KINGDOM - OLOGY 21

The meaning of contingency in relation to the Mediatorial Kingdom

    

        The word contingency etymologically means the coming of two lines into touch with one another. This suggests a cause and effect relationship; a cause in that one line touches another and a consequence as a result of the touch. Something in one line is dependent on an uncertain event or condition in another. One line of development is certain under unchanging conditions. But when it is touched by an unforeseen line of development, a new set of circumstances is produced. The original line of development may, therefore, experience a pause, a break, an intermission, an arrest of movement, an interruption, suspension, a delay, an untimely fulfillment. The original line of development or situation is thus subordinated to factors that are either in evidence or thought likely to come about. The crucial factors determining the ultimate outcome are those that lie in the future.

            When this word is used in relation to the Mediatorial Kingdom it means that another line of development affects the movement of the original purpose. The original line of development was intended to culminate in the inauguration of a kingdom in the earth in which Israel would enjoy a position of superiority, the Gentiles would participate in the benefits, and over which the Son of Man, a member of the human race, would rule and reign. But another line of development, originating in Eden, developing progressively in the human race, and reaching its climax in Israel, but at the cross purposes with the original intent, results in the rejection of the King and His kingdom. The outcome is a postponement, a suspension, or a holding in abeyance the establishment of the kingdom. All dispensational premillennialists espouse this viewpoint, but practically all other eschatological views vigorously deny that this is the teaching of the Word of God.

            This unforeseen development, as presented by the dispensational premillennialist, poses a contingency. This contingency, however, is not one as viewed from the standpoint of God, but only as it is confronted by man. But it introduces into the picture one of the greatest problems ever to confront the mind of man, namely, that of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. If Arminius and Calvin had never existed, this problem would have emerged in the thinking of men, and especially in the thinking of men who seek to understand the Word of God. It is now before us in relation to the Mediatorial Kingdom.