The Move Toward Noahdic Law in America and How Dispensationlism Helps

I stated sometime back in an article, that I would discuss just what Noahdic Law is.
Most Christian Americans have no idea what these laws are, their importance to understanding present Judaism and the great harm of Dispensationalism that it brings to America and our ideal of "equal justice under law" .

Most Christians are under the misinformed belief that those practicing Judaism strictly follow only the Torah and it's 613 commandments. They are deadly wrong. We have been misinformed by Preachers and Sunday School teachers for too long that have spoken on a subject they are clearly ignorant about or have chosen to conceal the truth. Judaism has the Torah, this is true, but the first five books of the Bible which you think they believe only in and practice is not what they go by. The Talmud is their Bible. The Talmud interprets the Torah for them.
To understand the how that the Talmud came about, you have to go back to what transpired after the Babylonian captivity. The Jews feared ever breaking the Torah again, as they feared being sent back into capitivity. So as time went by, in order to find someway put the brakes on anyone of them breaking the Law, they begin to create what we can call "fence laws", these laws were simply fence's around the Torah, so that if one broke these, he had not broken the Torah or the Commandments of God.
For example, one of the laws reasoned out was on eating goat and drinking goats milk. It is forbidden under the Mosaic law to boil a kid in it's mother's milk. This law given by God was intended to keep OT Israel from taking on Canaanite practices. There was some sort of Cannanite pagan practice of boiling a goat kid in it's mother's milk then sprinkling it on a field in a fertility right of sort. So God, thought it best to lay down this command to keep His people unto Himself pure from all idolatry. Which forms the commandment, "Thou shall have no other God's before me". Now soon after the Babylonian capitivity the Sophrem or Sages, begin to expound and pass along orally, new fence laws associated with the Torah Law. For example, they eventually begin to separate their meat dishes from their milk dishes, etc. Why? Here is the reasoning, if one sat down and ate some goat meat, then drank down some goat's milk and it went into the stomach, the digestive process would heat up that goat's milk and in ther thinking would boil the goat kid. What if, that goats meat came from the kid of the mother that the goat milk came from - well they had violated God's law. So there were discussions on how long one would have to wait to eat the meat after the milk so that this wouldnt take place, and on and on argument went to the formation of a new law or fence law that would put the brakes on breaking the true Torah.
Now, perhaps one might break these dish laws, but they wouldn't have broken God's law ncessarily. So they built one by one fence laws around the true law, the Torah. This provided protection for them from ever going into captivity again in the vanity of their minds and logic. They built all kinds of arguments into fence laws such as this on several matters other than eating. They argued over things like what made a vessel clean or unclean.
At this point, the Sophrem laws were not supreme, they were recongnized only as the "fence laws" around the true Torah which still remained true law. The Sophrem law could be debated, not the Torah or what is known as the Tenakh. Well, after awhile new teachers came along and they begin to take these arguments and expound on these "fence laws" of the Sophrem, and they come up with new laws or commentary on the law of the Sages, these formed a fence law around the fence law. For the time, this was fine, but then the Tanna begin to say that the Sophrem law was to be obeyed, never argued and the Torah begin to become not the center of law, but to fade away to the Sophrem law. The Tanna was arguable but the initial fence laws were not.
This is about the time when Jesus came into the picture. Thus he debated with them on both aspects trying to make them see God's intent of the Torah and to see they had broken it with their traditions of men. Jesus was constantly upsetting them with the breaking of their traditions or the Oral Law and the written law. Jesus the Son of God, God incarnate could declare the law as He saw fit. Why not, he was God manifest in the flesh. He broke them from not washing his hands before a meal (which is equal to being a murderer under the Talmudic law) to walking through a corn field ( sowing, reaping and storing of the grain) and eating and healing on a Sabbath. On and on he violated the traditions of men making love His first priority. Now, have you ever read any of these laws Talmudic laws in the Torah. of course not, because they aren't there. They are the figment of many years of Judaic imagination, speculation and thought. Much like the traditions of men, today in the church that have been developed which are not scriptural based but based upon the writings and commentary on scripture of over 1900 years.
The Rabbi's taught the Jews that these laws which now superceded the Torah (Tenakh) had been handed down secretly to Moses from God for his people and the people accepted this explanation. Out of these writings, came the Mishnah ( the oral tradition), the Gemara the explanations and analysis of the Tanna and what today is known as the summation of all these as the Talmud.
This is the Bible of people who practice Judaism, along with the Kabbala a mystical Jewish theology based on numbers. If you haven't read the Talmud, as I have much of it, It sometimes difficult reading because the reasoning in it becomes non-logical in my opinion at times, and much of it's law is very pro-Jewish and anti-Gentile and even anti-Christ and anti-Christian. See http://www.talmudunmasked.com/ - Though this is written by a Catholic it very astutely points to the anti-Christian views of the later Rabbi's.

Now, what are the Noahdic Laws.
Here is a summary of explanation:

Following the great flood Yahweh made a covenant with Noah and all of his decendants known as the Noahdic Covenant (see Gen. 9.) This Noahdic Covenant included what is called in Judaism "The Seven Laws of Noah." These are seven laws which can be drawn from the opening portion of Genesis prior to the calling out of Abraham and his decendants (the Jews), as a result these seven Laws apply to all mankind. (Jews and Gentiles.)

These Seven Laws of Noah are:

1. Against idolatry.
2. Against fornication.
3. Against murder.
4. Against blasphemy.
5. Against theft.
6. Against eating the limb of a living animal.
7. To promote justice.

The requirement for justice found in this list is derived from Gen. 9:5-6 where man is commanded to institute capitol punishment. Thus man was empowered to establish human government. For this reason Dispensationalist Christians recognize this as the beginning of what they call "the Age of Human Government." In Judaism this justice commandment is recognized as an obligation on the part of man to establish courts and governments to enforce the other six laws of Noah.
In this way Yahweh empowered man to govern himself.

Now given the their direct enpowerment from the Old Testament, they built upon these laws as well. This building of fence laws and defining the law as well became part to the Talmud.

Here is the danger to our society and American freedom. They are not laws or definitions of those laws by the Jewish community that offer in any sense, "equal justice under the law."

For example:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Carol Valentine-

In contrast, Talmud law insists on unequal justice under law. Talmudic law holds there is one law for Jews, and one for Gentiles. This is not inconsistent with the Old Testament, in which LORD God decrees that Jews should not enslave other Jews: Gentiles are the proper slaves of Jews.

44. Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
45. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
46. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

Gentiles Easy To Convict

Under Jewish law, Gentiles are easy to convict for capital crimes; but it is difficult to convict Jews. The standards of proof are different.

For a Jew to be convicted by a Jewish court, two eyewitnesses must have seen the perpetrator about to commit the crime and warned him of the potential penalty. The murderer must verbally answer that he chooses to proceed anyway. (For a non-Jew, only one witness is required and no verbal warning.)

Rabbi Adlerstein, as told to Naomi Pfefferman (5)

Rabbi Adlerstein's statement is confirmed by the Talmud.

(When excerpting the Talmud, we sometimes omit footnotes and non-germane text. The omission of text is indicated by an ellipsis (…). The full text and footnotes may be found by following the hot link at the end of the excerpt. It is our pleasure to make available the text of the complete tractates cited in this article, so you may read the Talmud in full context.)

GEMARA. … R. Jacob b. Aha found it written in the scholars' Book of Aggada: A heathen is executed on the ruling of one judge, on the testimony of one witness, without a formal warning, on the evidence of a man, but not of a woman, even if he [the witness] be a relation.

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 57b
Soncino 1961 Edition, page 390

Rabbi Adlerstein's statement is also confirmed by Talmud scholar and translator, Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman. In the following quotes, "Noahide" means a non-Jew. Rabbi Dr. Freedman tells us twenty-three judges must sit on a court that hears a capital case against a Jew; when a Gentile is tried on a capital charge, one (Jewish) judge is required.

5. A Noachide is tried by one judge, and on the testimony of one witness only, and is executed even if no formal admonition preceded his offence; a Jew is tried by a court of twenty-three, on the testimony of at least two, and only after formal admonition. Moreover, a gentile is decapitated, whereas a Jew is stoned.

Rabbi Dr. Freedman (6)

Laws Different for Jew and Gentile

Not only are the court procedures and the standards of evidence different from one class to the other, the very laws are different. For example, if a Jew murders a Gentile, there is no death penalty.

GEMARA. … 'For murder, whether of a Cuthean by a Cuthean, or of an Israelite by a Cuthean, punishment is incurred; but of a Cuthean by an Israelite, there is no death penalty'

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 57a
Soncino 1961 Edition, page 388

But if a Gentile strikes a Jew, "he is worthy of death."

GEMARA. … R. Hanina said: If a heathen smites a Jew, he is worthy of death, for it is written, And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian. R. Hanina also said: He who smites an Israelite on the jaw, is as though he had thus assaulted the Divine Presence; for it is written, one who smiteth man [i.e. an Israelite] attacketh the Holy One.

— Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 58b
Soncino 1961 Edition, page 398

No Jury of Peers under Talmud Law

Talmud law does not provide for the accused to be tried by a jury of his peers. In Talmud law, the accused is tried by rabbis.

