As John Wesley once said, "whatever is true is not new; whatever is new is not true." Since Darby's advent of dispensationalism came some 40 years after Wesley's death, I think that dispensationalism is a new(er) thing relative to historic Christian thought.
Doug
With all due respect for John Wesley, Daniel 12:8-10 contradicts
his view. Clearly the fulfillment of end-time prophecies
MUST be
new information. Clearly the understanding of the last generation
of Saints
MUST include new information.
Just as the Christian Saints understood more than the
Jewish Saints, who understood more than the Pre-Flood
Saints. God has always revealed His Gospel in a progressive
manner... that a historical fact that even secular men can see.
For example: there can be no dispute that Jesus actually
NAMED
separate and distinct (temporal) "
Kingdoms of Heaven" on earth,
they are
NAMED in your Bible... is this "new information"? No,
but the understanding of this Truth is new.
I do not like the term 'dispensationalism".
I prefer to say that the history of man is a
reflection of God's
salvation plan over four distinct "
Kingdoms of Heaven". The
first was obviously the Pre-Flood Kingdom which contained all
the Saints from Adam to Noah. When that Kingdom was finished
all living saints were "
harvested" (on the Ark, which is a picture
of Jesus) into the next Jewish "
Kingdom of Heaven" which is
specifically
NAMED in Matthew 22:2 and referenced again in
Matthew 21:43.
When that Kingdom was finished all the living saints were
"
harvested" into the (3rd) Christian "
Kingdom of Heaven"
specifically
NAMED eight times in Matthew 13, and in other
places, as the Saints followed Jesus and His disciples out
of the Jewish Kingdom.
When the Great Commission is finished, when all the Saints
have been "
sealed" [Rev 7:3] when the testimony of the
Two Witness (representing the church) is "
finished" [Rev 11:7]
all the living Saints are "
harvested" into the Great Tribulation
"
Kingdom of Heaven" which Jesus specifically
NAMED in
Scripture. [Mat 25:1].
Matthew's Great Tribulation "
Kingdom of Heaven" is also
shown as the Revelation Beast and Daniel's Fourth Kingdom.
The people in the Great Tribulation are called ten "
virgins",
these same people are called ten "
kings/horns" in Dan 7
and Rev 17. These people are the same and the events
are the same, which gives us a much better perspective
of what occurs during that "
Kingdom".
And so, there is no doubt these four "
Kingdoms of Heaven"
exist because Jesus
NAMED each of them. Is this NEW
INFORMATION, yes it is... as was foretold in Daniel 12:8-10.
In fact, that passage
PROMISES this information could not
be known by any Saint until the "
time-of-the-end" or the
"
Season and Time" [Dan 7:11-12]
Was this information that God intended Great Commission
Saints to understand... no, it was not [Acts 1:7]. Now,
make no mistake, I am not saying the Last Saints know
the Day or Hour of His Return. I am saying certain things
can be known as
PROMISED in Daniel 12:8-10 and as
Jesus
PROMISED in Matthew 24:15 and 24:33.
It is clear we can know about these four "
Kingdoms"
which Jesus
NAMED in Scripture... and much more.
It is also clear that this information remained "
sealed"
to previous Saints like Augustine and Luther and Calvin
and Wesley.
Of course I have only touched the tip of the iceberg above.
My purpose was only to show you that this information exists,
it cannot be denied because it is specifically
NAMED by Jesus.
However, even thought the information is provided in Scripture
that does NOT mean it will be understood or accepted
, in fact,
the Bible
PROMISES it will not - except by the Last Saints to
which it is revealed.
Jim
