The Literalist "Hermeneutic," of Christian Zionism

[tulsa 2011]

The Literalist "Hermeneutic," of Christian Zionism

John Darby says "....what God has with infinite graciousness revealed to me concerning His dealing with the Church... it was in this the Lord was pleased, without man's teaching, first to open my eyes on this subject, that I might learn His will concerning it throughout " From: J. N. Darby, 'Reflections Upon the Prophetic Inquiry, and the Views Advanced in It', Collected Writings., Prophetic I, Vol. II. pp. 6-7; 'Evidence from Scripture for the passing away of the present dispensations' Collected Writings., Prophetic I, Vol. II. p. 108.

Darby claimed to get his Christian Zionist doctrine directly from revelation to him by God. Apparently this mean he got his literalist "hermeneutic," his separation of Old Covenant Israel from the church, his idea that God was to set up a new dispensation as a return to the law for the Jews and the pre-trib rapture to get the church off the earth so the church would not experience the return to the law all from God.

In saying that God now has two peoples, the Jews and the church, Darby and his followers are contradicting a basic part of the Gospel in an obvious way, which is stated by Christ in John 10: 16, that there is one fold, not two, and by Paul in Romans 12: 4-5 that there is one body of Christ, not two. In teaching that Old Covenant Israel remains a people of God, Darby and his followers are contradicting Hebrews 10: 9, that Christ took away the Old Covenant that he might establish the New Covenant.

Then, C. I. Scofield claimed that "Not one instance exists of a 'spiritual' or figurative fulfilment of prophecy... Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion... Prophecies may never be spiritualised, but are always literal." C.I. Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course (Chicago, Moody Bible Institute), pp. 45-46.

Lewis S. Chafer, a follower of Scofield and founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, says "The outstanding characteristic of the dispensationalist is... That he believes every statement of the Bible and gives to it the plain, natural meaning its words imply." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936), 410, 417.

And Chafer says Christian Zionism "...has changed the Bible from being a mass of more or less conflicting writings into a classified and easily assimilated revelation of both the earthly and heavenly purposes of God, which purposes reach on into eternity to come." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936) pp. 446-447. Quoted in Daniel P. Fuller, Gospel and Law, Contrast or Continuum? The Hermeneutic of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology (Grand Rapdis, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1980), pp. 24-25.

Yet when someone interprets some text of Bible prophecy by use of an understanding of the language of metaphor, Christian Zionists will sometimes say this violates Revelation 22: 18-19, warning not to add to or take away the words of the Book of Revelation, which is applied to all scripture. Darby, Scofield and Chafer can change the "mass of more or less conflicting writings" but no one else is allowed to change them if the changed interpretation conflicts with the tradition of men called Christian Zionism.

Hal Lindsey claims that erroneous views about Old Covenant Israel are due to an allegorical, non-literal hermeneutic advocated by Origen. See: Hal Lindsey, The Road to Holocaust (New York, Bantam, 1989), pp. 7-8.

The generalized over-allegorization of Bible prophecy by Origen is not the same as understanding the language of metaphor pointing to specific understandings in prophecy.

But scripture says "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:" Matthew 13: 34

And "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." Hosea 12: 10

As Chafer says Christian Zionism "has changed the Bible...." Applying its literalist "hermeneutic," to texts of Bible prophecy in which there are clues that the text is metaphoric because something said does not work as a literal statement diminishes or destroys the power of metaphoric language.., And there are instances in which Christian Zionists refuse to consider other relevant scriptures while insisting on a literalist interpretation of a prophecy, as in II Thessalonians 2: 3-4. The refused relevant scriptures here are I Corinthians 3: 16-17, I Corinthians 6: 19 and Acts 7: 48.. Since a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem is not the temple of God, Paul would not mean in II Thessalonians 2: 3-4 that the man of sin literally sits in a rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem. And the man of sin as an individual does not literally sit in the inner life of millions of Christians. Paul is using metaphor.

