Chapter III.

In my last paper, I demonstrated the necessity of a literal reign of Jesus Christ on earth, as a fulfillment of the restoration of that which fell through Adam’s single act of transgression. I also pointed out that the doctrine of this literal future reign is contained in the Lord’s prayer petition: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6: 10). While the full spectrum of Scripture proof relating to the establishment and nature of the coming kingdom must be left for future pages, it is expedient at this time to trace the progress and development of the “kingdom” idea throughout the Old Testament.

Firstly, we may preface our remarks by saying that the great majority of those early church writers who succeeded the apostles in their God-given duty of edifying the body of Christ (Eph. 4: 12), expected and looked for a future establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth. Even those who held to what many would consider an A-Millennial approach (a position based entirely on arguments of silence respecting the “1000 years”) nevertheless expected a literal kingdom. This belief is preserved in the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 325 A.D., the last clause of which reads: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” The phrase “world come to come” is a translation of the Greek “mellontos aionos,” which literally means the “age about to come.” In the New Testament writings it is generally represented as the age of kingdom blessing. That the early church still looked for this coming age is conceded by nearly all students of church history. Far from being irrational or absurd (as some revisionists have suggested), the expectation was grounded on the hope of the kingdom which would be (as it is yet to be) established following the resurrection of the saints. As Christ says: “The children of this world marry and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels: and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20: 34-36, italics mine). The Nicene creed therefore agrees with the Scriptures of truth.

It is to be admitted, of course, that the germ of all the ecumenical creeds is the Apostles Creed. But since some opponents of the position defended in these articles have alleged that the Apostles’ Creed (and as a necessary corollary, all the others) implicitly speaks against Chiliasm, we must demonstrate their position as both untenable and ill-founded. Such statements as they make cannot be farther from the truth, and are based, in actuality, on shoddy scholarship which fails to properly assess church history. I suppose that no man will dispute the erudition of one so learned as Philip Schaff (1819-1893), a scholar in a position to speak authoritatively on this subject. In Vol. 2, pgs. 52-56, of his monumental work, “The Creeds Of Christendom,” Schaff provides a comparative table showing the gradual formation of the Apostles’ Creed during the early centuries of the church. Schaff’s research reveals that in its basic form, the creed is found in the writings of Irenaeus and Tertullian, two writers recognized by historians as Chiliastic in their eschatology.

Irenaeus writes: “If the apostles had not left to us the Scriptures, would it not be necessary to follow the order of tradition, which those to whom they committed the churches handed down? To this order many nations of Barbarians give assent, those who believe in Christ having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit, without paper and ink, and guarding diligently the ancient tradition, believing in one God, Maker of heaven and earth, and all that in them is, through Jesus Christ the Son of God; Who for His astounding love toward His creatures, sustained the birth of the virgin, Himself uniting His manhood to God, and suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rose again, and was received in glory, shall come in glory, the Savior of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged; and sending into eternal fire the perverters of the truth and the despisers of His Father and His advent” (Against Heresies, III. iv. 2, italics mine). That the bishop of Lyons held to an early form of the Apostles’ Creed, must be confessed by even the staunchest opponents of a future kingdom; and his testimony, as that of others, is sufficient, we believe, to put all such to silence.

Having demonstrated, then, that: – 1): the early church looked for a yet future kingdom; 2): that this kingdom was understood as one which will follow the resurrection of believers, bringing in the “age to come;” and 3): that the hope of the church is in nowise aligned against, but rather in favor of, a Pre-Millennial eschatology, according to the wording of the aforementioned creed; we are now in a better position to trace the development of the kingdom concept throughout the Old Testament. Of course, were such a work done exhaustively, the result might be a massive tome of several hundred pages; and our readers would doubtless balk at such a project as coming from the pen of a layman. In our desire, then, to keep within reasonable bounds, we can only therefore offer the briefest summary of the progressive unfolding of doctrine relating to the kingdom. Having alluded already to the fact that the kingdom’s establishment on earth will mark the restoration of that which fell through Adam’s sin, we expect we shall find the germ of kingdom truth in the very first pages of Holy Writ.

Rev. C.I. Scofield (1843-1921), in his celebrated “Reference Bible,” furnishes an outline of the kingdom which is unexcelled in the pith and brevity of its presentation. Scofield places the first inauguration of the kingdom in the Garden of Eden. He remarks: “Dominion over the creation was given to the first man and woman (Gen. 1: 26, 28). Through the fall this dominion was lost, Satan becoming the ‘prince of this world’ (Matthew 4: 8-10; John 14: 30)” (Scofield Reference Bible, 1917 edition, pg. 976). Scofield goes on to write: “After the flood, the principle of human government was established under the covenant with Noah (Gen. 9: 1). Biblically this is still the charter of all Gentile government” (Ibid.). He thus traces the kingdom from its forfeiture in Eden to its re-establishment under the Noahic economy. As he suggests, however, the kingdom was later transferred to the nation of Israel, where it remains today: for the “gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Romans 11: 29). Scofield writes: “The call of Abraham involved, with much else, the creation of a distinctive people through whom great purposes of God concerning the race might be worked out” (Ibid).

Whereas dominion was forfeited by Adam, and so transferred to Noah; so Noah’s seed forfeited dominion when the nations rebelled against God’s command to disperse: and so the confusion of tongues (see Genesis 11). From that time forward, God chose to vest His authority in the seed of one individual, the patriarch Abraham; and it is from God’s promise to Abraham that we trace the development of theology regarding the “everlasting covenant” (see Genesis 17: 6-8; cf. Gen. 9: 16). It is our belief that the everlasting covenant is multi-faceted, embracing the Noahic, Abrahamic, Davidic, and the New covenants, respectively. The blessings of this everlasting covenant are unconditional in nature, and secured through the “righteousness of faith.” However, the blessings themselves will be fulfilled when the second Adam regains the dominion that the first Adam lost (this is to say nothing of the spiritual outworkings of these blessings which we enjoy today). In Christ will be summed up all aspects of the unconditional covenant; and this is taught in the genealogy contained in Matthew’s Gospel, where the inspired writer remarks: “So all generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations” (Matthew 1: 17). In the threefold division given by Matthew, each cycle of time is opened with one aspect of the unconditional covenant; while the Mosaic economy is ignored altogether.

1. From Abraham To David (Genesis 12: 1-3). The Nation and The Land.

2. From David To Babylon (2 Samuel 7: 8-17). The Throne and The City.

3. From Babylon To Christ (Jer. 31: 31-34). The New Covenant.

It should be seen that the Mosaic administration is therefore parenthetical to God’s unconditional promises to bring in the kingdom. The obedience of Israel under the Mosaic charter is not reckoned as instrumental to the realization of New Covenant blessings (cf. Jeremiah 31: 37), because Christ is the Son of Man, the Son of David, and the Seed of Abraham. He Himself fulfills promises relative to all phases of the unconditional covenant. This is precisely what makes it “everlasting;” for in Christ (called the “everlasting Father” in Isaiah 9: 6) all things consist — i.e., are held together (Colossians 1: 17). That after the promise made to Abraham, the everlasting covenant was confirmed with David (2 Sam. 23: 5), a lineal descendant of the tribe of Judah, and later promised to Israel as a nation (Jeremiah 32: 40), further informs us that the kingdom is primarily Jewish and theocractic in character. Christ Himself affirmed as much when He promised in the “regeneration” to set the apostles rulers over the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19: 28); implying that the nation of Israel will be reconstituted during the times of the kingdom. “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem” (Micah 4: 8). Wherefore saved Gentiles who belong to the “church of God” receive no kingdom blessings whatever except through Israel’s covenants. Paul says so in Ephesians 2: 12-13, rendering the doctrine of “Replacement Theology” futile and frivolous.

If it be alleged (as it is by some) that the nation of Israel has been excommunicated, and that permanently, for unbelief or disobedience, our answer is that such a thesis violates the very terms of the unconditional covenant. “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3: 6). The “everlasting covenant” was that which God remembered when He delivered His people (the ethnic Israelites) from Egypt (Exodus 3: 24-25). It is remembrance of this covenant which preserved Israel even during the times of the severest apostasy (2 Kings 13: 22-23; cf. 14: 26-27). The covenant can never be broken, even when Israel is in dispersion (Leviticus 26: 44). For the everlasting covenant is “ordered in all things, and sure.” We cannot press too strongly the truth concerning this matter — namely, that the everlasting covenant is not conditional in nature, and cannot therefore be disannulled, or made ineffectual by the disobedience of man. While many speak of this covenant as being exclusively spiritual in its nature and application to the believer, it is nonetheless evident that any present fulfillment of “everlasting covenant” blessings presupposes, and in fact demands, that Israel remain a nation before God, if only because the church itself is a joint body of Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 3: 6).

