Considerations of Dispensationalism

From Bob Hayton @ http://fundyreformed.wordpress.com/

• The physical promise of the land includes the church. 1) The promise that Abraham and his seed would inherit the land of Canaan (promised land) was expanded to a promise that they would inherit the “earth” (Matt. 5:5) or the “world” (Rom. 4:13). 2) The promise of the land (”that Abraham would be heir of the world” Rom. 4:13) is specifically said to apply to all the children of Abraham by faith (Rom. 4:16). [”The promise” in vs. 16 is the same as the land promise in vs. 13.]
• The church is the seed of Abraham. The New Testament clearly declares that Gentile believers are the children of Abraham by faith (Rom. 4:11-12), and that they are “Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:29b).
• The church and Israel are now God’s “one new man”. Eph. 2 takes great lengths to declare that God has abolished the partition dividing national Israel and the Gentiles, and that he has included the Gentiles together as “no longer strangers and aliens, but…fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (v. 19). Indeed God has made true Israel and the church together “one new man in place of the two” (v. 15).
• The church is described in the exact same terms as Israel was. Ex. 19:5-6a says, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” And, Hosea 2:23b says, “And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people‘; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’” Then, 1 Pet. 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” And finally Rev. 1:6a says, “And made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father….”
• The Dispensational structure seems very artificial to me. The underlying idea that God is repeatedly testing mankind to prove that he is sinful is nowhere stated in Scripture. [Dispensationalism sets up a series of dispensations where man fails a new test and receives judgment. If you are not familiar with this idea check out this article [pdf] which provides a helpful summary on pg. 16.] Key concepts of this system are read into the text. For instance God nowhere states that the Israelites’ bondage in Egypt was judgment for their failures or sins. In fact Gen. 15:13-16 expressly tells us why they were to be afflicted in Egypt, so that 1) God could bring judment on Egypt and 2) so that the iniquity of the Amorites could become complete.
• The New Testament provides us with a pattern for how to interpret the Old Testament. We are not left to determine “golden rule”s by ourselves. If we study the way the NT authors and preachers used the OT, we find a hermeneutical model that we can employ safely and profitably. [Cf. Rom. 15:4; Luke 24:27, 44; 1 Cor. 10:1-12; Hebrews 10:1; Acts 2:16; Acts 15:14-18 (quoting Amos 9:11-12); etc.]

These are my basic arguments. They contradict the basic premises of dispensationalism as I understand them. For some excellent articles on this issue (Dispensationalism versus Covenant Theology) check out those written by Nathan Pitchford here (particluarly his “Land, Seed, and Blessing in the Abrahamic Covenant” . He is also a convert from dispensationalism and so he understands the system better than those who have never been dispensational.