Archive for October, 2008
Preterism And The Upcoming Elections
As the presidential elections draw closer, I start to wonder whether the outcome will significantly affect the eschatological views of Christians. I do not mean to imply that politics has any hidden or overt connection with eschatology. I merely ask whether certain views, which have for their basis the evolutionary concept of continued progress, in both the social and religious spheres, may not be substantially affected, and even irreparably injured, by the outcome of the next presidential election.
This brings me, naturally, to the subject of Preterism. As I’ve learned in my dealings with Preterists, the great majority of them believe that the present evil age will continue for thousands and thousands of years. While this belief in itself is not heretical, when held against the trend of current world events, it does pose some problems for those who hold that things on earth must get “better and better,” and that eventually (in several thousand years) the whole world will become converted to Christianity.
Such an ideology is, of course, always negatively impacted when social conditions speak the exact opposite. When that happens, expect credibility in the aforesaid optimism to fail. My question is, will the 2008 presidential election results “give the lie” to the doctrines of Preterism? Will the results be followed by a mass departure from “past fulfillment” theology, as more and more Christians seek relevance in the study of end-time prophecies? We ought to realize, at least nobody can deny, that the world is in a grave state right now. Can anyone really maintain, in the midst of such a downgrade, that Christians are about to “take over the world?” I think not.
Rather than give my opinion of the two candidates, let me instead pose another question. What will happen to Preterism when the results of the polls come in? How will Preterism be affected? If the current state of the movement gives any indication, its fruits and hopes must soon fail. It has nothing left to feed upon.
Even in past weeks I’ve seen a slump in interest toward anything that resembles the “fulfilled in A.D. 70” view. The teachers of Preterism, many of whom built their careers on these teachings, are about to be discredited in a major way. They are about to have their scoffings and unbelief cast right back in their own face. And when the Great Tribulation begins, who can say whether or not they will be among those to whom God will send a strong delusion, that they may believe Antichrist and his lies (2 Thess. 2: 11-12).
What Preterists are looking for is a politico-religious Messiah. Is not that what Antichrist shall be? They are looking for a great social leader who will profess belief in Christianity. Of course it doesn’t matter whether the profession is genuine or not. It doesn’t matter whether the heart of the individual be truly regenerate. As long as the socio-political conditions of the world maintain and uphold a semblance of ”progress,” the reconstructionist’s dream may comfortably continue. But once hold revolution under his nose, and he’ll wake up to the harsh reality that we are in the “last days.”
Mind, I am not wishing for any kind of upheaval to overtake mankind. Nevertheless, a simple glance at the prophetic record of Scripture would incline me to think that the tribulation is right around the corner. Perhaps what we are seeing now is a prelude to the rise of Daniel’s “little horn.” I am not ruling out that possibility. I am certainly aware (as we all should be) that the world is heading more and more toward globalization. And this is a fulfillment of end-time prophecies. It is for Christians to heed the “signs of the times,” and not to bury their heads in the sand. The world will not continue “for ever and ever and ever.” My continued message is: wake up, and return to the Gospel which Jesus Christ preached, and leave behind the false lying “replacement gospel” that is called Preterism.
So many Christians have failed to the one thing needful, and that is, to separate from the world (James 1: 27; 1 John 2: 15). We must be fully consecrated to the Lord. Paul said, “I beseech you, therefore, beloved, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12: 1-2). That means maintaining our witness in the midst of an unregenerate world. For we know that the whole world lieth in wickedness (1 John 5: 19). Perseverance is neccesary in order to obtain the crowns.
But how have we utilized the talents with which the Lord has entrusted us? Let each search his own heart for the answer. Should persecution begin to rage, and the gibbets be set up; should suddenly “informers” crop up and the autos da fe begin, where will we stand? Will we have enough strength to do as Polycarp did, and go to the stake with a calm and prayerful mind, and with unruffled faith? The results of this year’s elections may push us closer to such a scenario. How much better, then, to simply believe the words that Jesus Christ has spoken. “In the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16: 33).
