He Shall Have Dominion

Thus, “there is neither Jew nor Greek . . . for ye are all one in Christ” (Gal
3:28) and “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision”
(Col 3:11; cp. Ro 10:12). Yet dispensationalists see the church as
a temporary parenthesis in God’s plan. After the great tribulation a rebuilt
Jewish temple and its animal sacrifices will supersede the church.
Early church fathers. Many of the early church fathers — even those
claimed as premillennialists by modern dispensationalists — understood
the church as receiving Israel’s promises. Historic premillennialist
Blomberg states: “when patristic writers do insist on the literal fulfillment
of Old Testament promises, they also insist that the church takes part in
this fulfillment, and so they make utterly no distinction between the Old
155
Testament people of God and the New Testament people of God.” The
Th.M. thesis of Dallas Seminary-trained historian Alan Patrick Boyd states:
“The majority of the writers/writings in this period [AD 70–165]
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completely identify Israel with the Church.” He specifically cites Papias,
1 Clement, 2 Clement, Barnabas, Hermas, the Didache, and Justin Mar-
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tyr. Boyd notes that “in the case of Barnabas, . . . he has totally
disassociated Israel from the precepts of the Old Testament. In fact he
specifically designates the Church to be the heir of the covenantal
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promises made to Israel (4:6–7; 13:1–6; 14:4–5).” Elsewhere, he writes:
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“Papias applied much of the Old Testament to the Church.” Of Hermas
he notes “the employment of the phraseology of late Judaism to make
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the Church the true Israel.” Justin Martyr, observes Boyd, “claims that
the Church is the true Israelitic race, thereby blurring the distinction
between Israel and the Church.” 161
Jesus and the Jews. Even while the New Testament speaks of Jew and
Gentile uniting in one body — through converting to Christ— it also
presents Israel’s judgment as a distinct people in the first century. Jesus
155. Blomberg in Blomberg and Chung, Historic Premillennialism, 120.
156. Boyd, “A Dispensational Premillennial Analysis of the Eschatology of the
Post-Apostolic Fathers,” 47.
157. Papias, Fragment 6; 1 Clement 3:1; 29:1–30:1; 2 Clement 2:1–3; 3:5; Barnabas,
Epistles 2:4–6, 9; 3:6; 4:6–7; 5:2, 7; Hermas, Similitudes 9:16:7; 9:15:4;
9:12:1–13:2; the Didache (14:2, 3), and Justin Martyr (Dialogue 119–120, 123, 125).
See Boyd, “Dispensational Premillennial Analysis,” 46, 60, 70, 86.
158. Boyd, “Dispensational Premillennial Analysis,” 46.
159. Boyd, “Dispensational Premillennial Analysis,” 60–61
160. Boyd, “Dispensational Premillennial Analysis,” 70.
161. Boyd, “Dispensational Premillennial Analysis,” 86.