Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things · T3 BIBLE PROGRAMME – ESCHATOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS COURSE OVERVIEW Title Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things Objective

T3 BIBLE PROGRAMME

COURSE 8: Eschatology: The Doctrine

of Last Things

T3 BIBLE PROGRAMME – ONE 16 PUBLISHING

Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,

Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New

International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Bibli ca, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright ©

2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A huge debt of gratitude is owed to a number of people, particularly to Nigel Day-Lewis whose lectures on

eschatology have been used, with his permission, as the basis for these notes.

Published: One 16 Publishing

Reproduction, printing and distribution is restricted and subject to obtaining approval from the copyr ight owners at

[email protected].

T3 BIBLE PROGRAMME – ESCHATOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS

COURSE OVERVIEW

Title


Objective

The objective of this course is to help you understand the end times from a Biblical perspective.

Synopsis

Eschatology is the study of events around ‘the last things’. We will be looking at different views on the

return of Christ with regard to such issues as ‘the Millenium’, ‘the rapture’ and ‘the tribulation’ . We

will also look at

Other theological issues around death and eternity such as heaven and hell, judgement, the

intermediate state and the new heaven and new earth..

Duration

The course content, if running this along with the filmed teachings, will be covered over 8-sessions,

with each session split into approximately two 45-minutes blocks of teaching time. If this course is

being covered by a live presenter, the time frame may differ. Please confirm it with them.

Requirements

Try not to miss a single one! No prior study of Scripture is necessarily needed, however, bear in mind

that this is not a foundational course. We will be digging deeper into Theological truths. Should you

not have some basic foundational truths in place, we encourage you to first attend a foundation or

introductory type of course, to give you a better foundation to build on. *Please note this is not an

accredited programme/course.

Tools

You will need your Bible, a pen and should you wish, a notebook for additional note taking.

Assessment

The best way to learn is through application and interaction with the course content. For this reason,

we have included a final optional assessment/activity. Depending on how your course is being run,

this may be for self-study, a required part of your course or something you can complete at your

leisure. Just check with your course coordinator. Don't fear, this is not an exam. It will merely be an

opportunity for you to reflect on and apply what you have learnt during the course.

[If you do this as part of self-study, you may want to ask a pastor/elder if you can submit it to them

for their input. No marking memo has been provided.]


T3 Bible Programme

The T3 Bible Programme consists of 8 Courses with each course made up of Modules. The course work

can either be covered with live presentations from pastors/teachers, or filmed recordings of

teachings are available. The pace at which the course work is covered is based on the organiser's

preference. The course work is taught generally in the filmed teachings and does not necessarily

unpack the course notes in a systematic manner. It is recommended students read the notes on their

own, before or after sessions, and spend time reflecting and interacting with the notes.

Each course is a stand-alone course and it is not necessary to have attended prior courses or to

complete the entire T3 Programme in order.

*A reminder that the T3 Bible Programme is NOT an accredited or registered programme. It is for

informal study only. Should you wish to work towards a formal certificate/ diploma/ degree you will

need to sign up to a registered and accredited programme with a recognised institution.

Programme Outline

• Course 1: Doctrine of Revelation: God Speaks

• Course 2: In the Beginning

• Course 3: The Fall

• Course 4: Understanding the Old Testament

• Course 5: Coming to Know God: The Doctrine of Salvation

• Course 6: Growing in God

• Course 7: Church and the Kingdom

• Course 8: Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things … YOU ARE HERE

Interacting with the Notes

Keep an eye out for REFLECTION opportunities in the course notes, where you can pause, reflect and

have some space to engage with some questions or additional thoughts. There are also FOCUS

POINTS which provide additional information and summaries or expound on previous information etc.

These are always interesting reads and worth going over outside of “class time”.

We trust that as you study and pursue God, seeking His face, that you will encounter Him even more

and dig foundations that will take you deeper, make you stronger and will impact on the church and

the Kingdom of God, for many years to come.

Blessings,

T3 Teaching Team


ASSESSMENT TASK (OPTIONAL)


ASSESSMENT: ESSAY

Write an essay of approximately 1000 words on ONE of the following:

Option 1:

If Jesus is the central figure of the book of Revelation, how does that affect your attitude toward the

possibility that we may be living in the “end times”?

OR

Option 2:

How does your understanding of, or faith in, the resurrection affect your attitude towards death?

NB Assessment Guidelines

• Use Scripture to back up your point of view, where applicable.

• Don’t just repeat course content but use the course content as a “springboard” for your own

ideas and to show that you have a working understanding of the concepts covered.


INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGY

The Story of God

This teaching programme is about helping you immerse yourself into the story of God and the main

characters that make up the story. The moment we came to Christ, we became part of the story of

God, and our personal life stories find meaning within His grand meta-narrative. All the content in this

programme is the telling of this story.

God’s story has four parts to it as revealed in the Bible. Here is a brief overview of each:

1. Creation. The creation account in Genesis describes how God created all things as good. He

created humans in His image, with the intent that we would live in fellowship with Him and serve

as co-regents with God over the earth, being wise stewards over all He has made.

2. Fall. The Scriptures explain that man defies God and is cut off from the fellowship and intimacy

he once had. The Holy Creator God simply cannot fellowship with sinful man. While Man is still in

God's image, that image has been corrupted and twisted through sin and the desire for self-rule.

Because of man's sinful choices, even the earth itself comes under a curse.

3. Redemption. God in His mercy promises to rescue and redeem man’s sinful condition and restore

creation back into right relationship with Him. This great rescue plan is promised and

foreshadowed in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament through the ministry of

Jesus. God’s great plan of renewing all things begins in Jesus.

4. Consummation. The climax of the story when God finishes His project of redeeming the world

through Jesus. He finally puts every enemy under His feet including death, sickness and Satan.

This is the greatest story ever told. God wins and gets the glory and He graciously allows us to share

in His glory. This great overriding story or meta-narrative is what gives our life meaning and purpose.

We are a part then of God's great story to renew all things and bring us into true life. We have one

truth and one Lord and our individual stories find meaning within the ‘big picture.’

What is Theology?

Theology (from the Greek: Theos meaning “God”, and logos meaning “study or discourse”) is

essentially the study of God – who is the “main character” in the story we have looked at.

In our passion to "study" God and get to know Him, we will take a closer look at doctrine. Doctrine

(from Greek: Didache meaning, "teaching or instruction") is simply the teaching on a specific subject

or topic in the whole Bible. So to use the analogy of a builder - in order to build a house, you need to

construct it section by section and brick by brick. Doctrine is like the bricks we use to build. Theology

is like the house.


Limitations of Theology

We realise that trying to study God and His ways is somewhat like an ant trying to understand the

elephant. God is infinite and we are finite. But God does encourage us in His Word to apply our hearts

to understanding and to find the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:2-5). His desire is for us to love Him

with our minds as well as with our emotions. But in dealing with theology, we need to always keep in

mind that our understanding is limited and finite and we can only see at best, in part. Therefore, in

our attitude God requires us to come to Him and His Word with humility (Isaiah 66:1-2; Job 42:2-6).

“There are indeed some areas where human minds cannot go … a God we can wholly

explain is no bigger than our little minds.” - Winkey Pratney

That is, a God that we can fully understand, ceases to be God!

“Theology having reached its highest peak will always remain nothing more than man’s

puny attempt to understand and explain God” - Jan Robbertze

R E F L E C T I O N

Why do you personally wish to study God’s Word in greater depth? What do you hope to glean

during this personal study time?

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Purpose of Studying Doctrine

1. It is a requirement for leadership in the Church (1 Timothy 3:2, 9; Titus 1:9).

2. It helps us understand, preserve and unify all of God’s amazing truths.

3. It strengthens our faith:

○ by providing grounds and reasons for our beliefs and experiences,

○ because faith comes from hearing … the Word of God (Romans 10:17).

4. It helps protect us from deception (Ephesians 4: 11-14).

5. It enables us to live in a manner pleasing to God (2 Timothy 3:16).

○ Doctrine = right belief

○ Correction = for instance, of a wrong belief

○ Instruction in righteousness = right behaviour

○ Reproof = for instance, of a wrong behaviour

F O C U S P O I N T

It is interesting to note that Paul’s letters nearly always address issues of doctrine before he

addresses issues of behaviour.

6. It helps in the Great Commission (Matthew 28). If the church, as the only recipient and guardian

of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15), departs from true doctrine and preaches a false gospel, how can

men be saved?

7. It helps us reach maturity (Hebrew 5:12-6:3; Ephesians 4:11-14).

8. It is of invaluable practical use in every area of ministry. For example- preaching, teaching,

pastoring, counselling, evangelism, apologetics, polemics, etc. Doctrinal studies are not a

substitute for these things. However, they cannot be practised effectively without sound

doctrine.

“The often implied dichotomy between knowing God and knowing about God is a false

one. One can know about God without knowing Him but the reverse is not true: one cannot

know God without knowing about Him, and the more one knows about Him the better one

will know Him, the more able one will be to trust Him and the more willing to obey Him.” -

Nigel Day- Lewis

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Table of Contents

Pg #

Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things ................................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGY ........................................................................................ 4

The Story of God ............................................................................................................. 4

What is Theology? .......................................................................................................... 4

Limitations of Theology .................................................................................................. 5

Purpose of Studying Doctrine ....................................................................................... 6

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO ESCHATOLOGY ............................................................ 1

Eschatology: Eschatos Plus Logos ............................................................................... 1

MODULE 2: SCENARIOS OF THE END - MILLENNIAL VIEWS ............................................ 7

Dispensational Premillenialism...................................................................................... 7

Historic Premillenialism ................................................................................................. 18

Postmillennialism ........................................................................................................... 22

MODULE 3: AMILLENNIALISM .......................................................................................... 26

The Meaning of The Millennium ................................................................................. 26

The Calendar Of The End ........................................................................................... 31

The Choosing Of A Position ........................................................................................ 32

MODULE 4: CALENDAR OF THE END; END-EVENTS AND THEIR ORDER .................... 33

Death (And Immortality?) ........................................................................................... 33

The Intermediate State................................................................................................ 37

The Signs of The Times .................................................................................................. 39

The Return of Jesus Christ ............................................................................................ 50

The Resurrection Of The Dead ................................................................................... 60

The Judgement Of Mankind ...................................................................................... 64

Hell - Eternal Punishment ............................................................................................. 68

The New Heaven And New Earth .............................................................................. 70

BIBLIOGRAPHY - From Nigel Day-Lewis ........................................................................ 76

AUTHOR’S NOTE - Nigel Day-Lewis ............................................................................... 77

REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 78


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MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION TO

ESCHATOLOGY

Eschatology: Eschatos Plus Logos

When looking at the last things we obviously tend to look at the last book: Revelation (the

apocalypse). But this book does not stand alone. A Biblical view of the end times means a look at

what the whole of Scripture says about such things. There are many passages of Scripture, Old and

New Testament, that are informative; not just the well-known passages that are usually used in

connection with the subject (i.e. Revelation; Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2; Daniel 9, etc.)

Before we go into a deeper study of eschatology, let us set some foundations:

The Judaeo - Christian Idea Of An End (Linear Vs Cyclic Time)

That the world and history will come to an end seems obvious and self-evident. But this is because

our western civilisation is based on a Judaeo-Christian world view in which time is linear. This idea of

an end to creation has, in time, permeated other societies and religions. But it is integral only to

Judaism and Christianity (and, to a measure, to Islam, which has its roots in these two). All other

religions of man are essentially cyclical: primitive religions, historic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism,

Shintoism, Taoism, etc.

Time is a function of creation (by the fact that time is affected by gravity: a feature of a physical

universe). This is why we read in Genesis1:1, “In the beginning God …” It is not that God had a

beginning but that time had a beginning. Time, therefore, will also have an end, as this cosmos comes

to an end.

The fact that time is linear gives us purpose, especially as God intervenes into our time and space in

His relationship with us. By means of promise and prophecy, God directs His people towards a defined

future. This revealed future works retrospectively to give the present meaning and purpose: because

our history is a moving towards a definite end when it will culminate in the realisation of God's

purposes; the present is a preparation for that goal. Time and history are no longer coming from

nowhere, and going nowhere, but come from God's beginning, are heading towards God's end,

and thus have a Godly - i.e. meaningful and purposeful in between.

The existence of an end, and hence the study of it (eschatology), is rooted in this linear view of time.

If time was not like this there would be no end and no eschatology. There is an end because of our

God and His intervention in our world, and His end gives our lives and our world purpose, meaning

and direction.

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Israel And The End (Old Testament Eschatology)

During the first half of Old Testament history, it seemed that the fulfilment of God's promises would be

simply through the gradual increase of Israel's power, wealth and influence. During the glorious reigns

of David and Solomon, this promised end was thought to have been realised - or at least to be

imminent. God would now merely perpetuate this realised eschatology. Indeed, had He not

promised to David an everlasting dynasty?

But the second half of Old Testament history pushed her eschatological expectation into the future.

Israel declined, split and was taken into exile. Even after the return from Babylon, she was but a

shadow of Her former self. As the blessings of covenant increasingly gave way to the curses of the

covenant, Israel realised that the promised end would not (and perhaps could not) be fulfilled in the

here and now by Man but only in the there and then by God. As decades became centuries of

internal apostasy and external oppression Israel's eschatology became increasingly transcendent

rather than immanent, other-worldly rather than this-worldly; that is, the covenant was to be fulfilled

in another age. This shift, in turn, allowed her eschatological expectations to become increasingly

apocalyptic, i.e. fantastic and bizarre.

Eschatological expectation came to be centred in "the day of the Lord", a dramatic and terrible day

at the end of the age when God would decisively, cataclysmically and supernaturally intervene to

reverse the trend and usher in His desired end. The end would thus come about through revolution

rather than evolution, through Divine intervention rather than human effort. The day of the Lord would

terminate the present age and usher in a completely different age to come. This terrible day would,

above all, be a day of judgement, first of Israel's sin and second of Israel's enemies. Israel would be

purified to serve Him perfectly and eternally; her enemies would be destroyed and she would rule

over them.

In particular, the day of the Lord would involve: the coming of the Messiah, God's anointed servant

who would purify and liberate Israel (as well as other figures of salvation, such as the mysterious “man”

from heaven, the Son of Man); the establishing of God's everlasting Kingdom; the outpouring of God's

Spirit; a new covenant between God and His people; and the extension of salvation (of the reign

and knowledge of God) to all nations.

F O C U S P O I N T

It is easy to see, therefore, why many in Israel “missed” Jesus when He came. He simply wasn’t

the Messiah that they expected. They had read about the conquering King coming to save His

people but had forgotten about the suffering servant. This should prove a sobering warning to us

as we await the second advent of our King. If we fail to look at the entirety of Scripture, if we hold

too tightly to our own beliefs and conjectures, it is entirely possible that we will miss the truth.

Jesus And The End (New Testament Eschatology)

The way the end-times or last-days are often spoken of gives the impression that they are entirely

future and not at all past/present, and that Israel's eschatological expectation still awaits fulfilment.

But the New Testament makes it quite clear that in Jesus and the events associated with the

Incarnation the end has come! A review of the elements of Israel's eschatological expectation will

show that in Jesus they have already been fulfilled: the Messiah has come, purifying and liberating

God's people to serve Him perfectly and eternally; the Son of Man has appeared from heaven (the

New Testament shows that these were one and the same person); the Kingdom of God has been

established; the Spirit has been poured out; a New Covenant has been cut between God and His

people; and salvation has been extended to the Gentiles (all nations).


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Thus, ever since the coming of Jesus, we have been living in the last days or end times. Indeed, this

is the overt and emphatic statement of the New Testament writers: 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2;

9:26; 1 Peter 1:20; 1 John 2:18. Eschatology is thus about the past and the present as much as the

future; it is about the last things God has brought about, is bringing about and will bring about.

Moreover, eschatology is not about the last things but about the Last Man. Jesus not only ushered in

the end: He is "the End", "the Last", "the Omega" (Revelation 1:17; 22:13). The Greek word here for

"last" is eschatos, from which we get "eschatology". So eschatology is not about a period of time, or

about certain events within that period, but about a person: Jesus! The Doctrine of Last Things is really

the Doctrine of Jesus Christ Part II. It is not, as is so often implied, a matter of “heads and horns” but

of the King and His Kingdom; and it should never focus on tribulations, raptures and antichrists but on

the first and second comings of God's King to bring about God's intended end - His absolute and

glorious reign over the new heaven and new earth.

So the end is a Person and the End (that Person) has already come. Nevertheless, though the

incarnation represented the beginning of the end, the end of the end (or is it the end of the

beginning?!) is still to come; though we live in the last days, we await the last day. The present age is

nearly over (it is already judged) and signs of the age to come are already discernible in the present

(the future age has broken through into the present age through the coming of the End, and so we

experience "the presence of the future"); nevertheless, we still live in this present age and we await

the fullness of the age to come. In keeping with the multiple fulfilment of Biblical prophecy, Israel's

expectations of the end have been partially fulfilled but some aspects of "the day of the Lord" await

fulfilment. The End (the Messiah) has come and yet He is to come again; He has established the

Kingdom, and yet, He hasn't.

These paradoxes and their implications will be more fully explored and explained later. But we can

already summarise New Testament eschatology, the New Testament revelation about the end,

diagrammatically as follows.

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Us And The End (The Study Of Eschatology)

The end has come (inaugurated eschatology) and is yet to come (future eschatology): a balanced

discussion of the doctrine will thus include both aspects. Nevertheless, it remains true that the bulk of

the doctrine (and of this course) deals with that which is still to come: the events immediately

preceding, coincident with and immediately following the event of eschatology, the return of Jesus

Christ, and the final states of the eternal age to come which His return introduces. Since so much

current eschatology is both bad and badly taught, it is well to note certain crucial points of approach

and attitude as we embark on a study of these things.

• Seeking to understand the Biblical revelation about the future, far from being an idle and

unnecessary pursuit (a luxury for academics and fanatics), is a valid and necessary enterprise.

○ First, the revelation about the future is part of God's Word to Man, and we are as responsible

for reading and heeding these parts of the Bible as any other.

○ Second, we all ponder on and develop theories about the future because Man is

fascinated by it; recognising this, how can we settle for errant human speculation when we

have been given inerrant Divine revelation to guide and satisfy our longings to see into the

future?

○ Third, there has been much teaching on end-times in recent years but much of it has been

bad: unsound, unbalanced, presumptuous and exclusive; it is thus necessary to try and

study the doctrine afresh in a way that avoids these pitfalls.

• Eschatology is an important Biblical doctrine and we have a responsibility to study it carefully.

Nevertheless, we need to always keep it in its doctrinal context: it is (only) one of the ten major

doctrines of the Christian faith.

• We thus need to maintain a balance between neglect of, and obsession with, the doctrine.

• To avoid the unsound foundations and consequent faulty conclusions of much "pop

eschatology", we need to conduct our investigation on a scholarly basis: take all the Biblical

revelation on a matter into account (i.e. not select only texts suitable to us); use sound and

consistent exegesis (recognise historical background to statements, read them in context,

interpret them in the light of the rest of Scripture, be sensitive to non-literal literary genres, etc);

consider ALL the eschatological viewpoints that have arisen in the course of church history and

not just one; evaluate each clinically and unsentimentally.

• Balance in this subject can also be maintained by remembering that there is a centre and

periphery to the field and by keeping one's focus on the one thing that is central rather than the

many things that are peripheral. All future eschatology is really about the preparation for and

aftermath of one dominating event, the return of Christ. Let's major on the majors and minor on

the minors - and not the other way round!

• Balance (and humour!) can also be maintained by recognising that there are, within

eschatology, areas of agreement/ disagreement between Christians (roughly parallel to the

centre-periphery distinction above). All Christians agree on the return of Christ, a day of

judgement/separation and, following that, the existence of heaven and hell. Christians disagree

on the millennium, rapture, tribulation, antichrist, resurrection(s) and judgement(s) - and even

then not on the existence of these but on their nature, number, timing and order. The areas of

agreement (happily) represent the non-negotiable essence of Biblical eschatology; the areas of

disagreement represent very much negotiable interpretations.

• I will attempt to strike a balance between neutrality and partisanship. On the one hand,

partisanship on its own (one-sidedly presenting a single viewpoint as absolute) is unacceptable

and precisely the problem of other approaches which we are trying to avoid. On the other hand,


5

absolute neutrality (pretending that all viewpoints are equally good) is also unacceptable. Not

only is such neutrality impossible (one's bias always comes through), it would be irresponsible,

having presented all the viewpoints, not unashamedly to state which viewpoint(s) one preferred

and why.

• Dogmatism is never more out of place in the Christian than when holding to eschatological

opinions. I urge that throughout the course you be willing: to unlearn assumptions you have made

in the past; to review your interpretations of certain texts and to see them in new light; to give

yourself time to consider positions new to you and/or different to yours and not just to dismiss

them; to maintain an open heart and mind; to be flexible and not dogmatic, teachable and not

arrogant (with the acknowledgement that we are all still moving forward in our understanding of

these things and that none of us has arrived); to regard conclusions as provisional and never as

final. If you maintain this attitude you will change and grow; if you do not you will succeed only

in getting unbelievably irritated!

