6_09_2012
Dispensational
premillennialism teaches a second chance for nonbelievers after the proposed
rapture…If dispensational premillennialism is wrong, there will be no space of
time for conversions after the coming of Christ for His bride. Only judgment will
await the nonbeliever.
Might a Dispensational Premillennial Gospel Be Dangerous?
By Christina Wilson
June 9, 2012
Is there a right/wrong
eschatology? Yes, there is. Because the various eschatological views differ
widely and describe a very different sequence of events, they cannot all be
correct.
Can a dispensational premillennial
gospel message be dangerous? Yes, it can be. Even if there is the slightest
possible hint that the dispensational premillennial scenario might not be
correct, then a gospel based on that possibly false scenario might not be safe
for some nonbelievers. I will explain this point of view as this article
progresses.
Following is a typical chronological
sequence of eschatology for the dispensational premillennial view.1
·
Rapture: Part I of a dualistic, split return of Christ for
the purpose of removing His church from earth (this proposed event is distinct from
Christ’s Second Coming, and presentation of the glory of Christ to the world is
not a factor).
·
Resurrection and glorification of the church: believers in
Christ will receive their resurrected and glorified bodies at the rapture.
·
Tribulation: after the rapture will follow a seven year
period when God will pour out judgmental wrath on nonbelievers left on earth.
·
Conversion: of ethnic Israelites en masse.
·
Christ’s Second Coming: at the closing climax of the
tribulation Christ will return to earth (Part II) in a glorified body with His
church that has been raptured up to heaven before the tribulation.
·
Resurrection: also at the closing climax of the tribulation
Old Testament saints and deceased tribulation saints will be resurrected.
·
Judgment: living nonbelievers will be judged and removed
from earth at the Second Coming of Christ.
·
Binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3).
·
Millennial
kingdom: Christ in His glory will reign with the church in their glorified
bodies, along with Old Testament saints in their glorified bodies. These will
reign over living believers who survived the tribulation and who were converted
during that seven year time frame, including both Gentiles and those of ethnic
Israelite descent.
All these will enter the millennial
kingdom together. No unbelievers will enter the kingdom, nor be alive on earth.
The millennial kingdom is said to be
the fulfillment of Old Testament promises to Israel to return them to the land
they lost through their disobedience. The following scriptures are sometimes
cited: (Isaiah 65:17-25; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Zechariah 8:1-17).
·
Rebellion:
after the 1,000 years, Satan will be released from his confinement in prison to
deceive the nations to rebel. The number of the rebels, who are children of
believers born during the millennium, is as numerous as the sand in the
sea—Revelation 20:8. The rebellion will be quickly quashed.
·
Resurrection:
of all nonbelievers.
·
Great
White Throne Judgment: of all nonbelievers not previously judged.
·
Eternal
state: all the saved will enter the eternal state of glory (that would be those
who were fully human during the millennial kingdom, as the previously raptured
church has already been glorified.)
·
Earth
dissolved: the earth will be melted down (2 Peter 3:10f).
·
New
heaven and a new earth.
·
Christ
will deliver the kingdom to God the Father.
·
The
triune God will reign forever and ever.
Notice
that the sequence above begins with the rapture of the church. The church is
defined as all who have believed in Christ after His incarnation and up until
the moment of the rapture, both those who are still alive and those who have
died.
Ethnic
Israelites who have believed in Christ after His incarnation and up until the
rapture are considered to be part of the church. Their role in the millennial
kingdom will be different than that of ethnic Israelites who do not believe
until after the rapture and during the tribulation. The prior group of ethnic
Israelites will have resurrected, glorified bodies, while the latter group of
ethnic Israelites will have corruptible, carnal bodies (albeit someone may live
for hundreds of years, as proposed by those who hold to this view). The prior
group of ethnic Israelites will reign with Christ (as proposed), while the
latter group will be subjects of the kingdom, recipients of the land promises
(as interpreted).
