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James Montgomery Boice, Eschatology, and the Philadelphia Reformed Theology Conferences
Another great Bible teacher I am coming to appreciate is the late James Montgomery Boice. I had heard of him over the last few years, especially in reference to both dispensational and historic premillennialism, but had not yet listened to him or read any of his books. Online discussions have considered the question of whether he left dispensationalism, and when he became historic premillennial, especially since his writings on the subject were more from the dispensational premillennial perspective.
Leaving that particular question aside, though, Boice provided some great teaching – and on other topics as well. I’ve been perusing the archive of past Reformed Theology conferences available at the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals’ Reformed Resources, and the early Philadelphia Conferences include many lectures from James Montgomery Boice, including an interesting set from 1986 on eschatology (MP3 download set available here). This set of 7 lectures includes two from Boice as well as an interesting lecture from Moishe Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus. Of interest here, Rosen, in ‘Does Israel have an Earthly Future?’ addressed the very same doctrinal points that have been more recently popularized by John MacArthur’s “Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist” and Barry Horner’s publication of Future Israel. Over 20 years before these two events from 2007, Rosen taught the same: God’s Sovereignty in Election, including national election of the Jews and God’s faithfulness to His promises; and the problem and inconsistency of appropriating the covenant blessings for Israel (from Deuteronomy) as spiritualized about the church while rejecting the covenant curses, such that the church only gets the blessings and Israel only gets the curses.
Boice’s lectures on “Where is History Going?” and “On Death and Dying” also were well-presented and very informative. I especially appreciated his insights in the latter, in reference to three types of societies – death-affirming, death-denying, and death-defying. The lectures address a timeless matter, and our society now is no different from a generation ago in its death-denial with emphasis on youth (even today as the famed “Baby Boomer” generation is no longer young but still trying to put off old age) and the euphemisms we use to refer to people who have died and no longer with us.
After starting off with a great Presbyterian joke for a good laugh, Boice described the three types of societies — the ancient Greeks an example of a death-accepting culture, and 1 Corinthians 15 the death-defying Christian view – along with exposition of the two deaths in Genesis 50, Jacob and Joseph. The information about Elisabeth Eliot’s experience was interesting, how to cope with death, as she was twice widowed – the first case well-known, her husband Jim Eliot martyred, but also her second husband dying the slower death of cancer. Genesis 50, especially Jacob’s death and the Egyptian burial customs, gives us great instruction as to how we honor the dead. Joseph and family were in a pagan land, yet they still observed and showed respect to Egypt’s burial customs (embalming, and the lengthy time of mourning), as nothing objectionable for the people of Israel. Yet Jacob was buried in the promised land, and Joseph’s remains left in Egypt provided them with the future hope of their later Exodus.
As noted in a recent online discussion in a historic premillennial group, Boice did not often speak on millennial views or Israel’s future, considering these as secondary matters, yet this 1986 Philadelphia Conference addressed some of these issues. And the many other topics that Boice did address include good lectures and Bible study. I plan to continue listening to more of James Montgomery Boice’s teaching, including his lectures at other Philadelphia Reformed conferences from the archives (available at ReformedResources.org, from the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals).
Recent Future Of Israel Conference
After the recent excitement over the “Strange Fire” conference, some may have overlooked another conference held earlier this month in New York. “The people, the Land and the Future of Israel” conference featured several speakers including Dr. Michael Vlach, and the videos are now available. I’ve listened to a few of the messages so far, including Dr. Vlach’s and a panel concerning questions about current events in Israel.
Dr. Vlach’s message gives a brief summary of church history in reference to Israel’s future, considering the four main periods of church history: Patristic (A.D. 100 to about 450), Medieval, Reformation (16th century), and Post-Reformation (17th century to now). Using the same terminology as Barry Horner, he distinguishes between ‘replacement’ and ‘restoration’ views; the latter, restoration, refers to the belief of Israel now under divine judgment but having a future restoration as a nation (and restoration to their land). As noted in his lecture (and also in Dr. Vlach’s book ‘Has the Church Replaced Israel?’), the early church was premillennial but supersessionist — though with belief in a future salvation for ethnic Israel. Before the post-Reformation era, though, few Christians understood a restorationist view of Israel. Since the Reformation, though, and starting in the 17th century, we find many prominent theologians who have affirmed a future restoration of ethnic Israel.