• Traditionally, eschatology has been divided into General/Cosmic Eschatology (the end of the

world) and Individual/Personal Eschatology (the end of the individual). This distinction is difficult

to maintain as many events affecting one affect the other. I have chosen rather to deal with the

various overall schemes/scenarios of the end and then, with that out of the way, with the

separate events of the end (those affecting both the individual and the cosmos) in order. But

before both comes an examination of the Kingdom of God as the key to correctly understanding

God's end. In recent years, “Kingdom Eschatology” has rightly been added to the concepts

traditionally studied as part of this doctrine.

F O C U S P O I N T

I have said that much of the teaching on end-times in recent years has been bad. How can and

why do I say this? Because its fruit has been bad. Those who have sat under it have emerged

obsessed/fanatical and/or dogmatic/exclusive and/or fearful/paranoid. A teaching (like a man)

is judged by its fruit. How can the Biblical revelation about God's purposed end, assured victory

and glorious reign have this fruit if it is properly taught?! If these are the fruits, the eschatology

being taught is unsound and unbalanced. Yes, there are some sobering realities facing us, but

the main effect of what God has told us about our future should surely be peace, joy, hope, faith

and worship of our God! My prayer is that this course will lead to just that.

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Kingdom And The Last Things

The Kingdom of God is the framework of all eschatology (both inaugurated and future) because

God’s end is to restore His absolute and universal reign lost in the Fall.

Having been pictured in and promised to Old Testament Israel, this end has already been partially

accomplished in the first coming of God's King. Since that time, and until the end of the Age, the

church extends the Kingdom throughout the world. This is looked at in some detail in another course

(Church and the Kingdom) including the tension of living in the period of the”already but not yet” –

that the Kingdom of God has come and yet is also still to come.

But the reign that Jesus brought and the church now extends is partial. There awaits a second, final

and full coming of the Kingdom of God when the King returns. This is in essence what all future

eschatology is about.

Then God's reign will be absolute, universal, eternal, and glorious.

“The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and he

shall reign forever and ever” - Revelation 11:15 (ESV)

Amen! The rest of this course deals with how, where and when the Kingdom of God will be

consummated.

To these questions, with the foundation firmly in place, we are now ready to turn.

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MODULE 2: SCENARIOS OF THE END -

MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Dispensational Premillenialism

Because this scenario of the end is quite complex we need to sketch the historical and theological

background to the position.

Historical Development

“The origins of modern dispensationalism go back to the Charismatic Movement that took

place in Scotland led by Edward Irving, founder of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Margaret

MacDonald, who was sick at the time, had a special ‘revelation’ one evening. She was

later filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues and was healed. Her revelation was that

Christ was to come secretly before the Second Coming to rapture to heaven a special

group of believers who had been ‘sealed’. This is known as the ‘partial rapture theory’.

News of her revelation and subsequent charismatic experience spread and began to

influence the founders of the Plymouth Brethren. J.N. Darby, founding father of the

movement, ‘borrowed from her, modified her views, and then popularized them under his

own name without giving her credit’.

Darby dropped the partial rapture theory but took over the pre-tribulation rapture idea

which he spread through various ‘prophetic’ conferences held at the time. According to

MacPherson, ‘Darby introduced into discussion...the ideas of a secret rapture of the church

and of a parenthesis in prophetic fulfilment between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks

of Daniel. These two concepts constituted the basic tenets of the system of theology since

referred to as dispensationalism. The dispensational idea is that God deals with man

through the dispensation of Israel (up to the first coming), the dispensation of the church

(between the first coming and the last seven years) and the dispensation of Israel (the last

seven years). Dispensationalism and the secret rapture theory are therefore inextricably

bound. Darby’s views were further popularized through the Scofield Reference Bible. They

became so popular that some denominations in the United States required ministerial

candidates to sign a confession of faith which includes dispensational ‘truths’.

There are two significant facts about this theory. First, despite frequent attempts at denial,

it was never heard of in church history before Margaret MacDonald. It was not part of

historic premillennial faith. Second, the majority of reputable evangelical Biblical scholars

have never embraced it." – Derek Morphew1

In our day the position continues to be disseminated by such reference works as the New Scofield

Bible (1967) and the Ryrie Study Bible, and by scholars such as Charles Ryrie and popular writers such

as Hal Lindsay.

1 Morphew, pp 140 -141


8

Theological Foundations

• God deals with humanity in seven distinct dispensations. A dispensation. is “a period of time

during which man is tested in respect to his obedience to some specific revelation of the will of

God”2. That is, God relates to Man on a different basis and Man is judged according to a different

criterion in each dispensation. The seven dispensations are Innocence; Conscience; Human

Government; Promise; Law; Church; Kingdom.

• There is a fundamental, absolute and abiding distinction between Israel and the church.

• God has two distinct peoples, Israel and the church; and, consequently, two distinct purposes,

one earthly (concerning the Jews) and one heavenly (concerning the church), worked out in

two distinct ages (millennium vs church age).

• All prophecy must be interpreted literally. Indeed, the whole Bible and all genres within it must

be interpreted in this way. Even where the Bible employs figurative language, “it is an application

of the literal method to interpret the passage in this way”.

Outline

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2 Scofield, CI. THE NEW SCOFIELD STUDY BIBLE.pg 3


9

Old Testament

Many Old Testament prophecies point to a future earthly Kingdom involving Israel. Israel would: be

restored to Canaan; enjoy prosperity and blessing; be raised above the nations; and live under the

benevolent rule of the Messiah. Also, Abraham had been promised that his physical seed would

possess the Promised Land forever, and David had been promised that his physical seed would sit on

the throne of Israel forever. These prophecies and promises have not yet been fulfilled - and so there

is still to come a period, the millennium, which will see their literal fulfilment.

First Coming

At Christ’s first coming, He offered the Kingdom to the Jews (His rule over and through Israel). The

offer was rejected and so the establishment of the Kingdom was postponed to the millennium.

Church Age

In the meantime, Jesus established the church. The church was not predicted in the Old Testament

as the Davidic kingdom was. The church, therefore, constitutes a "parenthesis" in the plan of God,

interrupting God's predicted programme for Israel. The church age does not fulfil or advance the

programme of events predicted in the Old Testament.

First Return

Christ's return occurs in two phases. In the first, which is imminent (or “any moment”, i.e. nothing has

to happen first): Jesus descends part of the way from heaven; dead believers (excluding Old

Testament saints) are resurrected; living believers are transformed; both are raptured (caught up to

meet the descending Lord in the air); the church returns to heaven with Jesus to celebrate the

wedding feast of the Lamb for seven years.

Tribulation

Those seven years on earth are the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27 and the period of “the signs of the

times”. The signs include: tribulation; the appearance of the antichrist; judgements on mankind; the

preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom (i.e. the good news of the soon to be established Davidic

Kingdom) to all nations; the turning of a remnant of Israel (the 144 000 of Revelation 7:3-8) to Jesus as

the Messiah; through their witness, the salvation of an innumerable number of Gentiles (Revelation

7:9); the gathering of the kings of the earth at Armageddon to attack and destroy Israel.

Second Return

At the end of the seven years, Christ returns (for the second time) in glory, accompanied by the

church. This time He descends all the way to earth and destroys His (and Israel's) enemies. By this

time, all Israel has been restored to Palestine. At Christ's return, the vast majority of Jews turn to Him

and are saved. The devil is bound for 1000 years. Old Testament and tribulation saints are raised and

join the church age saints (the raptured church) in heaven. There follows the judgement on all those

who survive the tribulation, both Gentiles and Jews. Gentiles are judged according to how they

treated Christ’s brethren (both Jews and believers) during the tribulation; those who pass the test are

allowed to enter the millennium; those who fail are cast into hell. Jews that turned to Christ when He

returned (the vast majority) also enter the millennium; rebel Israelites are put to death.


10

Millennium

Christ rules over the earth from His throne in Jerusalem for 1000 years. The Kingdom is primarily Jewish

- although Gentiles also share in its blessings, Jews are exalted above Gentiles (a fulfilment of Old

Testament prophecies regarding national Israel). It is a golden age of peace, prosperity and

productivity; the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord; the nations go to worship God at the rebuilt

temple in Jerusalem, where sacrifices have been restored (although they are now merely memorial

and no longer propitiatory). Initially, Christ rules over believers (Jew and Gentile) only, those who were

still living at the time of His second return and who passed the judgement tests for Jews or Gentiles.

There are thus no unregenerate people on earth at the beginning of the millennium. But those who

enter it are normal human beings; they will marry, reproduce and die. Many of those born will

become true believers; others won't, but they will be kept in check by Christ's iron rule (or put to death

if necessary). Meanwhile, for the duration of the entire 1000 years, the resurrected saints will be living

in the heavenly new Jerusalem, a city which will hover in the air over the earth and give the latter

light. They play some part in Christ's millennial reign and judgements and are able to move between

the heavenly and earthly Jerusalems for this purpose, but their chief existence is in the heavenly city.

End Events

Towards the end of the millennium, Satan is loosed and he gathers the rebels against Christ’s rule for

a final attack against Christ and His people. But the revolt is crushed, Christ’s enemies are destroyed

and Satan is cast into hell. All believers who died during the millennium are raised (all believers from

previous periods have already been raised). All the unbelieving dead are raised; they are judged

before the great white throne and cast into hell.

Final State

God creates a new heaven and a new earth. The heavenly Jerusalem (the dwelling place of

resurrected saints during the millennium) descends to earth. God and His people dwell together in

everlasting bliss. Though all the people of God now dwell together, the distinction between Jew and

Gentile remains throughout eternity. (The Israelite’s national hope was realised in the millennium; His

individual hope is realised together with redeemed Gentiles on the new earth.)

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11

Evaluation

There are some serious problems with this eschatological position, including the place of Israel (dealt

with separately in the Church and Kingdom notes) and problems with the idea of a literal, earthly

millennium (also dealt with separately).

Other additional problems include the following:

Salvation-History Is Not Dispensational

Man in every age can only be saved by grace (something admitted even by dispensationalists). This

implies that in every age Man is unable to obey God’s will perfectly and thus to save himself by his

own efforts. Why then does Man need to be repeatedly tested, and by different criteria, as if this

would prove anything? He was tested once (in Eden) and failed. Thus, in every age, Man needs

rather to be shown how he can be delivered from his spiritual impotence and saved by grace.

And, indeed, this is what we find in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation there is the revelation of

God’s redemption of Man in all of his existence through the seed of the woman. There is a basic unity

to all Biblical revelation. Despite differences in the administration of covenant, there is only one

eternal covenant of grace which God makes with His people; the Old Covenant foreshadows this

covenant, the New fulfils it, but it is the same covenant of grace in both eras.

The problem with the dispensational system is that the differences between the various periods of

salvation-history come to outweigh this Biblical unity, and thereby the progress of God’s purposes is

lost. The system fails to recognise the cumulative advances which mark God’s dealings with His

people. For example, the breaking down of the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile which

Christ achieved at His first coming has to be limited to the church age and reversed at Christ’s second

coming because dispensationalists re-impose the wall during the millennium. In short, we have to

disregard what Scripture says in favour of the dispensational scheme; we have to exchange unity

and progression for fragmentation and frustration.

The Old Testament Does Not Teach The Dispensational Millennium

Dispensationalists find proof for a future, earthly millennium in various Old Testament prophecies that

picture a utopian earthly Kingdom under Christ. These prophecies, they say, have not yet been

fulfilled and “obviously” cannot refer to the final state; therefore, they must refer to a period on this

earth which is still future (viz. the millennium).

But there is absolutely no reason why these passages cannot or should not refer to the final state

(when it is realised that the latter is not on ethereal heaven but a material earth. In fact, the new

earth is exactly what these prophecies are referring to - and once this is realised there remains no

need to invent some future age between this age and the age to come in order to explain the

prophecies.

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12

An examination of three supposedly millennial prophecies will illustrate the point:

Isaiah 65:17-25

The New Scofield Bible (henceforth NSB) heading over v17 is “New heavens and New earth”: the

appearance of these words in the text leaves little option. But over verses 18-25 appears the heading:

“Millennial conditions in the renewed earth with curse removed”. This is a thoroughly arbitrary division

of the text - as also an inaccurate one: v18 says “rejoice forever” (not just for 1000 years) and v19

adds the detail of “no weeping or distress", which Isaiah 25:8 and Revelation 21:4 indicate describes

the final state. Verse 20 must be interpreted in the light of the rest: it is not implying that there will be

death (and that the passage, therefore, must refer to a millennium and not the new earth); it is far

more consistent to see it is a figurative description of the fact that the inhabitants of the new earth

will live incalculably long lives (cf. v22).

Isaiah 2:1-4 cf. 11:6-I0

These parallel passages cannot describe the millennium as dispensationalists claim because war is

not totally banished from that dispensation (the rebellion led by Satan towards its end); the

knowledge of God is not absolute during it (there are some who inwardly resist, or outwardly rebel,

against Jesus' rule).

Ezekiel 40-48

In a time of humiliation and captivity (the Babylonian exile), these chapters pictured a glorious future

for Israel and gave her hope. But they cannot be literal. What need is there of a temple or of

sacrifices after Jesus (the New Testament forcefully refutes such an idea). Dispensationalists claim

that the sacrifices will no longer be propitiatory but merely a memorial of Jesus’ sacrifice. But Jesus

has already given us a memorial: communion. Again, better exegesis is to see these chapters as a

picture of the final state, and of the glorious future of God’s people, in terms with which Ezekiel’s

hearers were familiar (i.e. in language and concepts which not only could they understand but which

would excite them). And, indeed, the river and trees of healing in Ezekiel 47 are remarkably similar

to the description of the final state in Revelation 22. The NSB (p 888) itself admits of the prophesied

sacrifices: “The reference to sacrifice is not to be taken literally ... but is rather to be regarded as a

presentation ... using the terms with which the Jews were familiar in Ezekiel's day”. This is an arbitrary

and expedient abandoning of the rule of literal interpretation (If you can do it here, why not

elsewhere? If you can't do it here, why elsewhere?); without which rule the entire dispensationalist

scheme would collapse.

The Kingdom Was Not Postponed At Jesus’ First Coming

• Not all the Jews of Jesus’ day rejected the Kingdom He offered them. Most did - but many

believed in Him and became His disciples. Amongst them, He not only offered but established

His Kingdom. Matthew 12:28 and 16:19 certainly contradict any contention that Jesus postponed

His Kingdom.

• The Kingdom Jesus offered the Jews of His day did not involve His ascending an earthly throne to

preside over a Jewish kingdom. If it had done so, this would surely have been introduced as

evidence against Him at His trial. But all charges to this effect could not be substantiated (Luke

23:2 cf. v4,14, 22). The Kingdom He offered (at His first coming) was primarily a spiritual entity: the

reign of God in the hearts and lives of men (Luke 17:21; John 18:36).


13

• The dispensational argument implies that had Jesus’ offer of the Kingdom been accepted by

most of His countrymen (His “Plan A”), He would not have gone to the cross (it was the Jews’

rejection of Him that put Him there). But this would mean no atonement and no salvation.

Dispensationalists then have to circumvent this problem with some tortuous logic: Jesus would still

have gone to the cross as His crucifixion was foundational to establishing the Kingdom. We

respond: how is the crucifixion foundational to establishing an earthly kingdom and how would

Jesus have got there anyway? Further, this course of events would have meant first glory and

then suffering, a reversal of Jesus’ clear prediction (Luke 24:26; 1 Peter 1:10-11).

The Church Is Not A Mere Parenthesis In God's Purposes

• It is not true that the Old Testament never predicts the church. It clearly states that the Gentiles

will one day share in the blessings of salvation with the Jews (without revealing the precise form

this new look people of God would take): Genesis 12:3; 22:18; Psalm 22:27; Isaiah 49:6; 60:1-3;

45:22; Malachi 1:11; et al.

• The Bible asserts a continuity between the Old Testament and New Testament people of God,

i.e. that the latter is a fulfilment and not an interruption of the former. The Hebrew qahal

(translated ekklesia in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) is commonly

applied to Israel in the Old Testament (e.g. Exodus 12:6; Numbers 14:5; Deuteronomy 5:22; Joshua

8:35; Ezra 2:64; Joel 2:16); the New Testament writers used the same word for the church. Similarly,

they used “Temple” (in the Old Testament, the place where God dwelt in a special way to

demonstrate his election of Israel) to describe the church (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:21-

22), as also “Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2).

• The Bible teaches the centrality and permanency of the church in the redemptive plan of God:

the church is not an interlude awaiting Jesus’ return to establish His Kingdom but the chief agency

of the Kingdom (Matthew 16:18-19); the church is Christ’s fullness without which He is not

complete, and Christ has been made Head over all things for the sake of His church (Ephesians

1:22-23); the church is not an afterthought of God’s but the fruit of God’s prothesis ton anion, i.e.

God’s “purpose of the ages”, which He accomplished in Christ (Ephesians 3:8-11).

F O C U S P O I N T

Jesus’ main reason for coming into the world was to buy and perfect for Himself this people

called the church (Ephesians 5:25-27). Where now is the teaching that the church is a mere

parenthesis in history, not advancing God’s purpose?!

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14

The New Testament Does Not Teach A Two-Phase Second Coming

• The same words are used to describe both alleged second comings of Christ (the rapture and

the return). Parousia (presence): 1 Thessalonians 4:15 (rapture); 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 2

Thessalonians 2:8 (return). Apokalypsis (revelation): 1 Corinthians 1:7 (rapture); 2 Thessalonians

1:7-8 (return). Epiphaneia (appearance): 1 Timothy 6:14 (rapture); 2 Thessalonians 2:8 (return).

• Dispensationalists argue that Jesus must come to rapture away His church before the tribulation

(and hence before and distinct from His “real”, visible second coming) because the tribulation

involves the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth and the church cannot be the object of

God’s wrath. But the church can be - and is - on earth during the outpouring of God’s wrath

without being objects of that wrath. The Israelites were in Egypt at the time of the judgements of

God on that nation but, being marked by an angel, they were spared that wrath. This is clearly

the situation of believers living during the tribulation pictured in Revelation 7:3 and 9:4; God’s

servants are marked by angels so that the wrath falling on others misses them. However,

protection from the wrath of God does not mean deliverance from the wrath of men: Scripture

is clear that believers will suffer persecution during the tribulation (Daniel 7:21, 25 et al; Matthew

24:9; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8) something which cannot happen if they are not still on earth. Anyway,

the idea that the church cannot experience the tribulation and so must be raptured away

beforehand is based on a misinterpretation of 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (“God did not appoint us to

suffer wrath...”): the “wrath” spoken of here is clearly contrasted to “salvation”, i.e. it refers to hell,

the punishment of those who do not prepare for Christ’s return through repentance, faith and

holy living (cf. v3-8).

• References to the great tribulation do not indicate the church’s removal from the earth before it

begins. Precisely the opposite. For example, in the so-called Olivet Discourse or mini-Apocalypse

(Matthew 24 and parallels), the church is present (v22&24) DURING the tribulation (v21); the

rapture of the church (v31) occurs AFTER the tribulation (v29) and Christ’s return (v30). Similarly,

in 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul warns the Thessalonians not to be deceived, and that Christ will not

return until the tribulation had occurred. What would be the point of warning them if they were

to be removed BEFORE the tribulation? The chapter clearly puts the tribulation before the return

and rapture (v 1-3).

• The outstanding rapture text (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) does not teach the dispensational rapture.

It teaches the resurrection of all dead believers and the transformation of all living believers at

Christ’s return (cf. l Corinthians 15:51-52), and the translation of both to meet the Lord in the air.

But it does not teach that Jesus then reverses direction and goes back to heaven with all

believers. It does say that we will then always be with the Lord (v17) but not where this will be.

That it will be for seven years in heaven and thereafter for 1 000 years in the sky above the earth

is pure inference - and fantasy. (Anyway, the dispensational scheme contradicts this promise:

believers will not be with the Lord forever because during the 1000 years He will be reigning from

the earthly Jerusalem). Our everlasting oneness with Jesus in glory after His return is the point of

the passage, not the dispensational rapture. Further, eis apantesin, translated “to meet” in v17,

derives from apantesis, a technical term used in New Testament times to describe a public

welcome given by a city to a visiting dignitary: the people would leave the city to meet the visitor

and then go back with him into the city (cf. Matthew 25:6; Acts 28:15). The analogy is clear:

believers leave the earth to give the returning Christ an honorary welcome and then return with

Him to earth. Anyway, resurrected and transformed bodies belong on earth, not in heaven; it is

there that the Wedding Feast will be celebrated.


15

• Christ’s second coming involves both a coming FOR and a coming WITH his saints (cf.

dispensationalism, which separates these into the rapture and the return respectively). When

Jesus returns, He will bring the believing “dead” with Him from heaven, i.e. He comes WITH His

saints (1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:14). But these passages also describe the rapture of living believers,

i.e. a coming FOR His saints (as well as the clothing with resurrected bodies of “dead” believers.

The two are thus the same.

F O C U S P O I N T

From all of the above, in distinction to the dispensational theory, it emerges that the second

coming of Christ is a single event which occurs at the end of the tribulation period. At His

coming, dead believers are raised, living believers are transformed, and both are raptured to

meet Him in the air; they then return with Him to earth.

