Johnson University

Revelation—Final Exam

Three Essay Questions

Matthew J. Morhart

BIBL-3314 Book of Revelation

Dr. Greg Linton

October 6, 2020
 Four Systems of Millennial Thought

Historic Premillennialism

As the name implies, historic premillennialism is the oldest of the four millennial views.

This view was espoused by Ante-Nicene fathers such as Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Lactantius,

etc., and is found in documents like the Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas. It dates all the way

back to AD 100 and, although it fell out of favor for a time, persists into modern times.

This view posits that the church will suffer through the Tribulation for 3 ½ years, after

which, Christ will return, the righteous dead will be resurrected and will join the living saints in

an earthly millennial reign of Christ’s kingdom which will follow the judgment of the Antichrist

and the false prophet. Satan will be bound during this period, but upon the realization of 1,000

years, he will be loosed to incite the final battle at Armageddon. Christ’s conquest of all His

enemies here will be followed by the resurrection of wicked and the final judgment. Following

these events will be the eternal state of the New Heavens and the New Earth “in which

righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

Dispensational Premillennialism

Literal interpretation is often cited as “the cornerstone” of dispensational millennialism.

This view necessitates that all OT prophecies be literally fulfilled in Israel and has led this

particular school of thought to propose the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, followed by the

Antichrist making a covenant with Israel in which the temple will be rebuilt, and YHWH

worship reestablished. However, after 3 ½ years, the Antichrist will defile the temple and set

himself up as God. This will usher in the Great Tribulation of 3 ½ years which will last until the

Parousia. Upon Christ’s return, Israel will see, believe, and be converted. Satan will be bound,

and the millennium will be ushered in. Following the millennium, the sequence of events will

include Satan’s release, the final battle, the final judgment, and the new heavens and earth.
 Four Systems of Millennial Thought

Historically, this is the most modern of the eschatological views. It was initially proposed

by Edward Irving and J. N. Darby (under the influence of a mystic girl) in the 1830’s. C.I

Scofield, a lawyer turned theologian, embraced this viewpoint, and due to the enormous

popularity of his subsequent study Bible, dispensational premillennialism became a household

term in Britain and America. This viewpoint is still extremely popular today and continues to be

widely propagated.

Amillennialism

Going back now to antiquity, we find that a Nicene theologian, Augustine, began to

promulgate the view of amillennialism around 400 AD. Since this term implies that its

proponents do not believe in a millennium, it has been widely viewed as a misnomer. Augustine

proposed that “the millennium” is a long period of time that finds its inception with the Advent

and will continue until the end of the church age. This view sees Revelation as highly symbolic

and understands the Tribulation to be the primeval and perpetual struggle of the church against

evil. It sees the embodiment of the Antichrist as any world system (from Rome all the way to

modern times) that is opposed to the church and seeks her destruction.

As previously noted, amillennialists see the Tribulation, the Antichrist, and the

millennium to be concurrent events during the church age. They understand the millennium to be

consummated by the Parousia, the Resurrection, and the Rapture, which will be immediately

followed by the final judgment which will usher in the eternal state—either of bliss or torment.

Although originally the predominant view of the Catholic church, if one were to count

the number of proponents of this view today across the spectrum, they would find that

amillennialism is the most widely adhered to of all the eschatological views—even among
 Four Systems of Millennial Thought

Protestants. However, this comprises a wide range of “Christians” and includes those that do not

believe in a literal Parousia or a literal resurrection.

Postmillennialism

Postmillennialism has a lot in common with amillennialism. Both views espouse a

symbolic view of Revelation that sees the church age to be the backdrop against which the

eschatological framework is set. The main difference between these two schools of thought has

to do with the location and nature of the millennium. Whereas amillennialists understand the

millennium to be a long period of Christ’s spiritual and heavenly reign with the departed saints,

postmillennialism sees the period as a more “literal” period where Christ will reign on earth

(somewhat akin to premillennialism). The defining doctrine of postmillennialism is that

postmillennialists understand that the millennium will be gradually ushered in by the church as

the church engages in world missions and spreads Christianity and Christ’s kingdom all over the

world. They see this to be a world-wide increase in Christian morality and values, although they

state that there will still be those who choose not to respond to the Gospel. Thus, the millennium

will ultimately be the reign of Christianity over a “Christianized” world.

After the millennium has been ushered in and the church has reigned for “a thousand

years,” Christ will return, the dead will be raised, the church will be raptured, and everyone will

be judged. This sequence of events is identical to amillennialism, as is the subsequent state of

eternal life or torment. Thus, the only significant difference between these two schools of

thought has to do with the millennium.