Old
Testament believers are not considered to be part of the church and do not take
part in the rapture. Old Testament saints will be resurrected after the
tribulation and before the millennial kingdom.
Notice
that there are several categories of believers and differing time frames of
events for the different categories.
In
comparison, following is a presentation of a typical non-dispensational,
non-premillennialist sequence.2
·
Christ’s
Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
·
Binding
of Satan and the gospel age (Luke 10:17-20 in context and Revelation 20:1-3)
·
Release
of Satan (Revelation 20:7-8) and last rebellion
·
Christ’s
return in glory at His Second Coming and the end of historical time as we now
know it (Revelation 20:9)
·
As
a feature of the Second Coming, the gathering by Christ of all believers to
Himself (1Co 15:50-52; 1Th 4:13-17), those believers of all ages, Old Testament
and New, both the living and the dead (there is only one category: believer).
The
following will occur after the Second Coming of Christ.
·
Final
judgment of all the wicked, both angelic beings and human
·
Destruction
of the earth (2 Peter 3:10-13)
·
Recreation
of a new heaven and a new earth
·
Eternity
Comparative
charts of the above timelines are available in Footnote 2 below.
So
Where Is the Danger in Dispensational Premillennialism?
The danger
lies in what I call the “second chance” nature of dispensational premillennialism.
Dispensational premillennialism presents a second chance for nonbelievers.
Dispensational
premillennialism teaches a period of time for nonbelievers on earth when life
will continue after the proposed rapture.
2 If premillennialism is wrong, then life on earth as we now know it
will end simultaneously with the coming of Christ for His bride,3 who is the church, and
judgment of all nonbelievers will quickly follow. In other words, the rapture,
as it is called, and the Second Coming of Christ will be one and the same
event. Life as we know it will end for everyone at the coming again of Christ;
nonbelievers will not remain alive on earth after that momentous event. The
Great White Throne Judgment will soon follow.
If dispensational premillennialism is wrong, there will be
no space of time for conversions after the coming of Christ for His bride. Only
judgment will await the nonbeliever.
I have
been in evangelical churches for a number of years, and always, the
presentations of the gospel messages I have heard include an element of
urgency. Second chances are not included in a typical evangelical gospel
message.
The dispensational
premillennial gospel provides for a “second chance”, a provision which I
believe is not scriptural. One “second chance” would be immediately after the
rapture, and another chance would be during the tribulation.
Consider: Dispensational
premillennialism teaches that believers, who are the church, will be secretly
raptured away from earth all at once at a given moment in time. Nonbelievers
will be left behind, and for them it will be life as usual, at least until the dispensational
premillennial seven years of tribulation begin.
Nonbelievers
will not see or hear the actual rapture occurring (it is said to be a “secret”),
according to dispensational premillennialism. Rather, they will suddenly become
aware that a large number of people, at least some of whom they knew personally
to be believers in Christ, are missing, disappeared, vanished into thin air. Such
a rapture, though “secret”, would constitute a rather large change on earth, a
remarkable world-wide event that would catch everyone’s direct and immediate
attention, even the attention of those who didn’t watch the news.
Let’s ask
ourselves: Is it conceivable that we might currently know a skeptic, or even a
seeker, who, after having heard about the proposed secret rapture, might decide
to just wait until such an event occurs before committing to Christ? It is well
publicized by dispensational premillennialists that not everyone on earth is
slated to die during a literalistic seven years of tribulation. Many, they say,
will be converted during that time. Otherwise, there would be no one to enter
the proposed millennial kingdom. So, why not wait for the definite proof of the
rapture before committing to conversion?
Not all
nonbelievers will die in the moments, weeks, months, or even first several years
after the proposed rapture. Do we find it a wild stretch of the imagination to
conceive of many current nonbelievers who might decide to adopt a “wait and
see” policy? And that would by no means imply that a post-proposed-rapture
conversion wouldn’t be “real”. Some, at least, and according to dispensational
premillennialists, hundreds of thousands of national ethnic Israelites, will
convert post-proposed-rapture.
