Here is a very helpful presentation on the New Covenant that approaches an originalist hermeneutic.

Concerning the names of the 12 apostles on the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:14, Dr. Robert Thomas (my favorite Bible professor) writes,

“It is significant that John brings together the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles here, and makes a distinction between them. . . . The mention of the twelve apostles here shows the distinctive role of the church in the new Jerusalem, just as the mention of the twelve sons of Israel (v.12) distinguishes the role of national Israel. . . . Continuity from the twelve sons of Israel to the twelve apostles is not the teaching of this passage . . . but the dual election of Israel and the church. The words clearly show that God has an eschatological role for both peoples. Beyond dispute, this description of the bride-city separates believers among Israel from believers of the church, and in a symbolic way assigns the two groups separate roles in the new creation. If the two were one merged group of believers, there would have been twenty-four gates instead of twelve or twenty-four foundations instead of twelve . . .” (Revelation 8–22, Moody, 465).

In contrast to this eternal division of two peoples of God in dispensationalism, an originalist hermeneutic would understand the names of the twelve apostles on the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:14 as a fulfillment of the Messiah’s word in Matthew 19:28 (twelve disciples judging the twelve tribes in the Messianic kingdom). Gentile followers of the Messiah are grafted into the remnant of faithful Israel (Rom 11:17) and become fellow citizens of the true commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:11–22). Originalist hermeneutics rejects the supersessionism, replacement theology, and fulfilment theology of Constantinian Christianity, Roman Catholicism, and most Western Christianity. The Christian “church” does not replace true Israel; Gentile disciples have been grafted into the ekklesia of the Messiah (Matt 16:18).

A central tenet of originalist hermeneutics is understanding the theme of the kingdom of God in the New Testament through the lens of the Old Testament theme of the eschatological restoration of national Israel. Therefore, the kingdom of God, as prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures, was never established nor fulfilled during the first advent of the Messiah or what many people call “the church age.”

Much confusion has resulted from theologians who have argued for an “inaugurated eschatology” where the kingdom of God that is taught in the NT is “already but not yet” (developed by Princeton Seminary professor Gerhardus Vos in the early 20^th century, formalized by Fuller Seminary professor George Eldon Ladd in the 1950s). This kind of allegorist/spiritualist hermeneutic can ultimately be traced back to the Greco-Roman philosophical influence of the Alexandrian Didascalium of the 2^nd century.

Revelation 11:15–17, in the context of the 7^th trumpet judgment, clearly records the future establishment of the kingdom of God: “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ; and he will reign forever and ever.’ . . . ‘We give you thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.”

Mastery of the biblical languages is foundational for interpreting Scripture accurately. But mastery of the biblical languages does not guarantee accurate interpretation, and can even engender a hermeneutical imperiousness. Often, the biblical languages are abused to defend preferred systems of theology and thus can even hinder originalist hermeneutics.

Dr. Rod Decker, a former seminary professor, wisely advocated “grammatical minimalism,” in contrast to “a maximal, ‘golden nuggets’ approach”: “the most appropriate way to handle the interpretation of an ancient text . . . is to place the least weight on the individual grammatical pieces and the greatest weight on statements in their context” (Reading Koine Greek [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014], xv–xvi).

In the eschatological setting of Isaiah 24:21-23, the LORD will judge the host of heaven and the kings of the earth “after many days” (וּמֵרֹב יָמִים) (Isa 24:22). The phrase rov yamim (“multitude of days”) in Isaiah 24:22 corresponds to the “thousand years” (χίλια ἔτη) in Revelation 20:2–7.

Ezekiel also describes this “multitude of days” as “many days” of peace and blessing in Ezekiel 38:8–16. “After many days” (Ezek 38:8), judgment will come upon Gog (Ezek 38:21–23) in terms similar to Isaiah 24:22 and Revelation 20:7–10 (cf. Jer 32:36–44).

The underlying theme of the entire Bible is the glory of God (Gen 1:3; Rev 22:16) in the kingdom of God (Gen 1:26; Rev 22:16).

The original kingdom of God culminated in the fullness of the first Sabbath rest (Gen 2:1-3) but was usurped in the rebellion of Genesis 3:1-7. Ever since, God has established the biblical covenants (Noahic, Gen 9; Abrahamic, Gen 12, 15, 17; Sinai, Exod 20-24; Priestly, Num 25; Davidic, 2 Sam 7) to ensure the restoration and renewal of the original Edenic kingdom of God (Rev 21-22). The New or Renewed Covenant of Deuteronomy 30:1-9; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-38 is a renewal of God’s eternal covenant with the nation of Israel in the Messianic kingdom.