Premillennialism and the Reformation

This coming October 31st marks the five hundred year anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in Germany. These 95 Theses became the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, which for many restored the biblical ideal of justification by faith and thereby the purity of the Gospel message.

As Luther studied Scripture, he saw that God justifies sinners solely by faith apart from any good works on their part. This challenged centuries of tradition within the church that added human merit to God’s grace as a requirement for salvation.

Both Luther and Calvin rejected the allegorical or symbolical method of interpreting Scripture that, along with human tradition, had introduced error into the churches’ teaching on justification by faith, a doctrine critical to our faith.

Luther replaced the allegorical way of looking at God’s Word with two principles of biblical interpretation, which made Scripture the final authority of all matters of faith and practice and made the Bible a commentary on itself. The later became known as “Scripture interprets Scripture.”

These two principles became the basis for a literal approach to Scripture through which Luther as well as Calvin corrected the errors of the church that had added works to the obtaining of salvation.

They did not, however, apply this literal method of interpretation to the passages dealing with future things.  When biblical scholars did so after them, they overturned the long-held Amillennialism of the church; a belief based on an allegorical approach to prophecy. Let me explain what happened after the Reformation.

The Reformers and Amillennialism

Amillennialism is the belief that God has rejected Israel as His people and as such, the church now fulfills “spiritually” the kingdom promises made by the prophets in the Old Testament. As the term suggests, Jesus does not return to restore the kingdom to Israel or reign over the nations for a thousand years. Instead, he comes back at the end of the age to judge humanity and bring in the eternal state.

Although both Luther and Calvin condemned the allegorical method with Calvin going so far as to call it “satanic,” neither challenged the allegorical interpretations that supported the Amillennialism of their day.

Why did this disconnect exist between how the reformers interpreted passages of Scripture relating to salvation versus prophetic passages? Why did they continue to follow an allegorical interpretation when it came to prophecy despite their clear denunciation of such a method?

Their defense of justification by faith alone was enough of a battle and one that desperately needed to happen first.

I believe God intended for the reformers to bring the church back to a true scriptural understanding of the Gospel without the added burden of also reforming errant beliefs regarding the end times. Their defense of justification by faith alone was enough of a battle and one that desperately needed to happen first. God knew He had enough time to correct other beliefs also based on an allegorical method of interpretation.

Did the Reformers fail in regard to eschatology? No, I believe that their two key methods of interpretation became the foundation for Premillennialism as biblical scholars after them applied their literal approach to prophecy.

Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton, born a century after Luther died, undertook an extensive study of the books of Daniel and Revelation during the later years of his life. Newton’s commentary on these books, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, was published six years after his death. In his book, Newton expressed his belief that Israel would someday be a nation again predicting it would happen before the tribulation and the return of Jesus to establish His kingdom on earth after this great time of suffering upon the earth.

Isaac Newton further stated that the study of prophecy would intensify during the latter days of human history as the time of Jesus’ return drew closer. He believed the Lord would reign for a thousand years in Jerusalem thus literally fulfilling kingdom prophecies found in Daniel and Revelation.

Newton applied the Reformers' literal method of biblical interpretation to the books of Daniel rather than the allegorical approach that had been in place for over a thousand years. Did he consciously follow their biblical interpretative methods? We do not know that for sure.

We do know Newton let Scripture speak for itself and as a result his beliefs closely mirror those held by Premillennialists of the past 150 years. While Newton receives much attention for his predictions of when things would occur, once you look past that you see someone who rejected the time honored way of allegorically interpreting the books of Daniel and Revelation.

Later Church History

This pattern of applying the literal method of biblical interpretation to prophetic passages became more widespread in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As conservative scholars used Scripture as their sole source of beliefs and allowed Scripture to interpret Scripture, the church returned in large measure to the Premillennial viewpoint that dominated the first three centuries of the church.

Although Luther and Calvin did not apply their literal interpretative methods to prophetic portions of the Bible, when others did it resulted in the beliefs that God would once again restore Israel as a nation, the temple would be rebuilt, there would be a terrible time of tribulation upon the earth, and Jesus would return after that time to set up His kingdom.