Haven’t we
all heard pastors say that they believe we are in the end times? Don’t pastors
say things such as, “…unless the rapture comes first”? Do we think that
seekers, nonbelievers, and possibly even nonbelieving ethnic descendants of
Israel have never heard these things as well? Have you never heard a pastor say
that he has gone to preach the millennial kingdom to a group of non-Christian ethnic
Israelites?
How
difficult is it to envision at least one, possibly a few, or even many
nonbelievers saying to themselves something like the following? “I just don’t
want to commit to Christ at this time. What if the gospel is all malarkey? You
know, my friend so-and-so tells me that the rapture is just around the corner.
If I wake up one morning to find that my friend and all her Christian friends
have suddenly disappeared overnight for no reason, then I will immediately
believe and be saved. That will allow me to enter the millennial kingdom.”
Consider
the following carefully:
1) Dispensational
premillennialism teaches that ethnic Israelites as a whole, the nation of
Israel, will have a massive conversion at some point after the rapture and
during the tribulation.4
2) Dispensational
premillennialism says that Israel and the church are separate,5 and that all believers in
Christ during this present age (the church) will be raptured out before the tribulation
and millennial kingdom. All believers in Christ include Messianic Christians as
well as Gentiles.6
3) Dispensational
premillennialism then says that after a national repentance and conversion at
some point during the tribulation (point 1 above), ethnic Israelites will be
returned to their own biblically geographic land for the millennial kingdom
reign.
Following the
logical progression of what dispensational premillennialism believes, the only
ethnic Israelites who will be available to occupy the Israel of the millennium
will be those who are not currently “saved” believers. The only ones who will
occupy the millennial kingdom as humans in unglorified bodies will be those converted
and saved during the seven year tribulation period, which follows the rapture
of the church.7
But—what
if the amillennial view happens to be correct, and life on earth ends with the Second
Coming of Christ for all believers and judgment of nonbelievers—one event in
time, not a two-part dualistic Second Coming?3 In other words, what if the dispensational
premillennial view is wrong, and there will be no “rapture” per se, but a
single, unified, unique Second Coming of Christ, after which comes the final
judgment?
The fact
that a group of gifted amillennial scholars exists8 is a sure sign that dispensational premillennialism is
not a 100% certain bet. If amillennialism just happens to be correct, those who
do not rise to meet Christ in the air at His Second Coming (1Co 15:50-52; 1Th
4:13-17) will immediately be up for
judgment. No second chances.
But
dispensational premillennialism teaches a second chance for nonbelievers after
the proposed rapture.
I don’t
know about you, but I have dearly loved ones who are members of ethnic Israel.
Would I want to share a gospel with them that tells them a viable option is to
wait until after a proposed rapture before they turn to Christ? Even if there
were a 99% possibility that this teaching is correct, I wouldn’t want to take
that risk. I wouldn’t want to take even a 1% risk that dispensational
premillennialism might be wrong, not when my loved ones’ eternal future is at
stake.
The gospel
of Jesus Christ, plain and simple, is 100% sure. Now is the only 100% sure time
to believe and be converted.
For some, believing
in Christ now might be seen as a drawback, in that every ethnic Israelite who
converts to Christ now will be part of His body, His bride, His beloved—the
church. (Gentiles are in there.) Dispensational premillennialists also teach that
ethnic Israelites who convert now in the gospel age are members of Christ’s
church (See footnote 6).
I don’t
know about you, but to me it seems at least possible to conceive that one or
many nonbelieving ethnic Israelites might prefer to be in the proposed
millennial kingdom of Christ as earthly Israelites rather than to be ruling
with Christ as Christians in glorified bodies during that proposed kingdom. That
is a dangerous way to think—if Christ’s coming for His church also marks the
end of ordinary time—the end of this age—and judgment. Many fine Christians do
not subscribe to dispensational premillennialism.8
The point
I am making here and by listing the books under footnote 8 is not that, “This
one is right and that one is wrong”. The point is that there are fine theologians who dispute
dispensational premillennialism. The point is that dispensational premillennialism
might be wrong. And, “might” is not a
safe gospel for our loved ones.
