The Time of
the Redeemer’s Return
Chapter 4
"Immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give
her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of
the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory"
Matthew 24:29, 30
Having shown the Necessity of
Christ’s Return, having dwelt upon the Hope of His appearing, having pondered
some of the bearings and types of the Fact of His Advent, we are now ready to discuss
the Time of His Return and to consider the question—When is our Lord coming
back again? By the "Time" of the Redeemer’s Return
we do not mean the date, but the position which this great event occupies in
God’s dispensational program. Concerning this phase of our subject there is
wide difference of opinion. Two positions have been taken and the advocates of
each appeal to the Scriptures in support of their conflicting views. These two
positions are known as Pre-millennialism and Post-millennialism. The word
"millennium" means a thousand years, and
"pre" means before and "post" means after. One school of
theologians believe and teach that the Lord Jesus will return before the
Millennium, another school insists that He will not come back again until the
close of the Millennium, in fact not until the end of the world, the end of
time itself. As the point at issue between these schools is of great importance
and as this book may fall into the hands of a number of
people who are bewildered by this contradictory testimony and who are anxious
to know what the Scriptures really say upon the matter, we have decided to
devote a separate chapter to the examination of the question—Will Christ return
before or after the Millennium?
When is our
Lord coming back again? In seeking a satisfactory and authoritative answer to
this question our first need is a candid mind, an unprejudiced heart, a
teachable spirit. It is impossible for us to grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord while we cling to our own pre-conceptions. The initial requirement
in every student of Holy Scriptures is that he shall bow to the authority of
the Word and submissively receive at its face value all that
God has revealed. We need to approach the Sacred Volume in the attitude of
learners, willing to have our own ideas of Truth corrected, and prepared to
have our beliefs formed and molded by the teaching of Holy Writ. Such an
assertion may perhaps appear a platitude, yet we are fully assured that it is a
timely reminder. One of the main hindrances which prevents many
of God’s children apprehending Divine truth is that they read the Bible through
the eyes of others; they read it with opinions already firmly formed, they read
it with prejudicial interest. This is largely true with reference to the
subject of our present inquiry. People have been taught by some "Doctor of
Divinity," or Seminary professor that the world is growing better, that
the Gospel will eventually win all men to Christ, and that
the Millennium is to be ushered in by the efforts of the church. It is
difficult for those who have been taught thus to set aside the effects of such
teaching and come to the study of the Bible to find out exactly what it says
concerning these things. Yet we must do so if we would learn God’s mind on the
matter. It is "What saith the Scriptures?" not What does our church
teach? not What does our Creed or Catechism say? not what
did my godly parents tell me? but—What saith the Scriptures? We repeat, in
seeking an answer to the question—When will our Lord return? Before or after
the Millennium? we need to approach the Bible with an open mind, willing to be
instructed by the One who inspired it, and coming to it in the spirit of the
child Samuel saying, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant
heareth."
What is the Time of our Lord’s
Return? As stated above, two general answers are returned to this question. One
class of theologians argue that our Lord will not come back again until after
the Millennium; another class declare that He will return before
the Millennium. In order to be fair to each of these schools we will first give
a brief description of their respective positions.
I.
Post and Pre-Millennialism defined.
1. The position of Post-millennialism.
Post-millennialists teach that
the great purpose of the Divine incarnation was that the Lord Jesus through His
death and resurrection should found and establish a spiritual Kingdom. They
tell us that the Jews who expected their Messiah to set up a material
and visible Kingdom on the earth were mistaken. They insist that the only
Kingdom Christ has or will ever have is an unseen, spiritual and heavenly
Kingdom, the subjects of which are the members of His Church, in whose hearts
Christ now rules. They declare that the Redeemer is even now reigning, reigning
as King over this earth and that He will continue thus to reign, unseen, until
He has overcome all enmity and opposition and won His very
enemies unto Himself. The instrument by which He is to achieve this glorious
victory is the church, and the Church, we are told, is here to civilize as well
as evangelize the earth. Post-millennialists teach that while the Church is an
institution and organization separate from the State, yet it is interested in
the welfare of the State and that it is the duty of Christ’s followers to take part in polities and see to it that the best men securable
are elected to office and that they must be encouraged to frame and enforce
laws which make for civil righteousness.
In present-day conditions
post-millenarians see the fulfilling of their hopes and the promise
of a speedy success crowning their efforts. They regard the multiplication of
educational advantages, ‘the discoveries and inventions of modern science, the
improvements in hygenic and sanitary conditions, the growing demand for nation-wide
prohibition, the increasing number of hospitals and agencies to relieve
suffering, the modern trend toward inter-denominationalism and religious, unionism, as so many heralds of the near approach of the
Millennium. They believe that the utilization and perfecting of such agencies
will usher in the Golden Age, an age of world peace and prosperity, an age when
all will know the Lord from the least to the greatest. It is not until the
close of this Millennium that they look for Christ to return: then it is they
expect Him to come back and ‘wind up’ all things, judge the
human race and settle the eternal destiny of every individual of it.
Post-millenarians believe in a general resurrection and a general judgment at
the end of time. Such in brief and in general is the position and belief held
by post-millennialists. We turn now to
2. The position of Pre-millennialism.
At every point the teaching of
pre-millenarians is diametrically opposed to that of the post-millennialists.
