The Hermeneutic of Christ’s Kingdom – Fighting for Real Estate – Part #26

“Why Is The Dispensational Vision of the Kingdom So Infantile?”

 By Richard Allen – December 29, 2025

Over the past two years, we have been asking serious questions about Christ’s Second Coming, the Role of a National-Political Israeli State and what Jesus and His Apostles taught about the Kingdom of God. The System of Biblical Interpretive Hermeneutics known as ‘Dispensationalism’ is normally accepted by many faithful believers without even questioning the ‘Biblical Assumptions’ that underlie the Tenets they proclaim.  Note: Hermeneutic is “Not” the Study of Herman Munster of TV Sitcom fame! I’m not trying to be funny, but rather call attention to errors in this System of Interpretation held by many.  While my explanation of “Hermeneutic” may sound Silly or Infantile – it’s not nearly as silly and infantile as the crazy myths that Dispensationalists teach – including a World Conqueror coming into Jerusalem riding a huge sow, that is, a female pig, or talking statues! As we examine the Dispensational Hermeneutic, you’ll see that the whole system is silly and infantile, failing to see the “fullness and maturity” of King Jesus and His Kingdom!

While there is room for genuine disagreement, not all Hermeneutical approaches are equal.  To further explain, the Church of Rome holds to a Hermeneutic that is very focused on itself, that is the Holy Mother Roman Church, her rule, reign and future glory. And because Holy Mother Roman Church held so strongly to this focus, when Galileo attempted to teach a scientific “cosmology” of the universe, Rome opposed him and forced him to recant – or be executed for blasphemy! This might seem silly, but Rome opposed Galileo’s model of the Solar System because Galileo rightly put the Sun in the center, with Earth and all the planets circling in respective orbits. In the Church of Rome’s Hermeneutical Model of the Solar System – the Holy Roman Church had to be preeminent. Therefore, Planet Earth had to be in the Center – with all other planets and the Sun revolving around Her!  Rome’s problem with Galileo was “not scientific,” it was “political.”  Its power, glory and dominance was its real focus of concern. In similar fashion, the “Watchtower Bible and Tract Society” – a.k.a. The Jehovah’s Witness cult, directs all its teachings and Hermeneutical Interpretation of Scripture to focus on its Society being vindicated as the only true and faithful follower of Jesus. 

When you look at the Dispensational School of Hermeneutics, its focus is wholly on Natural Israel, its sufferings and future glory as the “crown jewel of the earth in a mythical millennial kingdom.” Let me postulate another focus that is the true approach and focus of all God’s purposes in Scripture: The Kingdom and Glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!  This approach is referred to as a “Christocentric” Hermeneutic of Biblical Interpretation.  For our discussion, let me distill the Dispensational Hermeneutical System down to the major beliefs it holds.  Here is a list of five hermeneutical tenets upon which most Dispensationalists agree:

1. A hyper-literal interpretation of Scripture. This Hermeneutical principle means that all Old Testament Scriptures are unique on their own terms and not to be ‘reinterpreted’ in light of the New Testament. I like to refer to this as the Amelia-Bedelia-Hermeneutic of Interpretation, based on a “hyper-literal” character in a popular children’s book.

2. Apostolic Authority doesn’t extend to Interpretation of the Old Testament.  New Testament Scholars agree that the Apostles and other New Testament writers were Prophets. Yet while the “hierarchy of the New Covenant” starts with Apostles, Prophets, Pastors and Teachers, Dispensational Hermeneutics teach that the Old Testament Prophets’ authority cannot be challenged – even by our Lord Jesus Himself, or one of His Apostles!

3. Israel and the Church of Jesus Christ are two distinct entities. Therefore, the church can’t be identified as the New and / or True Israel. That would be Replacement Theology!

4. While Jews and Gentiles share some affinity to Jesus as the Messiah, they both have different salvations. This may sound crazy, but it was a distinctive of John Nelson Darby that continues to be a part of Dispensational Hermeneutics. There is a “radical discontinuity” between the People of Israel and the Church of Jesus Christ.

5. Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross was not the end of God’s Redemptive Plan. To many serious believers this sounds unbelievable – but it can’t be overstated – Dispensational teachers proclaim there would be “other redemptive acts” and a different salvation in that Final Dispensation they call: The Kingdom!  And during this kingdom, thousands of animals will be “literally” offered as “a Bloody Sacrifice for Sin!”

I should state that arbitrarily forcing God’s Revelation into Seven Dispensations is a faulty system on which to build.  I also need to state that Dispensationalists are not in agreement as to how many Dispensations there are, some believe in just three, while others believe there are as many as 37. In the end, everyone’s model attempts to explain ‘God’s Redemptive Progressive History’ as it evolved throughout the Old Testament. It reached its climax in ‘the fulness of time,’ when Christ was ‘born of a woman, to die, be buried and rise again’ (Galatians 4:4)! Through Church History, many Shepherds and Church Fathers believed there were only two Dispensations or segments in God’s dealings with man: The Old Covenant (Law) and The New Covenant (Grace). And even with this framework, not all agree as to God’s purpose and plan. This may sound strange – but not all those who name the name of Christ believe God’s purpose to be the same. For those who have a clear Christo-Centric Hermeneutic of Biblical Prophecies – All of God’s purposes are in Christ, in His Coming, His Passion, His Resurrection and Reign at the Father’s Right Hand, and Return for His Church.