If the
other view is correct, that human history as we know it will end at the scripturally
foretold Second Coming of Christ for His church (a single event which will
include the so-named rapture and final judgment of nonbelievers), then there
will be no literalistic seven year period of post-rapture tribulation and no
national conversion of anyone, because the world will no longer exist in its
current form.9
Theologically,
for nonbelievers now, a unified Second Coming of Christ and a unified people of
Christ is a safe gospel message. If people get saved and that view is wrong, no
lives will be lost. But, for nonbelievers now, dispensational premillennialism
is not a safe gospel message if that view is wrong. Dispensational
premillennialism teaches that life will continue after the proposed rapture
(considered as prior to and distinct from Christ’s Second Coming), and that
ethnic Israelites and others can and will still be saved after the rapture. If
that view is wrong, then those who decided to wait for that time frame will
have lost the only chance for salvation they ever had, which is—now!—pre-proposed-rapture.
Let’s
Think About It
Doesn’t it
seem at least conceivable that an ethnic Israelite in today’s world (or even a
Gentile), one who has heard of dispensational premillennialism, might reason something like this? “I really don’t want to be part of
the Christian church. They tell me that during the tribulation there will be a
massive conversion of ethnic Israelites to Christ as Messiah King, and that
those who manage to survive the seven years of tribulation will enter the
renewed land of Israel as regular human beings and live there in a super great
way for 1,000 years. That sounds better to me than becoming a Christian now—I
think I’ll do my repenting and turning to Messiah after this rapture business
is over and the church has been removed out of the picture. My Christian
friends tell me that it might be happening pretty soon, even in my own
lifetime. I think I’m just going to wait and see.”
Now
consider: What if the dispensational premillennial view is wrong?
What if in
fact—as many extremely fine theologians8
have said since the beginning of Christian theology and right up until the
present—what if the biblical second coming of Christ for His church is one
aspect of the one and only second return of Christ promised in scripture and
right after that comes the one and only judgment?
Dispensational
premillennialism proposes a rapture in which millions of human beings will
suddenly and dramatically be removed from the face of planet earth. Yet they
say there will be millions of human beings left behind to face the tribulation.
They say that some of these will become believers and be saved. These will be
the ones to participate in the proposed literalistic one thousand year kingdom.
Thus, in
the dispensational premillennial scenario, many currently borderline seekers
and skeptics will be given a “second chance” to believe and be saved. Someone,
somewhere out there, knows enough about the proposed rapture to plan to wait
until right after its occurrence to repent and commit to the Lord. Someone will
think they know enough about the proposed secret rapture to recognize it when
it happens, and then they will
believe, be saved, and enter into the proposed millennial kingdom.
Unless dispensational
premillennialism is wrong.
The
Danger Repeated
If dispensational
premillennialism is wrong, as many think it is, there will be no second chance
after the one and only return of Christ which is promised in scripture. Those
not saved before the biblical second coming of Christ (the rapture) will be
given no second chance afterwards to do so. After the biblical second coming of
Christ for His church (the rapture)—which will be no secret—afterwards will
come the end, including judgment and eternal damnation for those who have
rejected Christ.
If the dispensational
premillennial view is mistaken, which is at least conceivable given the debates
surrounding eschatology, then there will be no opportunity after the proposed
rapture for anyone to repent, convert, and be saved.
I call a
second chance gospel dangerous. The only safe gospel is a gospel that says that
all men must be saved now. “…Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15).
There will
be no second chances, no decisive world-wide event that all nonbelievers on
earth will witness—the proposed secret rapture and instant disappearance of
millions— after which nonbelievers can make up their minds to be saved in order
to enter a proposed earthly millennial kingdom.
Even if
there is the slightest possible hint that the dispensational premillennial
scenario might not be correct,10
then a gospel based on that possibly false scenario is not safe for
nonbelievers.