Pre-millenarians regard the Jewish expectation of a literal, visible, material
Kingdom as being set up in the earth by their Messiah as a hope authorized by the Word of God because clearly revealed and
expressly foretold by the Old Testament prophets. They believe this Messianic
Kingdom is now in abeyance but will yet be established. They do not hold that
Christ is now reigning as King, on the contrary, they look upon Him as at
present exercising His high-priesthood, and they do not expect Him to enter
into the office of His Kingship until He returns to the
earth and sits upon the throne of His father David.
Pre-millennialists do not
believe that it is the mission of the Church to civilize the world, but
instead, they are deeply impressed that the great duty and business of the Church
is to evangelize the nations. While recognizing that civilization is a byproduct of evangelism, yet they insist that their marching
orders are contained in Christ’s mandate—Go, preach the Gospel to every
creature. Believing this, and realizing that a full obedience to their Lord’s
command will require all their strength, time and talents, they (or, at least,
an increasing number of them) look upon politics, social-reform movements,
humanitarian efforts, etc. as outside of their own
jurisdiction, as something which is an integral part of that world from which
their Master was cast out, the "friendship" of which is expressly
declared to be "Enmity with God" (James 4:4). While they rest with
unshaken confidence upon the Divine promise that God’s Word shall not return
unto Him void but that it shall accomplish that which He pleases and prosper in
the thing whereto He sends it, and while they go forth
preaching the Gospel in the assurance that the Holy Spirit will use and bless
it to the conversion of many of those that hear it, yet pre-millennialists can
find no promise anywhere in the New Testament that the world as a whole shall
improve during the time of Christ’s absence from it; on the contrary, they read
that "In the last days perilous times shall come" and that "Evil
men and seducers shall wax worse and worse" (2 Tim.
3:1, 13).
Pre-millennialists do not
believe there can be any Millennium until Christ returns to the earth, takes
its government upon His shoulder and reigns in power over it. They do not believe
that there can be any real improvement in moral and spiritual conditions
down here while Satan is free, and realizing the utter impotency of man to cope
with his powerful Enemy they recognize that the only hope for this poor world
is the Second Advent of Christ to it and His removal of Satan from it. They
believe that before this can happen Christ will first come for His Church and
instead of interposing a thousand years between the present and this blessed
event, they are looking for Him to return at any moment.
Such in brief and in general is the belief and position of pre-millennialism.
Now it is very evident that
both of these positions cannot be sound and tenable, that one of them must be
false and unscriptural. Post-millennialism and pre-millennialism
cannot both be right, one of them is most certainly wrong. Which of them is in
error? Again we would urge upon our readers the need of drawing near to God and
praying Him for a teachable spirit and asking Him to enable them to approach
the examination of this issue with an unprejudiced mind and an open heart.
II.
Post and Pre-Millennialism Examined
1.
An examination of Post-millennialism.
Post-millennialists
teach that the only Kingdom over which Christ will ever reign is a spiritual and
celestial one. They say that those Jews who expected their Messiah to set up a
visible and material Kingdom on the earth are mistaken, that they erred in the
interpretation of their prophetic Scriptures and cherished a carnal and
unworthy hope. Let us examine this assertion in the light of God’s Word. In
Psalm 132:11 we read: "The Lord hath sworn in truth
unto David; He will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon
thy throne."
This was one of many Messianic
prophecies scattered throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. it is a prophecy
which has never yet been fulfilled. When our Lord Jesus was
here upon earth He did not sit upon any "throne," instead of
occupying a Throne He was nailed to a cross. True, He is now seated at the
right hand of the Majesty on high, but this is not the fulfillment of what
Jehovah "swore in truth." David never occupied a heavenly throne; his
throne was an earthly one, he reigned in Jerusalem; and God has declared that
the Lord Jesus shall sit upon David’s throne. This Old
Testament prophecy was confirmed in New Testament times. In Luke one we learn
that an angel appeared unto Mary and said, "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast
found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the "Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the
throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the
house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke
1:30-33).
The above is not a single
prophecy but a compound one. It is made up of five separate items. Mary, the
"virgin," was to conceive and bring forth a son; her son’s name was to be called "Jesus"; Jesus was to become
great and recognized as the Son of God; the Lord promised to give unto Him the
"throne of David," and over the "House of Jacob" He was to
reign forever. Utterly unlikely as it appeared to human wisdom at the time,
part of this prophecy has already been fulfilled—literally fulfilled. There was
a literal birth, Mary’s son was literally named "Jesus," and a literal "greatness" has become His portion; by what
sleight of hand then can the exegetical knife be run through this prophecy and
a literal "Throne of David" and a literal reign over the "House
of Jacob" be denied?
Post-millennialists teach that
Christ is reigning as King today and that He will continue
to reign thus, unseen, until He has subdued and won all His enemies. But the
first part of this assertion is altogether lacking in scriptural authority.
Nowhere in the New Testament are we told that Christ has already begun His
Kingly reign, and nowhere in the Epistles is He denominated the "King of
the Church." It is true that Christ is now seated upon a "throne,"
but not upon His own Throne. Christ is seated on the Throne
of His Father, but His own Throne and the Father’s Throne are clearly
distinguished in Scripture —"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father
in His Throne" (Rev. 3:21).It is not until after He has vacated His
Father’s throne and returns to this earth that He will occupy His own throne as
is clear from Matthew 25:31 —"When the Son of Man
shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit
upon the Throne of His glory."