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People Will Not Still Be Brought To Salvation After Christ's Return

Scripture teaches that the church (both Jewish and Gentile believers) will be complete when Christ

returns (Matthew 24:31; 25:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13; 4:16-17; 2 Peter 3:4). 1 Corinthians 15:23

indicates that there is just one resurrection at Christ’s return of all (not some) who belong to Christ; no

further resurrections of yet future saints is envisaged.


16

The New Testament (Revelation 20:4-6) Does Not Teach The Dispensational

Millennium

• According to dispensationalism, it is believers who have not died and who are still alive at Christ’s

return who enter the millennium (Gentiles who pass the “brethren test”, and the Israelite-majority

who turn to Christ at His appearing). This they do in un-resurrected bodies: “The nature of the

millennium, as the period of the test of fallen humanity under the righteous reign of the King,

precludes the participation by resurrected individuals in that testing. Thus the millennial age will

be concerned only with men who have been saved but are living in their natural bodies.” But

Revelation 20:4-6 makes no reference whatever to people still living at the time the millennium

begins or to people with un-resurrected bodies (or to any kind of body, for that matter). The

passage only makes reference to “they [who] came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand

years” (v4). Dispensationalists insist (wrongly) that the phrase “they came to life" can only refer to

those raised from the dead in a physical resurrection, and that it thus refers to the church hovering

over the earth in the New Jerusalem during this period. But in the text, these are the main players

in Christ's reign during the millennium, while in the dispensational view of the millennium the

church plays only an incidental role and it is Israel who reigns with Christ over the earth. (The

church participates with Christ in certain judgements, descending to earth to do so, but these

are limited to a few specific functions; “the primary activity of the resurrected saints will be in the

heavenly city”. The main players in the Biblical text are marginal in the dispensational scheme;

conversely, the main players in the dispensational scheme are entirely absent from the Biblical

text! Thus, even when we interpret the text the way dispensationalists want us to, it does not

describe the millennium they posit.

• The purpose of the millennium, according to dispensationalists, is to fulfil unfulfilled promises to

Israel (restoration to land, Davidic descendant on the throne, exaltation above the nations, etc).

But the text says nothing about Jews, Israel, Palestine or Jerusalem. This wouldn't be so serious if

the fulfilment of promises to Israel was only an incidental aspect of the millennium, but for

dispensationalists, it is its central purpose.

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17

Conclusion

“The whole system stands or falls on 2 Thessalonians 2. A casual reading of this chapter,

based on any reliable translation, will reveal the following. Paul is correcting a false alarm

in the Thessalonian church that the coming of the Lord (a sudden secret rapture idea) had

arrived. He says that the believers should not be deceived, because the day of the Lord

(the rapture) cannot occur until certain events have taken place. There must be a

‘rebellion’ and the ‘man of lawlessness’ (the antichrist) must be revealed first. Although. the

secret power of the antichrist system is already at work, someone or something is holding it

back until the proper time. When the restraining factor is removed, the antichrist will be

revealed and deceive many with counterfeit signs and wonders. The believers are

encouraged that they will not be deceived because they have been chosen by God and

will stand firm in the faith.

“Dispensational interpreters invert the plain meaning of the text with a mistranslation.

Instead of ‘gathering together to him’ they insert ‘catching away’ (2:1), a translation which

cannot be substantiated. Instead of the text saying that the church cannot be gathered

to Jesus until the antichrist has been revealed, they make it say that the antichrist cannot

be revealed until the church has been lifted to Jesus. They suppose that the restraining

factor which is removed is the church. Support for this interpretation is totally lacking

because comparative expressions tend to suggest an angelic power restraining the final

emergence of evil. The text shows that the rapture occurs at the same time as the Second

Coming, the moment when Christ judges the world system. The moment of the church’s

rescue or ‘rest’ coincides with the world’s demise or '’everlasting destruction’ (1:7&9).

The former will happen when the latter happens. This text alone destroys the

dispensational system.

“Some of the mental gymnastics that dispensationalists have undertaken are quite bizarre.

The church is said to be absent from the scene after Revelation 4:1, which makes almost

the whole book, written by a Christian to encourage other Christians, irrelevant to Christians.

Christ’s extensive description of events leading up to the end (Matthew 24-25) is also said

to be relevant only to the Jewish elect, not to the church, a remarkable distortion given the

fact the twelve apostles, who founded the church, were the ones he was addressing!” – 3Derek Morphew

F O C U S P O I N T

Quite apart from the problems arising from the place of Israel in this scheme and from the very

idea of a millennium (to be discussed later), the seven difficulties discussed present an

insurmountable obstacle to accepting this position. Rather, it is to be rejected as a system of

Biblical interpretation not in harmony with Scripture. As much as eschatological positions are

normally relative, and we have to accept differing viewpoints alongside our own, one is forced

to conclude that dispensational premillennialism is a sub-Christian position rather than merely an

alternative Christian position.

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3 Morphew, pp141-142


18

Historic Premillenialism

Outline

End Of Church Age

Shortly before Christ’s return, occur the “signs of the times”: the tribulation, apostasy and antichrist;

the evangelisation of the nations. The church goes through the tribulation.

Second Coming

This is a single event. Dead believers are raised, living believers transformed, and both are raptured

to meet the Lord in the air; they then return with Him to earth. The antichrist and his forces are slain

and thrown into hell; Satan is bound for a 1000 years. Just before or just after Christ's return (either

way, after the ingathering of Gentiles, is complete), the vast majority of Jews are saved; their

conversion is a source of untold blessing for the world.

Millennium

Christ sets up His 1000-year millennial reign: He reigns visibly over the whole world and His saints - both

Jew and Gentile (there is only one people of God), both those who were living and those who were

raised at His return - reign with Him. Sin and death still exist, but evil is greatly restrained: unbelieving

nations are kept in check by Jesus’ rod-of-iron rule; righteousness, justice, peace and prosperity

prevail as never before; even nature will be unusually productive and reflect the blessedness of the

age.

End Of Millennium

Satan is loosed; he deceives the nations and gathers them for an attack against the “camp of the

saints”. But he is consumed by fire from heaven and thrown into hell. There follows the resurrection

of unbelievers and the judgement of all Men - believers and unbelievers - before the “great white

throne”. Those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s book of life are thrown into the fire and

those whose are, enter eternal life.

Final State

Unbelievers spend eternity in hell; believers spend eternity on a new earth purged of all evil.


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Evaluation

Historic premillennialism is the oldest of the four eschatological views and was the dominant one from

the second to the fourth centuries. Initially, of course, it was known simply as premillennialism (Christ

returns “pre-”, or before, the millennium); recently, this title has been prefixed with “historic” (because

of the position’s antiquity) to distinguish it from the alternative premillennialist scheme of

dispensationalism.

The position has much to commend it, and it can be seen immediately that it excludes many of the

untruths of its late-born cousin: no abiding distinction between Israel and the church is maintained

(there is just one people of God); the Kingdom of God is not reduced to an earthly Jewish kingdom,

and it is seen as both “already” and “not yet” (the church already enjoys eschatological blessings);

the second coming is not made into a two-phase event, with the first phase being an un-Biblical

secret rapture; the signs of the times are not limited to the tribulation period but occur throughout

the period between Christ’s comings (the last days); however, the signs do intensify towards the end

of the age before Christ’s return - and so the latter is not an imminent, any-moment event which can

and will take us (even believers) by surprise (rather, certain things have still first to happen).

Nevertheless, historic premillennialism contains some significant difficulties. Some of these (for

example, the eschatological conversion of “all Israel”) we have already discussed; others we discuss

below. Moreover, these are difficulties which its younger relative took over. In examining the

difficulties with historic premillennialism, therefore, we are also adding yet further objections against

the dispensational premillennialist position to those already listed.

Proof For An Earthly Millennium

Revelation 20:4-6 does not give indisputable proof for an earthly millennium following

Christ’s return.

That Revelation 20:4-6 refers to an earthly millennium following Christ’s return is neither the only nor

necessarily the best way of interpreting this text. Certainly, the historic premillennialists understanding

of the millennium - the reign with Christ over the earth of resurrected and transformed believers -

cannot be what the text is referring to.

• The claim is that those who reign with Christ are both dead believers raised and living believers

transformed at Christ’s return. But the text says nothing about the latter group.

• The claim is that “they came to life [ezesan]” (vs 4) can only mean physical resurrection from the

dead. This “proves” that the millennial reign of Revelation 20 is an earthly reign and cannot be a

heavenly reign. But if the identity of those who reign with Christ is now made to include

transformed living believers, then historic premillennialists are contradicting what they themselves

insist [ezesan] to mean.

• To include living believers among those described in v4 contradicts v5: “the rest of the dead did

not come to life”.

Neither does 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 give indisputable proof for an earthly millennium.

1 Corinthians 15:23-24 is the only other text premillennialists can find to support the idea of an earthly

millennium following Christ’s return - and even then only by very much reading between the lines.

The claim is that the order of resurrection is: first, Christ; “then, when he comes [ second time, at the

close of the church age], those who belong to him. Then the end will come” [ thousand years later,

at the end of the millennium, when unbelievers will be raised].

But in this passage, Paul is addressing only the question of the resurrection of believers (the

resurrection of unbelievers is not even in the picture). He is writing to believers who believed in Christ's


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resurrection but not their own. He writes to assure them of their own resurrection, setting the record

straight:

F O C U S P O I N T

Christ was raised first (ahead of time, as it were, so that it seems no one else is to be raised); but,

when He comes again, all believers will be raised. Paul is not thereby suggesting that unbelievers

won’t be raised or that they will be raised at a different time (e.g. a thousand years later); he

simply doesn’t have their resurrection in mind here.

“Then the end will come” does not imply a long period of time between the resurrection of

believers and the end. It is simply a concise way of saying that only then when all of this has

happened (i.e. believers have been raised), will the end come.

This interpretation is in keeping with Paul’s thought: in all of his letters there is no evidence for an

expectation of a millennial Kingdom preceding the final state.

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The return of the glorified Christ and of glorified believers to an earth where sin and death still exist

would violate their glorification.

R E F L E C T I O N

Why should believers, who have been enjoying heavenly glory during the intermediate state, be

raised from the dead in order to return to an earth where sin and death still reign? Is this not an

anticlimax? Do not glorified bodies call for life on the new earth, from which all sin, decay and

death have been banished?

Why should Christ have to return to an earth where sin and death still reign? Why, after His return

in glory, should He still have to rule His enemies with an iron rod and crush Satan and His rebels a

thousand years later? Did He not win a complete victory over all His enemies at His first coming,

and does the Bible not picture His return as a final execution of His already won victory, as a

triumphant overthrow of all His enemies? Does the Bible not teach Jesus' return in the fullness of

glory, not to usher in a qualified interim period but the perfect and eternal final state?


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In short, why a millennium? If we drop the acceptance of such an idea that may have been in our

thinking from an early spiritual age, and try to view the matter “neutrally”, we will realise that there is

no need or purpose for such an age and that it produces more problems than it solves. Indeed, it

smacks of dispensationalism: what purpose is there in Man being tested in yet another way? What

need is there to demonstrate all over again Man’s inherent rebellion or God’s absolute authority?

What point is there in delaying for a thousand years the fulfilment of God’s plan? Reviewed like this,

the idea of an earthly millennium after Christ’s return is exposed to be without either Scriptural basis

or logical foundation.

The millennium does not fit into the framework of New Testament eschatology: it is neither this age

nor the age to come.

The New Testament (and the Old) contrasts two ages: this age and the age to come; the present

age and the future age; the old age and the new age. There is no hint anywhere of a third age in

between. Rather, the clear sense is that when Jesus returns He will terminate this age and usher in the

age to come.

Jesus returns, not to sit on a millennial throne but on the throne of judgement, which judgement ushers

in the final state (Matthew 25:31 cf. v46). Jesus’ return brings the restoration of all things (Acts 3:19-

21). Jesus’ return is followed immediately by judgement and reward (1 Corinthians 4:5), and by the

dissolution of the old earth and the creation of the new (2 Peter 3:10-13).

F O C U S P O I N T

In short, when Jesus returns - that’s it! Time’s up!

Conclusion

The millennium is thus a theological anomaly. It is better than the present age but falls far short of the

future age. For believers, it is an agonising postponement of the final glory to which they so eagerly

look forward. For unbelievers, it is a continuation of the ambiguity of the present age. Since an

earthly millennium is taught nowhere else in Scripture, and since the idea of such an age conflicts

with other Scripture, why must we insist on interpreting Revelation 20:4-6 in this way. Surely it is better

to interpret this difficult text in an apocalyptic book in the light of the clear teaching of Scripture

elsewhere.

The historic premillennialist position has some good features (certainly, it is a vast improvement on

dispensationalism) and is an acceptable alternative Christian position. For me, however, the

difficulties remain of sufficiently serious a nature to prevent me from being able to adopt this position

- indeed, to cause me to move away from the premillennial idea altogether.

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Postmillennialism

Outline

During the church age, the Kingdom of God is extended in the world through the preaching of the

gospel and the saving work of the Holy Spirit. Eventually, the world will be “Christianised”; the present

age will merge gradually into the millennial age as an increasingly larger proportion of the world’s

inhabitants are converted to Christianity. The millennium is a long period of righteousness and peace,

a golden age, but neither a visible, earthly rule by Christ nor a literal 1000 years. Both in the natural

and human (e.g. social, political, economic) realms it will be a time of harmony and prosperity. Not

that every individual will be a Christian but Christian doctrine and ethics will be the norm for nations

and individuals (the rule rather than the exception). Sin will not be eliminated but reduced to a

minimum; evil will not be abolished in all its forms but reduced to negligible proportions. Towards the

end of the millennium, there will be a limited manifestation of evil (Satan will be loosed and will attack

the church) but this will be of short duration and without harm to the church. At the end of the age,

Christ returns (after, or “post”, the millennium) to a truly Christianised world. This is followed

immediately by a general resurrection and a general judgement, and the introduction of heaven

and hell.

Postmillennialists interpret Revelation 20:1-3 as the binding of Satan in both the present church age

and the future golden age (some postmillennialists would limit this to the latter), and v4-6 as the

present reign of the souls of deceased believers in heaven with Christ (some postmillennialists would

ascribe this to the presence of regenerate believers on earth). For postmillennialists, the great

tribulation (Matthew 24) and apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2) is already past: it was fulfilled in the siege

and destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Finally, postmillennialists expect a mass conversion of Jews

before the millennium but not a separate destiny or political kingdom for them.

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Evaluation

Postmillennialism is the second youngest (after dispensationalism) of the four millennial views. Not

surprisingly, it has enjoyed greatest popularity in periods when the church did seem to be

“Christianising” the world (the Middle Ages, the nineteenth century, etc).

The position has some definite strong points. First, and most notable, is its full appreciation of the real

victory won by Christ over Satan and sin at His first coming, and of the consequent real potential of

the gospel and the church to overcome evil and change the world (Matthew 16:18; see parables of

the Growing Seed, Mustard Seed, and Yeast). It appreciates that the object of Christ’s redemption

was nothing less than the whole world.

The practical result of this appreciation is a real commitment to this age and this world, to involving

ourselves in and working for it. (This is a welcome balance to premillennialism [either form], which

sees this age as primarily evil and consequently this world as unchangeable without or before Christ’s

return. Premillennialists thus tend to withdraw from this age and world and retreat into the next.) A

second strength is the simplicity and immediacy of the end-events: the return of Christ, followed by

a general resurrection and judgement, and the final state. Third, the application of both parts of

Revelation 20:4-6 to the present age is a liberating development with some interesting possibilities.

Nevertheless, the position presents some enormous obstacles - both to Scripture and to

common- sense.

Old Testament Prophecies Refer Not To A Future Golden Age For All Mankind But

To The Final State Of The Redeemed

Postmillenialists assert that Old Testament passages speaking in earthly terms of the universal and

triumphant reign of the Messiah cannot refer to the post-adventual reign of Christ (certainly not to

the final state: postmillennialists spiritualise heaven), have not yet been fulfilled, and so must be

fulfilled in an age still future but prior to Christ’s return. But there is no reason why they cannot refer

to a post-adventual reign, and still less reason (once the final state is no longer spiritualised) why they

cannot refer to the new earth. Indeed, this is precisely what they refer to. (See Psalm 2:8 cf. Revelation

11:15; Isaiah 2:4 cf. Revelation 22:2; Isaiah 11:9; 65:17-25; Jeremiah 31:34.)

The Tribulation And Apostasy Are Still To Come

Yes, Jesus was speaking of first-century events in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 and parallels), and

moreover warned His followers to expect tribulation throughout the church age (John 15:18-2 1). But

Matthew 24:21 and other texts describe a tribulation hugely more severe and universal than that

experienced by the Jews and/or the church in the first century - or in any period since this tribulation

is thus still future. Further, v29-30 describes Christ’s return as occurring “immediately after the distress

of those days” - and this certainly didn’t happen after AD 70.

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Revelation 20:1-6 Does Not Support The Postmillennial Position

There are three slightly differing interpretations of this text within postmillennialism. All three can be

refuted.

• If both parts of the text - the binding of Satan (v 1-3) and the reigning of deceased believers in

heaven (v4-6) - are already fulfilled in the present age, what basis is there in the text for expecting

another, different future age? (One can’t find a basis for a future age in a text and at the same

time interpret it as applying to - being fulfilled in - this age!)

• If once again both parts are said to already be fulfilled in this age, but the second part (the

reigning of believers) is taken to refer to living believers who reign on earth during their lifetime,

this contradicts the description in the text of those reigning as having died (“I saw the souls of

those who had been beheaded” [" the rest of the dead did not come to life”]) Moreover, living

believers live on average for about 70 years, so how can they be said to reign for 1000 years?

Even if we accept this interpretation, however (namely, that it is living believers who reign), there

remains in the text no grounds for expecting a future age. (As before, if the text is already fulfilled

in this age, how can it refer to a future age?)

• If the first part (the binding of Satan) is held to be future but the second part (the reigning of

believers - understood either way) is held to be present, then the text is made to refer to two

different 1000- year periods (and in the wrong order). But it is far more likely that the 1000-year

period referred to five times in the space of six verses is the same period, especially since the

expression “the 1000 years” is used twice.

The Position Does Not Do Justice To The Continuing Tension Throughout History

Between The Kingdom Of God And The Forces Of Evil

The enmity between the woman’s seed and the serpent’s seed (Genesis 3:15) continues throughout

history until the final battles of Revelation 16 and 19-20. Satan’s princedom continues to exist and

grow alongside God’s Kingdom until the end of the age (cf. the parable of the wheat and weeds:

Matthew 13:36-43). Indeed, the New Testament graphically describes the strength of that princedom

at (and thus until) the end: it manifests in a great tribulation and apostasy, and in the appearance

of the antichrist. To suppose a reduction of evil to negligible proportions before Christ’s return is thus

an oversimplification of history not found in the Bible.

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The Position Does Not Do Justice To The Manifest Nature Of Man

The supposition of a reduction of evil to negligible proportions in this age is not only un-Biblical but

naive and romantic, belonging more to humanistic utopianism than the Biblical revelation about

Man as being totally corrupt.

Conclusion

Postmillennialism, like historic premillennialism, is an alternative Christian position; but, while it contains

some singular strengths, it also contains major Biblical and logical weaknesses. Ultimately, it must be

rejected because of the, at best, naive and, at worst, humanistic nature of its main feature - the

Christianising of the world, in this age and by fallen Man, into a utopia before (and thus without)

Christ’s return.

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MODULE 3: AMILLENNIALISM

The Meaning of The Millennium

In this middle part of the course, we have been studying the major eschatological views that have

emerged during church history. They are called millennial views because each hinges on their

understanding of the millennium. The only reference to the millennium in the entire Bible is Revelation

20:1-6. The time is thus overdue if we are at all to understand what the Bible really does teach about

the future, for a detailed investigation of this text. We have seen that the interpretation of this text

by dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism and postmillennialism cannot withstand

critical examination. To what, then, does the millennium refer?

The Book Of Revelation

The interpretation of the passage is determined by the interpretation of the book as a whole. We

must thus start with the text’s widest possible context: the complete book of Revelation.

Premillennialists (of both types) adopt a futurist approach to Revelation (the entire book, or at least

the bulk of it [4-22], refers to the future) and read it as a chronological narrative of end-time events.

Read in this way, the millennium (ch 20) follows the return of Christ (ch 19; Christ’s return is thus

premillennial). But there are such serious difficulties with such a reading as to preclude it.

Alternatively, Revelation can be seen as cyclic rather than linear in structure, containing seven

parallel sections, each covering the entire period between the comings of Christ (the last days) but

with increasing emphasis on (revelation about) end-events. This reading allows the book to have the

relevance to the church of all ages that we would expect of it and is by far the better one.

The Timing Of The Millennium

According to this second reading, chapters 20-22 constitute the seventh and last section of the book.

Revelation 20:1 thus takes us back to the beginning of the New Testament era. And, indeed, the

defeat of Satan did occur at Jesus’ first coming (cf. John 12:3; Revelation 12:7-9).

