Covenants vs Dispensationalism

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

If you watched the recent Tucker Carlson podcast where he interviewed J. D. Hall, you’ll already know that it was essentially an attempted takedown of Dispensationalism and Zionism. Zionism itself is largely understood to mean the development of an autonomous Jewish state. Israel has been around since the Old Testament, far surpassing Islam and even Christianity, though of course, Christianity is a fulfillment of aspects of Old Testament prophecy through its founder, Jesus Christ.

What I found interesting about the recent interview (and admittedly I did not watch much of it), was the way Hall and Tucker came out of the gate immediately making ridiculous statements about Zionism. Apparently, according to Tucker, many have died over the concept or battle to promote Zionism. He made no further comments to support his claim in the parts that I watched at least. If interested, I’ve linked to the video below. [1] By the way and for the record, I used to be one of Tucker’s financial supporters to the tune of about $70/year. That is until he started sliding to the Left. He’d likely deny that’s what he did and is doing, but it’s difficult to continue seeing him as a conservative. I half expect him to come out in support of a dyed-in-the-wool democrat one of these days, but I digress.

Shortly after Tucker released his video with J. D. Hall, Pastor Michael Grant released his own video pointing out the flaws in what he heard. That video can be seen here. [2]

J. D. Hall, today being attached to the Covenant Theology position, anchored his beliefs in the idea that Dispensationalism is rather a new theory, from the late 1900s, and is in fact, heresy. In reality, as Ken Johnson has repeatedly pointed out, we now have many ancient scrolls from Qumran dating back to the first and second century in which Christian leaders wrote letters to others and attested to the fact that they believed in a PreTrib Rapture, a literal seven year Tribulation period and a physical return of our Lord at the end of that period where He will establish His 1,000 year reign called the Millennium.

Often today, Dispensationalism is labeled heretical and critics point back to Darby and Scofield to note that they simply created a system which had no previously existed. The biggest problem critics of Dispensationalism have is that they believe this system separates God’s plans for Israel and the Church. They further believe that God has completed everything He was intending to do with Israel due to their continued rejection of Him through Jesus. Because of this, God then is said to have taken all remaining blessings that were originally given to Israel and transferred them to the Church.

Neither Darby or Scofield created Dispensationalism except possibly to organize the tenets of it that already existed and then gave it a label. It seems clear enough from much of the early church writings that forms of Dispensationalism existed long before Darby and Scofield came on the scene. The problem is that for hundreds of years, Roman Catholicism was the only real game in town, allegedly representing Christianity. They prohibited the average parishioner from reading God’s Word for themselves. They said that the priests would read it to the congregations and then tell them what it meant. How convenient and today, most Roman Catholics continue to take that same position, hardly reading the Bible for themselves and simply relying on priests to read it and explain it.

I can understand how people arrive to this conclusion, however, I also fully believe it is unscriptural. The ramifications of God doing what Covenant theologians believe He has done is, in my mind, tantamount to God lying. Covenant theology also takes for instance, the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37 and applying it to the Church ultimately, not Israel. Yet, the text itself indicates that God says all those dry bones before Ezekiel represent the whole house of Israel. For me, Covenant theology seems to fall off the cliff.

It should also be noted that Tucker Carlson is a Roman Catholic and as such conforms to those beliefs. Hundreds of years ago, beginning in the late third century, as Rome gained more power and the Christian church became married to the state, changes were made in the way the church viewed the Bible and prophecy in particular. Of course, we are all aware of how Roman Catholicism changed salvation to actually include works, which is heretical. We can do nothing to save ourselves. It is by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone. Yes, we have an obligation after we receive salvation to actively work with the indwelling Holy Spirit through our cooperation to allow Him to change us into the likeness of Christ, but that particular work is part of sanctification, not in order to receive salvation.

If you’re Roman Catholic, you are also taught that salvation can be lost or at the very least a person can spend time in purgatory until their remaining sins are “worked” off prior to being allowed to go to heaven. This is nowhere found in Scripture. It is part of the Apocryphal writings that the Roman Catholic church adopted into the Bible and considered to be as authoritative as any other portion of Scripture (2 Maccabbees).

I find it odd that J. D. Hall went on Tucker’s show to excoriate Dispensationalism but had nothing to say about the heresies found within Roman Catholicism. Clearly, Hall (and Tucker) have an axe to grind where Dispensationalism is concerned. Why would that be?

Put simply, both Hall and Carlson are evolving into massive anti-Semites. This thinking is growing throughout the visible church and should not be.

Dispensationalism promotes the biblical concept of God’s continuing favor on Israel. We believe that during the upcoming seven-year Tribulation period (also known as The Time of Jacob’s Trouble), God will cull from all Jewish people living at that time, a final remnant of Jews who will eagerly come to Him in faith through Jesus. They will become evangelists for the sake of His Name and preach the Gospel throughout the world. This group of evangelists and the Jews that become believers in Jesus will then go into the Millennial Kingdom set up by Jesus following His return and be the final Israel, the Israel that fully gains all the promises to Israel going all the way back to Abraham (Genesis 12:3). While God gave that promise to Abraham (Israel is not mentioned there), it is very clear that ultimately, God was indicating Israel itself. From Abraham came Esau and Jacob. Esau was rejected in favor of Jacob. From Jacob came Isaac. From Isaac came the 12 men who formed the patriarchs and heads of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel. It really is a no-brainer unless a person approaches the Bible metaphorically or allegorically. This gives that person the freedom to interpret Scripture as they see fit, not necessarily the way God intends.

