Premillennialism is the belief that the promised Messiah, a suffering servant, a mighty and eternal king, the Old Testament prophesied and expected throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, would come and establish the kingdom per the numerous prophecies. This is the straightforward and clear understanding of anyone who reads the Old Testament in its plain and literal sense. The book of Psalms, major and minor prophets, consistently echoed the pre-millennial theology of the future king and His kingdom established on the earth. There is no escape from this truth when we read the Old Testament.
The arrival of the Messiah and the establishment of the kingdom promised in the Scripture was and is still the expectation of the conservative Jews and their teachers.
The New Testament never rejects or casts out this expectation, repeatedly laid down in the Old Testament. On the contrary, the New Testament reemphasizes the concept of premillennialism.
In Luke 1:32-33, Mary is told by the angel, in relation to the child Jesus, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Did you notice it says the Lord God shall give to Him (Jesus) the throne of His father David, and He (Jesus) shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom shall have no end.”
Matthew, in the first verse of his book, trace the genealogy of Jesus Christ to “the son of David, the Son of Abraham” and draws the promised seed line of the Old Testament Scripture to Christ Jesus. By noting “the son of David”, he drew attention to the Davidic covenant God made with David in 2nd Samuel 7:12-21 and introduced Jesus as the heir and king to the promised throne of the eternal kingdom.
In a nutshell, the New Testament picks up the expectation of the Old Testament and points to Jesus as its fulfillment/ The King and kingdom promises of the Old Testament find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. How did Mary understand this announcement? As a devoted Jew, the only way she would have understood this announcement was as the literal fulfillment of the Davidic covenant God made with David in 2nd Samuel 7 and the hundreds of prophecies of its fulfillment in the Psalms & prophetic literature of the Old Testament. She didn’t take the announcement by spiritualizing it as the amillennialism did to the Old Testament promises of the Messiah.
Amillennialism teaches there is no kingdom promises to be fulfilled although the Scripture – Old and New testaments- underlines the truth of the king and future kingdom. They come with no kingdom expectation by allegorizing or spiritualizing the covenants God made with his people. Pre-millennialism believe all the covenants and promises of God will fulfill literally, as many had already fulfilled with pinpoint accuracies and history attests this fact.
Post Millennialism, the other alternative thought came up with the rise of the Roman Catholic Church is the belief that the world will get better and better with the influence of the church ending in a golden age and then Christ returns. Christians will become the dominant influence and force resulting in peace and prosperity before the second advent of Christ. The Bible in contrast pictures an opposite view that world will become increasingly more evil, and faith will be tested and rejected by many.
Both amillennial and post millennial theology do not accept the fulfillment of God’s promise of a literal future king and kingdom as promised in the Old Testament. Pre-millennialism believe in the expectation of the orthodox Jews and the Old Testament and New Testament expectation of the future king and kingdom on this earth.
Again, notice in Matthew 20:20-23, the mother of James and John asked for special privileges in the kingdom for her sons. Her expectation was that Jesus, as the promised king of the Old Testament he would establish the kingdom. Jesus, by replying to her saying it is the Father who ultimately decides who sits on the left and right of the king, did not reject his kingship or the promised kingdom of the Old Testament that would come, but just pointed out it is the Father who decides the assigning of seats.
The New Testament never rejected the kingdom promises but always emphasized them by saying they are going to happen.
In Acts 1:6, the disciples’ expectation of the Old Testament promise of the kingdom is still intact and well, even after the death and resurrection of Christ. But they wanted to know when it would happen. When the disciples wanted to know when the kingdom was going to be restored to Israel, Jesus did not say they are in error, but confirmed that they were not in error, and the kingdom would be restored to Israel, but only said that it was not for them to know the “times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7). In short, he said they are correct in their belief and hope of the kingdom, but the times is set by God.
