Foreword to Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days—Part A

Last week, I announced the forthcoming publication of my book, Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days by McGahan Publishing House. As a first-time author, many of the steps necessary to get a book into print have been new and intimidating. One of these activities involved selecting a person to write the foreword. I admit that I had to familiarize myself with the purpose of this part of the front matter. Here is what one source says:

A foreword is usually written by someone other than the author. That person may be a well-known figure, someone who has a special relationship with the author, or someone who has expertise on the book’s subject matter. A foreword illuminates some interesting aspect of the book’s content or its author, and when the reader is finished, no doubt should exist as to why that writer was chosen to write the foreword.¹

In God’s providence, a nearby church Betty and I were attending last fall invited Dr. Tom Nettles to preach at a Sunday evening service. This allowed us to renew our acquaintance. I told him of my desire to publish a book but that I did not have a publisher. He, as always, was a great encouragement to me and agreed to read the manuscript and provide feedback. Little did I know that within a few weeks a publisher would ask about the book. I instinctively thought of Dr. Nettles as the person to write the foreword. Had the Lord not arranged for us to meet, the selection of someone to write the foreword would have been daunting.

Dr. Nettles is a well-known figure. He served as professor of historical theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1997 to 2014. Before joining the faculty at Southern, he spent 21 years at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Mid-American Baptist Theological Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has written several influential books: Baptists and the Bible, By His Grace and For His Glory, and others. “Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said Nettles is a ‘legendary’ Southern Baptist professor.”²

Dr. Nettles has expertise in the book’s subject from a historical perspective. While doing research for my book, I was pleasantly surprised to see him listed as a speaker at the Fourth International Baptist Conference held at the Jarvis Street Baptist Church in Toronto in October 1988. The conference theme was “The Christian and the Future,” and Dr. Nettles’ paper was “The 19th Century Roots of Dispensationalism.” The impressive list of scholars who spoke at this conference shows the academic company he keeps.

I believe Dr. Nettles’ foreword does a wonderful job of summarizing my book’s contents. I think you will understand why I wanted him to write it and why I am thankful he did.

Here is the first part of his foreword:

Foreword to Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days—Part A

by Tom J. Nettles

“Behold the judge is standing at the door” (James 5:9). I read these verses today and considered seriously the possibility that James, the pastor of Christians in Jerusalem, was reminding his hearers of the presence of Christ to judge the unbelieving Jews and bring the Mosaic Age to an end. Soon, Jesus, by the hand of the Romans would destroy the temple and bring great tribulation on those who had rejected his Messiahship even in the presence of his having fulfilled the prophetic word. They were to realize it was very near, for Jesus had said that these things would happen within this generation. Certainly, extended implications for every age reside within that sobering reminder of James, but perhaps he had in mind the final gasps of the Mosaic Age and the fruition of the Messianic Age in that dramatic display of the reigning presence of Jesus. I deduce that such would be the interpretive gravity of an “inmillennial” view of those words.

The basic outline of the inmillennial viewpoint is clear and simple to state. Michael Rogers focuses principally on what he calls the Mosaic Age and the Messianic Age. He uses Matthew 24 and 25 along with 1 Corinthians 15 to fill in the details of his alternative reading of the tribulation, the millennium, the Parousia, resurrection, and judgment. The Mosaic Age was established by the giving of the Law of God at Mount Sinai; the Messianic Age was established by the perfect fulfillment of the Law by Jesus Christ in his death burial and resurrection. We are presently in the millennium, a symbolic term for an indefinite time until the general judgment at the resurrection. It will be characterized by the presence and reign of Jesus in which through the preaching of the gospel he gradually subdues all nations and human organizational structures to himself. This will continue, perhaps exponentially increasing, until the last enemy, death, is destroyed in the general resurrection at which time we see the gathering of all nations in the sheep and goats judgment. The Great Tribulation preceding this millennial reign of Christ through his presence was the siege of Jerusalem for more than three years culminating in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. When it burned, 6000 people seeking refuge in it were burned. All of Jesus’ giving of signs in both those chapters until Matthew 25:31 relate to that event. This horrific and intensely brutal ravaging of the Jews ended the Mosaic Age and ushered in the Messianic Age. Perhaps Paul refers to this in anticipation, knowing the certainty of Jesus’ prophetic utterance, when he wrote the Thessalonians concerning the Jews’ persecution of Christians, “But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost” (1 Thessalonians 2:16). The parousia of Jesus is not a visible coming, but an abiding presence of the Messianic Age promised in the Great Commission and effected by Jesus’ being seated at the right hand of power and his sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

In order to keep the progress of his argument clear throughout this book, Rogers has 30 diagrams that illustrate the viewpoint. Some of these add details to the existing paradigm as the argument advances and some of them compare his viewpoint to other options. These are clear and helpful, not at all intimidating. Visual aids are added gradually as needed. Rogers constructs them like a good engineer would do when designing a machine—every part necessary, none left over. Also, at the end of sections in which crucial material is added, Rogers summarized the argument into a key point, finally having 14 of these which are conveniently included in an appendix. Throughout the book, they grow gradually into a full expression of his model of eschatology.

This is not a quick devotional read giving a small dose of spiritual encouragement for the morning. Not that it is void of spiritual benefit; it has plenty of that. But Rogers has constructed a carefully connected detailed argument that requires disciplined power of attention and concentration. You must get your soul and mind ready for some expanded cogency in reasoning. This need for concentrated attention is not because the basic thesis is obtuse and complicated. Rather, the need for discipline resides first with Rogers’ challenge to some of the prevailing views of Matthew 24 and 25 and the eschatological systems surrounding those interpretations. Second, the exegetical evidence is so vigorously pursued that it involves punctilious attention to argument and a careful reframing of relevant elements of New Testament language and context. For example, he makes clear distinctions between “presence” (parousia) and “coming” (erchomai) showing how this distinction gives a fundamental framework to the relationship between the Mosaic Age and the Messianic Age.

Lord willing, I will publish the Part B of the foreword next week.

1. Robert Hudson, The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, 4th ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 184.
2. Jeff Robinson and James A. Smith Sr., “Tom Nettles, ‘legendary’ historian, retires from Southern Seminary,” Southern News, 14 May 2014, https://news.sbts.edu/2014/05/14/tom-nettles-legendary-historian-retires-from-southern-seminary/.