The postmillennial school of thought was largely the product of the optimistic

environment that existed in light of all the advances due to the Industrial Revolution. Daniel

Whitby (1706) believed and taught that the church would evangelize the whole world and rule it
 Four Systems of Millennial Thought

as a result. Vitringa took this teaching and applied it to the millennium which provided the basis

for postmillennialistic thought. This thought provided the impetus for men like Jonathan

Edwards and Alexander Campbell to push for church unity and world evangelization as

necessary means to accomplish the desired end—bringing Christ’s millennial kingdom to earth.

However, in the aftermath of WWI, this school of thought took an understandable hit and

essentially disappeared from the scene of eschatological interpretation.

Personal Conclusions

As with so many doctrines, studying the various viewpoints in-depth tends to highlight

both the merits and the deficiencies of each one. Having been raised in a church with a

dispensational premillennialist viewpoint, this tended to be the lens through which I read

Scripture, and particularly the book of Revelation. However, over the years I came to have

questions about the pretribulation rapture viewpoint as it didn’t seem consistent with the book of

Revelation in regard to the Parousia and the Rapture. Having been exposed to historic

premillennialism in this class has helped to answer some of the lingering questions regarding

these inconsistencies. Also, understanding the social climate in which the dispensational

premillennialistic viewpoint developed has helped to answer some questions regarding its

original appeal and development. While I still do not have a “hardline” stance on eschatology, I

see the hermeneutical and exegetical position of historic premillennialism (particularly the “post-

trib” viewpoint) as being the most compatible with the Scripture.

 Christ’s Role in God’s Plan for History

Christ in Pre- and Post-History

Revelation begins by casting Christ in His divine role as the eternal God where He refers

to Himself as “the First and the Last” (1:17). The book ends on very much the same refrain (but

amplified to the third power) as Christ proclaims, “I am the Alpha and the O, the First and the

Last, the Beginning and the End” (22:13). These passages serve two purposes: 1) Establishing

Christ’s divinity since the same terminology is used of God in 1:8 and 21:6; 2) Highlighting

Christ’s role in both pre- and post-history. Jesus is outside of the controls of time and space. He

is one with the Father (John 10:30) and as such, He is the rightful recipient of the saints’ refrain,

“Halleluiah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns” (Rev. 19:6).

Christ in His Earthly History

Directly between these two bookends of Christ’s eternity, we find Him stepping into

human history in the form of a man. Revelation 12 depicts this narrative using the ancient

“combat myth” that was common throughout the ancient world. Christ’s intrusion into terrestrial

space and time was a part of God’s salvation plan from the beginning of time (1 Cor. 2:7). In

light of its terrestrial implications, the incarnation was also supernatural in scope, thus the

conflict (i.e. combat) that John saw in his vision between “the dragon” and the “seed of the

woman.”

Jesus’ birth was opposed by tripartite designation of “the dragon…the Devil, and Satan”

(Rev. 12:9) as seen in the Nativity account in Matthew chapter 2. As seen by John, this “child”

was divinely helped through revelations/visions to escape the wrath of “the dragon” (Herod in

this case). Thus, the inception of Christ’s entry into history was marked by the same type of

spiritual conflict that would be evidenced all during His earthly sojourn—and most clearly
 Christ’s Role in God’s Plan for History

demonstrated in the climactic moment of the crucifixion (notice the supernatural insight given in

1 Cor. 2:8).

This climactic moment is also captured in the book of Revelation at the beginning of

John’s vision as he was invited into heaven to see “what must take place…” (Rev. 4:1). As John

saw the book, sealed with seven seals, and as he was weeping because no one was found worthy

to open it, one of the elders told him not to worry because “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” was

able to open it (Rev. 5:1-5). However, when he looked for “the Lion,” he saw “a Lamb standing,

as though it had been slain” (Rev. 5:6). Although there are various interpretations to the

relationship between the Lion and the Lamb (e.g. Lamb at first coming, Lion at second; Lamb to

believers, Lion to unbelievers), the most salient interpretation is that the Lamb is really a Lion.

Christ was slaughtered like a Lamb (Isa. 53), but it was by His death that He conquered (like a

Lion)!

