Eschatology of Dispensationalism

The topic today is the eschatology of dispensationalism, which is really part of it, what it's obsessed with.

Unlike other kind of theologies, usually more about salvation or, you know, you talk about Calvinism, usually people think about the approach to salvation.

Dispensationalism is most focused on the end times, right? That's what eschatology means, the end times.

We need to ask ourselves, what end times doctrines are essential? What things do you have to believe about the end times to be a member of this church?

Dispensationalism often is just a lot of things you have to believe, all their things, these are important things, these are vital things and they'll, you know, evaluate you by them.

What about for us? What are the essentials that we, from the beginning, we've said that you have to believe? And this is, again, copied from the new members class.

There has been divisiveness about the end times and prior to the rise of dispensationalism,

I don't see that Christians did divide over it. It seems to be this divisiveness has come because of dispensationalism.

Even some of the terms, in fact, I just learned this week, the term amillennialism didn't even begin until the early 20th century and that was probably in response to, responding to dispensationalism saying, no, we don't really believe that, we believe in something else.

So they began to clarify their own doctrine in contrast to the push from them. Dispensationalism comes from John Nelson Darby who lived from 1800 to 1882.

He was an Anglo -Irish. He was, in other words, he belonged to the Anglican church, but from Ireland. He's a

Bible teacher. He's one of the most influential figures. He helped found the Plymouth Brethren Church. He is a member, he is considered to be the father of modern dispensationalism and what's called futurism.

That means, in particular, interpreting the book of Revelation as though it's entirely about the future, looking for the future, except for the first three chapters, of course, the letters of the church.

It's about the future. Some people think, just assume that, well, that's the way it is supposed to be. Well, in church history, there have been other interpretations of it.

And because of Darby, though, he now interpreted it as though it's all about the future. You remember why the essential doctrine is about the end times?

Christ returned. Christ will return. So that only makes, there's a point of view called preterism, that all of the prophecy, the end time stuff about the, in the

Bible, particularly in like Matthew 24 and 25, where Jesus is, what's called the Olivet Discourse, Jesus teaching the end times, that all of that has been fulfilled in the past, particularly in A .D.

70, all of it, including Jesus' return. Jesus did return then. You just had to see it in the symbol, symbolically.

No, that's excluded. Even the resurrection. And I don't know the reference. Somewhere in the epistles,

Paul talks about some men who are condemned because they believe the resurrection has happened already, says that's a that's a false doctrine.

So if you go all out for preterism, really, no, you can't have that. That's that's wrong.

Christ is still going to return. Some things are still our future. Resurrection is still future.

And there is a judgment still future views on the end times. Very quickly, there is the view of premillennialism, which begins with a literal reading of Revelation chapter chapter 20, verse four.

We read it for you. It says, Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom authority to judge was committed.

I also saw souls, the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.

They came to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years. So there is the mention of the thousand years.

And this is the only place it occurs. But premillennialism begins with the belief that this is going to happen in the future.

There will be a reign of Christ on earth for a literal thousand years. Or maybe they would say, well,

OK, Revelation, there's a lot of symbolic numbers. Maybe the thousand years is symbolic for a very long time. Some would say that it will reign for a long time.

Premillennialism. Either way, you have what they call the church age. I dislike that term, but it's on the chart, church age.

And then there's a great apostasy. There's a tribulation, which may or may not be seven years.

They wouldn't be all so picky about the definite number of years at times. And then Christ returns.

And then there's a millennium rebellion at the end. And then eternity. Right. That's premillennialism.

Premillennialists believe that there are promises in the Bible that can only be fulfilled literally on earth before the glorification of the new heaven and the new earth.

The lion will lay down with the lamb. Is that literal? I mean, that happened.

Yeah. Anyway, the millennial reign of Jesus should occur literally on earth. Leaders in the church in church history who have believed in premillennialism include from very early church,

Justin Martyr, a man named Irenaeus, prominent leader, Tertullian, prominent early theologian.

And much later in church history, 19th century, Charles Spurgeon, although he knows this note somewhat about him, that he never felt able to endorse any of the specific premillennial positions than current.