What I’ve listened to from other messages is also interesting, including discussion about the middle East and current events related to Israel, and the future of Israel in light of the holocaust (Barry Leventhal).
The Future Restoration of Israel: 12 Points In the Biblical Argument
From Robert D. Culver’s “Daniel and the Latter Days”, the following list of 12 related points: what the scriptures say regarding “the restoration of Israel to the land and the conversion of the nation, to be followed in the Millennium by the fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant promises distinctive to that nation.”
1. Numerous Old Testament predictions which treat of a repentance and restoration of Israel in eschatological times which is distinct and separate from that which followed the Babylonian captivity. Reference: Hosea 3:4-5; Ezekiel 37:11-28
2. The perpetuity of the nation of Israel, in spite of repeated apostasies and restorations after divine chastening. Reference: Lev. 26:44-45; Numbers 23:9; Jeremiah 30:10-11; Jeremiah 46:27-28; Amos 9:8-11
3. Isaiah 11:1-12:6 – an Old Testament prophecy which in unmistakable and utterly unambiguous language predicts a national restoration of Israel in yet future Messianic times.
Verses six to nine following describe conditions in that final kingdom of earth’s history, the Millennial kingdom. It is a time of universal peace and prosperity among all of God’s creatures. Verse 10 adds that the peoples of the earth shall seek Christ, in that day–something, by the way, which can never, and will never, take place during this present age.
4. The Scriptures speak of a restoration of Israel which will be absolute and permanent. Amos 9:14-15
5. Jesus predicted events in the future which presuppose the restoration of Israel to Canaan and the re-establishment of the ancient tribal organization of the nation. Reference Matt. 19:28 and Luke 22:28-29. Unless the nation of Israel is to be revived and restored, this prophecy has no meaning at all.
6. In his most important eschatological address, Jesus suggested that a period of Jewish rulership of their ancient city, Jerusalem, would follow on the conclusion of this age, which He called “the times of the Gentiles.” Luke 21:24
7. It was the plain belief of the apostles, even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, that the kingdom would be restored, as of old, to Israel. Acts 1:6
8. The Apostle Paul declared that a time is coming in which “all Israel shall be saved” and that in such a context that the national repentance and conversion of the nation, if not national restoration, is a necessary inference. Romans 11:25-26
9. The Scriptures describe a future time when a temple of God in the Jewish city of Jerusalem shall be appropriated by God as His own and be misappropriated by Antichrist. Revelation 11:1-2; 2 Thess. 2:3-4
10. The Revelation predicts a resumption of God’s dealing with Israel in the sealing of 144,000 Israelites, organized according to their tribal divisions. Revelation 7:1-8
11. The prophets speak as if the honor of Jehovah God is at stake in the restoration of Israel in a final and permanent way. Ezekiel 36:21-22
12. The Bible reveals that the very worthiness of God as the object of the faith of the patriarchs, requires that He yet restore Israel and fulfill the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Romans 11:28; Lev. 26:40, 42-45; Jer. 33:25-26
Supersessionist Fascination with the Holy Land, and Israel’s Great Future
Another true and timeless quote from Alva McClain’s “Greatness of the Kingdom” (p. 253):
some of the most incorrigible opponents of a millennial religious center in Jerusalem, at the same time have an untiring enthusiasm for “trips” to the Holy Land here and now. Surely it is a great privilege to walk where the Son of God once lived, suffered, and died. If this be so, how much more wonderful it will be to go there when He is once more there in visible manifestation and glory.
In recent months I have observed this very phenomenon: a church pastor — strong supersessionist (no future for Israel), Amillennial Preterist, old-earth creationist — who yet shows “untiring enthusiasm” in sharing pictures from his trip to the Holy Land last year. Such interest has even resulted in a lengthy Sunday School series for the main adult Sunday School class, complete with slides, diagram drawings and general geography and archeology sessions, and such trivia as the size of Jerusalem (in acres) at various times in biblical history. (Among the trivia: Jerusalem was 44 acres in size in Jesus’ day.) The lessons go into all the details in the biblical accounts of how the men in Hezekiah’s day affected the water supply, and other basic information that I tend to think of as appropriate for general, secular education. Certainly geography and archeology of the Holy Land is of some interest, even to natural man, as something concrete and part of our natural world. Yet where is the spiritual content of such a series, in light of the massive biblical revelation?
