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Ice, The Ultimate Disaster,'' predicted the planetary alignment would trigger a chain of events that will cause the Earth's crust to slide and poles to shift. ``It would be a geological Armageddon'
-- Richard Noone
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Preterism: Abraham lived in a tent
Posted on Wednesday, June 30 @ 07:31:39 PDT by Virgil |
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Ivan submitted: "Dispensationalists avidly follow news from the Middle East in expectation of fulfilled prophecy in relation to Israel. Abraham must wince at their misplaced optimism. He, to whom the promises were made, didn't place great store on the land of Israel. When he arrived, he lived in a tent. Surely if the land was so important in the long term, he would have built an enduring dwelling for his descendants. He didn't.
He lived in a tent - for the whole of his life. His hope was not pinned on a land but on a "city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (Heb 11:9,10). He was "longing for a better country - a heavenly one" (Heb 11:16). But where in the Old Testament was Abraham given such a promise? Is it not possible that he saw the true significance of Israel and testified to it by living in a tent?
Those who focus on Israel today as if it had eschatological significance need to be reminded that if they are believers they are children of Abraham (Gal 3:7) and like him they need to see the land as he did, just a shadow of the real thing.
I belong to a conservative church among whose older members there are some strong dispensationalists. One of them recently sent me an email quoting Genesis 17 where God tells Abraham that he will give him the land of Canaan “as an everlasting possession.” Because I am regarded (wrongly) as an amillennialist (I am content to leave them in ignorance of the greater “heresy” I espouse), the author of the email maintained that my “replacement theology” raised doubts about her salvation because if God’s promise of an everlasting land could not be trusted then neither could his promise of everlasting life. Furthermore, I was suspected of believing in salvation by works because I implied she could lose her salvation through misbehavior.
A check in the concordance of the Hebrew word behind “everlasting” in Genesis 17:8 reveals that it is a common word with some interesting contexts, some of which will not sustain the meaning “never ending”. Perhaps the most interesting is Exodus 40:15 where it is used in connection with the Levitical priesthood which is described as “everlasting” (KJV), the same Hebrew word as in Genesis 17:8. When the time is right, I will ask my dispensational critic, “Do you believe the Levitical priesthood was an everlasting priesthood?” I expect the answer, “No.” I will then draw Exodus 40:15 from my holster. And if that is not enough I will fire another shot from Exodus 21:6 where a poor slave is destined to serve his master forever – same word. The NIV sensibly translates it “for life”. I hope my dispensational accuser will also see some sense and that I shall be relieved of the suspicion of heresy.
Abraham should have built a very solid construction which his descendants could enjoy in the everlasting land they were to occupy. But perhaps he did not want to stumble them into believing the land was the big thing - so he lived in a tent."
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Re: Abraham lived in a tent (Score: 1)
 by JL on Wednesday, June 30 @ 11:29:53 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Ivan,
Interesting point. Thanks.
This old dispensationalist woman doesn't believe that the promise is everlasting. Just that it lasts halfway through the tribulation. How come that doesn't affect her faith? How come Jesus not keeping his promises and coming soon doesn't affect her faith?
Recently, I looked up the land promise in Gen. 13:15 in the Septuagint. The promise is generally translated "for ever." Well, in the Greek, I saw the word "aeon" glaring back at me. I immediately thought of Matt. 24:3, "What is the sign of your coming and of the end of the age."
My Greek is at the level of looking up Strong's numbers, so I asked. JRP translated Gen. 13:15, "until of the age." I would take this to be "until [the end] of the age."
The early church used the Septuagint. It was the Scriptures that Paul quoted from just before he declared them "inspired." How many other times does the Septuagint say "until of the age" and the modern translation from Hebrew says "for ever" or "everlasting?"
JL |
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Re: Abraham lived in a tent (Score: 1)
 by armothe (armothe@yahoo.com) on Thursday, July 01 @ 05:49:29 PDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | So this begs the question: Is the eternal/everlasting life promised in the New Testament never ending or temporary? Was it only for those living between 30AD & 70AD? Thoughts?
-A
(perhaps if this gets too long it should be moved to the forums) |
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- by JL on Friday, July 02 @ 10:02:41 PDT
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