Spurgeon didn't talk a whole lot about the end times. He was kind of. But here's Irenaeus. He is an early premillennialist from 130 to about the year 200.

But here's Justin Martyr. OK, so these men would believe in premillennialism, that they believe the scripture taught that.

But notice Justin Martyr, another early church leader. He said, I and many others are of this opinion of premillennialism.

We believe this and believe that such will take place, that there will be a Jesus will return, bring a millennial reign on earth.

As you are assuredly are aware. But on the other hand, I think he's writing to someone. I signify to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith and are true

Christians think otherwise. So from the early church, although he said, I'm premillennial, many of us are others.

Other true Christians are not from the early church. So, number two, premillennialism teaches that the

Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years or a very long time, because Revelation, chapter 20, verse four must be interpreted literally.

Then there's the view of postmillennialism, which literally means that Christ comes after the millennium.

And notice this quote from Daniel, chapter seven, and he gave them dominion and was the honor and the kingdom that all people, nations and languages should serve him.

That picture of the son of man coming and Daniel seven. Now, this biblical support they would find for that.

They wouldn't go so much to Revelation 20. Obviously, there's there's a reign for a very long time.

But they would look at the parables of the kingdom growth like yeast. Remember, Jesus said the kingdom of God is like yeast, but in the dough and 11, the whole thing or a mustard seed starts out very small.

And remember, George Ladd, when we went to the kingdom of God series, he said, well, that just has to do the way it begins.

It begins mysteriously. It wasn't the way that the Jews of Jesus's time thought it would be. It came in a different form, a small form.

It looks insignificant at first. Then he said he says it's not necessarily mean it will grow progressively.

Of course, postmillennialists would disagree. They say, OK, sure, it begins in a different form, but it will continue to grow and ferment the whole the lump being the world, the culture.

And for example, also in Daniel chapter two, verse forty four. Daniel sees his vision. Remember the statue and different parts of it are different kingdoms.

And then comes this what you call it, a meteor or a meteorite or some stone comes and smashes the statue.

And then the stone grows. That's kind of odd picture. The stones don't usually grow, but it grows to fill the whole earth.

And so that postmillennialist would say, see, kingdom of God comes in Jesus's time, smashes the time to hear the time of that last kingdom, which is the

Roman Empire, the feet of iron smashes them and then fills the earth continues to grow. Our Psalm seventy two of Psalm seventy two says we learn of Christ ruling from the river, which is the

Euphrates, to the end of the earth. Otherwise, he'll rule the whole earth. And we learn that this will occur before the final conflagration.

So they say the final judgment, second Peter, chapter three, and that produces the new heavens and the new earth because he will reign till the moon is no more.

By the way, is that sounding like it's anything like a hymn we sing? Jesus shall reign, Isaac Watts.

Almost certainly he was he meant that in a postmillennial way. You didn't know we were singing a postmillennial hymn when we sing that, did you?

I don't mind. But postmillennialism believes that during the last days, which is the entire time from after the cross to when he comes, returns in the last days, we will witness many people streaming into the kingdom of God where they will be taught

God's ways. Like from Isaiah chapter two, I believe it's also repeated in Micah, isn't it? In that day, the mountain of the house of the

Lord shall become the highest of all mountains. So it says in Isaiah two and peoples will all nations will stream to it.

And now you remember the dispensational says, say we take it literally. So does that mean literally Mount Zion, where the temple was, which is really just a hill, not that high?

Is this going to be taller than Mount Everest? Is that what it means? It's going to be the highest of all mountains, it says in Isaiah. Literally.

Is it going to be the highest? And I mean, highest meaning I think Isaiah and Micah mean the most prominent, the most glorious, the most significant, the most important.

And peoples will all nations will stream to it, which is what is happening right now. People, all nations,

American, Mexican, Chinese are flowing into. Not a mountain into what what the book of Hebrews says is the mountain of the

Lord, which is what the church. Yeah. So it's being fulfilled. There's a chart of postmillennialism.

So you have Christ's first coming. He brings in the kingdom of God. And then there's the millennium is a symbolic way of speaking of this whole time when he is reigning.