Ox Gets 23 Judges

In case there were any doubt about the place of the Gentile in Talmud law, the following excerpt from Sanhedrin 2a settles the question. Recall that a capital case against a Gentile is heard by one judge. According to Sanhedrin 2a, a capital case against an ox, a hyena, or a serpent is tried by 23 judges.
MISHNAH. … CAPITAL CASES ARE ADJUDICATED BY TWENTY-THREE. THE PERSON OR BEAST CHARGED WITH UNNATURAL INTERCOURSE, BY TWENTY-THREE, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THOU SHALT KILL THE WOMAN AND THE BEAST, AND ALSO, AND YE SHALL SLAY THE BEAST. THE OX TO BE STONED IS TRIED BY TWENTY-THREE, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THE OX SHALL BE STONED AND ITS OWNER SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH — AS THE DEATH OF THE OWNER, SO THAT OF THE OX, CAN BE DECIDED ONLY BY TWENTY-THREE. THE DEATH SENTENCE ON THE WOLF OR THE LION OR THE BEAR OR THE LEOPARD OR THE HYENA OR THE SERPENT IS TO BE PASSED BY TWENTY-THREE. R. ELIEZER SAYS: WHOEVER IS FIRST TO KILL THEM [WITHOUT TRIAL], ACQUIRES MERIT, R. AKIBA, HOWEVER, HOLDS THAT THEIR DEATH IS TO BE DECIDED BY TWENTY-THREE.
— Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 2aSoncino 1961 Edition, page 2

Soncino 1961 Edition, page 2

Perspective on Gentiles

A further perspective in traditional Jewish laws and attitudes concerning Gentiles is contained in What About Gentiles? (18) Of particular interest is the modern study by Rabbi David Bar-Chayim, the head of the Makhon Ben Yishai Institute for Torah Research. Israel National Radio calls Rabbi Bar-Chayim "one of Israel's Leading Torah Scholars." (19) Rabbi Bar-Chayim's essay, The Jews Are Called "Man," offers a definitive statement of the doctrines concerning Gentiles, with extensive references to many Jewish Scriptures. (20)

US Supreme Court Warms to the Talmud

Approximately three years after Nathan and Alyza Lewin filed the Bryan v. Moore amicus curiae brief a notable event in itself another notable event took place. A kosher dinner was held to honor the establishment of the National Institute for Judaic Law (NIJL). The dinner was attended by 200 people, including Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia. Nathan and Alyza Lewin also attended.

The site of the dinner? The United States Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC. The Jewish Week reported the event in this manner:

What does the Talmud have to say about legal and moral controversies in Modern America?

Plenty, according to the creators of the new Washington-based National Institute for Judaic Law, which opened with a lavish Supreme Court dinner last night.
Some Orthodox activists say they can't figure out exactly the point of the whole thing. But Noson Gurary, a Lubavitch rabbi who came up with the idea and won backing from some top Jewish legal experts, harbors no doubts.

— Jewish Week (2)

Noson Gurary is an ordained rabbi of the Chabad Lubavitch sect, and follower of late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Chabad Lubavitch is a movement within the Hasidic (sometimes spelled "Chasidic") branch of Judaism. Rabbi Gurary is the executive director of Chabad of Buffalo, New York. (3) He is co-author of several books on Hasidic and Chabad Lubavitch philosophy. (7) Hasidism embraces a Kabbalistic concept of God, the Ein-Sof, (8), a power reminiscent of "The Force" in George Lucas' Star Wars.

Coming from Where We've Never Been

The Jewish Week explains more of the NIJL project. In the following paragraph, macher is a Yiddish word meaning "big shot," a person with access to authorities. (10)

According to Gurary, the group, which has hired two researchers to compile reports, will focus initially on the issue of business ethics. Eventually, the goal is to compile a library and database in Washington that will offer Jewish law insights into a host of contemporary issues and to help create courses on the subject at law schools nationwide. The institute will also inaugurate a monthly lunch series for legal machers in Washington.

— Jewish Week (2)

The Jewish Week continues:

"It will be an eye opener for judges, scholars and law students," he told The Jewish Week. "Before you know where you're going, you have to system in America. You need to know where you came from. And Jewish law is the basis of our legal Gurary, who teaches at the University of Buffalo law school, said his target audience includes judges around the country and law students, not politicians and law students. "And as a teacher of Judaic studies, I began to see the excitement of students who were being exposed to Jewish law for the first time, who now had a better understanding of where Western law come from," Gurary said.

— Jewish Week (2)

It is a safe bet that all of Rabbi Gurary's students had been exposed to the Ten Commandments before, and none were encountering them "for the first time" in his classroom. Hence, Rabbi Gurary's term "Jewish law" must refer to Talmud law rather than Biblical law. Thus, Rabbi Gurary's statement reads that Western law "came from" Talmud law — and that is patently false. The sources for law in Europe and America include Roman law, Anglo-Saxon law, and the Western philosophers of Liberty. Neither American nor European law has ever institutionalized legal superiority of Jew over Gentile.

Bush Approves Talmudization of America

The Jerusalem Post reported the November 2002 kosher dinner as follows:

Jewish legal experts have created a new institute that will educate jurists and others about 2,000 years of Jewish law and promote the application of the teachings to contemporary legal disputes and other modern- day issues.

US President George W. Bush sent greetings and applauded the institute for promoting an "understanding of Judaism's rich tradition of legal thought".

"As we face new challenges and welcome new opportunities, our society must continue to promote good character and strong values. Through the study and teaching of Jewish law and philosophy you are contributing to a growing culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility in America," Bush wrote.

— The Jerusalem Post (1)

Justice Scalia Is a Key Player

The Jerusalem Post reports that Justice Antonin Scalia has high praise Jewish law.

Scalia, in a letter to the institute's founder, Noson Gurary, wrote that "Jewish law is certainly one of the oldest and most highly developed systems" and explained why the comparative study of legal traditions was beneficial.

— The Jerusalem Post (1)

In fact, Rabbi Gurary came up with the idea of the Institute as a result of correspondence with Justice Scalia:

Gurary said that the idea for the institute came in an exchange of letters in which Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the most conservative Justices, expressed his "fascination with Jewish law."

— The Jerusalem Post (1)

Justice Scalia has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Yet, by his attendance at this dinner he clearly indicated his support for an antithetical system: Talmud law. How does he reconcile the two? We are not told.

Talmud vs. Old Testament

Some non-Jews take the position that the Talmud perverted the Old Testament teachings. See, for example, Chapter I of Elizabeth Dilling's The Jewish Religion: It's Influence Today. The question then becomes: If the Talmud perverted Jewish law, what is real, un-perverted Jewish law the Jewish law of the Old Testament? What was the quality of justice that pervaded the mind-set of the ancient Jews? Should we in America emulate that Old Testament sense of justice?

We have prepared a sampling of Old Testament passages in a compendium called In His Own Image. (21) Let us examine an incident described in Genesis 34.

Shechem is a Gentile, a Hivite. Jacob's daughter, Dinah, catches his eye. Under circumstances not fully described, Shechem seduces Dinah. Shechem loves Dinah tenderly and wants her as his wife. He offers to give any dowry asked for her, and suggests to Jacob's family that their two tribes be joined. While harboring vengeance in their hearts, Jacob's sons (the progenitors of the Tribes of Israel) deceitfully agree to the merger, but insist that the Hivite men be circumcised. The Hivites agree. While the Hivite men are recovering from the operation and still in pain, the Hebrews attack the city, kill all the men, and take the women and children as captives slaves.

1. And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
3. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
4. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
5. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
6. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.
7. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter: which thing ought not to be done.
8. And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
9. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
10. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
11. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
12. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
13. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.
14. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
15. And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
16. But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;
17. Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
18. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
    …
24. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
25. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
26. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.
27. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
29. And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
30. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
31. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

Genesis 34:1-18, 24-31

While many religions frown on sex before marriage, most of us understand that unmarried sex happens. If a man or even the son of the prince slept with our sister before marriage, few of us would think it appropriate to murder all the other men in the city, loot the fields and buildings, and take the women and children into slavery. Nor is it likely, having done such a thing, that we would find a sympathetic judge or jury to hear our case. In short, what we have here is a very different concept of justice so different that many of us could not agree it should be called "justice." The Bible passage shows that:

1. Shechem, a Gentile, is not accused of using force or violence on Dinah
2. Shechem declared his love for Dinah, and pleaded for her as his bride
3. Shechem asked Jacob to name any dowry he would like
4. Shechem expressed his good will toward Jacob's tribe, offering a merger of wealth and fortunes
5. Jacob's sons responded deceitfully, pretending friendship and planning murder
6. Jacob's sons slew other men who were not implicated in the seduction
7. The women and children taken in slavery were blameless victims — of Jacob's sons
8. Between the time that Shechem came to Jacob and the time that Dinah was taken from Shechem's house, there were approximately three days. During that time, Jacob and his sons knowingly permitted Dinah to be "defiled" without protest. In consideration of the treasure and slaves looted from the city, did not Jacob and his sons "deal with [their] sister as with an harlot?"

Jacob's final statement on the issue is particularly telling: He complained to his sons that they had put him at odds with the local tribes, and they might retaliate. In no other way did Jacob find fault with their actions.

We have examined each of the Soncino Scriptural index entries for Genesis Chapter 34: there are no comments from the Sages on the injustice in this incident. All apparently approve of the actions of their ancestors.

This is the Old Testament tradition, repeated over and over again through many narratives, as cited in In His Own Image. In particular, note the fate of those who do not follow the Hebrew religion they are put to death. Is this the tradition of law and justice for which we should trade our Bill of Rights?

A Little Beacon of Light

Many defend the Old Testament because, they say, it contains commandments that regulate human interaction and produce an ordered society. But earlier civilizations had codes of law regulating human society. See, for example, the Code of Hammurabi, who reigned in Babylon between 1795 and 1750 BC. (12) Moses received the Tablets of Stone in 1275 BC. (13) Hammurabi's Code was on public display approximately 500 years before LORD God's conversation with Moses on Mt. Sinai.

In its report of the November, 2002 kosher dinner at the Supreme Court, The Jerusalem Post quotes Rabbi Gurary thus:

By demonstrating the philosophy of Jewish law and its moral values, we can bring a little beacon of light to this world.

— Rabbi Gurary, quoted in The Jerusalem Post (1)

How much light Jewish law and its moral values brought to this world is a subject for open, informed discussion. See also Was Jesus a Jew?

Thank you for your consideration of the above,
Carol A. Valentine, Ear@Come-and-Hear.com
July 14, 2003 ( This article is on line at http://www.come-and-hear.com/editor/capunish_4.html )

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Thank you Carol for your well informed piece I have reprinted above on this subject.

Now, I ask you does any of what the Judaic idea of Justice sound like justice as designed for America? Of course not, and perhaps we can better understand why their is no thought of protection afforded or even given to Christians in the State of Israel. Thousands of Palestinian Christians have died at the hands of Israel. It doesn't matter - they are Gentiles in their sense of law. Can you honestly support such a system that is apartheid and provides one sort of law for the Jew and another for the Gentile. I can't and won't.

