DOES OUR VIEW OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY REALLY MATTER?
God Invitation to Grace ❧ Part 49
Selected Passages ❧ Pastor, Dr. John Denney
A young pastor once commented to his former seminary professor that he didn’t preach on prophecy because, “prophecy distracts people from the present.” His previous professor replied, “Then there is certainly a lot of distraction in the Scriptures!” God never tells us the future to distract us from the present. Just the opposite is true: He tells us the future, so we’ll know how to live in the present. Before Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection He told His disciples: From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He(John 13:19). God tells us the future to strengthen our trust in Him. He does it a lot! In fact, God devoted almost one-third (28%) of the Bible to prophecy.
Today, many avoid teaching on prophecy for a number of reasons. Some see it as too confusing and difficult to understand. This makes sense when you begin hearing terms like eschatological, premillennial, amillennial, postmillennial. Terms like that make it sound like prophecy was written in tongues! Others see prophecy as controversial and divisive. We shouldn’t teach prophecy because it only causes disagreements. Others think if you teach on prophecy, you’re just trying to sensational – you’re trying to attract attention, or you’re fearmongering. God did not give us prophecy to confuse us, divide us, or scare us. Far from it! All of these reasons contradict the very character of God and intent of His Word. God gave us prophecy because He loves us, and He wants us to be prepared for the future.
This morning we’re going to pause from Romans and spend some time answering the question: Does our view of Biblical prophecy really matter? Why this question now? Because this is really the question Paul is addressing in Romans 9-11. The central topic of these three chapters is God’s dealing with the nation of Israel. Is God finished with the nation of Israel? Paul’s answer in Romans 11 is, Of course not! Paul says God is not finished with the nation of Israel. He has not utterly rejected them. Not hardly! Paul tells us someday; all Israel will be saved(Rom. 11:26). Prophecy mattered a great deal to Paul. It did for Jesus as well. He scolded the religious leaders of His day for not recognizing the many fulfilled prophetic signs of the Messiah standing in their very midst. You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times! (Matthew 16:3, NLT). One author notes, Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day, many of those in places of spiritual leadership today dismiss the many and varied signs of Jesus’ soon return. I believe that Jesus’ message to pastors and teachers who today dismiss the significance of the reemergence of the nation of Israel would be quite similar to how He addressed the religious leaders of His day (Jonathan Brentner, June 11, 2021, Article: “The Necessity of Teaching a Literal Understanding of Scripture”).
Controversial tensions regarding Israel both pro and anti are rapidly increasing worldwide. Sadly, many Christians today anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas. Many do not believe the rebirth of the nation of Israel is important to the Bible, important to prophecy. God was finished with the Jews when they rejected the Messiah. He’s moved on now to the Church. The Church has replaced Israel. Is that what the Bible teaches? And why does it matter one way or another? This morning we’re going to look at: Three Main Views of Prophecy & Why They Matter.
- Postmillennialism – Life is going to get better and better!
- Amillennialism – The Millennium began at Jesus’ cross.
- Premillennialism – The Millennium is literal and future.
All three of these views have a different take on what is called the millennium – from the Latin word thousand. The millennium refers to the thousand-year reign of Christ found in Revelation 20:1-7. Each one has a different take on prophecy.
- Postmillennialism – Life is going to get better and better! This view is the most recent of the three. It, as well as amillennialism, is growing in popularity with today’s Evangelical youth. It began around the 16th through the influence of a Unitarian minister named Daniel Whitby. Based more on rationalistic humanism than Scripture, Whitby taught the millennium (a non-literal time) would span the time between Jesus two advents. The Church would expand and then reign over the Earth. During this stretch of golden age history, the Gospel will be preached around the world with increasing influence. Peace and righteousness will increase until Christ returns. There will be no literal Tribulation period. Upon Christ’s return, there will be a general resurrection and judgment of all people. Where does Israel fit in? It really doesn’t.
For some, Whitby’s view made sense. At that time in world history, everything was getting better and better. Technology, science, medicine, the industrial revolution was sweeping the world. Life was getting better and better! Two world wars, however and increasing violence and turmoil in the world knocked the wind out of Whitby’s view.
