"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.