It's the End of the World As We Know It - Millennial Views Part 1

Before we begin an actual discussion of the four primary Millennial views I wanted to take a look at how the term Kingdom and Millennium are often used interchangeably by all Millennial position. This prophesied Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is used by Amills and Postmills to describe the Church in it’s present state and coming glorification (now, not yet) and by Premill’s to describe the future Millennial Kingdom of Christ’s literal and physical reign on earth. This promised Kingdom is also called the Davidic Kingdom.

The Davidic Kingdom is derived from a prophecy given to David that one from his own body would be seated on his throne and, according to Isaiah, would have a government that would ever increase.

Psalm 132:11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

This is what the Premillennialist would argue has been postponed from Christ’s first coming until His Second Coming in the near future. It can only be fulfilled when Christ literally and physically sits on the throne of David located in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Some speculate it will be located in a rebuilt temple. This, it is argued, is exactly what the Jews of the first century were expecting and why they were shocked to hear that this Christ (no kingly warrior) was this long anticipated Messiah. This is also why the terms Kingdom and Millennium are often used interchangeably.

So how does the Amill or Postmill respond?

First they would make the case that the NT writers and speakers, including Jesus Himself believed and taught that not only was the Kingdom near…

Mark 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.“

…but that it was a present reality…

Matt 12:28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you...

and was immediately expected to come in some level of fullness…

Mark 9:1 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

…and was both earthly present and heavenly fulfilled…

Col 1: 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son

But while some may argue that those verses may pertain to the Church or some sort of spiritual reality, it does not account for the literal physical reign of Christ as a descendent of David in the Davidic Kingdom fulfilled. So, with the above verses regarding the Kingdom’s present reality in mind let’s consider Peter’s sermon in Acts chapter 2…

Acts 2:29-31 "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. [30] Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, …

So here Peter is plainly and blatantly discussing the Davidic Kingdom promise that David’s own descendent would sit upon his throne. Peter explains the fulfillment of that promise in the next verse…

[31] he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ…

So, it is the resurrection of Christ that fulfills the promise made to David, NOT a future, literal and physical sitting upon an earthly throne.So, there is how the two views make their case regarding the issues of the Kingdom and why the term is used in connection with and in place of the Millennium.

AMILLENNIALISM
With that in mind let us begin our overview of the four Millennial position by describing first, Amillennialism. Each overview will deal with the same primary issues and how each view describes and interprets those issues. Items like timing, nature, kingdom, etc will be bullet pointed. I will also include a list of early Church fathers and modern Church adherents to each position. I will not detail here how these views came to their conclusions as all of that will be discussed later. This is primarily for reference.

1. The Church Age is the same as the Kingdom Era of the Old Testament

2. Satan is “bound” during Jesus’ first advent

3. Christ is currently reigning “spiritually” through the hearts and lives of those in the Church

4. There are occasional short-lived advances of the Gospel, but the Church will gradually lose influence

5. Many Amillennialist believe in cyclical “tribulations” throughout history

6. Christ returns at the end of the millennium to resurrect, judge and establish the eternal order.

7. The “millennium” (1000 years) is a figurative, long period of time starting at the first advent of Christ and ending at the Second Coming

Early Church Adherents Include: Polycarp, Ignatius, Clement of Rome

Modern Church Adherents Include: Berkhof, Adams, Hanko, Hoekema, Kuyper, Horton, Riddlebarger, Kline, Pink, Van Til, Calvin*The next posts will detail the three other views.