The Case for the Premillennial View of Prophecy – Program 3

By: Dr. Norman Geisler; ©1993

Why does the premillennial view of history best fit what the New Testament says about end time events?

Contents

The Premillennial View in the New Testament

Introduction

God has placed a huge amount of prophetic information in the Bible. Of the Bible’s 31,124 total verses, 8,352, or 27% of the entire Bible is devoted to prophecy. God says He declares future events in the Bible so that people will know that He exists. God told Isaiah, “Who foretold this long ago? Who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord,… I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come… what I have said, that will I bring about.” [Isa. 45:21-22]

Jesus rebuked His disciples for not studying and believing in prophecy when He said, “How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” [Luke 24:25] Concerning future events Jesus commanded, “What I say to you, I say to everyone, watch! I have told you everything ahead of time.” [Mark 13:23]

But many Christians find it hard to study biblical prophecy. They say it is like trying to put together a big puzzle that has thousands of little pieces and they don’t know how to put the pieces together. What is needed is something like the box cover of a puzzle that shows the big overall picture so that one can fit the small, prophetic events into place. But does a big picture exist?

Biblical scholars and Christians down through the ages have agreed that there are only three views or outlines that give the big picture. All agree that one of these three views is correct. But which one? Today you will learn what these three views are and whether or not there is evidence that supports them.

John’s guest is Dr. Norman Geisler, dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Geisler is professor of theology and apologetics and the author of 45 books, including the widely read General Introduction to the Bible, When Skeptics Ask and When Critics Ask. We invite you to join us.

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Ankerberg: Welcome to our program. Every Christian who opens his Bible and begins to study prophecy must choose one of three different overall views. The first is the belief that Jesus Christ will return bodily to earth and will reign from Jerusalem over the whole world. This view is called premillennialism. Amillennialism says there will be no millennium. Postmillennialists believe the church will bring in the millennium and then Christ will return after. It is my contention that whatever view you pick, your view should be based on and drawn from the biblical evidence itself.

Today, my guest is Dr. Norman Geisler, who is currently dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also professor of theology and apologetics. To begin, what difference does it make whether you are premillennial, amillennial, or postmillennial in your view? Dr. Geisler explains:

Geisler: Premillennialism sets up the stage for understanding all the rest of prophecy. If Jesus is going to come back literally and reign for a thousand years on this earth, as premillennialists say, then it makes sense to talk about a literal Tribulation, seven year period just before Jesus comes back.

It makes sense to talk about a literal Antichrist, a man who will sit in the temple of God in Jerusalem, a literal temple rebuilt, claiming that he is the Christ and asking people to worship him.

It makes sense to talk about a rapture, that Jesus is going to come and take away His Church from this world. All of this makes sense if the premillennial view is correct. And we’ve seen there is a biblical basis in the Old Testament, the New Testament, the early Church in a sound literal hermeneutic for believing in premillennialism.

Now when we pick up the Bible and come to the book of Revelation we don’t have to say, “Well, this is all spiritual. This is all symbolic. You can’t take it literally.” When it says Jesus is going to come back and set up a kingdom, it says He’s going to come and judge the nations in Revelation 19, you can take it literally. When it says there’s going to be an Antichrist and people are going to get 666 written on their hand or their forehead, if they don’t worship the Antichrist their heads are going to be cut off, there’s no reason not to take this literally, because prophecy is literal.

And as premillennialism is literally true, so it is literally true that there will be a Tribulation, a seven year period of tribulation before Christ returns; it is literally true there will be an Antichrist who has ten nations organized together in Europe who literally makes a seven year treaty with the Jewish people that they can build their temple, offer sacrifices in their temple, who literally breaks that halfway through, sits in the temple of God saying he is God. You can take all of this literally. The rest of prophecy make sense. All of these details, once you get the broad picture as being literal, there’s no reason why the details shouldn’t be understood that way as well.

Now, we’ve already seen from the Old Testament that God made an unconditional land promise to Israel to give them the whole land of Palestine forever. They have never had it. But they will when Christ returns. We’ve already seen from the Old Testament that the Messiah, Son of David, is going to come and reign on a throne in Jerusalem forever. This has never happened, but it will according to premillennialism.

Now, let’s take a look at the arguments from the New Testament that show that premillennialism is still true, that there’s still a literal national future for Israel. One of the indications that the premillennial view is correct is that these were not just Old Testament predictions that were somehow fulfilled spiritually in the Church, but in the New Testament they are still looking forward to a literal Davidic Kingdom and a literal restoration of Israel to the land.

In Matthew 21:5 and following, Jesus was called the Son of David on Palm Sunday when He came into Jerusalem. He has never fulfilled the predictions about being the Son of David reigning on a throne, and if God can be trusted, He will someday fulfill these. His own claim to be the Messiah in Matthew 22 was that He was the Son of David as well as David’s Lord.

