Pre-mil? Post mil? Amil? Rapture?

Let me start right off with this disclaimer: I am not a Left Behind dispensationalist. I find that view to be far outside Scripture with very little basis in proper exegesis and hermeneutics. It makes for great Hollywood, but poor eschatology. For one thing, it dismisses the idea that God is no respecter of persons, because it separates national Israel as a uniquely favored group of people based on their nationality alone, and that view is strongly condemned in the NT epistles. I view the nation of Israel as a foreshadowing of things to come (as much of the OT is), specifically in Christ, and a microcosm of how men generally appear before God (stubborn and rebellious against God).

Having said that, I haven't landed firmly in any millennial camp yet, but I am hovering closely over amillennialism.

First, I think it's wise to give a brief description of the differing types of millennial views regarding Israel and the church.

• Amillennialism: The church is the eschatological fulfillment of Israel.
• Dispensational Premillennialism: Views church and Israel as two distinct peoples of God with two individual redemptive plans.
• Historic Premillenialism: The church is the fulfillment of Israel.
• Postmillennialism: The church is the fulfillment of Israel.

Handy Dandy chart: http://www.theologue.org/MillennialChart.html

I think that to distinguish Israel as a distinct nation is to miss the point Paul makes in Romans 9:6-7. Israel, in my estimation, is a TYPE while Christ (not the church) is the fulfillment of that type. In that regard, I disagree with each of these camps. See Matt 2:15 for one Scripture proof.

Now to argue the larger eschatological issue:

A while back, my pastor said in one of his sermons that amillennialists don't believe in a millennium. This is not exactly true. This camp does believe in a millennium, just not a literal 1,000 year period. We (they) believe it is a figurative number that describes a PERIOD of time, or an age. The reason I'm closing in on amillennialism is mainly because I believe we are now in this period of time, and the following is my reasoning from Scripture and history.

First of all, history. Regarding the tribulation of Christians: I recently listened to the Foxe's Book of Martyrs audio book, and if you would have told any Christian up until perhaps the founding of the United States that there would be a FUTURE tribulation of Christians, they would have called you naively uninformed at best and outright crazy at worst. The Christians of the first 17-1800 years underwent some of the most gruesome and inhumane tortures that man could devise. These faithful Christians endured through a VERY GREAT tribulation, and it is only now in this western comfort that we can complacently claim that there is a "still-to-come" tribulation. Even today, in many parts of the world, Christians are going through tribulations of terrible kinds! http://www.persecution.com/

Now from Scripture: This is by no means exhaustive, just preliminary. First of all, the tribulation has been going on since Stephen was stoned as recorded in Acts 7. John also said that he was in the tribulation at the time of his writing the letter at the end of the FIRST century. Rev 1:9a - "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom..."

Next, I believe the first resurrection spoken of in Rev 20:5 is speaking of regeneration, or spiritual birth.

"Scripture teaches us of two principle resurrections of the dead. It speaks of the resurrection in Christ (John 11:25, Ephesians 2:5) which is the called the first. But it also speaks of another resurrection at the last day (John 11:24, 1st Corinthians 15:52). Only one can be the first resurrection of the saints. And I want to say that again for emphasis. ONLY ONE can be the first Resurrection. And that is what many theologians cannot seem to comprehend. You cannot have two separate events, both called the first resurrection in scripture. That is confusion and God is not the author of confusion. In Revelation 20:5, the First Resurrection refers to what has occurred that made those souls who have died able to live and reign with Christ, while the souls of those who were unsaved (the rest of the dead) could not go to live and reign with Christ. The rest of the dead (unsaved who died) "they lived not again" until the second resurrection when they must be raised from death to stand for judgment before the throne of God. What the chapter is doing is contrasting the souls of the saved, which though they are dead, yet they still live and reign with Christ in heaven, with the souls of the "rest of the dead" (the unsaved) who didn't have life again until the second Resurrection. The ones who reign with Christ after death are those who have had part in the first resurrection. The expression, the First Resurrection clearly refers to the souls of the saints that are raised first, in distinction from the raising of these wicked (rest of the dead) that occurs after the millennium. This is at the the second resurrection."

Source: http://is.gd/GPF3

Thirdly, I believe Christ's kingdom is not a literal physical kingdom as taught by premil dispensationalists: Christ Himself said so in John 18:36 - "Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.""

And to repeat, John believed he was in the kingdom as well in Rev 1:9a - "I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom..."

What kingdom do you suppose John was speaking of?

I also believe the rapture, a phrase coined by John Nelson Darby near the end of the American Civl War, is unbiblical. The text most commonly referred to in defense of this theory is 1 Thess 4:15-17. If I may, another quote regarding this text:

"the New Bible Commentary: Revised:
"'To meet the Lord' (Gk. 'eis apantesin tou
kyriou'): When a dignitary paid an official visit ...
to a city in Hellenistic times, the action of the
leading citizens in going out to meet him and
escorting him on the final stage of his journey was
called the 'apantesis'; it is similarly used in
[Matthew] 25:6; Acts 28:15. So the Lord is pictured
as escorted to the earth by His people--those newly
raised from death and those who have remained
alive.""

I believe this historical context helps paint a better picture of what Paul is referring to. He is saying that this second coming is the FINAL and ONLY second coming. What is commonly explained as "the rapture of the church" in 1 Thess 4:15-17 is imagery of the servants of the Lord meeting and joining with their King as he comes to reign and conquer His enemies. It is not a secret rapture which ushers in a tribulation, or predates the final second coming (how many second comings are there?) The coming of Christ in 1 Thess 4:15-17 IS THE second coming of Christ in judgment. That day is THE Day of the Lord.

This, of course, is just a primer on my view of end times. If it sparks discussion, then perhaps we can fill in some of the details (if anyone reads this blog, that is).

I'm also researching Covenant Theology, which I hope to do a blog entry on in the near future.

Soli Deo Gloria

The First and the Last

The deity of Christ is explicit in many places throughout the Scriptures, but none so crystal clear as in the Revelation. Read this:

Revelation 1.4-20
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Alpha:
1 : the 1st letter of the Greek alphabet — see alphabet table
2 : something that is first : beginning

Omega:
1: the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet — see alphabet table
2: the extreme or final part : end

So what do we have? We have the Lord God being the Alpha (the first) and the Omega (the last). Furthermore, we have "the living one", "the one who died and is alive forevermore" describing himself as the first and the last. Who is speaking to us? Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ? He describes himself in the very same manner in which the Lord God describes Himself.

They are the same. Christ is in the Father and the Father is in Him. It is more than a tradition adopted by the church because of Constantine. The devil/adversary will do whatever he can to diminish the glory of the One who cast him out of heaven. What more diminishing thing could be done than to deny who He truly is?

To deny the deity of Christ is to be deceived by the adversary who roams the earth seeking someone to devour. But do not be afraid, for Christ has conquered him! Hallelujah, our God is an awesome God.
Amen