Moreover, throughout the New Testament, the final judgement is associated with Christ’s return

(Matthew 16:27; 25:31-32; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Jude 14-15; Revelation 22:12). But in Revelation 20

the millennium (vl-6) occurs before the final judgement (vll-15). The millennium thus occurs before,

not after, Christ’s return.

But, if it occurs before Christ’s return (and thus also before the age to come), it must either be fulfilled

in this present age or in some future third age prior to the second coming (thus postmillennialism).

But the Bible knows of no third age and speaks only of this age and the age to come. The millennium

thus refers to something that is being fulfilled in this present age.

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The Duration Of The Millennium

Revelation is an apocalyptic book full of symbols. Numbers, in particular, are used symbolically. Ten

signifies completeness (both in Scripture and Jewish apocalyptic literature). A thousand (ten to the

third power) thus signifies compound completeness, and 1000 years a complete period, a long

period of indeterminate length. In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus does not mean that we must forgive our

brother only 77 times but “times without number” (the number seven denoted infinite perfection). If

numbers are used symbolically even in literal passages of Scripture such as this, how much more so

in the apocalyptic genre. Certainly, none of us would insist on taking the other numbers mentioned

in Revelation to be literal. The millennium of Revelation 20:1-6 thus does not refer to a literal 1000

years. Rather, if our conclusion about the timing of the millennium (above) is correct, it refers to the

entire period (of unknown duration) between the comings of Christ.

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The Binding of Satan

The “Abyss” (v, 3) is distinguished from the “lake of burning sulphur” (vl0) and is thus not the “place”

of Satan’s final and eternal punishment. Given again the apocalyptic imagery of the book, the

“Abyss” should not be taken to refer to a literal place (“Satan will be locked up in Black Hole No.

AXR3O71”!) but as a figurative description of the Divine curbing of his powers and activities. Such a

curbing was most definitely effected by Christ through his Incarnation, especially His crucifixion and

resurrection. Before Jesus’ coming, the nations (except Israel) knew neither God nor His truth (they

did not possess special revelation) and hence lived in ignorance and error; in effect, they were freely

deceived and ruled by Satan. But since Jesus’ coming, the nations can no longer be deceived in this

way (i.e. in ignorance, or against their will): the church preaches the gospel and expands the

Kingdom throughout the earth, discipling the nations by ending their ignorance and bringing the

truth to them (v3 cf. Matthew 28:19); hell cannot resist this advance (Matthew 16:18).

In fact, Jesus was able - and now the church is able - to overcome every form of evil (bringing

salvation, healing, deliverance, etc.) precisely because, through the Incarnation, the strong man

was bound and therefore could now be robbed of his possessions (Matthew 12:28-29). The Greek

word translated “ties up” in this text, viz deo, is the same one translated “bound” in Revelation 20:2.

And the Greek verb translated “driven out” in John 12:31 (“now the prince of this world will be driven

out”), viz. ekballo, derives from the same root as ballo, the verb translated “threw” in Revelation 20:3.

Further, the result of the driving out in John 12:31 and the throwing down in Revelation 20:3 is the

same: the salvation of the nations. These linguistics connections and dynamic equivalences more

than suggest that what is being described in Revelation 20:1-3 is the binding or disarming of Satan

that occurred during the Incarnation (Colossians 2:15). Certainly, Jesus saw in the preaching and

deliverance ministry of His disciples (present and future) an indication that Satan had been bound

(Luke 10:17-19; cf. Mark 16:17-18).


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F O C U S P O I N T

Of course, the fact that Satan has been bound in this age does not mean that he is powerless

and can do no harm. It means only what is explicitly stated here: namely, that he cannot

deceive the nations as he did before by preventing the spread of the gospel and so keeping

them from learning the truth of God (v3). And he cannot unite the nations to attack and destroy

the church as he will attempt to do at the end of the age when he is loosed (v7-9). The picture

here of his being loosed at the end of the age to deceive the nations and attack the church ties

up with the many texts that speak of the increase of evil in the days shortly before Christ’s return

(Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2; 2 Timothy 3, et al).

The Reigning Of The Saints

Where?

• Where are the “thrones” that John sees (v4)? 44 of the 47 times thrones are mentioned in

Revelation they are located in heaven. Also, John “saw the souls of those who had been

beheaded” (v4). The indication is that the locale of John’s vision has now moved from earth (vvl-

3) to heaven (v4-6).

Who?

• Those who sit on the thrones are clearly a group of people who have died (“been beheaded”

[but who have now “come to life” (v4) unlike “the rest of the dead” (v5). Their identity would thus

seem to be deceased believers (“those who had been given authority to judge”: v4a cf.

Revelation 3:2 1), especially martyrs (“those who had been beheaded”: v4b cf. Revelation 6:9;

13:15]).

What?

• Those who sit on the thrones are “given authority to judge” (v4) and “reign with Christ” (v4&6).

Matthew 19:28 similarly links sitting on a throne with the exercise of judgement. Revelation is a

book much concerned with justice, especially with the injustice suffered by persecuted and

martyred Christians. It is shown that, although they had lived and died unjustly, they now have

some part in Christ’s reigning/judging activity. Not only are they given the justice denied to them

on earth but they receive the authority to arbitrate justice themselves. This is the greatest possible

reward and recompense for those who have been treated unjustly.

Why?

• Such a vision would have been of great comfort to the Christians to whom John wrote, who were

being unjustly treated, who lived under the contrast threat of death, and who had seen many of

their brethren martyred. The assurance of their departed friends’ present glory and just reward

would have settled their doubts about God’s justice and whether it was worthwhile holding on to

the faith.


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How?

• These deceased believers “came to life” Premillennialists (of either variety) base their

interpretation of the millennium to a large degree on their insistence that this Greek word always

and only denotes physical resurrection: the millennium “must” thus refer to the reign of

resurrected believers on the earth during an earthly millennium after Christ’s return. Quite apart

from the many other objections to their respective interpretations of Revelation 20:1-6, their

argument here is faulty because, while physical resurrection is a common usage of ezesan (e.g.

Matthew 9:18; Romans 14:9; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Revelation 2:8), this is not its only usage.

The “first resurrection” (v5) of the millennium is not the physical resurrection of all Men at the end of

time as the latter is mentioned as something distinct in v11-13. And it cannot be countered (a-la

premillennialism) that v4-6 refer to the physical resurrection of believers at the beginning of the

millennium and v11-13 to the physical resurrection of unbelievers at the end of the millennium, firstly,

because Jesus clearly indicated that both would be raised at the same time (John 5:28-29) and,

secondly, because there is no indication in the text of vll-13 that only the resurrection of unbelievers

is being spoken of. The “coming to life” of v4-6 thus refers to something distinct from physical

resurrection.

In the light of the rest of Scripture, this “coming to life” would seem to refer to the intermediate state

of deceased believers between death and their resurrection at the end of the age, a life of the soul-

spirit which enjoys fellowship with Christ in heaven. It can be called a “resurrection” in a figurative

way because it is still a life supernaturally and graciously given by God and not one due to some

inherent immortality in the soul of man.

Premillennialists object that zao and its derivatives (including ezesan) are never used in the New

Testament to describe soul-life after the death of (or independent from) the body. But in Luke 20:37-

38, Jesus says of the patriarchs, “all are alive” (clearly referring to their present life before their

resurrection at the end of the age). And in John 11:25-26, Jesus says of the believer, “yet shall he live

[zesetai]...and never die”, a reference primarily to their eschatological resurrection but also a clear

implication that even before the resurrection the believer will enjoy a conscious existence with Christ

(he will never “be dead”).

Moreover, zao and its derivatives are used to refer to yet other types of existence/life: God’s eternal

life (Revelation 4:9-10; 7:2; 10:6; 15:7); spiritual life (Revelation 3:1). While these uses do not in

themselves confirm the use in Revelation 20:4 as applying to the intermediate state, they do

contradict the assertion that the usage there can only refer to physical resurrection.


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Further grounds for interpreting Revelation 20:4-6 in this way comes from the parallel picture in 6:9 -

there the souls of Christian martyrs cry out to God for justice. They are conscious and enjoy an

existence of some sort but have not yet been physically raised (they are “souls”). It is not yet the end

of the church age as they have to wait until the full number of martyrs have come in. They enjoy a

provisional state of blessing but await the resurrection and judgement of the last day.

“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended” (v5). In contrast to

a lot of believers after death, unbelievers do not enjoy an intermediate state of existence. They

remain under the power of death until the end of the millennium (Christ's return), when they will be

part of the resurrection and judgement of all men (v11-15). Because they are unbelievers, the

judgement will result in eternal punishment - the “lake of fire” or “second death” (v14).

For believers, on the other hand, the judgement will result in eternal life. “Those who have part in the

first resurrection” are “blessed” because “the second death has no power over them” (v6): believers

(those who enjoy a first resurrection [intermediate state] after the first death) will not experience the

second death (after the second resurrection) because they will not and cannot be sent to hell. Here

is a final proof that Revelation 20:1-6 (the millennium) does not refer to the final state and/or to any

age/state involving resurrected bodies: if those spoken of in v4-6 were already enjoying the final state

where death is no more (Revelation 21:4), a state which would require physical resurrection, then it

would have been unnecessary to state that the second death would have no power over them.

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Conclusion

The millennium of Revelation 20:1-6 does not refer to the final state, nor to a future earthly age after

Christ’s return, nor to a future earthly age before Christ’s return, but to this present age, to the period

between Jesus’ comings. During this period, Satan is bound on earth (vvl-3) and the souls of

deceased believers reign with Christ in heaven (v4-6).


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The Calendar Of The End

When the millennium is understood thus, what the Bible teaches about the last things is simplified to

the following.

The Last Days

Throughout the period between Jesus’ comings (the New Covenant era, or church “age”), the

Kingdom of God is already present (God reigns in and through the church) and growing (the church

preaches the gospel and extends the Kingdom throughout the world); nevertheless, the Kingdom

has not yet come in its fullness. Throughout this period also, despite the vital victory over Satan won

by Christ at His first coming, the princedom of Satan continues to exist and grow alongside the

Kingdom of God. Finally, because this entire period is the last days, the signs of the times occur

throughout this period.

This period (from the Incarnation to shortly before the end of the age) is also the millennium, the

complete period of indeterminate length described in Revelation 20:1-6. Throughout this period

Satan is bound (kept from deceiving the nations) and deceased believers reign with Christ in heaven

(the intermediate state). It can be seen how both of these aspects of the millennium, not possible

previously, were made possible by the Incarnation: Christ’s defeat of Satan on the cross means that

Satan was bound and his forces disarmed, and the church can now rob the strong man of his

possessions; Christ’s atonement and justification of the believer, and His victory over death, mean

that the deceased believer is no longer under the power of death but can enjoy a life with Jesus in

heaven.

The Last Day. Towards the end of the age (at the end of the millennium), there will occur a series of

climactic events associated with Christ's return. Satan will be loosed and will be responsible for

unleashing great evil. The signs will intensify; the signs include the great tribulation and apostasy and

the appearance of the antichrist, but also the completion by the church, of the task of preaching

the gospel to all nations and the consequent salvation of the full number of both Jews and Gentiles.

Christ Returns (a single event). At His return, there is a general resurrection (i.e. of all the dead); in

particular, raised dead believers will join transformed living believers in meeting the Lord in the air

and then returning with Him to the earth. There follows the general judgement (i.e. of all men) and

the introduction of the final states - hell for the unrighteous and, for the righteous, the new heaven

and new earth.


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The Choosing Of A Position

The understanding of the millennium we reached in above, and the resulting scenario of the future

we sketched in, are reflected in the fourth and final millennial view, AMILLENNIALISM. Amillennialism

was first coherently stated by Augustine in the fourth century and has been the position of most

leading theologians since.) It can be seen how closely the amillennial position fits the basic

framework of New Testament eschatology which we constructed in the beginning of the course (the

framework of King and Kingdom, Kingdom already and not-yet, last days and last day, this age and

the age to come, inaugurated and future eschatology, etc). Because the amillennial position reflects

what I understand to be:

• the broader framework of New Testament eschatology,

• the Biblical revelation about events of the end and their order, and

• the meaning of the millennium. (I have no hesitation in preferring it to the other millennial views;

indeed, in declaring it to be an accurate representation of what the Bible teaches about the last

things).

F O C U S P O I N T

(Note the order: not that I understand Scripture in this way because I like Amillennialism, but that I

choose Amillennialism because it appears to reflect what Scripture says.) In fact, as a young

Christian I loosely held to two of the other positions (not simultaneously!) because that was the

teaching I had been exposed to, but over time a progressively more sound, comprehensive,

balanced and (I believe) unbiased reading of Scripture brought me to this position.

If it is complained about, that I have not provided a critique of this position as I have of the

others, it is because I honestly cannot find any criticism of substance, either in my own evaluation

or in the critique of others. Most of the criticism directed at Amillennialism concerns its supposed

spiritualising tendencies. It is complained, that the position spiritualises Old Testament prophecies,

the millennium and the final state. I feel I have already sufficiently demonstrated why Old

Testament prophecies and the millennium cannot and should not be understood literally; the

third allegation is false:

Amillennialism does not spiritualise the final state.

Against its minor weaknesses stands its huge strengths - not least of which is its simplicity.

Accordingly, in the third and last part of the course (Calendar of the End: End-Events and their

Order), we will examine each of the end-events from an amillennial perspective and in the

amillennial order. However, most of what we say about each event will be “neutral”, Biblical

revelation on the matter - and so valid for any and all eschatological positions.

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MODULE 4: CALENDAR OF THE END;

END-EVENTS AND THEIR ORDER

Death (And Immortality?)

Eschatology is not only concerned with the end of the world but with the end of the individual.

Clearly, the latter comes for many before the former occurs. In this module, we examine the lot of

the individual who dies before Christ’s return.

Death Is The Result Of Sin

The Bible makes it absolutely clear that death in the human world is a result of sin. It was not part of

God’s original plan of creation; indeed, it is the negation of everything for which God created man

(viz, life and immortality).

Genesis 2:17

Death is unambiguously linked to sin: “...you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good

and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die” (ESV). “In the day” does not mean on

that same calendar day but is a Hebrew idiom meaning “as surely as you eat of it” (cf. Exodus 10:28;

1 Kings 2:37). If the deepest meaning of life is fellowship with God, then the deepest meaning of

death (“you will surely die”) is the disruption of this fellowship, i.e. spiritual death. This occurred

immediately to the parents of the human race and, through the transmission of sin, all men are now

born into it (cf. Ephesians 2:1-2). But because of spiritual death (in inevitable consequence of it), “you

will surely die” also includes physical death - as Genesis 3:19 makes clear.

Genesis 3:19

Physical death is listed amongst God’s penalties for sin; it is vividly pictured not as a natural

phenomenon but as part of the curse.

Genesis 3:22

Man now “must not be allowed to ... live forever”. The clear implication is that, but for sin, he would

have done (i.e. he would not have died).

Romans 5:12

A plain statement of sin results in death. The context shows that both spiritual death (the thrust of vl2-

21) and physical death (vlO, 14) is meant.

Romans 8:10

Again, physical death is linked to sin (cf. v11). “Your body is dead”: that is, it has the seeds of death

in it and is bound to die eventually.

1 Corinthians 15:21

The same applies here.


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Death Was Conquered By Christ

Death is the result of sin; sin is the result of Satan’s works. Christ came to destroy Satan and his works

(John 12:31; 1 John 3:8). In the atoning work of the crucifixion, Jesus bore our sin and paid the penalty

of death hanging over us. Our life was the payment we owed to God for our sin; in His resurrection,

Jesus destroyed the power of death.

Death Is A Doorway To Eternal Life

If Christ destroyed death, why must believers still die? Because, while the Kingdom has come, it has

not yet come in its fullness; while the future age and its powers (e.g. the resurrection from the dead)

have broken through into this age, we still live in this age, which is one of a fallen humanity in a fallen

world.

Christ has redeemed us from the penalty of sin but not yet from its power or presence (our sinful

nature still has to be eradicated). All that is corrupted by sin in us and in the whole creation must be

destroyed and cannot be allowed into the new creation of the age to come. The curse pronounced

on creation in Genesis 3 still has effect in this age: things grow old, die and decay. Indeed, if the

believer was no longer to die, then the ambiguous condition which presently defines our existence -

the coexistence in us of the old, sinful nature and the new, redeemed nature - would continue into

all eternity, and this certainly would not be a blissful state! So we need to die to be purged of the old,

sinful part of our existence (in spirit, soul and body) and to be made new and perfect in every way

(in spirit, soul and body).

F O C U S P O I N T

But, for this reason, our death is no longer a satisfaction or punishment for our sin (Christ has

already died that aspect of our death for us, taking our sin upon Himself and dying in our place,

so satisfying the justice of God). Rather, death for the believer is not an end but a beginning, a

dying to (an extinction of) sin and the sinful nature in us and a doorway into an eternal and

perfect existence with God. Death is no longer part of the curse but a source of blessing, no

longer an enemy but a friend (Philippians 1:21).

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Immortality?

The idea that some part of man is inherently immortal, and that the individual in some way thus

continues to exist even after death, is common to many cultures and religions. Within Christianity, for

example, the idea of the immortality of the soul has held sway for long periods. However, the

immortality of the soul is not a Biblical doctrine but a tenet of Greek philosophy. The philosophy and

mystery religions of ancient Greece believed that the soul was made of superior, indestructible

substance (spirit) and escaped death from the body, made of inferior, destructible substance

(matter). Greek thought profoundly influenced the European world view, and early church

theologians incorporated the immortality of the soul and other ideas too uncritically into Christian

“doctrine”. The Enlightenment and its theology of reason (natural religion/theology) entrenched this

idea in Western theology. But an examination of Scripture refutes it.

There are two Greek words translated “immortality” in the New Testament. The first, Athanasia, is used

three times. 1 Timothy 6:16 clearly asserts that God “alone is immortal”, and implies that, while others

may receive and possess immortality in dependence on Him (endowed immortality), God alone is

the source of immortality (original immortality). Just as God has life in Himself (but other creatures

only have life as they receive it from Him: John 5:26), so God alone has immortality in Himself. 1

Corinthians 15:53-54, speaking of the resurrection of the body, says that the mortal must be clothed

with immortality.

Note, however, that the immortality spoken of here:

• is ascribed only to believers;

• is a gift to be received by them in the future, a bestowal at the return of Christ, and not a present

possession of all believers, let alone of all men;

• is applied not just to the soul but to the entire person - indeed, the emphasis is on the body.

The second word used seven times, is aphtharsia. Romans 2:7 speaks of the immortality which true

believers seek (i.e. they do not posses it). 2 Timothy 1:10 speaks of the immortality which Christ has

brought to light through the gospel by destroying death (i.e. the eternal life which God can now give

to man because of Christ’s atonement and resurrection; again, men do not possess it of themselves).

The other four uses (translated “imperishable”) speak of the resurrected state, particularly of the

resurrected body (1 Corinthians 1 5:42, 50, 53-54). As with the first word, then, this word is never applied

to the soul, or to some inherent quality in Man himself.

In addition, there is the related adjective aphthartos (translated “immortal” or “imperishable”), also

used seven times. It is used to describe: God Himself (Romans 1:23; 1 Timothy 1:17); the resurrected

body (1 Corinthians 15:52); the crown for which Paul strives (1 Corinthians 9:25); our inheritance, kept

in heaven, which can never spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:4); the seed of which we’ve been born again

(1:23); the jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit (3:4). In short, the adjective is applied only to God Himself

or to the life and reward which He gives the believer, but never to the soul or to any property inherent

in Man.

To summarise our linguistic examination of the Biblical support (or lack thereof) for the idea of the

immortality of the soul:

1. The Bible does not use the expression “the immortality of the soul”. Immortality is ascribed only to

God (original immortality) or to the life and reward of the resurrected believer (received

immortality).

2. The Bible does not teach the continued existence of the soul by virtue of some inherent

immortality/indestructibility. Man is created by God and remains wholly dependent on God for

his existence.


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3. The Bible does not focus on the continued existence of Man after death (whether in whole or in

part) as desirable or important but on life in fellowship with God as the only existence worth

having.

4. The Bible’s central message about the future of Man is the resurrection of the body - without

which any continued existence is provisional and limited.

F O C U S P O I N T

These conclusions are in complete accord with those that can be derived from the Biblical

doctrine of man. First, Man is not a composite of two or more distinct parts. This is precisely the

misrepresentation of Man which allows for the idea that one or more parts may be immortal (and

so live on after death) while other parts are mortal and so die. Rather, Man is a unity, an

integrated whole. The whole man is created by God and thus every “part” of him is creaturely

and finite; no “part” of him is eternal, possessing life in itself, existing before conception and/or

after death. The whole man begins at conception and the whole man dies at death - and

remains dead unless God sovereignly and graciously decides to grant life again, whether in

whole or in part, whether temporarily or eternally.

Second, while Man was destined for immortality (created with the potential and purpose of

being God’s eternal covenant partner), he is not immortal (in whole or any part). Man is

creaturely and finite. Any intended immortality was forfeited through sin and is lost at death.

When he dies he dies in totality and perpetuity - unless God decrees otherwise.

