The Dispensational View of the Davidic Kingdom - The Master's ...

226 The Master's Seminary Journalcovenanted kingdom. The allegation that Christ is seated on thefather's throne reigning over a spiritual kingdom, the church, simplydoes not fulfill the promises of the covenant." 51 In a more recent work,he also speaks of the offer, rejection, and postponement of thekingdom:In His covenant with David (2 Sam. 7:16), God promised that adescendant of David would sit on David's throne and rule over hishouse. This covenanted program was offered to Israel, but wasrejected by the nation. Because the covenants are eternal, unconditional,and therefore irrevocable, the Davidic kingdom programwould not be canceled. It could, however, be postponed. 52He adds, "Christ's central teaching was that the Davidic kingdomwould be postponed until a future time." 53 He also discusses thechurch, and though he refers to it as a "new form of the kingdom," heexplicitly holds to the withdrawal and postponement of the Davidickingdom. 54After referring to the views of Walvoord, Ryrie, and Pentecost,Blaising claims, "In response to the criticisms of George Ladd, theydropped the kingdom distinctions of Scofield, modified his essentialstructure in different ways and introduced their own terminology. Asa result, there is no revised dispensational kingdom theology butcompeting interpretations which have had various levels ofinfluence." 55 He ignores, however, the agreement among themconcerning the postponement of the Davidic kingdom, as documentedabove, and obscures their agreement with each other and with theirpredecessors.51J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come (Findlay, Ohio: Dunham, 1958) 114.52J. Dwight Pentecost, Thy Kingdom Come (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor, 1990) 233.53Ibid., 234.54Ibid., 234-35.55Craig Blaising, "Contemporary Dispensationalism," Southwestern Journal ofTheology 36 (Spring 1994):9.