Post-millennialists teach that
the world is to be conquered by the Church. Their favorite slogan is "The
world for Christ." It is supposed that in order to capture the world the Church must make concessions to and compromises with
the world. Post-millennialists insist that it is the bounden duty of all
Christians to help forward every movement which makes for civic and social
righteousness. But of such it may be said, yea, it has been said by the Holy
Spirit Himself —"For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going
about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:3). The New
Testament knows no righteousness apart from the Cross and places no value upon
a reformation which is divorced from regeneration. Post-millennialists argue
that believers ought to take part in politics and that it is their business to
look after the regulation of legislation. But politics give Christ no place and
where Christ has no place His followers must have none. The
Lord Jesus has left us an example that we should follow His steps, but we
search the records of His earthly life in vain to discover any mention of Him
taking any part in the politics of Palestine in His day.
Post-millennialists teach that
the Gospel is yet to convert the world and that before Christ
returns to earth all men will know Him from the least unto the greatest. A
captivating concept surely, but upon what is it based? Certainly not upon the
declarations of the New Testament. We are commanded to preach the Gospel to
every creature, but nowhere is there a promise that the time will come when
every creature will believe the Gospel. The Lord Jesus taught that "As the
days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of
Man be" (Matthew 24:37). What were the conditions in Noah’s days? Did all
men then receive the messages of God’s servants? Nay verily: On another
occasion Christ said, "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they
did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but
the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be
when the Son of Man is revealed" (Luke 17:28-30)—do these words present
the picture of our Lord returning to a world which has been won by the Gospel?
Nay verily. Our Lord very plainly intimated that He did not expect to return to
a world where Christianity had universally triumphed: "When the Son of Man
cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" (Luke
18:8).
Post-millennialists teach that
our Lord will not return until the close of the Millennium and that then there
will be a general resurrection of the dead, followed by a general judgment, at
which every member of the human race will stand before the
great Judge to have his eternal destiny decided. Such a conception is
anti-scriptural in every part of it. In the nineteenth chapter Of Revelation we
see heaven opened and the Lord Jesus coming forth seated on a white horse and
with Him are the "armies which are in heaven." Accompanied by His
saints the King of kings and Lord of lords returns to this earth as is evident
from the next verse for there we are told that He shall
"smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron." In Revelation
19 Christ is seen making a footstool of His enemies preparatory to the
inauguration of His reign of blessing, and in the next chapter we read,
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon,
that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the
thousand years should be fulfilled" (Rev. 20:1-3). In the verses that
follow we are told that those who have part in the first resurrection shall
reign with Christ throughout the thousand years. Thus we learn that Christ leaves
heaven and returns to the earth before the Millennium
commences. The concept of a general resurrection and a general judgment is
equally unscriptural as we shall show later.
2.
An examination of Pre-millennialism.
Pre-millennialists,
as their name indicates, are looking for their Redeemer to return before the
Millennium begins, looking for Him to introduce and usher in the Millennium
itself. To them a Millennium without Christ is unthinkable. From their cradles
they have been taught to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on
earth as it is done in heaven," and they cannot conceive of a Kingdom
without a King. The Millennium is the time when men’s
desire for a Golden Age will be realized, but that Golden Age cannot dawn until
the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings. The Millennium is
the time when the sword shall be made into a ploughshare and the spear into a
pruning-hook, when for a thousand years there shall be no war, but earth-wide
peace will only be made possible by the return and personal
presence of the Prince of Peace.
Pre-millennialists believe
that in the Millennium Christ will set up on the earth a visible, material
Kingdom, that He will occupy the literal throne of David and reign from
Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. They base their belief upon many plain declarations in Scripture to that effect. Isaiah predicted
it—"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the
host of the high ones that are on high, and the Kings of the earth upon the
earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the
pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be
visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun
ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem,
and before His ancients gloriously." Ezekiel foretold it—"And He said
unto me, Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My
feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and My
holy name shall the House of Israel no more defile by their abominations that
they have committed" (Ezek. 43:7),while at the close
of his prophecy he says of Jerusalem in the Millennium, "And the name of
the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there" Zephaniah heralded
it—"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with
the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, He
hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee’ (Zeph. 3:14-17). Zechariah announced it,
"Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell
in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the
Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of
thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent Me unto thee. And
the Lord shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land
and shall choose Jerusalem again" (Zech. 2:10-12, and see further 8:8, 23
and 14:16).
Pre-millennialists believe
that the Messianic reign and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus are yet future. They
believe that Christ Himself so taught. In the Parable of the Nobleman,
He declared, "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 the 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). Here we learn that Christ’s
return and His reception of the "Kingdom" are
inseparably connected together. Not only do the Scriptures plainly refute the
assertion that Christ is now reigning, but existing conditions cannot be made
to square with this belief. How absurd it is to say that Christ is now reigning
over the earth when His authority is despised and rejected by the whole of the
unbelieving world! No Christ-rejector can be termed a follower of the Lamb, and if he is not a "follower" then he is
not subject to the will and rule of the Lord Jesus, and if he is not subject to
Christ, then in no sense is Christ his "King." Moreover, the
conditions which prevail upon earth today repudiate the idea that Christ is
even now reigning over it. The scepter which the first man lost has never been
restored, the "Curse" has not yet been removed, and Satan is still at
large! But all things will be changed when the Lord Jesus
takes the government upon His shoulder and reigns in power and righteousness.
