Before examining the arguments for the three different positions of the Millennium, it is important to realize that the interpretation of the details of prophetic passages regarding future events is often a complex and difficult task involving many variable factors. The degree of certainty that attaches to this conclusions in this area will be less than with many other doctrines. I think it important for evangelicals to recognize that this area of study is complex and to extend a large measure of grace to others who hold different views regarding the millennium and the tribulation period.
The arguments against the premillennial position have essentially been presented in the arguments for amillennialism and postmillennialism, and will therefore not be repeated again here in a separate section, but incidental objections to these arguments will be considered along the way.
- Several Old Testament passages seem to fit neither in the present age nor in the eternal state. These passages indicate some future stage in the history of redemption which is far greater than the present church age but which still does not see the removal of all sin and rebellion and death from the earth.
Speaking of Jerusalem at some time in the future, Isaiah says:
No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the child shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:20)
Here we read that there will be no more infants who die in infancy, and no more old men who die prematurely, something far different from this present age. But death and sin will still be present, for the child who is one hundred years old shall die, and the sinner who is one hundred years old “shall be accursed.” The larger context of this passage may mingle elements of the millennium and the eternal state (see Isaiah 65:17, 25), but it is in the nature of Old Testament prophecy not to distinguish among events in the future, just as these prophecies do not distinguish between the first and second comings of Christ. Therefore, in the larger context there may be mixed elements, but the point remains that this single element (the infants and old men who live long, the child dying one hundred years old, and the sinner being accursed) indicates a specific time in the future that is different from the present age.
Isaiah seems to predict a millennial kingdom n another place when he says:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)
This passage clearly speaks of a momentous renewal of nature that takes us far beyond the present age, a time in which “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (verse 9). Yet in the very next verse Isaiah says:
In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.
In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia. (Isaiah 11:10-11)
Here some are still seeking the Messiah and apparently coming to salvation, and here also the Lord is still gathering the remnant of his people from various nations of the earth. It does not seem, therefore, that the eternal state has begun, yet the reversal of nature far exceeds anything that will happen in this present age. Does this not indicate a future millennial kingdom?
Zechariah also prophesies a coming age in which there is great transformation in the earth, in which the Lord is King over all the earth, and in which there is still rebellion and sin, suffering, and death:
Then the LORD your God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.
On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter.
And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one.
And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot while they are still on their feet, their eyes shall rot in their sockets, and their tongues shall rot in their mouths. And the wealth of all the nations round about shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance….
Then everyone that survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain upon them. (Zechariah 14:5-17
Here again the description does not fit the present age, for the Lord is King over all the earth in this situation. But it does not fit the eternal state either, because of the disobedience and rebellion against the Lord that is clearly present. One might object that this is a typical Old Testament prophecy in which distinct future events are conflated and not distinguished in the prophet’s vision, though they may be separated by long ages when they actually occur. It is difficult to make such a distinction in this passage because it is specifically rebellion against the Lord who is King over all the earth that is punished by these plagues and lack of rain.
- There are also New Testament passages other than Revelation 20 that suggest a future millennium. When the risen Lord Jesus speaks to the church at Thyatira, he says, “He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father” (Revelation 2:26-27). The imagery used (ruling with a rod of iron; shattering earthen pots) implies a rule of force over rebellious people. But when will believers who conquer over evil participate in this rule? The idea fits well into a future millennial kingdom when glorified saints rule with Christ on the earth, but does not fit well at any time in the present age or in the eternal state. (The idea of ruling the nations “with a rod of iron” is also found in Revelation 12:5-6 and 19:15.)
When Paul talks about the resurrection, he says that each person will receive a resurrection body in his own order: “Christ the first fruits, then (epeita) at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then (eita) comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:23-25). The two words translated “then” in this passage (epeita and eita) both take the sense “after that,” not the sense “at that same time.” Therefore the passage gives some support to the idea that, just as there is an interval of time between Christ’s resurrection and his second coming when we receive a resurrection body (verse 23), so there is an interval of time between Christ’s second coming and “the end” (verse 24), when Christ delivers the kingdom to God after having reigned for a time and put all his enemies under his feet.
- With the background of a number of other passages that hint at or clearly suggest a future time far greater than the present age but short of the eternal state, it is appropriate then to look at Revelation 20 once again. Several statements here are best understood as referring to a future earthly reign of Christ prior to the future judgment.
- The binding and imprisonment of Satan in the bottomless pit (verse 2 – 3) imply a far greater restriction of his activity than anything we know in this present age.
- The statement that those who were faithful “came to life” (verse 4) is best taken as referring to a bodily resurrection, for the next verse says, “This is the first resurrection.” The verb ezesan, “came to life,” is the same verb and the same form of the verb used in Revelation 2:8, where Jesus identifies himself as the one “who died and came to life,” here obviously referring to his resurrection.