These same principles also helped establish the belief that Jesus will come for His church before this time of tribulation upon the earth. Contrary to popular belief, John Darby came up with his pretribulation rapture idea from his study of the nature of the church; he saw that it did not fit for Jesus to allow His church to endure the wrath of the tribulation.

The view that Jesus would return for His church before the tribulation exploded in popularity as many Bible teachers took a literal approach to the words of Scripture. This view dominated evangelical churches from the late 1800's until the past couple decades. Sadly, this view had faded lately as pastors in large numbers have abandoned teaching on this subject.

While perhaps many would disagree with me, I see a link between the biblical interpretation methods of Luther and the rise of premillennialism. Isaac Newton rejected the same allegorical approach as did the Reformers and came to the same conclusions as the premillennialists who followed him a couple centuries later.

Luther’s rejection of the allegorical method restored the biblical doctrine of justification by faith of Paul and the early apostles.

Newton’s rejected of the allegorical method resulted in the restoration of premillennialism, which was dominant in the first three centuries of the church.

Does God Keep His Promises?

“Israel’s future guarantees our salvation.” (Amari Tsarfati, prophecy speaker)

In other words, if God can break His covenant with the likes of Abraham, Jacob, and David, what does that say about His promises to us? If God does not keep His covenants with Israel, what does that say about His character, His faithfulness to us as New Testament believers?

Do you see the implications? Refuting those who claim God replaced Israel with the church is not merely some meaningless squabble among theologians. It’s so much more than that! The debate has far reaching implications impacting where we put our hope each day as we step out of bed.

Refuting those who claim God replaced Israel with the church is not merely some meaningless squabble among theologians.

Because God is trustworthy, our hope in His promises remains secure. Eternal life is a done deal for those in Christ.

Why, however, are we so confident that God’s promises to Israel remain in effect?

It Begins with a Question

I like to begin the defense of Israel’s continuing place in God’s program with the question the disciples asked Jesus just before He ascended back into heaven, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Earlier, such kingdom hopes led to arguments among the disciples as to which of them would have the greater positions of honor in Israel’s restored kingdom (Mark 10:35-40). Although such arguing seems to have ended, they clearly expected to soon be a part of this glorious realm.

Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”  Jesus did not contradict or refute the premise of their question that He would restore Israel someday. Instead, He simply told the disciples they could not know the timing of this restoration as it was something the Father alone had determined “by his own authority.”

Why Would They Ask Such a Question?

The confidence of the disciples regarding a future kingdom raises certain questions in my mind. After watching the Jewish leaders reject Christ and demand His crucifixion, what made the disciples so confident the Lord would restore the kingdom to these very same people? Why did the disciples think Jesus would soon initiate a glorious restoration for the very same people whose rejection had led to Him being mercilessly mocked, scourged, whipped, and nailed to a cross?

Many people in the history of the church certainly used this behavior on the part of the Jews to justify their belief God had forever rejected Israel. But the not the disciples, the ones who watched their fellow Jews reject Christ and witnessed His suffering. They remained confident of the Lord’s intention to still give Israel an amazing kingdom in spite of her recent condemnation of her Messiah.

Why So Confident?

Why were the disciples so sure of this after all they had witnessed?

The Old Testament prophets provide us with the answer. After His resurrection, Jesus spent time explaining to His disciples how He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies (Luke 24:25-27; 44-47). With all this recent insight from their Master regarding how He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, the disciples still believed the Lord would restore Israel as a nation.

Either they were still terribly confused and had not at all understood Jesus’ recent teaching, in which case the Lord surely would have corrected them as He had done earlier (John 14:8-9); or, they based their question on what Jesus had recently taught them regarding how He fulfilled prophecy.

I believe the disciples correctly understood Jesus’ teaching on how He fulfilled Old Testament Scripture for both His first and second coming. They assumed the Lord would one day restore the fortunes of Israel because that is precisely what Jesus taught them after His resurrection.

The Grand Story of the Old Testament Prophets

The Old Testament prophets tell a grand story; one I am sure Jesus repeated to His disciples after His resurrection. It is a story of great hope for the people of Israel revealed in the midst of their rebellion and impending judgment for their sins.

