September 2014 Letter to Subscribers

September, 2014
Dear Subscriber to www.kingdominbible.com,

When you understand the basic kingdom theme, all parts of the Bible harmonize. That is the main premise of KIB. You should go elsewhere if you only want to solve your current personal prob­lems. No doubt they are important—but insignificant compared to knowing God and the revela­tion of His plans and progress. My main task now is to write and revise studies promoting the biblical plan. Though doing so increases my insight, I also need any feedback I can get from you!

This report gives links to new or revised files on KIB. Most of these view the kingdom plan in contrast to current perversions, mainly amillennialism. That theology, now widespread, says that the promised kingdom has begun. According to it, kingdom prophecies in the Old Testa­ment and early New Testament cannot be trusted in their original meanings. I show weaknesses of that theology and build the case for normal interpretation.

• “The Kingdom Will Come As the Prophets Predicted: A Critique of Waltke’s Case for Amillennialism” 54 pp., NEW. With erudition Waltke explains OT prophecies — but then asserts that those meanings have changed. I biblically refute his reasons.
• “Will God Eternally Bless Ethnic Israel? A Critique of ‘Replacement Theology’”       30 pp., REVISED. RT denies that ethnic Israel can claim promises God seemed to give that nation. I show (a) why it so teaches and (b) how its interpretations pervert the Scriptures.
• “Realized Eschatology: Evidence that Christ’s Kingdom Is Coming” 21 pp., NEW. Seven Bible facts show that some final things have begun as pledges of the still-future kingdom.
• “Does the Bible Teach that All Men Are Immortal?” 44 pp., REVISED. Only God is immortal (1 Tim. 6:16). Banished from the tree of life after the Fall, man is offered its fruit when Messiah returns. But unbelievers will be “burned” to oblivion.
• “The Book of Acts Self-Study Guide,” 69 pp., NEW.       An adaptation of the guide I originally wrote for the World Wide LIT curriculum. Though not dispensational, it can be used with (or without) Charles Ryrie’s commentary on Acts. The appendix alone (5 pp.) is available if you prefer, listed under “Acts omits divinity.”

Use my enlarged “Index of Passages & Topics” to help find relevant discussions. You will see links to it at various places in the website. Suppose, for example, you want discussion of Isaiah 11. Search for that passage in the index. Of course, it is included in the Isaiah Study Guide. But it is also mentioned in some other entries, such as this one:

Isaiah 11

“Will God Eternally Bless Ethnic Israel? A Critique of ‘Replacement Theology’”

2 pp. at beginning, also in RT arguments

This index entry means that Isaiah 11 is discussed in the recently revised file “Will God Eternal­ly Bless…?” There it is in at least (a) two pages at the beginning and (b) the arguments often used to prove RT (Replacement Theology). If you want to read those discussions, do this:

1. Select “Isaiah 11” (in cell 1) and save it to memory (Ctrl-c).
2. Ctrl-click the link (in cell 2) to access that document in MS Word.
3. In the accessed document open Search (Ctrl-f) and insert the memory item (Ctrl-v) to find the relevant pages.

Now I expect to revise my whole-Bible survey of the kingdom. That is what I have been gear­ing up for. I intend to keep it positive, not defensive. The index will help in my process—and provide additional discussions for those who want them.

Yours for His glory,
John Hepp, Jr.
johnhepp@kingdominbible.com