I warn people like the Reverend John Hagee - persist in your practice of monetary support and political lobbying and it may mean your own death at the hands of those who falsely call themselves Israel.

How could the EKKLESIA of Jesus Christ make such a detrimental and terrible mistake as Dispensationalism. Easy, when the flesh is involved. I say unto the fleshly pre-millenial dispensational teachers. REPENT! Today is the day of salvation.

We will have no more of your unscriptural two or three returns of Christ, your gaps that are unscriptural for the return of blood sacrifice and the restoration of a Temple in Jerusalem, and all the fictional stuff Darby and Scofield's followers like Lindsey, LaHay and others have come up with.

I highly recommend you return to your Bibles and study and quit reading fiction and quit trying to create an Armegeddon. Do something constructive to bring peace to the Middle East.

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God"

"Through great tribualtion we enter the Kingdom of God" Acts 14:22.

The great tribulation is here and has been since Pentecost when the last days were declared from then on until when Christ comes. The only promise left for the Hebrew people is eternal life and the Holy Jerusalem built as the Temple of God, of which we are his priest and He our High Priest, and that dwelling place of God, if they will but recognize Jesus as the promise fulfilled in all things.

Christ has made the sacrifice and broken down the barrier between believing Jew and Gentile. The nation you so try to support is a nation made by violence and continued in violence and promotes violence, with all the justification they can rouse support for through a "church" blinded by the god of this world, Satan.

Will you, Christians Gentile accept the laws of the Talmud over the law of love, which Christ gave unto all men? Will you accept unequal justice and be the one on the recieving end of this kind of justice? I doubt it.

Wake up, Christians we need to strive for peace in the Middle East and we can when the demands for Israel to obey the laws already in place, is equal to the demands we put on all the rest of the nations.

It is the dispensationalist, that I will say, the blood of all of the saints will end up upon your hands and heads. Keep it up and wait and see. I promise you, God will reveal the truth and it will be too late for you,

Jesus is coming and He isn't waiting for Israel to take over land or these United States to conquer the world, or us to become as a nation a joint partner as church and state. Give your loyalty to Jesus and the Kingdom of God and not the kingdoms of this world, whether Jewish or Gentile.

Once, again I am not anti-semitic, I love the Jewish people and have some dear friends who are Jewish to whom I lift to Christ in prayer for their salvation daily.

I spent time just the other day conversing with a Messianic Jew, and it was a wonderful time of sharing our faith. Though he is Dispensationalist, I love him and pray that he too will see the truth and see how this doctrine divides and destroys that for which Christ died. To save all of Israel - his body - the EKKLESIA made up of many nations,as the stars in the sky, as promised Abraham.

All men who come to Christ are children of Abraham. We cannot allow the lie to continue, especially amongst the body of Christ of separate promises for the Jew and Gentile. The promise has come, and He must be recognized as Yeshua Meshiach - Jesus the Messiah who died for us on a cruel cross and shed his blood for all of us while were yet His enemy. Yeshua ( Jesus) who was raised the 3rd day, and now lives through his people resurrected, guiding us, sanctifying us, and bringing us to glory with Him by the Holy Spirit.

This is love, that God first loved us. Our response is to love all men, all races, all cultures equally, and as a "Christian American" to see that justice is "equal for all men." - especially in this country.

It is the words carved above on the entry to the Supreme Court of these United States. "Equal Justice Under Law".

The Law of the Talmud and the Law of these United States is incompatible.

Dr. J.

War and Taxes - A Call to the Christian Conscience

"What would you do if someone came to your door, with a cup  in hand asking for your contribution to help buy guns to kill a group of people they didn't like"?

 

You would either ask the questions as to who and why, as many do today, accepting the governments explanation for spending 30-40% of your income tax for the wars it is involved in, or you would say go away, I'm not giving you anything to kill anybody.

Going with the latter answer, it seems the most logical when offered no explanation for this contribution other than to buy guns and kill a group of people they didn't like.

Here is the problem of tax paying for those like myself, who do not believe in war and believe Jesus brings a Gospel of peace.

Peace and goodwill to all men was the declaration of the angels at Christ's birth.

How the church has turned from the heart of the Gospel to where most fundamentalist today stand is a subject I am writing on in a book I intend to title "Why The American Church is Failing",

 

The question of paying taxes is a question we must face as a non-resistant believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. This question I believe has been answered with suggestions of how to resist by either no payment or partial payments to the IRS and great clarity of the penalties, etc. by  the Mennonites www.mcc.org and the War Resistance League. www.warresistors.org

 

Here are some facts you may not be aware of:

 

Cost of the War in Iraq
$410,451,578,221
as of 8:46 on March 22, 2007

 

MORE DEATHS

 

• More than 34,000 Iraqi civilian deaths in 2006 — twice as many as in 2005 — and 37,000 injured 1
• More than 12,000 Iraqi security forces killed since 2003 1
• More than 3,900 U.S. military and "coalition" forces dead with more than 38,400 U.S. military and coalition forces wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 2
• Twice as many Afghani deaths in 2006 — 4,400 (including 1,000 civilians) — compared to 2005 3

 

 LESS SECURITY 

 

"Rather than contributing to eventual victory in the global counterterrorism struggle, the situation in Iraq has worsened the U.S. position."4

 

"It's a very candid assessment . . . stating the obvious," according to
one intelligence official.

 

1 UN report, 1/16/2007;
2 icasualties.org;
3 Human Rights Watch report (AP, 1/30/07);
4 A key finding of the National Intelligence Estimate, a 2006 report from 16 U.S. government spy agencies ("Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Hurting U.S. Terror Fight," Washington Post, 9/24/06)
 FEWER FRIENDS 

 

A poll of 26,000 people in 25 countries show the global view of the U.S. role in world affairs is deteriorating.
• 73% disapprove of U.S. role in Iraq
• 68% believe that the U.S. military presence in the middle East provokes more conflict than it prevents
• 49% believe the United States plays a mainly negative role in the world

 

source: BBC World Service poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org
 

Now these facts alone are not enough to make many individuals war resistors, for the truth be told, fundamental churches have bought into the teachings of Dispensationalism and  the result is war mongering, and more and more they have twisted scriptures, I believe to their own destruction. When I speak of destruction, they have left their first love, Jesus, for the love of the world, self and nationalistic pride.

 

I am someone who understands the IRS and their power. I have since 1983 been in a struggle against their tactics of intimidation and not because I had resisted paying taxes, in most cases, it was due to employers failing to report all I have paid, or to the IRS claims somehow enough was not paid. In some cases upon filing I found out that I still owed more taxes when during the time I was working and my employer was taking out taxes, I assumed they were taking out the right amount, then would find at the end of the year, I owed and I didn't have what was owed to pay. 

I have always filed and never intentionally lied on my income tax return and simply tried to pay my tax as due. Misunderstanding the scripture in context when it says, pay taxes to whom taxes are due. We forget that this continues with saying, owe no debt to anyone but the debt of love.

I have since 1985 paid near every month additional payments to the IRS just to pay them what they claim I owe. In the last 6 years that has meant paying them, $250.00 a month until I finally got them to reduce it to $50.00 per month. I was at that time going through a period of unemployment, health problems and more, which left me broke. I am still only partially employed, doing direct marketing for 20 hours per week that pays only commissions when an appointment is set for the service representative to do a demo of our product. The demo must be carried through, sale or no sale, which means most often people have second thoughts and cancel their appointments I set. To this point I have earned only $584.00  - subtract taxes, in the past 5 weeks since going back to work part-time. I am still broke. I obtain little help from outside sources, but God is my sustainer and my provider and I remain thankful to him, for all that he has done for me and is doing for me. I have been unable to find full-time work, for 6 months now, and have sent out, over 100 resumes, to find that the corporate world is just not in the market for 53 year old men regardless of their  education, experience and skills. I continue to look but still no replies, or answers to applications or resumes.

The IRS during all these years, would dig up new claims of owing them taxes even going back to the tax year 1993 in the year, 2005. This is over 12 years ago, assuredly there has to be some sort of law against going back that far.  They know I couldn't prove them wrong if I wanted to, as those tax records are long gone. Those records are lost to the many moves I have made, the cleaning out of my home after my wife's untimely death in a freak car accident in 2001 and just in general of not holding onto these records  because I didn't think it was important to keep them beyond 7 years. 

I was mislead to think they could only go back 7 years. I guess I was wrong, I have had no one tell me different.

 

My wife and I had filed an Offer to Compromise in July 2001, they didn't respond after the longest time period, (per their statement they had 30 days to decide), I heard nothing for 9 months, we did hear from our Taxpayer's Advocate, two months after the filing that the IRS claimed they didn't get our electric utility bills, which we know they did and the Taxpayer's Advocate, said she recalled them being in the package she helped mail.

We went through the whole process again of accumulating these records to send them. Yet, still time went by. My wife of 27 years was killed in an accident on November 21, 2001, then not until April 2002, did I hear from them after I filed my taxes for 2002, and they had rejected our plea, When I called them they told me, now that my wife was dead, I would have to file "two" Offers of Compromise one under my dead wife's name and then one under my name. Needless to say, I was exasperated. I gave an attorney $4,000 of my wife's life insurance money I had inherited to file these, being assured by him he could help reduce my tax and get them to make an offer in settlement.

Instead the lawyer took me for a ride, did nothing and kept the money, then created a fake bill for his time- which might have been a total of 2 hours that we ever talked. The State only offered a grievance form to be filled out as the only means of action to be taken against him. This "shyster" knew what he was doing, he made it impossible for me to come back and get my money back, as he wrote the contract, to say in small lettering, "he guaranteed no results and no money back guarantee".

Lawyers like him commit a crime against people everyday and walk away, without penalty or repayment to their client. This is life in America, land of the rich and the oppressed.

Land where the lawyers make laws that oppress the poor and enrich the rich.

 

I lost my chance to file an Offer to Compromise and I lost $4,000 which could have been paid on the taxes which would have been better than the "thieving" lawyer stealing my money. So, there  I was back to square one paying money to the IRS for years back that they claim I owe and I truthfully do not know that I do owe any taxes for most of the years claimed.

