If it seems too inappropriate an idea that the Gospel was told as the story of Israel's kingdom-promises fulfilled, fulfilled in the remnant of believing-Jews (and in Gentiles who believe, along with them), then consider that in the last century BC and first century AD it was already common for there to be groups which disputed certain Jews' rights to certain claims, and claimed rights to certain things. They each had their own idea of what the kingdom-salvation was going to look like and who in Israel would be part of it.
There probably wasn't a standardised Judaism, or standardised view of Israel, and Kingdom and Messiah, early in the fist century AD!
So the Gospel wasn't unique in that it unpacked 'Israel' and 'kingdom' - there were already numbers of groups each of whom were 'unpacking' Prophecy, or trying to - what was unique about the Gospel was its way of unpacking or interpreting or applying it.
What strikes me about the Dispensational way of unpacking Prophecy is that it seems to miss the way the New Testament unpacks it and aligns itself more with the way some of these groups in Israel were interpreting it.
To do so misses the point - it loses the story the Apostles were really telling - that Jesus, the Gospel is the fulfilment of the story of Israel, of Abraham's story. It is the true revelation of the mystery: not just something else we're doing while we're waiting for that to finally happen in some first-century Judaistic type way.
There probably wasn't a standardised Judaism, or standardised view of Israel, and Kingdom and Messiah, early in the fist century AD!
So the Gospel wasn't unique in that it unpacked 'Israel' and 'kingdom' - there were already numbers of groups each of whom were 'unpacking' Prophecy, or trying to - what was unique about the Gospel was its way of unpacking or interpreting or applying it.
What strikes me about the Dispensational way of unpacking Prophecy is that it seems to miss the way the New Testament unpacks it and aligns itself more with the way some of these groups in Israel were interpreting it.
To do so misses the point - it loses the story the Apostles were really telling - that Jesus, the Gospel is the fulfilment of the story of Israel, of Abraham's story. It is the true revelation of the mystery: not just something else we're doing while we're waiting for that to finally happen in some first-century Judaistic type way.
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