Yes, Christ has overcome the world. And it is because of this that we long for our deliverance from the present evil age, that we may obtain inheritance with Him when He comes with all His saints. Is this not the “blessed hope” for which all Christians long? (Titus 2: 13). Is not the daily petition of all true disciples, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven?“ (Matthew 6: 10). How can anyone wish for a continuation of the world’s sordid conditions, and his/her heart be right in the sight of God? Such a heart-state seems to belie the very “new birth” upon which salvation wrought in Christ is based. Christians, I urge you to stop shutting your eyes to the “falling away” and to the degeneracy of this present evil age, and to fill your vessels with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Return to the pure Gospel and thou shalt be blessed. But if thou remain in thine iniquities, know for sure that the flames of hell shall overtake thee at the last.
Hell is a very hot place, and its fires are kindled daily by the souls that awake therein. Oh, if we only knew how many souls are suffering eternal torments for their refusal to hearken to the true Gospel, and accept the salvation that Christ has offered, how we should all redouble our zeal to remain separated from the things that defile. If professing Christians knew half the truth of the horrors of hell, they would become evangelists tomorrow. I pray for some such awakening among those who claim Christ as their Savior. Awake now, before it is too late!
But some will never change. Those who remain in slumber will doubtless see the election results as a minor setback to their plans of progress. And as the world becomes progressively worse, and humanity increasingly more depraved, so their Christianity will become more Laodicean in nature. Mind, this is no long and bitter rant against Dominion Theology. It is merely a warning and exhortation to return to the “faith delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Yes, we are in the dispensation of grace and not of judgment. But signs abroad tell us that this dispensation is soon to end. Those who fail to keep God’s word undefiled will be cast into great tribulation. Isn’t the truth, therefore, worth fighting for? Return to Jesus Christ with all thine heart today, and thou shalt be saved from the coming wrath.
Arno C. Gaebelein- Typology of The Kingdom
(from The Gospel of John, 1936)
We must not leave this portion of the Gospel [John ch. 4] without showing its interesting dispensational meaning. When our Lord went to Samaria He had left behind Jerusalem, and that which is represented by it, Judaism. In Samaria, He is, so to speak, on Gentile ground. What we have learned, the truth our Lord unfolds to the Samarian woman, is specifically Christian truth. The fullness of grace, as the results of the finished work of Christ on the Cross; the coming and the gift of the Holy Spirit, indwelling the believer; the true worship, the Father seeking such worshippers; the witness bearing of the woman; the many Samaritans who believed on Him as the Savior; are all characteristic blessings of this age, the blessings of the Gospel as preached among Gentiles.
The two days our Lord tarried in Samaria have, therefore, a typical meaning. They forshadow the time when Divine grace is being manifested to the Gentiles, while Jerusalem is set aside. The same period of time is indicated in the prophecy of Hosea. In chapter 6 of that Prophet we find a prophetic description of the repentance of a part of the Jews in the future. They will say then: “Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for He hath torn, and He will heal us: He hath smitten and He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.”
The third day is the day of their coming restoration when Israel receives the kingdom, which the Lord as the promised Messiah-King first preached unto them and which they rejected. The third day, the day of the coming Kingdom, will last 1,000 years; it is the Millennium. The preceding two days during which Israel is dead, spiritually and nationally, cannot mean two literal days; they are prophetic days as God measures days–”One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
Roderick Edwards– The Effects of Hyper-Preterism
When a belief alters how 2000 years of Christianity has interpreted the Bible, it will indeed have massive effect. A couple of anecdotal examples I can give right off the bat are how a consistently applied hyperpreterist soteriology (salvation model) typically will cause a person to embrace a universalistic conclusion (all are saved/not condemend). For instance, if the resurrection & judgment are past, what happens to people now? How can they be judged any longer? There is a growing faction of hyperpreterist universalists.
