IV. PRE-MILLENNIALISM ESTABLISHED.
We must quote once more a passage that has
already engaged our attention in another connection, namely, the Parable of the
Nobleman. Before quoting from it, however, we would first observe that this
parable was uttered by our Lord in order to correct a mistaken notion that was
being entertained by certain of His auditors: "And as they heard these things,
He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because
they thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear" (Luke 19:11).
Here is further proof that the "Kingdom," referred to subsequently by our Lord
was not a spiritual Kingdom instituted by Him just after His death and
resurrection, but was a Kingdom which was not to "appear" for a considerable
length of time, in fact not until He returned again to the earth. To quote
once more from this parable -
"He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into
a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom and to return. ** And it
came to pass, that when He was returned having received the Kingdom,
then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had
given the money, that He might know how much every man had gained by trading"
(Luke 19:12, 15). Thus we see that our Lord's receiving of the Kingdom and His
return synchronize. The Kingdom to which was the subject of numerous Old
Testament prophecies. It was the "Kingdom" mentioned by Daniel in 7:13, 14 of
his prophecy - "And I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son
of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and
they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him (compare
"received" in the above parable) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,that
all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him." As the context here
shows, the time when the Son of Man is "given" this Kingdom is
immediately following the destruction of t he Gentile powers which from the
Book of Revelation, we know will occur just prior to the Millennium. If
further proof be needed that Christ's "receiving of the Kingdom" takes place
before and not after the Millennium it is furnished by 1 Cor. 15:24
where we are told that at the close of the Millennium - which is the time when
He shall have "put down all rule and all authority and power" - He shall
deliver "up the Kingdom to God, even the Father." If then Christ
"delivers up" the Kingdom to the Father at the close of the Millennium
then the conclusion is irresistible that He "receives" the Kingdom at the
beginning of the Millennium.
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted out, when the Times of Refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord; And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached
unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the Times of Restitution of all
things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the
world began" (Acts 3:19-21). The "Times of Restitution" here promised
to Israel on the condition of their national repentance is one of the names of
the Millennium itself. It is termed thus because at that time Israel shall be
restored to favor with God again. It is termed thus because at that
time Palestine shall be restored, restored to its original fertility,
when it shall again be "a land that floweth with milk and honey." It is termed
thus because at that time the animal creation shall be restored,
restored to Edenic conditions, when once again "the wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb." It is termed thus because at that time Creation shall be
restored and delivered from its present bondage of corruption, restored
to its original freedom and glory.
The "Times of Restitution" is defined in
the very passage where this expression occurs, defined in the previous words
"the Times of Refreshing" which shall come from the presence of the
Lord." Note particularly that these "Times of Restitution" cannot come until
Christ Himself comes back again. This is expressly affirmed in the words "Whom
the heaven must receive until." Observe it does not say "Whom the heaven must
receive or retain during the Times of Restitution," still less "until
the end of the Times of Restitution" - which it most certainly would say
were the teaching of post-millennialism true - but "until the Times of
Restitution," that is, until those times arrive. When these "Times"
come then shall the Lord arrive. When these "Times" come then shall the
Lord return, and when He returns then shall come "Times of Refreshment" for His
people on earth.
Observe, further, that we are told, these "Times
of Restitution" were spoken of by all God's holy prophets. Of what "Times of
Restitution" then did the Old Testament prophets speak? We answer, of
Millennial "Times," when all nations of the earth shall be brought beneath the
sway of Messiah's scepter. The Old Testament prophets uniformly connect the
Times of "Restitution" with the Coming of Christ to the earth and they
certainly knew of no Kingdom being brought in by the efforts of the Church.
The able declaration of Peter then proves two things: First, that until the
Times of Restitution the Heaven must retain our Lord; second, that as soon as
these "Times" arrive, Christ shall assuredly return. Hence, there can be no
Millennium until Christ comes back again to the earth, but as soon as He does
come back again the Millennium will be inaugurated.
Under this head we shall seek to prove
briefly three things - that Israel as a nation will be restored, that
Israel's restoration occurs at the Return of Christ, that Israel's
restoration will result in great blessing to the whole world.
