Is Dispensational Theology at Odds with the New Covenant? Part 1 - Introduction

As we approach Jesus Second Coming, many people have come to believe dispensational theology which I will attempt to show is at odds with Jesus’ own words and the New Covenant in general.

Dispensationalism arose within the last 150 years; it is a system of interpretation for reading and understanding the Bible. It is distinct from, and incompatible with, the covenant theology held by our Reformed tradition and other Christians over the past 2,000 years of church history. A key aspect of dispensationalism is its unique views regarding the end-times events laid out in the Bible. Yet, more central to its uniqueness is its separation of Israel and the church. While covenant theology holds to the historic view that the Old Testament people of Israel and the Church are one covenant people in God’s redemptive plan throughout history, dispensationalism introduces a unique view: that God has a different plan for salvation for ethnic Israel (the Jewish people) and the Christian church.*

Central to this theology is the contention that God relates to man primarily on the basis of dispensations of grace. This conflicts with the reformed view of scripture, which holds that God has always related to mankind through covenants, about which you can read by clicking here.

Below is a graphic representation of the rather complicated dispensational scheme as developed by Clarence Larkin.

Image Link

As can be seen, the above graphic neatly lays out the dispensational timeline. It seems to fit in many ways, but is generally incorrect because some of its presuppositions are false.

If our presuppositions are incorrect, so will be our conclusions.

The dispensational system of biblical interpretation first crystalized in the mid-1800s due to the ministry of John Nelson Darby with the Plymouth Brethren in Great Britain and Ireland. One of the emphases of the Plymouth Brethren movement was their anticipation for Christ to return at any time (and likely within their generation)… Darby stressed the two distinct peoples of God: Israel and the Church—a sharp division between the Old and New Testaments in how God dealt with those peoples—and he adopted a futuristic understanding of Revelation, in which God would remove the church from the world and finish his prophetic promises to the people of Israel.*

(I have written elsewhere about the various approaches to interpreting end time scriptures. I personally do hold to a futuristic view because I do not think it comports with most scripture. I recommend the book, Victorious Eschatology by Eberle and Trent, if you want to learn more about the partial preterist position.)

The idea of a “rapture” developed from the combination of this new distinction between Israel and the Church, end-times fervor, and ecstatic revivalism. Out of these, dispensationalists developed the idea that in this rapture (which would occur before the coming tribulation), God would remove the church from the world before their futuristic understanding of the events described in Revelation would occur. The first known articulation of a “pre-trib rapture” came from fifteen-year-old Margaret MacDonald in the form of an ecstatic prophetic utterance at a prayer meeting in her brother’s home in western Scotland, 1830 (MacPherson). Darby further popularized this view among the Plymouth Brethren and exported it from Great Britain to America. In America, Cyrus Scofield popularized these doctrines with his immensely popular Scofield Reference Bible, which was one of the first study Bibles, and contained dispensational commentary throughout the text of Scripture. The Scofield Reference Bible’s pessimistic views towards the history of the Church in the world, and the timing of its publication on the eve of World War I, cemented the idea into the evangelical psyche that the world was getting progressively more evil and would continue in that way until the Antichrist would arise after the Church was raptured out of the world.*

I have written elsewhere that I think the rapture is a false hope and will not comment further here.

During the Cold War, in the 1960s through the 1980s, dispensationalism went mainstream into the wider culture with the publication of Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth and Edgar Whisenant’s book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. As dispensationalism matured in the 20th century, confidence was stirred in its views when the modern nation of Israel was birthed in 1948, and when it miraculously won the Six-Day War in 1967 against a coalition of Arab states. In light of these historical developments, many dispensational teachers and groups continued the trend from 19th-century religious movements to believe that the current generation was the last generation before Christ’s return. Many dispensational ministers (e.g. Edgar Whisenant, Harold Camping, Chuck Smith, and others) would set specific dates or a range of years for Christ’s expected return. As the year 2000 approached, rapture fever increased and was fueled by the fictional Left Behind franchise of books and movies by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, which presented dispensational end-times views in story form. *

I became a follower of Christ in 1971 and was inundated with this view of the end times. In my early days this was the predominant, if not only, view of the end times to which I was exposed. It was not until later that I became aware of alternate ways of interpreting the Bible regarding the end times.

Dispensationalists believe that the Jews’ official rejection of Jesus Christ was a significant moment in history that essentially stopped the “prophetic clock” in Scripture. They teach that the prophetic promises in Daniel, Matthew 24-25, and Revelation are now on hold during the dispensation or “age” of the Church, which has lasted 2,000 years (from Pentecost to today). According to dispensationalism, the Church exists in a parenthesis in prophetic history, as they believe the prophetic promises described in the Bible are for the people of Israel, and that the “true” Church will be raptured before the prophetic events described by Daniel, Jesus, and the Apostle John are destined to occur (during the Tribulation, and before the Millennium, when according to dispensationalists, Christ will finally rule as the Messianic King on Earth).*

Since dispensationalists are futurists, they do not generally take into account what has already taken place in church history. I have written elsewhere my position that Daniel’s prophecies describe the coming of the Messiah, his crucifixion, and the subsequent destruction of the Jewish nation and Temple.

Having restored Israel to nationhood status in 1948, dispensationalism teaches that God is actively protecting the nation of Israel. In this scenario, Israel is largely the focus of what God is doing in the end times. One could say this is an Israel-based eschatology.

As these dispensations are different ages in which God is doing different things, the dispensationalists believe that God was doing something different during the time of the Mosaic covenant from the New Covenant initiated by Christ. They completely distinguish between Israel and the Church, and believe that they have separate future destinies. According to them, the Church did not exist in the Old Testament and did not begin until Pentecost. Therefore, all the promises made to the people of Israel, in particular the physical blessings, are only for Israel and not the Church. L.S. Chafer wrote:

“The dispensationalist believes that throughout the ages, God is pursuing two distinct purposes: one related to the earth with earthly people and earthly objectives involved, while the other is related to heaven with heavenly people and heavenly objectives involved” (Chafer, Dispensationalism).*

Footnotes^* "Dispensationalism, Its History & Framework (Part 1)" by Jon Brodhagen.

If you wish to read more about Covenant vs. Dispensational Theology, click here and here.
If you wish to learn more about an alternate view of the end times, I recommend Harold Eberle's book, Victorious Eschatology.

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