This is a repost of an article I wrote in 2010. I shall follow it up with a new post on the subject of ambiguity faith. As some of you know, I am Founder of TELOS INSTITUTE & TELOS MINISTRIES, an online seminary dedicated to educating God’s people in solid dispensational and presuppositional theology at a low cost. This ministry also provides me with an outlet for my ongoing development of what I call “Biblical Covenantalism” (see here, and here): a more …
Category: Articles
Part One Part Two Part Three In this last part of our study of the “Priestly Covenant” I will try to answer some of the main objections which might be thrown at what I have already stated. 1. If Christ is the Final Sacrifice for sins, how can there be a temple and sacrifices in the future? This objection is based on a misunderstanding of the Book of Hebrews. Mixed in with this is a subtle prejudice (usually of the …
This is a repost of an article first posted in 2009. It is well to note that the following charges against dispensationalism are not theological and exegetical in nature, but are more psychological and sociological. Here is my opinion: a. Pragmatism It is our opinion that dispensationalism can be (and ought to be) wedded to a full-orbed systematic world and life view, but only if it begins to take itself more seriously and starts the painful process of …
Part Two After the vision of the enormous temple which ends Ezekiel one is left with some questions. How could such an immense structure fit in Jerusalem as we know it? Why would any cultic priesthood be necessary once Jesus had come and died for our sins? And, doesn’t the Book of Hebrews negate the whole idea of priests and sacrifices? I am going to leave aside the last two questions until I examine some objections in Part Four. But …
When some one says that they want you to take them at their word, what exactly do you think they mean? I think your answer would be that they want you to trust what they are saying. But what is it about what they are saying that you are supposed to trust? The Collins English Dictionary defines it as: to assume that someone means, or will do, what he or she says ⇒ when he told her to go, she …
Part One Biblical Covenantalism tracks the covenants through Scripture for the sake of putting together a composite picture of God’s plan. The covenants are the backbone of Scripture. If we pay careful attention to these covenants as they arise, we will not be able to bypass the everlasting “covenant of peace” which God made with Phinehas and his descendents in Numbers 25. The fact that a covenant of this kind is casually passed over with barely a mention and not …
Question: Which plainly stated Covenant in the Bible is most often neglected? The answer is the covenant which the LORD made with Phinehas in the Book of Numbers. The circumstances surrounding this covenant centers around the doctrine of Balaam as it was realized at Baal Peor (Cf. Num.31:16; Rev. 2:14). Amid the idolatry and fornication a Simeonite by the name of Zimri openly brought a Midianite woman into the camp of Israel and took her into his tent to have …
Review of Robert B. Chisholm, A Commentary on Judges and Ruth, Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2013, 697 pp., $39.99. In the past Judges and Ruth have not been particularly well served by commentators (Leon Wood’s Distressing Days of the Judges being one notable exception). Many studies in the past were more homiletical than analytical. The Book of Judges presents some unique problems for the Bible interpreter. Such issues as the date of certain judges, the extent of their careers and …
This is a slightly revised version of what I wrote as a response to a question from progressive dispensationalist Darrell Bock about the inauguration of the Davidic Covenant at the first coming of Christ. Darrell Bock: How can a dispensationalist see the current application of the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant (see the Last Supper in procuring forgiveness we now experience) and not see the Davidic covenant being initially realized by what Jesus has done, as Luke 3:16 …
This is a revision of a series I wrote some years back. The history of the interpretation of the Bible is a long and involved one. For many centuries some have approached the Scriptures supposing that they should be interpreted literally whenever possible. Others have believed that one ought to look deeper than the surface meaning to find its true spiritual center. Still others have believed that the Old and (to a lesser extent) the New Testament is opened up …