Christ in Ecclesiastical History

Christ’s culminating work at the cross (and His subsequent resurrection) gave Him the

position as the Savior and head of the church (Eph. 5:23-25). It is in this position that John first

saw Jesus in His vision—walking among the golden lampstands, which Jesus explains to John as

being symbolic of “the seven churches” (Rev. 1:12-13, 20). It is from this position as the rightful

head of the church (His body) that Jesus then issues proclamations, warnings, commendations,

and condemnations to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis,

Philadelphia, and Laodicea. While historicists see these churches as being representative of

specific “ages” of the church through history, Ian Paul correctly sees these seven letters as words

from God for the church at large and that “he knows the different exhortations that we need to

hear in order to reach the maturity that he longs to work in us” (118).
 Christ’s Role in God’s Plan for History

Consequently, in view of these letters as applicable messages to the church today, we

must also understand that Christ stands in this same position “in the midst of the lampstands,”

and that His warning that He will “remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent”

(Rev. 2:5), is no idle threat. Jesus did not step into history to free us from the triple curse of the

Genesis (see Gen. 3:14-19 and Rev. 22:2-4) so that we would “continue in sin” (Rom. 6:1)! He

came to set us free, to break the power of sin and Satan, and His desire, as the head of the church

is that we would be “conquerors” and “more than conquerors” (Rev. 2-3 and Rom. 8:37).
 The Church’s Role in God’s Plan

Lessons from the Churches of Revelation 2-3

As humans, we often fail to see the forest for the trees. For many people, when they think

of the book of Revelation, the church is not the first, the second, or the third thing to come to

mind. We tend to think Apocalypse, Armageddon, Gog, Magog, the Antichrist, etc. Although

these are certainly high-profile subjects, and subjects of great import, it’s important to take a step

back and look at the forest as well.

John addresses the intended receptor audience in verse 4 of chapter 1—“the seven

churches that are in Asia.” It is this collection of churches (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,

Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) that Jesus addresses directly with individual

messages in chapter 2-3. However, lest we lose track of this in the graphic imagery which

follows throughout the rest of the book, Jesus calls our attention back to the purpose, intent, and

intended audience of John’s vision/message at the end of the book in chapter 22:16: “I, Jesus,

have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.” Thus, we see that

John’s epistle was divinely authored specifically for the churches, both those previously

mentioned, and for the church today (as discussed in the previous essay).

Since the messages of Revelation 2-3 are applicable for us, and not only for ancient

Asian churches, it will be helpful to investigate the church’s role in God’s plan in light of these

individual messages. Through the condemnation to the church at Ephesus, we can see that God’s

intent for the church is to be agents of His love to others as we understand the cooling of their

“first love” to be as Michaels stated, “a failure to maintain commitment once made to help and

serve one another.”

While there are various interpretations for the phrase “who say they are Jews and are not”

(verse 9), in the message to the church at Smyrna, it makes the most sense to not be referring to
 The Church’s Role in God’s Plan

Gentile Christians adopting Jewish ways, but rather to ethnic Jews that did not conduct

themselves as “children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). This insight in the book of Revelation enables

us to see that God’s plan for the church has always been to included, not just the physical

descendants of Abraham, but also all those that share the “faith of Abraham” as well—regardless

of their nationality (Gal. 3:9).

Through the message to the church at Pergamum, and especially the condemnation

regarding the false doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, we see that God’s plan for the

church is for them to be a distinct “city set on a hill” (Mt. 5:14) that refuses to compromise with

the world. God’s plan is for His people to be holy (1 Pt. 1:16), and this involves rejecting the

values and religions of the world.

The “works” of Thyatira are defined by the four nouns that follow: love, faith, service,

and patient endurance (verse 19). Mounce notes that the first two motivate Christian activity and

the latter two are results thereof. These “works” are part of God’s plan for the church so that we

can be light and salt for the world (Mt. 5:13-14).

Sardis’ need for severe rebuke was born out of the reality that even though they had a

reputation for being alive, they were actually dead. Through this church, God makes His plan for

the continual spiritual renewal of the church clearly evident. God’s plan is for the church to walk

in obedience. This requires that the church “stay awake” (unlike the sentinels in Sardis’ history)

to spiritual danger and also to repent when necessary.

In the “long-term,” God’s plan for the church is for them to experience “eternal security.”

He promises this to the Philadelphian church via the metaphor of an “open door” (verse 8). Ladd

speculates that this was because they were being excommunicated from the synagogue. Swete

thinks it might refer to an “open door” to evangelize. However, the final reality is that when God
 The Church’s Role in God’s Plan

“opens the door,” there is no one that will be able to shut it to deny others access. Thus, the

promise to “make them pillars in the temple of God” (verse 12) extends the “eternal security”

that God promises to all who remain faithful.

The message to the church at Laodicea reminds us that although God’s plan and desire is

for us to experience the “eternal security” promised to the church at Philadelphia, there is also

the very real danger of “being vomited out of His mouth” (verse 16). This message highlights the

need for the church to always be aware of their true state and not be like the man of James 1:23.

In order for the church to fulfill God’s plan, as previously outlined, we must look to Christ to

provide what we lack as opposed to vaunting in our self-sufficiency.

Each of these seven churches highlights an aspect of God’s plan for the church. However,

one of the greatest roles that the church will play for all of eternity is to follow the example of

the elders in Rev. 4:10-11 and “fall before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that

liveth forever and ever”!