I have had during all this time, two personal audit meetings with them. One in 1986 and one sometime around 1994. Neither one of these would be what I call at that time a chance to prove them wrong with records but rather a time for them to tell me what I was going to pay and when.

My battle has gone from a Congressional tax case initiated by a Senator of Texas, Phil Gramm, who assisted me in getting the Tax Payers Advocate and an opportunity to settle for less with an Offer to Compromise, to the IRS denying of my Offers to Compromise, to them requiring two new Offers of Compromise, to no offer filed because a lawyer stole my money, to paying them monthly from 2002 - 2005  - $250.00 per month to paying $50.00 per month until I finally couldn't pay them anything due to my bad health and unemployment.

I now suppose I will get the typical letters of demand - "pay or else" threats again. To be quite honest, I am not only tired of the harassment, I am tired of contributing any money period to a nation that has gone mad and spends over 31% of our income taxes for WAR!

I am tired of the threats and the harassment, I have nothing for them to take, and welcome them to take the only thing I own, a 1996 Pickup truck which has over 168,000 miles on it and is my only means of transportation. Take away my means of transportation they take away my ever having a chance to pay their taxes. Garnish my small earnings I have right now, I quit work and they get nothing.

I would say I should be declared "uncollectible". Since the rejection in 2002, I have paid what they claimed was $28,000 down to about 9,000 dollars. The remaining $9,000 is as debatable as that which they have already collected from me. You have to remember this is the Internal Revenue Service. Though I have dealt with some individuals by telephone who have been very understanding, the collections process is not. The poor men, pays by intimidation which they the IRS know works well. The rich men is very seldom harassed because he can afford large tax attorney firms that can hold collections up in court for years. They almost always can obtain an Offer to Compromise and pay little of the actual tax due. I once read a report by a former IRS collector who said this was their practice and the managers of the IRS collection department made this very clear to their collectors, to collect from those that they could intimidate, "the poor".

 

I am a peace lover, I am strong believer in non-resistance as Christ taught and the Apostles lived out with the practices of the earliest believers who died for their faith in the Roman Coliseums and even on a cross hung upside down as Peter did. The Great Persecution or The Great Tribulation.

Why didn't any of them resist those who persecuted them? Why didn't the early Christians including Paul take up a sword and form a group of people to fight their oppressors. Not one of them ever lifted their hand to strike out at their persecutors, all except Peter on the night at Gethsemane and then Christ told him to put down his sword and the Jesus healed the servants ear.

 

We must ask ourselves, if we are truly Christians, one specific question. Doesn't contribution monetarily toward a government that is bent on the deaths of many people, constitute, that we should refuse to pay either that portion of tax that goes to war or even all our taxes? This is a question I have asked myself a lot in the last 3 years especially since through time with the Lord in prayer and much biblical study, I concluded that I believe as the Mennonites do in Non-Resistance and only in the Kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit has confirmed this in my heart.

I know there are many arguments otherwise but there is no argument that stands against what Jesus did, and what the  book of 1st John tells us, that if "we abide in Him, we will walk even as He (Jesus) walked".

 

Yes, Jesus showed anger and there is no where we are told that anger is wrong, as long as it doesn't lead to sin.

I am angry now, but my anger will not lead to murder or hatred of my brother.

I am angry against a organized governmental system that in no way gives us a choice to contribute or not to contribute to evils that we as Christian believers should have choice in.

I choose to love my enemy as Christ taught and to do good to them. Good is not the death and destruction this nation has become largely responsible for worldwide anymore. One cannot even apply Justified War to Iraq. The attack of 911, had nothing to do with Iraq and Afghanistan, yet now, thousands have died because in our hearts along with a lying President, we became evil and cried, Vengeance!

When the Lord, says, "Vengeance is mine", and He wasn't even talking about vengeance for the sake of countries and governments but for the persecution of those of His church. The attack on the WTC was an attack against our financial systems and economics, it wasn't an attack directed at Christianity and even if it were, God, says, "Vengeance is Mine"! We are now suffering the chastening of the Lord individually for not listening to the Spirit of God, with 3,400 men and women being sent home in body bags. Truly, if this was a battle God told us to fight the victory as an the Old Testament days would have been hands down with little or no loss of American lives. I state this because those who ascribe to justified war love to use OT scripture as their justification, as if we are a Theocracy as Israel was. This is not the Lords' Battle.

 

Good is not killing others for the sake of my ideas of government or other worldly concepts. Good is preaching the ministry of reconciliation to Muslim and Jew alike. Teaching the truth of salvation, when taught in truth always results in peace between all people. "Love conquers all".

I am now in the place trying to determine how best to continue paying for taxes I am not sure I owe anyway and my conscience that hates war and loves peace. It is a difficult problem for anyone facing this. In truth the biggest reason people don't want to answer their conscience in regards to this, is because refusal or even partial payment, may result in the loss of any and all material goods they have, including if they own a car or their home. The other side is they may fear going to jail. Something even I fear, as I see jail as the worst thing we can do to anyone. To take a person and lock them up for their conscience on serving or not serving war, is absolutely the greatest injustice one man can do to another. Then again, no one ever said, that man's justice is good, even David asked God to give Him His justice rather than that of men's, knowing full well that God's is tempered with love and compassion and correctiveness in mind, and the concept of sinful men's idea of justice is only in punishing individuals for their sins against society or law, while yet they are sinners themselves. God offers forgiveness, men do not. God is holy and any justice he gives us is from Him that is perfect, whereby imperfect men, subject other imperfect men to  punishment for the very same sins they are guilty of. They live a lie, saying it isn't true but Jesus proved just the opposite. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Even the murderer is no more greater a sinner then he who hates his brother. Jesus made this clear, and hatred of any group, of people, culture, race, or peoples of a religion that we don't agree with is in the eyes of God, murder!

The American fundamentalist continue to feed this fire of hatred with their rhetoric against Muslim, Palestinians, homosexuals and more. We may not agree with various practices, or religions, or other, but we are not called to be judges as Christians but to minister reconciliation to these people in the form of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Beyond that we have no higher duty then to love them, pray for them and preach the Good News to them.

We cannot legislate righteousness, man is sinful, only a new creation in Christ can establish righteousness in a man, woman or child's life. Law's designed to regulate man's behavior, have proven failed throughout history. I am not calling for no law, for society itself would crumble without law because it is made up of the lawless as well as the Christian, but to remember that the law is for the lawless and a school master to Christ, and that as such it is our purpose only as Christians to seek the redemption of all violators by showing them the way to Christ.

It is not our job to punish  this belongs only to the, One Lawgiver and Judge, God.

I oppose the death penalty for these reasons and I truly believe we can find better ways to correct criminals then propagating criminality through penitentiaries and putting them in a society that only promotes criminality, not only among the imprisoned but with those that imprison them. Recent events in Texas youth prisons have proven my point and the history of criminal justice has proven my point. Very few people come out corrected and very few people stay corrected from imprisonment. The few that have it is only due to the presence of Christian outreach and their conversion to Christ. Many of these in the prisons suffer, psychological and spiritual problems that could be resolved, many had no chance in life in their upbringing, and they could be made whole with a different societal approach to their correction. How can imperfect men, ever correct imperfect men, without Christ as center of that correction coming from a Spirit led and abiding Christian.  This is not the case in the real world. Thus it is a spiral that continues until Jesus comes, or we as believers take more action to being a part to bringing the Kingdom of God to pass in people's lives. I thank God for people like my uncle who was a Prison Chaplain, I have seen God use his ministry to bring life to many individuals. He is not perfect but he has Christ and scripture and it is the Word that changes an individual whether them, you or me.

It is our calling to correct the body of Christ always with the thought in mind that we too may fall into sin, and to offer compassion and forgiveness. not judgment, condemnation in which punishment doesn't involve these things -correction ( being steered in a new direction) and healing ( both psychological and spiritual). Punishment only appeases men's flesh and sinful pride, especially for those doing the punishment.

We are to extend this love of God to ALL men, regardless of their religious belief or sin. We are to remember, that God so loved the "world" that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. It must always begin the same way God's love does, He loves all men, and offers them redemption.

He took care of the redemption it is our call and duty to offer this to others by the way we live our lives and the words we share with others. This love for them that is without prejudice or bias.

We are to love them not kill them, or punish them, we are but to love them. This is the hardest way, this is the narrow gate, because everything in our flesh says the opposite.

 

I have digressed from somewhat where I began this editorial, but all the same, it is for us to see, that war doesn't meet the call of our heavenly Father, and that we really need to ask ourselves; are we contributing to this evil by paying our taxes. In honesty, the answer has to be a loud, Yes.

Now what you do about it is up to you, and how much you may be willing to sacrifice of the "me" for the "all".

The greatest prophets and saints have always sacrificed as they stood in direct opposition to the world, their people, their culture and their society, and it's ways.

We are in the world, but scripture makes it very clear, we are not to love the things of this world and hatred is one of the big things of this world and war is it's means of exercising that hatred.

Dispensationalism, and the "Left Behind" series of fictional, non scriptural theology and exegesis has brought many to believe the big lie. This lie feeds the flesh. It is fed with justified hatred and it is very hard to escape it once one let's it become a part of themselves.  Sow to the flesh, you reap the flesh.

I am really beginning to see that "war tax resistance" may be the only hope we have left of changing this country from the war mongering, blood thirsty nation we have become.

God have mercy on us for the death and destruction we have so willingly supported. We need forgiveness not only for our willingness to listen to preachers with itching ears, but our continual contribution to the war effort in our silence, and our willingness to pay for it.

I remind readers it was over a simple tax on tea, that fired up the American Revolution, it is perhaps time for a new revolution in this country that has totally failed at the ballot box to change the face of America. Taxes are the only support these politicians have - my money and your money.

Without money, they cannot continue to disregard the voice of the people.

The "moral majority tries to make us believe that it is an attack on Christianity, whether or not the Ten Commandments are in a court officials building or not. This has little to do with being a Christian especially when the very same people that fought against the removal of the Ten Commandments from a judge's court in Alabama will not resist and take action against war, especially when one of those commandments say, Thou Shalt Not Kill. I don't read FIFTY justifications written alongside of this commandment for doing other than what it says.