 

[Itz Me]

The Literalist "Hermeneutic," of Christian Zionism

John Darby says "....what God has with infinite graciousness revealed to me concerning His dealing with the Church... it was in this the Lord was pleased, without man's teaching, first to open my eyes on this subject, that I might learn His will concerning it throughout " From: J. N. Darby, 'Reflections Upon the Prophetic Inquiry, and the Views Advanced in It', Collected Writings., Prophetic I, Vol. II. pp. 6-7; 'Evidence from Scripture for the passing away of the present dispensations' Collected Writings., Prophetic I, Vol. II. p. 108.

Darby claimed to get his Christian Zionist doctrine directly from revelation to him by God. Apparently this mean he got his literalist "hermeneutic," his separation of Old Covenant Israel from the church, his idea that God was to set up a new dispensation as a return to the law for the Jews and the pre-trib rapture to get the church off the earth so the church would not experience the return to the law all from God.

In saying that God now has two peoples, the Jews and the church, Darby and his followers are contradicting a basic part of the Gospel in an obvious way, which is stated by Christ in John 10: 16, that there is one fold, not two, and by Paul in Romans 12: 4-5 that there is one body of Christ, not two. In teaching that Old Covenant Israel remains a people of God, Darby and his followers are contradicting Hebrews 10: 9, that Christ took away the Old Covenant that he might establish the New Covenant.

Then, C. I. Scofield claimed that "Not one instance exists of a 'spiritual' or figurative fulfilment of prophecy... Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion... Prophecies may never be spiritualised, but are always literal." C.I. Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course (Chicago, Moody Bible Institute), pp. 45-46.

Lewis S. Chafer, a follower of Scofield and founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, says "The outstanding characteristic of the dispensationalist is... That he believes every statement of the Bible and gives to it the plain, natural meaning its words imply." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936), 410, 417.

And Chafer says Christian Zionism "...has changed the Bible from being a mass of more or less conflicting writings into a classified and easily assimilated revelation of both the earthly and heavenly purposes of God, which purposes reach on into eternity to come." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936) pp. 446-447. Quoted in Daniel P. Fuller, Gospel and Law, Contrast or Continuum? The Hermeneutic of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology (Grand Rapdis, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1980), pp. 24-25.

Yet when someone interprets some text of Bible prophecy by use of an understanding of the language of metaphor, Christian Zionists will sometimes say this violates Revelation 22: 18-19, warning not to add to or take away the words of the Book of Revelation, which is applied to all scripture. Darby, Scofield and Chafer can change the "mass of more or less conflicting writings" but no one else is allowed to change them if the changed interpretation conflicts with the tradition of men called Christian Zionism.

Hal Lindsey claims that erroneous views about Old Covenant Israel are due to an allegorical, non-literal hermeneutic advocated by Origen. See: Hal Lindsey, The Road to Holocaust (New York, Bantam, 1989), pp. 7-8.

The generalized over-allegorization of Bible prophecy by Origen is not the same as understanding the language of metaphor pointing to specific understandings in prophecy.

But scripture says "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:" Matthew 13: 34

And "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." Hosea 12: 10

As Chafer says Christian Zionism "has changed the Bible...." Applying its literalist "hermeneutic," to texts of Bible prophecy in which there are clues that the text is metaphoric because something said does not work as a literal statement diminishes or destroys the power of metaphoric language.., And there are instances in which Christian Zionists refuse to consider other relevant scriptures while insisting on a literalist interpretation of a prophecy, as in II Thessalonians 2: 3-4. The refused relevant scriptures here are I Corinthians 3: 16-17, I Corinthians 6: 19 and Acts 7: 48.. Since a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem is not the temple of God, Paul would not mean in II Thessalonians 2: 3-4 that the man of sin literally sits in a rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem. And the man of sin as an individual does not literally sit in the inner life of millions of Christians. Paul is using metaphor.

Another example of literal and figurative:

Zechariah 14:4a, "On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east ... "

It should be noted that in the New Covenant the names of mountains no longer have geographical significance. Rather, they stand for the powers in the spiritual world.
For instance, Isaiah 54:11-12 clearly discloses that mountains are allegorical images of invisible powers. This is in keeping with what our Lord Jesus Christ said about the casting out of evil spirits: "For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place', and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you", (Matt 17:20).