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The Intermediate State

Man, the finite creature, having forfeited his immortal destiny through sin, dies in totality and

perpetuity. Death brings the end of his existence - unless God graciously intervenes.

But does he? Yes! The Bible speaks plainly of the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age. But

the Bible hints of an existence even before that, between death and resurrection. We call this

existence the intermediate state. The Bible says little about this state, and what it does say is only

incidental to its main message concerning the future of Man, viz, resurrection. Nevertheless, it says

enough for us to be sure that at death Man is neither annihilated nor experiences “soul-sleep”, and

that the believer is not separated from Christ.

The Old Testament

In the Old Testament already came the revelation that human existence does not end at death:

Man continues to exist in the realm of the dead (Hebrew: Sheol). But it increasingly appeared that

the lot of the Godly and of the un-Godly after death was not the same: the wicked remain in Sheol

(under the power of death) while the Godly are delivered from that power.

The New Testament

The New Testament confirmed and expanded this picture. Man is not annihilated at death but

continues to exist in Hades (the Greek equivalent of Sheol) or is delivered from Hades into a state of

blessedness called paradise (Revelation 1:18; 6:8; 20:13 cf. Acts 2:27,31).

The Intermediate State Of The Un-Godly

There is, in the New Testament, however, the hint that Sheol/Hades is more than simply the realm

(“waiting place”) of the dead: that it is a place/condition of provisional judgement (intermediary

torment) of the un-Godly which guarantees their further and final judgement/punishment at the end

of time (Luke 16:19-31; 2 Peter 2:9; Matthew 11:23-24).

The Intermediate State Of The Godly

Luke 16:19-31 also reveals the situation of the Godly after death: they are freed from the power of

death and carried by angels to a state of blessing at Abraham’s side. When asking to be

remembered at the establishing of the Kingdom, the thief on the cross meant at the end of the age,

but Jesus surprised him by saying, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43); paradise

is synonymous with the third heaven, the place where God dwells (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4). Paul says

that to depart (to die) is to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23-25). The Greek construction here indicates

two aspects of the same event: that is, the moment he dies, that very same moment he will be with

Christ. Paul says this state “is better by far”, i.e. better even than his present existence where he does

fellowship with Christ, however partially; he cannot, therefore, be talking of annihilation or soul-sleep

(where there is no fellowship with Christ). Elsewhere, (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) Paul also speaks of the

intermediate state, and the Greek tenses here (v8) again imply the immediate transition at death

from the body to the Lord. He is speaking of the moment of death and not of resurrection or he would

have said: “away from this body”. “At home with the Lord” indicates extremely intimate fellowship

with Christ.


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While end-time resurrection is also in view in the wider context of this text (v l-10), the intermediate

state is not excluded: immediately we die, we enter into a glorious existence, not temporary like the

present one but eternal; the first phase of this new eternal existence is incomplete and awaits the

resurrection, but the believer has one, not two, expectations (the intermediate state and the final

state are two aspects of a unitary expectation, two phases of the one glorious and eternal new life).

Other texts also hint of an intermediate state between death and resurrection: believers who die are

“the dead in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:16); death cannot separate us from God (Romans 8:38-39); “if

we die, we die to the Lord,” and “so, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (and not to

Hades: Romans 14:8); deceased believers come to life and reign with Christ in heaven (Revelation

6:9-11; 20:4-6).

Scripture, then, clearly asserts the fact of the intermediate state, but it gives less detail on the precise

nature of our existence in this state. The intermediate state would appear to be a life of the soul-

spirit: both psyche (translated “soul”: Matthew 10:28; Revelation 6:9; 20:4) and pneuma (translated

“spirit”: Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59; Hebrews 12:23) are used to describe that aspect of Man which

continues to exist after death.

But Scripture also emphasises that Man is a unity, and that “body and soul” (Matthew 10:28) or “body

and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34; James 2:26) belong together. Only then is Man complete. Death brings

a temporary separation of the soul-spirit from the body but this negation is rectified at the resurrection.

The blessedness of the intermediate state is thus provisional, anticipatory, incomplete. Because Man

is not totally Man without a body, the central eschatological hope of Scripture regarding Man is not

the mere continued existence of the soul-spirit after death but the resurrection of the body at the

end of the age.

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Conclusion

The believer does not have to wait until his resurrection at the end of the age to “live again” or to be

with Christ. Immediately upon death, the believer goes to be with the Lord, a state, “which is better

by far” than this one. It is one of intimate fellowship with Christ, of wonderful (if still provisional) comfort

and blessing. The believer is never separated from Christ. Indeed, as Jesus promised, those who

believe in Him “will never die”! (See John 11:23-25).


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The Signs of The Times

Jesus’ main teaching on the end-times has been called the Olivet Discourse (because it was

delivered on the Mount of Olives) and is recorded in all three of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 24-

25; Mark 13; Luke 21 - but see also 12:35-48 and 18:20-37). When the disciples asked Him, “what will

be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3), Jesus listed various things

that would occur before His coming and which would indicate that the hour of His return was near

(v4-31). Having listed them, He repeatedly urged His disciples to watch for their fulfilment so that they

would be prepared for His return (24:32 - 25:13).

The things Jesus spoke of have become known as the signs of the times. They have popularly come

to be regarded as:

• spectacular and thus unmistakeable events,

• which occur exclusively in the days immediately preceding Christ’s return,

• and which thus allow us both to draw up an exact timetable of events in those days, and

• accurately predict the timing of the second coming.

All four of these assumptions are incorrect; and so, before we can examine the signs individually and

ask whether they have been/are being fulfilled, we need to comment generally on the nature of

the signs.

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The Signs Do Not Have Exclusive Reference To End-Times

First

The only occasion in Scripture where the phrase “the signs of the times” is used is Matthew 16:3, where

it refers to what God is doing in and through Jesus’ first coming (Jesus is castigating the Pharisees and

Sadducees for not receiving Him). That is, it refers to God’s acts at that time, to the coming of the

Kingdom of Jesus. (In fact, the parallel in Luke 12:56 states, “How is it that you don’t know how to

interpret this present time?”) For us too, interpreting the signs of the times means understanding God’s

past, present and future interventions to establish His Kingdom, the ongoing revelation of Himself in

the world and His calling of men to a decision.

Second

Jesus is speaking not only of events that will occur shortly before His return but of first-century events,

particularly of the events associated with the Roman siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the

Temple in AD 70 and the persecution of the Jews at that time. That this is so is clear from the disciples'

enquiry which prompted the whole discourse. On leaving the Temple one day during the week

before the crucifixion, the disciples drew Jesus’ attention to the magnificence of the building. Jesus

promptly prophesied its destruction. Later, the disciples asked, “when will this happen, and what will

be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” They asked one question, thinking the two

events (the Temple’s destruction and Jesus’ coming) would be coincident; but Jesus, knowing the

two events would be separated by a long period of time, gave two answers simultaneously - one

about first-century events and the other about end-time events. This He could do because He saw in

the former a type and foreshadow of the latter: both are examples of the persecution of God’s truth

and God’s people by the enemies of God; the destruction of Jerusalem is a type of the destruction

of the world. Thus, as THE PROPHET, He employed the classic technique of double reference

(foreshortening, superimposition) from the Old Testament prophetic tradition. He spoke of two widely

apart events as if they were the same, or at least close together. At any stage of His reply, therefore,

Jesus could be referring to both time periods - although there are some of the signs that seem to

have particular reference to the first century and others to the end-times. Of course, He speaks of

the latter events in terms of the former (i.e. in ethnic and geographic dimensions), in terms familiar

to His hearers, but they should not be limited to this. In addition, to the extent that these

circumstances also occur in various times and places in the intervening centuries (e.g. when God’s

people are persecuted by His enemies), the signs of the times are also fulfilled throughout the period

between the first century and the end times.

Third

Jesus was addressing His contemporaries about things concerning them (as were Paul and others

later in speaking of the signs). If the signs referred only to the end-times, this meant Jesus was talking

totally over the heads of His hearers, i.e. carefully instructing them about things which had no

relevance to them - an idea which is plainly ridiculous. The same “problem” confronts us here as with

the book of Revelation: the Word of God must have relevance to the first generation of Christians, to

the last generation and to all the generations in between - and this further suggests that the signs are

fulfilled throughout church history.


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Fourth

Christians of every age are exhorted to remain vigilant for Christ’s return. But if the signs occurred

only in the lifetime of the last generation of Christians, Christians of every other generation would

have no need to be watchful (they would know Christ’s coming was still distant) and could easily

become settled and complacent in this world. Clearly, this idea is equally unacceptable.

To Conclude

The signs of the times do not have exclusive reference to the end-times but characterise the entire

period between Jesus’ comings (indeed, as we have seen, this entire period constitutes the last days).

They thus have abiding relevance for and application to the church, and they summon the church

to constant watchfulness. The signs of the times, as they happen now, point, firstly, to the PAST: they

demonstrate that the great victory has been won. That the decisive change in history has occurred,

that the King and Kingdom have come and the last days are upon us. They point to the PRESENT:

God is at work in the world, bringing all things to consummation: they also bear witness to the

continuing struggle between good and evil throughout history. And they point to the FUTURE: the

occurrence of the signs (they occur because of what happened in the past) gives certainty to

Christ’s victorious return in the future, and consequently hope and endurance to us in the interim

despite the evil of this age; moreover, they call us to decision (by means of the signs, God continues

to summon men to believe) and watchfulness (Romans 13:11-13; Ephesians 5:15-16).

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The Signs Are Not Always Abnormal, Spectacular, Catastrophic

The signs are not spectacular interruptions of the normal course of history which irresistibly draw

attention to themselves: this would preclude the element of watchfulness and decision (i.e. no one

would have to watch for Christ’s coming and obvious signs would lead to insincere decisions). Jesus

Himself warned against this understanding of the signs (Luke 1 7:20-21): His words here are directed

against an expectation of the Kingdom oriented to the spectacular and the unusual, and thus

neglecting the element of personal decision. In fact, attention-drawing signs are more often

associated with Satan’s kingdom (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:13 -14). Instead of looking for

spectacular signs, therefore, God’s people should be on the alert to discern the signs of Christ’s return

in the non-spectacular processes of history.

The Signs Neither Date Christ’s Return Nor Give A Timetable Of The End-Times

These denials are the logical conclusion because the signs occur and recur throughout the church

age and because they are largely "hidden", it is impossible to use them either to date Christ’s return

or to construct a precise timetable of end-time events. Indeed, such predictions/constructions are

neither the aim of Biblical prophecy (which is always sanctification, never speculation) nor its design

(prophecy does not give us a knowledge of the future analogous to that which history gives us of the

past). The Olivet Discourse is not a chronological narrative, a news reporter’s account of events in

their exact order. We never know how prophecies are going to be fulfilled until the events

prophesied actually happen. Even John the Baptist had problems understanding predictions of Jesus’

first coming when they were already being fulfilled (Matthew 11:3). How much more will we not have

problems in understanding predictions concerning Jesus’ second coming before the time!

The thrust of all the above is that we cannot regard the signs as magical clues about the end-times.

Nevertheless, when seen in the light of the whole Biblical revelation, it does seem that there will be

an intensification and climaxing of the signs towards the end of the age (coincident with the loosing

of Satan and the last great offensive of evil). We are now ready to examine each of the signs, to see

how they were fulfilled in the first century and in subsequent centuries, and to ask whether they are

intensifying/climaxing in our day.

F O C U S P O I N T

I will limit myself to the ten signs mentioned in the Olivet Discourse. (Other signs can be found,

inter alia, in 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Thessalonians 2). Even in this one passage, several of the

signs are mentioned more then once and in different positions relative to the other signs. This

indicates, yet again, that the signs (or the discourses in which they are found) cannot be made

into precise timetables of the end.

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Sign 1: Revolutions, Wars, Rumours of Wars

“You will hear of wars and rumours of wars [and revolutions” in Luke. Nation will rise against

nation, and kingdom against kingdom” - Matthew 24:6-7

This sign is not limited to the end-times. Indeed, Luke’s added description of it refers unmistakably to

the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general, Titus, in AD 70: “When you see

Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near ... Jerusalem will be trampled

on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (21:20-24). The sign thus had an early

fulfilment in the first century; it has been repeatedly fulfilled throughout the church age (constantly

fulfilled in the matter of Jerusalem’s trampling); in our day it seems to have intensified - but one

cannot say for certain that it has climaxed.

Sign 2: Earthquakes, Famines, Pestilences

“There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places” - Luke 21:11

Together with (1), these are signs of God’s judgement on the world (Romans 1:18), signs that the

present world is under a curse (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:20-22) and that “the Judge is standing at the

door” (James 5:9 cf. John 12:31). Neither (1) nor (2) are signs of the very end. After (1) Jesus says:

“Such things must happen but the end is still to come” (Matthew 24:6); “These things must happen

first, but the end will not come right away” (Luke 2 1:9). After (1) and (2), He says: “All these are [the

beginning of birth pains.” Thus, when they occur, we cannot assume that the end is immediately at

hand. Neither sign allows us to date Christ’s return.

Like (1) this sign was also fulfilled in the first century (cf. Acts 11:28 and Roman history). It has also been

repeatedly fulfilled throughout the church age (as we would expect if it is a sign of God’s ongoing

judgement of the world and if it is not a sign of the very end). Indeed, its occurrence (like that of

throughout the period between Jesus’ comings) indicates that God is working His purposes out; it is

a pledge of the end still to come. Finally, like (1), it seems to have intensified in our day (it is always

difficult to know whether there has been a real increase in natural disasters or whether these are

simply better reported than previously) - but again we cannot be sure that it has climaxed (indeed,

how will we know that a sign has climaxed?).

Sign 3: False Christ’s, False Prophets, Deceiving Signs

At the beginning of His discourse, Jesus says: “Watch out that no-one deceives you. For many will

come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5); “Watch out

that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and ‘the time is

Pear.’ Do not follow them” (Luke 21:8). Later on, He again warns that “many false prophets will

appear and deceive many people” (Matthew 24:11). Near its end, He repeats His warning: “At that

time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!” or, “There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christ’s

and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect... So

if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’

do not believe it” (Matthew 24:23-26; see also Luke 17:22-24).

This sign was certainly fulfilled in the first century: a constant stream of false Jewish Messiahs and

“Christian” sectarian leaders appeared in the decades before and after the Incarnation (cf. Acts

4:36-37; 1 John 4:1, and the Judaizers and Gnostics Paul constantly battled against). A close study of

church history will show just how often this sign has been fulfilled ever since. (Indeed, the fact that the

warning is given at the beginning and at the end of the discourse indicates its occurrence throughout

the last days). Nevertheless, the past two centuries have seen an unequalled proliferation of cults

and would-be Christ’s: the sign has certainly intensified in our day.


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Sign 4: Spirit of Antichrist, Antichrists And The Antichrist

This sign is obviously linked to (3) as an intensification of it, but due to its singular nature, I will deal with

it separately. “Antichrist” denotes both a rival or substitute Christ (the prefix “anti” means “instead of”

or “in place of”) and an adversary or opponent of Christ. John uses the term in three ways:

• Impersonally, of the thinking or spirit behind various deadly heresies, i.e. those that cut the heart

out of the gospel by denying Jesus’ humanity or deity (1 John 4:2-3). Either denial makes salvation

impossible: by “destroying” the Person of Christ, the work of Christ is also rendered null and void.

Clearly, this aspect of this sign was already fulfilled in the first century; similar heresies have

reappeared throughout church history and have mushroomed in our day - and so the sign has

been fulfilled ever since.

• Personally, but generally of those promoting such heresies (1 John 2:1-8b; 2:22; 2 John 7). These

heresies have been around from John’s day to our own, and so this aspect of the sign has also

been fulfilled (i.e. such antichrists have been present) throughout the period.

• Personally, but specifically of one individual, the antichrist, in whom opposition to Christ is

concentrated (1 John 2:18a). The fullest revelation of this person is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9

which reveals him to be a climactic, end-time, anti-God figure. Paul, like John, however, notes

that the antichrist spirit which empowers the antichrist has been at work since the first century (v7

cf. v8). See also Daniel’s visions, where the “little horn” (7:8, 25), the “stern-faced king” (8:9-12,

23-25) and the “contemptible person” (11:21-45) seem to refer not only to the second century BC

evil Greek king, Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), arch-persecutor of the Jews, but to an end-time

antichrist of whom Antiochus is a type. (On the other hand, it is not at all certain that “the beast”

of Revelation refers to an individual. It's more likely reference is to the worldly system which

opposes God and His people throughout the age.)

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The following picture of the antichrist emerges from 2 Thessalonians:

• He will be a person (note: “the man”; “he”; “himself’; “his”; “him”).

• He will come out of(be part of) the “rebellion” (i.e. apostasy). “The man of lawlessness” means

that he is opposed to God’s law and persecutes it.

• He will be an object of worship, opposing everything else that is worshipped and setting himself

up as God. (That he “sets himself up in God’s temple” should not be taken literally to refer to a

“throne” in a restored Temple in Jerusalem (6v 3a-b), it refers either to the worship of him in the

church [present temple] or is a figurative way of stating that he will accord himself divine status.)

• His appearing will lead to the tribulation: he will persecute those who refuse to recognise his

divinity and worship him (i.e. the saints).

• He will use miracles and false teaching to deceive many.

• He will only be revealed when “what is holding him back” is taken away. The identity of this

restrainer has escaped exegetes for centuries. It is spoken of both impersonally (v6) and

personally (v7).

• Reflection will reveal that none of the suggested identities - the Holy Spirit, the church, the

preaching of the gospel, human government - are satisfactory.

• He will be totally overthrown by Christ at His second coming (indeed, merely “by the appearing

of his coming”).

While both of the first two aspects of this sign (the spirit of the antichrist, antichrists) were already

fulfilled in the first century, and have been recurringly fulfilled ever since this last aspect (the antichrist)

has yet to be fulfilled. Paul's warning/comfort to the church is thus still valid: we are not to be alarmed

by reports that Christ has already come because He cannot come until the antichrist has been

revealed. Further, we do not know how or when the antichrist will appear: this sign, like the others,

therefore, does not allow us to date Christ’s return.

Sign 5: Apostasy

“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other ... the

love of most will grow cold” - Matthew 24:10-12

Jesus envisages a falling away of “many”/”most” Christians, caused by the persecution of the church

(v9 [See Sign 6] below), the deception of false prophets (v11) and “the increase of wickedness” (v12).

The Greek word translated “turn away” (or “apostasise” in older translations) indicates a rebellion

against the gospel as it has been professed or heard: this indicates, respectively, the church falling

away from the truths of the gospel and/or a “Christian civilization” falling away from its Godly

foundations.

That this sign was already fulfilled in the first century is clear from several New Testament examples (1

Timothy 1:19; 6:10; 1 John 2:19). That it has been repeatedly fulfilled ever since is clear from a cursory

glance at church history; indeed, Scripture implies that there will always be those who fall away

(Hebrews 6:6; 10:29; 2 Peter 2:20). But Scripture also indicates that there will be a climactic end-time

apostasy - the Great Apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:3). Recent centuries

have seen an enormous falling away of the church from Biblical truths and of our society from its

Christian foundations. The sign has thus intensified; but, again, we cannot be sure we are seeing its

climax. We see apostasy around us, but who can know exactly when and how the final apostasy

will come? This sign, then, like the others, does not allow us to date Christ’s return.


46

Sign 6: Persecution, Witness, Martyrdom

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated

by all nations because of me” - Matthew 24:9

"You will be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives and they will put some of you to death.

All men will hate you because of me” - Luke 21:16-17

But this negative experience will have a positive edge: when Christians are put on trial they will witness

to those in authority, and God will supernaturally inspire and encourage this witness (Luke 21:12-15).

Witness and martyrdom are closely linked: because witnessing in the early church so often resulted

in one losing one’s life, we get our word “martyr” from the Greek word for “witness”, viz. martur.

The impossibility of constructing a timetable of end-time events from the signs is illustrated with this

sign: Matthew indicates it follows that of wars and earthquakes (“Then you will be handed over...”)

while Luke implies it precedes wars, etc (“But before all this, they will lay hands on you...”). In reality,

the signs are concurrent, both in the intervening centuries and in the end-times.

The pattern of the fulfilment of this sign is the same as that of the other signs: the New Testament

makes clear its fulfilment in the first century (Acts 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 23-26); church history makes clear its

fulfilment ever since. Indeed, Jesus and the apostles warned that persecution would always be the

lot of the believer (John 15:18-21; 2 Timothy 3:12). Further, this sign is linked to the preaching of the

gospel to all nations (Matthew 24:9-13 cf. v14); since the latter occurs throughout church history, so

does the former. However, as with the others, there will also be a climaxing of this sign in the end-

times (see Sign 7 that follows).

Sign 7: Great Tribulation

As Sign 4 is to Sign 3, this sign is really just the eschatological climaxing of Sign 6 (“Great Tribulation”

cf. “tribulation”).

