2014). It deals with one of the great biblical signs of the imminence of the Consummation: the large-scale converision of ethnic Israel in the last of the Last Days. Though other biblical texts touch on this theme (see note 1), Romans 11:11-36 gives us the single most important discussion of this holy mystery. I hope you will enjoy my humble attempt to plumb its amazing depths.
An Exposition of Romans 11:11-36
Though this passage touches only indirectly upon the Consummation, it is of great importance, since here we are supplied with yet another outstanding sign of its imminence: the latter day conversion of ethnic Israel at large, leading swiftly to the Parousia and the Resurrection of the dead. Later, I will touch on some of the practical implications of this unique revelation for Christian life and ministry. First, however, we must examine the text itself, in order to see if this really is the apostle’s message.
Introduction
In Romans 9-11, Paul is addressing the problem of Jewish unbelief. Yes, the primitive Church was comprised almost exclusively of Jews, some of whom were laid into her very foundation (Eph. 2:20, Rev. 21:14). Nevertheless they represented only a small minority of Israel. Moreover, once the Gospel overflowed the borders of Israel, multitudes of Gentiles began to receive Christ while most of the Jews, both inside and outside of Palestine, continued to reject him. So it was in NT times, and so it has been right up to the present day. Always there has been a small remnant of believing Jews, while the large majority of Abraham’s physical seed continues in unbelief. How can such things be? How is it that God’s OT people have largely missed and spurned their own Messiah?
From the length and ardor of his remarks on this troubling providence, it is clear that Paul was quite exercised about it, doubtless in large part because he knew that the opponents of Christianity would point, over and again, to Jewish rejection of the Gospel as a sign of its illegitimacy. Here then we find him seeking to explain large-scale Jewish unbelief, clear himself and all Christians of charges of anti-Semitism, and equip believers of all generations to respond wisely to this apparent obstacle to faith. Continue reading
The High King of Heaven: Discovering the Master Keys to the Great End Time Debate by Dean Davis (Redemption Press, 2014).
THE CONSUMMATION: A BIBLICAL SCENARIO
We have come to the end of our journey. Having traversed many a biblical foothill, having scaled many an eschatological mountain, we have reached the summit. Now it is time to take in the view.
From the beginning our goal has been to behold—with clarity and conviction—the Blessed Hope of the Church.
To this end we embarked on our journey by looking closely at the Kingdom of God. First, we discerned its true nature: that it is, in essence, a direct spiritual reign of God, through Christ, by the Spirit; and it is also the realm that that reign creates. Next, we discerned its structure: that the Kingdom enters history in two simple stages: the Kingdom of the Son (already here), followed by the Kingdom of the Father (not yet here), with the two stages being separated by a single Parousia of Christ at the end of the present evil age. To our surprise and joy, we found that this careful NT investigation of the Kingdom actually enabled us to discern the true biblical outline of all Salvation History.
Building upon this, we next went in search of the proper NT principles for interpreting OT Kingdom prophecy (OTKP). This enabled us to discover and articulate what we called The New Covenant Hermeneutic, the NT method for understanding the OT in general, and OTKP in particular. We then applied that hermeneutic with good success to some of the most important and challenging OTKP’s, showing that in the end they all stubbornly resist the premillennial approach, but wonderfully open up and fall into place when viewed beneath the light of the simple, two-staged idea of the Kingdom taught in the Didactic NT.1
Thus encouraged, we ventured into that most “Old Testament” of New Testament books, the Revelation. We began by carefully examining its purpose, structure, and literary genre. This opened us up to the possibility that Revelation 20 might be the last of six “mystical” depictions of the course, character, and consummation of the spiritual reign of the High King Heaven, the exalted Lord Jesus Christ. And when we actually studied Revelation 20, we saw that this interpretation was by far the best.
Drawing near to our goal, we turned once again to the NT, this time to see if its teaching on the Consummation confirmed our suspicions about the true (amillennial) shape of Salvation History. We looked carefully at the Christ-exalting design of the Consummation. We discerned its Christ-centered structure. And we closely examined the top 16 eschatological texts of the DNT. Through all of this, we finally reached our destination. We beheld—with clarity and certainty—the Christ-centered unity of the Consummation. We saw that Christ will indeed come again once at the end of the present evil age, to raise the dead, judge the world in righteousness, destroy the present earth and its works by fire, and create new heavens and the new earth, the eternal home of the redeemed.
In sum, over many highways and byways, over many paths and peaks, we have sought and found the one true Blessed Hope of the Church.
And now, from high atop Mt. Pisgah, let us survey the Promised Land one final time.
A Consummation Structured for Hope
Above all things, God has structured the Consummation with a view to enhancing the glory of his Son (John 5:23). But in so doing, he has also structured it with a view to illuminating, encouraging, motivating, equipping, and empowering the Church Militant. In short, he has designed it so that his pilgrim people may have hope.
On this crucial theme we recall the words of the apostle Paul:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. –Titus 2:11-14
Frankly acknowledging the challenges of Christian discipleship in an age dominated by the powers of evil, the apostle strongly exhorts God’s people to live in a manner worthy of their calling. However, in order to encourage them to rise to those challenges, he also gives them a great hope. Very aptly, he calls it the Blessed Hope. There is just one of them: the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. However, there are many reasons why it is blessed. It is blessed because God has made it so simple, so easy to envision, and so easy to proclaim. It is blessed because when the Savior appears, he will do so many wonderful things, things that God has revealed in Scripture so that his saints can “look for” them with eager anticipation. And it is blessed because the contemplation of each of these things is meant to fill them with courage, confidence, and joy as they journey on to the borders of Canaan, where, at long last, they will enter the Promised Land (Acts 3:19, 1 Peter 1:3-9, Rev. 12:13:17).
Therefore, as we bring our own journey to a close, let us take a few moments to remember what we have learned about our Blessed Hope. And as we do, let us consider how God has designed each of its elements to awaken in our hearts a special kind of hope; and how the sum of those hopes makes our one Blessed Hope blessed indeed! Continue reading