And they would say they would say revelation is apocalyptic literature. It puts things a very colorful ways and it kind of only looks at one thing at one time.

So it's looking at the reign of Christ and it focuses on that. He will reign. And then at other times, the the rebellion of the world.

And then it focuses on that. So that's the way they would interpret that. So the kingdom of God continues to grow.

And then there's a final resurrection and judgment at the end. Christ's second coming and leaders who believed in postmillennialism.

Maybe John Calvin. But in those days, they didn't particularly define themselves very clearly. The subway declaration, which is

Puritan. I believe that's the congregational one. Congregational church government. The Puritans, many of the Puritans did probably like Isaac Watts.

John Owen, maybe Jonathan Edwards. Charles Hodge, later Presbyterian 19th century theologian.

Here's just a quote by John Calvin, not necessarily on postmillennialism. But here's what he said about premillennialism.

He said, it's a fiction. Premillennialism is that is too childish either to need or be worth a refutation.

That's what he says. He would be surprised at how prominent it is now. Number three, postmillennialism believes that the gospel will continue to.

Yeah, grow or expand the word, I chose, but grows fine, convert people and transform the culture.

So it's pretty optimistic, which, you know, maybe by my personality. And but also by a little knowledge of history,

I have a little problem believing some of that. It doesn't seem like we've grown from a few hundred years ago, at least.

Anyway, now next is I'm a millennialism like postmillennialism. It's like that in a way.

It's similar. The millennium of Revelation, chapter 20, verse four is symbolic for the time of the kingdom growth begun by Christ.

All right. So it's otherwise right now we're in the millennium. They would say Christ is reigning. They'd say that he is reigning now.

And like premillennialism, it allows for a great apostasy that things could get worse.

And it would also allow, you know, for ongoing resistance, for to continue, maybe for times of decline in the church.

Maybe things will get worse for the church at the end. It's not necessarily optimistic. It's kind of mysterious. And Jesus could come back at any time.

Doesn't have to because you're postmillennialist. He can't he's not going to return yet, is he? There's still a lot of nations to be evangelized.

There's still that, you know, our our culture is in shambles. You know, we're not exactly the kingdom of God.

Doesn't look like it's on the verge of triumphing everywhere now. So, you know, if you have to have you have to believe that Jesus could return at any time, you can't believe that didn't really square with postmillennialism, does it?

He's got to wait till he's real successful. When I'm a millennialism, he could. He could return at any time again, like postmillennialism.

And when Jesus comes, he initiates, he brings in the kingdom of God and Satan is bound.

You remember that passage in Revelation to Satan is bound for the thousand years and they would they would look then most among us and postmillennialists would say, look, and Revelation says

Satan is bound. And Jesus said, remember, the strong man, the strong man is

Satan. The strong man's house is not can't be robbed. He can't take anything from his house unless someone stronger than he comes in and binds him.

And Jesus said that as a way of explaining how he is doing what he is doing. He is bound the strong man.

So they would say that's the same thing. The strong man is bound now. And that's why the kingdom of God is spreading.

People, people are being evangelized while the gospel is growing. So during this time,

Christ reigns through the church. Christ reigns from heaven. And the church is still can still be persecuted by the unsaved, maybe and have even times of apostasy, maybe even worse near the end.

And at the end, there'll be a resurrection. And then the judgment and then eternity begins.

And that's amillennialism. Christ reign and the heavenly Christ reign is the heavenly reign that he spoke of in Matthew chapter twenty eight, verse eighteen.

Remember, all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. I was diverse in John chapter 13.

We'll be looking at it later today where he talks about him having all authority. The millennium is a figure of speech for a long period of time.

They would say, and there's one resurrection that would just be true with the dispensationalist resurrection at the rapture.

And then there's a later resurrection later on. I would say that that's just the dispensationalist leaders who believe the amillennialism would include the

Epistle of Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria, origin Dionysius of Alexandria.

So these are some early church leaders. Augustine, very prominent, very important. And of course, some would say the

Protestant reformers, all those questions, whether you put Calvin with a post -millennialist or with amillennialist, it's hard to tell.

