“Eschatology”

(Part 43: Postmillennialism and Amillennialism)

I. Postmillennialism and Amillennialism.

A. Introduction.
1. We’ve seen that the Premillennial view is excluded in Scripture.
a. When Christ comes again, He sets in motion a series of events that culminate in the
consummation of all things:
(i) The destruction of all of Christ’s enemies: “For after all it is only just for God to repay
with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well
when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing
out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and
from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be
marveled at among all who have believed -- for our testimony to you was believed” (2 Thes. 1:6-10;
cf. Rev. 20:9).
(ii) The resurrection of all the dead – righteous and unrighteous: “Do not marvel at this;
for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth;
those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a
resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29).
(iii) The rapture of the church: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thes. 4:16-17).
(iv) The final judgment of the righteous and the wicked: “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according
to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Matt. 25:31-46).
(v) The destruction of the old heavens and earth and the bringing in of the new: “But
the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the
elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Pet.
3:10; cf. Rev. 21:1-4).
(vi) The end of Christ’s mediatorial reign: “Then comes the end, when He hands over the
kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He
must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is
death” (1 Cor. 15:24-26).

b. Why does this exclude the Premillennial view?

(i) Premillennialism teaches that when Christ comes again, He will set up a kingdom
on earth, prior to the consummation; and He will reign over all the nations for one
thousand years, where there will be both believers and unbelievers present (Rev.
20:1-10).
(ii) But this isn’t possible because:
(a) All the wicked are destroyed when He returns.
(b) All the dead are raised.
(c) All the remaining living (the church) are raptured from the earth.
(d) All the wicked and righteous are judged and placed in their eternal dwellings.
(e) The curse is removed from the Creation, the Old Heavens and Earth are burned
up, and the New Heavens and the New Earth are brought in.
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(f) When Christ comes again and defeats His final enemy through the resurrection,
His reign will end, not begin.

2. This leaves us with only two remaining options: Postmillennialism and Amillennialism.
a. Both positions have much in common:
(i) They both agree on the above events.
(ii) They both agree that the millennium takes place between the first and second
comings of Christ, that there is only one final battle, one Second Coming, one
resurrection, and one judgment.

b. But they differ in one significant area: the success of the Gospel.
(i) The Amil position teaches the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan will
continue to battle neck and neck until the kingdom of God triumphs at the Second
Coming.
(ii) The Postmil position teaches that the kingdom of God will triumph in history
prior to the Second Coming, ushering in a long period of peace and prosperity.

c. Since they are so similar and differ on this one basic point, we’ll consider mainly the
Postmil position.
(i) If Scripture shows us that the kingdom of God will triumph prior to Christ’s
coming, then the Postmil position is correct.
(ii) If it doesn’t, then the Amil is correct.

3. What difference does it make?

a. On one level, it doesn’t matter what we believe regarding eschatology.
(i) We are not saved by believing one position or another.
(ii) All will work out as Christ planned, whatever we believe.

b. On another level, it makes a great difference.

(i) Dispensational Premil stresses a future plan for Israel, shifting the focus heavily on
the Middle East; as well as the gradual decline of the church until Christ returns,
leading us to expect very minimal results from the Gospel.
(ii) Historic Premil basically does the same, minus the focus on Israel.
(iii) Most Amils may not see a gradual decline in the church, but they don’t expect it
to ascend (with some exceptions).
(iv) But Postmils expect the Lord to do great things, to advance His kingdom, and to
bring the universal dominion of Christ over the world through the Gospel.
(v) Postmil encourages us that we are fighting a winning battle.

B. Postmillennialism: Overview.
1. Postmillennialism teaches:
a. That Christ was given the nations as the reward for His work:
(i) “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as
Your possession” (Ps. 2:8).
(ii) “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations
will worship before You” (22:27).
(iii) “And let all kings bow down before him, all nations serve him” (72:11).
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b. That this was what was intended by the Abrahamic Covenant:

(i) “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the
families of the earth will be blessed." (Gen. 12:3).
(ii) “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice”
(22:18).

c. That in His work, Christ first bound Satan so He could plunder his kingdom: “But if I
cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can
anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man?
And then he will plunder his house” (Matt. 12:28-29).
d. That He began to exercise this authority on earth, but was fully invested when He
ascended.
(i) “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet” (Heb. 10:12-13).
(ii) ‘Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2).

e. That His intention behind the Great Commission was to extend His dominion
throughout the world:
(i) “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, even to the end of the age’” (Matt. 28:18-20).
(ii) “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every
nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands” (Rev. 7:9).

f. That His kingdom will eventually influence the whole world: “He spoke another parable to
them, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until
it was all leavened’” (Matt. 13:33).
g. That His kingdom will subdue all other kingdoms and eventually fill the earth:
(i) “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and
became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a
trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the
whole earth. . . . In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will
never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end
to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever” (Dan. 2:35, 44).
(ii) “He presented another parable to them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,
which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full
grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
nest in its branches’” (Matt. 13:31-32).
(iii) “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and
over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and
forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isa. 9:7; cf. 11:9; 66:23).
(iv) “Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has
abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies
under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:24-25).

h. That Christ’s reign will continue for long time: “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them,
and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their
testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and
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reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand
years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the
first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4-6).

2. Prior to the two world wars, a good portion of the church had a Postmil perspective.
Here are two examples:
a. Jonathan Edwards writes, “It shall be a time wherein religion shall in every respect be
uppermost in the world. It shall be had in great esteem and honour. The saints have
hitherto for the most part been kept under, and wicked men have governed. But now
they will be uppermost. The kingdom shall be given into the hands of the saints of the
‘most high God,’ Dan. 7:27. And ‘they shall reign on earth,’ Rev. 5:10. They shall
live and ‘reign with Christ a thousand years,’ Rev. 20:4. In that day, such persons as
are eminent for true piety and religion, shall be chiefly promoted to places of trust and
authority. Vital religion shall then take possession of kings’ palaces and thrones; and
those who are in highest advancement shall be holy men: Isa. 49:23. ‘And kings shall
be thy nursing-fathers, and their queens they nursing-mothers.’ Kings shall employ all
their power, and glory, and riches, for the advancement of the honour and glory of
Christ, and the good of his church: Isa. 60:16. ‘Thou shalt also suck the milk of the
Gentiles, and shalt suck the breasts of kings.’ And the great men of the world, and the
rich merchants, and others who have great wealth and influence, shall devote all to
Christ and his church: Psa. 45:12. ‘The daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift,
even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour’” (The History of Redemption).
b. And Charles Hodge writes, “The principal reason for assuming that the prophets
predict a glorious state of the Church prior to the second advent, is, that they represent
the Church as being thus prosperous and glorious on earth. But we know that when
Christ comes again the heavens and earth are to pass away, and that no more place will
be found for them. The seat of the Church, after the second coming, is not to be the
earth, but a new heavens and a new earth. As therefore the Scriptures teach that the
kingdom of Christ is to extend over all the earth; that all nations are to serve Him; and
that all people shall call Him blessed; it is to be inferred that these predictions refer to
a state of things which is to exist before the second coming of Christ. This state is
described as one of spiritual prosperity; God will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh;
knowledge shall everywhere abound; wars shall cease to the ends of the earth, and
there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. This
does not imply that there is to be neither sin nor sorrow in the world during this long
period, or that all men are to be true Christians. The tares are to grow together with
the wheat until the harvest. The means of grace will still be needed; conversion and
sanctification will be then what they ever have been. It is only a higher measure of the
good which the Church has experienced in the past that we are taught to anticipate in
the future. This however is not the end. After this and after the great apostasy which
is to follow, comes the consummation” (Systematic).

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