One of the strongest passages in the New Testament that there will be a literal future for Israel and that Jesus will return and reign on a throne is found in Matthew 19:28: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’” Jesus is not talking about a spiritual fulfillment in the Church, it’s talking about the 12 apostles sitting on 12 thrones with Him in Jerusalem judging the 12 tribes of Israel. This is a strong New Testament indication that Jesus is going to come back and literally reign here in this world. This is a premillennial view in contrast to the view that the Church is spiritual Israel and there is no national future for Old Testament literal Israel.

In order to show this emphatically, the very last thing Jesus said before He left this world was recorded in Acts 1. Now, you would think that the last thing Jesus said on earth would be something very important, and guess what it was about – premillennialism. In Acts 1:6: “Therefore, when they [the disciples] had come together, they asked him saying, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” He’s been with them for three and a half years. If the amillennialists were right, He should have said to them, “Look, guys, I’ve been telling you for three and a half years, there’s not going to be any kingdom for Israel. Have I wasted all my effort for three and a half years? He should have rebuked them. Instead, what did Jesus say? He said, “There will be a kingdom for Israel. Not now. There’s something else we have to do first.”

Listen to His answer. “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” God knows. God has a future for them. Their future is as secure as God is. It’s as eternal as God is eternal. But here’s what I want you to do in the meantime. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [Acts 1:7-8] In other words, Jesus, before He left this world, reiterated there will be a Kingdom for Israel, it will sure come, but in the meantime let’s preach the Gospel to all the world.

Ankerberg: Next, we’re going to look at one of the strongest and clearest passages in the New Testament that proves God still has future plans for Israel, is Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11. Dr. Geisler explains:

Geisler: Romans chapters 9 through 11 is one of the greatest passages in the New Testament that there will be a literal future for Israel. Romans 9 is about Israel’s past, Romans 10 about Israel’s present, and Romans 11 about Israel’s future. Now, notice He’s talking here about literal Israel.

Romans 9:3-4: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” What could be more clear? He’s talking about literal, physical Israel. He says, “who are Israelites to whom pertains the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God and the promises.” All of these things indicate that he’s talking about the nation of Israel.

Now notice Chapter 10. He says in verse 1: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” Talking about Israel in the present. Then he gets to the future. Is there any future for Israel? Chapter 11, verse 1: “I say then, has God cast off his people? Certainly not.” Perish the thought. God forbid. God can’t cast off His people anymore than He can cease being God, that He can break an unconditional promise. And then he goes on to say that there will be a future for Israel. Verse 15: “For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” If they were set aside and the Gentiles were brought in, how much more will they be brought back in.

And then in verse 24 he says, “How much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree.” Israel is going to be re-grafted in. It will be restored to their land and it says in the end of verse 25 that hardening of heart has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and so all Israel will be saved as it is written.”

God promised not only in the Old Testament there would be a literal future for Israel, but even after Jesus came, established the Church, Romans 9-11 makes it very clear there is still going to be a future for Israel and the amill and the post-mill view cannot handle seriously this passage because they totally ignore the fact that teaches a literal national future for Israel in Romans 11.

Ankerberg: Up to this point, we have not given you any verses from the book of Revelation. That might surprise you. But some of the strongest passages in the Bible presenting the view that Jesus Christ will physically and bodily return to earth, establish His millennial kingdom, and will rule for 1,000 years, is found in this book. Dr. Geisler now presents that evidence. Listen:

Geisler: Not only do we have an indication that there will be a literal future for Israel, as premills say, in the book of Romans and in the Gospels but we have an indication in the very last book of the Bible that there is still going to be a literal future for Israel. It talks about 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, Revelation 7:4: “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.” What could be more clear? He names the 12 tribes. The word tribe is never used spiritually in the Bible. It always refers to a literal tribe.

And now we’re talking about the future after Jesus was here. The future time period when Jesus is going to return to earth again. It says there will be 144,000 Jews who will be set aside during this time of tribulation before Jesus returns to earth.

He reiterates that in Revelation 14, because it says there in verse 3, “And they sang as it were a new song before the throne before the four living creatures and the elders and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth.”

In Chapter 11 it talks about a literal temple that is going to be restored. It says, “And I was given a reed like a measuring rod and the angel stood saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there but leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles that they will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months.’”

There’s going to be a literal temple in a literal city of Jerusalem, literally 144,000 people from the 12 tribes of Israel, this the last book of the Bible. To make a long story short, we have seen that from Genesis 12 to Revelation 20 actually, when He talks about coming back and reigning on a throne for a thousand years, we have the story of a literal fulfillment of prophecy with a Messiah coming before a 1,000-year reign, period of reigning, for that entire period of time.