Apostle Peter underlined the premillennial belief in his sermon on the day of Pentecost. He refers to the Davidic covenant and its fulfillment in the risen Christ Jesus in Acts 2:29-35. Peter reinstated this again in 3:19-21. He said the period of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
Apostle Paul raises the question of the future of Israel in the book of Romans. In Romans 11, he discusses and gives answers to the question of whether there is any possibility of God rejecting or casting Israel off from covenantal promises. Listen, Paul says there, ‘God forbid, ’ and another translation says ‘no means.’ (NIV).
He wrote this-”I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.” The theme of Romans 11 is that although Israel is in unbelief presently, due to their unbelief and hard-heartedness, which became, of course, the pathway for worldwide blessings to come out of the seed of Abraham, the Messiah Jesus Christ, and they will repent and mourn over their Messiah and be restored at the second coming of Christ. Paul continued to write, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 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;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
The book of Revelation presents the best and most profound structure of pre-millennialism in its pages. The basic structure of the interpretation of the book is given in chapter 1:19. There are three sections in this book according to the structure given there. (1) Write the things that you have seen (chapters 1 about risen Christ Jesus), (2) the things which are (chapters 2-3 about the churches), and (3) things that shall take place after these things (future after the church age described in 2-3), Church in heaven 4-5, tribulation begins in chapter 6, Christ comes back in his second coming in chapter 19, establishment of the kingdom and the final judgement in 20, and eternal state (new heavens and new earth) in 21-22. This is the sensible and only logical findings a sincere and literal reader can arrive at, and it has never been fulfilled in history, and demands future fulfillment.
The disciples, the early church, the book of Acts, the Christians in the first and second centuries, sustained the pre-millennial approach to the Bible, which was the approach of the Old Testament and Jewish expectations. The third century witnessed opposition to premillennialism. Dr. John F. Walwoord wrote this, “It is not surprising that opposition to premillennialism should arise. All forms of true doctrine have opposition, and even the majority view in the history of doctrine is not necessarily the right one. The point of great significance is the form in which the opposition arose. It was not the product of orthodox studies in the Scripture, nor of the application of tried and true hermeneutics. It was rather the subversion of the plain meaning of Scripture, not only as applied to the millennial question but all other areas of doctrine.” (walvoord.com).
However, the 3rd century had its premil thinkers and writers, the names included Cyprian (200-258), Commodian (200-270), Nepos (230-280), Coracion (230-280), Victorinus (240-303), Methodius (250-311), and Lactantius (240-330).
After the 3rd century, with the rise of the Roman Church, opposition to the pre-millennial expectation arose; although a minority in the Roman Church held to premillennialism, they were not vocal enough for the position. In reformers’ time, with attention turned to a renewed interest in in-depth Bible studies, the original pre-millennial approach of the Old Testament, Jewish teachings, the early church, 1st and 2nd centuries belief system again re-shaped the theology of the Christian movement by moving toward the right interpretation of premillennialism.
To close a short survey on the topic of premillennialism, I am again quoting a paragraph from John F. Walvoord.
“Rooted in the Old and New Testaments, a product of literal interpretation, nurtured by the Apostles and the early church, eclipsed for centuries by the dark shadows of pagan philosophies and allegorizing methods of interpretation, emerging once more as a dominant strain in Biblical theology in these eschatological times, premillennialism is more than a theory, more than a doctrine. It is a system of Biblical interpretation which alone honors the Word of God as infallibly inspired, literally interpreted, and sure of literal fulfillment. It has stirred the coals of evangelicalism, created interest in Biblical study, and constituted a preparation of God’s people for the coming of the Lord for His saints. Premillennial truth has been an inestimable blessing to those who have received it. To them the Bible has become a living book to be interpreted in its ordinary sense. It is significant that the Bible study movements have usually been premillennial, and institutions which emphasize the study of the text of Scripture, as illustrated in the Bible institute movement, have often been an integral part of the premillennial movement.” (walvoord.com/article)
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