As I studied the origins and doctrine of dispensationalism and the proof texts for a pre-tribulation “rapture” of the church I literally had a knot in my stomach and thought I was going to throw up as I discovered and confirmed one refutation after another, line upon line and precept upon precept until, after months of study, meditation, and prayer, the shocking truth was fully confirmed in my heart and mind.

            Suddenly I had round pegs to put in round holes and square pegs to put into square holes. The parable of the ten virgins, which, because it could not be interpreted appropriately by anyone having a dispensational, pre-tribulation “rapture” stronghold, had always been given a generalised interpretation, and, yet, with the dispensational stronghold pulled down in my mind, the specific prophecy was now crystal clear and made perfect sense to me. But it would not be good news for much of the church. (Which is, perhaps, the reason why evangelical protestants have so eagerly adopted dispensational theology.)

            In spite of the joy I experienced in having this stronghold of doctrinal error  and scriptural mis-interpretation eliminated in my soul, I was deeply concerned. The majority of evangelical western Christians today believe in a pre-tribulation “rapture” even if they do not adhere to the entirety of dispensational theology. Dr.Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Chuck Smith, Charles Swindoll, John F. MacArthur, and even Chuck Missler, whose works I have come to greatly admire, all, presumably, godly men, are a few of the better known authors and ministers in this lineup, with LaHaye and his “Left Behind” series making him the most famous of these.

            How could I, a complete unknown of no particular importance or influence in the body of Christ, come to a conclusion contrary to the conclusion of these great men? 

            Not easily, I grant you, but perhaps my anonymity (having no great ministerial or denominational investment in a false doctrine and erroneous interpretations of scripture) is a blessing.

The Distinctives of Dispensational Theology

            The dispensational distinctive that God is dealing separately with Israel and the church, particularly in end time events, causes those who hold this view to distort biblical prophecy. Therefore, it is important to examine and refute this distinctive before we examine the distinctive of a pre-tribulation, church only resurrection-“rapture”.

            There is no argument concerning the “judgments” of God. These are, and always have been, separate when it comes to people or nations, but the issue of fulfilling the covenant promises to national Israel and to the church separately and in a way that requires the church to be absent from the Earth in the final seven years is erroneous. 

            The major interpretational problem for the primary dispensational distinctive, that God is dealing with Israel and the church separately, is Paul’s teaching concerning the “mystery” of the “body of Christ”:

                       When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs…(with the Jews)…, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3:4-6 ESV (inserts and emphasis are the author’s)

                        And if they…(Jews)… do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in…(to the body of Christ)…, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree…(Christ)…, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree! Romans 11:23-24 NIV (inserts are the author’s)

            What scripture reveals is that Jews and Gentiles are one body in Christ, and, we must assume that this includes all the saints of all time from Adam through the millennial reign who are now, or will be, “in Christ”, the mediator of the New Covenant written in His blood. There are no distinctions between Jew and Gentile, male and female, bondservant or free in Christ, and there is only one redemptive covenant for all time, from Adam all the way through eternity.

            For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29 NASB 

            This is not replacement theology. The church does not replace Israel. We are spiritual Jews in Christ, but we do not replace Israel. (Galations 3 and Romans 2:28,29) Nor is the church grafted into Israel. Israel is not the olive tree. There is only one olive tree, Jesus Christ, and we Gentiles, who were not the natural branches, have been grafted into the natural olive tree (Christ). At the death and resurrection of Christ, and the end of the temple worship and sacrifice system, the unbelieving Jews were debauched from the olive tree, and, from that point forward, the natural but debauched branches (Jews) can only be grafted back into the olive tree (Christ) by grace through faith the same as the Gentiles. Thus the Jews and Gentiles and every name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life is, or will be, in Christ, the olive tree. (i.e. the Vine and the branches)

            Christ is more than the church. As the olive tree He includes the church just as He includes the old testament saints prior to Abraham, the old testament saints of Israel prior to His resurrection (the natural branches), the Jews who are included in the church (natural branches grafted back into the olive tree), and, ultimately, the millennial saints.       

            The old covenant promises for national Israel will now be fulfilled only in Christ. The old covenant promises were not cancelled. Instead, the promises will be fulfilled in Him, who is now the mediator of the new covenant.                   

