he first prophecy in Daniel was about a statue made of four different metals. The metals represented four real, earthly kingdoms of the future. The first kingdom was the Babylonian Empire. Each kingdom was defeated by a subsequent one. Each kingdom had an earthly king. Four of these kingdoms are now past history. The next kingdom will be an alliance of nations from the same territory that the four prior kingdoms occupied. When this future empire comes to power, it will seek to destroy Israel. Scripture teaches that Christ will come and rescue Israel by defeating this alliance and will then establish an earthly kingdom which will exist for 1,000 years. Those who believe this are called premillennialists. There are others who believe that we are living in that kingdom now. They are called amillennialists and postmillennialists. You may know someone who believes that there is no future kingdom of 1,000 years on this earth. Consequently, we want to examine these other views. We pray the Holy Spirit will use this to guide you into truth.      Three Views. There have been three different, major views about the future kingdom since the time of Jesus and the apostles. These views are called premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. The common portion of these terms is the word “millennium” which refers to a 1,000 year kingdom.       Premillennialists believe in a future, literal, earthly 1,000 year kingdom on this earth with Jesus Christ reigning as king. Amillennialists and postmillennialists believe only in a spiritual kingdom which exists now. Postmillennialists believe that Jesus will not come until the world has morally improved or has been Christianized. Consequently, this encourages them to motivate governments to pass laws which require “Christian” conduct. As the world improves morally, they teach that Jesus will finally come. We will look at the differences between these views later.       Now let’s ask, “What has the Christian church believed about the future from the time of the apostles?” The answer is actually rather simple. There has been only one view that the apostles taught. It is premillennialism. There is an older form called Historic Premillennialism and an updated form called Dispensational Premillennialism. They are almost the same. Dispensational Premillennialism adds a rapture, or the removal of all Christians, before the tribulation period begins. Historic Premillennialism does not. That is the major difference. Today the most common views are premillennialism and amillennialism. Amillennialism was the dominant view under the Roman Catholic Church prior to the reformation. Premillennialism is now the most commonly accepted view among Protestants. It is a return to the New Testament view. This concludes the overview of the history of these views. But history cannot prove that premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism are biblically correct. As a result, we will look at what scripture says about each one.           < Back   Next >
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