Introduction to Eschatology (Part 1)

Hi there, welcome to Reformed Ex Mormon. I am Pastor Brayden, I hope you're having a wonderful and blessed day today.

Today we're going to be beginning a multi -parted series on the topic of eschatology and we are going to,

I hope, discuss the four major views within eschatology within Orthodox Christianity, discuss some of the interpretive principles that are used when understanding

Old Testament and New Testament prophetic word but mostly focusing on the book of Revelation and maybe discussing some of the differences between dispensationalism and covenantal theology.

So if this is something that would be interesting to you I would highly encourage you to subscribe to this YouTube channel as this channel is for God's glory alone, for the preaching of the gospel to the lost, to calling them to repentance, as well as for the edifying of the saints.

And so that is what this channel is for. So what is eschatology?

Eschatology is the study of end things or the study of end times.

Eschatology, when that word is used, there's many different ideas and theological terms that get grouped in with what eschatology is.

We can be talking about eschatology and death, the intermediate states, the millennial reign of Christ, the tribulation period, the rapture, the binding of Satan, all these kind of things get grouped in with what eschatology means.

But today we're just going to be quickly defining the four major views within Orthodox Christianity.

Now why are these four differing views that contradict one another? Why are they within Orthodox?

Well it's because the scripture isn't exactly clear on which one has to be correct and it doesn't say you have to believe in this or else you will die in your sins.

It is not essential in that sense. But each one of these views of eschatology hold to an essential of Christianity and therefore they are considered

Orthodox. And that essential is that each one of these four use the

Word of God as their authoritative word, as their authoritative standard.

Each one of these four positions say that Christ came, died, was buried, and rose again physically.

Each one of these positions say that Christ is coming again. Each one of them say

Lord come quickly and therefore they're within the umbrella of Orthodoxy.

They're within the umbrella of Orthodox Christianity. So I would encourage any one of the listeners of this video, whichever view you hold to, to not anathematize a different view just because they use the same

Word of God as you do the same exact text that you're looking at but come to a different conclusion, different interpretation of the text.

Do not anathematize them for it as they are not violating any essential of Christianity for these different four views.

There are some of these things that come close to that guardrail of scripture and we need to be careful of those things.

But let us just read Revelation chapter 20 verses 1 through 6 as we look at the four millennial views and just defining those things.

But the four views get their terms based off of Revelation chapter 20 verses 1 through 6 and it says in here,

And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Then goes on to say, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed.

After these things he must be released for a short time. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them.

And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand.

And they came to live to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.

This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection.

Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Now the four major views of eschatology, without discussing all their nuances as there are very, very many within each of these respective views, but the four major ones is dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism.

Now defining these different views, we'll start with dispensational premillennialism.

Dispensational premillennialism would hold to a different view of Israel and church, that they would say that God has a different plan for the distinction of ethnic

Jew, ethnic Israel, as he does for the church, and that right now we're in this this gap period, this great parentheses, with the church receiving this grace period.

And at the end of this grace period, the end of this church age, Christ is going to rapture, secretly rapture usually is what they would hold to, the church out of the world, followed by a seven year literal period of tribulation.

Following that, there will be an establishment of Christ coming physically, literally to the earth, and setting up a physically literal millennial kingdom, where Israel will receive all the

Old Testament prophecies that they have yet to receive, is what a dispensational premillennialist would hold to.

After which, that thousand -year period, Satan would then be released for a short period, and then there will be the final white throne judgment after the thousand -year period.

This would be the common held belief of dispensational premillennialist. A historical premillennialist would say that the church is engrafted into the true

Israel, that the church is receiving that of the Old Testament prophecy, and that there's not a distinction between ethnic

Jew and Gentile, that they're all one and the same, as long as they believe in Yahweh, Jesus, God, that they believe in that same

God of the Old Testament and the New Testament. They would say that there will be a future seven -year tribulation, or maybe that some of them wouldn't hold to a literal seven -year tribulation, but a tribulation of some kind, followed by the rapture, where the saints will meet

Christ in the air, and then they will come back to earth right then and there, and set up the physical, literal reign of a millennial kingdom, a thousand -year period.

And not all the historical premillennialists would say that it has to be a thousand -year period, but that is when

Christ will set up a millennial kingdom upon the earth, where all those Old Testament biblical prophecies that talk about this future reigning of peace that takes place, that is when that will be.