The prophet Zephaniah, for example, not only warned of imminent disaster upon Judah but also prophesied of a glorious future for the nation, “At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord” (3:20). The disciples used the same terminology as Zephaniah in their question to Jesus in Acts 1. Could the Lord have quoted this same verse to them before His ascension? I believe that is highly likely.

The Lord, in no uncertain terms, declared through the prophet Jeremiah that Israel would always remain a nation in His sight.[i] If the sun comes up tomorrow morning, Israel remains a country before the Lord. If we see the moon or the stars tonight, Israel still exists. Based on this passage alone, it’s easy to understand why the disciples expected to see a restored Israel even after watching the Jews reject and crucify the Savior. Perhaps Jesus discussed these verses from Jeremiah with His disciples after His resurrection. That would explain their continuing hope for Israel’s restoration.

Many more such passages from the Old Testament prophets could be quoted with promises of a future restored kingdom for Israel. Those who seek to replace Israel with the church ignore many great promises from the Old Testament regarding Israel as well as the Apostle Paul’s clear denial that God had rejected His people Israel (Rom. 11:1).

Our security rests in God’s faithfulness; He is a covenant keeper. That’s why we regard Israel’s hope as the guaranty of our hope.

Our security rests in God’s faithfulness; He is a covenant keeper. That’s why we regard Israel’s hope as the guaranty of our hope. He will keep His covenants with Israel despite their rebellion and sin. His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 was unconditional; it never depended on the worthiness of his descendants to inherit the Land and still does not.

In the same way, our salvation never depended on us nor will it ever depend on our behavior! God will keep His promises to Israel and to us. It’s impossible for God not to keep His Word regarding the future of His people.

He is faithful forever!

[i] Jeremiah 31:35-36

From Slave to Ruler

The amazing aspect of Scripture is that even with the most familiar of verses or stories the Lord still gives us fresh and unexpected insights. “How did we miss that?” we often ask.

That happened to me recently with the story of Joseph.

The Lord’s working of His purposes through Joseph has always encouraged me during difficult times in my life. I am sure many of you, as well, took comfort in how God used Joseph’s trials to shape him into a mature godly leader who rescued his family from possible extinction.

Recently, however, I saw how Joseph’s life illustrated another amazing truth.

Before I get to what I missed, let’s refresh our memories with some highlights from Joseph’s rise from a slave to ruling alongside Pharaoh.

He experienced rejection from his family. Can you picture Joseph pleading with his brothers as they sold him to the Midianites? Later, when standing before Joseph (but not yet recognizing him), his brothers remembered Joseph’s “distress” amidst his agonizing appeals to them.[i]

He experienced slavery. The Midianites took Joseph, bound in chains, to Egypt where they sold him to Potiphar, a high ranking official to Pharaoh.[ii] What humiliation to be sold to the highest bidder!

He experienced false accusations. After being bought by Potiphar, Joseph quickly found favor with him and became the overseer of all that belonged to the Egyptian official. Potiphar’s wife, however, did not handle rejection well and accused Joseph of making unwanted sexual advances. As a result, Joseph ended up in prison.[iii]

He experienced imprisonment. Can you imagine Joseph’s frustration? He faithfully obeyed the Lord by rejecting the advances of another man’s wife and found himself locked up in an underground dungeon. Despite this, Joseph remained faithful and the Lord remained close to him.

Here is what I had always missed (you knew I would get to it eventually, didn’t you?). God has more in mind for the outcome of our trials than spiritual growth and preparing us to minister to others, although that is hugely important. The Lord also has plans for what we endure that extend well beyond this life, purposes we cannot yet grasp or fathom.

How could Joseph have known as he trudged toward Egypt shackled in chains that God was preparing the way for him to reign alongside Pharaoh? If someone had suggested this scenario to Joseph at the time, he likely would have felt mocked or insulted. “Are you ridiculing me because of my dreams?” he might have replied to such a suggestion. Yet Joseph’s time managing the household of Potiphar and in prison became the training ground for his storybook rise to power.

Could not the same be said of our experiences in this life? Could they not be preparation for our roles in reigning with Christ during the millennium? I believe so.

If God can use Joseph’s time as both a slave and prisoner to prepare him to later rule over Egypt, He can certainly do the same with our life experiences to prepare us for our future roles in eternity.

