"Do not interpretations belong to God?" #1, Amillennialism: A Word Direct From The Scriptures.

Biblical Theology and Eschatology Amillennialism:
A Word Direct From The Scriptures
by Tony Warren


INTRODUCTION: What position we take on the millennial reign of Christ's kingdom is very important to the Church. And despite the many voices of denial, eschatological agnosticism is akin to blindfolding ourselves to a large part of the scriptures concerning the kingdom of God.

And it is doing so while endeavoring to preach on the nature of that very same kingdom. The reality is, whatever God has inspired written in His word is a revelation to us, and thus cannot ever be looked upon as a non-essential or unimportant.

As faithful Christians we should have the mindset that all of God's word is essential and necessary for sound theology and spiritual growth in living to the glory of God in this world. This is the way that I believe we should approach eschatology.

Eschatology, or the study of the Kingdom of God in His plan concerning the last or final events of history, can be a very complex subject. However, it is also very spiritually profitable and rewarding for the conscientious Christian. The reason that this subject may appear rather confusing to some is the different scriptures that (when not considered circumspectly) often seem to support one point of view or another, are often challenged with strong and convincing retorts. And because many scriptures are used out of context and haphazardly (and yes, even deceitfully), they really don't prove what they are being purported to prove. Thus the end times are often viewed in a rather insular fashion, wherein parts of the scriptures are seemingly in conflict with other parts. As a result, we have competing groups with tunnel vision, unwisely building their eschatology upon their favorite passages, set apart from the big picture of the entire Biblical record.

The four major eschatological positions regarding Christ's Kingdom are called, Amillennialism, Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Praeterism (Preterism). Despite the objections by many theologians, these positions are biblically incompatible with each other. Therefore at best only one of these views can be the truth of scripture. And so it is incumbent upon those who desire truth, to search out the scriptures and earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. True understanding comes through the diligent study of God's word, as we see in 2nd Timothy 2:15;

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.", via the Spirit, and is born of the faith of Christ. Nothing that God has planned and foretold in His word concerning the human race, is insignificant with regards to our sojourn on this earth. Nor can it be without some planned spiritual bearing on our lives.

In other words, God didn't inspire the doctrines of the millennial reign of Christ to be penned and incorporated into scripture just to take up space. They are there because the Lord wants us to know about the things to come, and glean just how they are intimately identified with the body of Christ, the things that have been, and things that are.

Thus, whatever is in God's word is basic, necessary, and even essential for living a good Christian life according to the divine purpose and will of God. The bible is the blueprint, the guidebook, and the revelation of what God has given us to know of these things. So in order to have a truly accurate understanding of eschatology, we must search these divinely inspired scriptures, rather than the dogmas and traditions of men.

Whatever prophecy is recorded "within" scripture, is the true authoritative eschatology that God inspired. By the same token, whatever prophecies are from "outside" of the scriptures, are of personal opinion, and thus are an eschatology of private (personal) interpretation, supposition or speculation.

As the prophet Joseph so rhetorically and wisely asked,

"Do not interpretations belong to God?"

in Genesis 40:8;
"And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you."" ..indeed they do! Thus His word interprets His word, or as is commonly stated, "the Bible is its own interpreter."

With this basic "Principle" of sound exegesis in mind, I can tell you that Amillennialism is not a word that you will find in the scriptures. That is to say, unless you know exactly what the word delineates. Then you will discover that (like the word trinity), though it's not a word literally written within scripture, it is clearly a word that is used to define and describe the sound biblical doctrine that is.

Therefore, what the word represents is taken "directly" from the pages of the word of God. What we will see in this study is that everything that Amillennialism has stood for is explicitly expressed on the pages of Holy Canon. And in this exposition, we will endeavor to show this conclusively, and without ambiguity.

For what is today commonly called Amillennialism, is "nothing more" than what the scriptures themselves plainly declare. In its pure form, it is the undeniable and biblically validated truth that the prophesied coming of Messiah, the deliverance of Israel, the binding of Satan, the Peace, Safety, Government, Rule, Temple Building, Righteousness, Prosperity, Kingdom and Millennial Reign of Christ, has indeed already come.

And if this is the truth, then the word Amillennial is simply the testimony to the witness of the word of God itself. It is nothing more than a declaration of God's kept promises, and their ultimate fulfillment in the extension of Christ's Kingdom of heaven, on earth.
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Millennial Positions: So that we can better understand the debate, we will start with a brief definition of the four major millennial positions in the Church today.

Because in understanding these different eschatologies, we will get a better awareness of how each doctrine views the Church's mandate, plan, and final victory in accomplishing this mission.
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Amillennialism.

The word millennium is a Latin term meaning one thousand years. It's from the root words [mille], meaning thousand, and [annum], meaning years. In Greek (yes Greek, not Latin), placing the letter "a" before a word negates the word. So a-millennial literally means "no millennium."

However, we should note that contrary to false claims, Amillennialists do in fact believe there is a millennial reign of Christ, but not on an temporal physical throne upon this sin cursed earth.

They believe that the Messiah has come to reign upon the throne of David in the Kingdom of heaven.

So the word Amillennial itself is literally accurate as it is understood to mean, "no millennial reign on an earthly or worldly throne." Use of this word in any sense other than a "no future earthly kingdom reign," would be a misnomer.

This view of eschatology maintains that the Present Reign of Christ, in our current time we are experiencing, in The New Testament Era of the Gospel Church Age,
in Revelation 20:4;

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." For the seventh time, as in the beginnings of each of the parallel Visions of John in Revelation, again Jesus, in Revelation 20:4, began with His ascension to the Throne of God, and that this is what the apostle Peter was speaking about in Acts 2:30-32;

"Therefore being a Prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to Him, that of the fruit of His loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on His throne;

He seeing this before spake of the Resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." Acts 2:30-32.

Christ instituted His Kingdom Reign by His death, Resurrection, and Ascension to the throne of David, and it will be fully realized and manifested in Heaven at His Second Coming.


Note: Do you see that from Revelation 20:4
and that it is shown there in Acts 2:30-32?

"Do not interpretations belong to God?"

The Amillennial Christian does not support the idea that the Kingdom of Christ is an intangible, but that it is incontrovertibly real, effectual, substantive, factual and essential. The Kingdom is of a Spiritual, rather than worldly (earthly) or carnal nature. They believe that the Kingdom of Christ on earth is now being extended and advanced through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, by His witnesses.
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