Millennialism

I. Introduction:

II. Millennial Theories Are Not New (Very Quickly)

A. Montanus (Information from End Time Visions, chapter 5, by Richard Abanes)

B. He lived during the second century, claimed to be “God’s Mouthpiece,” and gained a large following. He taught that Jesus’ would return imminently and establish a 1,000 year kingdom, New Jerusalem, in the region of Phrygia. After failed prophetic pronouncements and the death of its charismatic leaders, the movement died in the sixth century.

C. Apocalyptic theories accompanied the fall of the Roman Empire, and, much later, the end of prominent ruling dynasties in France and Germany.

D. When the Muslims captured Jerusalem in 638, the doomsday fears intensified.

E. Later, in the eighth century, a Spanish monk, Beatus, predicted the end of the world by 800 A.D. A prophetess, Thiota, predicted the end of the world in the year 848.

F. Odo, an influential abbot of the monastery in Cluny, warned that the end was imminent in his day, the early to mid tenth century.

G. Of course, the change to the year 1,000 brought widespread millennial expectations and many writers of the time wrote of the apocalyptic expectations among the people.

H. When 1,000 passed without event, people focused on 1,033, one thousand years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Many made pilgrimages to Jerusalem and others formed peace councils to stop the widespread violence among the people. When 1,033 passed, the peace councils faded and the people returned to class differences and violence (age of lords and serfs).

I. Joachim of Fiore

J. In the late 12 th century, Joachim of Fiore became something of a celebrity publishing three major works that included his prophetic pronouncements. He appeared before four popes and numerous world leaders. He predicted the appearance of the Antichrist, a supposed enemy of God’s people, in 1260. Fifty years after his death, his writings were considered heretical though they continued to have some influence.

K. The Black Plague that swept through most of Europe by 1349 spurred a belief that the Antichrist would appear in 1346, 1347, 1348, 1360, 1365, 1375, 1387, 1396, 1400, 1417, and 1418.

L. In this period, some were suspecting that the Antichrist might not be a Muslim or a Jew, but might be the pope of the Roman Catholic Church..

M. “The 1440s and 1500s saw a lengthy list of end-time prognosticators.” P.186

N. Jehovah’s Witnesses

O. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Jehovah’s Witnesses founder, Charles Taze Russell and his successor Joseph Franklin Rutherford made a series of embarrassing predictions about a great battle of Armageddon and the coming of the millennial kingdom of Jesus being established in 1914; then 1915; then 1925 “definitely.” Nathan Knorr, who became the president of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the mid-1990s, predicted the coming of Christ’s kingdom in 1940 as the certain date of Armageddon; then the autumn of 1975.

P. We have spent a lot of time on this to emphasize that popular teachers with large followings have appeared in nearly every age since the second century A.D. claiming the end of the world was coming in their generation and pointed to signs within their generation as evidence of Jesus’ coming.

III. Current Popularity of Millennial Theories

A. The impending war with Iraq is stirring interest

B. During the Gulf War, some believed that it would lead to a war with Israel. There were books like Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East that were extremely popular.

C. The attacks by militant Islamic groups has contributed to the speculative theories.

D. The millennial doctrine has been popularized by the Left Behind series of books and movies.

E. Tim La Haye, the co-author of the series, has been publishing millennial material for many years. In fact, end time prophetic books always seem to be on the religious best seller lists, even when many have made predictions that did not come true. Some authors, like Hal Lindsey, will be wrong in their predictions but write other books that sell extremely well!

F. The current mania really gained momentum in the middle of the 20 th century with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

G. Many self-proclaimed prophets have used that date to calculate their prophetic timetables. When that year passed, many looked to the 70’s when several prognosticators, including Worldwide Church of God founder, Herbert W. Armstrong, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted the end of the world and the ushering in of a new order. Hal Lindsey predicted the rapture in 1981 in the book The Late Great Planet Earth to precede Christ’s second coming in 1988.

H. The big date predicted by many was 1988.

I. Many anticipated Christ’s return in 1988 (taking a generation from Matthew 24; 40 years and adding it to 1948).Interestingly, many of the supposed enemies of the many millennial books of the 1980s, the USSR and East Germany, vanished. That year passed and people began to anticipate Jesus’ coming at the beginning of the millennium, the year 2000. Many self-proclaimed prophets claimed the year 2000 would be the end but the year passed without worldwide destruction. The next anticipated date is 2007, 40 years after the Six Day War in 1967 in which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. I would guess that when that year passes, people would choose 2033, 2000 years after the death of Jesus. Lord willing, when I am 65 I will preach the lesson about that date.

IV. The Doctrine of Premillennialism

A. Essentially, the foundation of premillennialism is that God intended to establish the earthly kingdom of Israel under Jesus when He came to earth but the Jews rejected Him and so Jesus set up the church until He could establish Israel at a later time.

B. Chart of Premillennialism

C. Briefly explain the premillennial theory using the chart.

D. The millennial theories try to make the prophecies of the Old Testament, Matthew 24, the book of Revelation and certain other New Testament passages fit the theory.

E. In future lessons, we will discuss the particulars of the theory in detail. However, my intent will be to show that these verses are taken out of context to prove something that is not true.

V. The Consequences of Premillennialism (from Guardian of Truth book)

A. The church was an afterthought; it was not planned from the beginning.

B. Dwight Pentecost and R.H. Boll quotes

C. Yet the Bible says that the church was in the plan of God from the beginning.

D. Verses (on transparencies)

E. Jesus and John the Baptist were wrong when they taught that the kingdom of heaven was near or at hand.

F. God was wrong in choosing the time to send Jesus in the world to accomplish His mission.

G. Jesus failed in His divinely appointed mission.

H. Biblical writers are wrong when they speak of being in the last days.

I. Jesus will demoted from His heavenly throne to his earthly footstool.

J. Christ’s sacrifice is minimized.

K. What if Jesus would have succeeded in setting up the physical kingdom?