It was only with the passing of time, that Christians came to the idea  of " justified war", and this not from scripture but from men, like Augustine.

I can truly say, Christian, "You Nullify the Commandments of God for Sake of the Traditions of Men!"

It is time for us to say, no more war, and no more support for your wars. My battle is not against flesh and blood. I am in a spiritual battle, in that battle we are called to render unto God what is God's.

The opposite of  the coin. Our very lives and all that we are and have belongs to God, not to the Federal government or the State, It all belongs to Him. what will you do with it, render all that you are to Caesar or to God. There is in the scripture, unlike "justified war", taught by men, there is clearly taught in scripture and the New Testament "justified civil disobedience".  "Is it better to obey God or men"?, the Apostle asked.

We know what they did, they obeyed God, and continued to proclaim His name though told it was against the law and to not do it.

This is one of the reasons, the early Christians turned the world upside down! They feared no man and only feared God. They lost all that they had to follow Jesus, who said," foxes have dens, and birds have nest, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head"

Lest we forget, we are no less called to this calling, that Jesus spoke, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men".

Peace is the only answer to war, and we as Christians, are the answer for peace in this world, if we hold fast to the traditions taught by the Word and the Apostles instead of the "traditions of men"

Neither Muslim or those that practice unlawful  or immoral things, will ever be able to resist love and peace.

When we harken to His word, we truly will become "Fishers of Men" and like the Disciples, our nets will be full and our boats will be weighed down with the catch. But hear me, WE HAVE TO FIRST CAST OUR NETS!

Cast your net, stand against war and hatred, and turn to love both in word and deed.

 

 

Dr. J.

 

The American Myth of Manifest Destiny

One of the most hotly contested issues in the 1840's through the 1850's was American territorial expansionism. To most it seemed that it was inevitable that America would expand into the West beyond the Mississipi. It would be inevitable that we would have to displace the residents of that land from Mexico, England and the American Indian tribes. In 1845 John O'Sullivan, editor of the influential "Democratic Review", coined the phrase, "Manifest Destiny". Along with this highly regarded concept came the idea that America's destiny was meant by God to be. The idea of America stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Of course, we should all know by now, how this Manifest Destiny, resulted in death, wars and more over time, to the setting aside of the Indians to reservations but not before many died at the hands of those who so strongly believed it was their manifest destiny to have all the land.
This fierce, individualistic, political idea has continued even today, and because of Darby and his teachings on Dispensationalism and the American public falling in love with the books like LaHay's fictional books the "Left Behind Series, and previous books that swept over the organizational church attendees, "The Late Great Planet Earth, a new mindset has developed which is neither orthodox in scripture or consist of proper Biblical exegesis. This new mindset has created what is known as Christian Zionism and has now transposed into a new Manifast Destiny, that the politicians call the "American hegonomy", and as a Christian I can no better define it as "Christian Nationalism". The idea is the same but it is in my opinion, nothing but pure unadulterated idolatry. I call it Christian Nationalism but there really is nothing Christian about it. In it's purest form, it will result in fascism, totalitarianism, a Police State full of fleshly pride with disregard for all human life as it stands in the way of it's goals and purposes. The goal, to create, what the fundamentalist, the Bush regime of politics, the Israeli influence of dictating American foreign policy call "Democracy" worldwide is actually misnomer for dictatorship. The new Rome has risen it's head out of the sea of history and now proclaims itself God. The American has come to believe that he is somehow to rule the world, and that God means this for us, as assuredly as the Dispensationalist teach Israel is to have their promised land. We believe and listened to a lie to come to believe that we like Israel were a persecuted people, and the American revolution, was won, because we were God's special people and he brought us into this promised land. It is an easy transition to make mentally when one has fleshly pride, and a lust for power. We will justify like Israel, all our sins against all other humanity, for the sake of proving this is so, worldwide. In Iraq alone since 2005 there has been over 35,000 men, women and children that have died as a result of our occupancy there that has created a civil war within the boundaries of this country. Yet, we went there, proclaiming and announcing the horrible practices of Saddam and his killing. We alone have suffered the deaths of over 3,000 men and women of the United States serving in the military. Just as we have slaughtered and justified to kill during the "Christian Crusades" and we slaughtered and killed thousands of American Indians, we will continue to press forward until all the world is America or a clone of ourselves. We desire to make an image of us, the American worldwide, rather than see the image of God restored to the world through the proclamation of the true Gospel of peace and love. This is George Bush's plan and the thought and belief of most of the fundamentalist preachers like Hagee and Robertson and TBN.

They are seriously leading this country toward not the Kingdom of God, but the kingdom of hell on earth! Their doctrine will only feed the Israeli hate for all those but their race, and feed the hatred and warmongering of American foreign policy.

To borrow from a great paper written by John Hubers entitled " "Christian Zionism" and the Myth of America.

"In the eyes of dispensationalists the pivotal event of the 20th century was the founding of the State of Israel in 1947 which was "proof positive" that Darby got it right. This was given more credence by the Zionist state's swift and decisive victory in the 1967 six day war. "Clearly God's hand was in this", trumpeted the dispensationalists. The ancient promises God made to Israel were coming true in front of their eyes - a literal fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy.
This was the position of the dispensationalists. But they were not necessarily the dominant voice of the mainstream evangelical church at this point. That didn't happen until the two myths began to merge-the dispensationalist myth and the American myth."
I use the word "myth" with some hesitancy as there may be those who take this to mean that I believe the biblical message to be on a par with children's fairy tales. Such is not the case. Myth in the sense I am using it here refers more to the power of a story to shape a consciousness which defines truth in a way that transcends the story itself. The myth of manifest destiny functions this way as it draws on historical events to define something larger than the events themselves. The dispensationalist myth does the same with the story of the founding of the state of Israel. Here, too, the historical events are less important than the interpretation given to those events, the way the story is framed giving rise to a larger Truth.
This is the way the story goes, at least in its condensed version: A persecuted people longing for a land where they can practice their faith in freedom overcome great odds and a determined opposition under God's direction and empowerment to create a state of their own. The opposition comes from "savages" who use terrorist tactics to keep these brave settlers from establishing their state, savages whose poor stewardship of the land justifies their removal.

Here, I believe, is at least one explanation for the tenacious hold of the dispensationalist myth on the American consciousness (even beyond evangelical circles)-it echoes themes of the American frontier myth. We hear our own story in Israel's story. We identify with the Zionists because their experience matches ours (or at least appears to match ours as we are dealing less with actual history here than interpretive history.

I agree wholeheartedly with John what he wrote. We have somehow made the transition to believing Israel as a political national world force and chosen by God to have their land we now believe it is our "Manifest Destiny" to force our way of life upon all the world, whether they like it or not. We will do so without consideration of justice, peace, or love. What matters is this great concept of America to be ruler over the world, and Israel to co-rule with us. Rather than a spiritual Israel which encompasses both Jew and Gentile as one in the Spirit of Christ, we desire to show the world it is a physical promise and not a spiritual one. We miss it just as assuredly as the Old Covenant Israel missed it when Christ proclaimed himself Messiah and had Him crucified.

Soon and very soon, this will all backfire in our faces, as it did for Germany and every nation in history that ever sat in the temple and declared themselves to be God. America is about to face the greatest challenge it ever will, when this idea of supremacy over anyone that opposes our ideals, turns in on itself, and destroys it's own people in the form of a massive Police State. It has already begun, and we are just starting to see the storm at the beginning of the tornado, that will rip through this country like a whirlwind destroying everthing we ever knew as freedom, as the voices of politicians and fundamentalist become one, they will cry out for the blood of those that oppose anything that is in any way, oppositional to their way of thinking and believing. They will gain what the Zionist refer to a nation under the "Noahdic laws". I will speak on this greater at another time as to what this law is and it's origins.

I remind Christians once again, Israel received the physical land they were promised, they lose the promise of their spiritual inheritance which is all that is remaining for them unless they come to accept Christ as Messiah. We are one with those Jews that are Christian as all people, as there are many Christians in Palestine, that are Palestinian. There are many former Muslims in Iraq, Iran and other nations that have come to know Christ.
Regardless of what anyone believes our government is not divinely appointed by God nor will it ever be. Only the soon coming Theocracy of God, when Christ does return will be the government of God.
In the meantime we must respect all life, and all culture, all nations, and love them and bring them to the Gospel of Christ. The problem is we want to bring them to a distortion of the gospel which is made up of the ideals of American materialism, American culture, American western theology and the list goes on to that which makes up that we call American Christianity.
It is a false gospel which is doomed for failure, regardless of the Pat Robertson's the TBN er's and others who propagate a lie, that will only turn them into monsters or will imprison them. I know these are harsh words, but I can't stomach what I see happening around me and what people call Christianity and Democracy, and on and on, when they are not! It is a lie from hell, that God has allowed to blind us to truth. We need to wake up, get serious about individual study of the Bible and the verses that clearly show these ideals come anywhere but from our heavenly Father, the Apostles and Jesus, Our Lord. It didnt take that long for Hitler and other dictators to turn Germany into a land of persecutors and death squads. Our time may be waiting to come and I believe it is just around the corner.
It is a time to smell the roses to say, Christians need to seriously step back and look at what it means to abide in Christ versus the new drive of American Zionism-Nationalism. Beware, even Satan can appear as an angel of light. I believe this is his time to do so, and Americans are falling into hypnosis of that light that he pretends to be, right this very moment. I call for an end to American hegonomy and an end to the myth of a Christian nation, and an end to Dispensational teaching in the body of Christ that separates the promises of God for Jew and Gentile. We are one and all the promises have been fulfilled in Christ. It is He, that cried out, "It is Finished." We only await the day of resurrection and His coming, when the sons of God shall be truly revealed. In the meantime we the wheat must deal with the tares, among us. I choose to discern between what is and what is not. Thus, I pray for God to bring His ideals of truth, justice, mercy and compassion back to the Church in America before it's too late. There is a late great America if we do not realize it is He who which we are to draw our strength and not a perverted gospel or perverted sense of American patriotism salted by an Apartheid government in Israel which is no Israel at all, except for the few Hebrews who live there that know Jesus Christ as Lord.