Now, the amillennialists and the postmillennialists would agree with the historical premillennialists as far as the distinctions of Israel and the church, that the church is a part of the true

Israel, they are in Christ, they're in that body, they are, too, because of Jesus being the seed of Abraham, they have been engrafted into this promise of the

Old Testament. So the amillennialists and postmillennialists agree with the historical premillennialists in covenantal theology.

But amillennialists, that term is kind of a poor term for what amillennialists believe in, because ah would be the negation of millennial, meaning that they would just believe that there is no millennial reign of Christ, which is as far from the truth of what an amillennialist believes as you can get.

An amillennialist believes in a literal reigning of Christ, but that is a literal reigning today, that at the ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he bound

Satan in respects to not being able to deceive the nations, and because of that the gospel has gone out into the world, and that Christ is literally physically upon the throne right now at the right hand of the

Father. He's sitting upon that throne ruling and reigning, and that it is in the heavens that he reigns over those that are physically on earth that are believers in Christ, believers in himself, and that he's also reigning in heaven with the deceased souls of the saints.

So they would say that the millennium is now, they would maybe even hold to a defining term of inaugurated millennialism, meaning that the

Christ inaugurated his millennium in his first advent, and that at the second advent of Christ he will make a completion of all things, that it is when he comes again that is the ending of the millennial reign, where then there will be a creation of the new heavens and the new earth.

And all millennialists would look and see those prophetic words in the Old Testament fulfilled spiritually or theologically, symbolically within the church today in this millennium period.

So that where the the dispensationalists and the historical premillennialists say they have to be fulfilled literally in the millennial kingdom, and all millennialists would say they are being fulfilled in a theologically symbolic manner within the

Christian church of today. Now the difference between postmillennialism and all millennialism is that an all -millennialist would have a more of a pessimistic or a realistic view of what the church will look like when

Christ comes again. Now postmillennialists would have what would be called possibly an optimistic all -millennialist, meaning that Christ being post, that he's going to come after the

Millennium, so after this period of time right now, starting at the inauguration of the

Millennium, being that at the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Satan was bound and the powers of darkness was restrained, that the gospel has been going through this this period of time slowly or rather quickly in some sense overtaking the world, and that it is through the preaching of the gospel and the following of the

Great Commission found in Matthew chapter 28 that the world is going to be Christianized.

Depending on the postmillennialist they will have a different understanding of what Christianizing the world means. Some would hold to what's called theonomy, some wouldn't, but they they would generally hold to that which is found in the

Old Testament as being prophecy of the Millennial reign of Christ as taking place during a future golden age, a future time when the world has been overtaken by that gospel.

Then we will see those physical things that the the dispensational premillennialist and the historical premillennialist would hold to.

They would say that is going to take place prior to the second coming of Christ, but it is still during this millennial age that we will see those things take place.

So the amillennialists and postmillennialists differ in those areas but they are very similar in the placement of Christ's second coming saying that he's coming after the

Millennium. Now once again each one of these views have many different nuances that are are within each respected view and I will not be able to discuss all of them, but my encouragement for you the listener today is regardless of if you are established in your view of eschatology or if you are coming to this without even knowing what these different terms and views are,

I would encourage you to not trust anything I say, but go to the Word of God alone for your authority. Utilize people like myself to help you understand what the text is saying, but always fall back on the text itself.

Let it be your rock, let it be your guide, let it be your guardrails. Do not go past those things.

And I would encourage you that if you do already have an established eschatology view that you would be respectful towards those that have differing views from yourself and utilize resources, study tools, commentaries, books, so on and so forth to help you understand what the other view is thinking.

I think a well -balanced Christian, a solid Christian is going to be one that knows all the other views and knows why the other person believes in those things and is respectful towards them because they know why and where they're coming from.

And so these videos I truly hope will help you to have that kind of perspective towards your brothers and sisters that are in Christ.

I hope this video has been helpful to you and I hope that it blesses you and I hope that it drives you into the

Word of God more to study more about these differences between dispensationalism, covenantal theology, as well as the four different views of the end times, the four different views of the

Millennial reign of Christ. God bless and go in peace. Tell the world of this good news, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that you and I have been saved by.