The next thing hyperpreterism does if carried out consistently is undermines a person’s trust of God as a Sovereign God at the helm — I mean, if God was either unwilling or unable to sustain within His Church for 2000 years a basic & correct understanding of eschatology, can we trust Him on anything? From this many hyperpreterists become disillusioned & become functional atheists. I know of at least 2 high-profile ex-hyperpreterists who became atheists. One is a guy named Jared Coleman. This guy was an administrator on the most active hyperpreterist website. Another guy, named H.L. James was a guy who would spend 12+ hours a day on Paltalk (a live audio chat forum) teaching hyperpreterism. This guy was considered perhaps the best expositor of the hyperpreterist view, constantly appealing to “logic” — his “logic” has caused him to become an atheist.
The New Heavens And Earth: Literal or Figurative?
In Revelation 21, the apostle John gives us a beautiful picture of a “new heaven and new earth,” upon which a new metropolis and center of divine worship, the New Jerusalem, descends. For many centuries the church has interpreted John’s vision as relating to a future reality. Most Christians today would agree. They do not believe the vision is to be taken in any allegorical or mystical sense, but in a plain and literal sense.
However, not all concur with this opinion. There are still a few Christians, most of them of the “Reformed” group, who insist that the “New Heavens and New Earth” are simply another name for “the Gospel administration;” and that the “curse” of Genesis 3 has been done away “in Christ“–a convenient phrase which may mean anything, or nothing at all, according as it is applied.
1. Typology of The Creation Account
In order to find out the truth of the matter, it is suggested that we go back to the original creation account. For what we have in Revelation is obviously an “antitype” of the “heaven and earth” mentioned in Genesis 1: 1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” As with the two resurrections in Revelation 20, we assume that if one is literal, the other is also literal. If one is figurative, the other is figurative as well. If the “new heaven and earth” of Revelation 21 is allegorical, then we may reasonably hold that the Genetic account is also an allegory. For the one is the antitype of the other.
Confusion ensues when the student fails to see that Revelation is the complement of Genesis. Genesis is the book of beginnings. Revelation is the book of the end. In Genesis we have accounts of the creation of the earth, Satan’s first rebellion, the entrance of sin, and the curse. In Revelation we are told of Satan’s final rebellion, the abolition of sin, the passing away of the earth, and removal of the curse. As death came upon all men through Adam’s transgression (Romans 5: 12), and as Christ will return to earth as the Second Adam (1 Cor. 15: 45), so His redemptive work must be worldwide in its effects. Perhaps a closer look at the typology of creation will bring this out.
II. The Creative Ages
In Genesis 1: 1-2, we read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was (became) without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” This describes the creation of the primal earth, and the chaos into which it subsequently fell. We do not know how the earth became “tohu va bohu;” but our theory is that Satan was placed over the original earth, and apostasized by attempting to mimic God’s creative works. His efforts resulted in a race of monsters (dinosaurs) whose existence brought on a global deluge, and so the earth became “without form and void.” The antitype of this primal creation is the “new heaven and earth” of Revelation 21.
Peter, writing of the last days scoffers, alludes to this original primal creation. “For this they are willingly ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water, and in the water: whereby the world that then was (the primal creation), being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3: 5-6). In Genesis 1-2, Moses describes the restoration of this primal earth. But Peter writes that the “heavens and earth which are now” (2 Peter 3: 7) are reserved unto fire. This fiery deluge (referred to in Rev. 20: 11 and 21: 1) is the antitype of that deluge of water whereby the original earth became without form and void.
The six-days’ work related in Gen. 1: 3-31 was not the creation of a new earth out of nothing, but the restoration of the earth to its original condition before it became submerged in water. But after the fall of Adam the present earth fell into degeneration; and so it was cleansed with water. It now awaits an additional cleansing by fire. This will precede the Millennium, that age in which the earth will be restored and blessed by God. Christ purchased the creation with His own blood (as evidenced by the crown of thorns); and His second coming, the antitype of the Noachian deluge, will not issue in the “new heaven and new earth” as described in Rev. 21, but in a restoration of the “heaven and earth which are now.”