The biblical references in this series are basic and well-known to serious students of God’s word, but such a topical series comes across as disappointingly shallow. Consider the great depth and riches of what God’s word has to say regarding Israel (past, present and future): the great biblical covenants (especially the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants), and (as especially brought out in Alva McClain’s great work) the beginnings and details of God’s Mediatorial Kingdom in Israel, in Old Testament History and Prophecy. Then Israel’s apostasy and what that actually meant: not that the nation itself was completely cut-off and divorced from God, but that judgment fell on particular generations – and yet, as SLJ observed:
There are people who look at the Old Testament and say, ‘All fulfilled, of no real use to us today.’ That, the apostles would have been strongly against, for that was their Bible. And all that they taught they related to the Old Testament teaching. In fact, the epistle to the Romans is really nothing more than an Old Testament theology written in the light of the coming of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of those promises in Him. The Jews have a future. Their place in the program of God in the present time is similar to that of a train which is passed onto a siding — the purpose of God has passed them by, not because they have no future but because they did not believe.
Also the prophecies regarding Israel’s present condition, such as the prophecies of Balaam, and especially of Hosea (Hosea 3:4-5):
For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
Oh the great riches in God’s word concerning Israel past, present, and especially future in the kingdom of God upon the earth, as described in so many passages of scripture, the Old Testament prophecies as well as great references in the gospels and New Testament passages. Yet, as Alva McClain observed over half a century ago (that which is still true) some professed believers rigorously oppose the idea of God having anything future to do with Israel, and yet they are content with and even have unending enthusiasm for trips to the Holy Land. Many of us have never had opportunity to visit the physical sites of the Holy Land, and perhaps never will get that opportunity in this life, yet we can dig into the treasures of God’s word regarding the nation Israel, and God’s purposes for Israel and the Gentile nations in the future Kingdom of God upon the earth. Indeed, “how much more wonderful it will be to go there when He is once more there in visible manifestation and glory.”
The Song of Moses: Israel’s History and Several First Mentions
S. Lewis Johnson’s “The Jewish People, Jesus Christ, and World History” series mainly looks at the book of Zechariah, with material similar to his previous Zechariah series. However, the last message looks at the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, with an overall exposition and outline of this text and its panoramic look at the nation Israel throughout human history.
The Song of Moses has seven divisions:
- Exordium: verses 1-3
- Theme: verses 4-6
- Extol the goodness of God: Verses 7-14
- Perversity of Israel toward God: Verses 15-18
- Judgments of God: verses 19-25
- Pleadings of Divine Mercy: verses 26-33
- Apocalyptic Events: interposition on the part of God, vindication of his nation, and atonement: verses 34-43
In going through the different sections, several things are worth noting:
The two witnesses in the introduction are heaven and earth. (“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.”) These two witnesses are there from the beginning of Israel’s history, and will be there at the end. The Old Testament uses similar language in other places, regarding the permanence and lasting of creation itself. I think of Psalm 89:36-37, His offspring shall endure forever, histhrone as long asthe sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies,” and the promises in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31), which again appeal to the enduring creation.
The song of Moses contains several “first mention” doctrines: the first time a particular idea is mentioned in the word of God. In the theme, verses 4-6, we see the first scripture reference to God as a rock. All later references in scripture to God as the Rock refer back to this first passage. Verse 39 has the first use of the expression “I am He,” an expression found later as especially in Isaiah.
Verse 14 makes reference to the blood of the grape: probably the source of the use of wine at the Lord’s table, the wine representative of blood.
The Song of Moses is quoted in the New Testament, especially the last section dealing with God’s vindication (verses 34-43). Verse 35 contains the well-known words, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Paul quotes this in Romans 12:19, and Hebrews 10:30 references verses 35 and 36, “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
Finally, verse 39 shows great hope, a hope found only in God. the sequence is important: “I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal.” The God with whom we must deal, does not “make alive and then kill.” The Song of Moses is a wonderful text, showing Israel’s history along with application for us and our waywardness, as well as God’s Sovereignty, His Divine Plan and Purpose. He will bring His people to Himself, punishing but then bringing redemption and salvation.