This is what I missed for so long. The Lord is preparing us now to reign with Christ in His kingdom, which He will establish after He returns to earth in great power. There is a glorious long-lasting purpose for all we faithfully endure in this life. This is clearly implied in the rewards for faithfulness given out in Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.

As author John Eldredge so often writes, our lives are a story. As the drama of our lives unfolds, however, we sense there is something more. The Bible says God “has put eternity into” our hearts.[iv] For those of us in Christ, our current life stories carry over into Jesus’ future kingdom. We cannot fully understand all the twists to the plots of our stories until that time. But then, like Joseph, we will be able to look back and clearly see the Lord’s purposes. In the light of Jesus’ coming kingdom, the stories of our lives will make much more sense.

Is this not a huge motivation to remain faithful to the Lord during the dark and stormy times of our lives?

Perhaps this is why the idea of a literal kingdom or millennium has been so passionately opposed at times during the history of the church. Satan surely hates the idea of Christ reigning on earth. How much more must he detest the coming kingdom as a source of encouragement for us to walk faithfully with our Savior?

[i] Genesis 37:25-28; 42:21   [ii] Genesis 37:36   [iii] Genesis 39   [iv] Ecclesiastes 3:11

Hope Beyond the Tragedies of Life

She only had moments left to live.

As Christina sat cheerfully signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, Florida, she could not have known her killer was quickly approaching, gun in hand.

He despised her outspoken faith in Jesus and wanted to silence her voice forever.

I had not heard of Christina Grimmie until the stunning news broke of her murder on June 10, 2016. Soon afterward, I heard an early recording of her singing In Christ Alone and realized the depths of her love for the Lord Jesus.

The passion with which she sang those words coupled with the knowledge of what had just happened totally overwhelmed me and brought tears to my eyes.

I will not soon forget the deep heartfelt emotion Christina put into the final words of the song, “No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He comes or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand.” The passion with which she sang those words coupled with the knowledge of what had just happened totally overwhelmed me and brought tears to my eyes.

The killing of Christina demonstrates all the more our need to be focused on eternity rather than merely living for this present life. From an earthly standpoint, her murder appears to be a senseless tragedy; a young, perky, highly talented singer shot dead at the beginning of a promising career. How do we reconcile such a seemingly meaningless tragedy with our hope for eternity? Where is the purpose for all we endure here on earth?

What if this life for the believer is preparation for the next? What if all our experiences in this life are not only intended for our spiritual growth here, but also for what will be?

I believe the millennium provides the essential link between this life, disasters and all, and eternity.  The millennium is a thousand year period of time that begins with Jesus’ return to earth to setup His kingdom. We as believers will reign with Him during this time. After the millennium, eternity begins as described in Revelation 21-22.

In the millennium, we will see the Lord’s purposes for what we endure in this life come alive. The dark times of our lives will explode into wonderful light as we clearly see all of God’s purposes for taking us through them.

Do you remember the story of Joseph? How could he have known as he trudged toward Egypt shackled in chains that God was preparing the way for him to reign alongside Pharaoh? Joseph’s time in the household of Potiphar and then in prison became a training ground for his storybook rise to power. He remained faithful in the worst of circumstances and God used him in a mighty way.

Since we will reign with Christ during the millennium; it only makes sense Jesus would prepare us now for our future roles.

Is there a parallel for us? I believe there is. In the parable of the talents, Jesus rewards his followers with kingdom responsibilities based on their faithfulness to Him (Matt. 25:14-30). At the judgment seat of Christ, Jesus will examine our lives with the clear implication of loss as well as rewards (1 Cor. 3:10-15). Since we will reign with Christ during the millennium; it only makes sense Jesus would prepare us now for our future roles.

The millennium will be the time when the purposes for all we endure here come to full fruition. Although Christina is currently with the Lord receiving comfort as only He can provide, I believe she will see a still greater purpose for her untimely death when Jesus returns to earth and she reigns with Him.

Christina will sing for the Lord forever and ever! The only voice her killer silenced was that of his own.

Please listen to Christina singing "In Christ Alone" in the link below. Her passion for Jesus brought me to tears as I listened to this song shortly after her death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzseOqwn8oo