Christian Zionism - New Life Tabernacle of Chattanooga

If this particular reference to sacrifice need not be taken literally then the
whole presuppositional base of dispensationalism is seriously weakened,
flawed by its own internal inconsistency. 980 Following a literal reading, the
sacrifice of a young bullock cannot be synonymous with a memorial offering
which only consisted of grain and oil. 981 The immediate context for Ezekiel’s
vision of a rebuilt Temple is the promised return of the Jews from Babylonian
exile, not some long distant eschatological event. A futurist interpretation
would have been meaningless to the exiles longing to return to Israel.
Furthermore, if Ezekiel were referring to some future millennial age, according
to Mosaic law, Jesus Christ could not serve in such a Temple because he is
not of the tribe of Levi. 982 Even if he could, it would surely be incongruous for
Jesus to offer animal sacrifices when the New Testament asserts he has
replaced them by the shedding of his own blood. 983 Such an interpretation
undermines the New Testament emphasis that the sacrifice of Christ was
sufficient, final and complete. 984 If religious Jews do indeed rebuild their
Temple and reinstitute sacrifices for the atonement of sin it will simply
demonstrate their rejection of the atoning work of Jesus Christ. For Christians
to support them in this has been described as apostasy. 985 Several
commentators even equate the ‘abomination of desolation’ with ‘the blood of
swine’ in Isaiah 66:3 and the Temple sacrifices which were offered after the
death of Christ between 33 and 70 AD, claiming it was these that desecrated
the Temple. 986 Indeed, George Pember, an early dispensationalist, takes a
futurist view and yet controversially applies the verse to the renewal of
sacrifices in the rebuilt Temple:
‘Then, in reference to the sacrifices which are again being offered, the
Lord adds; - “He that killeth the ox is as the slayer of a man: he that
sacrificeth the sheep as one that breaketh the neck of a dog: he that
offereth an oblation, it is swine’s blood: he that causeth incense to rise
up as a memorial is as one that blesseth an idol.” Nevertheless, the
980 Venema, op.cit., p285
981 Leviticus 2:2, 9, 16.
982 Hebrews 7:14. Venema, op.cit., p286.
983 DeMar, Last, op.cit., p85.
984 Hebrews 2:17; Romans 3:25.
985 Hebrews 6:4-6; 9:25-26; 10:1-3.
986 DeMar, Last, op.cit., p86; Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah. 3 volumes (Grand
Rapids, Eerdmans, 1972), volume 3, p520.
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