In light of the above, the “creative ages” (Alpha Ages) may be viewed as threefold and progressive, having a direct link to end-time antitypes. The first phase was the creation of the original earth (Gen. 1: 1). The second was a “chaotic earth” (Gen. 1: 2); while the third resulted in the “present earth” (Gen. 1: 3-2: 7). The present earth was flooded by water in the days of Noah. But it awaits its fiery baptism, which will occur when Jesus Christ returns from heaven to establish His Millennial reign.
The purging of the creation by fire, related in 2 Peter 3 and Revelation 20, does not refer to Christ’s second coming, but is the antitype of the watery baptism of the primal creation. There are two water-baptisms and two fire baptisms. One belongs to the “heaven and earth which are of old.” The other belongs to the “heaven and earth which now are.” Recognizing this principle is essential to “rightly dividing the word of truth” and understanding God’s plan and purpose to restore creation. The Dispensational scheme of the Bible shows that this restoration will be brought about in inverse order to that of its ruin. It is not accomplished all at once, but in stages and gradations.
III. The Creative Week & The Redemptive Week
Wrapped up, as it were, in this typology of the creation, is a smaller typlogy of redemption. The subordinate typology does not annul or “replace” the larger typlogy, but complements it, allowing us to understand, on a micro level, truths which are universal and comprehensive in their fulfillment. The “creative week” of Genesis may be seen as a “type” of the “redemptive week” of man. It is quite important that we bring this out.
The creative week occupies the seven days of creation (including the sabbath), and as such belongs to the “restoration” phase of the “Creative Ages.” This typical week saw the creation and/or restoration of:– 1): Cosmic light (the first day); 2): the firmament (second day); 3): dry land and vegetation (third day); 4): solar light (fourth day); 5): fish and fowl (fifth day); 6): land animals & man (sixth day). Since the perfection of the the creative week was marred by sin, the seventh day of the creative week was moved to the last day of the redemptive week.
The redemptive week began upon Adam and Eve’s eviction from Eden, on the sixth day of the creative week. The redemption wrought by Christ was typified by a slain animal, probably a lamb (see Genesis 3: 21); and thence a “day” became equivalent to “1000 years.” Adam died on the day he ate of the fruit, living to be 930 years old (Gen. 5: 5). Mercy was afforded him through the merits of the lamb’s blood, and he died within the first day of the redemptive week. Notice that when the Dispensation of Innocence ended, God began “working” according to a different scale of time.
From the Dispensation of Conscience to the close of the Legal Dispensation, all of God’s promises of redemption looked forward to the true sabbath, or seventh day–otherwise known as the Millennium. However, during the Dispensation of Grace, an additional day is held forth, even the eighth day, in which all things will be restored under a permanent and eternal administration. This will have its fulfillment in the New Heaven and New Earth.
It is doubtful whether the Old Testament prophets saw as far as the eighth day. It is rather believed that they saw only as far as the Sabbath (Millennium), and that the prophet Isaiah’s “new heaven and new earth” (Isaiah 65: 17; 66: 22) is actually the “1000 years ” of Revelation 20, and not the “New heaven and new earth” of Revelation 21. However, that is just an afterthought.
IV. Lack of Distinction Creates Confusion
Due to failure to distinguish between the two typologies (creative and redemptive), allegorists see Revelation 21 as nothing more than a highly figurative account of Christian salvation. Failure to “discern the things that differ” is the fountain and springhead of all errors concerning the exact meaning of the term, “new heaven and earth.” However, the terminology itself points us back to the Genetic typology. The “new heavens and earth” described by John is creative, and not redemptive, in nature. The denizens of the new administration are described as already redeemed, and cannot enter the city unless they are fully sanctified (Rev. 21: 7-8, 24; 22: 14-15).
