A Summary of Inmillennialism — Part 4

A friend asked me to develop a 15-page summary of inmillennialism, my framework for the interpretation of biblical prophecy. This post is the fourth and final part of that summary.¹ I plan to soon post a downloadable PDF of the entire document.

We started building our model of prophecy in Matthew’s account of the Olivet Discourse. A previous post (here) showed its structure. Previous posts discussed Jesus’s prophecy, the disciples’ questions, and Jesus’s responses. This post looks at his exhortations to the disciples in light of what was about to happen. It then expands the model based on Paul’s discussion of the resurrection in 1 Cor. 15.²

The Closing Exhortations

The warnings in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:37–25:46) pertain to Israel at the end of the Mosaic Age. The first warning (Matt. 24:37– 51) compares the “great tribulation” of that generation (Matt. 24:21, 34) to the flood in Noah’s day. In it, Jesus mentions his parousia (Presence) twice (Matt. 24:37, 39). It would begin with his point-in-time coming to destroy the Temple (Gk. erchomai; Matt. 24:42–44, 46, 48). The flood had taken all the wicked to destruction. Noah and his family were “left behind” to replenish the earth. Even so, God was about to take the wicked in Israel to destruction. The elect remnant would remain. This would occur in Jesus’s generation (Matt. 24:1–3, 34).

The second warning concerns ten virgins (Matt. 25:1–13). Only Israel comprised covenant virgins (e.g., Isa 37:22; Jer 14:17; 18:13), some of whom God would exclude from the kingdom. They alone possessed covenant oil and could say, “our lamps are going out” (Matt. 25:8, YLT). Their covenant was “ready to vanish away” (Heb 8:13). This warning pertained to Israel in the “last days” (Heb. 1:2) of the Mosaic Age. Applying this parable to any other historical context is problematic.

The same is true about the third warning—the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30). The Jews alone possessed kingdom treasure. But, in Jesus’s generation, God would take the kingdom from them (Matt. 21:43). The Lord would go away, then come back (Gk. erchomai). A delay would precede his return, but it would occur within the lifetime of the servants to whom he spoke (Matt. 25:19; cp. Matt. 24:30, 34). Then, God would take the treasure from them and give it to others (Matt. 25:28; cp. Matt. 21:43b). This parable does not fit any other context.

Space will not allow a full explanation of the fourth warning. It includes the final judgment (Matt. 25:31–46), but Jesus is describing an age-long judgment. He told his followers, “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:29–30). This kingdom-age judgment began during the “last days” of the Mosaic Age. It will culminate after the resurrection at the end of the Messianic Age. Then, God will conduct the final judgment. The Temple’s fall completed the transition from the Mosaic Age to this age of judgment. Jesus has not abandoned the subject of the Olivet Discourse.

The Conclusion to the Olivet Discourse

Jesus’s disciples understood the significance of his prophecy about the Temple’s demise. This event would end the Mosaic Age and complete the transition to the Messianic Age. They used parousia to describe the latter. Jesus’s prophecy came true within the timeframe he specified. The Temple fell in AD 70.

Nothing in the Olivet Discourse shows Jesus introduced other topics.

First Corinthians 15

The Olivet Discourse establishes the first part of inmillennialism. It covers the transition from the Mosaic Age to the Messianic (kingdom) Age. Paul provides the rest of the framework in 1 Cor. 15. Below, I summarize the main points.

Paul explains our resurrection-hope by using a three-part prophetic model (1 Cor. 15:12–28). 1.) Christ rose during the “last days” of the Mosaic Age. 2.) He reigns during the kingdom age. 3.) At the end of the kingdom age, Christ will overcome death in the resurrection.

Paul places the resurrection en tē parousia autou—“in his presence” (1 Cor. 15:23, YLT). As we have seen, the parousia began in the “last days” of the Mosaic Age. Paul extends it to the end of the Messianic Age. So, the parousia of Christ extends from the “last days” (Heb. 1:2) of the Mosaic Age to the “last day” of the Messianic Age (cp. John 6:39, 40, 44, 54).

In this chapter, Paul supplies another feature of our prophetic model. He says Jesus “must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25–26). This is an allusion to Psa. 110:1, the most-often-quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The apostle gives an optimistic view of the kingdom in history. Christ overcomes all his enemies during his reign. 

This perspective agrees with the prophets. The Messianic-Age kingdom will grow to become a mountain that fills the whole earth. It will destroy all other kingdoms (Dan. 2:35, 45). Christ “shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him” (Psa. 72:8–11).

The parousia (presence) of Christ with his church during the Messianic Age will enable her to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:18–19, NKJV).

Conclusion

Inmillennialism rests on an unbiased exegesis of two passages of Scripture. It takes words like aiōn (age) and parousia (presence) in their primary meaning. The Temple’s fall ended the Mosaic Age. It completed the transition to the age of Christ’s new-covenant presence with his church—his parousia. 

Jesus used prophetic symbols—lightning, vulture-feasts, cosmic collapse, et al. These traditional prophetic images describe God’s judgments against a people. Here, they apply to apostate Israel. 

Inmillennialism does not discover veiled references to other subjects in the Olivet Discourse. Jesus gave a simple prophecy. The disciples asked relevant questions about it. Jesus answered their questions. All is plain and simple.

Inmillennialism solves the problem we mentioned at the beginning. A major eschatological event was in the disciples’ near future. This event would mark their full transition into the Messianic Age. They wrote as if this were the case, so timestamps of imminence abound in the New Testament. Their chronology was accurate and we should take their time markers at face value. Jesus and his disciples did not make prophetic mistakes. He came in his kingdom during the lifetime of some who heard him.

Accepting inmillennialism requires a shift in perspective. This will challenge some of our long-held beliefs and interpretations. But making the shift allows us to understand the Scriptures better. As a result, we can preach the kingdom with more accuracy and not compromise with enemies of the gospel (cf. Mark 1:14–15).

Bonus Material

Here is a diagram of inmillennialism.

My other blog posts show more details. They also apply this model to Hebrews and Revelation. I suggest beginning on the “Start Reading Here” page.

Some Key Points

1. The term “last days” and its equivalents almost always refer to the end of the Mosaic Age. The term “last day” usually stands for the end of the Messianic Age.
2. Parousia usually means “presence” and refers to a state of being. It does not refer to a point-in-time action (e.g., a “coming”) apart from the condition it produces. 
3. The parousia of Christ is his “presence” with the church in the Messianic Age. 
4. The New Testament retains the two-age model of the Old Testament.
5. The Olivet Discourse pertains to events in Jesus’s generation.
6. The bodily resurrection will occur at the end of Christ’s parousia.
7. During Christ’s kingdom-age parousia, he will progressively defeat all his enemies. Death is the last enemy he will destroy. This agrees with postmillennialism.
8. Ethnic Israel does not have a special covenant relationship with God in this age. This agrees with the other prophetic frameworks, except dispensationalism.
9. The “thousand years” of Rev. 20 is a figure that represents the Messianic Age. Here, inmillennialism agrees with amillennialism and modern forms of postmillennialism.
10. Christ destroyed the Temple in his first-century judgment “coming” (Gk. erchomai). This coming was “premillennial,” but not in the traditional sense.

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1. Part 1 is here.
2. The image in this post shows Jesus reigning as Paul mentions in 1 Cor 15. Attribution: Florentinischer Meister um 1300, Mosaik im Baptisterium San Giovanni von Florenz, Szene: Christus Pantokrator und das Jüngste Gericht – The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.