One of our readers said, “As I read through your blog … I was struck to ask you one single question—so what?”
We began our response in our last post (here). Our prophetic model—inmillennialism—makes a difference in five categories: Vision, Apologetics, Legacy, Understanding, and Experience. That post addressed the first three.
After reading it, another reader commented on our “Vision” analysis. He said, “you neglected to mention what has been referred to by Bible students as ‘post millennialist.’… It is, I believe, scriptural.… The earth shall be filled with the knowledge and glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This is an optimistic view is it not?”
I acknowledge my omission. Postmillennialism is one of the four major prophetic models. We have described it here and compared it to the other models here. Inmillennialism shares its optimistic view of the kingdom in history.1
This post will complete our response to the first reader. We are using VALUE as an acronym.
Understanding
Inmillennialism matters because our prophetic model affects our understanding of many Scriptures. Here are a few examples.
666
John said, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Rev 13:18).
Francis X. Gumerlock says many Christians believe the coming of the beast is near. He tells of his experiences as a young believer. A preacher told him he was living in the last generation. “The 666 system was upon us. The UPC barcode on all the store products was proof of that. And there was a huge computer in Europe that had the goods on every human on the planet. Soon Satan’s man himself would rule the European Common Market and would tattoo all of our hands and foreheads with the Mark of the Beast.”2
Many Christians fear the coming of the beast. Their prophetic models tell them they should. But what if these models are wrong? What if the beast appeared in the last generation of the Mosaic age?
Inmillennialism says John was writing about events in his generation. He described “things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1; cp. Rev 1:3, ). The Greek word he used “is not begin to come to pass, but denotes a complete fulfilment: must shortly come to pass in their entirety.”3 He taught the beast would appear in his day.
If this perspective is true, we need not dread a future beast. Our prophetic model determines how we think about this matter.
One Taken, One Left
Some prophetic teachers agree that we should not worry about the beast. But they give a different reason. They say God will take all Christians to heaven in the “rapture” before this wicked person arrives. Jesus refers to this, they say, in the Olivet Discourse. “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matt 24:40).
But the context shows this is not what Jesus meant. He is comparing “taking” and “leaving” to the days of Noah. The flood came “and took them all away” in judgment (Matt 24:39; cp. Luke 17:37). God left Noah and his family on the earth in an act of mercy.
Prophetic teachers who say the rapture will deliver Christians from the beast are wrong. They exchange the blessed for the condemned in Jesus’s teaching.
Inmillennialism says God took apostate Israel away in judgment in the “great tribulation” (Matt 24:21). This judgment occurred in Jesus’s generation (Matt 24:34). It resembled the way God took the wicked to judgment in Noah’s day.
The End
Prophetic models determine how we understand “the end.” The New Testament says much about this subject. Jesus filled his kingdom parables with it (e.g., Matt 13:39, 40, 49). He mentioned it in the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:3, 6, 13, 14).
The apostles followed suit. Paul placed Jesus’s suffering in “the end of the world” (Heb 9:26). He taught “the ends of the world” had come on the Corinthian church (1 Cor 10:11). Peter said, “the end of all things is at hand” (1 Pet 4:7).
The prophetic model we adopt determines how we understand these statements. One model says 1 Cor 10:11 “refers to … the last days of world history before the messianic kingdom comes.”4
Inmillennialism says such expressions most often mean the end of the Mosaic age. It occurred in Jesus generation (Matt 24:34).
Time Stamps
Prophetic models determine how we understand time stamps in Scripture. Many statements show certain events will happen within a short period. Previous posts have emphasized this point, so we will be brief here.
Jesus said he would return before some of his hearers died (Matt 16:27–28). God would avenge his “prophets, and wise men, and scribes” in his generation (Matt 23:34–36). His parousia would also occur in his generation (Matt 24:1–3, 34).
The apostles spoke the same way. For example, Paul said, “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb 10:37).
We do not want to be like some of Jesus’s disciples. He said, “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:16). This statement bewildered them. They said, “What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith” (John 16:18).
Most modern commentators balk at these timestamps. They say, “we cannot tell what they mean.” This is because their prophetic models conflict with such stamps.
The Gospel
Prophetic models determine how we understand the gospel. Jesus and the apostles preached the gospel of the kingdom (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14). The kingdom lay at the heart of the apostolic message (e.g., Acts 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). Our prophetic model determines our view of the kingdom. So, it affects how we present the gospel.
Many Christians truncate the “good news.” They declare Christ’s death for our sins, his burial, and his resurrection (1 Cor 15:1–11). But this is only the first part of Paul’s definition. His gospel also includes the reign of Christ during the messianic age. During that reign, he subdues all his enemies. He defeats the last enemy, death, in the bodily resurrection (1 Cor 15:12–58).
The various prophetic models explain these elements in different ways. Their explanations of the gospel of the kingdom also differ.