For example, in the New Testament Mount Zion is the image of the Holy Spirit. It is the mountain on which the city of God and spiritual Israel are located. That is why we read in Hebrews 12:22: "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem". The great power of the Holy spirit is indicated by the height of Mount Zion, as it is written: "And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God", (Rev 21:10).
The church of Jesus Christ is based upon the power of the Holy Spirit, as it says: "Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand" (Rev 14:1).
It's not a wonder that Isaiah prophesied: 'It shell come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains", (Isaiah 2:2).

Taking these allegorical images literally in the natural world risks having us arrive at some strange and irrational ideas which are hardly in keeping with common sense.
For instance, this is why we need to understand that the Mount of Olives, (on which the Lord will stand), is an image of a particular power of darkness which He will subdue.

Zechariah 14:4b, "And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward".

After the last supper, Jesus left Jerusalem and went with His disciples to the Mount of Olives. Gethsemane (oil press) lies at the foot of this mountain and forms part of it. It was in this garden that our Lord fought the greatest and heaviest battle of His life.

He was confronted with an enemy who was to overpower Him. It was in this garden when His struggle against the powers of death began. He was like Jonah in the belly of the fish. In His encounter with the last enemy, Jesus would be overcome, as He said: "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death", (Matt 26:38). In this very place He was in great agony and His sweat became like drops of blood falling down on the earth. In Gethsemane He had to taste death by spiritually drinking the cup of death, thus partaking of the suffering of death.

The things which happened to our Lord in the visible world (at Calvary), were already profoundly experienced within his inner man ... in the invisible world at the foot of the Mount of Olives.
There it could be said of Him: "I am a worm and no man", (Psalm 22:6). But after having been in the power of Death and Hades, the Lord arose on the day of Passover. He said: "I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades", (Rev 1:18).

After His resurrection, our Lord and His disciples were no longer at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Instead, they were right on top of it. Jesus was no longer the stricken shepherd, about to be killed by the sword of the enemy, (Rev 13:7), but He had become the King of kings who said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me", (Matt 28:18).
The last enemy had been dethroned and destroyed, (1Cor 15:26).
The mountain at the foot of which our Lord laid down His life, and on top of which His feet stood after His victory over death, henceforth becomes the figurative image of the power of death: the destroyer.

It's also interesting to note that the Lord Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives when He preached his end time sermon and told His followers of the things which were to happen after his victory over death, (Matt 24:3).

After the manifestation of the sons of God and after the tribulations of those days, the feet of our Lord will again stand on the Mount of Olives. At that moment the covenant of shadows will have passed away and the Mount of Olives, (located geographically east of Jerusalem), no longer has any significance in the history of salvation, ... no more than Mount Zion or Sinai. The Mount of Olives now only symbolizes the power of death.

It is "on that day" that Christ with "all his saints" will triumph over death. When He returns, all who have fallen asleep in Him will be raised. Their spiritual bodies will then be able to function in the natural world. When they died they were at home with the Lord, and they continue to be where He is.
Jesus prayed, "Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world", (2Cor 5:8 and John 17:24).

The saints who have fallen asleep are also with Jesus in heavenly places. When He appears in glory, they too will also appear in glory because they are the body of Christ.
Then the time will also have come when the believers who are still on earth will be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to meet Him in the air. This means that they shall be united with Him as people who have reached perfection in body, soul and spirit (1Cor 15:52 and 1Thess 4:17). They join the cloud of witnesses who accompany the Lord Jesus on His return.

When those who stay behind alive are changed in the twinkling of an eye they have of course ceased to be under the influence of death. Together with Jesus they have victory and they put their feet on the Mount of Olives as He did; for they too have conquered death.

The mountain of death is made powerless and the image used to express this condition is the splitting of the Mount of Olives by which the sons of God find a way of escape. The expression 'splitting' suggest the end of the power which death has over the children of God. Thus the Red Sea which once threatened the people of Israel with death was divided and made powerless; a way of escape and victory was formed.

However, the day is still ahead in which death will completely vanish. This will happen when "Death and Hades are thrown into the fake of fire", (Rev 20:14). Using a New Testament allegorical image, we could say that the Mount of Olives will than be lifted up and thrown into the sea ... that is, into the lake of fire and the Second Death.