PREMILLENNIALISM (1)

Introduction

Victor M. Eskew

 

          “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:  and after that he must be loosed a little season.  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:  on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle:  the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:  and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (Rev. 20:1-9). 

Six times the words “a thousand years” are found in this passage of Scripture.  This text is the foundation of an End Times teaching known as premillennialism.  The word premillennialism contains the prefix, “pre,” and the root word “millennium.”  A millennium is a period of a thousand years.  The word “pre” simply means “before.”  The premillennialist believes that Jesus Christ will come before the thousand-year period.  We are told this is the period when Jesus will be a king over a literal kingdom on earth.  He will reign on earth from the literal throne of David in the literal city of Jerusalem for a literal thousand years.

Premillennialists teach that an earthly kingdom had been predicted by the Old Testament prophets.  Daniel 2:44 is one of those prophecies.  “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:  and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”  When John the Baptist appeared in the first century, he proclaimed that the kingdom was at hand (Matt. 3:1-2).  Early in the ministry of Jesus, He also preached that the kingdom was imminent.  “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent:  for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). 

During the ministry of Jesus, however, the plans for the establishment of an earthly kingdom were put on hold.  The reason for this, we are told by the premillennialist, is because the Jews rejected Jesus as the Son of God.  Instead of accepting the Christ and enabling Him to establish His kingdom, they crucified Him.  Therefore, the establishment of the kingdom was delayed.  Now, we are awaiting the coming of the Christ.  When He returns, He will set up the kingdom that was not set up some two thousand years ago.  The premillennialist affirms that until that time, the church has been set up as a temporary expedient in the plan of God.

It is difficult for this writer to comprehend how anyone could affirm the teachings found in the previous paragraph.  The prophecies of the Old Testament prophets cannot be delayed by man.  The plans of an Almighty God cannot be thwarted by a sinful nation.  God doesn’t have to put in stop gap measures to cover “unanticipated” events.  Those who believe and teach such things are ignorant of the wisdom and power of God.  They certainly do not have a high regard for the God of heaven.  The problem is that they value their false doctrine more than they value the deity of God.  Instead of giving up premillennialism, they would rather disparage the God of heaven.  They certainly do not see their proclamations as dishonoring God.  They simply accept these thoughts without really contemplating how their teachings denigrate God.

There are two major schools of premillennialism:  the historical school and the dispensational school.  The dispensational school is the dominate school of thought today.  Dispensationalism divides Bible history into multiple ages or dispensations.  Some divide the history into three dispensations:  Law, Grace, and Kingdom.  Others maintain four dispensations:  Patriarchal, Mosaic, Ecclesial, and Zionic.  The most common dispensational scheme involves eight periods:  Innocence/Edenic, Conscience/Antediluvian, Civil Government, Patriarchal/Promise, Mosaic/Law, Grace/Church, Millennial Kingdom, Eternal State.

          In this series of articles, we want to look at the doctrine of Premillennialism.  Will examine the arguments made on its behalf.  We will discuss the numerous passages used as prooftexts for this teaching.  Our main purpose will be to prove that this is a false doctrine.    Sadly, this teaching is promoted by a multitude of extremely popular religious leaders.  They have led thousands and thousands of people astray.  Perhaps we can inform a few individuals about this error.  The teaching stands in blatant contradiction to our Lord’s words found in John 18:36.  Speaking to Pontius Pilate, Jesus said:  “My kingdom is not of this world:  if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servant fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews;  but now is my kingdom not from hence.”