“For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now

- and never to be equalled again. If those days had not been cut short, no-one would

survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened” - Matthew 24:21-22

“For this is the time of punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written ...There will be

great distress in the land and wrath against this people ... On the earth, nations will be in

anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea [apocalyptic symbol for

humanity]. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world”- Luke

21:22-26

Because Jesus is seeing the near-future destruction of Jerusalem as a type of the distant-future

destruction of the world, and because He needs to speak in terms familiar to His hearers, He speaks

of the great tribulation in terms of Judea, Jerusalem and other Jewish concepts (e.g. the Sabbath,

the abomination that causes desolation: Matthew 24:15-20; Luke 21:20-24). But it must not be thought

that the eschatological tribulation is limited to Jews or Palestine. The rest of Scripture refutes this (2

Thessalonians 2; Revelation). If the sign of tribulation (6) affects all believers throughout the world, it is

inconsistent to assert that the final tribulation will affect only Jews. The “elect” in these passages thus

refers to all believers (v22 cf v31).


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R E F L E C T I O N

Are we experiencing this eschatological climaxing of the sign of tribulation now? Certainly, this

century has seen more Christian martyrs than all the previous centuries put together. And,

certainly, mankind is apprehensive of the future as never before because of the unparalleled

problems and threats it has created for itself. Nevertheless, we are still far short of the appalling

description of those days (just as AD 70 was only a foreshadow of it). Further, the antichrist would

seem to play a pivotal role in the great tribulation, and so this sign cannot be fulfilled until he has

appeared.

We cannot say how or when the great tribulation will occur. When it does, however, we will know

that the second coming is near, for “immediately after the distress of those days” Christ will return

(Matthew 24:29-30).

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Sign 8: The Preaching Of the Gospel To All Nations

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all

nations, and then the end will come” - Matthew 24:14

This is the outstanding sign of the times, continuing throughout the period between Jesus’ comings

(Matthew 28:19 cf. v20). It points to the past: it is a sign that Jesus has come because what God has

done in Jesus is the motive and message of the mission. And it points to the future: it is a sign that

Jesus is coming again because we have the promise that, when the task is completed, "then the end

will come”.

But only God will know when the task is completed for there are too many unknowns and

indeterminates for our calculation. What, for example, does it mean that the gospel “will be

preached in the whole world”, and what does “as a testimony to all nations” mean? Does it mean

that every individual of every nation will hear it? This is unlikely. Perhaps it means that all the elect of

every nation will have a chance to hear it and so respond. Or that the gospel will be so much a part

of the life of every nation that it cannot be ignored but must be reckoned with and decided on by

that nation; that the nation will be responsible for rejecting the gospel which will thus testify against it

at the judgement. A further complicating factor in trying to decide when the missionary task is

complete, and in thereby using this sign to date Christ’s return, is the remembrance that the

preaching of the gospel to every nation does not necessarily have to take place in the same period

(the end-times) for the task to be complete: nations, which may not have the gospel preached to

them in the end-times, may have had it preached sufficiently to them at some stage of church history

to either save them if they accepted it or to testify against them if they rejected it. The preaching of

the gospel throughout the world then, like the other signs, points to the certainty of Jesus’ coming

but emphasises the uncertainty of its timing.

This uncertainty is further illustrated when we remember that another way of describing this sign is the

salvation of the full number of elect Jews and Gentiles (Romans 11). But who can tell when this has

happened other than God?

This sign was not fulfilled in the first century (although most of the Roman world heard the gospel

during the apostolic era). It has not been fulfilled since (although much of the world not reached

today has been reached in the past). Of course, the sign has been in the process of being fulfilled

ever since Pentecost. Today, we are much closer to finishing the task than a century ago - yet there

is still a very long way to go.

Sign 9: The Abomination That Causes Desolation

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation’,

spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are

in Judea flee to the mountains...For then there will be great distress” - Matthew 24:15-21

This sign is linked to the great tribulation, as something that will be the epitome of the evil of those

days and perhaps the event which will herald their arrival. In Jewish thought, the phrase referred to

the introduction and worship of some other deity in place of God in God’s own “holy place” (i.e.

Jerusalem, or the Temple itself). Its only other appearance is in Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11), where it

predicts the erection of an image of Zeus in the temple, and the Jews enforced worship of that deity,

by Antiochus IV in 167 BC. Jesus' quotation of Daniel shows that Antiochus' acts were only the first

fulfilment of an (at least) two-part prophecy. In fact, there are three fulfillments. The second was in

AD 70 when Titus entered the city and the temple (later destroying both) with his army carrying

banners bearing the image of the emperor, who was worshipped as God. (This fits in with what we

said at the beginning of this chapter about the Olivet.)


49

Discourse: the disciples asked about the destruction of the temple and Jesus answered by speaking

of both His generation and the last generation.) The second fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecy (the third

of Daniel’s) accordingly takes place in the end-times. Again, it should not be taken as referring to

literal Jerusalem or a literal Temple. The New Testament perspective indicates something/someone

opposing the worship of the true God and setting itself/himself up to be worshipped instead, either

by mankind as a whole or by the “church”. The link with 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (the antichrist) is revealing.

Reading this sign is difficult. It would not appear to be fulfilled in our day - although the deification of

Man in society, and the infiltration into the church of both this “god” and the un-Biblical god of the

New Age movement, are worth noting.

Sign 10: Celestial Disturbances

“There will be ... great signs from heaven ... There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars ...

The heavenly bodies will be shaken” - Luke 21:11, 25-26

“The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” - Matthew 24:29

This is a sign of the very end and has not yet been fulfilled. It follows “immediately after the distress”

of the great tribulation, and in turn is followed directly by the climax of history: the return of Christ.

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky ... They will see the son of man

coming” - Matthew 24:30 (ESV)

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your

redemption is drawing near” - Luke 21:27-28

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The Return of Jesus Christ

Here we reach the centre and the climax of the Bible’s and the Christian’s future expectation. God’s

end, in essence, is the sending of His King to establish His Kingdom; in fact, the King IS God’s End, the

Eschatos. Accordingly, the central event of inaugurated eschatology was the first coming of the King

to inaugurate the Kingdom. And the central event of future eschatology is the second coming of the

King to consummate the Kingdom. (That is, cross and crown: thus the cover.) All other events of the

end-times are merely preparations for or repercussions of this event. This is the climax of history and

the world.

The Promise Of His Return

The Bible promises Christ’s return. In the Old Testament, this promise is implicit, contained in the

prophecies of a glorious and ruling Messiah that were not fulfilled at Jesus’ first coming. In the New

Testament, the promise is explicit: every book points to Christ’s return, and exhorts the believer to live

in such a way as to be always ready for it (Matthew 16:27; 24:30; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11;

17:31; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28; James 5:8; 1 Peter 5:4; 1 John 2:28;

3:2; Revelation 1:7; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20, et al). Consequently, the expectation of Christ’s return became

part of the early church’s most basic confession of faith: “Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will

come again!”

The Delay In His Return?

Not only did the apostles and the apostolic church believe in Christ’s return but it seems that they

expected an imminent return, one during their own lifetime. Were they (and, as some claim, even

Jesus) mistaken in regard to its timing, guilty of an “error in perspective”? Some critics go even further:

they claim that Jesus and Paul mistakenly predicted an early return; the fact that this did not happen

invalidates the promise and undermines any further expectation of a return. We thus need to

examine the charge that first Jesus and then Paul predicted the timing of the return.

Jesus

Jesus’ statements about the timing of His return fall into four groups: (1) clear denials of knowing the

day and hour of his return; (2) statements which stress the uncertainty of the timing of His return; (3)

statements which speak of delay rather than imminence; (4) three statements which seem to speak

of an early return. To allege, on the basis of (4), that Jesus predicted the timing of His return (and,

then, that the failure of this prediction invalidates the entire promise), while ignoring (1), (2) and (3),

is to commit a gross distortion. Clearly, (4) must be interpreted in the light of (1- 3).

Denials Of Knowing The Day And Hour Of His Return

Jesus plainly said that He did not know the day or hour of His return (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32). Thus

no other statements of His can be interpreted as predictions of the timing of His return - and any

interpretations to this effect are clearly wrong.


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Statements Which Stress The Uncertain Timing Of His Return

Matthew 24:36 - 25:13 (especially 24:42, 44; 25:13), Mark 13:32-37 and Luke 12:35-46 all stress that no

one knows the time of Christ’s return; that He will return at an unexpected time and that precisely,

for this reason, believers must remain ever watchful. If Jesus was predicting the timing of His return

there would have been no need for this stress and the accompanying warning.

Statements Which Speak Of Delay Rather Than Imminence

There are a number of statements which suggest a delayed rather than imminent return. The task of

preaching the gospel to all nations, and the Greek construction of “and then” (kai tote), imply that

a period of time must elapse before the return, possibly a very long period of time (Matthew 24:14;

cf. Mark 14:7&9). Jesus tells the parable of the ten minas precisely to correct the people’s

misapprehension that “the kingdom of God was going to appear at once” (Luke 19:11). The thrust

of other parables is the same: “After a long time the master returned” (the parable of the talents:

Matthew 25:5); “The bridegroom was a long time in coming” (the parable of the ten virgins: Matthew

25:5); “My master is taking a long time in coming” (the parable of the servants: Luke 12:45). Jesus

indicates a period of time when the bridegroom will be absent and His guests will fast (Mark 2:19-20).

The parable of the wheat and weeds implies that believers will live side by side with unbelievers for a

long period of time; the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast both imply a long period of time

during which the Kingdom will grow throughout the earth (Matthew 13). From all of these statements,

it is clear that Jesus allowed for the possibility - indeed, that He indicated the probability - that His

return was a long way off He could not at the same time, therefore, been making predictions of an

early return.

Statements Which Seem To Speak Of An Early Return

Against all of this, there are three statements which seem to predict a return within the lifetime of

those who heard Jesus. But, as we have already noted, these must be interpreted in the light of the

above.

• Mark 9:1: “Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God

come with power” (also Matthew 16:28; Luke 9:27). There are two lines in Jesus’ predictions about

His future - His close at hand crucifixion-resurrection and His distant return - and we must hold

these together as Jesus did. In the context, Jesus had spoken of both His resurrection (v31) and

His return (v38). The two are linked in a double way: the glory of the resurrection foreshadows the

glory of the return; the resurrection guarantees the return (makes it both possible and inevitable).

With typical prophetic foreshortening, Jesus speaks in this verse of the resurrection in terms of the

return (cf. Matthew 28:18). That is, those listening to Him would witness the first part of the single

(though differentiated) event of the coming of God’s Kingdom.

• Mark 13:30: “This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened”

(also Matthew 24:34; Luke 2 1:32). Jesus’ purpose in uttering these words is not (and cannot be)

to give an exact date for His return (cf. v32) but rather to stress the certainty of His return (cf. v31).

Further, “generation” (Greek. genea, also translated “race” or “people”) can have qualitative

as well as temporal meaning. That is, it can describe the characteristic qualities of a race or

people rather than referring to successive generations in time. This, for example, is its use in Mark

8:38 ("this adulterous and sinful generation” - Jesus cannot mean that only those living in His time

would be judged for denying Him); Matthew 12:45 and Luke 11:29 (“this wicked generation”);

Matthew 12:39 and 16:4 (“a wicked and adulterous generation”); Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:9 and

Luke 9:41 (“unbelieving and perverse generation”). Most revealingly, the word is used in Matthew


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23:36, where “this generation” cannot refer only to Jews living in Jesus’ time because the passage

(vv34-36) refers to the past, present and future sins of the Jewish nation in killing God’s prophets

and to God’s judgement on those who’ve committed these sins. There and here (Mark 13:30),

then, Jesus means by “this generation” the rebellious, apostate and unbelieving Jewish people

(or perhaps, more widely, mankind) as they have revealed themselves in the past, are revealing

themselves in the present and will continue to reveal themselves in the future. They will continue

in this attitude until Christ's return when they will receive the judgement which is their due. Thus

interpreted, the statement is a logical conclusion to a discourse which began with the prediction

of the destruction of Jerusalem as a punishment for Israel’s stubborn unbelief (v2).

• Matthew 10:23: “You will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man

comes”. Jesus’ instructions to His disciples in Matthew 10 included statements which not only

concerned their ministry on the tour to which He was specifically commissioning them but their

activities after His ascension, and even included statements applicable to members of the

church throughout history (all linked with typical prophetic foreshortening). Verse 23 thus refers

simply to the continuing mission of the church to Israel (or the world) until Christ returns.

Conclusion

These three texts, therefore, do not need to be understood as a declaration by Jesus that He would

return during the lifetime of His hearers; indeed, in the light of (1 - 3), they cannot be so understood.

Jesus did not predict an early return (or any date of return) and so cannot be accused of being

either mistaken or deluded. (Of course, His followers did - and do - misunderstand Him as having set

a date: cf. John 2 1:20-23!) Jesus taught the certainty of His coming but equally the uncertainty and

delay of its timing.

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Paul

R E F L E C T I O N

Did Paul predict an early return? Or, as some claim, did Paul teach this at first and then

subsequently, when it didn’t happen, change his mind?

Certainly, Paul hoped for and entertained the possibility of an early return (of a return within a

generation, possibly even within his own lifetime) and did not foresee a centuries-long continuation

of the present world order (Romans 13:11-12; 16:20; 1 Corinthians 7:29; Philippians 4:5). This was also

the position of the other New Testament writers (Hebrews 10:37; James 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:7; Revelation

1:1; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20).

But this does not mean that he left room for no other possibility, nor that he set a within this generation

date for the return as part of his authoritative teaching (he hoped for vs. he taught that). His stress

was on the certainty of the second coming and on the importance of being prepared for it, not on

the timing of it (let alone on date-setting). The “we” in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (“we will not all sleep”)

and 1 Thessalonians 4:15&17 (“we who are still alive”) express possibility, not certainty: any believer,

from Paul’s time to ours, would use the same language to express the lot of believers still living when

Christ returns without implying that he/she was certain of still being alive when this happened.

The thesis that Paul changed his mind when an early return did not happen is also incorrect. His very

first book already entertains the possibility that his generation may die before Christ’s return (1

Thessalonians 5:9-10).

So Paul, like Jesus, stressed the certainty of the return but also the uncertainty of its timing, and hence

the need to be ever watchful and constantly prepared for it. Far from date-setting, he taught the

incalculability and uncertainty of the timing of the return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4). Neither with him nor

with any of the other New Testament writers is there a prediction of an early return which, because

unfulfilled, invalidates the promise of a return altogether.

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The Expectation Of His Return

There has, then, been no delay in Jesus’ return, no mistaken prediction that wasn’t fulfilled and which

thereby invalidates the promise. Therefore, the promise of the New Testament and of Christ Himself

that He would return still stands, and the expectation of His return is as valid for the church today as

it was for the apostolic church.

And as necessary! The church should continually be living with such an expectation, for it ensures

moral readiness and holy living; it promotes a pilgrim consciousness and prevents the church settling

too comfortably into this world; it brings perspective to the seemingly unbearable sufferings and evils

of this age and so gives courage and hope to endure them.

If this lively expectation is not present in the church something is radically wrong. There has been just

such a lack in many periods of church history - and it exists even in certain quarters of the church

today. There are various possible reasons for this: the secularisation of the church - i.e. the church

has become too comfortable in this world and age and, having lost its pilgrim consciousness, has lost

sight of the next; liberal theology, with its denial of the supernatural and its reduction of Jesus to a

mere Man - both of which exclude the idea of a return; discouraged (or offended) by the many

failed expectation/predictions of Christ’s return, Christians have either spiritualised the return (i.e.

reduced it to Christ’s coming to the individual in rebirth or to the church in revival) or pushed it so far

into the future that it has no real effect on their consciousness or lifestyle (practically, there is no

expectation of a return - the idea exists only in abstract theory).

F O C U S P O I N T

But it is sobering to remember that the only people recorded in Scripture as disbelieving in Christ’s

return or wavering in expectation are “scoffers” (specifically predicted for the last days: 2 Peter

3:3-4) and unfaithful servants (“My master delays his coming”: Luke 12:45), both of whom interpret

the “delay” as an opportunity for godlessness. Peter replies that God, if He is “delaying” Christ’s

return, is not doing so in forgetfulness of His promise or because of impotence but because He is

being patient (makrothymei, literally. “longsuffering”) with Man, creating room for repentance

and conversion because He wishes none to perish (v9). Instead of focusing on the “delay”,

therefore, we should thank God for His grace and be all the more diligent to make use of the

extra opportunity to bring the gospel to those who’ve not yet heard it.

Moreover, the church needs to live not only in the expectation of Christ’s return but in the expectation

of Christ’s imminent return. The early church’s hope of an imminent return, while not realised, is

Scripturally endorsed as the appropriate expectation of the church of all ages. While the New

Testament writers never tried to set a date for the return, they did, as we have seen, constantly

emphasise its nearness. They were not deceived or deceiving in this because the return of Christ is

near for the church in every period, not in a chronological sense but in a salvation-history sense. That

is, Christ’s first coming is the absolute guarantee of His second coming (the last days have come and

so soon must come the last day): because the latter is so certain, it is in a sense always near.

Moreover, because Christ’s first coming inaugurated the Kingdom (brought the future into the

present), we already taste its joys and powers now; this foretaste of what Christ’s return will bring also

brings the future near (experientially) and makes us all the more eager to enjoy the consummation

of the Kingdom.


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F O C U S P O I N T

An excited expectation of Christ’s return should be a prominent feature of the

Christian’s/church’s faith in this and every age; and this return, for us as for all past and future

Christians, is imminent.

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The Timing of His Return

But the million-dollar question remains: is Christ’s return, for us in 21 century not only near in a salvation-

history sense but in a chronological sense too - as many passionately claim and as it has come to be

generally accepted in certain circles. And is it possible, as this claim implicitly assumes, to know the

time of His return?

Knowing The Hour

We have already noted Jesus’ explicit statement that He does not know the day and hour of His

return (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32); if He does not know it then we cannot know it. We have also seen

that both Jesus and the apostles repeatedly emphasised the uncertainty of the timing of the second

coming (e.g. through the analogy of the thief, who comes at an unknown/unexpected hour:

Matthew 24:43-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3); these texts further assert that we cannot know or predict

the hour of Jesus’ return - which is precisely why Jesus repeatedly exhorts His followers to remain ever

watchful and prepared. When Paul goes on to say (v4-8) that we live in the day and not the night

and so shouldn’t be surprised by the thief; he is not saying that we can know the hour of the thief’s

coming; rather, we should live holy lives (“of the day”) so that whatever time the thief (the judge)

comes we are ready for Him (righteous) and won’t be surprised (ashamed). It is not true that Jesus

directs the thief analogy to unbelievers only (because they are sinful they are not prepared for His

coming): He clearly also says to the disciples that they must keep watch because they do not know

the hour of His coming (Matthew 24:36, 42, 44; 25:13). For both believers and unbelievers the hour is

unknown and will be unexpected: the only difference is that believers will nevertheless be prepared

for it (particularly, for the judgement that Christ’s coming heralds) while unbelievers will

be unprepared.

F O C U S P O I N T

In the light of this clear New Testament teaching, it is amazing, embarrassing and abhorrent that

so many Christians should constantly be trying to predict the date of Christ’s return (1988, 1998, et

al). One would have thought that Jesus’ words were spoken precisely to silence these pop

eschatologists and to warn those gullible Christians so easily deceived by them. Such a practice

is anti-Scriptural, deceitful and immature; it is the hobby of cults (e.g. Jehovah’s Witness) - and

that is where such pop eschatology belongs!


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Reading The Signs

We cannot know the day and hour of Christ’s return; at most, we can, by observing the signs of

Christ’s return, know that the season is near: “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its

twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all

these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matthew 24:32-33). On the one hand, Jesus

describes the signs precisely so that we can know His coming is near (the quoted verses follow

immediately on the description of the signs). On the other hand, as we have seen the signs, because

they occur throughout the period between Jesus’ coming (each many times and in a different order

relative to the other signs), and because they are not always spectacular and so unmistakeable, do

not allow us to construct a timetable of end-time events and so to date Christ’s return. We cannot,

therefore, force the signs to reveal more than what is intended; we certainly cannot use them to

override Jesus’ statement that we cannot know the hour.

Even allowing for the fact that the signs will climax in the days immediately preceding Christ’s return,

it is difficult to know whether they are climaxing in our day and whether the return is therefore

chronologically near. Certainly, it cannot be asserted (as some do) that the signs are being

climactically fulfilled and that the second coming is thus imminent. The signs of wars and natural

disasters seem to be intensifying in our “day” but it is difficult to know whether they are climaxing.

R E F L E C T I O N

Indeed, will it ever be possible to know that a sign has climaxed, that it cannot intensify further

and that the return is therefore still some time off?)

The signs of apostasy, tribulation and false prophets/christs have certainly intensified in our day, but

their eschatological climaxes - respectively, the Great Apostasy, the Great Tribulation and the

Antichrist - have not yet been fulfilled. Two other signs also await fulfilment: the abomination that

causes desolation; celestial disturbances. And in the sign, the preaching of the gospel to all nations,

we have to say that there is still a long way to go.

F O C U S P O I N T

So, then, the signs do not represent a calendar on which we can mark off a day indicating

Christ’s return. Their intensification will indicate that the season is drawing near (and we have to

watch them to this end) - but as to the question of whether this is happening in our day, the

evidence is far from conclusive.

