One of the very serious problems with a dispensationalist interpretation of Messianic prophecy is that a number of Isaiah’s prophecies are quoted in the New Testament either about Christ or about the mission of the church. In Matthew 3:3 and 4:14, for example, the text plainly states that the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled through John the Baptist who was the forerunner to Christ and in reference to Christ Himself as the Messiah. Do we reject that the Holy Scriptures are God-breathed and without error?
The following prophecies of Isaiah are quoted in the New Testament referring to Christ and the church: Luke 2:32 – Isaiah 42:6, Acts 13:47 – Isaiah 49:6, Matthew 4:15 – Isaiah 9:1, Matthew 8:17 – Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 12:18 – Isaiah 42:1, Matthew 12:21 – Isaiah 42:4, Luke 4:17 – Isaiah 61:1, Luke 22:37 – Isaiah 53:12, Romans 9:33 – Isaiah 8:14. These verses alone tie together the Old and New Testaments and plainly show us, without any room for another interpretation, that Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again is the same person Isaiah prophesied would come. Therefore, not one of the prophecies in Isaiah is yet future.
An obvious problem with holding the view that there are unfulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament is that Jesus Christ is diminished, and the result is blasphemy and a rejection of God-breathed Scripture. Matthew 12:31-32 Any interpretations we hold on Scripture must ascribe the maximum glory and authority to Christ, and the dispensationalist view results in the opposite.
Scripture interprets Scripture, and a key refutation of the dispensationalist view is Isaiah 42:6/49:6 and Acts 13:47. In Isaiah, it is a clear command to Israel to be a light to the nations, and it is clear that Christ is in view. The command was renewed through Christ’s command in Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8. However, we also see Paul quote Isaiah 42:6/49:6 in Acts 13:47.
In Acts, we see several important observations. First, we read Paul’s statement that God “commanded us.” By this, Paul understands that Isaiah 42:6/49:6 is a command to be presently obeyed; it is a command upon the Jews (of which Paul was one) to be a light to the nations; and the gospel of Christ was the primary message to be taken to the nations. Second, Paul acknowledges that the Gentiles are the object of the command; the responsibility of the Jews to take the gospel to them; and that Christ had commanded the disciples similarly. In other words, the promise of Isaiah 42:6/49:6 was made personal to believers in Christ and applied to the church of whom Christ is head.
Acts 13:47 significantly undermines the view of the dispensationalist. When Christ came to the earth, His reign in the kingdom of heaven began. The kingdom of heaven exists on earth through all those who profess belief in Christ, and it is only a spiritual kingdom with manifestations in the physical. Christ is always at the center of the kingdom of heaven, and the obligation of Israel has always been to expand the kingdom of heaven into all of the earth. This cannot be accomplished if Israel is always to exist parallel to and separate from the church, and Paul’s statement that God “commanded us” is reduced to error. The command/promise in Isaiah 42:6/49:6 was first made personal to the church by Christ (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). By this command made personal to all believers in the New Testament, we know for certain that Israel and the church cannot exist independent of each other and that such is not God’s design.
Again, the David Jeremiah Study Bible states on Isaiah 42:6, “While He is drawing the nations to Himself through the church, many Jews are being gathered as an unbelieving nation in anticipation of the return of Christ to take His rightful place as King over Israel and all the earth. When Christ returns, they will ‘look on Him whom they pierced … and will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son.’ Finally, ‘all the remnant of Israel will be saved’ because ‘the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.’ God intended for the people of Israel to be a blessing to the world – and they have been. Israel will be a blessing yet again as the Gentiles share in the privilege of knowing Christ and ultimately receiving Him as King of kings.”
Note how David Jeremiah makes all of this yet future, while both Christ and Paul clearly understood it to be a present command to be undertaken by Jew and Gentile alike, both of whom must believe on Christ. Also, if Jesus Christ is not king now, then who is king, where is God, and who is in control? My Bible says Christ is King of kings now!
Any attempt to deny that Isaiah’s prophecies refer to Christ is a flat rejection of Christ Himself, the work of Christ on the cross, and God-breathed Scripture. In other words, such claims result in the Scriptures containing significant error, which is blasphemy. Paul has already dealt with ideas similar to dispensationalism in his disagreement with Peter in Galatians chapter 2. The final verse in that chapter says, “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Galatians 2:21 If the dispensationalist reasoning is correct, Christ died needlessly. May it never be!
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