They didn't really define themselves so clearly. But amillennialism teaches the gospel will continue to.

To spread with resistance and persecution until Jesus returns. And he could return at any time.

So the conclusion is prior to the rise of dispensationalism, Christians did not seem to divide over in times theories.

After a while, they've been very critical of premillennialists. There was no one dogmatic in times doctrine.

And the result is that we emphasize what is clear. This is Christ's return, the resurrection and the judgment.

So five, the church did not settle on one dogmatic doctrine of eschatology.

The fancy word. So there was freedom as long as believers held to the essentials.

Now we get to the eschatology of dispensationalism. As several distinctives, one, it is a type of premillennialism.

It's not there are sometimes some premillennialists call themselves historic premillennialist or traditional premillennialists like George Ladd.

But they're not dispensational. They're different. But to be dispensational, you have to be premillennialist.

It generally holds to a pre -tribulation rapture is a few exceptions, but mostly pre -tribulation rapture. It's not an eschatology built on theology, but a theology built on eschatology.

Most other I think the reason why before dispensationalism Christian leaders didn't divide and debate so much over in times is because first they started with their theology about doctrines of God, about man, you know, depravity, about Christ, about salvation.

And those are the those are the definitive ones. And once they got those down, the eschatology sort of took care of itself with dispensationalism.

They kind of start with the eschatology and they they defend that at all costs.

And then they'll build their theology on top of what preserves their in times doctrine, their eschatology.

So it's a type of premillennialism. You have a church age and a tribulation, which is generally a literal seven years.

Well, let's just say after before the tribulation, a rapture church is taken up before the tribulation and then tribulation for seven years.

Christ returns again, second return. And then the millennium, which he's

Jesus rules liberally from Jerusalem and at the end of the millennium eternity and the eschatology of dispensationalism, there's a rapture of believers when

Jesus Christ secretly returns to the earth before the seven year tribulation period, before it begins.

But they sometimes reference this what they call the 70th week of Daniel and Daniel chapter nine. Believers do not experience the persecution of the

Antichrist who rises to prominence during the tribulation period. Leaders who believe in the pre -tribulation rapture.

There they are. That's all of them. The early church history is not because the doctrine didn't come about to their 19th century.

No one for. You know, 1830 years or so looking at Scripture, no one found this.

If it's really there, that's that's kind of mysterious, isn't it? Again, the key to that is the pre -tribulation rapture.

That's one of the novelties that came about. First taught prominently, at least by John Nelson Darby.

There's some question whether he got it from a prophetess from the Catholic Apostolic Church, but that's not proven, but it's possible.

Anyway, for pre -tribulation rapture, they would defend it by saying the Bible describes the rapture and the second coming as different events.

And so for a pre -tribulation rapture, they look at several scriptures here. I got this right off a pre -tribulation rapture website.

I'm looking for these are the scriptures, to be fair to them, that they say teach pre -tribulation rapture. One is John 14 versus one to four.

Let now your heart be troubled. Will be that now your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me and my father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, would I have would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself there where I am.

You may be also. And, you know, the way to where I am going. OK, I see the second coming in there.

Where's the pre -tribulation rapture part? I don't see that. Next one,

First Corinthians, Chapter 15, verse fifty three. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep means die, but we will all be changed, resurrected in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.

OK, I see the second coming in there. I see going to meet the

Lord resurrected. Looks like it happens at the same time Jesus returns. And notice, by the way, in this passage.

It happens at the last trumpet in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last. Trumpet. Which is actually they use this as a pre -tribulation rapture scripture, but it's kind of.

It doesn't really work because if it's the if the rapture happens at the last trumpet, then what about all those trumpets and revelation you read about the seven trumpets?

And the argument for that, I think, is I went to run convoluted argument. Well, the last of that series of trumpets, the last trumpet would meet the last minute.

The last one at this feast, the feast of trumpets. And so when that particular trumpet is blown, that last one, that's when the rapture is the one to come after that are.

Not last trumpets. They're just after the last trumpet. Well, you're not you're not interpreting scripture.