Pre-millennialists believe
that it is God’s purpose in this Age to take out of the nations "a people
for His name" (Acts 15:14). To effect this the Gospel has been given and the Holy Spirit has come down to this earth. As the
Gospel is preached, as many as are ordained to eternal life believe (Acts
18:48), for though "many be called," there are "but few
chosen" (Matthew 20:16). God’s purpose in this dispensation is an Elective
one, and let it be said with emphasis, God’s purpose has not failed, is not
failing, will not fail—"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like
Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My
pleasure" (Isa. 46:9, 10). The Gospel is not a failure, the Holy Spirit
has not failed in His mission, it is theologians who have failed—failed to
understand the purpose of God and to read aright His present program.
III.
Post-Millennialism Refuted..
The post-millennial position
rests largely upon a mistranslation. In Matthew 13:89 we
read "The harvest is the end of the world," and again in Matthew
24:8—"And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Now the Greek word which
is used in the above passages is entirely different from the one found in John
3:16—"God so loved the Kosmos." In the verses
quoted above the word is not "Kosmos" but aion and ought to have been
rendered "age"—"the harvest is the end of the age." In the
marginal rendering of the R. V. Matthew 13:39 reads "The harvest is the
consummation of the age." Both of the Greek words which are translated
"world" in the King James Version occur in Hebrews 9:26—"For
then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the Kosmos:
but now once in the end of the aion hath He appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself." Here it is evident that "aion" cannot mean
"world." The Lord Jesus was offered as a sacrifice for sin more than
eighteen hundred years ago, and the end of the "world" has not come
yet. It was at the consummation or end of the Mosaic age that our Lord appeared
and died upon the cross in order to effect our salvation.
So, in the above instances read, "The harvest is the end of the age,"
the present age and not the end of time, for just as the Mosaic age was
followed by the Christian age, so the present Dispensation shall be followed by
the Millennium. That the "harvest" referred to by our Lord in the
Parable of the Tares takes place at the end of this age rather than at the end
of the "world," is further seen by a comparison
of Joel 3:13-17 and Revelation 14:14-20 which refer to the same
"harvest" and where this harvest is definitely placed at the
commencement and not at the consummation of Messiah’s reign. That our Lord will
return before the Millennium rather than at its close is clear from many
considerations.
1. The condition of the world when our Lord returns proves
that His Second Advent cannot be post-millennial.
God’s Word makes known the
exact conditions which are to obtain here immediately preceding the Redeemer’s
Return. The Holy Spirit has given a number of graphic
portrayals of the world as it will exist when our Lord comes back to it. One of
these pictures is to be found in Isaiah 2—"For the day of the Lord of
hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that
is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon,
that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan. And upon all the
high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up.
And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships
of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be
bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day. And the idols He shall utterly abolish. And they
shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when
He ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols
of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to
worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, for
fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake
terribly the earth." Do these verses picture a world
ready to receive a returning Christ? No; they tell us that in "the Day of
the Lord"—that which immediately follows the present "Day of
Salvation"—men will be "proud and lofty"; it intimates that
idolatry shall prevail universally; it tells us that instead of men coming
forward to welcome the Lord Jesus, they shall flee from Him in terror.
Another passage which
describes the conditions which are to prevail on earth at the time of our
Lord’s Return is found in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9—"And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His
Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Observe that here we
are expressly told that our Lord comes back again to take vengeance on
"them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel."
It is utterly impossible to make this statement harmonize with the concept of
Christ returning to a world which had previously been won to Him by the Gospel.
Again, in 2 Peter 3:3, 4 we
read, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of
His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they
willingly are ignorant of." Observe that the apostle is describing
conditions that are to obtain in "the last days," i. e., the last
days of this present dispensation. Here again we learn then, that instead of
this Age closing with the universal acceptation of the Gospel, instead of the
last days witnessing a world reconciled to God, instead of
the Christian era dosing with earth-wide prayer for the Coming of the King, we
are told that, "there shall come in the last days scoffers," a class
of people who have no concern for God’s glory but who walk after their own
lusts; and further, we are told that these "scoffers" shall mock at
those who are looking for the appearing of our Savior and that the
"ignorance" of these scoffers is due to a wilful
and deliberate rejection of God’s revealed truth.
Putting together the above
pictures we learn that in the days which precede Christ’s Second Advent the
earth will be filled with proud idolaters, with those that know not God and
obey not the Gospel, and with those who mock and scoff at the prospect
of a speedily returning Redeemer. Further; we learn that the actual return of
Christ is introduced not by Gospel successes but by Divine judgments. Thus we
say that the condition of the world when our Lord comes back to it proves that
His Second Advent occurs not at the close of an era of Millennial blessedness,
but at the end of a dispensation wherein God has dealt with infinite
long-sufferance with a race of rebels, and that at His
coming He takes "vengeance" on His enemies ere setting up His
Messianic Kingdom.
2.
The Teaching of Matthew 13 proves that no era of Millennial blessing precedes
Christ’s Second Advent.
In Matthew 13 we have the
record of seven parables—the number of completeness—which our Lord uttered
consecutively. These parables are prophetic in their significance and scope.