The nation
of Israel as a whole missed the first appearance of Christ. How tragic it would
be if they were also to miss the Second Coming of Christ, as believers in Him, because
they forestalled belief in order to wait for a proposed millennial kingdom that
might never happen in exactly the way that dispensational premillennialism has
predicted.
NIV Hebrews 3:15 As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden
your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
__________
1 For
a chronology similar in its main features to what I present, see John
MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible,
New American Standard Bible Updated
Edition, Thomas Nelson, Inc., © 2006, pages 2007-2008
2 For
charts comparing the various interpretations, see Riddlebarger for a link to
Mark Vander Pol, http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/eschatology-charts/
. Listed near the bottom of the amillennial chart are the following historic
theologians near in view to the amillennialist: Augustine,
Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.
3
To
distinguish this biblical event from “the rapture”, which is proposed, I try
not to call the Second Coming the rapture. This sometimes leads to grammatical
awkwardness, but the distinction is important.
The
“rapture” refers specifically to a proposed Part I of a two-part split event.
In Part I, Christ returns secretly and invisibly to gather His church. It is
comparable to an elopement. In Part II of the dispensational premillennial
proposal, Christ will return visibly with
His church, now resurrected, glorified, and married to Him.
Interestingly,
under this proposed scenario, gospel age living believers (the church) will
never witness the Second Coming of Christ to earth in power, might, and
tremendous glory visible to all. The reason is that dispensational
premillennialism believes that Christ will come secretly for His bride,
invisibly to the world, not manifesting His glory openly to all. This is not,
they believe, the scripturally foretold Second Coming. During that Coming, the
church, which by that time proposedly will have been with Him in heaven for a
number of years, will return with Him to earth from heaven. Therefore,
one can clearly deduce that the church alive on earth will never witness the
Second Coming of Christ. This, I believe, contradicts scripture, and therefore,
the split coming, including the proposed Part I Rapture, must be incorrect
(Acts 1:11; 1Co 15:51-52; 1Th 4:16-17; 2Pe 3:10-14; Mark 8:38). Christ will
come again for His bride—scripture says so—but not in the manner devised by
dispensational premillennialism.
4 “What’s
going to happen is prior to the Millennial Kingdom, in the period the Bible
calls the Tribulation, the salvation of Israel as a unit, as a nation will take
place.” John
MacArthur, available at: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-433/connecting-the-covenantal-dots
5 John
MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible,
New American Standard Bible Updated
Edition, Thomas Nelson, Inc., © 2006, page 2006, beneath the heading “The
Church”
6 Ibid.
7 That
is because, as taught by dispensational premillennialism, every ethnic
Israelite who receives Christ as Messiah before the proposed rapture of the
church will be raptured out with the church as part of the church. Only those
ethnic Israelites saved after the rapture will occupy the millennial kingdom as
its subjects, proposed recipients of the Old Testament land promises.
8 The following are
extremely fine amillennial authors:
William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors, Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Baker Books, © 1940,1967, pages 142 f., 185-193.
Arturo Azurdia III, Sermons, Revelation, available at http://www.spiritempoweredpreaching.com/sermons.htm
Robert B. Strimple, in Three Views on the millennium and Beyond,
Darrell L. Bock, General Editor, Grand Rapids, MI, © 1999 by Zondervan, pages
81-129
Samuel E. Waldron, MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly
Response, Owensboro, KY, RBAP; © 2008 by Sam Waldron
Kim Riddlebarger, A Case for Amillennialism: Understanding the End Times, Grand
Rapids, MI, Baker Books, © 2003 by Kim Riddlebarger
Listed near the bottom of the amillennial chart in
the citation just above are the following historic theologians near in view to
the amillennialist: Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.
Amillennial chart available at: http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/eschatology-charts/
9 This view also says
that the tribulation is now. To understand this view, think of all the
Christians who have ever lost their lives as martyrs for Christ and the Word,
those who have ever been tortured, beaten, excommunicated, or financially
ruined for their faith in Christ. Those people know what tribulation is.
Posts
