Most dispensationalists also believe the rapture and return of Christ will occur before the literal 1000 year reign of Christ from Jerusalem. This view is called Premillenialsim and the vast majority of Dispensationalists are also Premillenisalists as well. Many of the popular evangelical types such as Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, Charles Ryrie, John Hage, etc. fall into this category.
Dispensationalists got a big boost in the mid 20th century, because their position required the rebirth of Israel as a nation of Jews, which seemed completely implausible at the time. Learn your history. The odd twist of events that led to the re-establishment of the nation of Israel by Jews in 1948 smacks so much of biblical proportions that it is difficult to dismiss this as anything other than the divine intervention of God.
The Jews were initially given a small sliver of what they occupy today and it did not include the old city of Jerusalem at all. Given the already determined assault by all neighboring Arab countries on all Israeli fronts, it seemed as if the fledgling country would not survive at all, much less grab more property owned by the Arabs. But during the 60’s, true to his dispensationalist interpretations, Hal Lindsey stated that Israel would have to one day occupy the old city of Jerusalem in order to eventually rebuild the temple as required by their interpretation. Sure enough, in 1967 during the 6-day war, the improbable and remarkable prediction came to pass. As Israeli armies still fought, their leader trekked to the Wailing Wall (the last standing base of the second temple) and declared that the Jews had finally returned after 2000 years of dispersion, never to be separated from their beloved city again. Incidentally, the extra land Israel grabbed during the 6-day war included the West Bank and the Gaza strip that have since been spilled with Arab/Israeli to this very day.
So, the dispensationalist position is not completely without merit, but their early success and continuing desire to tie specific prophecies to current day events and dates has discredited much of their position over the remaining years.
In the 70’s and 80’s, it was common for this crowd to interpret Jesus’ “this generation” of Matthew 24 as beginning with the rebirth of Israel in 1948. Forty years later (i.e. 1988) was supposed to be a climax, but as it passed uneventfully they revised the generation to 70 years, concocted other theories, or just plain ignored this point.
Truth is, even if you believe the Dispensationalists interpretation to be the correct one, there is no scripture that says the “generation clock” starts with the rebirth of Israel, but this reveals some of the stretches this crowd has historically tried to fit into their interpretations and should be considered when reviewing their current interpretations.
