Bible Prophecy Part 4: Future

Bible Prophecy Future

Varying Viewpoints in Christian Eschatology

RECAP: Eschatology Defined
I stated in part 1 that eschatology is a branch of theology that is concerned with the final events in the history of the world or humankind. The term comes from two Greek words escato and lovgo meaning “last, end or final” and “study of,” respectively. It is used specifically in Christian doctrine concerning the end of an individual life, the end of the age, the rapture, a great tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgment, the Millennium, a new heaven and new earth and the ultimate consummation of all of God’s purposes.

Why Bother Studying Christian Eschatology?
To avoid controversy and conflict within the body of Christ, would it not be more beneficially edifying to refrain from discussing eschatological theories with one another so that we could “keep the peace” that Paul spoke about in Romans 12:18? Why should we bother delving into something that even great theologians like Newton, Spurgeon, Calvin, Luther, Edwards, Hodge, Henry, Gill, Darby, Wesley, Whitefield, Knox, Pink, Chafer, Warfield, Stanley, MacArthur, Piper, Grudem, Sproul and Wright could not agree on. Will these events not just pan out in the end – whether we know what is going on or not?

Hebrews 13:8 says that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and He has always been consistent in His message to remind us to remember what He has said in the past regarding what is coming in the future:

⁸ “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. ⁹ “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Isaiah 46:8-10

This is a signature statement by God, there is no one like Him and He proves that fact by backing up His performance to show the validity of His great name. No other deity can make the claims that God has made. He has declared the end from the beginning and everything will be done according to His purpose and to His good pleasure. And, I might add, at His appointed time:

“I declared the former things long ago and they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.” Isaiah 48:3

Jesus communicated to us in the New Testament that there would be signs that would indicate His imminent return and that we should be encouraged by it, “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28) Also, in His Olivet discourse, Christ announced, in keeping with Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man, that he would return, “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30) Christ expects us to be looking for His return with joy and anticipation because that will be culmination of the Good News, uniting with Him for all eternity.

Even Creation is longing for His return. Paul states in Romans 8:22-24, connecting it with our inward hope for the Lord’s return and our bodily resurrection, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?” When Christ returns, not only will Christians receive a new body but creation will be restored with an establishment of a New Heaven and a New Earth, free from the curse of sin.

There are many reasons that Christians should study and have a firm foundation in eschatology. First, Christ told us we should look for His coming. Second, the apostles were promoting the fact that we should look for His coming. Third, we should be guarded against false doctrines associated with His coming (2 Thessalonians, 2 Peter). But most of all, it will bring us closer to Him through the diligent comprehensive study of His Word. I encourage you to accept the blessing that He has promised to those who study this subject, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:3

Different Eschatological Viewpoints
The central event and what most people consider to be the fulcrum of Christian eschatology is the Second Coming of Christ. No evangelical theologian denies the Scriptural fact that Christ will return in bodily form at some point in the future but the precise manner in which this will occur and the results of His return have been vigorously debated over the years. I will be discussing the main viewpoints associated to Christ’s Second Coming and the related events called the Rapture and the Millennium (Christ’s thousand year reign).

A word of warning when studying eschatology: do not readily accept a viewpoint of one of your favorite theologians. Take the Berean approach (Acts 17:11) and examine the Scriptures to see that what that person has said holds true to the Word.

1. Preterism (Partial)

(from the Latin praeteritus meaning gone by) – This approach seeks parallels between Revelation and the events of the 1st Century AD. Preterist view the majority of the prophetical events in Daniel, Isaiah, Revelation and other books as having been fulfilled through events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70. Proponents of Preterism argue that their position was the original eschatological understanding of the Early Christian Church but the idea can only be proven back to the 17th Century. To lend credence to their interpretation, Preterist believe that the Book of Revelation was written by John some time prior to A.D. 70. Preterism placates that some events may be symbolic of other fulfillments, therefore taking a symbolic interpretation of the text.

2. Historicism

This approach treats the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as finding literal earthly fulfillment through the history of the church age and especially in relation to the struggle between the true church and apostasy. A common interpretation of Historicist is the identification of the Antichrist, the Beast in Revelation 13, the Man of Sin or Lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians, the “Little Horn” of Daniel 7 and 8 and the Whore of Babylon in Revelation 17 with the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal system. They also believe that the Book of Revelation is a pre-written history of the Church from the time of its writing to the future Second Coming of Christ. With Historicism the text is sometimes taken as symbolic of real events, rather than being literally true.

