Introduction - Having started a serious study of eschatology about four years ago, I gradually came to the decision that a fulfilled view is best supported by scripture and history. As I continue to share what I have learned with others, one question arises again and again, "What difference does it make?"

That’s a question that deserves a well thought out response. After these introductory thoughts, you will find links to other articles that flesh them out a bit (be patient - they are coming).

A proper view of eschatology is important first because we are to be diligent students of God’s word. It is careless, at best, to relegate any significant teaching of scripture to the category of "It really doesn’t matter." God has revealed His truth to us and it is incumbent upon us to exercise due diligence in understanding that truth.

It is never acceptable to say, "I could be wrong on [name your topic] but I’m comfortable with what I believe and don’t want to be bothered with other views.

As believers, we have a duty to join one another in the pursuit of understanding and obeying God’s truth. Disregarding or minimizing any part of it is quite simply, poor stewardship.

Understanding biblical eschatology is important because it helps shape our worldview. It makes a huge difference whether we see biblical prophecy as having been fulfilled or yet to be fulfilled.

For example, one guest who visited here recently shared a story about one of her children's college professors. She listened to her Christian leaders who convinced her that Christ would return in 1997.

Her conviction led to actions which, though certainly less than Christian, have had lasting consequences. Thinking she would soon be raptured and leave this world behind, she incurred substantial debt. Now she is not only upset with those who misled her, she is faced with repaying debt she thought she would escape. That seems like justice to me, but the point is her eschatology shaped her actions. Ask her if it matters what one believes about the last days!

The issue is not simply a matter of when does the Bible say Jesus would "come again." His "coming again" is tied to several related events which cannot be divorced from one another: namely 1) the proclamation of the salvation of believers, 2) the judgment of Israel (the end of biblical Judaism) and 3) the establishment of the kingdom (those are broad headings with several sub-headings).

While dispensationalists see the kingdom as yet future, amillennialists and post-millennialists understand that the kingdom was established in the first century. The dispensationalists rightly conclude that these major events occur in the same time frame. However, they fail to see how they all occurred in the past and so they still hold to a future fulfillment.

Amillenialists and post-millennialists are forced go through significant biblical gymnastics to demonstrate that the kingdom was established but is still to come. While the scripture does have a sense of the "already but not yet", it is important to realize why: the events were future to the intended audience. That does not make them future to us! The coming of the kingdom of necessity meant the passing of old covenant Israel. The type had to give way to the anti-type. Either it did or it did not. We can’t have it both ways. If the kingdom did not come, we are still dead in our sins.

So, someone has to be wrong, or to be blunt, someone has to be teaching error. If one view is correct, the others of necessity are wrong. If I am wrong, I want to know it and will be most appreciative to those who correct my understanding. I’ve been waiting for that correction for four years and I know others who have been waiting for it for decades now.

Sadly, my experience tells me that most Christians are willing to accept a situation where some or all of us not only maintain but teach error. While it is true that scholars have debated these issues for generations now, that does not excuse a lack of diligence on our part. It is indeed the rare individual who will take the time to seriously investigate this subject and many others. I am convinced that in time our understanding will continue to increase if we are willing to be diligent.

Back to the point, failure to study this issue forces us to accept one position or another as a matter of tradition instead of doctrine. When we place our trust in tradition we follow a dangerous path.

Traditions are not to be treated lightly because they frequently have a basis in truth. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we exercise diligence to avoid allowing tradition to be practiced as truth.

If we see biblical prophecy as yet unfulfilled, we challenge the truthfulness of Christ, the apostles, the first century believers, and the scripture itself. They all proclaimed these events would happen in that generation. To arrive at a different conclusion, one must insist that words don’t mean what they say, and to do that is to render the text undiscernable. In short, words can mean whatever the reader wants them to mean (that by the way is the essence of the idealist view of prophecy).

To deny that biblical eschatology has been fulfilled is to make Christ and the disciples liars, deceivers and worse. Even the most ardent dispensationalists admit that Christ and the disciples believed that the kingdom was coming in that generation. They deal with non-fulfillment by saying that Jesus failed to do what God sent Him to do at the time He was sent to do it (we will deal with this elsewhere, but that's a pretty awful thing to admit about our Savior, isn't it?)

They teach that Christ came to set up a physical earthly kingdom but that it had to be postponed because the Jews rejected Him. We'll deal with the rejection aspect in another piece. For now lets consider the idea of a physical earthly kingdom.

We have to return to 1 Samuel 8 to set the stage. If you remember the story, the Hebrews were demanding a king. God was and wanted to be their king. In spite of dire warnings, they rejected God and the king He gave them was a sign of their rebellion against Him.

