Why Premillennialism Misses the Mark
BEYOND THE BASICS | Shane Carrington | Sulfer Springs, Texas
Premillennialism stands as one of the most popular doctrines of religion in modern times, joining the ranks of “Trust Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior to be saved,” “Join the church of your choice,” and “Once saved always saved.” That’s just how popular it is.
Cultural phenomena such as the “Left Behind” series of books (published 1995-2007) and movies (produced 2000-2014), Hal Lindsay’s “The Late, Great Planet Earth” (published in 1970), and televangelists like John Hagee, David Jeremiah, etc. drive this movement today. Additionally, the doctrine is written into many study Bibles, including J. N. Darby’s study notes, the Ryrie Study Bible, the Schofield Study Bible, the John MacArthur Study Bible, etc.
Fortunately, a large portion of modern scholarship opposes the doctrine. Gorman describes premillennialism as “biblical hopscotch.”
Premillennialism is well-summarized in this fashion:
“The Rapture
The rise of a single antichrist
A 7-year tribulation
The Second Coming of Christ
The Battle of Armageddon
The judgment of the antichrist and the binding of Satan
The resurrection of the dead
The establishment of a 1,000-year reign of peace (the Millennium)
The release of Satan and one final rebellion
The final judgment
And finally…” (the above written 3/21/19 by Michelle Reyes) heaven and hell.
What is wrong with the doctrine? Too much for one article, so let’s briefly consider four reasons “why Premillennialism misses the mark.”
Premillennialism fails to understand the true nature of the church and kingdom.
The kingdom Christ established, as discussed in Matthew 16:18,19 refers to the church. Jesus said, “I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18), then He promised to give the apostles “the keys of the kingdom” (Matthew 16:19). He was not affirming to build one thing, then give them the keys to something else. Instead, He gave them the keys to what He built and established.
In Paul’s letters, Ephesians and Colossians, both prison epistles and parallel in content, state the following: The Father made Jesus, “head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22,23). That body/church is composed of the saved. Using parallel phrases, Paul wrote, “Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). In Colossians, the phrasing is, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14). Following that statement is, “He is also head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). These epistles show Jesus is the King and Savior of the kingdom (Colossians 1:13,14). Therefore, he is the Head and Savior of the church/body (Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). Paul uses the terms “kingdom” and “church” to refer to the same body.
Premillennialism suggests that the kingdom was God’s original intention that the Jewish leaders foiled by rejecting and murdering Jesus. Further, they view the church as a stop-gap measure God implemented as a placeholder until Jesus can eventually come back to earth. It is only at Christ’s return that He will finally establish what the first century Jews prevented: the kingdom of Christ. The fact that the kingdom (in the sense of the church) has been established, accomplished in the first century shows premillennial theology is erroneous. Jesus reigned as King — the Lord and Christ — at the right hand of God by Acts 2:29-36!
But this is not all that premillennialism fails to recognize.
Premillennialism fails to understand the nature of spiritual Israel.
It takes a similar, erroneous view as first-century Jews: they were looking for Christ to establish an earthly kingdom. Even the apostles asked for positions of prominence in Jesus’s kingdom. For example, James and John’s mother requested Jesus, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left” (Matthew 20:20-28). But such an earthly kingdom is not why Jesus came. “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36).
The kingdom of Jesus is spiritual: “…the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). It is composed of all those redeemed through the work of the Christ. “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14).
What ancient Israel foreshadowed and anticipated, the church exists as today. Paul wrote, “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:15,16). The church is:
- composed of both Jews and Gentiles (cf. Galatians 6:15; 3:26-29; Ephesians 2:11-22)
- composed of those born again — God’s spiritual family by new creation (Galatians 6:15; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 3:3,5; Galatians 3;26,27)
- composed of those who receive what ancient Israel had in lesser measure — “peace (shalom) and mercy (lovingkindness/steadfast love/covenant loyalty)” (Galatians 6:16; cf. Hebrews 11:39,40)
- God’s true Israel — the true descendants of Abraham by faith (Galatians 6:16; 3:26-29).
Ancient Israel was a physical nation with many spiritual blessings and responsibilities. As God’s true Israel, the church is a spiritual kingdom redeemed by Christ’s blood (Colossians 1:13,14) and entrusted with the purpose of shining His light to illuminate the path to heaven.
Premillennialism fails the see the promises to Abraham God fulfilled.
Ancient, national Israel had incredibly important purposes. They were the vehicle through whom the Christ would come.
“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. …
Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:1,10; cf. 9:6,7; etc.)
The “stem of Jesse,” the Christ, would redeem from both Israel and the “nations…peoples” those who would come to Him for redemption.
We must view God’s promises to Abraham through these lenses. The great nation and land promises were about Israel being the means through whom the Seed promise would come. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” (Genesis 22:18; read Acts 3:24-26 and Galatians 3:16). Since God has fulfilled that promise, the great nation and land promises have as well. Joshua makes it crystal clear that Israel received in his generation all the land God intended:
“So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45).
With all those promises being fulfilled, national Israel has no more promises to await in these modern times.
Premillennialism fails to understand the scope of Revelation and Matthew 24
Premillennialism misunderstands many Old and New Testament prophecies. Two of these primary to their beliefs are Revelation and Matthew 24 and their parallels and counterparts.
Revelation, for example, has bookends that prohibit it from focusing primarily on the end of time. It focuses on “things which must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1), for which, when John wrote it, “the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). And he wrote it in the first century! Or, as it declares in the last chapter, John is writing about “the things which must soon take place” (Revelation 22:6) Even declaring an angel reported to John, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (Revelation 22:10). At both the beginning and end of Revelation, the message declares it was for helping saints in their day, not just principles relating to us 2,000 years later. Premillennialists use Revelation to declare what occurs in the news today as fulfilling the specific message of the book. The book says otherwise.
Matthew 24 and its companion passages find similar misuse in premillennial theology. They declare all of Matthew 24:3 through Matthew 25:46 to be about end-times for this world, even referencing many verses as specific fulfillment of today’s news items (cf. Matthew 24:6,7). While some parts of this text, especially Matthew 24:36-25:46, refer to the end of time and final judgment, there is a great deal wrong with premillennial usage of this section of scripture. We will limit ourselves to one aspect – the book ends.
The discussion in this text begins at least in Matthew 23. Notice only a small part. Like with Revelation, we have a pair of bookends. Jesus discussed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple with 1st century Jews in Jerusalem — about 40 years (a “generation”) before it occurred in AD 70 — saying, “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:36). As the discussion continues, Jesus also says, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). These bookends show that what Jesus discusses in between them is primarily about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, not about events unfolding shortly before the end of time. The premillennial use of Matthew 23:36-24:34 to discuss “signs pointing toward the end of time” is out of bounds.
Conclusion.
Premillennialism, as one fellow told me, “Is really interesting!” Indeed. But it is also based on misuses of Bible prophecies. Premillennialism pays too little attention to the context of passages, and it misunderstands the nature of the kingdom of Christ. Jesus is King now (Acts 2:36)! Christians are citizens in His kingdom now (Colossians 1:13)! Now we await final judgment and heaven or hell. May we obey Jesus now to live with Him eternally (Luke 6:46; Matthew 7:21-23; 28:18-20)!
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January 2022 | GROW magazine
