 10)

Conflict with Genesis 22 and Galatians 3

Dr. Couch, what is going on in Genesis 22:17 in connection with Galatians 3:16? There seems to be a conflict. Can you explain. ANSWER:  Here is a case that shows why I spent three years studying graduate Hebrew and took about thirty hours in graduate Greek courses. If one does not know the original languages one cannot be an engineer of the Scriptures, and that is the calling of those of us who wish to be exegetes. In the KJV and in the Hebrew-English version of the OT, Genesis 22:17 is translated correctly. The pronoun "his" is correct. It is masculine possessive singular. "Your seed shall posses the gate of HIS enemies. But in the NAS, and some other translations, the pronoun is incorrectly translated "THEIR enemies." In actuality, the word is a masculine possessive singular, but some translators wrongly thought that the force of the context should call for it to be translated as a plural and not a singular. They must have translated the verse in the Hebrew at 3 am and were too sleepy to notice that when Paul refers to Genesis 22:17 in Galatians 3:16 he rightly translates it as a singular.    Here is what is happening in the passage: It should read "Your seed (singular) shall possess the gate of HIS enemies." This is a way of saying that the SEED here is the Messiah and should be translated as a singular possessive. The expression about possessing the gate of His enemies is a way of saying that He would be victorious!    Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul saw what was going on. In Galatians 3:16 he points out that Seed should be singular, thus God did not say "And to seeds" as referring to many seeds (plural), but rather to one (with the singular possessive pronoun). "And to your seed" that is, to Christ. Christ is the One who secures the promises made to Abraham by His obedience unto death. So to speak, He is the victorious General who takes possession of the gate of His enemies! He conquers death and evil!    If we do not have men who know the original languages we will have more and more translation problems that will finally destroy doctrinal sharpness! For example, I cannot prove the doctrine of the Trinity without knowing the original biblical languages! In more and more schools the languages are being set aside. Men are learning less and less in seminaries. I have a friend who is a graduate of one of the big schools who has admitted "I really can't do quality language exegesis! I did not get enough biblical language in my masters and doctoral program!" This was not the case with me. I was blessed with a bunch of language courses. I took extra exegetical classes in order to be able to translate properly!    I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch