Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 3
July 19, 1951
NUMBER 11, PAGE 3

Premillennialism And Its Effects

Milton Truex, Memphis, Tennessee

Premillennialism is not some new thing, it is very old, as we can see from this quotation taken from "The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia,' Vol. 2 and page 1163, "As the world was made in six days, and as, according to Ps. XC:4, 'A thousand years are as one day' in the sight of God, so it was thought the world would continue in the condition in which it had hitherto been for 6,000 years; and as the Sabbath is a day of rest, so will the seventh period of a thousand years consist of this millennial kingdom, as the close of the whole earthly state.

"The Jews supposed that the Messiah at his coming would reign as king upon the earth, and would reside at Jerusalem, the ancient royal city. The period of his reign they thought would be very long, and it was therefore put down as a thousand years, which was at first understood only as a round number. The period was conceived by the Jews as a sort of golden age to the earth, and every one formed such a picture of it as agreed with his own disposition, and with the views concerning the highest felicity which were dictated by the degree of intellectual and moral culture to which he had attained. With many these views were very low, being confined to sensual delights, while others entertained better and more pure conceptions of that happy time:"

You can see that the Jews who lived during Christ's time had worked out things according to their own thinking, for they believed that everything would be in sevens. Many things were worked out that way under the old law: The Sabbath day, which is Saturday, came on the seventh day of the week: Again, there was the period of six years that the Jews were to cultivate their fields and then they were to let them lay idle on the seventh year. Then there was the year of "Jubilee' which came after forty-nine years, or seven of these Sabbath years. From the above quotation, you can see that the Jews went a step further and figured that there would be six thousand years, then Christ would come and reign upon this earth for one thousand years. Of course the Jews were wrong in this false teaching, as all know. The results of such teaching was not good. Because of this teaching the Jews were not ready to receive Christ when he came. According to their teaching Christ came two thousand years too soon. So the Jews crucified Christ, the Son of God.

After this, other people began to teach that Christ would come back to this earth to reign for one thousand years. The modern day premillennialists teach just about the same thing. We find according to theory of these modern day premillennialists that Abraham's descendants were to inherit the land of Palestine as their home forever. Then they say, "God had planned to set up an earthly kingdom, through which all the nations were to be blessed. But when the Jews rejected Christ and crucified him, then God set up the church 'instead of that earthly kingdom." Of course this theory implies that John the Baptist and Christ did not know what they were talking about when they said, "The kingdom of God is at hand." It also implies that, because God lacked power, He permitted Christ, His Son, to be crucified on the cross: The Holy Scriptures plainly teach that Christ was to die for all, as you can see from these scriptures. "My strength is dried up like a potsherd; And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; And thou hast brought me into the dust of death: For dogs have compassed me; A company of evil-doers have enclosed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. I may count all my bones; They look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, And upon my vesture do they cast lots.' (Psalms 22:15-18. Now, we know that this scripture refers to Christ's death, for John 19:23 and 24 says so. "The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore one to another, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, And upon my vesture did they cast lots.' And again in Isaiah chapter 53 and verses 11 and 12, we find Christ dying for our sins. "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Two of these scriptures were written more than one thousand years before Christ died on the cross.

Next the theory says, when Christ comes again, he will set up the kingdom, which he intended to set up when he came the first time. The following quotation from Don Carlos Janes will is a good example of this theory. "I will that the residue of my estate, when the foregoing ends have been met, shall be used by my Executors for the publication and distribution, by sale or gift, or by both sales and gifts, of the material, which I have gathered on the imminent, personal, premillennial coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth to reign gloriously where once he suffered great pain and dishonor when 'he was despised and rejected of men'."

What I want to know is, if this theory is true, what will keep the Jews and others from rejecting Christ again? Now these modern premillennialists say when all of this takes place that the Jews and Gentiles who were members of the church will be the ruling class, and they will reign over all the nations on this earth for one thousand years. According to this theory some of us may get to be governor of our state.

When Christ comes the second time, according to the theory of the premillennialists, only the righteous dead will be raised, then Christ and those who have been raised from the dead will reign in old earthly Jerusalem for one thousand years. After this period of one thousand years, according to them, there will be another resurrection, this time the wicked dead will be raised and sent to the "lake of fire."

The Bible says when Christ comes, both good and bad will be raised in one hour, one period of time, from the dead. "Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.' (John 5:28, 29)