In no case are Jewish privileges abrogated by the Gospel. For Christ Himself, in His incarnate humanity, is the Son of David. The federal head of a new race of redeemed men is Himself a Jew! To deny the privileges of the Jewish people is therefore tantamount to denial of our Lord’s humanity. Replacement Theologians, in order to be consistent, should actually claim that Christ divested Himself of His humanity when He ascended on high. But such is not the case; for long after His ascension, Paul referred to Him as “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2: 5). Baptist pastor and theologian I.M. Haldeman (1845-1933) writes: “No more startling spectacle can be conceived than this: A Jew on the throne of the universe with unlimited power of blessing for Jews, and these same Jews on earth wanderers and sufferers before the face of men” (How To Study The Bible, pg. 254). The remark is well stated; and it reminds us Gentiles, that Israel’s present condition (which the inspired apostle calls “their fall” — Romans 11: 11) is the alone source whence our calling into the grace of God springs. Though the nation now abides in unbelief, the corporate salvation of Israel will take place at the second advent of Christ, after the Gentile calling is filled up (Romans 11: 25-17; Isaiah 59: 20-21). This principle is in agreement with the unconditional nature of the New Covenant, and the Protestant belief that God’s counsel is immutable (see Westminster Confession, II. 1).

We have stated, as a summarization of doctrine relating to the kingdom, that following the forfeiture of earthly dominion by Adam, the kingdom was transferred to Noah, but later forfeited by his seed as well. It was then transferred to the Jewish nation through Abraham, but the headship confined to the tribe of Judah, from which would spring one man, even Christ Jesus, through Whom all the covenants eventually find their fulfillment. Christ being a Jew, the Jews obtain their national preservation in Him. Arno C. Gaebelein (1861-1945) observes: “What had been originally Adam’s dominion, which he lost by his fall, what was promised to the sons of Noah, and which they likewise lost through their disobedience, is now bestowed upon the nation of Israel” (World Prospects, pg. 105). Wherefore Christ is justly called the “King of the Jews.” For He alone, in the munificence of His grace, can and will give repentance to the nation of Israel (Acts 5: 31; Zech. 12: 10). His resurrected body is a pledge of the continued existence of Israel as a nation, in accordance with God’s promise in Jeremiah 31: 35-37 & 33: 25-26.

The basic fact that the kingdom was never transferred from Israel to the church, as it was from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abraham, is apparent, once again, from the fact that Jesus Christ is a lineal descendant of David. According to the doctrine of Replacement Theologians, the Son of Man ought to have been a Gentile! But even the Son of Man must be born of David’s seed, in confirmation of His promise that David’s throne should be established and occupied (2 Samuel 7). The necessity demonstrates the transfer of the kingdom to Israel. And yet the previous covenants were not abrogated, but rather confirmed by the transfer, and by Christ Himself. For Christ is Lord over the creation, as Son of Man; heir of the land, as Abraham’s seed; and heir of the throne, as the son of David. This Davidic throne will be set up during the “regeneration,” when Israel is re-constituted as a nation — and no sooner. For God’s promise to David was that His people (i.e., the physical nation over which David ruled) should have a safe resting-place (2 Samuel 7: 10). For this reason, it is expressly declared by Ezekiel that the everlasting covenant will be fulfilled following the restoration of Israel (Ezek. 37: 26).

It is evident that Christ is not now sitting on David’s throne, but on the throne of His Father (Rev. 3: 21), which is a different thing altogether. The throne of David bespeaks a delegated authority; whereas the Father’s authority was never delegated, but has always proceeded directly from Himself. Since Christ as “Son of God” is now seated at the Father’s right hand (Mark 16: 19), the power He possesses is co-equal, and not subordinate. But when He returns to establish the kingdom, it will be as the “Son of Man” (Matthew 24: 30) — the second Adam. Christ’s authority in the “age to come” will be no less divine, but will partake of the character of vicegerency, even as Adam was appointed as God’s vicegerent over creation (see Psalm 8). That the throne will be Davidic tells us that Christ will also be head over the house of Israel. Concerning the fulfillment of this Davidic reign, it is our position that it was an imminent reality during the lifetime of Christ, and during the apostolic period (at least that covered by the Book of Acts); but that its realization was made impossible by Israel’s continued rejection of Christ. This rejection resulted in a postponement of the setting up of Christ’s kingdom, but in a revelation of His purpose to save Gentiles through Israel’s rejection, and to build His church. The times filled up by this administration are called the Dispensation of the Mystery (Eph. 3: 9). The economy is parenthetical in nature.

Regardless of the teachings of Replacement Theologians, the Davidic covenant was never abrogated by the intervening dispensation. Since the Davidic covenant marks one facet of the everlasting covenant, it remains in force, but can only be fulfilled by Christ, Who is David’s seed. The promises made to both Abraham and David — one concerning the land, the other concerning the throne, and both concerning the people — enter the pages of the New Testament unchanged, as witness the inspired utterance of Zacharias, in Luke 1: 68-74. The postponement of these promises, which are to be seen as a progressive postponement resulting from Israel’s progressive rejection of Christ in the first century, does not nullify, or make less certain, their future fulfillment; any more than the postponement of Israel’s promised restoration following the “70 years” of captivity (Jer. 25; Dan. 9: 2), due to the nation’s unchanged spiritual condition, invalidate the “70 weeks” paradigm (Dan. 9: 24-27), which only extended fulfillment to a yet future epoch, that all the hidden purposes of God might find their pre-appointed place in God’s program to bring in the promised kingdom.

Chapter II.

Despite the fact that Christians of various persuasions have at times allegorized the prophetic Scriptures, it has become generally apparent that we must, in order to understand the Bible, maintain the meaning of language, according to standard laws which govern exegesis. This is nothing more nor less than the science of Biblical interpretation. If we learn one thing from a survey of ecclesiastical history, it is the facility with which false teachers have in all ages promulgated their heresies through an allegorical reading of Scripture. While there is much talk nowadays concerning the uses or inconveniences of a “grammatico-historical” interpretive approach, it is seldom perceived that the true hermeneutic is in fact “grammatical, historical, contextual, and canonical.”

Understanding all too well the need to return to a plain, untainted reading of God’s word, the Protestant Reformers rightly repudiated an allegorical hermeneutic. Martin Luther once declared: “I have grounded my preaching upon the literal Word. He that pleases may follow me, he that will not may stay” (Luther’s Table-Talk, pg. 6). So also: “The literal sense of Scripture alone is the whole essence of faith and of Christian theology… allegories are empty speculations… an interpreter must as much as possible avoid allegory that he may not wander into idle dreams… to allegorize is to juggle with Scripture… If we wish to handle Scripture aright, our effort will be to attain unum, simplicem, germanum, et certum sensum literalem” (Encyclopedia Americana, 1918 edition, Vol. 10, pg. 632). Hence it is with the keenest pleasure that those who hold to the “one faith” of the “one body” (Eph. 4: 3-4) may attest that an allegorical heremeneutic is rarely accepted among Christians professing sound orthodoxy.

However, it is also apparent to many (myself included) that a revival of the allegorical hermeneutic is currently being wrought in liberal academic circles, even among those who claim, oddly enough, to be successors of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. Whence cometh this strange disease? We attribute the greater part of the ongoing hermenutical shift to the steady stream of post-enlightenment rationalism which has, from the close of the eighteenth century, bombarded even orthodox churches through institutions of higher learning. Only Fundamentalism could hold back the onslaught waged by foes of revealed truth; but alas, fundamentalism has too often capitulated to the program of the hour, selling its birthright for a mess of worldly pottage.

Notwithstanding the depradations wrought by academics, there are yet a few who hold to the faith in its original purity, and whose desire it is to defend Christian doctrine from anything that would mar its clarity, or sap its power to save the souls of men. They stand like the seven thousand who would not bend the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19: 18). It stands to reason that the great majority, if not all, of such Christians are they who hold to a literal, that is a “normative,” hermeneutic.

But what is a normative heremeneutic? In the broadest terms, it is a method of exegesis whereby the text itself provides the basis for interpretation. Those who endorse a normative hermeneutic accept as a foundational tenet, that the Bible is revelatory literature, and is therefore to be understood according to the customary laws of grammar and rhetoric. Such a method never excludes the uses of figures of speech, for figures are the legitimate ornament of all human language. However, adherents of the normative hermeneutic hold that when a figure of speech is employed, it may and can be clearly identified. Symbolism is another matter altogether, and is found mainly in the prophetic Scriptures, but never in historic narrative as such. Even so, the purpose of a symbol is to set forth some truth which may be understood. When a symbol appears, its meaning is generally explained by the context, or elsewhere in Scripture. No forced meanings or “hidden senses” should be read into the text.

