Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled?-Part 2

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Has Bible Prophecy Already Been Fulfilled? PART II

In our previous article I began introducing our readers to a prophetic error that has gained some visibility within the evangelical community during the 1990s. This view is usually known as “preterism” which is Latin for “past.” Thus, preterists believe that most (some believe all) Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled, usually in the events surrounding the destruction of Israel’s Second Temple in A.D. 70. Since preterism is such a strange teaching to those of us who are convinced that the matters that are in dispute will occur in the future,

I wanted to spend at least one more article just exposing you to their position, in their own words, before I begin comparing it with what the Bible actually teaches. Therefore, fasten your seat belts and prepare for the strange ideas that we call preterism during the remain­der of this article.

Strange Preterist Implications

The preterist understanding greatly affects events, personalities, and chronologies in the study of Bible prophecy. If preterism is true, (it is not) then what a different view it would give us of the past and future than what we have been led to believe up to this point. If it is true, then what a vastly different view of Christianity it would produce. The following list includes many of the strange beliefs that preterists advocate:

• The Great Tribulation “took place in the Fall of Israel. It will not be repeated and thus is not a future event.”^[1]
• The Great Apostasy “happened in the first century. We therefore have no Biblical warrant to expect increasing apostasy as history progresses; instead, we should expect the in­creasing Christianization of the world.”^[2]
• The Last Days “is a Biblical expression for the period between Christ’s Advent and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70: the “last days” of Israel.”^[3]
• The Antichrist “is a term used by John to describe the widespread apostasy of the Chris­tian Church prior to the Fall of Jerusalem. In general, any apostate teacher or system can be called ‘antichrist’; but the word does not refer to some ‘future Fuhrer.’” ^[4]
• The Rapture is “the ‘catching up’ of the living saints ‘to meet the Lord in the air.’ The Bible does not teach any separation between the Second Coming and the Rapture; they are simply different aspects of the Last Day.”^[5]
• The Second Coming “coinciding with the Rapture and the Resurrection, will take place at the end of the Millennium, when history is sealed at the Judgment.”^[6]
• The Beast “of Revelation was a symbol of both Nero in particular and the Roman Empire in general.”^[7]
• The False Prophet “of Revelation was none other than the leadership of apostate Israel, who rejected Christ and worshiped the Beast.”^[8]
• The Great Harlot of Revelation was “Jerusalem which had always been . . . falling into apostasy and persecuting the prophets . . . which had ceased to be the City of God.”^[9]9
• The Millennium “is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, which He established at His First Advent.. . . the period between the First and Second Advents of Christ; the Millennium is going onnow, with Christians reigning as kings on earth.”^[10] “Other postmillennialists interpret themillennium as a future stage of history. Though the kingdom is already inaugurated, there will someday be a greater outpouring of the Spirit than the church has yet experienced.”^[11]
• The First Resurrection of Revelation 20:5 is a “Spiritual resurrection: our justification and regeneration in Christ.”^[12]
• The Thousand Years of Revelation 20:2-7 is a “large, rounded-off number. . . . the num­ber ten contains the idea of a fullness of quantity; in other words, it stands for manyness. A thousand multiplies and intensifies this (10 X 10 X 10), in order to express great vast­ness. . . . represent a vast, undefined period of time . . . It may require a million years.”^[13]
• The New Creation “has already begun: The Bible describes our salvation in Christ, both now and in eternity, as ‘a new heaven and a new earth.’”^[14]
• Israel In contrast to the eventual faithfulness and empowerment by the Holy Spirit of the Church, “ethnic Israel was excommunicated for its apostasy and will never again be God’s Kingdom.”^[15] Thus, “the Bible does not tell of any future plan for Israel as a special nation.”^[16] The Church is now that new nation (Matt. 21:43) which is why Christ destroyed the Jewish state. “In destroying Israel, Christ transferred the blessings of the kingdom from Israel to a new people, the church.”^[17]
• The New Jerusalem “the City of God, is the Church, now and forever.” ^[18]
• The Final Apostasy refers to Satan’s last gasp in history (Rev. 20:7-10). “The Dragon will be released for a short time, to deceive the nations in his last-ditch attempt to over­throw the Kingdom.”^[19] This will be “in the far future, at the close of the Messianic age,”^[20] shortly before the Second Coming.
• Armageddon “was for St. John a symbol of defeat and desolation, a ‘Waterloo’ signifying the defeat of those who set themselves against God, who obey false prophets instead of the true.” “There never was or will be a literal ‘Battle of Armageddon,’ for there is no such place.”^[21]

Conclusion

The above snapshots should help give an idea concerning many of the distinctive as­pects of preterism. In my next installment, I will begin dealing with specific passages that preterists twist in an effort to contend that their view is biblical. Even though they allege biblical support for their view, preterism is built upon a false, naturalistic interpretation of God’s Holy Word. These are important issues because it is a major misreading of Scripture to contend that major events of the Bible have already been fulfilled when they have not. Such an approach steals the any-moment hope that a believer has in God’s plan for the future and, if carried to its logical conclusion, would impact negatively one’s current walk with our Lord. For those who are interested further in this matter, you may wish to order my book with preterist Ken Gentry, The Great Tribulation: Past or Future? This book is a debate between Dr. Gentry and I on these matters.

Notes

1. ↑ David Chilton, Paradise Restored: An Eschatology of Dominion, (Tyler: Reconstruction Press, 1985), p. 224.
2. ↑ Ibid., p. 225
3. ↑ Ibid.
4. ↑ Ibid., p. 224.
5. ↑ Ibid., p. 148.
6. ↑ Ibid.
7. ↑ Ibid., p. 225.
8. ↑ Ibid., p. 183.
9. ↑ Ibid., pp. 188, 225.
10. ↑ Ibid., pp. 225, 195.
11. ↑ Gary DeMar & Peter Leithart, The Reduction of Christianity (Fort Worth: Dominion Press, 1988), pp. 41-42.
12. ↑ Chilton, Paradise, p. 225.
13. ↑ David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance (Ft. Worth: Dominion Press, 1987), pp. 506-7.
14. ↑ Chilton, Paradise, p. 226.
15. ↑ Ibid., p. 224.
16. ↑ Ibid.
17. ↑ DeMar & Leithart, p. 213.
18. ↑ Chilton, Paradise, p. 224.
19. ↑ Chilton, Vengeance, p. 519.
20. ↑ Ibid., p. 526.
21. ↑ David Chilton, The Great Tribulation (Ft. Worth: Dominion Press, 1987), pp. 144, 142.

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