Dr. J

Israel, Dispensationalism, Truth and the News

It seems the news always contains something about Israel and the Middle East. As an independent news writer and editor, sometimes, it becomes necesssary to let your readers know where you stand on issues, and what you believe. It is especially important because my viewpoint of History and what Christ means to me, as a believer and my bias in reporting or commenting on news will often be subjective and opinionated, then one needs to understand my theology and more. I believe absolutely that Christ died for my sins, was raised from the grave and ascended to the Father to give us, the Holy Spirit, who trust in Him, and to live His resurrected life within the believer by grace through faith, and that it is His work alone that saves, sanctifiies and glorifies the believer. We are to trust him and in this trust comes obedience by His Spirit.

A little history of the Hebrews from 597 until today on their belief structure and more.

The Chaldeans, following standard Mesopotamian practice, deported the Jews after they had conquered Jerusalem in 597 BC. The deportations were large, but certainly didn't involve the entire nation. Somewhere around 10,000 people were forced to relocate to the city of Babylon, the capital of the Chaldean empire. In 586 BC, Judah itself ceased to be an independent kingdom (which they were), and the earlier deportees found themselves without a homeland, without a state, and without a nation. This period, which actually begins in 597 but is traditionally dated at 586, is called the Exile in Jewish history; it ends with an accident in 538 when the Persians overthrow the Chaldeans.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Chaldeans, only deported the most prominent citizens of Judah: professionals, priests, craftsmen, and the wealthy. The "people of the land" (am-hares ) were allowed to stay. So Jewish history, then, has two poles during the exile: the Jew in Babylon and the Jews who remain in Judah. We know almost nothing of the Jews in Judah after 586. Judah seems to have been wracked by famine, according to the biblical book, Lamentations , which was written in Jerusalem during the exile. The entire situation seemed to be one of infinite despair. Some people were better off; when Nebuchadnezzar deported the wealthy citizens, he redistributed the land among the poor. So some people were better off. In addition, there were rivalries between the two groups of Jews. It is clear that the wealthy and professional Jews in Babylon regarded themselves as the true Jewish people.These are the same people today who call themselves - Jews

The salient feature of the exile, however, was that the Jews were settled in a single place by Nebuchadnezzar. While the Assyrian deportation of Israelites in 722 BC resulted in the complete disappearance of the Israelites, the deported Jews formed their own community in Babylon and retained their religion, practices, and philosophies. Some, it would seem, adopted the Chaldean religion (for they name their offspring after Chaldean gods), but for the most part, the community remained united in its common faith in Yahweh.

They called themselves the "gola," ("exiles"), or the "bene gola" ("the children
of the exiles"), and within the crucible of despair and hopelessness, they forged a new national identity and a new religion. The exile was unexplainable; Hebrew history was built on the promise of Yahweh to protect the Hebrews and use them for his purposes in human history. Their defeat and the loss of the land promised to them by Yahweh seemed to imply that their faith in this promise was misplaced. This crisis, a form of cognitive dissonance (when your view of reality and reality itself do not match one another), can precipitate the most profound despair or the most profound reworking of a world view. For the Jews in Babylon, it did both.

From texts such as Lamentations , which was probably written in Jerusalem, and Job , written after the exile, as well as many of the Psalms , Hebrew literature takes on a despairing quality. The subject of Job is human suffering itself. Undeserving of suffering, Job, an upright man, is made to suffer the worst series of calamities possible because of an arbitrary test. When he finally despairs that there is no cosmic justice, the only answer he receives is that humans shouldn't question God's will. That God is sovereign. Many of the psalms written in this period betray an equal hopelessness.
But the Jews in Babylon also creatively remade themselves and their world view. In particular, they blamed the disaster of the Exile on their own impurity, their forgetting of the Law and breaking the Torah and it's 613 commandments. They were sure they had betrayed Yahweh and allowed the Mosaic laws and cultic practices to become corrupt; the Babylonian Exile was proof of Yahweh's displeasure.

During this period, Jewish leaders no longer spoke about a theology of judgement, but a theology of salvation. In texts such as Ezekiel and Isaiah ,there is talk that the Israelites would be gathered together once more, their society and religion purified, and the unified Davidic kingdom be re-established. However, what they missed was God was going to establish a "spiritual" kingdom and not a physical kingdom and not the nation of Israel.

These scriptures misunderstood then, and when they crucified Christ because he didnt fulfill these things physically, are still misinterpreted and misunderstood even more today, but now not only by those who call themselves Israel but the true Jew or (Israel, the church) today.
It wasn't until the 1800's with the advent of the Scofield Bible and it's pro Zionist (separating Jews from Christians)commentary and premillenial doctrines did the church believe that Israel was to re-establish a physical nation in the "promised land, once again to usher the coming of Christ"
The prophets, that Israel misundersood then, when they crucified Christ and even today with the re-establishment of an aparthied government known as the State of Israel still persist due to poor interpretation and pro-Zionistic leading by pro Zionism even within the Christian Church.

Yes, it was to the Jews he gave the promises and the law, but they rejected it and as a result only a remnant was saved when the church began and even unto today only a remnant is being saved. Paul and the earliest Christians, the Apostles and the beleivers at Jerusalem- who were all Jewish were and are part of this remnant even until today.Along with those who claim to be Hebrew or believe in the Torah alone come to know Christ since then. What most Christians don't realize is the Torah is not the Jewish authority today nor was it when Christ was here. The Talmud and the rabbincal teachings have replaced the Torah (the first five books of the Bible which includes the 613 commandments of God).
So this period is marked by a resurgence in Jewish tradition, as the exiles looked back to their Mosaic origins in an effort to revive their original religion. It is during this time that the Jews began to develop the Mishnah, the Gemara and what is finally known as the Talmud which is what the Jews beleive in and practice today. The Torah by the time Christ came was lost to thousands of interpretations and new (fence) laws made by the Sophraim and the Tannah and thus Christ told them- "You nullify the Commandments of God for the traditions of men".

The Talmud has become the central text of the Jewish faith. The one thing that allowed Israel to rediscover itself at this time was the fervent revival of religious tradition it was aided by another incident in history: when Cyrus the Persian conquered Mesopotamia, he allowed the Jews to return home. This was no ordinary event, though. Cyrus sent them home specifically to worship Yahweh—what was once only a kingdom would become a nation of Yahweh.
The so called nation of Israel if based that they are to return to their homeland has been fulfilled many times before 1949. It may be that never before was a particular area called Israel since the Babylonian captivity but it is not the land that God promises those of Hebrew origin but Himself, if but they would return to him.
One of the main reasons the Law has not made the Hebrew or those claiming to be Jewish, lead them as "the school master to Christ" as it did us, who claim to be Christian, is the purity of the original 613 commandments made by God to Israel has been turned into ridiculous and long discourse of the law which in themselve have become the law for Jews.
Judaism, regardless of what you may mistakenly beleive has nothing to do with the honor of the Torah as the Supreme law of God as the pre-Babylonian Jews trusted in and broke it's laws but the traditions of these men who wrote the Misnah, the Gemara, now known as the Talmud and all the rabbinic discussions since. The Talmud and it's writings are anti-Christ in nature and anti-Christian. One must study to discover these things as I have, and read the Talmud and the Jewish writings of today to discover this truth. Israel- the nation of Israel is made up of Zionist and those who hold to the supremacy of themselves over all races, including American Gentiles ( Gentile, here, having the meaning - all of us who do not accept the Talmud and their Jewish supremacy over all other races in the world). Most Americans and even most preachers in America have simply accepted what has been handed down to them as interpretation of the majority of Paul's writings in Romans on this subject, and the most predominant teaching since the 1800's has been Darby's and Scofield's popularizing this DISPENSATIONAL interpretation of Biblical prophecy, all of scripture, and the book of Revelation.

However, they weren't alone in this non-biblical interpretation of scripture. Here is the story behind DISPENSATIONALISM, from whence most of the premillenial doctrine is taken. It will surprise you, it may even anger you at me for telling you, but what I hope is it will anger you that you have been so mislead to believe in DISPENSATIONALISM. It will anger you to find that the foreign policies and the War against Terrorism and much of the Police State, that is already in effect in Israel is driven by Pro-Zionist and those in the church who proscribe to these cultic theories of DISPENSATIONALISM.

The Origins of Dispensationalism

Most people assume that Dispensationalism started with J N Darby, one of the originators of the Brethren movement. Certainly Darby popularised this doctrine and, with the spread Scofield’s reference Bible, the teaching went world wide. However, Darby was not the first to develop these ideas. In fact, there is now conclusive evidence that there was a plan by William Kelly (another key Brethren leader, and follower of Darby) to discredit the real origins, because of their dubious pedigree, and inflate the place of Darby.

I should be very clear that Dispensationalism finds no place in the entire history of the church before 1830. No one has yet found any credible evidence that anybody believed or taught such a thing. This alone should cause alarm bells to ring in our spiritual ears. When we learn the true origin of the error, we can see even more reason to steer clear.

Key Distinctives of Dispensationalism

Before we proceed, we need to clarify exactly what this teaching is in connection with other eschatological theories.
Dispensationalism is a variant of
Historic Premillennialism,that is the teaching that Christ will return after the Great Tribulation and establish a 1000 year reign on the earth (millennium) before the final battle with Satan (Armageddon), which issues in final judgment and a new earth.
Postmillennialism
teaches that Christ returns after a golden age of 1000 years where the church rules the earth in righteousness;
Amillennialism
believes that there is no Biblical teaching about a literal millennium and that the only passage which mentions is (Rev 20) is symbolically speaking of the age of grace in which we now live.

Dispensationalism is very different and has become the predominant belief in America and versions of it are growing rapidly in Britain. One problem is that it has very many variations, so to simplify our approach we will keep to essential distinctives. These are:
• Two comings of Christ. One an appearing for the saints in the air, the other a return with the saints. A period of 7 years separates these comings. In this time of tribulation, the Gospel is preached by a remnant of believing Jews and Christians not spiritual enough to be raptured.

• A secret rapture of some saints before the period of tribulation when the
antichrist will arise. This is the key distinctive called the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, (henceforth: pretribulation). This is imminent and could happen at any time.

