This may be somewhat of a dry blog compared to my other ones, but important nonetheless, because it is dealing with an important issue. Our end time view will affect the way we see the future and it will affect the way you read Scripture. Though it is considered a non-essential in the realms of salvation, it is an essential in how it ties to your view of interpreting Scripture. Below you will see an outline from the New Testament in why I consider the Premillenial view of end times as the prominent and more Biblical view.John the Baptist was offering the Messianic Kingdom, and then we see Jesus following suit, meaning there was another aspect of the Kingdom that is yet to be completed. Matt. 3:1-2, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:5-7, “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Luke 10:1-12, “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.”
Jesus offers to Israel the Messianic Kingdom and there is no formal definition in its announcement, which means that Jewish hearers would understand it to be what is described in the O.T. Jesus made it clear that His teaching was in line with the O.T. as seen in Matt. 5:17-18. Words like “son of man” and “kingdom of heaven” are in line with how they are used in Daniel and they are thought to be exactly the same in the context given. There is O.T. identity with messianic events all throughout. The virgin birth (Isa. 7:14), being born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), from the tribe of Judah (Matt. 1:3), performing miracles (Isa. 35:5), the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Zech. 9:9), dying (Isa. 53), and rising from the dead (Ps. 16:10).
We also see all the elements of O.T. prophetic kingdom are found in the message of Jesus, spiritually (Matt. 3:2), morally (Matt. 5-7), socially (Mark 12:40-44), ecclesiastically (Matt. 5:17-18), politically (Luke 1:31-33), and physically – birth, death, and resurrection. Jesus certainly fulfilled literally many areas talked about in the O.T. Why all of a sudden would He decide to just spiritualize the rest, as many other belief systems regarding the return of Jesus would like us to do?
The chosen nation, the Jewish nation, rejects the Messianic Kingdom and will cause a spiritual kingdom for a time. John 1:10-11, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” Matt. 21:43, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”—Jesus gives the kingdom to others to produce fruit. Matt. 3:2– Kingdom is at hand. Matt. 21:42, “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” – Instead rejected when should have repented. Matt. 11:20, “Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent” – Jesus denounces the cities where He performs His miracles. Matt. 12:31, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.” – the crescendo of rejection in blasphemy. Matt. 13:11, “He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” – from then on Jesus uses parables to describe the Kingdom of Heaven.
We see Christ institute a Spiritual Kingdom until His return in the future. If you read Matthew 13:11 forward, you will see Jesus explaining it to His disciples. Jesus uses Isa. 6:9-10 five times in the N.T. to demonstrate the rejection of Himself by Israel, which results in spiritual blindness, deafness and hardness. A complete rejection from His chosen people. Luckily, though, Jesus promises restoration, and will fulfill it.
If you read Matt. 19:28, “So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matt. 25:31-34, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” Acts 1:6-7, “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” There has been no such event that has happened in history. The only way to get rid of it is to allegorize it which is self-defeating as you compare it with the rest of Scripture.
Paul also affirms the irrevocability of the Promised Kingdom to Israel. Rom. 9:3-4, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;” Rom. 11:1, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Here Paul is using Israel literally and it can be seen by the context, as he calls them “country men according to the flesh, who are Israelites . . .” Israel is being used currently to bring redemption to Gentiles, who in turn will compel Israel into jealousy and ultimately to salvation. When God’s plan for salvation to Gentiles and Jews is complete He will restore Israel and fulfill His promises to them. Rom. 11:26, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob”.
Peter promises the Messianic Kingdom, and does not allegorize it away like many systems do. Acts 3:19-21, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” He tells them to just repent and the messianic kingdom would come, and there is no hint of a spiritual kingdom in this application.
Paul goes on to state that Christ’s future reign would end. 1 Cor. 15:22-28, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”
This fits with John’s two resurrections as book ends to the reign of Christ. The first is for the saved at the beginning of the reign of Christ. The second is for the lost at the end of the 1000 years, which contrasts between Christ’s temporal reign and God’s eternal reign. Between the millennium of Rev. 20 and the new heaven and earth of Rev. 21-22.
John indicates the 1000 years in Rev. 20:1-6. The grammatical reading of this makes it clear of a literal 1000 years, and not allegory. The last enemy, which is death, will not be destroyed until the end of Christ’s reign – 1 Cor. 15:23-26. If the resurrection is used exclusively in the literal sense of bodily rising from the grave, we can conclude that it makes no hermeneutical sense to spiritualize one resurrection and take all the rest literal.
Part three will be a theological basis for the premillenial view of Scripture.
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