Cautions From Church History

If we are tempted to feel convinced that such is the state of the world that the second coming

absolutely must be near, we need to heed the cautions of church history. Countless Christians at

various points throughout the past 2000 years have believed and taught as emphatically as some do

today that they were living in the end-times - only for time to prove them wrong and to leave them

rather less vocal on the issue! The circumstances of their age and world which led them to such a

position were as conclusive for them as ours seem to be for some today. We need to have as

broadminded and historically objective a perspective as possible, and not be so blinkered by our

age and its circumstances that we become dogmatic about Christ’s return in our day and allow for

no other possibility. Men have been particularly susceptible to eschatological fever in times of world

instability and crisis (and accompanying pessimism) and on occasions of major date changes (e.g.

new centuries and millennia).


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Both of these factors are operative in our day - and so we need to be especially careful not to be

swept along by the popular but unthinking assumption about living in the end times (mob psychology

can work in the church too!) and thereby become just another example of an age-old phenomenon,

one that will bring a smile to the faces of future church historians.

Hastening His Coming?

On the matter of the timing of Christ's return, it has sometimes been asserted that we can affect it,

that we play a part in determining its date; in particular, that we can "speed it's coming" through

expectation and preparation (2 Peter 3:11-12), and advance or delay it's coming through our

obedience or disobedience in preaching the gospel to all nations (Matthew 24:14). Possibly - but not

certainly. If this was true, surely we would find repeated exhortations in the New Testament to hasten

Christ’s coming by doing such and such, but the idea is found nowhere else - and not even here.

Peter simply alludes to the experiential way in which we bring ourselves closer to Christ’s coming by

preparing for it through Godly living. (Note the alternative - and preferred - translation: “You ought

to live holy and Godly lives as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come”.) Matthew simply says

that the end will not come until the gospel has been preached to all nations; it does not say that we

can hasten or hinder its coming by our obedience/disobedience to the Great

Commission. If we could, then this is tantamount to saying that God cannot do what He wants to do

because of us (that He is controlled by our sinfulness); that possibly the world has already gone on

for much longer than God wanted it to. But the very book and chapter that speaks of hastening

Christ’s return indicates that if Christ’s coming has been “delayed” it is not because of our

disobedience but because of God’s grace in wanting all to be saved and none to perish (2 Peter

3:9; cf. Acts 3:19-20). That is, God, and not Man is determining the date. (It would be obnoxious of

God to instruct us to hasten Christ’s coming and then to Himself delay it!) The same conclusion is

communicated in Acts 3:21: “He [must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore

everything”; that is, not until we have been obedient (God decides, not us). And also in Matthew

24:36; if the day and hour of Christ’s return is not known to Himself, let alone men and angels, but only

to the Father, then it seems much more likely that this day and hour is determined Sovereignly by

God the Father and is neither hindered nor hastened by anyone or anything else. And indeed, we

have the plain assertion of Scripture to this effect: “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God

will bring about in his own time” (1 Timothy 6:14).

Conclusion

Some of the signs are intensifying but have not yet climaxed (as best as we can anticipate such

climaxes); others have yet to be fulfilled. On the one hand, therefore, to say that the return can

happen any moment now is to say too much. (Some predicted events have still to happen.) We

have to admit that it is possible that the return is still a long way off. On the other hand, to insist this is

also to say too much: the circumstances are such that the outstanding signs could be fulfilled

relatively quickly.

F O C U S P O I N T

In short, the return of Christ may very well be (relatively!) near - but it may not be. Beyond this, we

cannot go (as unsatisfactory as this conclusion may be to those obsessed with date-setting or

wishing to impose on us their dogmatic assertion of Christ's return in our generation). The date of

Christ's return remains unknown - just as Christ intended it to be! - and we have to continue to be

watchful and prepared.


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The Nature of His Return

The timing of Christ’s return may be unknown but the nature and purpose of His return are absolutely

clear and absolutely wonderful.

Personal

Christ Himself will return in His own Person. It is a literal, not figurative, coming; a physical, not spiritual,

coming (Acts 1:11; 3:19-2 1; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:4).

Visible

Jehovah’s Witnesses and other sects teach an invisible, spiritual coming (normally because of

embarrassment at repeated failures of predictions of a visible coming). But Christ’s coming, because

literal and physical, is visible: “Every eye will see him” (Revelation 1:7). In Titus 2:13, the same word

(nn. epiphaneia; trans. “appearing”) is used to describe the second coming of Christ as was used to

describe the first coming (verb. epephane; trans. “appeared”) - and no one would deny that the

first coming was visible!

Glorious

When Christ came the first time His true identity was veiled because His Divinity (i.e. His pre-incarnate

glory, majesty, etc) was veiled. But when He comes again He will come in the full glory of all His divine

attributes: power, authority, majesty, holiness, etc. (Matthew 24:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). Because of

this, He will be instantaneously and universally recognised for Who He is, and so “every knee will bow

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”. For those who worship Him, this glorious coming

will be awesome yet wonderful; but for those who’ve opposed Him it will be awesomely terrible, the

complete fulfilment of the Old Testament picture of the “great and dreadful day of the Lord”

(Genesis 49:8-12; Isaiah 24; 34; 63:1-6; Joel 1:15; 2:1-11; 2:30-31; 3:1-3, 9-16; 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 2:8;

Revelation 14:18-20; 19:11-21).

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The Purpose of His Coming

The texts listed above already give some idea of why Jesus returns and what He does on His return).

Jesus comes to do everything that is necessary for the termination of this age and world and the

introduction of the next. This includes: the overthrow of Satan and all his angels, and the execution

of the victory and judgement already won and delivered at His first coming by throwing them into

hell; the resurrection of all the dead (and the transformation of living believers) so that they can be

judged and receive the just reward for the things done in their lifetime; the said judgement of all men;

the casting of the un-Godly (as determined in this judgement) into hell; the destruction of the present

heaven and earth by fire, and therewith the obliteration of all evil and sin; the creation of the new

heaven and the new earth, the bringing into this inheritance of the Godly (now in glorified

resurrected/transformed bodies), and the beginning of His absolute, perfect and eternal reign over

it. In short, Jesus, God’s End (Eschatos), comes as God’s King to end and destroy the corrupt and

temporal kingdoms of this world and to establish and rule over the perfect and eternal kingdom of

God!

“Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!” Amen! Come Lord Jesus!

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The Resurrection Of The Dead

Because Man is created by God, and because the Man so created is an integrated unity/whole and

not a fragmented composite, the whole Man begins life at conception and the whole Man dies at

death - i.e. no “part” of Man is inherently immortal and lives on after death outside of God’s gracious

intervention.

A further consequence of Man being a unity is that the whole of Man, as created by God, including

his body, is good. The Bible rejects the dualistic idea prevalent in so many philosophies/religions (e.g.

Platonism, Hinduism) that the body (matter) is evil (inferior) and the soul (spirit) is good (superior); that

the body is at best a temporary abode for the soul, at worst an impediment to it; and that salvation

thus entails denying/subduing the body, or freeing the soul from the body so that it can ascend to

(unite with) God. This lie has even held sway in much Christian thinking over the centuries - but, as we

have noted, its root lies not in the Bible but in Greek philosophy. Man is essentially body as much as

he is soul/spirit. The body was created by God for Man’s blessing; God incarnated Himself in a human

body (John 1:14), and His broken body and the resurrection of his body bought our salvation

(Matthew 26:26); the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). How can the body be

evil? True, it is fallen, but this does not mean that it needs to be destroyed, only that it needs to be

purified, renewed and glorified. Thus, the Hebraic conception of the afterlife is very physical; the

Biblical hope is the resurrection of the body. In the meantime, we offer our bodies not to sin but to

God (Romans 6:13; 12:1); we look after our bodies (Ephesians 5:29); we glorify God in our bodies (1

Corinthians 6:20); we long for the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). God created Man as a

unity, a whole, and the whole of Man for eternity, including His body; and while sin has meant that

our bodies are fallen and need to be renewed (which “part” of us does not?), God has not deviated

from His original plan.

F O C U S P O I N T

In short: the material is as much part of God’s creation and purpose as the spiritual; the body is

good and intended for eternity; Man is essentially body as much as he is anything else, and is

thus not really Man without the body. Consequently, the believer’s main hope (both now and

during the intermediate state), and the Bible’s main teaching about the future of the individual, is

the resurrection of the body!

About this resurrection, two main questions arise - those concerning its timing and its nature.

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The Timing of The Resurrection

Historic and dispensational premillennialists believe in two and four resurrections respectively, spread

over a 1000 years, with distinct resurrections for unbelievers and believers. (Dispensationalists further

divide the latter into four: the resurrection of the church age, Old Testament, tribulation and millennial

saints.) But these complexities are both un-Biblical and unnecessary.

The Resurrection Of Believers And Unbelievers Occurs Together

The clear teaching of Scripture is that all men - both believers and unbelievers - are raised together

(Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29 [“a time...all”]; Acts 24:15 [“resurrection” singular]).

Premillennialists find “proof” of a two-phase resurrection in Revelation 20; they claim that v4-6 speak

of a different resurrection (that of believers) to that of v11-15 (that of unbelievers). Premillennialists

admit that this is the only text which “teaches” two resurrections. But their interpretation of this

passage is flawed.

• V4-6. The exegesis of these verses by both forms of premillennialism has already been amply

exposed. A sound exegesis shows that they do not refer to a literal resurrection at all but to the

coming to life of believers in the intermediate state. Further, the premillennialist supposition of

two resurrections is based on a literal interpretation of a passage from a highly symbolic book

over against the clear teaching of other passages (e.g. the three texts quoted above) that the

resurrection of believers and unbelievers will be simultaneous - a procedure of interpretation

which at least one other author has noted is inconsistent and unacceptable:

‘The anomaly confronting us here is that one can read the whole Bible without discovering

an inkling of this doctrine (the doctrine of two resurrections separated by a 1000 years) until

he arrives at its third from the last chapter. If on coming to that chapter, he shall give a

literal interpretation to one sentence of a highly symbolic passage, he will then find it

necessary to retrace his steps and interpret all the eschatological teachings of the Bible in

a manner agreeable to this one sentence. The recognised rule of exegesis is to interpret

an obscure passage of Scripture in the light of a clear statement. In this case, clear

statements are being interpreted to agree with the literal interpretation of one sentence

from a context replete with symbolism, the true meaning of which is highly debatable.”

• Vl1-15. There is no proof in the text that these verses only refer to the resurrection of unbelievers.

Indeed, if they did, what would be the point of saying, “If anyone’s name was not found written

in the book of life...”. Rather, the clear thrust is of all men being raised to appear before the throne

of judgement.

Believers (And Thus Also Unbelievers) Are Raised At The Second Coming (I.E. On

The Last Day)

Believers are raised at the second coming of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Philippians 3:20-21; 1

Corinthians 15:23). But, as we have seen (above), unbelievers are raised at the same time as believers.

This means that unbelievers are also raised at Christ’s second coming.

Moreover, the resurrection is said to occur on “the last day” (John 6:39-40, 44, 54. This agrees with our

chosen scenario of the end, according to which the day of Christ’s return is the last day.) If this is so,

how can there be any resurrections after this, least of all 1000 years later? Alternatively put, how can

a 1000 years before the end be called “the last day”?


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Texts That Focus On The Resurrection Of Believers Only Do Not Imply A 2-Phase

Resurrection

1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 speak only of the resurrection of believers. It is

sometimes argued that this “omission” shows that the resurrection of unbelievers is a separate event.

But in neither case is Paul writing a “systematic theology of resurrection”. He is writing a pastoral letter

to a group of believers and addressing the question of their resurrection. In dealing with the hope

and inheritance to which Christians are raised he cannot possibly include the resurrection of

unbelievers (which has, as its end, only eternal punishment). The temporal contrast in 1 Thessalonians

(“the dead in Christ will rise first”) is not between the resurrection of believers and that of unbelievers

but between the resurrection of dead believers and the transformation of living believers. In 1

Corinthians, despite a multitude of references to resurrection, the resurrection of unbelievers is never

in sight.

One cannot create doctrine from a “gap”: that unbelievers are not mentioned in either text cannot

be used to override the clear assertion of other texts that the resurrection of believers and unbelievers

is simultaneous.

Conclusion

There is, then, no Biblical support for the idea of multiple resurrections spread over a 1000 years plus.

The resurrection is a single event: all the dead - both the believing and the unbelieving dead - are

raised on the last day at Christ’s return.

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The Nature Of The Resurrection

The Old Testament hope is of the physical resurrection of the believer at the end of the age (Job 19

27; Psalm 16:10 cf. Acts 2:27, 31; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2). The New Testament continues and gives

further detail to this hope, and shows that the resurrection of Jesus is the pledge and guarantee of

the resurrection of all believers at His return (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Colossians 1:18; Romans 8:29; John

14:19).

The question that begs to be asked, of course, is: “How will we be raised? With what kind of body?”

Paul warns that this kind of question can be “foolish” (1 Corinthians 15:35-36). Indeed, the Bible says

little about the resurrected state (because it is beyond our comprehension) and what it does say is

mainly in the negative form (i.e. ways in which the resurrected body will not be like our present body).

Nevertheless, having asserted the foolishness of the question, Paul goes on to give us the Bible’s most

comprehensive description of the resurrected body (v36-57): it will be imperishable (cf. imperishable),

immortal (cf. mortal), incorruptible (cf. corruptible), spiritual (cf. natural), powerful (cf. weak), glorious

(cf. dishonourable). What is clear from all these terms is that the raised body will be free of both

original sin (the sinful nature, the inclination to sin, vulnerability to temptation, etc.) and actual sin

(“sins”), as well as the effects of sin (sickness, decay, death).

The clearest glimpse of what the resurrected body and life will be like is to be gained from Christ’s

resurrected body and life (Philippians 3:20-2 1; 1 John 3:2). Christ's resurrection will be literal-physical-

visible: ours will be too. Christ’s resurrection evidenced the defeat of death and thus the fact that

death no longer had any hold on Him (Romans 6:9); He went through death rather than simply

returned from death (cf. Lazarus); our resurrection will also never again be followed by death. Christ’s

raised body evidenced both continuity/ identity with His pre-resurrection body (He was recognisable

as Jesus, the scars of His crucifixion were apparent, He ate and drank as before) and

discontinuity/distinction (He passed through locked doors, He appeared/disappeared and changed

location supernaturally): for us too, the resurrected body and life will contain both continuity and

discontinuity with this body/life - e.g. while our bodies will have spatial and temporal definition, they

will not be bound by time and space as before (cf. Matthew 22:30; 1 Corinthians 6:13).

F O C U S P O I N T

What is clear is that the resurrected body and life will be glorious beyond our imagining! It will be

far more than a mere restoration to Adam’s unfallen state: the resurrection will fit us not for a

period of probation on this earth but for a perfect and eternal life of bliss on the new earth!

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The Judgement Of Mankind

In one sense, people are already judged in this life by their response to Christ (John 3:18, 36; 5:24).

But the Bible speaks of a final judgement of all people at the end of history.

The Purpose Of The Judgement

But if we are already judged by our response to Christ in this life, and if God already knows the destiny

of each individual (Ephesians 1:4; John 10:27-28), what need is there of such a judgement? But, unlike

human trials, the purpose of this judgement is not investigation: a judge at the former needs to hear

and weigh the evidence whereas God is omniscient. Rather, the purpose of the final judgement is:

Vindication

God’s grace will be magnified in the salvation of His people and His justice magnified in the

condemnation of His enemies. The outstanding purpose of the judgement will be to display the glory

of God!

Publication

The final destiny of each person, previously hidden, will be revealed - which revelation will lead to

the vindication mentioned above. In particular, the degrees of reward or punishment each person

is to receive will be revealed.

Execution

At this time God will assign to each person his/her place of eternal residence.

The Time Of The Judgement

Number

There are not many resurrections but only one resurrection, the general resurrection of all the dead

at Christ’s return. Similarly, with the judgement (which clearly follows the resurrection: see [below);

there are not many judgements (e.g. the four of dispensational premillennialism) but one.

Time

The judgement occurs at the end of the age (Matthew 13:40-43; 2 Peter 3:7), after Christ’s return

(Matthew 25:31-32; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10) and the resurrection of the dead (Revelation 20:12).

Duration

Scripture speaks of the “day” of judgement (Matthew 7:22; 11:22; Romans 2:5; 2 Thessalonians 1:10;

2 Timothy 1:12). That is, the judgement of all men takes place at a specific time; of course, the day

of judgement may not be a literal 24-hour day, but the contention that it extends throughout the first

1000 years of the new world (during which time normal procreation and acceptance/rejection of

Christ continues) is unwarranted.


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Who Will Be The Judge?

The Father

(Matthew 18:35; Romans 14:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 11:6; James 4:12; 1 Peter 1:7; 2:23).

The Son

(Matthew 25:32; John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 14:9; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8).

The most reiterated and distinctive theme of the New Testament regarding the judgement is that of

Jesus Christ as the Judge. And it is fitting because we are saved through our faith in Him or

condemned by our rejection of Him, that He should be our Judge. Moreover, Christ’s work of

judgement represents His final exaltation and highest triumph: in this act, He judges His judges,

subjugates His enemies, demonstrates His absolute and irresistible Lordship over them and puts all

things under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

The Angels

(Matthew 13:41-43; 24:31; 25:31).

The Saints

(Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:29-30; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

Who Will Be Judged?

Angels

(1 Corinthians 6:2-3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6).

Mankind

(Matthew 25:32; Romans 2:5-6; 3:6; Revelation 20:12-13). This necessarily includes all believers

(Romans 14: l0,12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 10:30; James 3:1; 1 Peter 4:17). But for them the coming

judgement holds no threats (Romans 8:1; 1 John4:17).

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By What Standard Will They Be Judged?

The standard/criterion of the judgement will be the revealed will of God. But, of course, not all men

have received the same measure of revelation. Thus, while God will apply the same criterion in the

judgement of all men (their response/obedience or otherwise to the revealed will of God), in His

perfect justice He will apply this criterion to a different measure of strictness with each individual. That

is, men will be judged according to the light they had, not according to the light they did not have

(Luke 16:31; Romans 1:18-21; 2:12-16). The greater the revelation received, the greater the

responsibility for godliness (Matthew 11:20-22). Consequently, there are degrees both of reward and

of punishment (Luke 12:47-48).

What Will Be Judged?

All things done in one’s lifetime (2 Corinthians 5:10): our deeds (Matthew 16:27; 25:35-40; Romans 2:6;

1 Corinthians 3:8; 1 Peter 1:17; Revelation 20:12; 22:12; this includes good deeds: Ephesians 6:8;

Hebrews 6:10); our words (Matthew 12:36); and our thoughts (Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5). In short,

nothing now hidden will not be revealed (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18; 10:26; Luke 12:2; 1 Timothy 5:24-25).

Two Objections May Be Raised Against This:

How can a Christian’s sinful deeds, words and thoughts be revealed and judged if they are already

forgiven?

If Scripture clearly says that (1) believers will also “stand before God’s judgement seat” (Romans 14:10,

12), (2) nothing now hidden will not be revealed on that day, and (3) the judgement concerns all our

words, deeds and thoughts, then the sins of believers will also be revealed on that day.

In fact, even the best works of believers are polluted with sin (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23; James 3:2)

and so cannot be brought into the open (and rewarded) without some acknowledgement of sin

and imperfection (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

But believers’ sins will be revealed as forgiven sins, already atoned for by the blood of Christ; as sins

already judged by the Father on the cross because of our identification with Christ’s death. At the

judgement we will have the best possible Advocate to speak in our defence: Jesus, who will present

the most perfect and irresistible defence case ever (cf. 1 John 2:1-2).

Believers thus have no fear of judgement (1 John 4:16-18). Nevertheless, the knowledge that

everything done in our lifetime will one day be revealed, and that we will have to give an account

for every deed, word and thought, should spur us on to righteousness.

If we are saved by faith and condemned by unbelief, how can we be judged according to our

works?

• There is an intimate connection between faith and works: faith reveals and proves itself in works;

works are the evidence and fruit of faith (Matthew 7:21; Galatians 5:6; James 2:18, 26). Thus the

judgement according to works is really a judgement about faith. This is nowhere more clearly

demonstrated than in the parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-36). Jesus’ decision

regarding the eternal destiny of each individual is not made after an investigation of their life (as

if to determine whether it merited salvation or not) but is pronounced first (a gracious decision

based on faith) and is then followed by the reasons why this decision is right and proper (the

good works which evidenced the faith are described). Note further: the sheep are considered

“blessed” (that is, they are the objects of God’s undeserved favour); they enter an “inheritance”

(that is, something received not earned); this inheritance was “prepared before the world” (that


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is, long before it could have been merited); the sheep are surprised at their reward (clearly they

were not performing the works with a view to merit but as an almost unconscious overflow of their

faith and love). So, “judgement according to works” is really “saved by grace through faith”.

• The judgement of believers’ works is not with a view to the acceptance or rejection of the

believer (i.e. not a matter of salvation) but with a view to determining his/her rewards for the

works done (cf. the “judge” at an athletics meeting). Salvation is wholly by grace and all

believers are saved equally, but there is a variation in the rewards received by believers on the

day of judgement - although rewards remain gifts of grace and are not merited (Matthew 5:11-

12; 6:19-21; 25:23; Mark9:41; Luke 6:35; 19:12-27; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Revelation 2; 3).