3. Futurism

This approaches the Book of Revelation as predominantly referring to events that are still in the future but will take place at the End of the Age and at the end of the world. The core focus is the Second Coming of Christ. This is the approach that most applies to eschatological studies. Futurists believe that prophecies will be fulfilled literally as real physical events. Biblical literalism is emphasized in regard to the interpretation of the text.

4. Idealism

This model is also known as Spiritualist or Symbolic, it approaches the images of Revelation as symbols that represent larger concepts and themes. This is an allegorical representation of the struggle between the forces of good and evil or light and darkness, where good eventually triumphs over evil. Idealism does not require belief in divine inspiration or supernatural prediction of future events, limiting it from the application in eschatology unless used in conjunction with other approaches. An allegorical interpretation of the text is emphasized with this approach.

The Rapture – 1 Thessalonians 4:17
In verse 4:17 Paul encourages the grieving Christians in Thessalonica that they will be reunited with those who have died in Christ by saying, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The English phrase “caught up” translates the Greek word harpázô, which means “to seize upon by force” or “to snatch up.” The actual word “rapture” comes from Latin equivalent of harpázô, written in the Vulgate, which is the verb rapio. The word Raptus is the past participle of the word rapio, our English word “rapture” stems from this past participle.

For those that believe in a “rapture” of the Church, there are differences in opinion regarding its nature and timing. Some argue that the saints are raptured just prior to the Great Tribulation (we will explore this later) and immediately return to Earth with Christ. Others argue that after the Church is raptured away to heaven where she will experience the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10) and the marriage of the Lamb. Then there are others that believe that the Church will go through the Great Tribulation and then be raptured to glory to receive their rewards.

We will explore the rapture in greater depth in a later posting specifically devoted to this topic.

The Millennium – Revelation 20
The term millennium is not mentioned in the Bible, however the concept of a millennium comes from the Revelation chapter 20:1-10, specifically verses 6 and 7:

⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.  ⁷ When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison

This is the belief that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth in which Christ will reign for 1000 years (a millennium) prior to the final judgment and a future eternal state. There are three views, Postmillennialism, Premillennialism and Amillennialism, that we will explore in later blogs specifically written for each view.

Premillennialism – The return of Christ happens before (pre-) the thousand-year reign of Christ, which is a reign of the risen Christ on the earth.

Amillennialism - The return of Christ happens after the thousand-year reign, a reign that occurs in heaven, in the intermediate state, and not upon the earth.

Postmillennialism – The return of Christ happens after (post-) the thousand-year reign, which corresponds to the Christian age, and the reign of Christ from heaven leads the church to triumph by and through the gospel.

Conclusion of Part 4
The Bible is the inherent infallible Word of Truth: “¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We are to study it with the aid of the Holy Spirit but sometimes we interject our own presuppositions into our study. These varying viewpoints are results of years of study by human beings attempting, in their mind, to remain true to the Word of God.

Some of these viewpoints are correct and some are incorrect but as we do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved, rightly handling the Word of Truth, we must do it responsibly. In discussing topics relating to eschatology, conversations can and will get extremely heated among believers. Proving our viewpoint can become the centerpiece of our existence in some cases. We need to be guarded against heartlessness, we cannot have arguments over theological doctrine and forget the fact that we are talking about people’s eternal destinies at the same time. We cannot be careless with these discussions, arguing for our point of view, presenting our case to persuade someone to our side while neglecting all the evidence in Scripture that might contradict our beloved viewpoint. All facts need to be presented from the Bible so that an individual can make their own decision regarding eschatological topics. Ultimately a person will live their life based on their own understanding of how their life may end.

In preparing for this post, I had the opportunity to watch a video of an event titled, “An Evening on Eschatology” with Pastor John Piper, Pastor Sam Storms, Professor Jim Hamilton and Pastor Doug Wilson. In one of the closing comments of the event, Pastor Storms said something that I thought was very appropriate but also somewhat disturbing:

We when take this Book seriously enough to do this (gathering for eschatological discussion), that we care about truth – we believe that there is objective real truth here about what God is doing in history… that we believe it enough to be willing to go toe to toe with each other in the love of Christ to try to arrive at some understanding. If in the final analysis Jim’s right, that won’t affect my relationship with Jesus one bit and I won’t be disappointed. I’ll be saddened that I have misled people through my teaching gift… I would have used the gift God has given me to mislead people, which is a weighty thing…

There are great resources out there that will lend great insight into these viewpoints but refrain from depending solely on them because some may be misleading. Develop sound hermeneutics to study the Word for yourself and make your own decisions regarding eschatological topics because the Bible is the ultimate Truth.

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