When the Scriptures speak of something occurring “on earth,” then the student has no warrant for giving it a celestial meaning. There are dozens of prophetical passages which are expressly declared to have their fulfillment on earth, and in connection with earthly things. Our Savior makes this distinction between earthly and heavenly in His discourse to Nicodemus (John 3: 12). But while it might be declared that the earthly is sometimes used as a type of the heavenly, this is not the whole, or even the half, of the truth.

Paul’s statement that “that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Cor. 15: 46) has too often, we feel, been made to serve as a fundamental law of prophetic interpretation; when its meaning, as shown by the context, only involves the relation between the first and second Adams. On the contrary, a study of the Scriptures will reveal that oftentimes the spiritual precedes the natural. Moses was taken into the Mount and shown the pattern of the tabernacle which he should make. That the heavenly archetype existed prior to the earthly “copy,” must be a matter of frank concession. Abraham’s inward circumcision preceded the fleshly circumcision which was a token of his faith and a seal of the everlasting covenant (Romans 4: 11; Genesis 17: 7, 10-11). Seen from this standpoint, it could be profitably argued that the “spiritual Israel” preceded the earthly Israel. The truth is, the spiritual does not always follow the natural; and so to posit 1 Cor. 15: 46 as a fixed law of interpretation is to lose sight of the facts.

This, however, is exactly what some allegorists have done; and because of their methods they have befogged and confused the very meaning of the texts. By a process of interpretive alchemy, earthly promises are transmuted into “spiritual” fulfillments so hypothetical, that the student falters, wondering whether God is not in fact mocking his children. True to their calling, the enemies of God take advantage of this confusion; and so raises its head another heresy, which must be combated with the sword of the spirit by those who champion the literal interpretation of the inspired Word.

After perusing the annals of church history, and especially those which chronicle the “dark ages,” I cannot speak too harshly against the allegorical method, which savors either of priestcraft or unbelief. For what reason is there to depart from the natural meaning of words, unless one is not willing (or not able) to believe them? The priests who kept the Scriptures, for so many centuries, under lock and key, lest any should discover their true import, had a purpose no less sinister than that of those modern interpreters who “take away the key of knowledge” by draping their philosophic ideologies over the sacred text. Both fail to accept (Gr. dekomai) Scripural teachings as fully inspired, inerrant, and authoritative.

This is to say nothing of the diversity of interpretations which attends an allegorical approach. When the normative interpretation of the text is disregarded, too often the meaning is spiritualized in different directions by different men, each of whom feigns to see some “deep” truth never before seen by mortal man. Speaking of this trend, E.W. Bullinger writes: “Unless God means exactly what He says according to the laws of all language, then all positive lines of demarcation between truth and error on all the vital verities of religion are obliterated. It is not merely the prophecies of the second advent that suffer, but all doctrines and all the articles of the faith are involved in one common chaos” (Ten Sermons On The Second Advent, Kregel, pg. 22). It is to be expected, therefore, that when allegorists get hold of the prophetic Scriptures, the end of their labors is to leave the child of God more mystified than he was before. This is not according to wisdom.

Aside from any initial difficulties which the student of Scripture may have, I am convinced that the truth must at last shine plainly to him who humbles himself to learn what God hath written for the edification of His saints. The words of the ancient confession have not, we fear, been fully apprehended by all: “All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them” (1689 Baptist Confession, I. vii).

To interpret the Scriptures is not to pry into the mysteries of God’s providence or the inscrutable springs of His counsel. For “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29: 29). Obedience presupposes comprehension. And this goes without saying. In His parable of Lazarus and the rich man, Christ charged it as folly upon the rich man’s brethren that they believed not Moses and the prophets. “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16: 31). If one accepts not the testimony of God’s written word, then little suasion will signs and miracles yield. Prophecy serveth for them who believe not, but for them which believe (1 Cor. 14: 22).

Although there be some things in Scripture designated as “mysteries,” or otherwise set forth in symbolic language, a true exegesis will clear up the true sense. It will not render them more enigmatic. Besides, in Scriptural language, a mystery is not something comprehensible only to an elite few. Clarence Larkin writes: “A ‘mystery’ in the New Testament sense is not something that cannot be understood, but is some plan or purpose of God that has been known to Him from the beginning, but which He has withheld from the knowledge of men until the time came for Him to reveal it” (Dispensational Truth, 1920 edition, pg. 151). Obviously, there are limitations to our understanding, which exist by nature, and which sometimes render the finer mechanics of certain prophecies obscure until their ultimate fulfillment, when the veil of ignorance is removed (cf. Isaiah 29: 18, 24). But these natural limitations do not prevent us from perceiving the general tenor of even the most abstruse prophecies. Else to what purpose was the prophetic word given? Wherefore it becomes manifest that the Bible is revelatory literature, and is to be received as such. If any man seek to bewilder us with allegories and fables, we must dissent to even listen to him. For we are hearkening to God, and they to their own dreams and delusions. Yea, what is the chaff to the wheat? (Jeremiah 23: 28).

The Bible states more or less plainly that there will be a reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. In the Lord’s prayer we recite the petition: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6: 10). What are we praying for? Certainly nothing other than the reign of Christ on earth. And no allegorical reign, neither: but a real and literal one. We are praying for Christ to establish His kingdom among us. And the vision which John beheld on Patmos, which awaits its future fulfillment, strengthens and confirms our hope. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev. 21: 3). This is the focal point of all prophecy, even the restoration of that which fell through Adam’s transgression. It is the apokatastasis which the saints are awaiting. And what was lost on earth but God’s personal presence? It was certainly not immortality, as Adam never partook of the tree of life. He cannot therefore be said to have lost eternal life. But this will be gained in the presence of Jehovah, when Paradise is restored.

John’s inspired prophecy foretells a time when Christ will come to dwell among men, just as He did at the first; only the second advent will be in glory; the end result producing, according to the words of Knoch, “a precious burden of fruit for all the toil and travail attending the offense.”

There is an analogy between the two advents of Christ which we must not overlook. Both are literal, and both take place in connection with the earth. John says of Christ’s first advent: “And the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1: 14). But in vision he says: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.” Thus he speaks of a personal reign of Jesus Christ on earth. When the curse is removed, (i.e., the curse which was brought upon all mankind, as well as the material creation, through Adam’s single act of transgression), the prophecy will be fulfilled.

It is not likely, however, that this restoration will commence sooner than the close of the Great Tribulation, at which time the seventh trumpet will sound. For prior to the “regeneration” (Matthew 19: 28), there must, of necessity, be a period of intense birth-pains, that the new economy might be brought about. According to Lightfoot, the Jewish doctors called this the “renewal of the age.”

(Rev. 11: 15) “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.”

It is at the sounding of the seventh trumpet that the dead shall be judged and the rewards given to the servants (Revelation 11: 18). Then the resurrection of the just will take place; which Paul elsewhere designates the “manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8: 19). And to this the Old Testament prophets concur, presenting the mosaic of a yet-future age when Christ will come to establish His throne on earth to govern the nations.

(Psalm 2: 9) “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.”

(Psalm 67: 4) “O, let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth.”

(Psalm 96: 10) “Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously.”

(Psalm 72: 8] “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.”

(Isaiah 42: 4) “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.”

(Jeremiah 23: 5-6) “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”

(Zechariah 9: 10) “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even unto the ends of the earth.”

These are but a few of the many passages which we may select from the arsenal of revealed truth. And the reader will certainly agree that these passages demand a literal fulfillment. But those who choose to allegorize present innumerable difficulties. For Christ Himself instructs His disciples to pray for the time when God’s will shall be done in earth, even as it is in heaven. One may well ask: How is Christ’s will done in heaven? To which the inspired apostle responds: “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him” (1 Peter 3: 22, emphasis mine). Christ’s authority in heavenly places is confessed by all Christians as being literal in nature. Very well. Daniel reveals that when Christ’s kingdom is established, “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him” (Daniel 7: 27). What text can be more plain than this?

If it be alleged that the above texts denote simply the spread of the Gospel during this present age, the student must adjust the language of prophecy to accord with the standards of an imperfect economy, rather than believe the passages in their plain and natural sense. Such an hermeneutic would demand upon the student a far greater credulity than one which accepts the text itself as the basis of interpretation. Not for this reason alone do we discard such a method as worthless. Christ Himself instructed us to pray for a literal kingdom on earth.