But Dispensationalists have “regressed” to Judaism, to God’s purpose and plan giving Israel the land, establish its kingdom, temple and sacrifices!  Some more modern Dispensationalist teachers, finally discovering the contradictions in John Nelson Darby’s model – have backed away from the obvious ‘heresy’ of restarting the Aaronic Priesthood along with the whole system of animal sacrifices. They now try to teach that those future sacrifices will be a “memorial” to honor Christ. If this is the case, then the Roman Catholic Mass is just another Memorial to re-crucify Christ!

My plan is to work through all Five of these Tenets of Dispensationalism over these next few blogs, to show that they are incompatible with the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. In a twist of irony, the 1^st Century Pharisees, Sadducees and Jewish Leaders in Jesus’ day, all believed these Five Tenets to one degree or another. The main reason they rejected Jesus was because He didn’t teach these Five Tenets – He taught about a ‘Spiritual Kingdom’ that was within.  The 1^st Century Jews were the ‘ultimate’ Amelia-Bedelia Interpreters. They also rejected the Apostles, not recognizing their authoritative words – even though ‘God the Holy Spirit’ had inspired them to preach, teach and prophesy. And they not only believed that the Gentiles were totally distinct from Israel, but believed they were ‘unclean’ as well. The Jews all believed that the salvation they were going to earn by keeping the Law – would result in an ‘eternal kingdom’ where Israel would be the ‘crown jewel of the earth,’ with all the Gentiles in subjection to them, paying them tribute.

There is only one place when the Jews in Jesus’ day differ with Dispensationalism: According to 1^st Century Judaism’s own “literal grammatical-hermeneutic” of Old Testament prophecy, the Messiah would reign forever, not a mere 1,000 years!  In all my years of studying Dispensationalism, I can confidently say that this is the only New Testament Scripture where Dispensationalists believe the Apostles have ‘interpretive authority’ over the Old Testament: The Millennium  Chapter in Revelation Chapter 20! Sadly, 1^st Century Jews were right, Messiah will reign forever (Luke 1:32)! Once again, John Nelson Darby interpreted the Scripture wrong.  Because of their Millennial scheme, David’s Son Jesus can only reign for 1,000 years!  And I am by no means the only one to observe that Dispensationalism is ‘resuscitated Judaism.’ So, let me give a more detailed description: Dispensationalism is Biblically Infantile! This isn’t my actual assessment, but rather the assessment of the Apostles and Prophets who wrote the New Testament. As I have observed in past blogs, “you can’t resuscitate Judaism, the Temple, Priesthood or an Earthly Monarchy – without bringing back the Law!

Paul, writing to a Gentile Church in the province of Galatia was combating this same “Judaizing influence.” In Chapter 1 Paul was defending the True Gospel, of which “there was no other, and his own story of being saved out of Judaism and brought to faith in Christ. In Chapter 2, Paul recounts his visit back to Jerusalem with the Church there. He acknowledged Peter, James and John as “influential in the church,” but would not allow the Judaizing influences there to force Paul’s companion, Titus, to be circumcised. So strong was the Jewish disdain for Gentiles that Paul recounts how Peter had come to Galatia – only to withdraw from Gentile believers when confronted with Jewish emissaries from James, the Pastor from the Jerusalem Church. Paul stood his ground, calling Peter on the carpet for playing favorites with the Jews and disrespecting the Gentiles in Galatia. Paul tells the Galatian Church that “we are justified by faith, and not by works of the law.” In Chapter 3, Paul begins to chasten and plead with the Galatians that there is a “curse” for anyone trying to be justified by the Law,” including being circumcised and obeying the rituals proscribed by the Law. And by the end of Galatians Chapter 3, Paul warns that the Law was a “school-master,” that is a “guardian” – meant to keep us under slave-like control until Christ came. Then in Chapter 4, Paul warns the Galatians who wanted to ‘be under the law,’ that they were asking for more than they bargained for:

“I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,  ‘Abba! Father!’  So, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.  Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? (Galatians 4:1-9).”

Paul told these Galatian believers – wanting a Kingdom of ‘flesh and blood,’ tied to the land, the temple, an earthly priesthood and sacrifices, is not maturity – it’s reverting to Childhood or Infancy!  This is what the Hermeneutic of Dispensational Interpretation does to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  It was the same warning to the Church in Galatia – and it ‘needs to be the same warning to us today,’  ‘return to the weak and beggarly elements,’ and ‘not hold fast to Christ, who is the head!’  Holding fast to Christ – as proclaimed by His Apostles, is better by far.

Soli Deo Gloria