That Israel as a nation will be actually
and literally restored is declared again and again in the Word of God. We
quote now but two prophecies from among scores of similar ones: - "Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and
a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the
earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and
this is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say,
The Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the
House of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had
driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land" (Jer. 23:5-8).
Again; "Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel
from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every
side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one
nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be King to
them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided
into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any
more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein
they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will
be their God. And David My Servant shall be King over them; and they all shall
have one shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My
statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have
given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall
dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children
for ever: and My Servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will
make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with
them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in
the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I
will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the heathen shall know
that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of
them for evermore" (Ezek. 37: 21-28).
That Israel's restoration synchronized with our
Lord's Return to the earth may be seen from the following Scriptures: - "And it
shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him;
and He will save us: This is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will
be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isaiah 25:9 and read on to the end of
the following chapter). See further the whole of Isaiah 60 which follows the
opening verse - "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon them." In Acts 3 we learned that Peter declared to
Israel that if they would "Repent and be converted" that God would "send
Jesus Christ unto them" and that following Christ's Return there would be
the "Times of Restitution," even the Times of Refreshing which should "come
from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19-21). In Acts 15:16 we read, "After
this, I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David which
is fallen down." And in Rom. 11:25, 26 we are told, "Blindness in part is
happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all
Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
That Israel's restoration results in great
blessing to the whole world may be seen from the following quotations - "And
the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the
Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth
for the sons of men" (Micah 5:7). "Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill
the face of the world with fruit" (Is. 27:6). While in Romans 11 we are
told that the restoration of Israel will bring even greater blessing to the
world than did their casting away - "If the fall of them (Israel) be the riches
of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how
much more their fullness! If the casting away of them be the reconciling
of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead!"
(Rom. 11:11, 15).
The difference in belief between post and
pre-millennialists concerning this point is as great as the difference between
light and darkness. Post-millennialists believe that Christ will not return
until the end of time and that then He will come to judge the human race. As
to what is going to happen at the end of time Scripture does not leave us in
ignorance. Says the apostle Peter, "But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burnt up" (2 Pet. 3:10). Post-millennialists
then look for the world (the Kosmos) to be "burned up" and for "the heavens"
to "pass away" at the time of Christ's Return; in other words, they look for
the destruction of the old creation as the consequent of the Second
Advent. But pre-millennialists look for the emancipation of all
creation from its present bondage as one of the glorious results of our
Redeemer's Return. They base this belief on the teaching of Rom. 8:18-24, a
passage which has already been examined in an earlier chapter. Without again
entering upon a detailed exposition of the entire passage, let us seek to
summarize its contents.
"The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in
pain together until now" (vs. 22). This is the lot of all Nature to-day. The
world groans beneath an accumulating load of sin and wretchedness. Man groans:
his soul groans, and so does his body. Animals groan. The earth itself
groans, sometimes like a great giant in awful pain. How then can the world
enjoy a thousand years of rest and peace and blessedness whilst the whole
creation is in travail! The whole creation is here personified and represented
as sending up to heaven a loud and agonizing groan. And God in heaven hears
it: His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, nor is His arm shortened that it
cannot save. A day of liberation for the groaning creation hastens on. It is
announced in the very passage we are now reviewing. The day when this groaning
creation will be delivered is the day when Christ returns to usher in the
Millennium and when the saints shall be revealed in glory with Him. The time
of creation's deliverance is here said to be at "the manifestation of the sons
of God" (vs. 19 and compare Col. 3:3). This manifestation of God's sons is in
verse 23 denominated "The Adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body"
which has reference to the "first resurrection" - the "resurrection of the
just." A groaning creation then is waiting for the Return of Christ and with
Him the Saints manifested in glory, for then, and not till then, will it be
emancipated from its present thraldom.
Here then is the answer to our question - What is
the time of the Redeemer's Return? He shall return before the
Millennium. He shall come back to usher in the Millennium and set up His
Messianic Kingdom, restore Israel, and deliver a groaning creation. As to
how near His pre-millennial coming may be we leave for consideration in
the next two chapters.