At the present time, it must be obvious to anyone that Christ is not reigning in any real sense over the earth. And to prove this beyond any shadow of cavil, I draw the reader’s attention to the fact that the kingdom (i.e., all earthly dominion) was given to the first Adam only AFTER his bride had been presented to him (see Gen. 1: 27-28). But Eve was formed out of the rib taken from his side while he slept (Gen. 2: 21-23). The bride of the second Adam, “the church which is Christ’s body, the fulness (or complement) which filleth all in all” (Eph. 1: 23), is Eve’s antitype. This spiritual “bride” and “body” began to be formed with the ratification of the New Covenant on the cross; as witness the blood and water which flowed from our Lord’s pierced side (John 19: 34). According to an old evangelical divine, the blood stands for justification (the altar), the water for sanctification (the laver); and both, when applied to the regnerate believer, grant spiritual access into the holy place, where fellowship with Christ is enjoyed (see Heb. 10: 19; 1 John 1: 7). But the “body” is still being formed, the “holy temple” (see Ephesians 2: 21-22) still being built; the “bride” will not be formally presented to the second Adam until He returns “the second time, without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9: 28); wherefore we reason, and justly, too, that Christ’s dominion over the earth will not be consummated until His second advent.

If additional proofs be asked for (and this is to be expected, considering the opposition with which Chiliasm has been met in recent years), let us go back to Rev. 20: 1-3, where John predicts the binding of Satan. The effect of Satan’s binding is that the nations should no longer be deceived. His prophecy is not about “individuals from among the nations,” which language would best fit conditions appertaining to the present administration. But he says, “that the nations,” qua nations, should no longer be deceived. And we must grant that there is a great difference between “the church” and “the nations.”

Now, from Christ’s ascension to the present day, the nations have continued to walk after their own delusions. They have even, at divers periods following the original publication of the Gospel throughout the entire habitable world (cf. Colossians 1: 23), persecuted the church. But Christ promises to give those who overcome “power over the nations” (Rev. 2: 26-27; cf. Ps. 2: 9). And Paul implies that they who suffer for Christ — and only they — shall be accounted worthy of reigning with Him (Romans 8: 17; 2 Tim. 2: 12). No servant is greater than his Master. There is but one “strait gate” that leads to glory. Hence, there can be no period prior to the Lord’s second advent and the resurrection of the church corporately, during which His people shall be immune from persecution. The nations, as the larger mass out of which the elect of God are taken, must therefore abide in unregeneracy until the second advent. This fixes the kingdom as post-adventual in nature; for if otherwise, the requirement that Christians should share in Christ’s afflictions, would be obviated at some point prior to the completion of the church, and their qualifications for reigning nullified. Christian theology therefore leaves no space for a Millennium of any kind prior to the resurrection of the just, at which time the bride will be presented to the second Adam as antitypical Eve, co-regent in His reign over the nations of the world.

Some, however, insist that the Scriptures which detail, in the plainest possible language, the Messianic blessings of Christ’s future kingdom, must be understood in a qualified sense. Either they are taken as partially fulfilled in the past, or as spiritually fulfilled during the present time. But we have not so learned Christ. As the prophecies respecting His first advent were fulfilled to the very letter, so must all the remaining prophecies be which speak of His second advent. Our Lord did not fulfill the first-advent prophecies by fractions and half-measures. The prophecies regarding His sufferings were “filled full.” According to the analogia fidei, the same manner of “plenary fulfillment” will therefore apply to His advent in glory. Every jot and tittle will be accomplished before heaven and earth passes away (Matt. 5: 18). When our Lord promises to give His saints power to rule the nations, we must not allegorize and water down His promises, as if He were unable to bring about a literal fulfillment, and by so doing belittle His power and authority. For His bounty exceeds all our expectations. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Cor. 2: 9). When Christ makes a promise, be assured that He shall keep it; and though we wait long for its fulfillment, those who maintain patience to the end, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3: 14), shall inherit the kingdom.

Note:

Chapter I.

It is no misstatement to say that Chiliasm lies at the core of Christian eschatology. Even among its staunchest adversaries, its antiquity is unquestioned. Although Chiliasm has had ups and downs throughout the centuries, and while it has sometimes even been branded as heresy, a large majority of the saints recognize that it alone properly explains and interprets the Messianic promises in language that “little children” would understand. That Chiliasm was the faith of men such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, Lactantius, Commodian, and others influential in the early church, tells us that it is compatible with the orthodox faith. It also claims a spiritual power that it is conspicuously absent from A-Millennial and Post-Millennial systems. “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (1 Cor. 4: 20).

This series will be aimed at defending the doctrines of Chiliasm from a Biblical as well as historical perspective. It will take into account advances made in prophetic studies since the Reformation — not discounting, of course, the voice of the ancient church. It is my frank opinion that in the first three centuries of Christianity will be found the purest expression of the faith. These papers will therefore reflect that assumption. At the same time, I intend to adhere closely to the Protestant doctrine of “Sola Scriptura.” The result will be a well-balanced study of eschatology, and one which I pray the Lord will use to encourage, strengthen, and bless others.

Strangely, when one takes a panoramic view of church history, he/she will find that few doctrines have been more bitterly assailed than Chiliasm. One would think that it were calculated solely to arouse the enmity in men’s hearts; whereas the intent of its foremost teachers has been aimed at promoting the three Christian graces: faith, hope, and charity (1 Cor. 13: 13). Yet when we realize the spiritual nature of warfare in which Christians have in all ages engaged for their Lord, such opposition becomes deveiled of mystery. In fact, its existence seems at times the most reasonable thing in the world.

Much of the enmity against Chiliasm arises from allegorical interpretations of Scripture. Though it a fixed law of interpretation that the literal must always govern the figurative (and not vice versa), some have not found it so. The allegorical method was highly favored by Origen, and was admired and taken up by his disciples. Even Methodius of Olympus, Origen’s earliest known opponent, followed his methods of spiritualizing nearly every passage he got his hands on. While Methodius himself leaned towards a Chiliastic view, after reading his writings one must concede that it is very difficult to maintain a Pre-Millennial position when one allows for such indiscriminate allegorizing of the prophetic Scriptures. It is at least highly difficult to prove anything with any degree of clearness or precision. And so Chiliasm seldom if ever survives in a non-literal hermeneutical environment.

Let us note that it was not a practice of the early church to allegorize the Scriptures. Tertullian freely admitted that some of the prophecies could be taken allegorically, but that this was an exception rather than a rule. Irenaeus had already shown that allegorical interpretations will often plunge one into serious hermeneutical problems. One must really ask whether the allegorizing of Scripture is even permissible, when we see every day the kind of damage it does to one’s understanding of the Bible, and the stumbling-blocks it places before “him that is weak in the faith” (Romans 14: 1). In many cases, those who invent newfangled theologies rely on allegorical interpretations because the meaning of the words must first be changed in order to promote their views. With all this nonsense going on, it would seem that allegorizing has a direct linkage to heretical theorizing. Let us beware of such methods; or, at the least, let us investigate to see whether they are sound to begin with.

Although various forms of Chiliasm survived into the Post-Nicene era, it was St. Augustine who put an effectual halt to its further growth. In his work The City of God, he claimed that the Millennium represents the spiritual reign of Christ’s people “during the entire duration of this world” (XX. vii). It has been rumored by many, that Augustine’s theology capitulated before the altar of political expediency; and so a spiritual ongoing kingdom craftily replaced a literal one headed by Christ in person. Obviously such a view could only spring from the rampant spiritualizing of the Scriptures. For it is evident in the Word of God that the Millennial reign must occur after antichrist was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 19: 20-21; 20: 4). Also, the reign is continually promised as a future event:

(Matt. 19: 28) “Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

(Rev. 2: 26 ff.) “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”

(Rev. 5: 10) “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

(Rev. 20: 6) “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

A simple glance at the above verses will tell us that the “First Resurrection” can not occur in the celestial realms, but on earth. For both priesthood and kingship belong to the earthly realm. As a king rules over living men in the flesh, so the priest intercedes between living men and God. To say that anyone can fill this dual role prior to the second advent of Christ is to trifle with the Scriptures. When writing to the Corinthian saints, Paul emphatically stated that neither he nor they were reigning as kings (1 Cor. 4: 8). This is sufficient to refute A-Millennialism.

There is no way one can spiritualize or allegorize the passages listed above. For Christ has clearly told His disciples that “The meek shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5: 5). The earth is not a super-celestial inheritance. To Abraham was given the promise of inheriting the world (Gr. kosmos), and all all true children of Abraham will partake of conjoint sovereignty with Christ when He returns from heaven. See Romans 4: 13. The prophet David places the earthly allotment in connection with the destruction of the wicked (Psalm 37: 9, 11). Our belief is that when the wicked are consumed, the kingdom will be consummated. Paul intimates as much in 2 Thessalonians 2: 7-10.