Postmillennialism hasn’t gone completely by the wayside though. It appeals to many of today’s youth because of its emphasis in the trust of mankind’s ability to bring about social justice and improvement of the human condition through our own efforts. It also explains why more and more youth do not see Israel as important or even relevant to prophecy. I believe much of the persuasion of this view comes from a failure to understand history and the Bible.
One of the many problems with this view is its selective use of the Bible. It spiritualizes biblical prophecy and overlooks that the Bible says society is going to get worse rather than better before Christ’s return. Jesus tells us this in Matthew 24 (Matt. 24:4-24). Paul tells says, But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NAS).
- Amillennialism – The millennium began at Jesus’ cross. This view is held by the majority of Christians, Roman Catholicism, and Greek Orthodox. The letter “a” in Amillennialism means “no” millennium – that is no literal millennium. There is no literal kingdom of Christ on earth, but a spiritual reign of Christ in the hearts of believers and in Heaven. It began at the cross and will continue until Christ’s return. There is therefore no literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, no future literal tribulation, and no future Israel. There is a rapture, but it doesn’t happen until the very end of the Church age at the time of Jesus’ return. According to amillennialism, the Church replaced Israel altogether. When Israel rejected Christ, they forfeited God’s covenant with them. God has no purpose for the Jews. Modern day Israel is not part of God’s plan for the Jewish people. The nation of Israel is just another nation with no spiritual meaning.
One of the reasons many hold to this view today is because it has been around for almost 1,600 years (since around 400 AD). It was through the teaching of Augustine (354-430), the famous bishop of Hippo, that amillennialism crystalized in the thinking of many in the church. Before this, the seedling idea of the church replacing Israel had been planted in the minds of a number of people through a spirit of antisemitism.
For the first seven years or so, the church was largely Jewish and centered in Jerusalem. But as the church embraced more and more Gentiles, it began losing its Jewish roots. After the Bar Cochba revolt (135 AD), I mentioned last week, the Jews lost everything – their land, their government, their army. The church became predominately Gentile and with it, sadly, an anti-Jewish sentiment began to grow as well. The Jews were seen more and more as the “Christ-killers.” Tertullian, a brilliant Christian and formidable defender of Christianity nonetheless blamed the Jews for Jesus’ death and argued they’d been rejected by God (John T. Pawlikowski, Journal of Religion & Society, “Christian Anti-Semitism: Past History, Present Challenges,” http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/2004/2004-10.html).
He was far from alone. Others such as Irenaeus (130-202) who’d been a disciple of Polycarp – a disciple of the Apostle John, taught that God had disinherited Israel (Irenaeus, “Against Heresies,” Anti-Nicene Fathers, volume 1). Others followed suit (Justin Martyr, Clement of Rome, Ignatius all the way down to Augustine. We’ve much to be thankful for Augustine’s contribution to our thinking today. But when it came to the Jews, he followed the steps of others said before him. When asked, “Why has God allowed the Jews to continue to exist?” His answer was that although the Jews deserve death, they are destined to wander the earth to witness the victory of the Church over the Synagogue (Michael J. Vlach, Has the Church Replaced Israel? A Theological Evaluation (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2010), p. 41). Ironically, they blamed the Jews for killing Jesus but that’s not what the Bible teaches. For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel (Acts 4:27, NAS). The Bible says all of us put Jesus on the cross!
Augustine’s view of the Jews morphed into what we know today as replacement theology – the Church replaced Israel (Amillennialism). This is odd because when it came to interpreting the Bible, Augustine followed a plain, literal, historical, grammatical method. In fact, he did much to restore and clarify a number of Christian doctrines. But when it came to prophecy, i.e. eschatology, he spiritualized it.
What makes this strange is that the Bible itself gives us a plain, literal, historical and grammatical pattern for interpreting prophecy. When God made the promise that the Messiah would literally come from the seed of the woman (Gen. 3), from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49), the line of David (2 Sam 7), and literally be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) – that’s exactly what God meant.
