The premillennial teaching concerning the church and the kingdom does not harmonize with the Lord's teaching in some of His parables. The Schofield Reference Bible refers to the church as "the mystery parenthesis." The church, in the premillennial concept is a second thought, a stop-gap or a last-minute alternative to the establishment of the kingdom. They tell us that Jesus intended to establish His millennial kingdom during His first advent, but since the Jews rejected it, He changed quickly and established the church. The church does not fit into a single premillennial interpretation of Old Testament prophecy. As Russell Boatman says, "The prophets saw only Christ's first coming and His yet to come earthly kingdom; thus His two comings are said to have been fused into one in the minds of the prophets. The church is regarded as 'in the valley' beneath the sighting of the prophets who saw instead the higher ranges of God's purpose in Christ" (What The Bible Says About The End Time [Joplin: College Press], p. 103).

Some of the parables of Christ picture the kingdom as a feast. Take the parable in Luke 14:15-24 as an example. The rejection of the kingdom, second thought establishment of the church, will not fit the parable in any of the wildest of interpretations. Jesus begins with the statement, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" (v. 15/. The parable is the story of a man who made a great supper and sent his servants to bring those invited to the table. "Those bidden" refers to the Jews to whom the Lord came first (John 1:11, 12). They all rejected the invitation. The man of the parable then, in order to fill his house, sent his servants to gather others from "streets and lanes of the city" and bring them to the table. The parable ends with the judgmental statement, "For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper" (v. 24/. The ones Jesus had in mind were the Jews who rejected the invitation to eat bread in the kingdom.

The Lord has no such rosy future in His plans for the Jews as that which the premillennialists have. The Lord flatly says they will not taste of His supper, that is, they will not have a second chance. The premillennial program requires the parable to include something like this - please keep in mind that what follows is fictional, not factual.

"A certain man made a supper and bade many, and sent his servants at supper time to say to them that were bidden, 'Come, for all things are now ready.' But they began making excuses, thus rejecting the man's invitation. Therefore the man changed his plan, postponed the supper for an indefinite time, set up a luncheon or snack bar instead, knowing that sooner or later, when he tried again, those who were bidden would then accept the invitation."

The premillennialist, who takes the postponement theory, does not live who can say the above is a misrepresentation of his position. This is more evidence that they are teaching rank and plain error. May God help us all to see the difference.

Guardian of Truth XXVI: 4, p. 59
January 28, 1982