It is my intention in these papers to show how passages speaking of the Messianic kingdom will be fulfilled during the Millennium, and also to confute the false views that have sprung up within, or in opposition to, Chiliastic theology.

Now, as we begin these studies, let me draw your attention to what I call the “diurnal typology.” For this is really the true starting point for bringing forward Pre-Millennial truths.

Through my studies of the Scriptures, I have found that the seven days of the creative week are actually typical of a larger redemptive week. I have already related in previous articles, that when Adam sinned on the sixth day, he frustrated what would have been a perfect Sabbath, which had to be postponed to a future time. The true sabbath was therefore moved to the last day of the redemptive week. Paul alludes to this in his letter to Hebrews, saying: “There remaineth therefore, a sabbath-keeping (Gr. sabbatismos) to the people of God” (Hebrews 4: 9).

But how was the perfection of the original sabbath frustrated? God told Adam that in the day he ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, he would surely die (Gen. 2: 17). The punishment was carried out on that same day; yet it fell on a substitute – a “lamb without blemish.” This slain animal typified the redemptive work which would be wrought in Christ, Who is called the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13: 8). The skins wherewith our first parents were clothed (Gen. 3: 21) set forth the doctrine of imputed righteousness, which Adam and Eve received before leaving the Garden.

After their exile, Adam lived to be nine-hundred and thirty years old (Gen. 5: 5); for “the law made nothing perfect” (Heb. 7: 19). Moses states that seventy signifies the years of man’s life (Psalm 90:10). But a day of the Lord is a thousand years (Psalm 90: 4; 2 Peter 3: 8). Thus, Adam truly died during the first day; for he was deprived of the number of his years in the midst of the day he ate of the fruit. But it was the first redemptive day. Wherefore we conclude that on the day the innocent lamb was slain, the redemptive week began. The seventh day is the Millennium, whereas the eighth brings in the eternal economy.

Now, Christ died for our sins after four thousand years had passed. But since Christ was crucified on Friday (sixth day), it is not likely that His death has any exact correspondence to the redemptive days. At any rate, since days are reckoned from evening unto morning (Gen. 1: 5), the coming of Christ marks the evening of the fourth day and the beginning of the fifth. This leaves two redemptive days of 1000 years each, until the expiration of the “present evil age” (Gal. 1: 4) and the inauguration of the Millennium. But if we would undertake a chronological reckoning, we are not at all sure where to mark the actual expiration of the four thousandth year. In this we need help from orthodox Bible scholars.

There are two theories of chronology which may be accepted. That proposed by Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656) would make the fourth day end in 4 B.C. Whereas John Lightfoot’s reckoning makes the fourth day to end around A.D. 68. What does this prove? Well, if we harmonize the two reckonings it shows that sometime between Christ’s birth and the destruction of Jerusalem the fourth day elapsed and the fifth day began. Since that time approximately two thousand years have passed. That means that sometime within the present century, the sixth day will expire, and the seventh will begin. What does all this mean?

Let us recall that the seventh day is the missing Sabbath, which was frustrated by Adam’s fall. It must be clear to the most casual observer, that if six thousand years have not already elapsed, then the redemptive Sabbath is still future. It is my firm conviction that the redemptive “sabbatismos” is described in Rev. 20: 1-6. In other words, the seventh day is what Christians call the Millennium. This period shall last 1000 years, during which Christ and His overcoming saints will rule all nations with a rod of iron. This will be the fulfillment, or rather perfection, of the original Sabbath which was originally frustrated by Adam’s sin. It will be made perfect by the Second Adam. It takes place on earth; for as the kingdom was forfeited on earth, so it must be consummated thereupon.

Adam lost Christ’s presence on earth, physically – and not in any mere spiritual sense. When he left the Garden of Eden, he believed the Gospel, and called his wife’s name Eve (Heb. Chavvah), which signifies “Lifespring;” for from her should Messiah be born. Adam later taught his sons to sacrifice, indicating that he was the first priest of Jehovah. Else it is uncertain as to how, when, or where Cain and Abel learned to bring their offerings unto God. It is also possible that Adam kept the Sabbath after his eviction from Eden, as a pledge of Christ’s future kingdom on earth; though it should pointed out that by the time the law was given to Israel on Mount Sinai, the sabbath as an institution of redemptive significance had become forgotten among men (see Nehemiah 9: 14).

It is natural to suppose that as true worship was gradually eclipsed by idolatry, the keeping of the sabbath became obsolote. Jehovah restored the true religion when he called Israel out of bondage; and from thenceforth began the institutition of those types, both sacrificial and prophetical, which would find their consummation in the Millennial day of rest. Thus, it is fair to conclude that the Sabbath looks forward to the Seventh day on earth, to the restoration of Christ’s presence among us (cf. Acts 3: 19-21), in which He shall rule and reign in His physical person.

(Psalm 22: 27) “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and He is the governor among the nations.”

(Psalm 86: 9) “All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.”

(Zech. 14: 9) “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one.”

Again, these verses cannot be allegorized, nor can they be relegated to any present hypothetical reign, such as A-Millennialists would have us to believe. The verses will be literally fulfilled. Our Lord speaks in His parable of going to receive a kingdom, and then returning (Luke 19: 12 ff.). Hence if the kingdom He received is a universal kingdom, then it follows that He shall return to fulfill the prophecies of His reign on earth (which was the scene of the original fall), and to distribute rewards unto His servants. That nearly every orthodox creed preserves the idea of a universal dominion of Christ following the resurrection of men, proves that the germ of Chiliasm is latent in all of orthodoxy.

Scripture gives us no warrant, however, for concluding that the pre-millennial advent of Christ will issue in the general resurrection of all men. Only “they who are Christ’s” will be raised at His parousia (1 Cor. 15: 23), as corporate harvest to Christ the firstfruits. The “church which is His body” (Eph. 1: 22-23) represents only one rank or tagma, which is raised at Christ’s second advent. The wicked dead form another rank altogether, and will not be raised until the close of the Millennium. In the following articles, we hope to bring into sharper profile the mechanics of the several resurrections, and the typological relationship which they occupy in God’s redemptive program.

  After the Flood, however, God sought a particular family with whom He might make a covenant.  It would be the purpose of this family to preserve God’s statutes and ordinances, to function as both “salt and light,” and to keep the worship of the true God alive in the world.  God chose Israel to be that special family.  And so He made a covenant with Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12: 3).

  Appended to this promise were certain privileges of land ownership, as well as dominion over the entire world (Romans 4: 13).  Abraham received these promises by grace through faith (Gen. 15: 6).  The promises were then ratified by a solemn covenant, the form of the covenant itself manifesting the nature of the promise, which is purely of grace.  When Abraham was about to pass through the pieces of the slain animals, a deep sleep fell upon him, and “behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces” (Gen. 15: 12, 17).  Thus the covenant was ratified by one contracting party, making it unconditional in nature (see Galatians 3: 18-20).

  To Abraham’s descendants these promises were confirmed: first to Isaac (Gen. 26: 3) and then to Jacob (Gen. 28: 13).  Subjoined to the promises of eternal land inheritance were those which looked forward to dominion over the world (Gen. 27: 27-28).  During the patriarchs’ own lifetimes, however, these predictions were unfulfilled.  When arraigned before the Sanhedrin, Stephen reminded the Jews that Abraham “had none inheritance, no, not so much as a foot” in the land God promised him (Acts 7: 5).

  Going back to the original promise, we find the patriarchs themselves included among those who would possess the land.  The promises, then, remain future, and will be fulfilled when JESUS CHRIST, the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3: 16), returns to dwell with the family which He chose from all the nations of the earth to be His people.

  The natural descendants of Abraham thought these promises were through the law.  But the law was added 430 years after the covenant made with Abraham, and so could not annul the original nature of the promise (Gal. 3: 17; Romans 4: 13, 16).  Because Israel could not keep the law, they were continually driven out of the land.  Hence the prophet Jeremiah revealed that the land promises are secured only in the “New Covenant” (Jer. 31: 27-40). 

   The promises of land inheritance and dominion are by grace, and because so, those who partake of them must be grafted into JESUS CHRIST through faith.  When all the children of both dispensations (the law & the gospel) have been gathered into Christ, the true Seed of Abraham will return to the land that God promised the fathers, and will raise up those who are joint-heirs with Him (Romans 8: 17 ff.).  The “one new man,” formed of both saved Jews & Gentiles (Eph. 2: 15), the holy nation of kings and priests, shall then rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years, in the city of Jerusalem.  This is what the “Millennium” is about.  See Revelation 20: 4-6.

  Amazingly, there are many Christians today who scoff at these promises.  Some even say that the land inheritance is “already fulfilled in Christ.”  But any Christian with a grain of common sense, and who really knows the Scriptures, can see that it isn’t so.  Unfortunately, the phrase “in Christ” is too often a vague term used by ‘spiritualizers’ to nullify God’s promises. 

