Premillennialism

By Bob Myhan

Premillennialism is the doctrine that the second coming of Jesus Christ will precede the supposed millennium—a literal period of 1,000 years—during which He will reign on earth as King. Dispensational Premillennialism is a little more involved. While there are variations, some popular features of Dispensational Premillennialism are:

Ø      Jesus came the first time to establish a political, earthly kingdom, composed of Jews only.

Ø      The Jews prevented His doing this by their rejection of Him as their king.

Ø      He set up the church, instead, and will return at some future date to establish the physical, earthly kingdom, which He failed to do the first time. [The church age, therefore, is—to Dispensational Premillennialists—an intercalation, or parenthesis, in the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.]

Ø      At the end of the church age, Christ will descend from heaven to receive His Bride, the church. [His coming will, therefore, be premillennial, rather than postmillennial.

Ø      The dead in Christ will be raised and the living Christians will be changed.

Ø      Both will then be caught up—raptured—to meet Christ in the air.

Ø      Christ and His Bride will meet, be married, and remain somewhere above the earth for a 7-year honeymoon.

Ø      During this 7-year period, an unequaled tribulation of the Jews will break loose on earth. God will now, once again, deal with the Jews. They will accept Jesus as their Messiah and be restored to their land.

Ø      During this time, also, the great Antichrist will be revealed.

Ø      After the 7-year tribulation/honeymoon period, Christ will be revealed with His saints.

Ø      The Gentile nations of the tribulation will be judged for fitness to enter the so-called millennium.

Ø      Antichrist, the Beast and False Prophet will be destroyed.

Ø      Satan will be bound for a literal period of one thousand years.

Ø      The tribulation saints will be raised from the dead.

Ø      The one-thousand-year reign of Christ and His saints will begin.

Ø      At the end of the one-thousand-year reign, Satan will be loosed for a short time.

Ø      Satan will then be destroyed with Gog and Magog.

Ø      The wicked dead will be resurrected.

Ø      Judgment at the great white throne will take place.

Ø      Eternal reward and eternal punishment will begin.

OBSERVATIONS

1. This doctrine is a patchwork of unrelated passages of scripture.
2. They get a one-thousand-year reign from a literal interpretation of Rev. 20:1-4, and then build a theory upon this interpretation.
3. As a matter of fact they interpret much of the language of the book of Revelation literally although the opening statement of the book makes it clear that the book is composed of “signifying” [symbolic] speech (1:1).

EXAMPLES OF "SIGNIFYING” [SYMBOLIC] SPEECH

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die (John 12:32-33, KJV).

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thou whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me (John 21:18-19, KJV).

And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch . And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar (Acts 11:27-28, KJV).

And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles (Acts 21:10-11, KJV).

While the word, “signify,” is not used in this last passage, it is evident that Agabus was signifying what the Holy Spirit had revealed to him concerning that which awaited Paul in Jerusalem .

HOW THIS HELPS US UNDERSTAND REVELATION 20:4

It will help us to put it in the context of a highly symbolic book. The book of Revelation concerned things that would “shortly come to pass” (1:1). [Note: the word for “shortly” is the same word used by Paul when he wrote, “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me” (2 Tim. 4:9, KJV). Did Paul mean some time in the next two to three thousand years?]

Jesus “signified” this revelation “unto his servant John” (1:1, KJV).

The description of “one like unto the Son of man” was symbolic, or figurative; the seven golden candlesticks symbolized the seven churches of Asia ; the seven stars symbolized the respective messengers of the seven churches (1:12-20, KJV).

In one vision, John “saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held” (6:9-11; compare Luke 13:1). These souls cried out for vengeance, for which they would have to wait.

In Rev. 20:4 John now sees these same souls sitting on thrones, exercising judgment; they have been avenged; their cause has been vindicated; they have been figuratively resurrected.

Also, compare Rev. 14:20 with Deut. 32:14. The “blood” flowing from the winepress is not human blood, but the “blood of the grape,” or grape juice. The amount of grape juice is merely signifying the magnitude of God's wrath, as it was about to be poured out on the enemies of the cross.

THE BASIC PROBLEM OF DISPENSATIONAL PREMILLENNIALISM

Its basic problem is that it denies what the Bible affirms: “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4). If His rejection by the Jews prevented Him from doing what He came to do, the time was not full. If the time was not full, “God sent forth His Son” prematurely. And if Jesus was sent prematurely, God is deficient in wisdom.

While it is true that the Jews rejected Jesus, the reason they rejected Him was that He came to establish a spiritual, heavenly kingdom, and they wanted a political, earthly kingdom. As a matter of fact, the Jews had wanted nothing more than a political, earthly king over a political, earthly kingdom since the time of Samuel (1 Sam. 8:4-7). They tried to make Jesus king, but HE RESISTED THEIR ATTEMPT! (John 6:14-15)

Interestingly, when they brought Him to Pilate for criminal prosecution, they accused Him of claiming to be that which He refused to be—a political king (Luke 23:1-2). But He made it clear that His kingdom was not “of this world” (John 18:33-36).

ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS

1. They deny that God's land promise to Abraham was fulfilled (but see Joshua 21:43-45).
2. They deny that God's promise to restore Israel to their land was fulfilled (but see Ezra 1:1-3; 9:13-15; Neh. 1:3-10).
3. They deny that God's promise to David, to "raise up Christ to sit on his throne," was fulfilled (but see 2 Sam. 7:12-14; Acts 2:22-36; Heb. 1:1-3; Col. 1:9-13; Rev. 1:9).
4. They deny the church was involved in the "eternal purpose" of God (but see Eph. 3:8-11).
5. They place greater emphasis on highly figurative passages than on literal passages. &

Useful for the Master

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (2 Tim. 2:19-21, NKJV)

1.      One must purge self. (2 Cor. 6:17)

2.      One must love God. (Matt. 22:37-38)

3.      One must spend time in prayer. (Col. 4:2; Rom. 12:12; 1 Thess. 5:17)

4.      One must spend time in the word (Eph. 6:17; 2:15).

5.      One must put self at God’s disposal (Luke 22:42; Isa. 6:8)