Romans 11: And So All Israel Shall Be Saved
From my study through Romans with S. Lewis Johnson, I now come to the great chapter of Romans 11. Note: S. Lewis Johnson also did a more extensive study of this chapter in “The Future of Ethnic Israel,” a six part study. The full-book Romans series (which I’m currently listening to) includes four messages in Romans 11; in a few places he says he doesn’t have time to go into further detail on certain points, so I expect that his other, separate series on Romans 11 expanded more concerning these details.
It’s been a while since I’ve studied the Romans 11 text. Concerning verse 26, “And so all Israel shall be saved” (ESV: And in this way all Israel will be saved), SLJ discusses several of the interpretations that have been suggested, and the errors in the incorrect ones.
The “Dutch view” of the Holland Covenant theologians is that the text refers to the remnant trickle of all Jews saved throughout the Church age, rather than to a national conversion at Christ’s Second Coming. A look at the context, though, shows that the referent for “and so” or “and in this way” is the immediately preceding verse, which has to do with the salvation of Gentiles: the mystery, the partial hardening of Israel UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Gentile salvation). Thus, “all Israel” will be saved as a result and after the fullness of the Gentiles, as a result of the Jews being made jealous (verse 14). Furthermore, these verses indicate future time, not present: verse 12 “how much more will,” also verse 15 “what will their acceptance mean.” Some might try to argue that these are referring to the present, but then what about verses 23-24: “will be grafted in,” for God is able to graft them in. The text is also national, referring to the nation Israel, not to individuals.
But the preceding context is most closely related, not to the salvation of Israel as it is to the salvation of the Gentiles. He has just said, “Hardening in part has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles be brought in. And so, by the bringing in of the full number of the Gentiles all Israel shall be saved. What is meant is not what our Dutch friends mean, but rather, by the total salvation of the Gentiles, when that has been completed, Israel shall have been brought to jealousy and to return to the Lord. “And so all Israel shall be saved” is the provocation by the full number of the Gentiles which will lead to Israel’s salvation.
Regarding John Calvin’s idea that this means “spiritual Israel” instead of ethnic Israel: well, then all the verse means is that all the elect are going to be saved. We already know that; that is not a mystery.
“I would not have you to be ignorant brethren of this mystery. What does he mean when he says “this mystery,” this secret? … Well, that’s not a mystery, that’s not a divine secret in the true sense. There’s hardly anything that is clearer from the apostle’s writing than that the elect shall be saved. There must be something more to the point when Paul says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant of this secret,” this divine secrets, “lest ye should be wise in your own conceits.” I think that what he means is explained by the “that” clause. That hardness, in part, has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. The time, the meshing of the time of the salvation of the nation and the salvation of the nations, and how this is all to be worked out in the thousands of years of human history, is the secret. In other words, we may put it by simply saying that the mystery is the divine program of the salvation of the nations in its various steps, that’s the mystery, it would seem.
Note, too, that the text cited immediately after “and so all Israel shall be saved” is from Isaiah 59:20-21, a text that is talking about the Second Coming. The preceding verses (Isaiah 59:17-19) describe Him putting on garments of vengeance, repaying wrath to His adversaries and repayment to His enemies, and the people, worldwide, fearing the name of the Lord. SLJ also notes a few other scriptural references and allusions here, blended together: Isaiah 27:9 (Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for) and Psalm 14:7 (Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!). Also, the background of all these quotations and allustions here – Isaiah 59, Isaiah 27, and Psalm 14 – includes the Abrahamic, Davidic and New Covenants, and thus reference to Israel’s election and salvation.
I’ve heard the spiritualized attempts to say that all of what the prophets said was really talking about what happened at the cross and our glorious church age. But again, such a distortion of meaning leaves us with nothing more than Paul saying the mystery is that all the elect shall be saved. Words do have meaning, and these verses are describing a condition that did not happen at the First Advent: Christ coming in judgment, which is His Second Advent.
Finally we consider if “all Israel” means every single individual: of course other prophetic texts give more detail, such as Zechariah 13 (that two-thirds of the people will be cut off and perish during the Great Tribulation). Further, the term “all Israel” is a technical term, an expression that refers to Israel as a whole, as a nation. S. Lewis Johnson specifically notes the following interesting references to “all Israel”: 1 Kings 12:1, 2 Chronicles 12:1-5, and Daniel 9:11. Additionally, Romans 11 itself gives us the clue to the answer: the rejection of Christ by the nation at His First Coming. We recognize, as something clear and undisputed, that the nation Israel rejected their Messiah at His First Coming. Yet not every single individual Israelite of the first century rejected Him; Paul, the other apostles, and at least several thousand other Jews, did receive Him. So too, at the Second Coming, the nation will accept Him, but not every single individual. The context of Romans 11 is again affirmed, that Paul is here talking about nations: the nation Israel and the gentile nations. Yes, nations are composed of individuals, but the Bible still talks sometimes, as in Romans 11, about national entities.