• A dichotomy between the church and Israel. Jews are God’s true covenant people who will inherit the literal covenant promises, the church is God’s stop-gap
operation which benefits from Jewish promises. This distinction is seen as the most important Dispensational tenet by Dispensationalists Charles Ryrie and John Walvoord.

• A rigid literal approach to interpretation, especially of prophetic books.
This divides the Bible into that which refers to the Kingdom (Israel) and that which speaks of the Church.

• History is divided into specific dispensations where God deals with men in a
certain way. Each of these time periods ends in failure and judgment.

The most important aspects in evaluating the origin are: the pretribulation rapture and the dichotomy of Israel/Church.


The Origins
Pre 19th century

Some isolated superficial ‘dispensational’ statements have appeared throughout history. Some 18th century writers began to systematise some of these ideas e.g: Pierre Poiret and Isaac Watts. No one, however, taught a pretribulation rapture.
Everyone believed that the church would go through the Great Tribulation. Claims, of
some, to find it in the early church fathers are false. There is some amillennialism
there, but none of the key distinctives of Dispensationalism:there is no separation of the church and Israel and no idea of Christians escaping the tribulation or antichrist by a rapture.

The earliest form of a ‘secret’ rapture was the idea of a partial rapture which
separated some saints from others after the tribulation. This really was about
prioritisation at the second coming, spiritual believers being given priority over less worthy ones. No one saw a place for Jews until the very end and there was no form of Church/Israel dichotomy.

19th century prophetic conferences

During the 18th century there was very little teaching on the Lord’s return. As a result, a reaction began in the 1820’s and 30’s. Prophetic periodicals and references abounded. Most important were the Albury conferences established by Henry Drummond in 1826-30, but the Powerscourt Conferences, instituted by Lady Powerscourt, were also significant. Anglican S.R Maitland began to teach a future rise of Antichrist and a 3½ year great tribulation in 1826. His follower,James Todd, also wrote extensively on the subject. William Burgh converted to this ‘futurist’ view of Revelation and wrote systematically upon it in 1835.

Edward Irving

Before we continue, we must explain the person of Edward Irving. Originally a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) minister, he moved to London in 1822 and became a very famous preacher. He was such a powerful and stimulating speaker, who attracted great
crowds, that in 1827 the large Regent Square church was erected for him. This was the first to adopt modern charismatic practices (including tongues) following Irving’s belief that the gifts of the Spirit were about to be given again. Tongues first appeared in the west of Scotland in Spring 1830 but were soon present in Irving’s church. Being expelled by the Church of Scotland in 1833 he established
the Catholic Apostolic Church which was fully charismatic, including a belief in the vital role of prophets and apostles. Events soon took a turn for the worse with the gifts being abused and overruling common sense. Irving himself was ousted by men with gifts of supposed greater (apostolic) authority, and many serious doctrinal and ethical aberrations resulted. Irving himself taught a false Christology. As a result, Irving died a demoralised man and the whole movement was vilified.

In 1830, however, Irving was at the height of his fame, and spoke at the Albury
conferences. His journal "The Morning Watch", which had a high eschatological content, was widely distributed. We should note that this journal was susceptible to many weird teachings in its desire to undergird a new wave of spiritual gifts.
Some examples follow.

• Human pre-existence, author: ‘WL’. March 1830.

• The church will give birth to generations of new people in heaven to inhabit
other worlds, author: ‘C’. Sept 1830.

• The Jewish occult Cabbala rested on a ‘stable’ foundation, author not named. Sept 1830.

• Christ will multiply human beings, from the church in heaven, not by creation, but by mysterious generation in the same way that Christ was generated, author: Irving, March 1833.

• The Zodiac will bring out from secular science a conclusive demonstration of
scripture chronology, author not named. March 1833.

These sorts of doctrinal aberrations were felt to be: ‘mysteries heretofore unknown’ (Morning Watch June 1833). The same issue derided great theologians of the past, denigrated Christians that studied their writings as ‘idolaters’ and called the Evangelical World: ‘modern Moabites’.

Like many other cults, it was deemed necessary that one must join them and be
initiated to be safe. Irvingite historian Edward Miller explains that it was necessary to be sealed by the apostles of the Catholic Apostolic Church in order to escape the Imminent Great Tribulation. Each of the Irvingite apostles had to seal 12,000 before he died, but failed to do so in time (and insufficient volunteers). A helpful prophet declared that the sealing would thus be carried on in Paradise.

Roman Catholic influence

The Irvingite church journal (The Morning Watch) carried an article in September 1830 that posited a two phased coming of Christ. This critical idea is originated from a Roman Catholic Jesuit Spanish writer, called Manuel Lacunza. His book, The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty, was translated by Irving in 1827 and studied at the Albury conference, and especially at the later Powerscourt meetings. This is important - one of the key spurs to the foundations of Dispensationalism was the study of the imaginations of a Roman Jesuit, the ideas of another Jesuit, Ribera, were also considered.

So, by about 1830 we have a high degree of eschatological speculation in conferences, books and journals; a futurist view of Revelation; a growing acceptance of extreme ideas including charismania; a Jesuit view of two second comings of Christ; ideas about the separation of the church and Israel; a parenthesis of the Jewish kingdom (see later); and the expected rise of antichrist and the Great tribulation. It is also interesting to note that Joseph Smith published the Book of
Mormon, teaching a regathering of Israel, in 1830. In 1831 William Miller (the founder of Adventism) began teaching his ‘findings’. Jehovah’s Witnesses also started soon afterwards. Chiliasm (millennialism) was in the air in the mid 19th century. The missing ingredient, however, is a secret rapture.

Margaret Macdonald

The first person to speak about a pretribulation rapture was a young girl named
Margaret Macdonald from Port Glasgow (15 miles from Glasgow) who was familiar with The Morning Watch and Edward Irving. The vehicle of this idea was a vision which was written down and read by Irving. In the early 1800’s, some people were beginning to think of a future tribulation and Antichrist. Earlier, most had been historicists who saw the 1260 days of Revelation as years, viewing tribulation as present or past and seeing the Antichrist in the pope, or Napoleon, and the beast as Jews, pagans, Arians, Saracens etc.

In 1829 The Morning Watch represented the most advanced prophetical ideas, including:
• a future tribulation and Antichrist.
• a literal rapture
• a partial rapture (only those filled with the Spirit)
• however, the man-child of Rev 12 was not seen as a church symbol
• an emphasis upon the witnesses of Zecharia tied in to the witnesses of Revelations 11.

[Historically, these witnesses had been seen as the Old and New Testaments, or alternatively as Enoch and Elijah (who had been raptured)].

Margaret saw these witnesses as a symbol of the church which introduced a completely new eschatological idea. Irving (as a historicist) had come close to this in seeing the Rev 11 witnesses as a succession of chosen men faithful to God. This is found in his introduction to the translation of Lacunza’s: The Coming of the Messiah’. (Although he later in the same work states that they are a symbol of the scriptures.) Lacunza also saw them as 78utwo congregations of faithful ministers, but neither saw them as being secretly raptured before the Tribulation. Irving, like many others, believed he was already in the 1260 year Tribulation.

Young Margaret Macdonald, who had such a critical influence in the formation of
pretribulation was a poor foundation on which to rest. Her insight came in a lengthy vision after prolonged sickness which required bed-rest for 18 months. This was written down and passed to ministers, including Irving at a time when he was very susceptible to such charismatic revelation. Margaret had also only been a Christian for a year and was uneducated. It was probably these facts which led to the origin being obscured and publicised by more educated men.

Margaret was also particularly open to the occult. Robert Norton wrote of her and a friend, ‘I have seen both her and Miss Margaret Macdonald stand like statues scarcely touching the ground, evidently supernaturally’. Andrew Drummond tells us that Margaret’s close friend Mary Campbell practised automatic writing and had intense psychical power and was a medium. Margaret also predicted that socialist Robert Owen was the Antichrist at the time she had her pretribulation vision. Margaret herself began to speak in tongues about four months after her vision in August 1830.

"The Morning Watch"

The Morning Watch did not credit Margaret Macdonald as its inspiration, although it does mention ‘several young women’ having given deep revelation in a few broken sentences.

Robert Baxter, a lawyer who became disillusioned with the Irvingites and left
them wrote about Margaret in his Narrative of Facts. He states that: ‘the delusion first appeared in Scotland’ but ‘it was not until adopted and upheld by Mr Irving, that it began to challenge much attention.’ Margaret’s (uncredited) vision appeared in 1840 in the Memoirs of James & George Macdonald of Port Glasgow written by Robert Norton. In 1861 he told her vision and named her specifically, identifying her as the source of the new doctrine. The fact that the Irvingites initiated the teaching of pretribulation is also asserted by several contemporaries,including eminent Brethren writers, such as: S. P. Tregelles, J. P. Lange, Thomas Croskery,
Edward Miller (Irvingite historian), William Reid, George Stokes and J. S. Teulon.

Subsequent to receiving a copy of Margaret’s vision, The Morning Watch went into overdrive in explaining their modification of eschatology. The caught up of 1 Thess 4 is now separated from the gathering of Matt 24. An article by ‘Fidus’ in June 1830 clearly states that ‘Philadelphia’ (spiritual believers) will be raptured and ‘Laodicea’ (non-spiritual Christians, and Jews who follow Antichrist) will be left on earth to endure the Great tribulation. Margaret had rested on the ‘two
witnesses’ symbol, Fidus on the 7 churches.

Later, others (especially Darby) would rest upon the ‘man-child’ symbol. Pretribulation must lean upon these symbols from Revelation because there is absolutely no clear, non-symbolic statement in the Bible to defend it.

The pretribulation rapture became known as ‘the secret rapture’. This has tendencies of developing an elitist, arcane society of adherents, those who are privileged to know about the secret or are especially spiritual in order to take part in it. In June 1832, it was stated that the Lord’s coming was only a joy for those prepared and looking for it. Only they would see the Lord, the rest of the church would only see this first appearance as a meteor or cloud.

Other ideas began to emerge. In June 1832 an article on the feast of Tabernacles saw the seven days of the feast as seven years, the thirteen bullocks slain indicated a confederacy of thirteen hostile powers, during the rise of Antichrist, Gog and Magog etc. This appears to be the first mention of a seven year tribulation period. Out of interest, Darby was teaching a tribulation of three and a half years as late as 1868.