Experiencing God
Inmillennialism matters because it affects how we experience God. The Scriptures describe our relationship with God. We will consider only a few ways it does so.
Water
Prophecy says we will experience God as refreshing water. For example, God said, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses” (Isa 44:3–4; cp. Isa 55:1; 58:11; Zech 13:1; 14:8–9).
The New Testament continues these promises. Jesus said, “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). And, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
John saw this refreshing water in Revelation. He said an angel came to him
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Rev 22:1–2)
This river exists only in the new heavens and earth (cp. Rev 21:1).
Inmillennialism says this imagery depicts the messianic age. We are living in the new heavens and earth now. We are experiencing the Holy Spirit as he flows from God’s messianic-age Temple—the local church. For more, please click here.
Other prophetic models say this is a mistake. According to them, this vision of a “river of water of life” pertains to a future age.
Parousia (i.e., Presence)
Our prophetic model affects how we experience the presence of Christ. God promised his presence to Israel in the Mosaic age. He said, “I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people” (Lev 26:11–12). He later dwelled in the Temple at Jerusalem.
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus announced God would destroy the Temple. His presence would no longer dwell there. This would happen in his generation (Matt 24:1–3, 34).
This is where prophetic models come into play. Inmillennialism teaches Jesus also showed how God’s presence would dwell with his people. He used the Greek word parousia—“to be present”5— in the Olivet Discourse to do so (Matt 24:3, 27, 37, 39).
Hermann Cremer, a Greek authority, says the parousia of Christ “perfectly corresponds with the [Shekinah] of God in the O. T.,—the permanent dwelling of the King, where His people ever behold Him, and are ever shielded by Him.”6
The Shekinah was in the physical Temple at Jerusalem. Its counterpart—the parousia of Christ—lives in the new Temple (i.e., the church) during the new age (Eph 2:21; 1 Pet 2:5).
Other prophetic models oppose this teaching. They define Christ’s parousia as his second coming and place it in our future. They say we have not experienced Christ in his parousia.
Prayer
Prophetic models affect our prayer lives. How could they not? Jesus said, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9–10; emphasis added).
I once heard a fellow-minister say, “I know Jesus told us to pray this way, but God will never answer this prayer.” His prophetic model caused him to make this statement. It teaches him the kingdom will become weaker in history compared to the kingdom of darkness.
Jesus’s model prayer is consistent with an optimistic view of the kingdom of heaven. As we noted above, postmillennialism and inmillennialism teach such optimism. They say God will answer this prayer.
But will we pray in faith? Our belief about prophecy will make the determination.
Spiritual Gifts
Should we seek the spiritual gifts Paul described in 1 Cor 12–14? Sincere Christians give different answers.
We discussed this issue in our post on Miraculous Gifts. We saw that Paul sets an end-point for the supernatural gifts. He says,
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. (1 Cor 13:8–10; emphasis added)
Has “that which is perfect” (Gk. teleios) come? If not, we should seek to experience miraculous spiritual gifts. We should “follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor 14:1). If, however, “that which is perfect” has already come, then such spiritual gifts have “vanish[ed] away” (1 Cor 13:8 NKJV).
Prophetic models determine this matter. Inmillennialism says this perfection arrived at Jesus’s coming in his generation (e.g., Matt 16:27–28). This event ended the Mosaic age and completed the transition to the messianic age. In the new age, we “are of full age” (Gk. teleios; Heb 5:14 NKJV). Other prophetic models place this “perfection” in a future age.
Prophetic models affect our experience of spiritual gifts.
Conclusion
God has revealed a vision for his kingdom through prophecy. He has an aim in mind for it. We want to align ourselves with that vision.
We cannot ignore apologetics. Each of us must “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in [us] with meekness and fear” (1 Pet 3:15). This includes defending the accuracy of prophetic passages.
Our legacy is at stake. Saints have always told the story of God’s redemptive work in history. How will we tell the final chapter?
Our prophetic model determines our understanding of many passages. We have listed only a few.
The same is true of our experience. Our view of prophecy affects many aspects of our relationship with God.
If these things matter, then our view of prophecy matters. And, inmillennialism is a thing of VALUE.
Footnotes
- The main difference between them involves Christ’s parousia and its timing. Most postmillennialists define it as the second coming and place it in our future. Our prophetic view says the Lord’s parousia is his “presence” with his churches in the messianic age. It began in the “last days” (Heb 1:2) of the Mosaic age. It will continue until the resurrection. Our explanation for this position is here.
- Francis X. Gumerlock, The Day and the Hour (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2000), 1.
- Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 2:407–8.
- John MacArthur, 1 Corinthians, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1984), 226.
- Albrecht Oepke, “παρουσία, κτλ,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Friedrich, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964-76), 5:859.
- Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek, trans. William Urwick, 4th English ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1895), 238.
