The Promises Of God And Premillennialism
The Promises Of God And Premillennialism
Premillennialism is a fascinating doctrine -- and it is a false
doctrine. It is the intriguing view held by many Bible believers that
at the end of time, Jesus Christ will descend to this earth, conquer the
earth by military might, and set up an earthly kingdom with headquarters
in Jerusalem, rebuild the old Jewish Temple and reign on David's throne
for a literal thousand years. It's a nice idea -- it is simply not
true. We will look at just one aspect of the doctrine of
premillennialism today to show just how false and mislead it is. Please
stay tuned.
The West End Church of Christ presents these fifteen minute lessons
every Sunday. We have only one reason for doing it -- we want to preach
the truth of God's word without being restricted by human doctrines,
creeds, and wisdom. That is why we repeatedly ask anyone who listens to
communicate with us if you do not agree with what we teach on this
program. This is not done out of a spirit of dare, or challenge, but in
sincerity and in the interest of being absolutely right about the most
important issue of this life and of eternity.
We also want to invite you to attend our services. Bible study
begins at 9 a.m., just under an hour from now and we have classes for
all ages in which the Bible is discussed and made relevant to living in
this world today. At 10 this morning we assemble to worship -- we honor
God in the reading and teaching of His word, several prayers, gospel
songs, giving of our means, and partaking of the sacred memorial feast
of the Lord's Supper. Tonight we assemble for worship at 6 p.m.
One more thing before we study premillennialism is a special sermon
to be preached at West End, Sunday night August 12th. It is entitled
"The Drug Problem and the Church." No collections or donations will be
taken for the sermon -- it is a study of how the current drug problem is
affecting religion in general. You may be interested in it and if you
are, please come. Bring your children and friends and join us at the
West End Church of Christ meeting house, August 12th 6 p.m. Questions
will be allowed at the end of the sermon.
One of the essential elements of premillennialism is the
restoration of the Jewish nation to the land of Palestine which is
scheduled sometime in the future. A number of passages of scripture are
badly mistreated in order to get this idea into the premillennial
menagerie of futuristic speculations. What is just as bad is the
complete ignorance deliberately directed toward plain and simple verses
dealing with God's promises to the nation of Israel
.
The promise to the Jews began with their forefather, the great
patriarch, Abraham. God spoke to him and directed him to leave his
homeland. The record reads:
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will
shew thee: (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in
thee shall all families of the earth blessed." (Genesis 12:1- 3).
Verse 7 contains the promise. "And the Lord appeared unto Abram,
and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an
altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him."
A description of the complete land area included in this promise is
given in Genesis 15:18. It reads, "In the same day the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from
the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:"
The ancestors of Abraham were to hold title to this land "forever."
"For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed for ever (Genesis 13:15)."
Several questions must be answered regarding the promise. When was
the promise fulfilled? Was it fully fulfilled? Were there conditions
attached to the fulfillment of the promise? To these questions there
are Bible answers.
Cities of Refuge
The Law of Moses included provision for the safety of a person who
had taken the life of another without intending to kill. These cities
were called Cities of Refuge and are listed in the book of Deuteronomy.
Read the following. (Deuteronomy 19:7-9) "Wherefore I command thee,
saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the Lord thy
God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee
all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; If thou shalt
keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day,
to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou
add three cities more for thee beside these three: That innocent blood
be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance, and so blood be upon thee" Deuteronomy 19:7-9).
Please observe the expression "all the land which he promised to
give unto thy fathers." When the cities of refuge were established, the
promise of the full land area was assured. Joshua 20 lists the six
cities of Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Ramoth and Golan. Since the
promise was that when the cities were established the promise would have
been fulfilled, no one should look yet to the future for the fulfillment
of this promise. But to make it absolutely beyond question, these words
from Joshua clinch the matter. Joshua 21:43 reads, "And the Lord gave
unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and
they possessed it, and dwelt therein."
When Solomon reigned over the Israelites the Bible says he ruled
over all the kingdoms from the River unto the land of the Philistines,
and unto the border of Egypt..." (I Kings 4:21;
II Chronicles 9:26). As if these verses were not enough,
inspiration clinches the matter with the affirmation that can hardly be
disputed. Nehemiah rehearses the history of his people and concludes,
"Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him
forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; And
foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and
the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I
say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous"
(Nehemiah 9:7,8).
The premillennial theory of the restoration of the Jews to Israel
as a prelude to the millennial reign of Christ on earth implies the
direct opposite of the inspired statement from Nehemiah. The
premillennialist argues that the promise was "forever" and therefore the
land still belongs to the Jews as God's favored nation. Notwithstanding
the fact that such a view makes God a respecter of persons (which is
flatly denied in the New Testament) it is simply untrue to assume that
forever means without end. Notice the things that are said to be
"forever."
1. The ritual of circumcision was to be "forever" (Genesis 7:13).
2. The Passover was an institution for the Jews "forever" (Exodus
12:15).
3. The Levitical priesthood was to be "forever" (Numbers 25:13).
Those who argue that the land was to belong to the Jews "forever,"
by consistency, ought to hold still to the ritual of circumcision, the
Passover, and the Levitical priesthood. But, they won't.
One of the great prophets of the Old Testament was Jeremiah.
Please read his visual description of why the Jews lost their right to
the land. (Jeremiah 19:1-11)
"Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and
take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the
priests; And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by
the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall
tell thee, And say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and
inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever
heareth, his ears shall tingle. Because they have forsaken me, and have
estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods,
whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah,
and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; They have built
also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt
offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came
it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that
this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of
Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. And I will make void the counsel of
Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the
sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their
lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the
heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city
desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be
astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. And I will cause
them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters,
and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and
straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives,
shall straiten them. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of
the men that go with thee, And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one
breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they
shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury."
This prophecy was fulfilled in part when the Babylon crushed
Jerusalem and captured the Jews in 586 B.C. (Read II Kings 25). The
final breaking of the Jewish nation, however, was fulfilled in A.D. 70
when the Roman army leveled Jerusalem, destroying the temple, all Jewish
symbols, and genealogical records. This is one explanation why Paul
warned New Testament Christians about arguments over "endless
genealogies." "Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies,
which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith:
so do. (I Timothy 1:4)."
After Jerusalem fell, the prophecy of Jeremiah was completely
fulfilled and notice, nothing could put the broken nation back together
again. Like Humpty Dumpty, it was broken completely. How a
premillennialist can still argue that the nation of Israel will be put
back together again as God's favored nation is beyond the wildest of
imaginations. But, somehow, blindly they continue this senseless
affirmation.
If you have a question about any of these things that have been
said -- please contact us. Our mailing address is West End Church of
Christ, 1609 Parkside Drive, Bowling Green, Ky. 42101. We
will try to help you. Well, thank you again -- we appreciate the
opportunity to come to you each Sunday on this radio station and hope
you'll be back here again next Sunday -- 8 a.m. Goodbye and God bless
you.
Radio Sermon No. 20, Page 1
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