The Significance of The Judgement

• The coming day of judgement means that the history of the world is not an endless series of

meaningless cycles but a movement towards a definite goal, an endpoint which works

retrospectively to influence and direct that history.

• The day of judgement will conclusively reveal that salvation and everlasting blessedness will

depend on one’s relationship to Jesus Christ.

• The inescapableness of the day of judgement underscores the accountability of Man for his life

and the seriousness of the need to get it in order.

• The day of judgement will bring the final triumph of God and His salvation, the conquest of all

evil, the revelation of the victory of the Lamb and the recognition of Jesus as the Lord of all!

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Hell - Eternal Punishment

In a course where all along we have been looking at the Last Things we now reach the very last

things. Hell, and the New Heaven and New Earth, together make up the final state. Following His

return, and the subsequent resurrection and judgement, Jesus introduces the final state, and sends

each person to the eternal destiny revealed in that judgement.

There is a widespread rejection of the concept of hell today, even amongst Christians, and the more

palatable doctrines of universalism (the “God of Love” saves all men, except perhaps the extremely

wicked minority) or annihilation (a “God of Love” cannot eternally punish the wicked so He simply

annihilates them) have in many quarters replaced the traditional understanding of Hell as the “place”

of the eternal punishment of the unrighteous.

The natural aversion to the doctrine of hell is understandable, but if it is Biblical it has to be embraced

and preached like any other. Many struggle to identify Hell with the God of Love, but Jesus, the Man

of Love, had more to say about Hell than any other person. We must examine, firstly, what Jesus

taught and, secondly, what the Apostles taught about Hell.

Jesus’ Teaching On Hell

The New Testament word translated “hell” is gehenna, the Greek form of the Aramaic gee Hinnom,

meaning “Valley of Hinnom”, a valley south of Jerusalem where: (1) the city’s refuse burnt in an

unending fire; (2) parents sacrificed children to the Ammonite god, Molech, during the evil reigns of

Ahaz and Manasseh (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6; Jeremiah 7:3 2; 19:6; 32:35). In time, the valley became a

type/symbol of sin and woe, and its name a designation for the unending fire of the final place of

punishment.

Jesus used the word to denote the eternal punishment of the unrighteous on countless occasions:

Matthew 5:22 (“the fire of hell”); 5:29-30 (that the “whole body” can be “thrown into hell” indicates

the physical resurrection of the unrighteous before their entry into the final state); 10:28 (that God

“can destroy both soul and body in hell” has the same implication); 13:41-42 (“fiery furnace, where

there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” indicates both suffering and bitter, hopeless remorse);

18:8-9 (that the fire of hell is “eternal” indicates eternal, not temporary, punishment); 22:13 and 25:30

(“throw him outside” indicates isolation and separation); 25:46 (the same word is used to describe

the duration of the wicked’s punishment and the righteous’ blessing: both are eternal); Mark 9:43-48

(the eternal nature of hell’s punishment is again asserted, as well as the internal and external anguish

this punishment involves); cf. John 3:36 (where “God’s wrath remains” on those who reject the Son).

But, claim some, the word apollymi (translated variously as “destroy”, “ruin”, “be lost” or “perish”)

indicates annihilation rather than eternal punishment. However, the word never denotes this when

applied to other things in the New Testament: the sheep, coin and son are “lost” but not annihilated

(Luke 15); the wineskins are “ruined” (or “become useless”) but are not annihilated (Matthew 9:17);

Herod sought to “kill” the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:13) - but Matthew 10:28 makes it clear that killing is

not annihilation. We would, therefore, not expect the word to mean annihilation when applied to

the punishment of the wicked after death unless such an abrupt shift of meaning was clearly

indicated in the text. But the above texts exclude this possibility and assert the eternal nature of the

wicked’s punishment. The word apollymi must thus be understood as indicating such, and we must

not be misled by words such as “destroy” or “perish” used in translation.

Similarly, the word aionios means eternal (without end) when applied to the final state of the

righteous (Matthew 25:46; John 10:28; 2 Corinthians 4:17; 5:1; 2 Timothy 2:10; Hebrews 9:12, 15) and

so must mean the same when applied to the final state of the unrighteous - unless there is clear

evidence to the contrary. There is no such evidence, and so this word further confirms our

interpretation of the above texts to mean the eternal punishment of the wicked.


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The Apostles’ Teaching On Hell

Paul says that when Christ returns the un-Godly “will be punished with everlasting destruction and

shut out from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). “Destruction” here cannot mean

annihilation as “eternal annihilation” is meaningless. The word translated “destruction”, olethron, is

used in 1 Timothy 6:9 as a parallel to a derivative of apollymi (material ambition plunges men into

“ruin and destruction”).

Romans 2:5, 8-9, 12 also speaks of the lot of the wicked. “Perish” (v12) is the translation of a derivative

of apollymi, as is “destroyed” in Hebrews 10:39. (See also: Hebrews 10:26-31; 2 Peter 2:17; Jude 7&13;

Revelation 1:8).

And in Revelation 14:10-11, the punishment of the wicked is said to continue “forever and ever” (eis

aionas aionon, literally. “to ages of ages”), exactly the same expression that is used to describe

God’s eternal existence in 4:9! The eternal nature of the punishment of hell can no longer be in doubt.

Of course, the descriptions of hell are figurative: if taken literally they would contradict each other

(e.g. fire vs darkness). But their essence is unmistakeable: eternal punishment.

We must remember, too, that there is gradation of punishment (Luke 12:47-48).

F O C U S P O I N T

Nevertheless, the Biblical doctrine of hell remains an awful reality: it is the final state (condition) of

the un-Godly, the “place” of their eternal punishment. But, however awful, we must embrace it if

we are to be faithful with God's Word if we are to preach the full counsel of God, and if we are to

be truly loving towards the lost. It should add soberness to our preaching, urgency to our

evangelism and passion to our prayer.

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The New Heaven And New Earth

Let us repeat for one last time the central thesis of this course: time, for God’s people, because of

the unique interventions into her history by her unique God, is not an endless and therefore

meaningless repetition of cycles, but moves from a definite starting point, along a straight-line with

purpose and meaning, towards a definite endpoint; in essence, this end (God’s end) involves the

coming of God’s King - Jesus, the Eschatos - to restore God’s Kingdom (i.e. His reign) over all things

(not “heads and horns” but “King and Kingdom”). The revelation of this end brings not fear, insecurity

and defeat but faith, hope, joy and endurance.

We have established the broader framework of Biblical eschatology and outlined the millennial view

which fits this framework and which allows us to overview end-events and their order. We have

illuminated the pivotal first coming of the King and the Kingdom He inaugurated (the breakthrough

of the future into this age to prepare the world and its people for the age to come) and focused on

the climactic second coming of the King (and the attendant events which will terminate this age

and introduce the age to come). And now we look, finally, at the consummation of the Kingdom,

which the King will both bring about and rule over.

From the deepest depths in the section, we rise in this to the highest heights. This is the very end - and

the happiest ending to a story that has ever been or could ever be written. Here, and perhaps here

only, can the Christian, doctrinally and experientially, truly say: "We have arrived!”

The Importance Of The New Earth

The doctrine of the new earth is vitally important for a proper understanding of:

The Material Nature Of The Life To Come

Life after death is not an ethereal existence of the soul-spirit in heaven (cf. Greek philosophy). This

would be a drastic impoverishment of God’s intention: an eternal enjoyment of the new earth in

resurrected bodies. While God’s people enjoy a provisional blessing in the intermediate state, their

full blessing awaits and necessitates the resurrection of the body and the recreation of the cosmos.

The life to come is physical and “earthy”. Of course, this life is also a life in heaven. Presently, earth

(our home) and heaven (the dwelling “place” of God and angels) are separated because of sin.

But in the new creation, there is no sin (Revelation 21:4- 5, 27; 22:3). God dwells with Man on the new

earth (Revelation 21:3), and since where God dwells is heaven, heaven is now on earth. They are no

longer separated. That is why the Bible can speak of both heaven and the new earth as our eternal

residence.

The Full Dimensions Of God’s Redemptive Programme And Power

God is redeeming not just individuals, nor even the whole church, but the entire cosmos from the

effects of sin. His initial creation was spoilt by sin and His purpose with it thereby thwarted. But for

God to now give up on the whole idea, for Him to destroy the sin-tainted cosmos and “escape” with

His redeemed church to heaven, would be to admit defeat, to admit that Satan has the power to

outwit the Almighty God and to force Him to alter His plans. God neither desires any such change of

plan nor will he allow Satan to force Him to change it. Yes, God will destroy the old creation (and

with it all sin and evil), but He will realise His eternal and unchanging purpose - of creating the earth

for the residence, dominion and blessing of His covenant partner, Man, and of dwelling with Man on

that earth - by creating a perfect and eternal new heaven and earth.


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The Correct Application Of Old Testament Prophecies

Many Old Testament passages speak of a future glorious age in earthly terms. Because Christians

have often thought of the final state as a spiritual existence in heaven, they have either spiritualised

these passages to refer to such a state or have “millennialised” them (i.e. made them refer to an age

on earth before the final state, viz, the millennium). But such a practice is unnecessary and an

impoverishment of both the texts and the final state which God does have in store for us. Seeing

these passages as applying to the new earth will open up their meaning in a liberating and fresh way.

Their application and fulfilment become more exciting, more radical, more perfect and more

permanent than if merely applied to a millennium or to a Greek-type heaven.

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The Inheritance Of God’s People Is The Whole Earth

From the very beginning, Man was given the whole earth as his habitation and inheritance to rule

and enjoy (Genesis 1:28).

But, with the entry of sin: the earth was cursed; Man was corrupted so that he couldn’t rule properly;

and he was driven from paradise, his seat of government over the whole earth (Genesis 3).

Immediately, however, comes a promise that the evil that had disrupted creation would one day be

destroyed (Genesis 3:15). Contained in this promise, then, is the assurance that: Satan and all his evil

(sin and its effects) would be dispelled from creation; creation would be renewed (the curse

removed); Man would be renewed so that he could fulfil his mandate properly; Man would be

restored to the state of paradise, from which he could rule over the whole earth. The promise of the

new earth is thus already implicit in Genesis 3:15!

In the Old Covenant era, God temporarily narrows the dimensions of the promise - both (1) the

people aspect (from mankind to Israel) and (2) the land aspect (from the whole earth to Canaan) -

so that, through these temporary instruments, He can, in the New Covenant era, widen the

dimensions again and so fulfil the promise of (a new) mankind once again ruling over the (new) earth.


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• God narrows the focus of His salvific programme onto Abraham and His descendants, but

precisely so that through them He can bless (i.e. save) all nations (Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18).

Accordingly, in the New Covenant era, the covenant of grace, formerly restricted to Israel, is

widened to include all nations. As we have seen, the church, drawn from every nation (Jew and

Gentile), is now “the Israel of God”. Whereas at one time Israel alone of all nations was God’s

treasured possession, the multinational church is now the people belonging to Him (Exodus 19:5

cf. Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Revelation 1:6). God’s purpose with Abraham (through him

to bring salvation to all nations) is fulfilled in the “great multitude that no-one can count, from

every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb”

(Revelation 7:9).

• The narrowing of the people of God from all nations to Israel is accompanied by a narrowing of

their inheritance from the whole earth to Canaan (Deuteronomy 4:38); and the widening of the

people of God to include all nations is accompanied by the widening of their inheritance to once

again embrace the whole earth (Psalm 37:11 cf. Matthew 5:5; Genesis 17:8 cf. Romans 4:13).

Abraham is promised Canaan (Genesis 17:8) and yet he never owned it (Acts 7:5); he looked

forward to the new earth as the real fulfilment of the inheritance promised to him: he admitted

he was an alien and stranger on this earth; he looked forward to a better, heavenly country - the

new earth - and to “the city … whose architect and builder is God”, i.e. the New Jerusalem,

which is found on the new earth (Hebrews 11:9-10&13-16). Canaan is a type of the eternal rest

which awaits the people of God (Hebrews 4:9), i.e. the new earth. Because we are Abraham’s

seed, we are heirs of the promises made to him (Galatians 3:29), co-heirs with the Seed, Christ

(Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:16), whose inheritance (the people aspect of the promise) is “all

nations” and whose possession (the land aspect) is “the ends of the earth” (Psalm 2:8). Our

inheritance is thus the whole earth: Genesis 17:8 is thus a promise to all God’s people of the

everlasting possession of the whole earth!

The things promised to God’s people could never be realised within the limitations of Canaan -

indeed, not even on the whole earth in its present state. The full inheritance could only be realised

on a renewed earth, and only enjoyed by those purified forever from sin and its effects. The promised

inheritance of Jesus and His people, then, as we saw from Genesis 3:15, is not only the whole earth

but a new earth: the new humanity from all nations ruling over the new earth.

F O C U S P O I N T

Three final texts confirm this picture: Christ’s return brings the restoration of “everything”, which

must include the renewal of creation to its original perfection (Acts 3:19-21). Not only Man but

creation itself longs for this renewal; the age to come involves not only the individual but the

cosmos (Romans 8:19-22). The multinational race of the Second Adam will achieve what the

race of the First Adam could not: they will fulfil the mandate of ruling as God’s deputised ruler

(i.e. under Jesus) over the whole earth (Revelation 5:9-10).


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A New Or Renewed Earth?

A totally new earth would involve discontinuity with the present creation; a renewed earth would

involve both continuity and discontinuity. The evidence suggests the latter.

• Both 2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1 use kainos (new in nature or quality) rather than neos (new

in time or origin). Indeed, 2 Peter 3:7, 10, 12, for all its graphic imagery, does not posit the

annihilation of the old cosmos (cf. v6).

• Romans 8:19-22 would be meaningless if the former were true: the present cosmos “waits in eager

expectation” to “be liberated from its bondage to decay”.

• The latter is analogous to the discontinuity-yet-continuity between the present body and the

resurrected body of believers.

• If God were to annihilate the present cosmos, Satan would have won a great victory (by

irredeemably spoiling God’s creation). But the victory is God’s - and this victory will never be

more apparent than when He banishes evil from the cosmos and restores its perfection.

Nevertheless, the earth then will be so qualitatively different to the earth now that we can rightfully

refer to it as the new earth.

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What Will The New Earth Be Like?

Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 specifically mention the new heaven and new earth, and the context (65:17-

25) describes the final state as one of perfect and unending prosperity, comfort, rejoicing and

worship. In addition, there are the other “golden age” passages of the Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah

2:2-4; 11:6-9; 35:5-10; Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13-15; Micah 4:1-4). These, of course, all describe the new

earth in Old Testament geographic and ethnic dimensions but must be interpreted from a New

Testament perspective (the New Testament references to the new earth totally transcend these

dimensions). The dominating features of the new earth that emerge from these descriptions are the

universal knowledge and worship of God, righteousness, rejoicing, and peace and prosperity in both

the human and natural realms (and between the two). While we should not interpret every detail in

a crassly literal way (e.g. believe that the mountains will drip wine and the hills flow with milk), the

‘earthiness' of the final state is unmistakeable.

2 Peter 3:13 mentions the new heaven and new earth and calls it “the home of righteousness”. But,

of course, the fullest description of it in the New Testament (and the entire Bible) is to be found in

Revelation 21:1-22:5. There is no sea (21:1): the sea is an apocalyptic symbol for the restlessness of

sinful humanity; that which threatens the harmony of the Universe is absent (cf. Revelation 13:1; 17:5).

The glorified church descends to take possession of the earth (v2): it does not spend eternity “in

space” but on earth. God (Jesus?) now dwells on earth with His covenant partner, Man (v3a);

because heaven is where God dwells, believers continue to be in heaven even as they live on earth.

This co-habitation (marriage!) is the full and final fulfilment of the covenant (v3b): only on the new

earth are the full riches of the one, eternal covenant of grace received (cf. Genesis 17:7; Exodus 19:5-

6; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekial 34:30; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Hebrews 8:10; 1 Peter 2:9-10). There will be no more

death or suffering (v4a): we will have everlasting and unbroken fellowship with God and God’s

people (including redeemed friends and family from this life). Everything of the old order has passed

away: all things have been made new (v4b-5). The radiant splendour (holiness and reflected glory)

of the holy “city” (i.e. the church), made up of saints from both the Old and New Testament eras, is

described (vv9-2 1). The “city” has (needs) no Temple (v22), because the inhabitants of the new

earth have direct and continual fellowship with God, and this fellowship is not limited to one place.

There is prosperity, peace and health (v24, 26; 22:2). The curse is removed (v3a). The redeemed serve

God (v3b): as before the Fall, bliss is not idleness. They reign with Him - but, unlike the intermediate

state, this reign is eternal (cf. 1000 years) and physical (v4b-5 cf. 20:4-6). But, most essentially, they see

God’s face (v4): the pinnacle of bliss is perfect and eternal intimacy with God.

F O C U S P O I N T

This is about as far as revelation allows us to go in describing the new earth. But we have

difficulty even in fully appreciating this glimpse because the picture it gives us of the final state is

so superior to our present condition that it is beyond our spiritual, intellectual and emotional terms

of reference. For once, we can let our imaginations run riot, and dream wildly and impossibly,

and still be in no danger of exaggerating the reality (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9). It is wonderful,

beautiful, blissful, perfect - indeed, unbelievable, but for God.

And it is not only qualitatively that we battle to come to terms with the revelation of the new earth

but quantitatively: not only is the final state infinitely more than we can grasp or imagine but this bliss

never ends. Indeed, it never has less “time” to run than it had at the beginning! As the song says:

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years... we’ve no less days... than when we first begun”. The

intimacy of God and His people on the new earth: it just goes on and on and on and on ...

THE KING HAS COME! THE KINGDOM HAS COME! THE END HAS COME!


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All through this course we have been examining and working towards God’s revealed end - only to

find that it is not the end at all. At most, it is the end of the beginning - and the beginning of the

endless end ...

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76

BIBLIOGRAPHY - From Nigel Day-Lewis

In a field where there is so much rubbish available, I unreservedly recommend these sources as the

best I have ever come across.

1. Anthony A. Hoekema: The Bible and the Future (Paternoster Press)

This is possibly the best book on eschatology I have come across. It surveys the traditional field of

eschatology from an amillennial point of view, and I have drawn from it substantially in Parts II and III.

2. George Eldon Ladd: The Presence of the Future (Eerdmans)

This book also covers the traditional field of eschatology, but from a historic premillennial position.

3. Robert G. Clouse (Ed): The Meaning of the Millennium (Inter Varsity Press)

A presentation of the four millennial positions by four leading scholars (including the authors of 1 and

2 above), with a reply to each from the other three.

4. Derek J. Morphew: Breakthrough: Discovering the Kingdom (Struik)

This book goes outside the field traditionally covered by eschatology and focuses on the Kingdom

of God as the proper framework for the last things. I have drawn upon it substantially in the earlier

parts.

5. Adrio Konig: Jesus the Last (UNISA)

This book restores to contemporary eschatological studies the Biblical emphasis on Jesus as the real

centre of last things, an emphasis I have sought to underline throughout.


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AUTHOR’S NOTE - Nigel Day-Lewis

The notes in this manual date from a course in Eschatology I presented at the Bible College of

Glenridge Church International (Durban, South Africa) in 1993. Hitherto I had presented this subject

merely as the tenth and last lecture (doctrine) in my “Survey of Christian Doctrine” course. (Indeed,

a summary of this manual forms the tenth chapter of my Doctrine Survey manual.) In 1993, however,

I developed this ‘last’ doctrine/lecture into a ten-week course of its own. It may be asked why I did

this when (as I have myself noted in the opening chapter) there is already an excess of

eschatological teaching in many quarters. My answer is precisely because I believed so much of this

teaching to be unsound; I felt it was necessary to develop the subject in some detail in order to undo

some of the damage, and to present a more balanced and biblical summary of the doctrine.

Whether I have achieved this, I leave for the reader to decide!

I am currently preaching a series on “The Return of Jesus” at London Church International. While it

will not cover the whole field of eschatology, it has nevertheless presented me with a good

opportunity to edit my 1993 notes and put them into a manual - something which numerous persons

over the years have urged me to do.

For this manual I have left the notes pretty much as they were in 1993. I want to thank: my listeners

on both occasions for their enthusiastic response to this material; Dawn Castleman, who was

responsible for the typing of the original notes; Wojtek Kukulski for the design of the diagrams in this

manual; and Kirsten Kukulski for the design of the cover.

I hope that this manual will enlighten and excite all those who wait eagerly for the Lord’s return!

N.N. Day-Lewis

London : August 2000


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REFERENCES

Day-Lewis, N.

Morphew, Derek.

Scofield, CI (ed). The New Scofield Bible. Oxford University Press. New York. 1917.

Scofield, CI. (ed). The New Scofield Study Bible, NIV. Oxford University Press, New York, 1967

Documents

Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things · T3 BIBLE PROGRAMME – ESCHATOLOGY: THE DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS COURSE OVERVIEW Title Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things Objective