Eschatology (Millennialism)
Systematic Theology
“And
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and
holding in his hand a great chain. He
seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the
devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and
sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the
thousand years were ended. After that,
he must be set free for a short time.
“I
saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to
judge. And I saw the souls of those who
had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus because of the word of
God. They had not worshiped the beast or
his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. (The rest of the dead
did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in
the first resurrection. The second death
has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will
reign with him for a thousand years.” – Revelation 20:1-6
I.
Definitions
a.
Eschatology –
Study of last things. Covers all aspects
of future prophecy. We will focus
primarily upon views of the millennium and the rapture.
b.
Millennium –
Period spoken of in Revelation 20:1-6.
c.
Postmillennialism
– Belief in an earthly rule of Christ after the millennium.
d.
Premillennialism
– Belief in an earthly rule of Christ after his return.
e.
Amillenialism –
there is no earthly rule of Christ. The
millennium is purely spiritual in nature.
II.
Postmillenialism
a.
Description
i.
Order of
Events: Christ’s ascension, millennium,
Christ’s 2nd coming
ii.
Millennium not
necessarily1000 years
iii.
Preaching of the
gospel will be so successful that virtually everyone will become saved and evil
will nearly vanish.
iv.
Optimistic view –
world will trend better as Christ’s return comes close.
v.
Believe that
Satan is currently bound.
vi.
History
1.
Belief held by
Augustine (4th century)
2.
Ascribed to
Calvin (along with Amillennialism)
3.
Became very
popular in 19th century as missions work went well.
4.
Not terribly
popular today.
5.
Some support is
increasing due to theonomy (belief that we should subdue the earth by science,
education, the arts, etc.)
vii.
Held by many of
the Reformed faith.
b.
Proof Texts (not
exhaustive)
i.
Psalms 72 – “All
kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.” (72:11)
ii.
Isaiah 45:22-25 –
“Before me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear.” (45:23b)
iii.
Hosea 2:23 – “I
will plants myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my
loved one.’” (2:23a)
iv.
Matthew 24:14 –
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
v.
1 Tim 2:4 – “[God
our Savior] who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth.”
c.
Difficulties
i.
World is not
necessarily getting better. Much
evidence that it is getting worse (especially in the modernized world).
ii.
Doesn’t deal well
with 2 resurrections.
iii.
Doesn’t give real
meaning to Revelation 20
iv.
Can’t explain
Christ’s prediction in Matthew 24 of great distress, persecution, wickedness,
and apostacy.
III.
Amillennialism
a.
Description
i.
Order of
Events: Ascension of Christ, Reign of
Christ from Heaven, 2nd Coming of Christ
ii.
Millennium not
necessarily 1000 years
iii.
2 beliefs of the
millennium
1.
Fulfillment in
present age by church on earth (Berkhof)
2.
Fulfillment by
the saints in heaven now (Warfield)
iv.
Sees fulfillment
of covenants in church.
v.
Employs
nonliteral, allegorical interpretation of prophecy.
vi.
Satan is bound
from Christ’s ascension on.
vii.
Revelation is not
discussing a 7-year period but rather allegorically describing the time from
Christ’s ascension to his return.
viii.
Nothing between
now and 2nd coming.
ix.
Says nothing
about nature of the future. Could be
positive, could be negative.
x.
Often confused
with postmillenialism
xi.
History
1.
Augustine was an
early proponent.
2.
Attributed to
Calvin and many other reformers
3.
Held by most
covenant theologists.
4.
Popular among
reformed believers after World War I.
xii.
Simple and
elegant.
b.
Proof Texts
i.
Covenant texts –
“I will be your God and you will be my people.”
ii.
Mystery in Ephesians
3:5 is that the Church was in the Old Testament and therefore fulfills Old
Testament prophecy.
iii.
See Daniel’s 70
weeks (Dan 9:24-27) as beginning in 536 B.C. under Cyrus, not 445 B.C. under
Artaxerxes. This means that the 70
sevens no longer align with Christ’s death and thus are imprecise. The 70th week is the entire church
age.
c.
Difficulties
i.
Cannot adequately
explain 2 resurrections. Sees 1st
as spiritual and 2nd as physical.
Same term (ezesan) is used for
both.
ii.
No objective way
to determine which parts of prophecy are literal and which are allegorical.
IV.
Premillenialism
a.
Description
i.
Order of Events:
1.
Dispensational –
Christ’s ascension, Rapture*, Tribulation, 2nd coming, millennial
reign on earth.
2.
Historical –
Christ’s ascension, 2nd coming, millennial reign on earth.
3.
* Rapture may be
pre, mid, or post tribulation
ii.
Millennium is
1000 literal years
iii.
Hold to a literal
hermeneutical approach
iv.
v.
Take Revelation
20:4-6 literally
vi.
Satan is loose on
the earth
vii.
Believe in a
literal tribulation period of 7 years and a rapture of the Church.
viii.
Will be a break
from what precedes it.
ix.
History
1.
Historical
premillenialism was dominant in 1st 300 years of church.
2.
Quite rare in the
middle ages
3.
Began growing in
mid-19th century
4.
Today dominates
especially among Baptists, Pentacostals, and independent fundamental churches.
x.
Most holding this
view are dispensationalists or progressive dispensationalists (covenant +
millennium)
xi.
Best explanation
of texts
b.
Proof Texts
i.
Revelation 20:1-6
(see above)
ii.
1 Corinthians
15:22-24 – “Each in his own turn:
Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to
him. Then the end will come.”
(15:23b-24a)
iii.
Revelation 3:10 –
“I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the
whole world.” (3:10b)
c.
Difficulties
i.
All difficulties
of Dispensationalism (complicated).
V.
Views of the
Rapture
a.
The rapture is
the coming of Christ come down toward earth but not land. He will call to the
Church and they will meet him in the clouds.
This is true really only of Pre-and Mid-tribulation views.
b.
Pretribulation
rapture – Church is raptured by Christ before the tribulation.
c.
Midtribulation
rapture – Church goes through 1st half of tribulation but avoids the
“Great Tribulation” (last 3 ˝ years).
d.
Posttribulation
rapture – Church endures whole tribulation.