Every once in a while, Christian words trend on X (Twitter). Normally, it's words like Jesus, God, Rapture, or Revelation. Yesterday, the trending word that caught my eye was "Dispensationalism". Wow. That's going deep into the evangelical weeds.
Most of the comments I saw (before I got disgusted and stopped reading) centered around Israel and how dispensationilism was falsely trying to justify the modern state of Israel's existence. There were some ALL CAPS shouts and condemnations. There was the usual secular/ satannic assertions that the Bible shouldn't be taken literally.
You may be wondering, what is dispensationalism? It involves dispensations--not the Catholic ones where you buy the right to commit tiny sins, but the evangelical kind where preachers point out that not everything in the Bible is meant for everyone.
Take Noah's Ark, for example. Genesis 6:14 clearly states "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." Verses 15 and on continue with construction details and how the world is going to be flooded, and all flesh will be destroyed... except for those on the ark.
We obviously can't take Genesis 6:14 out of context. There was one Great Flood. Noah, his family, and a sampling of the Earth's creatures survived it. In Genesis 9:11, God promises not to flood us again "...neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth."
When Genesis was written, it didn't have Chapter numbers and verse numbers. None of the books of the modern Bible did. Those weren't added until 1555, in the Vulgate Bible (if one is to believe Wikipedia). They were added for ease of reference and study.
The problem is, people like to treat the bible like it's a book of spells. Citation of specific verses, without the context behind them, is missing. Take for example, Matthew 21:22, which states "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." That doesn't mean God is our magic genie and we can put in orders for new cars, a sizzling steak, or tickets to the latest MCU movie. In Matthew's testimony (the Gospel of Matthew), he tells, in Chapter 21, how Jesus explains to the Apostles (who were marvelling at a fig tree that with a command, Jesus caused to wither away) that what they asked for in prayer, would be provided. The apostles. Not everyone who ever reads the bible.
That doesn't mean that there aren't verses that can be taken without looking at the surrounding chapter... John 3:16 is a great summation of the Christian faith: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Or 1 Timothy 2:5, " For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;".
When we read the bible, we need to understand that different parts are meant for different folks. The Apostle Paul wrote epistles (letters) to the Churches in Rome, Corinth, and Ephesia. Those writings were put in the Holy Bible and are now called "books". The Book of Romans, as the title implies, was meant for Romans. Duh. However, by reading all three books, we can see how Paul communicated the same message to three different groups. It helps us to understand the message (through repetition) and how we might explain it to different peoples.
Baptists call this dispensations--things limited to a specific time period or peoples. Like eating Bacon. Bad in the Old Testament, okay in the New (see Matthew 15:11).
There are, unfortunately, naysayers to this. They argue vehemently that no, the whole Bible applies to everyone, everywhere, for all time. Some of these are the same people who denounce Israel, claiming that the country founded in 1948 is not the same as ancient Israel, that jews have no right to the land, etc. etc.
My question for these people is this: When are you building your ark? After you put down that bacon? Or maybe after you smear blood over your doorway? Those are all very clearly commands stated in the Holy Bible--even the ESV, NIV, and NLT versions.
Don't be an idiot. Read the whole Holy Bible and seek out understanding of what it teaches. Or shut up and go build an ark. It might save you from a flood... but it won't save you from the flames of Hell.
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