   Unbelief in the simple truth that Christ will return from heaven to dwell with man on a renewed physical earth is Gnostic in nature, and perhaps arises from the belief that matter is essentially evil.  The question is not, however, what man believes, but what God has revealed.  Has He promised through His inspired prophets that Christ will one day return to rule and reign over the earth?  If He has, then man has nothing to say in the matter.  The word of God shall be fulfilled in its time.

   Aside from the unconditional promise made to Abraham concerning the land, God made another unconditional promise to David, regarding the throne (2 Samuel 7).  The fulfillment of both these promises shall come in the “First Resurrection,” when Christ will sit on the throne of David in the literal city of Jerusalem, ruling and reigning with His saints, who in that day shall have ”power over the nations” (Rev. 2: 26)–the same power wherewith the Lord Himself will be invested (Psalm 2: 8-9).

  Thus, the two promises–the land and the throne–are the twin subjects of Messianic prophecy, to be fulfilled only when the Heir (JESUS CHRIST) comes into His own.  During the present dispensation, the Lord is like David in Hebron.  He has already been anointed (2 Sam. 2: 4), but has yet to attain possession of the kingdom.  Paul writes: “But now we see not yet all things put under Him” (Heb. 2: 8, italics mine).  The words of the psalmist still ring true today: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110: 1; Acts 2: 34-35; 1 Cor. 15: 25).

   The reason for this “abeyance of the kingdom” is quite simple.  Because the children of Abraham are still being gathered from among the Jews and Gentiles, and since Israel has not yet been grafted back into their own olive tree (Romans 11: 23-25), the time of fulfillment is future.  JESUS CHRIST is still in the Holy Place making reconciliation for the sins of His people. 

   But when the full number of the elect have been sealed, Christ will return to raise His saints from the dust (1 Thess. 4: 16), to transform the living (1 Cor. 15: 51), and to grant all that are His a “better resurrection” (Heb. 11: 35), when the eternal city will come down from God out of heaven (Rev. 3: 12).  This will be the “restitution of all things” (Acts 3: 21), when God will again dwell with man, in the person of His Divine vicegerent, JESUS CHRIST.

In the 11th chapter of his epistle to the Romans, Paul unfolds some blessed truths regarding the nation of Israel. Sadly, the church has often misunderstood these truths. It is the habit of Protestant commentators to appropriate all the Old Testament blessings to the church, while leaving all the curses to the Jews. 

   Then, too, there are many students who would relegate all these prophecies to a distant period in the past, or deny them altogether. But the true Christian should never hearken to what man alone says. His concern ought to be, and is, what saith the Word of God?

  In Romans 11: 25, Paul writes: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened unto Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” 

  When Paul uses the term “Israel,” he is referring to the natural descendants of Abraham; for the entire chapter addresses the question of “whether God hath cast away His people.”  Paul replies by saying, “God forbid.  For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin” (Romans 11: 1, italics mine).  He goes on to say that although the nation is blind regarding the Divine truths of the Savior, a remnant according to the election of grace has been preserved (Romans 11: 2-10).

  Then Paul informs us that the blindness of Israel means the salvation of the Gentiles (Romans 11: 11).   He says that, because of their unbelief, the Jews were “broken off” from their own olive tree, that we (believing Gentiles) might be grafted in (Romans 11: 16-20).  Paul is obviously referring to Jeremiah 11: 16-17, where the olive tree is identified as Israel–God’s covenant people. 

  Paul nowhere implies that the church has “replaced” Israel.  He elsewhere makes a distinction among “Jews, Gentiles, and the church of God” (1 Cor. 10: 32).  Paul simply teaches that, through grace, saved Gentiles now partake of covenantal privileges which were conferred on the holy nation.  He looks forward, however, to the time when Israel will once again be grafted back into their own olive tree when they turn again to Jesus Christ (Romans 11: 15, 23-24). 

  When will this Jewish national conversion take place?  It is when “fullness of the Gentiles be come in.”  As we see, Gentiles are still being added to the church of God, and Israel abides still in unbelief.  Therefore, we have no choice but to confess that the salvation of Israel is yet future.  

   The restoration of the nation will be preceded by a preliminary gathering of Jews back to their own land, and a worldwide “falling away” from the truths of Christianity, which will result in precisely the conditions required to bring about the last-time scenario in which Antichrist will sit in a rebuilt Jewish temple boasting himself as God (2 Thess. 2: 3-4).  Both of these processes have already commenced.  This indicates how near is the salvation of Israel.

  But Paul tells us more.  In verses Romans 11: 26-27 he quotes two Old Testament Scriptures.  The first is Isaiah 59: 20, where the preceding context speaks of judgments to be brought upon the nations at Christ’s second advent.  The second citation is from Jeremiah 31: 33, where the entire context speaks of New Covenant blessings bestowed on the house of Israel and house of Judah. 

  Jeremiah, after stressing Israel’s perpetual heritage as God’s people (v. 35-36), predicts the fulfillment of the ancient land promises (v. 38-40).  From these and the above Scriptures we learn that the Jews will be saved at the second coming of Christ, that they will then embrace the New Covenant and receive the land that God gave to their fathers.  Then will the promises made to Abraham be fulfilled to the letter.

  But keep in mind that these events are preceded by judgments upon the heathen.  This falls in line with certain Old & New Testament Scriptures, in which it is prophesied that the conversion of Israel will be accompanied by a series of worldwide judgments.  See Zechariah 12: 8-14, where the repentance of Israel is declared concurrent with the destruction of hostile nations. 

   Also, read Zechariah 14: 1-4, which contains a valuable key to understanding the Lord’s second coming.  The whole of Zechariah 14presents a vivid panorama of end-time events which are confirmed by New Testament Scriptures.

  Here is a “map” of Zechariah 14: 1-12, with a list of parallel passages for your study:

  Zech. 14: 1-2/ Luke 21: 24/ Rev. 16: 14, 16

  Zech. 14: 3/ Zech. 12: 9/ Rev. 19: 15

    (Zech. 12: 10/ Matt. 24: 30/ Rev. 1: 7)

  Zech. 14: 4/ Acts 1: 11/ Rev. 16: 19

  Zech. 14: 5/ Rev. 16: 18/ Rev. 19: 14

  Zech. 14: 9/ Rev. 11: 15

  Zech. 14: 10-11/ Jeremiah 31: 38-40

  Zech. 14: 12-14/ Rev. 16: 1-11

  As you see, all these Scriptures dovetail together, and cannot be separated by long period of time, nor watered down and allegorized, as is often the practice among Christians.  With the above texts in mind, when you read the rest of Zechariah 14 (verses 16-21) you’ll understand that Israel must be restored at the Lord’s coming, when He rules and reigns with all His saints in Mount Zion, on a renewed physical earth.  Then the times of the Gentiles will then be ended, the beast and false prophet having been taken and cast alive in the lake of fire (Rev. 19: 20).

   This judgment will inaugurate the Millennium, when Jesus Christ will reign with His saints for a thousand years.  In Isaiah 24: 23, the prophet writes: “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.”  When exactly does this occur?  It is after the punishment of the “host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth” (Isaiah 24: 21-22)–after the battle of Armageddon!

   Of course, these verses are only a sampling of the many which confirm a future pre-millennial advent of Jesus Christ.  Suffice it to say that Paul likens the restoration of Israel to a resurrection.  He says: “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11: 15). 

  Remember that Christ told the Jews: “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23: 39). And Peter confirms that Christ will not return until the Jewish nation repents.  Then their sins will be blotted out and the “times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3: 19-21).  The “restitution of all things” will arrive, and Israel will be regrafted into their own olive tree. 

One of the promises which Jesus Christ extends to the church is the right of governing the nations. This is a distinctly Jewish privilege, yet, as believers are grafted into Israel (Romans 11) and through grace partake of their covenantal blessings (Galatians 3: 29), saved Gentiles are included in the number of those who shall “reign with Christ.”

  In the Apocalypse, our Lord tells the church of Thyatira: “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father” (Rev. 2: 26-27).  Here is a clear allusion to Psalm 2, where the context speaks of Christ’s coming in judgment.  Thus, the promise will be fulfilled at our Lord’s second advent.

  During Christ’s earthly ministry, He told the apostles: “Verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19: 28).  The regeneration is the Millennium, at which time the thrones shall be set up, and the servants of Christ reign with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 20: 4-6).

  At our Lord’s second coming, the horns of the Gentiles will be cast out (Zech. 1: 20-21) and Israel reconstituted as a nation, which will govern the entire earth.  To this the apostles referred when, after forty days of instruction concerning the Kingdom of God, they asked: “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1: 3, 6). 

