My one and only thought on Macarthur's lecture

As we were listening to the tirade against some form of eschatology, which can only be classified as non-premil, I was thinking about two of Dispensationalists biggest sine quo non's. Those of course being 1) the unwavering necessity of interpreting Scripture strictly literally, without regard for various forms of genre (beyond poetry and plain speech); and 2) that the nation-state of ethnic Israel is really, in the end, what the whole of special and natural revelation is about. Israel can mean nothing else than blood descendents of Abraham. Really, this second point is just a logical outflow of the first. There is no other possible explanation, interpretation.

My purpose here is not to refute this point by point. Others have gone before and have shown quite plainly that a strictly literal interpretation is indeed not necessary, nor even helpful. A study of the Prophets, both minor and major, Romans 9, Galatians, Genesis, Exodus, the Gospels, and especially John's Apocalypse will show that there is something bigger going on than merely the restoration of an earthly temple.

In fact this is what I want to talk about. This view of Scripture, in the end, completely strips Christ of the glory of His work. The beauty of His earthly work, from advent to ascension, from incarnation to intercession, is reduced to the system He came to destroy. Christ, in His earthly ministry, did not hold back in His condemnation of where Judaism was headed. He stood on the Mount of Olives and prophesied their complete destruction.

These passages are the very passages which are contented I know. Consider though, the trajectory of God's Story. Man is created. From his side comes that which makes him complete, woman. They are given dominion over earth. They screw up. They choose love of self over love of God. Idolatry enters the picture. We raise idols (money, sex, power, all things revolving around self) and worship clay pots over the Potter. We, the virgin, have played the whore, and have spit in our Husbands eye. We were banished from our garden, and in our own strength, have been running away ever since.

But God's great mercy is this. From the very beginning He has prophesied that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. As mankind grew, God continued to reveal this promise to men of faith: Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, the Prophets. Over and over again, God tells His people, I will be your God, and you will be my people. This promise came in the middle of different contexts, and built on the previous promise. To Noah was promised salvation and a new World. To Abraham, salvation and a new People. To Moses, salvation and a new Priest. To David, salvation and a new King. To the Prophets, salvation and the coming of the Prophet. God's Story played out in the context of the Jewish nation, but it did not originate there, nor did it remain there. From the very beginning, the trajectory of God's mercy was for the whole world. "In you all the families of earth shall be blessed." Even in the Mosaic era, Israel was a light to the nations, to the gentiles, to the World. God blessed Israel with His personal attention. He sanctified them, and blessed them, making them a royal priesthood. He dwelt in their midst. Through separation and shadow, the thrice-holy God of the universe pitched His tent in their camp. He surrounded Himself with pictures and copies of His own throne room. But the whore still played her games. Israel as an ethnic nation was the bride of God. They were married at Sinai. Those vows, she broke. That covenant, she despised. And so God picked up His tent and moved out. The marriage was over. However, God's eternal plan was unhindered. His vision was never limited to simply one ethnic group. He was never that focused. His vision was for the world.

Enter Christ, the fulfillment of all God's Promises. He is the ultimate Priest, the everlasting King, and the eternal Prophet. In Him all things consist. He is the seed of Abraham, and in Him salvation is brought to the nations. The covenants all point to Christ, from Adam through to the prophets. All look forward to a New Covenant. Israel was finished as God's bride. Jeremiah makes that plain. But they were never the final show anyway. They were a picture, a shadow as all the accoutrements of their priesthood were. They as a people pointed to a new bride. A second Eve that came from the side of her husband, as water and blood flowed from the pierced side of Christ. This is the trajectory of God's Story.

This was the message of the Apostles. Paul over and over again explains this. John, in his Apocalypse shows in graphic, pictorial detail this entire history. The great Divine playwright has given us the first two acts of his play. The first act tells the story of the whore, who was an outcast on the side of the road, rescued and nourished by her future husband. She rejected her husband. The second act portrays the Husband himself dying to make her clean again. In making her a virgin, he grants her great glory, and increases her scope. To say that the third act reintroduces the whore as the final heroine, who all along is the star of the show is nigh unto blasphemy. It misses the glory of God's grace, and rejects the story of Scripture. Christ has fulfilled all that was spoken in the name of Israel. In Him we find our Husband. In Him the story finds satisfaction.