By the time Christ arrived on the scene, they were under Roman oppression and they were looking for Messiah to come and rid their land of its invaders. The Jews crucified Him because he refused their attempt to make Him king (see John 6). Why did He refuse?

Because His kingdom was "not of this world" and God wanted to be king over His people without any man ruling over them. For Christ to have become a physical king over earthly Israel would have been to lead them in rebellion against His Father!

So, what do modern day dispensationalist want? The same thing the Jews wanted, an earthly king to lead the people in rebellion against God! That sounds harsh, but that is the reality demanded by their eschatology.¹

A proper understanding of eschatology is essential because so much of the scripture deals with this topic. R. C. Sproul in The Last Days According to Jesus says, "It has been said that no less than two-thirds of the content of the New Testament is concerned directly or indirectly with eschatology." That means if your view of eschatology is wrong, you cannot properly understand most of the New Testament! Others suggest that thirty-five percent of the Bible, as a whole, deals with this subject. Diligence demands a proper understanding.

Understanding eschatology is essential to understanding how the kingdom came. The focus of Christ's teaching was the coming of the kingdom. His command to the disciples and us is to "seek first the kingdom of God". If the kingdom has not come, how is it that we say Christ is king?

Our understanding of eschatology dictates how we view the modern state of Israel. If it is "the chosen people" as futurists teach, then two-thirds are doomed to die at the so-called final coming of Christ. Preterists agree with Jewish Rabbis that biblical Judaism ended in A.D. 70! The curse fell on that generation and the hope of the gospel remains for all people, including all modern Jews. Though it is really an outworking of the worldview consideration above, understand that the political ramifications associated with the futurist view are far reaching. It is sad that untaught Christians encourage the U.S. government to arm and defend Israel. Because of that interference in mid-eastern affairs, hostilities continue. Christians are being used as pawns to encourage the government to violate our laws and meddle in the affairs of others.

How we see God's creation is determined by our eschatology. Futurists see the planet as doomed to destruction. Even post-millennialists who anticipate a "golden age" embrace the idea that the world will be destroyed. Read the Psalms and see that this idea just doesn't compute.

A proper understanding of eschatology refutes liberals who challenge the veracity of Christ and the Bible. Futurists, when pressed by skeptics, have to admit that Jesus did not come when He said He would. This is more than just embarrassing; it is a denial of Christ and His word.

If biblical prophecy is unfulfilled, we still wait for our salvation even as the Jews awaited the proclamation on the Day of Atonement. We have no certainty that Christ’s sacrifice has been received by the Father. Further, there has been no final revealing of the sons of God and there is still hope for those who trust in the Law for their righteousness.

Those who see the events as future see the sun setting on mankind. While that can stir evangelistic zeal, it breeds an escapist mentality. Such a mindset was proper as judgment fell on Jerusalem. Those Christians were told to flee lest they suffer the fate that was about to fall upon the city.

They did escape but those instructions were not for us. In Isaiah 9:6-7, the prophet writes: " For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

If, as amillennialists and post-millennialists agree, the kingdom has come, our perspective changes significantly. Not only are we entrusted with the continuing proclamation of the good news in our generation, we are charged with the furtherance of the kingdom of peace, justice and judgment.

In our time, many Christians have rejected any meaningful acknowledgment that the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ who reigns forever. Failing this duty, mankind periodically cycles through dark times, and it will continue to do so until believers get it right.

The Jews looked forward to a time when God’s order would reign supreme in the world around them. Due to their own weakness, that order never even reigned among them much less encompassed the world.

Today, we have so spiritualized the kingdom of God that most Christians deny it has real significance on earth. That is clearly due to an improper view of eschatology. If the kingdom is not now, we are at the mercy of the world’s system. On the other hand, if we live in the kingdom, the world’s system is being transformed into a better place than mankind has ever known. The historical evidence demonstrates that the world becomes a better place to live as the knowledge of Christ and His kingdom spread.

If you still think the study of last things is inconsequential, spend a few hours and read the New Testament again with "fulfilled" glasses on and you will see that it makes a tremendous difference.

While you’re at it, make a list of all the scriptures which speak of last things or set the context for them. Write them down! I think you’ll find the result to be compelling if not overwhelming.

Does it make a difference if the kingdom is present or future? As one challenger confessed some months ago, "Durn tootin’!"

"I Keep Hitting the Escape Key But I'm Still Here"

"Are We There Yet?

1. Thanks to Don Preston for his diligent study under the instruction of the Holy Spirit for this telling observation.

© Copyright 2003 - Jim Wade

Updated 10/06/03