Randy Kluth
Well-Known Member
That may be, but that's not me. Most certainly many Premills do not embrace the Old Covenant at all. I certainly don't!Unfortunately, that is what many Premillennialists focus in on and want to talk about. Check any end-time board and you will see the evidence. They struggle to let go of the old covenant and enter into the new.
I realize that many Premills are Dispensationalists, who believe in the restoration of national Israel with all of the legalistic paraphernalia. I'm not a Dispensationalist, as I've told you a number of times in the past.
Well of course Israel didn't exist yet when God gave Abraham the promise of a biological inheritance through the nation Israel! That He did so is beyond question in my mind. Indeed, it is the story of the Bible, in particular the story of the Old Testament.There would definitely be less misunderstanding if they took the time to openly and objectively read Genesis 12:1-3 for themselves. They would quickly discover that the promise made was not given to Israel, or to the Jews, but was directly promised to Abraham himself. Neither Israel nor the Jews even existed at that time.
Despite Israel's failure to enter into the New Testament as a nation, I think Jesus' death was meant to allow for Israel's eventual recovery, after reaching out to the nations of the world.
So do I as a non-Dispensational Premiller. Israel getting saved as a nation means nothing if it isn't through repentance, conversion, and the rebirth of every individual who wishes to consider himself or herself a true Christian, qualifying for Eternal Life.Orthodox Amils focus in on Christ and the new covenant.
Yes, the Kingdom of God has long been associated with nations who were devoted to God's ideal. This was a temporal form of God's Kingdom, as opposed to the full representation of God's Kingdom in heaven.Jesus said, in Luke 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man (biazo) presseth into it.”
We should immediately note: for men to be able to press into the kingdom and for it to suffer violence it must already exist. The Greek word biazo here means to force, to crowd oneself into, or to seize. The kingdom of God is shown here to be a present reality that the righteous enter upon salvation. This has been the case since John the Baptist. The spiritual kingdom Christ brought was very-much alive and active from the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry.
People of this world have indeed tried to despoil God's People of their territory, which is identified with God's Kingdom. These non-Christian people, such as the Muslims, think that they can take Christian territory by force.
Well, God allows the enemies of Israel and of Christendom to rob nominal Christian states of their territories when they are not obedient to Him. The Kingdom was taken from Israel and given, as Christian governments, to Gentile nations. And since the rise of Christianity, many Christian territories have been lost to their enemies.
But we all agree that the ultimate representation of God's Kingdom will be when the New Jerusalem comes to the New Earth. That may be as you see it or as I see it. We shall see.