I happen to literal last means last in literal interpretation, doesn't it? So if the rapture happens at a last trumpet, there can't be any more trumpets after that one if you're being literal.

Next scripture for first first Thessalonians, chapter four, verse 14. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God.

It sounds like the other pastors, doesn't it? Which was there, said it was the last trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

OK, there's a resurrection. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, what they call the rapture to meet the

Lord in the air. OK, there it is. It's at the same time as the last trumpet. It's the same time

Christ comes. And so we will ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. OK, I see the second coming.

See the resurrection. I don't see coming to meet the Lord in the air.

I don't see how it's separate from the second coming. I don't see. That it comes before.

Where's the free tribulation rapture part? I remember I was teaching in Ethiopia, a class on eschatology, and they had a book of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, which sort of the headquarters of dispensationalism in that textbook.

Theology listed the scriptures for pre -tribulation rapture. And we just went through them one by one like I tried to do here.

I think there were even more than if I remember. And see, where's the pre -tribulation rapture in all these, according to you?

And by the end of it, the whole class was just laughing. There's no pre -tribulation rapture there. There is no single text of scripture was definitively definitely teaches a pre -tribulation rapture.

I just say that as a fact. So the pre -tribulation rapture is built on inferences.

It's built on inferences. Where do they get it from? They say believers will escape the wrath of God, that the Christ return has to be imminent.

So the rapture could happen any time. But his return, you know, there'll be signs beforehand, they say.

So that's how it has to be separate. And plus the way they interpret the 70th week of Daniel, the pre -tribulation rapture, you go through all these things.

These these are sort of the this is the way they infer. From scripture that there must be a tribulation rapture.

One, believers escape the wrath of God. Number two, the return of Jesus has to be able to happen at any time.

You know, that can't be the signs ahead of time before it happens that you could mark off, know when it will happen. And and finally, about the 70th week of Daniel.

Well, first about the wrath of God. There is a promise to church in Philadelphia that you have kept my word.

They say, I will keep you from now. We're a trial that is coming on the whole world. Well, first of all, that's a promise to the specific church, the church in Philadelphia, and there's six others that don't get that.

And that's because they kept their word and they were persecuted. Church to Philadelphia was, I believe. But the idea of avoiding the wrath of God and avoiding suffering are two different things.

God disciplines every child he receives. You know, Jesus says in this world, you will have trouble.

You'll have tribulation. And anyway, the wrath of God that believers will avoid when it says believers will avoid the wrath of God, that that's that's hell.

That's judgment. Because Jesus has paid the price for our sins, therefore, we will not suffer wrath for those are for our sins from God.

But Jesus said about John 16, verse 33, in this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.

Doesn't mean we don't get the trouble. Just means you can have confidence he'll protect us through them.

And we're in we're in the history of what God has dealt with people, have people been beamed out of suffering?

Did Daniel get out of trouble because of his faithfulness? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

Well, they just totally zapped up to heaven instead of when they were about to be thrown into the fiery furnace. No, they had to go through it.

Promises of believers avoiding God's wrath have to do with the judgment, not with avoiding all tribulation in this world.

Pre -tribulation rapture. The imminence of Christ's return. The warning when

Jesus says, you know, watch. That's one of the major themes, particularly in Matthew 24, 25. Watch. It'll happen in an hour.

You do not know. That would seem to me to work against the pre -tribulation rapture because what happens if we're raptured right now?

And then there's all these people out there that have heard this pre -tribulation rapture stuff. They aren't Christians and are left.

And then they're smart. Some of them are. We'll be able to say, hey, they all got raptured. We got seven years until he returns this.

So we know exactly when it'll happen. There's no imminence left in his return. Is it you'll be able to, you know, they'll be able to mark.

Hey, this was a happened on May 7th. They were all raptured on May 7th, 2017. So seven years counted exactly to the day.

Mark it on your calendar. Jesus was returning them. You know, we all know we'll all know the day and the hour he returns.

Yeah, but Jesus said, but about that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in the heaven or the sun, but only the father.

So the conclusion is be on your guard. Be alert. You do not know when that time will come.

