By Ethan Jennings
Synopsis: The doctrine of premillennialism is not only inconsistent with Sacred Scripture, it also an insult to the God of heaven.
One of the many false doctrines in the religious world is the teaching of premillennialism. This doctrine contains many falsehoods revolving around the end of the world. It’s taught by a wide range of religious groups today. These include Baptists, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Methodists, and Pentecostals. Though they are few, some even among churches of Christ have fallen prey to this doctrine.
The title of this article is “Premillennialism, and What It Does to God” because there are several conclusions one must make regarding God if this doctrine is true. Since many people may be unfamiliar with this doctrine, let us begin with a summary.
First, the doctrine of premillennialism rewrites the teachings and history of the Bible. The doctrine states that the Jews have yet to receive all the land promised by God to Abraham. Second, it says that Jesus came to earth to establish an earthly kingdom over which He would rule. However, the Jews rejected Christ as king, so this earthly kingdom had to be postponed. Instead of setting up the kingdom, He established the church as an afterthought. Presently, we await His second coming, when He will fulfill His promises. In other words, the first coming of Christ was a failure.
Before the battle of Armageddon, premillennial doctrine says the righteous people will be taken away in a moment of time they call the “rapture.” The wicked will be left behind to endure seven years of torment, or “tribulation,” on this earth. The battle of Armageddon—the final climactic conflict between Christ and the devil—will occur at the end of this period. Christ will win with the help of the angels, the redeemed He took seven years earlier, and any of the righteous who have turned to the Lord during the seven years of tribulation. Christ will then reign on David’s throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years. Afterwards, the wicked will be resurrected and the day of judgment will occur. Sound familiar? This has been the plot of many movies, and many televangelists teach this as well.
While there are many obvious false teachings we could examine within this summary, I want to focus on the fact that these teachings do many horrible things to God.
Someone may ask, “How does premillennialism do that?” The doctrine says that Israel has not yet received the land God had promised to Abraham thousands of years ago when He said, “All the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever” (Gen. 13:15). God’s word states that this prophecy has been fulfilled. Joshua 21:43-45 states, “So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
God kept His promises. The reason Israel did not continue to possess the land was that they disobeyed the covenant. Joshua told the people before his death, “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed. It shall come about that just as all the good words which the Lord your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. When you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you (Josh. 23:14-16). God’s promise to give Abraham the land was unconditional. However, we can see in Joshua’s words, their keeping of the land was conditional! Therefore, because they did not obey, they lost the land.
As stated earlier, the doctrine of Premillennialism says that when Christ first came, it was to establish the earthly kingdom. Since the Jews rejected Him, He failed. The promise of the kingdom that God made long ago (Dan. 2:44) was not looking forward to an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual one. This is made clear after Jesus fed the 5,000 in John 6. The crowds saw the sign, and notice what happened: “So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.” If Jesus wanted to set up an earthly kingdom, here was the time to do it. Either His kingdom wasn’t supposed to be an earthly one, or He missed His chance! Let us allow Jesus to tell us the nature of His kingdom. When He was on trial for His life, Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom “is not of this world” (John 18:36). No, Jesus was not planning on establishing an earthly kingdom. His kingdom is spiritual in nature, and will not come at a future date, but is here now (Matt. 16:18-19, Col. 1:13)
The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus is currently sitting on His throne. God promised thousands of years ago to seat one of David’s descendants on His throne (Ps. 110:1, cf. Acts 2:30). In Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul wrote concerning God seating Christ “at His right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also the one to come.” Paul spoke of this as something that had already happened. Yet, premillennialists say that Christ has yet to reign on this throne. By doing this, they have dethroned the very Lord they claim to worship!
Four of God’s promises have not been kept if premillennialism is true.
Premillennialism is a false doctrine that does many horrible things to God. It turns God into somebody He is not. The God we find in Premillennialism is not the God we read about in the Bible. The God of the Bible is a God who does not lie. Rather, He succeeds in all that He does—putting Christ on His throne and keeping His promises. We can place our hope in Him. Don’t fall for the lies of premillennialism! Accept the truth of the Scriptures (John 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)!