On the other hand, when Paul says, “if any man be in Christ he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5: 17), he refers to a redemptive work, and not a creative work. As you see, there is a difference. No one would imagine that the “new creation” mentioned is identical to that of Revelation 21. If the “new heaven and earth” seen by John represents realities in the redemptive sphere alone (and by this I mean personal redemption), then what does Genesis 1: 1-3 signify? It certainly has nothing to do with the Gospel. Those verses speak of God’s creative works, which came about before man was even formed, or in need of salvation.
Therefore, the first two chapters of Genesis have nothing to do with personal redemption. Moreover, if John’s vision of Revelation 21 can be demonstrated as having typological connection with the Genetic account, then that forever settles the question of whether or not the “new heaven and earth” is a literal future reality. For the salvation of individuals is still ongoing in this dispensation. If still ongoing, then it is incomplete, and Christ is still “working,” and remains in the holy place making intercession for our sins. If this be so, then we are still in the “sixth day,” and have not yet been fully sanctified. Therefore, Revelation 21 awaits a future fulfillment. As such, it can have nothing to do with the present Dispensation.
V. A Properly Balanced View
The New heaven and new earth are where God’s plan of redemption will have its perfect fulfillment. As stated above, when Adam and Eve sinned on the sixth day of the week, the creative week was marred; and so the sabbath, which came a day later, looked forward to something better. Since the creation was subjected to vanity on account of man’s sin (Romans 8: 20), it too got packaged in God’s plan of redemption, and the sabbath of the creative week was moved to that of the redemptive week. The seventh day is when the blessed jubilee will come; and we find its nature vividly described in the Old Testament (see Psalm 65: 7-13; Isa. 11: 6-8; 30: 23-26; Ezek. 47: 6-12; Joel 3: 18; Amos 9: 13).
The Millennium, however, will only be the restoration of the restored earth (that third phase of the “creative ages”). Its fulfillment does not take us back any farther than Genesis 1: 3. There still remains the cleansing of the original heaven and earth, which were once deluged by water (as implied in Gen. 1: 2-3), but will, at the close of the seventh day, be deluged by fire.
As Satan’s first rebellion caused the flooding of primal creation, so Satan’s last rebellion, his being loosed for a “little season,” (see Rev. 20: 3, 7) will issue in the dissolution of the heaven and earth as graphically described by Peter. The result will be a “new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3: 13). The reason why Peter overlooks the Millennium (the seventh day), and focuses exclusively on the eighth day, is probably because the glorified saints (the church of the first-born) will reign with Christ in the New Jerusalem during the Millennium, but while the New Jerusalem is still above the earth.
During the “1000 years,” the regenerated nation of Israel (the church of the second-born) will bear rule on earth from the rebuilt city of Jerusalem: not the New Jerusalem, but that described in the latter chapters of the book of Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 40-48). Then, after the general judgment, the Israel of the Millennium will be resurrected into the New Jerusalem, and, the whole number of God’s elect being complete, the city will descend upon the new earth. Then will God’s plan of redemption be fulfilled, and the “Perfect Age” will begin.
From the facts above, it is obvious that any figurative view of the “new heavens and earth” would force us to overlook, not only the typology preserved in the Genetic account of creation, but also many of the most important prophetical truths set down for our edification and enlightenment. Let us take this “sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1: 19) and embrace the promises that it holds forth. For if the “new heavens and new earth” are figurative, then the connected promises may also be figurative. But if they are literal, then we know that they are based on literal promises. And every promise made by God will surely come to pass.
