# Dispensationalism and the State of Israel



## Bill The Baptist (May 4, 2011)

We have been talking a lot lately about premillenialism vs. amillenialism, but not much about dispensationalism, which is by far the dominant school of thought in premillenialism today. While this system of thought originated in the middle part of the nineteenth century, it seems to me that it didn't become really widespread until after the holocaust and the subsequent establishment of the state of Israel. This was seen as a sign by many that God was indeed reestablishing the Kingdom of Israel. While many today disagree with this view, there none the less seems to have been a collective softening in the way in which Christians interpret NT passages regarding the Jews since that time. Consider the words of William Hendriksen from More Than Conquerors, which was written in 1939.

"And the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of satan". These Jews had likely chosen Smyrna as their place of residence because it was a city of commerce. They not only villified the Messiah, but they eagerly accused the Christians before the Roman tribunals. As always, they were filled with malign antagonism against Christians. These so-called Jews might consider themselves the synagogue of God; in reality they constituted the synagogue of satan, the chief accuser of the brethren. How anyone can say that the Jews of today are still, in a very special and glorious and preiminent sense, God's people, is more than we can understand. God Himself calls those who reject the savior and persecute true believers 'the synagogue of satan'. They are no longer his people."

I would submit that these words would never be written in a modern commentary, and while I would certainly not advocate anti-semitism, it is still our duty to try to understand things in a biblical light. Given this, how does one support the core tenets of Dispensationalism?


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## J. Dean (May 5, 2011)

Christian Author Gary DeMar made a very good argument against dispensationalism in his book _End Times Fiction_, which is mostly directed against the _Left Behind_ series. He pointed out that there is no portion of the New Testament which teaches that Christians are supposed to be looking for a restored nation of Israel.


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## Pilgrim (May 15, 2011)

Dispensationalism really took off during and after WWI. It was extremely popular on both sides of the Atlantic prior to WWII, having been popularized by the Scofield Bible, the second edition of which was published in 1917. 

Of course, the establishment of the State of Israel following WWII took things to a new level as many who were so inclined assumed it to be the fulfillment of prophecy. The capture of Jerusalem by the Israeli army in the 1967 war ratcheted up things even more. A good many nondispensationalists and non premils were reexamining things when that happened! (I'm thinking of certain statements by Sproul and Lloyd-Jones, among others.) 

However, even though I lean pretty heavily toward a restored nation of Israel along the lines of the Spurgeon quotes I posted in another thread, all I'm confident of saying about the current state of Israel is that it _may_ be a precursor to the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy. They don't even have effective control of the Temple Mount at this point and there are no signs of yet of a widespread conversion. God forbid, if they were to eventually be overrun and effectively put out of the land, God can put them back if that is His will. 

Too many dispensationalists seem to forget that there is to be a conversion and not just a physical restoration! There are a good many amils and especially postmils who believe there will be a widespread conversion of Jews just before the return of our Lord. But you have some of the Hagee types that seem to practically take the liberal dual covenant theology (and also modern Romanist) view that the Jews can be saved by being a good Jew, etc. 

As for the Hendrickson quote, other than the slightly sharper language I don't think it's really any different than what current writers like O. Palmer Robertson and Robert Reymond have written on the issue. 

Although I don't agree with it, I can understand an amil view that doesn't foresee a national restoration. I held that view for most of my Christian life and I think I probably posted things on this board years ago that weren't too different than your Hendrickson quote. But some of the purportedly evangelical anti-Zionists in the USA and perhaps somewhat moreso in the UK have gone over to what could be called Palestinianism, being open Hamas apologists and basically dhimmi.


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