Anyone who hates Israel (or Jewish people), is suspect to me. It isn’t long before they become angry at the very notion that God still sees the only nation that He ever created as special, purposed, chosen. In essence, when I hear anti-Semitic people who also claim to be Christian, I usually see someone who nurtures an anger against Jewish people.

Is today’s Israel God-ordained? Not necessarily. Are its leaders doing what God wants them to do? Not sure, but the bigger question is can/will God use what is happening in the Middle East today to bring about His own will and purposes? That can be answered with 100% assurance. I’ve never felt that I needed to support everything the leaders of Israel have done, are doing or will do. I support what God will complete with that particular nation. I pray for Israel and for individual Jewish people. I do not simply blindly agree with everything that Israel’s leaders do as if they cannot ever make a mistake.

Covenant theology teaches that there is no seven year Tribulation. It already supposedly occurred in AD 70. Jesus’ return? Already also occurred around that time when Jesus returned spiritually to reign. The problem with this thinking is immediately countered by Acts 1:11.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (NKJV)

It’s so clear even a caveman could comprehend what the angel is saying to the men of Galilee. He essentially said (as Jesus was physically taken up to heaven), that this very same Jesus would return to earth in the same way! How? Physically, physically, physically! The angel was not speaking metaphorically or allegorically. He was speaking plainly and attesting to the fact that Jesus was going to return physically to this earth at some future point.

Covenant theology turns this around to mean that Jesus came back spiritually in AD70 and has been ruling ever since. In essence, they are changing the meaning of the angelic comment here as well as the multitude of teaching from Jesus, Paul and others regarding our Lord’s physical return. How do they get away with that and think they’ve done a slam dunk? All they’ve really done is change meaning to support their erroneous meanings.

I believe we have an obligation to argue against error, in whatever form it comes to us. Those in the Covenant camp also believe that, which is why they come at Dispensationalism the way they do. I am simply of the mind that they start off in error (in the way they interpret Scripture; allegorically), and it leads them to seriously erroneous conclusions. I acknowledge that they believe the same applies to me with my understanding and support of Dispensationalism (but not hyper-Dispensationalism).

It seems to me the very plain teaching of Scripture includes a physical return of Jesus, where every eye will see Him of those living at the time (Daniel 7:13; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 14:14). Seeing Jesus is not in the mind’s eye or somehow spiritually. It is a literal event when He physically returns so that the entirety of the world will finally understand that God is in control. That much is clear and obvious. To attempt to turn this obvious meaning into a spiritual return is repugnant to me.

Once Jesus physically returns, He will stop everything that is happening on the earth and sit as Judge of all the nations (Matthew 15:31-46). Is that also to be understood allegorically or will this happen physically and in actuality? Seems clear from the text that Jesus was serious about what He intends to do upon His physical return. He will separate the sheep from the goats. The goats will be excluded from the Millennial Kingdom and confined to hell. They will ultimately be sent to the Lake of Fire.

‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’… (Matthew 25:41 NKJV)

This is not hyperbole. It’s not allegory or metaphor. This is their eternal sentence pronounced by the Judge Himself. Just as those on the right – the sheep or followers of Jesus – are rewarded by their faith in Him with entering the Millennial Kingdom that will take place on this earth (with Jesus reigning from His “father” David’s throne in Jerusalem), so too, are the goats rewarded for their lack of faith in Christ with an eternal damnation.

While the Bible is filled with allegorical phrasing (like using the term “sheep” here for believers and “goats” for unbelievers), we can know that Jesus is not talking about actual sheep or goats, but about people, some who are believers and some who are unbelievers.

Dispensational theology is a source of anger for many. It doesn’t have to be. The Bible contains covenants God made to certain groups of people. It also highlights specific dispensations (periods of time), in which God chose to work with a specific group in a specific way to achieve His will. This includes the nation of Israel as well as the Church (much later). The idea that if God chooses to continue to work with the nation of Israel for His own purposes, bringing them to salvation as a final remnant of believers who will go into the Millennial Kingdom and enjoy all the promises originally given to Abraham, then so be it! That is God’s prerogative. Because salvation is always based on faith, not works, God will bring His final remnant of Jewish people to faith in Christ. It is that simple! Salvation has always been faith in Christ. Dispensationalism does not change that at all.

What many Covenant people fail to recognize (aside from what I’ve already expanded on above), is that their particular viewpoints ultimately trigger an anti-Semitic view of Jewish people and from it, some of the most outlandish conspiracy theories related to Israel and Jews exist today. It’s tragic and sad, but this is how Satan works, taking God’s truth, subverting and distorting it into something that means something completely different from God’s original intent.

As Paul would say, “May God forbid!”

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN36yhie2_c&t=56s

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-36o8NO5w&t=792s

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2026/07/01/covenants-vs-dispensationalism/