On my post about the amilllennial eschatology webcast, a commenter asked for my thoughts on amillennialism.  Really, that webcast was my first real exposure to hearing about amilliennialism from amilliennialists.  So my thoughts here are accordingly tentative.

First, I have never been amillennial.  The webcast helped me understand the position better; it was more beneficial than reading a pre-mill author’s critique of the amill system; yet, it wasn’t systematic, organized or teaching.  The speakers primarily answered questions from moderator and, in doing so, they did not teach a clear, thorough lecture on their eschatology; they merely commented on issues surrounding amillennialism.

I’m still not amillennial.  The biggest interpretational hurdle that I cannot see amillennialism (covenant theology) jumping is Israel’s future.  Jer. 31.35-37 has stood out to me as an unequivocal statement of Israel’s future.  There is, of course, an amillennial answer to this objection.  One Scripture that was repeatedly brought up in webcast was II Cor. 1.20: “For all the promises of God find their Yes in [Christ].”  The Jer. 31 promise then would be fulfilled not in national Israel, but in Christ himself.  Unfortunately, that misses the context of II Cor. 1.20, I believe.  Paul is not talking about eschatology, prophecy or even OT interpretation.  He’s defending himself against accusations of fickleness.  He is emphasizing the certainty of God’s words to his people.  Paul is not saying, “All the promises that were made in an awfully literal-sounding manner to Israel – by the way, those now apply spiritually to the Church – Israel’s unforeseen replacement.”  (If that’s an errant characterization of the amillennial position, I apologize – that’s what the essence of the teaching seems to be saying, in my limited experience.)  Such a characterization of God’s promises would not, in that context, do anything to bolster Paul’s defense against the accusations of dishonesty and fickleness!  The context appears to argue against the interpretation of II Cor. 1.20 as it was repeatedly stated during that web-conference.  Further, there are no indications in the context that verse 20 is a statement of OT hermeneutics.  Perhaps there’s a more convincing way around the promises God made to Israel that I haven’t heard yet.

That said, this isn’t the end of the world.  Covenant theologians are my brothers in Christ as they hold the truth of the Gospel (often with a more biblical soteriology than some dispensationalists, I’ve noticed), so while I differ on this point of eschatology, I differ with a smile, not a sneer.  And perhaps, in fairness, I’ll write in the future on dispensationalism as well.

Paradigmatic is a free biblical languages software for Mac.  It’s got quizzes, verb paradigms and all sorts of helpful noun/pronoun/etc charts.  So far the Hebrew quizzes aren’t that helpful for me, but it is an amazingly quick way to view verb paradigms on the fly!

HT: Con Campbell

I was reading Mark’s account of the crucifixion of Jesus (Mk. 15) today and I noticed the repeated emphasis Mark put on the mockery that Christ endured.

The Soldiers: “And they began to salute him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’  And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.  And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mk. 15.18-20)

The Passers-By: “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ ” (Mk. 15.29-30)

The Priests: “So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.’ ” (Mk. 15.31-32)

The Criminals: “Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.” (Mk. 15.32)

My first reaction was to be angry with those callous sinners who scorned my Lord.  Then I remembered whose sin Christ bore on that cross (mine!) and I heard the words of the song in my head:

Behold, the man upon the cross – my sin upon his shoulders.
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished!

Last month, Grapevine Faith defeated Gainesville State School 33-14 in their football game.  But that’s not important.  What’s interesting is that half of Faith’s fans, parents & cheerleaders spent the game cheering for Gainesville – the other team!

But after the game, “you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That’s because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.”

But cheering wasn’t the only encouraging thing that Faith did for the Gainesville prison team.  “As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.”

“And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.”  ~ Mt. 9.10