Because the symbolism of types can be interpreted according to other influences, once sound Biblical hermeneutics are ignored,the interpretation of the feasts varied significantly from year to year. Irvingites shifted the rapture from feast 6 (of Lev 23’s 7 feasts) to feast 5, then feast 4 and even feast 3 within the first few years. Modern Dispensationalists have the same problems.

Scofield based his pretribulation rapture on feast 3 (firstfruits). Hal Lindsey has a rapture somewhere between feast 3 and 7. Edgar Whisenant based it upon feast 5, stating that it would occur in 1988. Another recent author stated that it would occur in May 1997.

Irving’s man-child ideas began to emerge in June 1831; repeated by Darby in 1839. He took Paul’s teaching on the union of believers with Christ and transferred it to the the interpretation of OT prophecy and Revelation symbolism. References to ‘Christ’ became corporate, especially the veiled reference of the man-child in Rev 12. With appalling exegesis he sees a first company gathered (rapture of the singular child) before the others of the church who suffer in the Great Tribulation (a remnant of the woman’s seed).

Questions raised by this nonsense include:

• Part of the symbol is literal (‘caught up’),and part is taken spiritually (‘man-child’).

• If the man-child literally referred to Christ as claimed, why did the disciples not accompany Christ into heaven at his ascension?

• If the man-child symbolises a pretribulation rapture at Rev 12:5, the head
needs to be on earth for the whole body and members to be caught up together.

• If the church is already mysteriously (spiritually) joined to the head, why does the church need to be with him in person at Rev 12:5?

Development by Darby

Dave MacPherson has catalogued Darby’s main eschatological beliefs in 21 tenets. He then demonstrates that all of these are present, using the same wording, in Edward Irving’s preliminary discourse to Lacunza’s work published in 1827. In 1829, Darby himself was only voicing 6 of the 21 items. For instance, in 1829 Darby had a Post-tribulation outlook and only saw a distinction, not a dichotomy (separation) between Israel and the church. Darby also quoted Irving, Lacunza and
The Morning Watch in 1830.

Furthermore, Darby’s idea of the parenthesis (where the Jewish kingdom is put
on hold while the Gentile church is developed) appeared in 1830; but the same thought in very similar wording appeared in The Millennium by W C Davis of South Carolina in 1811. Lacunza also frequently mentioned this word in explaining prophetic scripture. It was only in 1870 that Darby’s development led to the position now held by modern dispensationalists. He ceased to emphasise the man-child symbol in favour of the Philadelphia symbol, or even the apostle John who heard ‘Come up hither’. All these had been previously stated by Irvingites, even
using John as a church symbol.

Darby’s later reminiscences show signs of misrepresentation and plagiarism. For example, his observations of an 1830’s Scottish prayer meeting conducted by the Macdonalds, and which included tongue speaking,is almost identical to the report given by John B. Cardale printed in The Morning Watch, Dec 1830, except for one item. Darby omits Margaret’s utterances regarding a pretribulation deliverance. Other writers noted this. F. Roy Coad called it, ‘disingenuous tactics’ and ‘descended to the disreputable’. Benjamin Newton wrote that Darby was most subtle (i.e. sly). Darby can be claimed as a populariser of other’s thoughts on pretribulation predispensationalism, but not the originator - as is everywhere claimed.

Earlier historians and theologians were not in the dark on this. George Stokes wrote: ‘Darby ... imbibed the Irvingite theories about prophecy, which coincided with his natural turn of mind.' Samuel Tregelles, one of the ablest 19th century scholars and a Brethren leader, said that the Secret Rapture doctrine was developed by Irvingites, that Darbyites wrote heterodox tracts, misrepresented historic writings to suit their ideas, and added unsound thoughts to quotes of existing writers, all excused as being done for the honour of God. In editing Darby’s
works, William Kelly deliberately revised them to give the impression that Darby originated the key doctrines and used editing techniques to misrepresent the Irvingite position. Modern Dispensationalists have continued this error, by accident or design.
After being taken on board by the Brethren leader, John Darby, some Brethren
leaders (like B. W. Newton, George Muller) rejected it. S. P. Tregelles added that the idea came from a false spirit prompting a vision in Irving’s church. Other contemporary leaders, like Charles Spurgeon and William Booth also condemned the teaching.
The ideas were exported by several visits of Darby to the USA (between 1859-74) and a series of prophetic conferences (1878-1901) presenting Dispensationalism to Americans. Delegates included Hudson Taylor, A.T. Pierson. A.J. Gordon, S.H. Kellog and W.J. Erdman.

The Scofield Bible and other writings

Dispensationalism was Internationally popularised by the Scofield Reference Bible (arising out of these conferences and published in 1909 with over 3 million sold by 1960), J.N. Darby’s writings, William Kelly’s books, E.W. Bullinger’s The Companion Bible, W.E. Blackstone’s Jesus is Coming (hundreds of thousands sent free to Christian workers in USA) and many other Brethren writings. Many of these works denigrated existing commentaries, and even the church Fathers and the Reformers, and boasted a special revelation, only their works truly understood God’s mysteries.

This gave these ideas an attractive and popular ‘novelty’ to the Christian public. It should also be noted that there was widespread corruption in the church at large in this period with a poor level of teaching (despite some notable exceptions). As a result, many people jumped on to Darby’s bandwagon which
promoted a return to exegetical teaching of the Bible. ‘He (Darby) was able to do what he did because there was a great need ... the church was corrupt, the clergy unlearned.

Liberalism had all but taken over. Prophetic teachings ... were almost unheard of.
Multitudes were spiritually starved’.

The current situation

Today, the most popular systematic defenders are Americans (live & dead) like:
Charles Ryrie, John Walvoord, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Arno Gaebelein, J. Dwight Pentecost and Ernest Pickering. At a popular level, there are numerous melodramatic paperbacks (like Hal Lindsey’s: The Late Great Planet Earth and Bruce Larson, Armaggedon) or like films.

We can identify the following varieties:
· Classical Dispensationalism -
(Scofield, Chafer), Israel is on the earth, the church is in heaven and the two never meeting the new world. There are two ways of salvation: works in the OT and faith in the NT. Chafer holds to two covenants. This view dominated 1900-1950’s.
· Hyper Dispensationalism - Instead of finding the usual Dispensationalist origin of the church in Acts 2, these see it in Acts 13 (as Charles Baker, author of A Disp. Theology and associated with Grand Rapids Grace Bible College!).
· Ultra Dispensationalism - The church begins in Acts 28 (as E.W. Bullinger, hence sometimes called Bullingerism). Therefore, only a few of Paul’s letters apply to the church, the rest of the NT is Jewish.
· Neo Dispensationalism - (Ryrie, Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost). Israel and the
church will be together after the millennium; there is only one way to salvation in both testaments (faith); there is only one new covenant. Dallas seminary promotes this view.
· Progressive Dispensationalism - In recent years some have realised that even some of the Neo Dispensational views are untenable and have sought to further ameliorate its teaching (e.g: Robert Saucy, Craig Blaising, Darrell Bock).
They state that:
o The church is not a parenthesis but the first step towards establishing the kingdom of God.
o God does not have two purposes (i.e. Israel and the church), there is only one purpose, but both of them share in it.
o There is no distinction between Israel and the church in the future state.
o The church will reign (with Jews) in glorified bodies on earth during the
millennium.
o But - they still insist that OT prophecies regarding Israel will be fulfilled
in the millennium by ethnic Jews. They do not see the church as the new Israel or believe that OT prophecies are fulfilled in the church.

One can begin to see how complex and varied this scheme is. There is, also,
hopeless disagreement among its teachers. Is it really conceivable that the greatest saints in the history of the church could have not known of this ‘vital’ truth for 1900 years?

Also consider that the foundation was laid by: a Roman Catholic Jesuit, a discredited, charismatic heretic and a young girl influenced by hallucinations and connected with occult practices.

Go figure how this belief system has so influenced American politics and the preaching of this in America, to create Christian Nationalism, the greatest lie told to the church, so that is has become proactive in this idolatry to the point we have become a nation of war mongering and blood shedding of any others that would disagree with us, all except the present nation of Israel, who not only is
allowed to have WMD's but continue it's persecution of all those that in anyway would oppose their authority over all of the Middle East. We have somehow come to beleive that as long as we support this Zionist nation, we too are some how the nation, with the promised land and the physical promises that can never be removed.
Wrong, as history and time will tell. If we continue, on the same path as Israel, to put ourselves, above God and others, and not promote the Kingdom of God over the earthly kingdoms of men, we will soon find the destruction of America just as Israel found itself under the destruction by Rome in 70 AD. It is our call to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone, to bring forth the true Jew, as Paul so elogantly put it - those not circumcised in the flesh but in the heart. The true Israel, the organized church is unable to realize is the unseen "universal church" (EKKLESIA) "the called out one's" of Christ who no longer look for an earthly kingdom, but live by the Lord's prayer. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Remember it is Paul who said that "there is neither, Jew nor Greek, nor male or female, all are one in Christ".
How easy it is to be decieved, even with the very first letter Paul wrote sometime in 51 AD, to the church of Galatia, the Judaizers were then trying to destroy Christianity with a return to the Old Covenant and circumcision of believers as they have so subtley done so today to convince us that God has any kingdom on this earth.

"The Kingdom of God is within you", Christ said. This is the rulership of our Father in our lives over all things and all purposes, all desires of this world (Cosmos) which the Bible says very clearly, "they are blinded by the god of this world"- Satan. I am not anti-Semitic nor do I hate the people in Israel or any race called the Hebrews, but the truth is they are blind and as long as any Hebrew continues to reject Christ he as all others including Americans, Chinese or whoever, they are under the power of Satan and blinded by him.

I refer you to a scripture now, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that "all" will be condemned "who have not believed" the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

It is time the church rejects these ideas of dichtomy (seperation) of the Jews and the Church and realize, there is only one true Israel it will all be saved, as it is made up of men and women, of all races, creeds and color, who given their lives to Christ and recognize him as King now, and the Promised Land as the dwelling place we have with him now in the Spirit.