            Now, all the promises of God, including the promises to national Israel, are “yes” in Christ. There are no separate promises to national Israel apart from Jesus Christ who will live and reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem for one thousand years.

            For as many as are the promises of God  …(this means “all”, including the, as yet, unfulfilled covenant promises to national Israel)… , in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 2 Corinthians 1:20 NASB (insert and emphasis is the author’s)

            What was cancelled at the death of Jesus, the Christ, on the cross, was the old covenant institution of a temple sacrifice system, which was merely a “shadow” of the salvation to come under the new covenant in Christ. The old covenant saints were justified by their faith in God, but their justification was not complete until Jesus, the Messiah (Christ), fulfilled all the old covenant law and prophecies as the Son of Man and was then sacrificed for the sins of all men as the Lamb of God without spot or blemish.

            What happened immediately after His death, according to Luke 16:19-31, Luke 23:42-43, and Ephesians 4:7-9, is that Jesus went into the paradise portion of hades (region of the dead) and revealed Himself to the saints who had come to faith in God under the old covenant. These then were released from “prison” and accompanied the Lord to the paradise of God.

            These old covenant saints, along with new covenant saints who are “dead” in Christ will be resurrected in glory on “the last day”.

            I came face to face with the heretical teaching that God’s redemptive plan for Jews is separate from His redemptive plan for Gentiles when a Charismatic group in San Angelo, Texas and a group of messianic Jews from Fort Worth whose ministry was called, “Prophecy Round-Up”, invited Gershon Salomon, leader of the “Israel Faithful and Temple Mount Movement”, to speak in San Angelo.

            I understand Christian interest in the Temple Mount Movement, an Israeli group preparing to restore Soloman’s temple and begin temple worship and sacrifices again, because it points to the nearness of the fulfillment of prophecies related to the Antichrist.

            However, when the leader of Prophecy Round-Up asked Christians in attendance for donations to assist the Temple Mount Movement, I protested and admonished the Christians present for becoming a stumbling block, both to the Prophecy Round-Up group and to Gershon Salomon, by supporting this movement (and the theology of a dual system of salvation).

            I then followed up with several conversations and letter exchanges with the leader of the Prophecy Round-Up group until he confessed, defensively and unrepentantly, that his dual salvation doctrine, which he was reluctant to openly profess because of men like me, was based entirely on Romans 11:25, 26.

            For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
         "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
         HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." Romans 11:25-26 NASB

            His claim was that the Jews who believe in God and faithfully follow the commandments of the law and the prophets will ultimately be redeemed on the day of the Lord even though a few predestined Jews have been allowed to have faith in Christ.

            This, of course, is a denial of Romans 11:23,24, previously quoted and prefacing Romans 11:25,26. And these “faithful” will only be saved if they receive Christ by faith before they die or somehow survive the entire tribulation when the Jews flee to the wilderness after the Antichrist declares himself to be “God” in the rebuilt temple.

            The preaching of the two prophets, Elijah and Enoch, on the streets of Jerusalem during the first part of the tribulation, is the preaching of Christ crucified, exactly as we are instructed to preach it now. Nor does the presence of these prophets in Israel preclude that the church entire has been removed from the world at that time. The two witnesses have come as special messengers to Israel with the primary purpose of identifying and discipling the 144,000.

            The reinstitution of a temple sacrifice and worship system by the Temple Mount and Israel Faithful Movement is not God ordained, and these religious Jews will resist the preaching of Elijah and Enoch in the streets of Jerusalem just as the religious Jews of Jesus’ day resisted His ministry.

            (That event of denying the ministry of Elijah and Enoch in itself is hard to imagine, but it will happen. And it is proof of the power of Phariseeical stongholds to resist the Truth, even in the presence of Christ Himself.)

            All Israel who survive the tribulation without taking the mark of the beast will be saved on the day of the Lord, but those who have rejected Him and died prior to the day of the Lord are lost.

            This unfortunately includes Gershon Salomon and members of the Temple Mount and Israel Faithful Movement who do not receive Christ by grace through faith.

            Therefore, the dispensational distinctive of God’s separate plans of redemption for the Jews and for Gentiles is a heresy of the first order, and a HUGE stumbling block for the Jews.