In that time is the time of his coming, not the time of his coming seven years beforehand to take out the church, which will happen to all

Christians. They get to say by grace anyway, whether they believe it or not. But according to the dispensationalism number eight,

Christ's warnings about the imminence of his return had to do with his coming, not a secret taking away of his people seven years before.

And then the 70th week of Daniel, I'll go over this very quickly. I don't have time to explain what all that means. But in Daniel chapter nine, he talks about seventy sevens.

That's a way it literally reads in Hebrew. Seventy seven, seventy weeks of years. In other words, they look at years and collections of sevens.

And Daniel says at the end of the 69th, the basically the

Messiah will come and be cut off. And then there's the 70th week. Now, first of all, where in Daniel chapter nine does it say that the 70th week is delayed after the previous 69?

Daniel said beginning from when there is an edict to rebuild Jerusalem to the Messiah is 70 sevens.

OK, that many years, about 490 years. And in fact, if you date it from when there was that edict to rebuild

Jerusalem to exactly when Jesus died, he falls exactly right in that 70 year period.

So it's a great way, I would think, if you were particularly if you were trying to evangelize, I would think I haven't done it.

But to prove that to a Jew, say someone who believes that the Old Testament is inspired. But you look,

Jesus died exactly when when Daniel said it would happen. But dispensationalists say after the 69th week, there's a gap.

And the 70th week is the coming tribulation in the future. But if you read

Daniel nine, there's no gap there. There's nothing mentioned of a gap there.

Seventy sevens, it's all continuous. And how would that be convincing to anybody if you can just insert a gap anywhere?

Well, it'll continue at a time to be known in the future. That's come on. That's just arbitrary. Where are the believers raptured in Daniel nine?

It's not there. There's no rapture there. By the way, if there's pre -tribulation rapture, just one of the major events in the

Bible, in the end times. Why is it not mentioned in Revelation? There's no rapture mentioned, pre -tribulation rapture mentioned in Revelation.

Revelation is all about the future. And one of the major events in the end times is the pre -tribulation rapture. Why is there no pre -tribulation rapture in the book of Revelation?

That seems odd, doesn't it? Is this so key to understanding Revelation? Why is it mentioned?

Oh, that's excuse me. It should say, why isn't it mentioned in Daniel? You have to have you have to understand

Revelation and Daniel and vice versa. Why are the 70, 70, 70 weeks not mentioned in Revelation?

So anyway, the dispensations say you have these weeks, but there's a gap there in the middle. So there's this mystery, sacred secret, they call it.

As a heavenly people is a timeless period until we don't know when the gap will be over and then the 70th week will begin.

OK, that's the text, and it says that nowhere. If you read it literally, I thought they said the literal interpretation.

It would be 490 continuous years, not a gap stuck in there just so you can make it your system fit.

Daniel's 70 weeks, though subject to debate. You know, I think it's it's a difficult passage to to interpret that passage in Daniel nine contain no hint of a gap before the 70th week or of a rapture there, nor is it mentioned explicitly in Revelation.

The 70 weeks. It seems kind of odd, doesn't it? So where's the proof to talk about the pre -tribulation rapture?

Is it in Daniel? Is it in Revelation or in First Thessalonians? And if you listen to the way dispensations present their case, it's always somewhere else.

It is not in the passage you're looking at right now. And I compare it to a shell game. You know, the guy hides a little ball under a shell and mixes up the shells real fast.

You got to try to keep track of it. And you point at one is there and oh, no, it's over here. And that's the way they do with trying to prove.

The pre -tribulation rapture from Scripture, where is it? Where is it? Was it here? And I don't see if you say

I don't see it here in Daniel. Well, you have to understand Revelation. OK, let's go to Revelation. I don't see it here. Well, it's in Daniel.

It's in First Thessalonians. It's it's always somewhere else. The Bible is not, of course, it's a bad way to interpret the

Bible. The Bible is not a disconnected puzzle of pieces that we're supposed to put together kind of by ourselves, by mixing verses that are just totally out of context.

We mix them, we put them back together and then we get this doctrine that supposedly is there.