Millennial View On Jerusalem
How will the world end? What will the earth look like when Christ comes? These are the sort of questions theologians get asked. The topic we are discussing today is Eschatology which is the study of the end times. Some Christians not all believe that the Book of Revelations predicts when Christ returns and what this world will be like when he does come back. As Christians we should realize that we will never know when Christ will return or what the earth will look like when he does come back. All we can do is to be ready for that moment. The three basic primary views are A-millennial, Postmillennial and Premillennial.
Before we discuss the three views of the Millennium, we should discuss what the origin and definition of millennialism is. Millennial which is Latin for Millennialism means one thousand years or the other word for Millennialism is Chiliasm (Greek). Millennialism which some religious beliefs hold to means “the belief, expressed in the book of Revelation to John, the last book of the
New Testament, that Christ will establish a 1,000-year reign of the saints on
earth (the millennium) before the Last Judgment.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The A-millennial view holds the belief that Christ will not come back until the Day of Judgment. This view can be traced all the way back to Greek Philosophy. In Greek Society many people were taught that God’s Kingdom was not physical but rather spiritual. The A-millennial view of the rapture is this that when Christ does return, he will judge the wicked.
Postmillennial view was founded by Daniel Whitby in England who was a Unitarian Preacher. This view believes that Christ will return after the millennium. Gary Vaterlaus the author of the article Millennial and Rapture Positions states “There is a new form of post millennialism known as “reconstructionism” which teaches how the world will eventually be Christianized.” (2) In other words if you are not a believer you have no worries because when Christ does come the world will be Christianized. The Postmillennial view believes in how Jews will be converted nationally.
Premillennialism believes that when Christ comes again, he will come before the millennium. There are two forms of premillennialism and they are Historic and Dispensational premillennialism. Historic Premillennialism is the belief that Christ will return to earth and rule the earth from Jerusalem for a thousand years. When the thousand years are up Satan will then be thrown into a fiery lake. The second belief is Dispensational Premillennialism. What makes these two Premillennialist views different is this; “the special place of Israel in God’s plan of salvation and the idea that the church was not originally part of that plan.” (South 2) In other words god has a plan for Israel but not for the church.
As Tommy South is telling us in his article The Millennium that the purpose to why Christ is coming to the earth is to establish the Kingdom of Israel not the church. He then goes on to tell us that the Jews didn’t accept Christ as the Messiah, so God established the church to fill in that hole until his return. Then once the Jews accept Christ as their Messiah he will then come back and rule Israel. South goes on and tells us that during the last seven years or church years as he would put it. The so-called rapture will then occur. Smith says; “For seven years, the redeemed of Earth will hover above the earth in the clouds with Jesus while the unredeemed undergo the “Great Tribulation on earth.” (2) The most important thing to note in the view of Premillennialism is the relation between the Jews and the Christian Gentiles. In the premillennial view Jews will have superiority and honor above the Gentile Christians.
Postmillennialism and A-millennialism are not great supporters of the Bible mostly the Book of Revelations. In terms of the Book of Revelations the great supporter would be Premillennialism. The main reason to this is because they see Revelations as a support system for their belief. Tommy South in his article Millennium tells us that this view supports Revelation 20 but Why?
“All premillennial teachings begins with this passage….
it will be necessary to give careful attention to the scriptures
involved, in this case 20:1-10, in order to determine what
they do and do not say.” (1)
South is right on one thing if we talk or write about any view, we should at least give these views biblical evidences even though many views in Christianity don’t support the bible. This comes to the point what does Revelation 20:1-10 explain it explains the end times and it gives us Johns account of what he saw might happen when Christ returns. In the premillennial view the people who support Revelation 20:1-10 are mostly Historic Premillennialist.
The Millennial’s view of Palestine and Jerusalem is this that the bible discusses a New Jerusalem. What is the New Jerusalem? The New Jerusalem is defined as the city of God and the church. In a doctrinal form the New Jerusalem is the Holy City of God or the most holy place (temple) where the Saints and Angles dwell. In other words, the most holy of holies live in this temple. When Christ comes again, he might make the earth the courtyard of the Temple (New Jerusalem). In other Christian denominations they say that the New Jerusalem is the New Heavens and the New Earth. When Christ comes again, we will be resurrected and made new in the New Jerusalem.
Not only can Christians believe in the end times atheists believe in the end of the world but in a different perspective. In their view they believe the earth will have massive destruction and chaos. Christians on the other hand say no the world will end when Christ returns but we don’t know how the world will end. We all hopefully should understand the differing views on what the world might look like when Christ returns. In the Book of Revelations, it predicts how Satan will be thrown down into a fiery furnace and there will be a New Jerusalem. Secondly people predict the end of the world a lot but as Christians we should understand that we will never know what the end times will look like. The most important thought as Christians is this prepare yourselves for the coming of the Lord. He may come today, tomorrow or in a couple more years.
