The Great Commission and Biblical Prophecy: Introduction

I’ve written a book that develops a new framework we can use to understand biblical prophecies better. I call it Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days. When someone tells me they have a copy, I say, “Please tell me what you think of it!”

Some faithful souls have done so, and their reviews are mixed. Often I hear compliments that challenge my humility. One person said, “The book is, in my opinion, a must-read for every serious student of scripture.” I rejoice that the book is helping such Christians.

Other comments have encouraged my humility, and one has inspired this blog post and those that will follow. It goes like this: “Your book is over my head; I don’t understand it.” People who react this way are some of the ones I want to convince of the importance of understanding prophecy. If possible, I want to give them a vibrant and optimistic view of God’s kingdom.

So, I aim to write a simplified version of Inmillennialism. “Keep It Simple for the Saints” will be my motto for these posts and the book that (hopefully) follows. Few Greek or Hebrew words will appear here, and no mentions of chiasmi. (If you’re dying to understand these, you can always read the other book!) And, a bare minimum of engineering-like structured outlines from a previous part of my life will crop up.

I want to write with less-theoretical and more practical objectives. My goal will be to encourage Christians to obey two commands Jesus gave the church: one regarding our mission and the other regarding our prayers.

So, let’s jump right in by looking again at the church’s Great Commission. Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt 28:18).

Do we believe this is possible? Can our actions cause the nations to serve our Lord Jesus Christ?

Do we want to make the effort?

Do we know what to do?

Our views of biblical prophecy affect our answers to these questions. What promises has God made regarding the nations? Which ones has he fulfilled? Is He making good on some of them now? Are any prophecies unfulfilled, and if so, when and how will the Lord satisfy them?  

Let’s also review the prayer Jesus gives us as a pattern for our own. In it, we ask God to provide us with success as we obey the Great Commission. We say to the Father: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10).

Do we agree with a pastor friend who said, “This is a good prayer, but it will never happen”?

Are we asking the Lord for this conversion of the nations in this age before the end of history?

Again, our answers depend on our view of biblical prophecy.

Let’s focus on the timing of the Lord’s Great Commission and Model Prayer. The prophets had spoken of a kingdom age when the nations would obey God. For example, David said, “Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him” (Ps 72:11). About three centuries later, God spoke through Isaiah:

Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, and set up My standard for the peoples; they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders; kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. (Isa 49:22–23)

Then, at least a century later, Daniel said,

I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. (Dan 7:13–14)

The Old Testament contains many prophecies like these.

How should we understand Jesus when He speaks of when this kingdom would come? Here is one of his statements:

The Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matt 16:27–28)

Did Jesus, as the Son of Man, come “in His kingdom” before some of his hearers died? To paraphrase John the Baptist, are we now living in the promised kingdom age, or should we look for another?

Our view of prophecy answers these timing questions regarding the kingdom age. These answers then determine our understanding of the Great Commission and Model Prayer. Can we “make disciples of all nations” now? Will the present kingdom grow until humans do God’s will on earth as in heaven? Our prophetic framework should answer these questions.

Don’t avoid the study of prophecy forever, thinking it’s too complicated or unimportant. We must believe and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14). The questions above about the Lord’s Great Commission and Model Prayer lie at the heart of the New Testament. This subject is too important to ignore, and you can understand it!

I hope to present a simple framework of biblical prophecy that answers these questions. The core framework will come from just two New Testament passages, and I will explain these two passages step-by-step, adding elements from the Old and New Testaments as we move forward. The finished framework will help us understand the Great Commission and strengthen our faith as we pray according to the Model Prayer. 

Let me know what you think!