Michael Vlach: Has the Church Replaced Israel?
A friend sent me a copy of Vlach’s recently published book, “Has the Church Replaced Israel?” I don’t often have opportunity to read current books, and so I’ve enjoyed reading this one. Vlach’s book is one of only a few that give serious treatment to the scriptural and theological issues of biblical dispensationalism. I’ve read some of his online articles at his website (Theological Studies.org), so it was nice to read this book also. I’ve not completed the book yet, just the first ten chapters, and so the following is from my observations thus far.
Vlach notes the standard objection from those who don’t like to use the term “replace,” and establishes the definition from the fact that, regardless of what term people want to give for their belief, that belief does involve replacing one promise to one people group with another promise to a different group. The well-known amillennialist story of a dad promising his son a set of wheels, so that he expects a car, and instead gets a super-duper sports car, is told here, with the clear point that the illustration is not accurate. In supersessionism, the dad gives the fancy sports car to someone else instead of to his son.
After establishing the definition, several chapters cover church history, from the 1st century to the present, and provide great detail concerning the church-replacement views of various theologians. The basic content here is similar to Barry Horner’s coverage in his “Future Israel” book (which Vlach also mentions among his sources), though with different coverage in some of the details. I had forgotten some of the details from Horner’s book, and Vlach’s material is likewise refreshing. Among the important points, Vlach brings out the fact that church replacement was already well entrenched by the time of Justin Martyr, who was only saying in his own words an idea not original with him. Vlach also emphasizes the difference between “strong supersessionism” (no future for national Israel) with “moderate supersessionism” (future large-scale salvation for Israel, associated with the Second Coming), and he presents good evidence that throughout history the majority of the church have held to moderate supersessionism. Only Martin Luther, in some of his later writings, is especially noted as taking a strong supersessionist view. From the historical case Vlach further suggests that strong supersessionism is a minority view.
Next, Vlach considers the theological and hermeneutical issues, including treatment of specific passages. This book covers very well the overall distinctions, such as the difference between the supersessionist “either-or” and the “both-and” view of non-supersessionists. A NT passage can have application to us in the church age, but that in no way negates the original prophecy and its meaning. Vlach also discusses the idea of partial-fulfillment, and so it appears he takes more of a “progressive dispensationalist” approach regarding some of the specific texts he addresses: partial fulfillment of a text “in some way” by the church, with future complete fulfillment.
Another good topic covered is typology, an issue which supersessionists rely heavily on for support of their replacement view. Again, Israel is not a type of the church, even if some aspects of Israel’s experience have application for us in the church today. Vlach (like John MacArthur) takes the more limited definition of typology, that only those things explicitly revealed in the NT as “types” can be called types – and “types” are something different than illustrations. I considered this matter last year (this post), and now better understand the different definitions of “types.” Vlach is among those who see two categories, “types” versus “illustrations,” whereas some like-minded teachers view all illustrations as types (the words being synonymous): regardless of whether an explicit mention is made in the NT, a type/illustration follows the rules regarding the parallel correspondences. The main problem with supersessionist typology, as I see it, is the broadbrushing without addressing specific passages. It’s not enough to just say “Israel is a type of the church, God’s people” and disregard most if not all of the Old Testament as not worth serious study. Types (regardless of whether they are specifically called that in the NT) involve specifics: a specific Old Testament passage, and specific correspondences between the original event, person, or institution and the New Testament equivalent understanding.
What I learned and found especially interesting is the treatment of specific passages, and the different variations of interpretations even amongst non-supersessionist theologians. For instance, Vlach’s handling of Acts 15, where James cites Amos during the Jerusalem council, seems rather weak as compared to other expositions of that passage (see this post and this follow-up). Here, he does point out the importance of looking at the overall context, that Acts 15 is not a passage talking about eschatology; the main topic is the acceptance of Gentiles as Gentiles rather than Jewish converts, and so no one should use that text to prove the amillennialist view. He also notes that James only says that “this agrees with” rather than citing fulfillment. But then Vlach takes what appears to be a middle-road approach, that James must have seen this as somehow a partial fulfillment “in some sense” of the original Amos passage. Yet I did not see where he further explained what he meant there.
