Dispensationalism and the Chief Corner Stone
Nothing is more foundational to Dispensational Premillennialism than the view that the church nor the church age was foretold in the Old Covenant.
Dwight Pentecost, in his massive tome said this: “The church itself was the mystery. The fact that God was going to form Jews and Gentiles alike in one body was never revealed in the Old Testament and forms the mystery of which Paul speaks in Ephesians 3:1-7; Romans 16:25-27; Colossians 1:26-29. This whole mystery program was not revealed until after the rejection of Christ by Israel.”
“The church is manifestly an interruption of God’s program for Israel, which was not brought into being until Israel’s rejection of the offer of the kingdom. It must logically follow that his mystery program must itself be brought to conclusion before God can resume His dealing with the nation of Israel. The mystery program, which was so distinct in its inception, will certainly be separate at its conclusion. This program must be concluded before God resumes and culminates His program for Israel. This mystery concept of the church makes a pre-tribulational rapture a necessity.” Dwight Pentecost– Things to Come, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1980)201.
However, Jesus was emphatic that his rejection – as the chief corner stone of the Messianic Temple – was in fact foretold by the OT prophets, and that rejection and subsequent exaltation “this is the Lord’s doing, and it is glorious in our sight!” Do you catch that? The rejection of Jesus by the Jews was known from the beginning in the counsel and plan of God! And “it is glorious”– it is not a failure. It was not a postponement. It did not catch God off-guard!
I have produced YouTube Video On the Rejected Stone addressing the question of Dispensationalism and the Postponement of the Kingdom doctrine. Did the Jewish rejection of Jesus’ offer of the kingdom cause God to postpone the prophetic countdown? Did the Jewish unbelief and rejection of Jesus, in the words of Thomas Ice, make it “impossible” for Christ to establish the kingdom?
The truth is that as the Psalmist said, and as we just noted, the rejection of Jesus by the Jews was known, not only known, but pre-planned and foretold as part and parcel of God’s eschatological last days plan! The Dispensationalists are, therefore, simply wrong to say that the Jewish rejection of Jesus – and the establishment of the church caused by the rejection – was unknown, unplanned, un-predicted. This means that one of the foundational pillars of Dispensationalism is false!
Thanks for sharing the Dispensational logic behind their postponement theology. Paul’s language in Ephesians 3:1-7 is interesting but it does not lead to the conclusions of Dwight Pentecost. Verse 5 in context says to me that the Apostles and Prophets are now better interpreters of Scripture because of the gift of the Holy Spirit having been given them on Pentecost. Should we not think that we are better readers of Scripture because we have the Spirit? Jesus filled with the Spirit certainly saw things that the contemporary Rabbi’s were missing—and lets be honest they were good interpreters. But someone better then them came to reveal the truth in its fullness. His name was Jesus. Verse 6 then makes sense. “The Gentiles are heirs together with Israel.” This does not sound like a new program but rather an expansion of an already existing one. See also Galatians 3:16 and 29. Also the road to Emmaus.
I fully agree that Ephesians (nor other texts) justify the Dispensational claim that the church was never known or foretold by the OT prophets. When Paul said that he, through the Spirit, was giving the true meaning of the OT prophets this was incredibly important- and often overlooked! The Jews believed and realized that the Spirit had been withdrawn from the nation, there were no true prophets, from the time of Malachi onward. But, they believed that in the last days, before the coming of the Lord and the resurrection, YHVH would once again pour out the Spirit, restore the prophetic office to reveal, finally, definitively and authoritatively, the true meaning of the Old Prophets! Thus, when we read the NT about the outpouring of the Spirit, it means the Day of the Lord was coming and coming soon. The outpouring of the Spirit was a sure sign of that, and so, Peter, on the day of out-pouring of the Spirit, urged that audience “Save yourselves from this untoward generation!” (Acts 2:40). We do not possess that prophetic office today– if we do, then judgment is upon us, and, we should have inspired, authoritative, infallible prophets functioning in the church. We patently do not have that.