"All" Millennial

“All” millennial

By Richard P. Joseph

I was trying to find a good sermon on my drive home from work but I have to admit, I am tired of the “tow the line” sermons that make me cringe these days.  I came across Dr. David Jeremiah and he gave a lesson on the millennium.   He correctly interpreted the word as 1,000 years but said nothing about it’s meaning to first century Jews.  He then went on to explain the top three theories on the millennial reign of Christ.  I think he said postmillennial, premillennial and amillennial.  He said nothing about preterism. He then chose the one he believed in and I can’t remember which one, I think post, but don’t quote me.  

After all that, he explained that it is a future event.  He rapidly quoted several Old Testament verses to support the idea that there would be such a thing as a millennial reign of the Christ but he forgot one minute detail during his sermon; audience relevance!

Dr. Jeremiah pulled all of those ancient verses out and immediately applied them to modern day United States thinking, never once referring to historical setting, historical occurrences or historical thought.  I cannot tell you how dangerous it is to pull verses out of the bible and attempt to interpret and apply them completely out of context.  That is exactly how cults start up.   Like Ed Stephens always says “context is king”.  The reason there are so many theories about the millennial reign is because they are not based on historical facts, they are based on current thought.  In other words they are just making things up as they go and that is why I am creating a new phrase; “All Millennial”.  

In order to eliminate the All Millennial views one must conduct a research based on Audience relevance.  This is the common research method for serious preterist scholars.   As I study preterist historians and scholars I find them connecting scripture with history, with time relevant documents, with audience relevance and even with a little common sense.  None of those items are ever or rarely mentioned in futurist sermons about eschatological events. It seems to always be about the “me” doctrine.  The futurists of today are preaching from the “church of what’s happenin’ now”.  I just looked over much of Ed Steven’s studies on this and it focused heavily on audience relevance showing that the millennial reign is most probably the 40 year period between the cross and the fall of Jerusalem.  This type of detective work is necessary in order to fully understand eschatology.  My purpose for this article is not to explain the millennial reign fully but to introduce new people of preterism to the way it is done in our camp.  We don’t just read ancient scripture and pretend we can grasp it’s full meaning without a basic understanding of the culture in which it was originally written.  Scripture is fully relevant to us today but it must be interpreted from a time relevant stance.  In fact the number 1,000 was really used as a symbolic number in many cases instead of an actual number. For example Psalm 50:10 talks about God owning the cattle on a thousand hills. Do you really think David meant exactly 1,000? Of course not. He only meant that God owned all the cattle. God is not in want.

If you are interested in learning more about the millennium then I suggest you visit www.preterist.org and contact Ed Stevens. Ed has uncovered ancient rabbinical documents that suggest that the millennium was an undisclosed period of time of various lengths in which the messiah was to put his enemies under his feet. He would love to share his knowledge with you.  Don’t just simply believe what you hear, look into it and find out what you are “not” being told.  Dr. Jeremiah is a great guy and has helped many people but he has bought into the futurist doctrine hook, line and sinker.  I believe he is not helping people when he gives them an American view of scripture instead of a Hebrew view.   As I read more and more ancient literature, my eyes are opened to a better understanding of scripture.  For example, I was reading in the Book of Jubilees and came across this sentence; And we remember the righteousness which the man fulfilled during his life, at all periods of the year; until a thousand generations they will record it, and it will come to him and to his descendants after him, and he hath been recorded on the heavenly tables as a friend and righteous man. 26:20.

So I ask, does the “thousand” mean an exact thousand generations or does it really mean that this greatness will be remembered and celebrated for many generations or otherwise as a notable event? You make the call.  The millennium is just such a phrase.  It does not mean an exact 1,000 years, it more than likely denotes a notable period of time where certain events must occur in order to fulfill prophecy.  Most full preterists assign this as the 40 year transition period between the cross and the end of the age which was finally consummated in the year AD70 thus ushering in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ.  There is always an ongoing study for more clues and mysteries but you can rest assured, we will keep on digging.