Ankerberg: Now next, we will examine a very important passage concerning the millennium. It is Revelation 20, where six different times the apostle John refers to this 1,000 year period of time. As you know, millennium means 1,000 years. Now, the question that needs to be answered here is, why should a Christian interpret the information in Revelation 20 literally instead of spiritually or allegorically? Dr. Geisler tells us why.

Geisler: The capstone of all of the premill passages in the Bible is in Revelation 20. Here it says emphatically what we did not know up to this point: how long a period it would be that Christ would reign before the Eternal Kingdom emerged. Revelation 20 says that Christ will reign for 1,000 years. Beginning with verse 1 it says, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old who is the Devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones and they that sat on them and judgment was committed to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and the word of God who would not worship the beast nor his image, had not received his mark on their forehead or on their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

Verse 7: “Now when the thousand years have expired….” Now, why did I emphasize thousand years? Because some people say, “Well, there’s only one passage in the Bible that mentions 1,000 years and it’s to be used spiritually. It mentions it six times. How many times does God have to say it before it’s true? Six times over and over He said there would be a 1,000 year reign. The first resurrection will occur before the 1,000 years. Christ will reign 1,000 years. The second resurrection of the lost after the 1,000 years. They will be judged before the Great White Throne.

The Bible teaches literally from Genesis 12 to Revelation 20 premillennialism: Christ coming bodily back to earth fulfilling the promises to be the Son of David, reigning on a throne in Jerusalem, the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and his descendants that the Jews would be back in their land and would have that land forever.

If you are not a premillennialist, you are not taking the Bible seriously. If you are not a premillennialist, you are neglecting much of prophecy in the Old Testament, the very words of Jesus in the New Testament, the apostle Paul in Romans 11, and the apostle John in Revelation 20. The Bible from Genesis to Revelation teaches premillennialism.

Ankerberg: Nnow, also in Revelation 20, many people want to know more about the two resurrections mentioned there. What do they mean? Can they be spiritualized/allegorized, or should they be taken literally? If they’re taken literally, what do they refer to? Listen:

Geisler: Now let me be as clear as I possibly can. It refers to 1,000 years here. A thousand years means millennium. We are pre-millennialists. Pre means before. That means Christ is going to come before the 1,000 year period. That’s why we’re called pre-millennialists.

Now, notice very carefully that it says the 1,000 years have bookends, the first of which is the first resurrection, before the 1,000 years, and the last of which is the second resurrection, after the 1,000 years.

Who comes in the first resurrection? Read it carefully. It says “in the first resurrection, blessed and holy who has part in it. Over such the second death has no power. They shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Believers. Priests. Those who are saved get resurrected in the first resurrection, before the millennium. That’s how we’re able to reign with Him during the millennium.

The rest of the dead, the unsaved, stay in hell for the 1,000 years. At the end of the 1,000 years, in the very words of Scripture, Revelation 20:5, the rest of the dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were finished. They are resurrected and stand before the Great White Throne and are cast into the lake of fire.

Jesus said, “The hour is coming [that hour is 1,000 years long] when all who are in the grave shall hear his view,” John 5. “They who have done good to the resurrection of life” – first resurrection, before the millennium – “they who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” – second resurrection, after the millennium. There are two resurrections separated by 1,000 years.

The premillennialists believe that the saved will be resurrected before the millennium and the unsaved after the millennium.

Now, there’s another very important point here. Premillennialists take this passage in Revelation 20 seriously, literally, and so both resurrections are literal. He talks about a first resurrection, literally coming out of the graves, and a second resurrection. If you’re an amillennialist, you have to spiritualize one of these resurrections. You have to make one a spiritual resurrection and one a literal resurrection. That’s what so inconsistent about amillennialism. They don’t take the Bible consistently. They have a hermeneutic where they take this literally and in the same verse something else spiritually.

In Luke 14 you remember Jesus stopped on a comma. They take part of that literally and the second part spiritually. Why not take the whole thing literally. Why not take Revelation 20 literally? First resurrection; second resurrection, both literal, and then the Bible makes sense completely.

Ankerberg: Now, we have presented this information because it is more than just an intellectual exercise. If you are serious about finding out what God has said concerning prophetic events you must choose one of these three approaches: either the premillennial view, which states that Jesus Christ will come back and establish his millennial kingdom and reign on earth for 1,000 years, or the amillennial view which says there is no evidence in the Bible of Jesus literally, physically reigning for 1,000 years. Or finally, the postmillennial view, which says the promises to Israel have been revoked because of their disobedience; and God is now working through the church to bring in the millennial paradise, after which time, Jesus Christ will return to earth. Which of these views do you think is supported by the biblical evidence? Next week, we will explain the intellectual consequences of denying the premillennial view of prophecy.

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