- On a premillennial interpretation, the reigning with Christ (in Revelation 20:4) is something that is still future, not something that is occurring now. This is consistent with the rest of the New Testament, where we are frequently told that believers will reign with Christ and be given authority by him to reign over the earth (see Luke 19:17, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:3; Revelation 2:26-27; 3:21). But nowhere does Scripture say that believers in the intermediate state (between their death and Christ’s return) are reigning with Christ or sharing in rule with him. In fact, Revelation earlier pictures saints in heaven before Christ’s return waiting under the altar and crying out to the Lord to begin to judge evildoers on the earth (Revelation 6:9-10). Nowhere is it said that Christians are already reigning with Christ.
Those who come to life and reign with Christ in Revelation 20 include people “who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands” (Revelation 20:4). This is a reference to those who did not yield to the persecution by the beast spoken of in Revelation 13:1-18. But if the severity of persecution described in Revelation 13 leads us to conclude that the beast has not yet come on the world scene, but is yet future, then the persecution by this beast is still future as well. And if this persecution is still future, then the scene in Revelation 20 where those “who had not worshiped the beast . . . and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands” (Revelation 20:4) is still future as well. This means that Revelation 20:1 – 6 does not describe the present church age but is best understood to refer to a future millennial reign of Christ.
These considerations combine to make a case in favor of premillennialism. If we are convinced of this position, it really is an incidental question whether the thousand-year period is thought to be a literal thousand years or simply a long period of time of indeterminate duration. And though we may not have much clarity on all the details of the nature of the millennium, we can be reasonably certain that there will be a future earthly reign of Christ that will be markedly different from this present age.
The Time of the Great Tribulation
For those who are persuaded by the arguments in favor of premillennialism, one further question must be decided: Will Christ return before or after the “great tribulation”?
The expression “great tribulation” itself comes from Matthew 24:21, where Jesus says, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” Historic premillennialism believes that Christ will return after that tribulation, for the passage continues, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened… then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, 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 24:29-30). But, as explained before, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a variety of premillennialism that holds to a pretribulational coming of Christ became popular. This is often called a “pretribulation rapture” view, because it holds that when Christ first returns the church will be “raptured” or snatched up into heaven to be with him.
The arguments for such a pretribulation rapture are as follows:
- The entire period of the tribulation will be a time of the outpouring of God’s wrath on all the earth. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for Christians to be on the earth at that time.
- Jesus promises in Revelation 3:10, “I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth.” This passage indicates that the church will be taken out of the world before that hour of trial comes.
- If Christ returns after the tribulation and defeats all his enemies, then where will the unbelievers come from who are necessary to populate the millennial kingdom? The pretribulation position, however, envisages thousands of Jewish believers who have become Christians during the tribulation and who will go into the millennial kingdom in nonglorified bodies.
- This view makes it possible to believe that Christ could come at any moment (his coming before the tribulation) and yet that many signs must be fulfilled before he comes (his coining after the tribulation, when the signs will be fulfilled),
Although it is not specifically an argument in favor of a pretribulation position, it must also be noted that pretribulationists then view the teaching about the tribulation in Matthew 24 and the warnings and encouragements given to believers in that situation as applying to Jewish believers during the tribulation, and not to the church generally.
In response to these arguments, the following points may be made:
- It is inconsistent with the New Testament descriptions of the tribulation to say that all the suffering that occurs during that time is specifically the result of the wrath of God. Much of the suffering is due to the fact that “wickedness is multiplied” (Matthew 24:12) and the fact that persecution of the church and opposition from Satan greatly increases during this period. Of course all Christians (whether Gentile or Jewish believers) will avoid the wrath of God at all times, but this does not mean they will avoid all suffering, even in times of intense hardship.
- The fact that Jesus tells faithful believers in the church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:10) that he will keep them from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world is not strong enough evidence to say that the entire church will be taken out of the world before the tribulation. First, this statement is made to one specific church (Philadelphia) and should not be applied to the whole church at some future point in history. Moreover, “the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world” need not refer to the time of the great tribulation, but more likely refers to a time of great suffering and persecution that would come upon the entire Roman Empire or the entire inhabited world. Finally, the promise that the church in Philadelphia will be guarded does not imply that they will be taken out of the world, but simply that they will be kept faithful and will be guarded from being harmed by that period of suffering and testing.
- It is no argument for the pretribulation view to say that there must be some people in non-glorified bodies who will enter the millennium, because (on a posttribulational view) when Christ comes at the end of the tribulation he will defeat all the forces arrayed against him, but that does not mean he will kill or annihilate all of them. Many will simply surrender without trusting Christ, and will thus enter the millennium as unbelievers. And during the entire period of the millennium no doubt many will be converted to Christ and become believers as well.
- The pretribulational view is not the only one consistent with the ideas that Christ could come back at any time that there are signs that precede his return.