  They would have been slow-minded indeed to have missed the import of Christ’s teachings, if He meant something opposite to their expectation.  But they remembered His promise.  And besides that, they were all Jews.  The prophet Micah wrote: “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem” (Micah 4: 8).

  Paul, far from denying these promises, confirmed them when he wrote: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (1 Cor. 6: 2).  Likewise he said: “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers” (Romans 15: 8).  One of these promises was nations would bow down and serve the seed of Jacob (Genesis 27: 29).  This certainly was never fulfilled in Jacob’s own lifetime.  But it will be in the First Resurrection.

  Now take a careful look at Luke 1: 32-33, 68-75.   These are essentially Jewish promises, and should not be indiscriminately applied to the church.  In Matthew 25: 31-46, the Lord paints a vivid picture of what shall occur when He comes to judgment.  This is not a description of the resurrection, but the fulfillment of our Lord’s very promise made in Revelation 2: 26-27.  After the saints are raised, they stand at Christ’s side, as the nations are gathered to receive their judgment.  The judgment takes place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3: 2).

  Those on Christ’s right hand enter will into the Millennial kingdom (Matt. 25: 34), while those on the left will be consigned to hellfire (Matt. 25: 41).  All the saved nations will then serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and come to Jerusalem yearly to keep the feast of tabernacles (Zech 14: 16).  

  Outside the city of Jerusalem shall be the “lake of fire” where the enemies of God will burn.  “For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the King it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it” (Isaiah 30: 33; cf. 66: 24). 

  But the same prophet writes that “the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously” (Isaiah 24: 23). Such is the only power worth striving for.  And isn’t Christ’s promise an incentive to press forward in our Christian walk?  Isn’t this an incentive to take hold of the Lord’s covenant and embrace the promises made to Israel?  This coming judgment, when the righteous shall be rewarded and the wicked punished, ought to make us pay better heed to Christ’s teachings, to serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling (Psalm 2: 11).  Blessed be the day when Jesus Christ comes to reign.

   In his messages to the seven churches, John the Apostle warned his hearers of an “hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3: 10). This same event is also mentioned in Rev. 2: 22 and Rev. 7: 14. It describes a period of worldwide “travail” which shall ensue immediately before the “birth” of Israel; that is, of the First Resurrection.  It marks the last period of the “sixth day” which will end in the worldwide Kingdom of Christ, when all secular world power shall be put away and the kingdoms of this world be given to God (Dan. 2: 44; cf. Rev. 11: 15; Zech. 14: 9; Haggai 2: 21-22).

  While some students consider this tribulation as having been fulfilled in the events of the Jewish War (A.D. 67-70) a better acquaintance with the Old Testament prophets shows this to be impossible.  As I wrote in my last article, it is abundantly witnessed in the prophetic writings of both the Old and New Testaments, that the time of tribulation occurs when a personal Antichrist is governing the earth.  This Antichrist is mentioned in the Old Testament books, sometimes under the guise of Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 8: 23-25; 11: 21-45), but more often as Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (Isaiah 10, 13, 14; Jeremiah 50, 51; Daniel 4).  It is he who shall oppress Israel during the last three-and-a-half years of the present age. 

  The period of his tyrannical reign is described as “great tribulation” and “a time of trouble” (Dan. 12: 1).  If we go back to Matthew 24, and hear our Lord’s own words, we’ll find out when this tribulation begins.  Christ says: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand): then let them which be in the Judea flee into the mountains [...] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24: 15-16, 21).

  In mentioning the “abomination of desolation,” the Lord is making reference to Daniel 11: 31, which describes the infamies of Antiochus: “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”  A close comparison of Daniel 11 & 12 would inform us that the antitypical event marks the beginning of the “time, times, and a half,” or three-and-a-half years, during which “many shall be purified, and made white, and tried” (Dan. 12: 10).  This period of the tribulation will end in the coming of Christ and the First Resurrection, when “many of them [not "all"] that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12: 2).

  Also, the coming of Christ takes place at a time when Antichrist is sitting in the temple, boasting himself that he is God (2 Thess. 2: 3-8).  Paul must have viewed this as a fulfillment of the inspired predictions of Isaiah, who foresaw the “king of Babylon” saying, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14: 13-14).  Compare also with Daniel 11: 45: “And he [Antichrist] shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”  Thus, when Christ comes, there shall be a personal Antichrist occupying the Jewish temple.

  But before the Lord returns there shall be a period of “great tribulation.”  Antichrist will ally himself with apostate Jews to persecute those who keep the holy covenant (Daniel 11: 30, 32).  It is probably this apostate element that represents the “false prophet” of Revelation 13: 11. The false prophet will command an image of Antichrist to be placed in the temple, and will cause all to bow down to worship him (Rev. 13: 15).  The “beast” is Antichrist, the revival of Antiochus Epiphanes, whose deadly wound is healed.  After gaining prominence through flatteries and deceitful tactics (Dan. 11: 21-24), he shall oppress and persecute the people of God during forty-two months (Rev. 13: 5)–exactly three-and-a-half years, or a “time, times, and a half.“  This is the time of great tribulation.

  In His Olivet Discourse, Christ prophesies unto the Jews (“this generation”) that at what time they see the abomination of desolation they are to flee.  “For,” He says, “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21: 22).   The predictions of Matthew 24 and Luke 21 are tied together by Daniel 11, which places the abomination of desolation in the midst of great national upheaval, when “they that understand and instruct many” shall “fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days” (Daniel 11: 33).  During this time Jerusalem will be surrounded with armies (Luke 21: 20) and “this people” (the Jews) “shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem will be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21: 24).

  Zechariah tells is that when all nations are gathered against Jerusalem to battle, “the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech. 14: 2). He also writes: “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God” (Zech. 13: 8-9; cf. Dan. 11: 35, 12: 10; Amos 9: 9-10).

  These verses are very important, as they predict the conversion and salvation of the Jewish people.  Remember that Christ told the Jews: “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23: 39).  Hence the Jewish nation must repent before Christ returns.  It is the Great Tribulation that will issue in this repentance & conversion.  The timing is when all nations are gathered against Jerusalem.  When the Jews repent, Christ will come, and the heathen will be destroyed (Zech. 12: 9 ff., 14: 3).  Then the horns of the Gentiles will be cast out (Zech. 1: 20-21), and the kingdom restored to Israel (Micah 4: 8; Matt. 19: 28).

   The Jewish salvation is also mentioned by Isaiah: “A voice of noise from city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord which rendereth recompense to His enemies.  Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.  Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things?  Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once?  for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Isaiah 66: 6-8).  Now take a look at Revelation 12: 1-5, and you’ll find this same vision being fulfilled.  The first-fruits of the Jewish conversion occur immediately before the three-and-a-half year Tribulation.  These first-fruits are represented by the 144,000 sealed Jews (Rev. 7: 4-8; 14: 4).  The sealing takes place before the Tribulation commences. 

  These are the faithful witnesses who, like the Maccabees, shall “be strong, and do exploits” (Dan. 11: 32) during the tribulation period.  These have God’s name in their forehead (Rev. 14: 1).  They are distinct from the wicked apostate Jews who carry the mark of the beast, and help forward the persecution of the saints.  They are also distinct from the “great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” who likewise go through great tribulation (Rev. 7: 9-17). 

   This imagery helps fix the true nature of the tribulation.  It focal point is the city of Jerusalem.  However, due to Antichrist’s supremacy over the Gentile world-governments, it shall also extend throughout the world.  “This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations” (Isaiah 14: 26).  World peace will come only after Antichrist is destroyed and Israel redeemed to God (Isaiah 14: 1-7).  When once the beast and false prophet are ”taken and cast alive into the lake of fire” (Rev. 19: 20) and Jesus Christ sits upon the throne of David, the Millennial blessings will commence.  This is the “blessed hope” to which all Christians daily look forward.  Maranatha!

  In my own studies, I’ve come across several “keys” which help unlock difficult passages in the New Testament.  One great truth I’ve found is that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was a type of Antichrist.  In fact, many of the references to himself throughout the Old Testament will have a perfect fulfillment in the person of “the man of sin” foretold by Paul in 2 Thessalonians, and by John in the Apocalypse. 

  The Old Testament prophets sometimes used Babylon as a figure to denote the “fourth kingdom,” which will have dominion over the earth when Christ comes to establish His divine rule among men (Dan. 7: 23).  Viewed in chronological sequence, the fourth kingdom of Daniel is not Rome, as some mistakenly assume, but the Syro-Grecian empire of Antiochus Epiphanes, who was also a type of Antichrist. 