Saul & David

Saul & David

By Richard P. Joseph

 

Type, anti-type;  Preterists use this terminology quite a bit to describe the interrelationship between the Old Testament and the New.  The story of Saul and David seems to fit right along those lines of type and antitype.  Chapter eight in the book of 1 Samuel begins the story of the Israelites requesting to be led by a king instead of by divine law and judges.  This is not any different than what is currently going on in the United States as we are a people who are governed by law and by conscience but many are asking for a bigger and more intrusive government which, always in the end, restricts freedom to the average citizen.  When Samuel was asked to anoint a king he let them know in no uncertain terms that this is an offense to God and that the king will abuse his power and restrict your real freedom.  It is a simple fact of life that the further we get from God, the more we need to be governed by man.  John Adams made this clear when he made his famous statement about our constitution which provided liberal amounts of freedom to the citizens.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.  John Adams

Adams knew that freedom was unique to Christianity and that only if people lived by strong Christian ethics that they can remain free.  Once that morality is gone then our constitution, which allowed freedom based on our good morals, would need to be replaced by a tyrannical dictator.  That is why non-Christian nations really do need a strong dictator to keep the peace.   So, to keep the peace, Samuel gave them a king.

Samuel chose a king that represented the ideals of man.  

1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

Saul was the son of Kish, a man of powerful influence.  Saul had the ingredients to succeed and was an intimidating figure to come up against.  Although Saul had some success in defending Israel against their enemies he also became puffed up and disobeyed some of God’s commands which began his downfall.  One thing that Saul was adamant about was that his lineage, like the other kings of the earth did, would remain in power.  This is the ultimate greed of men that they would live in power and riches while their subjects work day and night to keep the status quo.  Thank God that the United States ended the cast system.  So when Saul found out that his son Jonathan respected the right of David to receive the kingship after Saul, Saul cursed Jonathan and began a campaign to kill David.  

1 Samuel 20:30 Then Saul’s anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”

Of course in English we have shortened that by calling someone an “sob”.  My father used to cuss in very dramatic form in the arabic tongue and when something went wrong he would immediately curse my mother using very descriptive language including body parts and immoral professions.  He would never blame himself, he always took the cowardly way out and blamed the woman.  It is not hard for me to understand the colorful language of the bible being that my father used very similar and sometimes outlandish vernacular during his cursing outrages all in arabic.  Of course, that is the extent of my understanding of that language as he spoke to us in english.  So Saul thought the kingship belonged to him instead of to God and that was his downfall.

In the long run, David became king upon Saul’s death and God called David a man after his own heart.  This was not because David was perfect, as we all know he wasn’t.  It was because David was a man of praise.   Saul represented the ways of man whereas David represented the glory of God.  It was through David’s lineage that the messiah would come forth from, not Saul.  

When Jesus finally did appear from the house of David he was to become a king of a kingdom which will have no end.  Saul’s kingdom came to an end and David’s reign commenced and is flourishing today.  Saul represented the kingdom in which the law ruled but David represents the kingdom in which the Holy Spirit rules.  The mission of Jesus was to become the fulfilment of the old fleshly kingdom and to usher in the new spiritual kingdom.  Jesus often used wine to represent this transaction.  

John2:9

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

Mark 2:22

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”

Jesus, using parabolic language was warning the people that there was soon to be a major change concerning Israel and the world.  There would soon be a shift from old to new, from flesh to spirit, from slavery to freedom and from law to conscience.  Fleshly Israel was about to run it’s course and Spiritual Israel was to replace it.  The kingdom of Saul was ending and the kingdom of David was starting.  

I write this article because of the chatter I hear on facebook.  Just like I have been hearing my entire life, those that do not understand scripture are blowing their trumpets proclaiming the end is coming; again!  Every time a new president is elected I hear the same crap.  Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama and now Trump have all been called the anti-Christ or the beast or the dragon or the head of the one world government or the one who will cause Israel to build its third temple so that it can be blown to smithereens by a nuclear blast from Russia etc etc etc.   

Not that there isn’t things to worry about but they need to get their story straight but of course that will never happen because they make it up as the go.  Each generation, or every 4 years to be exact, comes up with it’s skewed interpretation of eschatology based solely on faulty biblical interpretation.  That is why the preterist message must be presented to the world.  It is high time the Christian world become familiar with the idea that Jesus was correct when he predicted his return in the first century and actually fulfilled his promise.  There is no future return of Christ to this earth as far as an eschatological event is concerned.  It is actually a shock to people when I tell them that Jesus did not make a mistake, he was actually right.  It is sad that I have to explain this to people.  I encourage you to read all of these articles and re-read the entire New Testament keeping in mind the idea that Jesus and the apostles were inspired and we are not.   Then get back with me and let me know how it goes.