They deal with conditions which are to obtain here during the time of our
Lord’s absence. They are concerned with the visible profession
of Christianity and they look forward to the closing scenes of the present
dispensation. As there is much in them upon which we cannot now comment at
length we shall content ourselves with singling out only that which bears upon
our present inquiry.
The
chapter opens with the well-known Parable of the Sower who went forth to sow.
It pictures the broad-cast sowing of the good Seed by the Savior Himself, and
in His interpretation of the parable we learn that the "Seed" is the
Word of God. The parable sets before us the beginning of the Christian
dispensation and makes known to us the manner and extent of the reception of
the Redeemer’s mission and message. It gives us the ratio
of the Gospel’s success and forewarns us that all men are not going to receive
God’s Word, that the majority will not, that only a fractional minority will.
It shows us that the proclamation of the Word is to encounter Satanic
opposition, yea, that the world, the flesh, and the Devil, will combine in
their efforts to prevent it bringing forth fruit.
The result of the sowing is
plainly stated. Three castings out of four were fruitless! Most of the seed
fell upon barren ground. The greater part of the field which, in our Lord’s
interpretation, we learn is "the world," completely failed to bring
forth any increase. Some of the seed fell by the wayside and the fowls of the
air picked it up; some fell upon the rocks and the sun
burnt it up; some fell among thorns and it was choked. Only one-fourth of it
fell upon "good ground" and even there the fruitage varied and
decreased in its yield from a hundredfold to thirty-fold (see vs. 23). In His
interpretation, the Lord tells us that the different kinds of ground on which
the Seed fell represents various classes of people who hear the Word.
Now what light does the above
parable throw upon our present inquiry? It throws a clear light and in its
light we discover the fallacy of the post-millennial position. There is no hint
whatever in this parable that a time was to come when the whole of the field
would be covered with waving wheat, instead, the only possible inference which can be drawn from it daffy repudiates such a conception.
Who would dare to suggest that the Divine Sower Himself, the "Lord of the
harvest" would be followed by other sowers who should prove more
successful titan He? The results of our Lord’s own sowing were prophetic of the
history of the entire Christian dispensation. In no period of tills Age has the
whole field—the world—been receptive to the Seed, in no
period have more than a fractional minority received the Word and brought forth
fruit unto perfection. In every generation, from the time when our Lord walked
the earth in the days of His flesh until now, the emissaries of Satan and the
cares and riches of the world have combined to choke and make unfruitful the
Word of God. From this parable then it is impossible to deduce any promise of a world ultimately converted by the Gospel.
The second of the parables
found in Matthew 13—that of the Wheat and the Tares—brings out even more
forcibly than the previous one the fact that there can be no Millennium of
earth-wide blessedness before our Lord’s return. The Parable of
the Tares is also prophetic in its bearing. It makes known to us that which
succeeded our Lord’s own ministry. Immediately following the Divine Sower’s
scattering of the good Seed, an Enemy came and sowed evil seed in the same
field. The Enemy was "the Wicked One" and it is to be particularly
noted that he sowed neither thorns nor thistles but "tares" —a
bastard wheat—which so closely resembles the genuine
article that the one cannot be distinguished from the other until the time of
harvest. Here then is seen the efforts of the Evil One to neutralize the
gracious work of the Son of God. The interpretation of this parable was
supplied by the Lord Himself: just as the wheat represents the "children
of the Kingdom," so the tares symbolize the "children of the Wicked
One? Let it be noted, however, that the "tares"
do not represent wicked men as such, but "the ministers of Satan,"
"false apostles, deceitful workers" (2 Cor. 11:13) who were secretly
introduced by the Enemy amongst God’s people just as the tares were sown among
the wheat.
Part of this parable began to
be fulfilled in the days when the New Testament was written.
In the false teachers who harassed the early disciples we may see the mingling
of the taxes with the Wheat. The "children of the Wicked One" were
the Judaizers who entered in among the churches of Galatia and who taught that
salvation could not be secured by faith alone, that Circumcision was also
necessary. The "tares" may be seen in Hymeneus and Philetus of whom
we read, "who concerning the Truth have erred, saying
that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some" (2
Tim. 2:17, 18). The apostle Peter referred to the same class when he wrote,
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall
be false teachers among you, who privily ("secretly") shall bring in
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction"
(2 Pet. 2:1). Jude, likewise,
had reference to such when he declared, "For there are certain men crept
in unawares (as the "tares" were sown secretly among the wheat), who
were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 4). Thus we see that at a very early
date the tares were mingled with the wheat.
Again we ask, What light does
this parable throw upon the point now under discussion? And once more the
answer is, much every way. In our Lord’s declaration that
the tares should grow together with the wheat until the time of harvest, which
He expressly declares is the end of the age, we discover how preposterous,
erroneous, and unscriptural is the teaching that the Gospel will yet win the
world to Christ. At the time of harvest the world is still a mixed field, and
this fact cuts away all ground for supposing that before our Lord returns the
tares will be all rooted up or changed into wheat. Instead
of the tares being transformed into wheat before the Millennium is ushered in,
we are told that at the time of harvest the tares are bound into bunches and
afterward cast into the fire—a very different picture that from the children of
the Wicked One being reconciled to God! In the words "Let both grow
together till the harvest" two solemn facts are revealed—first,
Satan shall continue to hinder the success of the Gospel without interruption
till the end of the age; and second, the Christian profession once corrupted
shall continue thus to the close of the dispensation. And thus it has proven.