But it must be said that behind this argument of pretribulationists is probably a more fundamental concern: the desire to preserve a distinction between the church (which they think will be taken up into heaven to be with Christ) and Israel (which they think will constitute the people of God on earth during the tribulation and then during the millennial kingdom). The New Testament does not support a distinction of this kind between Israel and the church. Hence it does not imply a need to see a distinction between these groups at the time of the tribulation and the millennium.
There is a variation of the pretribulation rapture position that is known as the mid-tribulation rapture view. This view sees the tribulation as separated into two halves. The first three and a half years are characterized by the wrath of man, and the church is present at that time. The second three and a half years are characterized by the wrath of God, and during that time the church is absent from the earth. The primary argument from Scripture to support a mid-tribulational rapture is the fact that in Daniel 7:25; 9:27; and 12:7 and 11, as well as in Revelation 12:14, the seven days or times indicated are cut in half, mentioning the interval of three and a half times or three and a half days in a symbolic week, thus indicating a period of three and a half years, after which God’s people will be rescued from tribulation. Another argument in favor of this position is that it gives a heightened sense of expectancy of Christ’s return, since three and a half years is a shorter period of time than seven years.
However, though the passages in Daniel do speak of an interruption of the seventieth week which Daniel predicts for the future, they do not give any clear indication that midway through the week believers will be removed from the earth.
Finally, some objections to the pretribulational rapture position can be stated in the form of arguments in favor of the posttribulational rapture view:
- The New Testament nowhere clearly says that the church will be taken out of the world before the tribulation. If this significant event were to happen, we might at least expect that explicit teaching to that effect would be found in the New Testament. Certainly Jesus tells us that he will come again and take us to be with himself (John 14:3), and Paul tells us that we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17), and that we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye and receive resurrection bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51 – 52), but each of these passages has been understood by believers throughout history as speaking not of a secret rapture of the church before the tribulation, but of a very visible public rapture (or “taking up”) of the church to be with Christ just a few moments prior to his coming to earth with them to reign during the millennial kingdom.
It is very difficult to understand 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the only passage that explicitly speaks of the fact that the church will be “caught up” (or “raptured”), to speak of the idea of a secret coming. It says, “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The doctrine of a pretribulation rapture is an inference from several passages, all of which are disputed. Even if one believes this doctrine to be in Scripture, it is taught with such little clarity that it was not discovered until the nineteenth century.
- The tribulation is quite clearly linked with the Lord’s return in some passages. First, the loud trumpet call to gather the elect in Matthew 24:31, the sound of the trumpet of God in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and the last trumpet at which our bodies are changed in 1 Corinthians 15:51 — 52, all seem to be the same trumpet—the last trumpet that is blown just before the millennium. If it is indeed the “last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:52), then it is hard to see how another loud trumpet call (Matt. 24:31) could follow it seven years later.
In addition, Matthew 24 is very difficult to understand as referring not to the church but to Jewish people who would be saved during the tribulation. Jesus is addressing his disciples (Matt. 24:1 – 4) and warning them of persecution and suffering to come. He tells them of the great tribulation to come, and then says that “immediately after the tribulation of those days” cosmic signs will appear 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). But is it likely that Jesus, in saying all these things to his disciples, intended his words to apply not to the church but only to a future earthly kingdom of Jewish people who would be converted during the tribulation? How could the disciples have known that he had such a meaning in mind? Nor does it seem likely that the disciples are here as representatives of a future Jewish kingdom and not as representatives of the church, with whose founding they were so integrally connected as to be its foundation (Ephesians 2:20).
- The New Testament does not seem to justify the idea of two separate returns of Christ (once for his church before the tribulation and then seven years later with his church to bring judgment on unbelievers). Once again, no such view is explicitly taught in any passage, but it is simply an inference drawn from differences between various passages that describe Christ’s return from different perspectives. But it is not at all difficult to see these passages as referring to a single event occurring at one time.”
It seems best to conclude that the church will go through the time of tribulation predicted by Jesus. We would probably not have chosen this path for ourselves, but the decision was not ours to make. And if God wills that any of us now alive remain on earth until the time of this great tribulation, then we should heed Peter’s words, “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14), and, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). This idea that Christians should be prepared to endure suffering is also seen in Paul’s words that we are fellow heirs with Christ, “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17). And we may remember that from the time of Noah to the time of the martyrdom of the early apostles, it has frequently been God’s way to bring his people through suffering to glory, for thus he did even with his own Son. “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10). It is from the Savior who himself has suffered more than any of his children will ever suffer that we have the admonition, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer… Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
The Millennuim: The three major views, posted October 8, 2017
Arguments for Amillennialism, posted October 15, 2017
Arguments for Postmillennialism, posted week, October 22, 2017
Arguments for Premillennialism, this week, October 29, 2017