Rev. E.W. Bullinger, D.D.– “Till All These Things Be Fulfilled”
(from The Apocalypse, 1909)
No one can read Matt. xxiv. 30 with Rev. vi. 12-17 without seeing that they speak of the same event. The actual Advent of Christ is deferred, in Rev. vi., because it is to form a separate and special description by itself in chap. xix. The sixth Seal does not therefore include the visible appearing of the Son of man, though it is remarkable that, while in Rev. vi. 13 we have the simile of a Fig Tree, and the sealing of the elect of Israel (vii. 1-8); so, in Matt. xxiv. 31 we have the gathering of the elect of Israel, and in verses 32, 33 we have the simile of the Fig Tree again.
The Lord concludes this special prophecy of the Tribulation by adding “Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things begin to take place.” Not “fulfilled.” The word is genetai from ginomai, to begin to be, to come to be,* and is quite different from pleroo, to fulfil. In Luke xxi. 32, which is the parallel passage, we have the former word, fulfilled. What the Lord really said was “this generation shall not pass till all these things begin to happen.” And they did begin to take place during that very generation; for the period immediately following the Lord’s death was marked by many coming and saying “I am Christ.” But in order that we might clearly understand, Christ immediately adds, “The end is not yet” (Matt. xxiv. 6).
* In John xiii. 2 we have the same word, which illustrates this verse:— “and supper being ended.” It is quite clear from verses 26-28 that supper was not ended, but was only just beginning. The RV. renders it “during supper.”
Arno C. Gaebelein- On Matthew 24: 1-34
The Olivet discourse is the last great utterance of the King. It was delivered to the disciples and concerns the future. It is divided into three parts: First, He answers the three questions of His disciples (verses 4-44); then He speaks three parables (24: 45-25:30); the last part contains a great judgment prophecy (chapter 25:31-46). The first part concerns the end of the age, and in it the King describes what will take place on earth immediately before His visible Return. The second part reveals the conditions in the Kingdom of heaven (Christendom) and how He as King and Judge will deal with those conditions. The third part is a prophecy concerning the judgment of the nations the King finds on His return to this earth.
The first part has nothing to do with the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. Jerusalem and the temple are not even mentioned by Him. The interpretation that all His predictions in verses 4-44 found their fulfillment during the siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 is totally wrong. The destruction of the temple is foretold by Him in verse 2 before the disciples asked the questions, which resulted in His discourse.
Luke reports the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the nation (Luke 21:20-24). But in Matthew the Holy Spirit records the regathering of His elect, earthly people (verse 31). Nor does the answer of the Lord to His disciples have anything to do with this Christian age. The church is not mentioned by Him at all. The disciples had asked about the end of the age. (Again we remind the students of this Gospel that the word “world” is incorrect. The end of the world cannot come for a long time. Before the end of the world can come this earth must first be put in order and delivered from the curse.) They only knew their Jewish age and were ignorant of this Christian age. The Jewish age did not fully terminate with the rejection of the Messiah and the worldwide dispersion of the nation. It was only interrupted in its course. The interruption is this present Christian age during which the church is gathered out. When that purpose is accomplished, the true church will be removed from the earth to be joined to the Head in glory. Then the dealings of God with His ancient people Israel will be resumed. The end of their age of unbelief ends. It will last seven years, the last week of the great prophecy of Daniel.
It is this end, these seven years still future which our Lord describes in the first part of His discourse. True it is that throughout the age in which we live all these things He mentions, wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, persecutions of the godly have taken place. All these will occur in a more intensified form during the end of the age, when the true church is no longer on earth. Then the remnant of Jews who believe, like the disciples of the King when He appeared the first time, will preach the Gospel of the Kingdom among all nations. In Revelation 7 we find this remnant sealed and in the second half the result of the preached testimony, a multitude which comes out of the great tribulation.
When these seven years are ended the King appears in all His Glory in the clouds of heaven. For the church and His Saints there is another Coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The Saints come with Him in that day (Zechariah 14:1-5).
Verse 34 has been a difficulty with many. The word generation does not mean the people who were then living; it has the meaning of “this race.” (Same as 1 Peter 2:9, “a chosen generation,” i.e., class of peoples.) The Jewish race cannot pass away till these things be fulfilled.