Finally, be it observed, that in the casting of the tares—the children of the
Wicked One—into the furnace of fire, we learn once more that the Age closes not
with the universal reception of the Gospel but with Divine
judgment upon the wicked!
The third parable of Matthew
13—that of the Mustard-seed—differs from the former ones in that it was not
interpreted by our Lord. Post-millennialists have taken
advantage of this fact and have made it teach that which gives countenance to
their own pre-conceived theories. In this parable they see the promise of a
world conquered by the Gospel. Now, whatever this parable may or may not
signify, it certainly must not be made to contradict the teaching of the two
which have gone before it. As already stated, the seven parables recorded in
Matthew 13 form part of one connected discourse by our Lord
and are so many prophetic representations of the development of the Christian
profession during the time of His absence. This third parable then cannot set
forth the universal diffusion of the Truth because the previous ones show that
this is prevented by the opposition of Satan, which opposition is to continue
until the end of the age. What then does this third parable teach?
The position which this
parable occupies in the series is one of the keys to its interpretation. The
first parable is concerned with the beginning of this dispensation, the time when
our Lord was here upon the earth. The second deals, prophetically,
with conditions that obtained in the lifetime of the apostles, showing us the
false teachers—the children of the Wicked One—who crept in among God’s people
in their day. This third parable then looks forward to a later period and
presents a prophetic picture which saw its materialization in the fourth
century of our era. The growth of the little mustard-seed into a great tree
represents the development of the Christian profession from
an insignificant commencement into a system of imposing proportions. In the
fourth century A. D., Christianity was popularized by Constantine who adopted
it as the State religion and compelled more than a million of his subjects to
be baptized at the point of the sword. The parable of the Tares shows us
Christianity corrupted by the insidious introduction of the
children of the Wicked One among the children of God: the parable of the
mustard-seed forecasted the growth and spread of a corrupted Christianity. This
assertion of ours may easily be verified by the details of the parable itself.
The mustard-seed developed
into a great tree—an abnormal thing in itself, nay, a monstrosity—so
the popularization of Christianity in the days of Constantine produced an unnatural
and ungainly system which was foreign to its spirit and nature. Observe that
the "fowls of the air" came and lodged in the branches of the great
tree. In the first parable of the series the Lord Himself tells us that the
birds of the air represent the emissaries of Satan. The great tree then, stands
for a nominal and national Christianity, a monstrous,
world-system, that which in our day is the aggregate of the so-called
"Christian nations." In a word, the great tree symbolizes Christendom
which in Revelation 18 is said to be the "hold of every foul spirit and a
cage for every hateful bird."
Further
confirmation of our assertion above, that the great tree which issued from the
mustard-seed represents the abnormal growth of a corrupted Christianity is
furnished in Daniel 4 where we have recorded a dream which came to the first
head of the Gentile powers. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar also saw a "great
tree," and in the fate which it met with we learn the end which is
appointed to the tree of the parable. To quote—"I saw,
and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great.
The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and
the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: The leaves thereof were fair, and
the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had
shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of
my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from
heaven; He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his
branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away
from under it, and the fowls from his branches" (Dan. 4:10-14).
To sum up our comments upon
this parable. Instead of lending favor to the position of post-millennialism,
its teaching—viewed in the light of Daniel 4—absolutely shatters the foundation
of that system. Instead of teaching that the professing Church shall conquer the
world, it shows that the world has conquered the professing
Church. The mustard-seed symbolizes the outward character of the Christian
profession at the beginning of this dispensation, when its devotees were few in
number, poor in this world’s goods, and despised by the great ones of the
earth. In the third century A.D., the professing Church was like unto a humble
little seed, unpretentious in appearance and insignificant in its dimensions.
But in the fourth century there was a dramatic change.
Constantine became a nominal Christian and adopted Christianity as the State
religion. Then it was that the "tree" grew and became strong in the
earth, putting out its branches in all directions. But then it was, also, that
the fowls of Satan found shelter within its imposing boughs. However, great as
the tree has become, its end is sure. Just as we learnt in the previous
parable that the tares shall yet be consigned to the fire, so shall this great
"tree" yet be cut down and brought to nought.
We turn now to the fourth
parable of Matthew 13—the parable of the Leaven, the leaven which a woman took
and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.
This parable is one of the foundation passages of post-millennialists. In it
they see clear proof that the Reign of Righteousness, the Golden Age, is to be
brought about by the efforts of the Church. The woman, we are told, symbolizes
the Church, the three measures of meal the human race, and the leaven the
Gospel, which, working silently but surely shall yet permeate the whole of
humanity and influence all men Godward and heavenward. But
the assumption that the leaven here signifies the influence and power of the
Gospel will not stand the test of the Scriptures, for in the Word of God
"leaven" is uniformly employed as a figure of that which is evil. The
Israelites in Egypt were commanded to put away all leaven from their houses on
the night of the Passover, and to eat the lamb with un-leavened bread. Leaven was rigidly excluded from every one of the
Levitical offerings which typified Christ. When our Lord was here upon earth He
bade His disciples "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees" (Matthew 16:11). Writing to the Corinthians the apostle
exhorted them to "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lamp, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed
for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth" (1 Cor. 5:7, 8). Thus we see that, in harmony with its nature,
leaven, is uniformly used as a figure of evil. How strange then that sober
expositions should ever have regarded sour dough—a form of incipient
putrefaction—as a symbol of the unadulterated Word of God
working in the hearts of men!