Why is this so important? If God has truly rejected Israel and the Church has replaced it, then this totally changes how we read our Bibles. It totally changes how we view all of the prophecies taking place today about the growing hostility of the world against Israel. It changes the way we see Palestine, Hamas, Iran, Russia. The fact is, God has poured out His discipline on the Jewish people for their rebellion just as He said He would if they rejected Him (Deut. 28, et al). And they are under His discipline to this day (Rom. 11). But at no time has God ever said He would give up on them. Just the opposite. God is committed to loving the Jewish people even in their rebellion (Jer. 36:37). God has promised He would never forget Israel because He has them inscribed on the palms of His hands(Isaiah 49:14-16). God declared in Jeremiah; I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature! (Jeremiah 31:36). Prophet after prophet affirms God has not given up on His people but that in the end times He will turn the hearts of many of them to trust Christ (Isaiah 10:20-22; Jeremiah 31:1-7, 31-34; Ezekiel 6:8-10; Daniel 12:1; Hosea 2:14-20; Joel 2:31-32; Micah 7:18-20; Zephaniah 3:12-13; and Zechariah 12:10).
One thing is certain, you cannot read Romans, let alone Romans 9-11 and walk away thinking the Church has replaced Israel. One of Paul’s first statements in the first chapter of Romans that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first (Rom. 1:16). He continues in Romans 3 asking since the Jews were unfaithful does that mean God will be? Paul says, Of course not! (3:4). Then as he turns his attention once again to the Jews in Romans 9 reminding us that the people of Israel are chosen to be God’s adopted children (Rom. 9:4). He asks again in verse six has God failed to keep His promises to them? Paul says NO! (Rom. 9:6). God has a remnant – chosen Jews of the promise (Rom. 9:27). Quoting Isaiah 10:22 Paul says one day God will save a great remnant of Jews. Then in chapter 11, Paul asks yet again has God rejected His people? Though many in church history (Roman Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox et al) say YES. Yet, Paul says, I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not (Romans 11:1, NLT).
Paul is clearly talking about prophecy – the future of Israel. How did he interpret the Bible? Did he say the Jews he had in mind is really the Church? No! How did he know the Jews he was talking about was the people of Israel? By following the patter of interpreting prophecy that God gives us throughout the Bible – a literal plain sense interpretation.
How does Paul know God is not finished with the nation of Israel? Two reasons. One is God’s covenant to Abraham was not conditional, but unconditional (Genesis 12-22, specifically Gen. 15). Just as God walked alone between the halved animals signifying that He was making a unilateral covenant with Abraham and his descendants, He did the same thing when Jesus went to the cross for us – He went alone. The basis of God’s covenant to Abraham and to us is the same – Grace. God remains committed to the Jews for the same reason He is committed to the Church – His unconditional love.
When we understand God’s unconditional love for the Jews, we begin to make sense of what is happening in Israel and the Middle East today. God said in the latter days He would regather the Jews from the four corners of the Earth to their promise land; Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations… I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name (Jer. 36:4,22). Though Israel as a nation is living in unbelief, their regathering is part of God’s plan to save the future remnant (Isa. 11:10-11). Great trials and tribulation await the nation of Israel. One day He will gather the nations to come against Israel and they will try to lift Israel like a heavy stone only to hurt themselves in the process (Zech. 12:3). We’re seeing this today with the Iran, Russia, China, the UN etc. One day the Antichrist will make a seven-year covenant with them and break it in the middle (Dan. 9:27). Then will come what is known as Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7), the great tribulation, three and a half years of intense persecution in which the antichrist will attempt to wipe them off the face of the earth. He will succeed in killing two-thirds of them (Rev. 12:12-17).
But he will ultimately fail. In their moment of desperation, the nation of Israel will turn their hearts toward God and at that moment Zechariah tells us, Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son…On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity (Zechariah 12:10; 13:1, NLT). They will call upon the name of the Lord and cry out, Baruch Haba Bashem Adonai! meaning, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! (Matthew 23:39, NAS).
- Premillennialism – The Millennium is literal and future. This is what the earliest church believed. They followed the pattern of interpreting prophecy established in the Bible. They believed in the imminent return of Christ for His Church – the rapture (1 Thess. 4;13-17). They believed one day there will be a literal seven-year tribulation, but that God has promised to deliver believers from that time (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10). They believed that in the latter days there would be a great falling away from the Church, people would refuse to listen to sound the sound doctrine of God’s Word and instead turn to doctrines of demons (2 Thess. 2:3; 2 Tim. 4:3; 1 Tim. 4:1). They believed precisely what we’re seeing unfolding today.