  Search the prophet Daniel carefully, and you’ll discover that the most important “tribulation passages” are founded on the persecution that Antiochus waged against the Jews.  There are clear references to Antiochus in Daniel 8: 9-12, as well as in Daniel 11: 21-45.  Notice that it was Antiochus who set up the “abomination of desolation” (Dan. 11: 31; cf. Dan. 12: 11) to which Christ referred as a future event.  From this we may conclude that Antiochus was a type of the Antichrist who is yet to come.

  Despite, however, many parallels between Antiochus Epiphanes and Paul’s “man of sin,” Nebuchadnezar is, I think, the truest type of Antichrist.  In his time, the kingdom of Babylon held sway over the entire earth.  Jeremiah was told that all nations would serve the king of Babylon, and come under his rule (Jer. 27: 4-7).  In John’s Apocalypse we find that power is given Antichrist over all “kindreds and tongues and nations” (Rev. 13:7).  See also Daniel 4: 10-12, 20-22.

   Then, too, there is the image which Antichrist would set up in the temple of God.  An allusion to this may be found in Daniel 3: 4-6, where Nebuchadnezzar ordered all who refused to worship his image to be cast alive into the fiery furnace.  Compare with Revelation 13: 15. 

   It appears that “mystery Bablylon,” the feet of the image which Daniel saw (Dan. 2: 39 ff), is the true antitype of the kingdom of Babylon represented by the golden head of the image.  The image itself calls to mind the antichristian powers which would hold dominion over the earth.  The identity of the fourth kingdom is not the Syro-Grecian empire, which would be the case were we to view the kingdoms in mere chronological order, but the antitypical kingdom of Babylon.

  It is this kingdom which shall bear rule during the last three-and-a-half years before the second advent of Jesus Christ.  This three-and-a-half year period does not refer to the Jewish war of A.D. 67-70, but to a future period of time after the Jews are gathered back to their own land.  The closing verses of Daniel 11, while containing much that is enigmatic, hint at the political complications of this period, during which Antichrist will “plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain” (Dan. 11: 45).

  This verse is parallel to Isaiah 14: 13-14, in which the “King of Bablyon” is described as ”sitting upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north.”  That is, he will be seated in Jerusalem in the temple of God, demanding divine honors when the Lord returns with His saints to execute judgment and justice in the earth.  This will be the fulfillment of 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-8.

  But notice that Daniel 12 is a continuation of the discourse of Daniel 11.  The angel tells Daniel that “at that time” (when Antichrist seats himself in the temple, boasting himself that he is God), there shall be “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time” (Dan. 12: 1).  This is the event which our Lord calls a “great tribulation” (Matthew 24: 21).  It represents the 1260 day persecution of Antichrist; the “time, times, and a half” of the prophet (Dan. 12: 7).

  This tribulation is spoken of by Jeremiah as “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30: 6-9).  It will issue in the salvation of Israel & the coming of Jesus Christ to reign over the earth.  In fact, the destruction of Babylon is referred to by Jeremiah as the period when Israel’s atonement will be completed (Jer. 50: 18-20).  The downfall of Babylon is also identified as the “time of harvest” (Jer. 51: 33).  Compare this inspired prediction with Revelation 14, in which the harvest of the earth takes place with the downfall of Babylon (Rev. 14: 8).  While the prophets said many things regarding Nebuchadnezzar, the great bulk of their predictions refer to Antichrist and his kingdom.

  So, when Antichrist causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease, and demands divine honors, that is the sign and signal by which the Jews who are left in Jerusalem are bidden to flee (Matt. 24: 14-18).  For then the last half of Daniel’s week will commence, the “time of trouble” being ”such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” 

   No serious student of prophecy would maintain that this was fulfilled in the Jewish War of A.D. 67-70.  For there was no personal “antichrist” from which to flee, nor were the Jews ever converted and re-established in their own land.  Nor was there any resurrection of the dead (Dan. 12: 2).  Nor was there any cessation of the persecutions wrought upon the church by Rome, which would have occurred had Christ come at that time (Dan. 7: 27).

  The mistake comes from a faulty interpetation of Matthew 24: 34.  The phrase “this generation” does not mean ‘the people now living on the earth,’ but “The Jews.”  See Deuteronomy 32: 5, 20; Jeremiah 2: 31, 7: 29; Acts 2: 40.  It is an undeniable fact, that whenever Christ used the phrase “this generation,” it always carried a distinctly Jewish reference.  When He alludes to “this generation” not passing away, He is referring to Jeremiah 31: 35-36, in which the Jewish nation is declared co-extensive with the “heavens and earth” (cf. Matt. 24: 35).

  Ezekiel also makes mention of the times of Antichrist in his prophecies regarding Tyre and Zidon (Ezekiel 28). Note that after the persecuting power is destroyed, Israel shall be sanctified in the sight of the heathen and regathered into their own land.  “And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God” (Ezek. 28: 26).

  What else, then, does the downfall of Daniel’s “fourth kingdom” imply but the cessation of all persecuting power and the establishment of the worldwide kingdom of God?  I think if we study these matters in greater depth, we’ll agree that there must come a time when things get worse before they become better.  But they will get better; and it is that which makes Christ’s second coming our “blessed hope” (Titus 2: 13).  Paying heed to the signs of the times is needful in all events.  And there is nothing better that can help us in this department than a closer study of the Old Testament prophets. 

  A look at the prophecies of Daniel will clarify this.  In Daniel 7, the prophet envisions a setting up of thrones previous to the destruction of the fourth beast.  “I was looking till the thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days did sit, Whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire” (Dan. 7: 9).

  Compare with Revelation 4.  Here is a fulfillment of Daniel’s vision.  The thrones are set up not at the ascension, but immediately before the judgments break forth upon the whole earth, which will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.  The book with seven seals (Rev. 5: 1) contains these judgments, which are sealed up till the time of the end (Dan. 12: 4); the “end” being the last week of Daniel, which will occupy a duration of seven years.  So, the thrones are evidently put in place at the commencement of Daniel’s seventieth week.

  The prophet Daniel lends fresh confirmation to this view.  In Dan. 7: 10, the “judgment is set, and the books are opened.”  Once again, compare with Revelation 4 and 5, in which we see a judgment being set, and a scroll containing judgments being opened.  In John’s Apocalypse, this is expressed as an event future in time from when the apostle wrote.  It is an event to take place “hereafter” (Rev. 4: 1). 

  Daniel again describes the purpose for which the thrones are set up.  It is for judgment.  These thrones are the fulfillment of Christ’s promise in Matt. 19: 28, in which the apostles will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  The temporal judgments contained in the seven-sealed scroll issue in the destruction of the fourth beast and the inauguration of the worldwide kingdom of Jesus Christ (Dan. 7: 11 ff).  In the Apocaylpse, the Millennium commences after the beast and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 19: 20, 20: 4).

 Thus, it is evident that the thrones are prepared seven years before the Lord’s advent.  But the judicial reign of the saints over all the earth will take place after the destruction of Antichrist and the false prophet, when Satan has been cast into the bottomless pit, and a seal placed over him, that he sould deceive the nations no more (Rev. 20: 1-2). 

  Now, these facts match the chronology of Daniel’s vision, in which Christ’s glorious kingdom commences once the beast is given to the burning flame (Dan. 7: 11 ff).  Everyone knows that the “fourth beast” of Daniel is identical to the persecuting power described in Revelation 13.  When the Lord destroys the beast, the saints will reign on earth with Him (Rev. 5: 10).  The judicial scene depicted in Revelation 4 & 5 simply announces that the court of judgment is set, and the time of the end has come.

  Incidentally, I should say that I agree with most preterists in that the Apocalyptic judgments occupy a brief duration–seven years, according to my understanding.  It may also be true that the focal point of the events is the city of Jerusalem. This is intimated in several portions of the Apocalypse–most notably chapters 11 & 14.

   However, it is equally obvious that the events are worldwide in nature, and so cannot have been fulfilled in A.D. 70.  The tribulation is delineated as an “hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3: 10).  When the vials of wrath are poured out, the “cities of the nations” will fall (Rev. 16: 19).  The “time of trouble” (travail) will issue in the first resurrection (Dan. 12: 1-2; Rev. 20: 5-6).  Thus, any restriction of the Apocalypse to the events of the Jewish war in A.D. 67-70 qualifies as unsound exegesis.

  Indeed, a closer study of the judicial scenes outlined in Daniel and Revelation will give us deeper insight into the Apocalyptic message, informing us what end-time phenemonena await fulfillment.  Just remember that the thrones are set up shortly before the Great Tribulation, and that their judicial occupation will commence when the Lord returns to replace all secular world government with the “kingdom of God.” These truths may be used as keys to unlock the real meaning of other prophetic texts.