What then is the meaning of
the parable of the Leaven? We answer that just as the former one brings before
us the external development of a corrupted Christianity, so this one shows us
the internal working of corruption within the Christian profession.
The third parable brings us, historically, to the time of Constantine; the
fourth carries us forward to the time of the rise and growth of the Roman
Catholic Church. The "woman" in our parable figures the "mother
of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Rev. 17:5)—"that woman
Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess" (Rev. 2:20). Her act in
"hiding" the leaven comports well with the secrecy
and stealth which has ever characterized the methods of the Roman hierarchy.
The action of the woman is further evidence that the post-millennial
interpretation of this parable is erroneous, for there is nothing secret about
the proclamation and spread of the Gospel. Said our Lord to His disciples,
"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in
the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops" (Matthew
10:27); and wrote the apostle, "But having renounced the hidden things of
dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, not handling the Word of God
deceitfully" (2 Cor. 4:2). But both "craftiness" and
"deceit" did mark this woman’s action. She stealthily introduced into
the meal a corrupting element, and though the resulting bread might be rendered
more palatable, nevertheless it had been polluted. The
three measures of meal stand for the whole of Christendom, and as Dr. Haldeman
has pointed out, it is very remarkable that there are just three great
divisions in Christendom, namely, the Roman Catholic, the Greek, and the
Protestant Churches. And how true it is that these three divisions of the meal
have each and all been thoroughly corrupted by the leaven introduced by the "woman"! Everywhere there are relics of
Romanism, even in all the so-called Protestant churches.
To say that this parable
teaches that the Gospel is to win the whole world to Christ is to put light for
darkness and is to make error equal truth. If the leaven represents the Gospel, the woman the church, and the meal the entire
human race, then we have to confess that our Lord erred in His judgment and entirely
over-estimated the power of the Gospel to find a response in the hearts of men,
for after eighteen centuries of Gospel preaching we cannot point to a single
country where all its subjects make even a profession of Christianity; nay, the
world over, we cannot find a single city, town, or hamlet
where everyone of its inhabitants is a believer in the Lord Jesus. No; this
parable shows us the secret working of a putrefying element which spreads
nought but corruption,—Can then the Millennium be introduced by the universal
diffusion of a corrupted Christianity!
In these
four parables we discover the methods used by Satan to hinder the work of true
Christianity. At the beginning he sought to oppose by catching away the Seed,
which method was pursued throughout the first century when the Devil endeavored
to exterminate and annihilate the Word of God by means of the sword and the
bonfire. In the second parable we see him changing his tactics, aiming to
destroy Christianity by mingling his own children among the
people of God. In the third we see how by a master-stroke of the Enemy the
Christian profession was Paganized and as the result the world was won over by
dazzling the eyes of men with a gorgeous ritual, with imposing architecture,
and with the sanction and approval of the Roman Emperors themselves. In the
fourth we discover how he succeeded in corrupting the
doctrines and practices of Christianity by introducing into its midst a foreign
and putrefying element which has resulted in the leavening of the entire mass.
We shall not tarry long with
the last three parables of this series. There is nothing at all
in them, any more than in those already considered, which confirms and
establishes the post, millennial teaching. A treasure buried in the field (which
is "the world") can scarcely figure the universal success of the
Gospel. A "pearl"—which is an object taken out of the "sea"
(symbol of the nations) is no picture of a world won to Christ. While the
Drag-net—the last of the series—enclosing as it does "every ‘kind" of fish, the "bad" as well as the good,
surety refutes the assertion that at the close of time Christ will return to
find all men reconciled to Himself.
3.
Our Lord’s Olivet discourse shows that there is no universal triumph of the
Gospel before His Second Advent.
The Olivet Discourse of our
Lord is recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. We cannot now attempt a
detailed exposition of these highly interesting and important chapters, but
would simply single out from them a few things which throw light upon our
present inquiry. At the beginning of Matthew 24 we find that three
of His disciples asked our Lord, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and
what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the age?" (v. 3).
What then was the answer which our Savior returned to these questions? Did He
reply saying that the Age would end with the universal triumph of the Gospel?
Did He tell them that the Sign of His coming would be a converted world that
would be eagerly awaiting His return to it? If so, this
clearly decides the issue once for all, for there can be no appeal against the
declarations of the One who was the truth incarnate.
As we read the verses which
record our Lord’s reply to the questions of His disciples we find that instead of
Him painting a picture in bright and attractive colors, He portrayed
a set of conditions which were pathetic and tragic in their bearing and nature.
Instead of intimating that things on earth would improve during the time of His
absence, He showed that they would get worse and worse. Instead of promising an
era of peace and prosperity, He predicted a time of blood-shed and famine,
instead of telling the disciples that truth would be universally diffused and
received, He forewarned them of the coming of false
prophets who should deceive many. Instead of teaching that His followers would
grow more zealous and faithful to Him, He announced that because iniquity
should abound the love of many would "wax cold." Instead of saying
that He should come back here to be received with an open-armed welcome, He
predicted that on His return "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn." It is true that He said, "This Gospel of the
Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations," yet a little further down in the same chapter He very plainly
intimated that it should meet with an almost universal rejection—"For as
the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be,"
proves this.
