There are fewer dispensationalists today than in years past. Among other things, dispensationalists believe that there is a difference between Israel and the church. However, most Bible teachers say that the church is the new Israel or that the church has replaced Israel. Those who say that the church is not Israel are often held up to scorn and not considered serious students of the Bible. I am a dispensationalist.

Recently, I was looking at a passage in Luke. In my humble opinion, this passage strongly indicates that God deals differently with Israel than with the church. In Luke 9:1-6, the Lord sends the twelve disciples to the nation of Israel. He tells them to perform miraculous healings among the Jews, to act in a particular way, and to preach a particular message. The specifics of the Lord’s instructions to the disciples at this time are never given to the church after its birth in Acts 2. First, Jesus tells the Twelve to cast out demons and heal diseases. Christ gave them the power and authority to do so. Believers today are not told to do that. Not a single believer today has been given that power or authority. The Twelve were a unique group of men who had a unique purpose. They were to go to the nation of Israel in order to show that Jesus was the promised King. The miracles they performed were to demonstrate the truth of their message to the nation.

These men were instructed to “preach the kingdom of God.” In the Gospel of Luke, the kingdom of God refers to the promise God had made to Israel. He had promised to send them their King, who would reign over the world from Jerusalem. Now the King had arrived, in the Person of Christ. The Twelve announced that God was offering the kingdom to that generation of Jews if the nation responded to their message.

The Lord then gave these men specific instructions about how they were to conduct their mission. They would go into all the cities of Galilee, which would take some time. But they were not to take any money, food, or extra clothing. They were not to worry about accommodations during the months (?) they would be gone. The Lord would provide all these things.

It is impossible to conceive of a person in today’s church taking no money, food, or clothing when going out to serve the Lord on a mission trip that would take months. Imagine taking such a trip without considering in advance where you would stay.

The Lord’s unique instructions in Luke 9:1-6 were given because time was of the essence. The King would not be with them for much longer, so the offer to the nation of Israel needed to be accepted quickly. The disciples needed to go to them now. There was a sense of urgency. They didn’t have time to raise support.

What about those who rejected what the disciples did and said? Once again, we see that they were to respond in a way that those of us in the church would not. They were to shake the dust off their feet. This had special relevance to the Jews. Shaking the dust off one’s shoes was a sign to the Jews that God would judge the nation for its rejection of those whom God had sent to them.

Believers today present a different message. We tell both Jewish and Gentile unbelievers that the Lord gives eternal life to all who believe in Him for it. We speak of rewards for those believers who do good works. However, we don’t tell them that Jesus will immediately come and set up His kingdom if they believe. We are not told to shake the dust off the bottom of our shoes when we encounter opposition.

These verses are a reminder. The message that John the Baptist, the Lord, or the Twelve announced to the nation of Israel should not be applied to the church. It may be that not a single non-dispensationalist will look at Luke 9:1-6 and become a dispensationalist. He may maintain that there is no distinction between Israel and the church. But as a dispensationalist, I find it easy to look at those verses and conclude that the Lord surely dealt with Israel in a way that He doesn’t deal with today’s world.