As I mentioned last time the introduction of Future Israel is worth the price of the book. Today's article is the second part of a series of articles on the subject of Biblical eschatology (see part one). Dr. Horner describes his theological journey with these helpful insights: "More recently, a closer study of four books of the Bible has
led me now to more firmly assert that the basic premillennial model of biblical
prophesy, and especially as it relates to ethnic and national Israel, is closest
to the truth of Scripture. First, there
was a study of Zechariah, so permeated with the ultimate triumph of the Messiah
and the nation of Israel. The prophet
speaks of God’s vindication on earth when He “will become king over all the
earth- Yahweh alone, and His name alone” (Zech 14:9).1 I will never forget the study of David Baron’scommentary on this book, which seemed so much more illuminating to the text
than Calvin’s.
Then a close study of Romans over several years, and particularly chaps. 9-11, resulted in an indelible impression that for Paul, the converted Hebrew rabbi, Israel has n ongoing national identity, its unbelief notwithstanding. On the other hand, it seemed as if Reformed exegesis, at least on a prima facie reading of the text, was attempting to avoid the obvious.
Then a close study of Romans over several years, and particularly chaps. 9-11, resulted in an indelible impression that for Paul, the converted Hebrew rabbi, Israel has n ongoing national identity, its unbelief notwithstanding. On the other hand, it seemed as if Reformed exegesis, at least on a prima facie reading of the text, was attempting to avoid the obvious.
One particular
comment has helped me to grasp better Paul’s Jewish thrust within Romans
at this juncture. John McRay, Professor
of Old Testament and Archaeology at Wheaton College Graduate School, in
introduction to his significant volume, Paul: His Life and Teaching, wrote:
I have tried to ‘put on my first-century glasses, ‘ look at Paul in his Jewish and Hellenistic world of the Mediterranean, and see him not as a fourth-century church father, a sixteenth-century protestant reformer, or a twenty-first century evangelical missionary, but as what he was, a first century Jewish rabbi who accepted jesus as his Messiah and became an ardent, dedicated Messianic Jew. In this volume I have tried to emphasize greater advocate of the universal composition of the Christian faith than Paul, who emphatically asserted that in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28). This means that when people place their trust in Jesus, neither Jews nor Gentiles have to abandon their ancestry, neither males nor females have to abandon their sociological status. Paul’s central focus in his preaching was that Gentiles do not have to become Jews any more than Jews have to become Gentiles, for as he went on to say, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29). (2)
This comment has struck a chord that is still resonating.
At the same time, a study of Hosea for a series of Sunday
evening messages, especially the repeated emphases on the mercy of God
triumphing over a persistently adulterous Israel, only confirmed what the other
three books were declaring. At that time
a man of Amillennial convictions recommended to me the commentary of Jeremiah
Burroughs on Hosea that I believe he had not studied too closely. How delightful it was to discover the clear
premillennial convictions of the seventeenth-century Puritan, including his
belief in a glorious future for national Israel.
Then a study of Ezekiel, especially chapters 36-39, led to the conclusion that this is also a pivotal passage showing God’s plan for Israel’s national future. In particular, my understanding of Judeo-centric eschatology owes much to the inability of supercessionism (or replacement theology, the view that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan of redemption) to deal satisfactorily with the details of the text. This is despite supercessionism’s broad abstraction on account of supposedly superseded old covenant terms and apocalyptic genre. To treat these chapters as providing no more than general and idealistic instruction on regeneration and resurrection, as is done by Patrick Fairbairn and O. Palmer Robertson, is quite unsatisfactory."
Then a study of Ezekiel, especially chapters 36-39, led to the conclusion that this is also a pivotal passage showing God’s plan for Israel’s national future. In particular, my understanding of Judeo-centric eschatology owes much to the inability of supercessionism (or replacement theology, the view that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan of redemption) to deal satisfactorily with the details of the text. This is despite supercessionism’s broad abstraction on account of supposedly superseded old covenant terms and apocalyptic genre. To treat these chapters as providing no more than general and idealistic instruction on regeneration and resurrection, as is done by Patrick Fairbairn and O. Palmer Robertson, is quite unsatisfactory."
(1) Amillennialist Vern Poythress has made a significant comment
when, in dialogue with dispensationalists under the auspices of ETS: “Zechariah 14, if read in a straightforward
manner, is particularly difficult for the amillennialist. In fact, if I were to defend premillennialism
in a debate, I would probably chose Zechariah 14 as a main text” (Response to
Robert L. Saucy’s Paper, GTJ 10.2 [Fall 1989]: 159).
(2) J. McRay, Paul: His Life and Teaching (Grand Rapids;
Baker 2003), 11,12
Series to be continued.
Post Script: Horner's biography resonates with a lot of believers, especially with pastors. The preaching and writing ministry of many Reformed Presbyterians has helped many Christians have a more precise understanding of salvation (election, predestination, the atonement, etc). For this we should all give thanks (Rom. 11:36)! In view of this many new students of Reformed theology also think, "If these guys are spot on here maybe their view of infant baptism, eschatology and full blown Presbyterian church polity is also right?" Most seminary students have read a large number of theological books on these subjects; (4 views on Baptism, 5 views on Pentecost; 3 Views on Prophesy). However, very few grapple with the key prophetic texts; especially from the Old Testament. Exegesis and Hermeneutics takes a back seat to Biblical & Systematic Theology (which should be the fruit of sound exegesis). In college I read a few books by notable Amillennialists which then pushed me to go back and study the Minor Prophets and Romans 9-11. Maybe my theology needs to be refined further? Those bible studies affirmed biblical Premillennialism. MacArthur, Feinberg, Jim Boice, Waymeyer, and many others have made very powerful cases for exegetical Calvinism and biblical Premillennialism. The two really are connected.
Post Script: Horner's biography resonates with a lot of believers, especially with pastors. The preaching and writing ministry of many Reformed Presbyterians has helped many Christians have a more precise understanding of salvation (election, predestination, the atonement, etc). For this we should all give thanks (Rom. 11:36)! In view of this many new students of Reformed theology also think, "If these guys are spot on here maybe their view of infant baptism, eschatology and full blown Presbyterian church polity is also right?" Most seminary students have read a large number of theological books on these subjects; (4 views on Baptism, 5 views on Pentecost; 3 Views on Prophesy). However, very few grapple with the key prophetic texts; especially from the Old Testament. Exegesis and Hermeneutics takes a back seat to Biblical & Systematic Theology (which should be the fruit of sound exegesis). In college I read a few books by notable Amillennialists which then pushed me to go back and study the Minor Prophets and Romans 9-11. Maybe my theology needs to be refined further? Those bible studies affirmed biblical Premillennialism. MacArthur, Feinberg, Jim Boice, Waymeyer, and many others have made very powerful cases for exegetical Calvinism and biblical Premillennialism. The two really are connected.