It is therefore well nigh
impossible for us to imagine anything more directly opposed to the
post-millennial theory than what we find here in this address of our Lord’s. It
would appear from His utterances as if He, with omniscient vision, foresaw the
very teaching which is so common in our day and that He designedly and
deliberately anticipated and repudiated it. In verses 29
and 30 of Matthew 24 we read, "Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
The "tribulation"
here spoken of is described in verses 21 and 22 of this same chapter—"For
then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved." How different
this from the glowing pictures painted by the post-millennialists! That the
things here mentioned cannot possibly have reference to the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus is evident from the fact that "immediately after the
tribulation" of those days the sun was not "darkened," the moon
did not "cease to give her light," and the Son of Man was not seen "coming in the clouds of heaven." No; these
verses describe conditions which are to prevail at "the end of the
Age." Observe particularly that it is said, "Immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened" etc., and that
"then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son
of Man coming in the clouds of heaven." The conditions then which are to
immediately precede the Second Advent of Christ are not
those of Millennial blessedness but those of unparalleled tribulation.
4.
The present working of the Mystery of Iniquity proves that there can be no
Millennium before the Redeemer’s Return.
"Let no man deceive you
by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away
first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition" (2 Thess.
2:3). In the first Epistle to the Thessalonians the apostle makes mention of the
Second Coming of Christ in every chapter, and in the first chapter of the
second Epistle he recurs again to the same theme—"The
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ"
(vv. 7, 8). Then, at the
opening of chapter two in the Second Epistle he further says, "Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in
mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us,
as that the day of Christ is at hand." Observe that here the apostle
speaks of "The Day of Christ" which is different from "The
Coming of Christ." The "day of Christ" signifies the Millennium
and is used in contrast with "Man’s day" (1 Cor. 4:3, margin) which denominates the dispensation in which we are now living. Here
then the apostle expressly states that "that day (the Day of Christ) shall
not come except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be
revealed, the Son of Perdition."
The "Man of Sin" is
the Antichrist who at the very close of this Age will oppose and exalt himself "above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself
that he is God" (2 Thess. 2:4). In the seventh verse of this same chapter
the apostle tells us "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only
He who now letteth (hindereth) will let (hinder), until He be taken out of the
way." Notice that the "Mystery of Iniquity" was said to
"work" referring to the action of the leaven
which was corrupting the meal even in the apostle’s own lifetime. That which
has ‘hindered" the full development of the Mystery of Iniquity" and
which now prevents the revelation of the Antichrist is the presence on earth of
God the Holy Spirit. But He is to be "taken out of the way"—removed
from the earth when the saints are raptured to heaven. Then will the Devil be allowed ‘free rein’ and the Son of Perdition will be
publicly manifested. In the days of Antichrist God will send men strong
delusion "that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned,
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (v. 12).
The career of the Antichrist will be cut short by the return of our Redeemer to
the earth—"whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His
coming" (v. 8). The "Mystery of Iniquity" then, will be brought
to a conclusion only by the Return of Christ in judgment which is another proof
that there can be no Millennium before the Second Coming of Christ.
To sum up
the teaching of 2 Thessalonians 1:6-2:12. The testimony of this passage is in
perfect accord with the declarations of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24. Instead
of teaching that before Christ returns all men will be converted by the Gospel,
it distinctly affirms that the Day of Christ (the Millennium shall not come
"except there come a falling away first" (Greek
"apostasy"). Instead of teaching that this Age
will close by witnessing a universal turning unto the Truth, it explicitly
states that it will terminate with God giving up multitudes "that they
should believe a lie." Instead of teaching that this Dispensation will end
with Christ exalted in the hearts of all, it declares that it will close with
the manifestation and exaltation of the Antichrist and with the Lord coming
back in judgment to destroy the Wicked One and to take
vengeance on those that know not God and have scorned the Gospel of His Son.
IV.
Pre-Millennialism Established.
1. Christ does not "receive the Kingdom" until
the time of His Second Advent.
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 hoard 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 tact 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 our Lord here referred was the Messianic Kingdom which was the subject of
numerous Old Testament prophecies. It was the "Kingdom" mentioned in
Daniel 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
the 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 Corinthians 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.
2.
The "Times of Restitution" can be ushered in only by the Second Advent
of Christ.
"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 tame 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 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 Gods holy prophets. Of what "Times of Restitution" then did
the Old Testament prophets speak? We answer, of Millennial "Times,"
when all the 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 above 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.
3.
The Restoration of Israel is only made possible by the Second Advent of Christ.
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 item 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 forever:
and My Servant David shall be their prince forever. 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 sanctity Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the
midst of them for evermore" (Ezek. 37:21-28).
That Israel’s restoration
synchronizes 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" (Isa.
25:10 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 Romans 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 Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob."
That
Israel’s restoration results in great blessing to the whole world may be seem 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" (Mic. 5:7).
"Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with
fruit" (Isa. 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).
4. A
groaning Creation can be delivered only by the Second Advent of Christ.
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 burned 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 Romans 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" (v.
22). This is the lot of all Nature today. 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" (v. 19 and compare Colossians 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 until 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.