Despite a few shortcomings (such as the handling of Acts 15), though, I have enjoyed reading Michael Vlach’s book, Has the Church Replaced Israel? Vlach gives a good read overall, concerning the basic issues and answering the overall reasons that supersessionists give for their interpretation.
Speak, O Lord, Till Your Kingdom Comes: Church Praise Songs
How common it is for wrong biblical ideas to enter through songs. From church history I’ve heard that the error of Arianism spread easily through simple songs, such as one with the line “There was a time when the Son was not.” That is a more extreme example, but even within American churches, many of us can recall the songs about having “a mansion” in heaven — whereas the reference — John 14:3 — is referring to many “rooms” in my Father’s house.
The general theme of church replacement / supremacy is of course well represented in the classic hymns, if in a subtle way: all the refernces to Zion, as in “we’re marching to Zion, beautiful beautiful Zion” and “Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion city of our God,” or other songs where the word Zion, or even Beulah land, is used as a reference to heaven.
By contrast, apparently the only hymns with biblical reference to Israel and its great future, come from historic premillennialist Horatius Bonar. He wrote seven such hymns, but I have never seen the sheet music that goes to those songs, nor seen these hymns in any church hymnal.
Among contemporary praise songs, the church-supremacy trend continues, as in the recent song (sung often at the local Reformed amillennial church) “Speak, O Lord.” Most of the words are fine, and overall it is a great hymn, but the last verse includes the words “Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory.”
Of course, most people just sing the words and don’t really think about the words, or ask “is this biblical?” The reference to the earth being filled with the glory of the Lord is in Habakkuk 2:14 — in the great chapter with the words “the just shall live by faith,” where we are also told of a vision that “awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end-it will not lie,” and describes both judgment to come as well as the great promise in verse 14: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Even amillennialist John Reisinger has expressed his doubts, realizing that this verse contains more than just the influence of the church in this age. To say “till your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory” of course suggests that the church, or the gospel going forth, is going to bring this about (classic postmillennialism), and of course is not scriptural, as something never taught explicitly or implicitly in the Bible.
As shown in this blog’s title, though, I suggest a scripturally correct wording, that fits the rhythm and syllables for the song: Speak, O Lord, Till Your Kingdom Comes, and the earth is filled with Your glory.
Scripture Thoughts 
Andrew Bonar: Leviticus, Covenantal Premillennialism, and Ezekiel
As part of the 2017 Challies Reading Challenge, for the commentary I’m currently reading Andrew Bonar’s classic and highly-recommended commentary on Leviticus (1846). I’m a little over halfway through, and greatly appreciate it, as a verse by verse, chapter by chapter commentary that is straightforward reading for the layperson, with many good devotional thoughts.
I have read other works by Andrew Bonar, including his Christ and His Church in the Book of Psalms, and (earlier this year) his biography of Robert Murray McCheyne, which I especially enjoyed. I like reading his perspective as a covenantal premillennialist, a view not often seen today, due to the over-reaction by many Reformed against the errors of dispensationalism–to the point of rejecting even what has historically been affirmed by Reformed / covenantal theologians. For Bonar, in the Reformed tradition, saw the unity of scripture (Old and New Testament), and noted in Leviticus many types (figures, allegories) of Christ—yet also affirmed what the scriptures say regarding Israel’s future and how the scriptures describe the future millennial age.
Here, from Bonar’s commentary – published in 1846, years before dispensationalism had taken hold of much of evangelical Christianity – come some interesting thoughts regarding Leviticus and the last chapters of Ezekiel, regarding the future millennial temple. He notes (as did the later dispensational writers) the differences in this temple as compared to the previous tabernacle and temple, and relates the types and shadows of Leviticus to their educational, instructional purpose:
The commentary itself includes many references to New Testament passages as well as the Psalms, to give a complete picture of the Levitical worship and what various texts in Leviticus symbolized or paralleled elsewhere. As for instance, the concluding remarks on Leviticus 1 relate the sacrifices found here to the original sacrifices and features of Eden, explaining these details of God’s progressive revelation from earlier to later Old Testament revelation: