The Coming Kingdom, Part 1
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah, various
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note: This is the first sermon of a two-part series on the Kingdom of God, which is a topic broached throughout Isaiah and other prophetic books.
Introduction: We are within a week of winding down an abbreviated exposition of the Book of Isaiah. What started out to be a year-long excursion through this monumental Old Testament treatise has turned out instead to be of less than four months’ duration (due to my resignation and pending move to St. Louis). We have, however, in that short time, had the privilege of examining several of the watershed chapters in Isaiah. Some of you will recall also that in the summer of 1981, I preached a series on what I believed to be the seven greatest chapters in the Bible, three of which were from Isaiah—chapters 40, 53, and 55. So putting these two series together, we have at least had a good sampling from this greatest of Old Testament prophets.
Last Sunday, today, and next Sunday we are taking the opportunity to explore some of the prophetic teaching of Isaiah. Last week we considered the Advents of Christ. We noted that Isaiah has a great deal to say about the coming of Christ into the world, as well as His Second Coming, which is, of course, still future. In fact, Isaiah readily discusses both advents in the same breath, because, as is true of all the Old Testament prophets, he was apparently unaware that there would even be two advents of Messiah. The whole church age seems to have been a complete mystery to him. He believed that the Jewish people would accept their Messiah when He came into the world, and that after dealing with the wickedness and rebellion in the world, Messiah would set up a righteous and peaceful kingdom.
We know, of course, God’s chosen people did not receive Jesus as their Messiah. Instead, they killed Him, and humanly speaking, the earthly Messianic kingdom was postponed for at least 1950 years. God knew of their rejection all the time, of course, so in His timetable the Church Age was always planned between the two Advents.
The question now, however, is this: Are the promises of the Old Testament prophets to the people of Israel still good regarding Messiah’s coming again? Will there yet be an earthly kingdom, ruled over by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Are all those passages simply to be understood figuratively or have they been fulfilled in the Church? These are some of the critical issues facing the student of the prophetic Scriptures, and particularly the student of Isaiah.
The topic before us today is, as you may know, one concerning which many sincere Christians disagree, including, no doubt, some listening to me this morning. Still, considering the volume of Scripture devoted to the last days, I think it is of some value for me to at least leave with you a general understanding of what I believe is involved in the Coming Kingdom.
Definition of the coming Kingdom
There are two extremes we need to avoid. One is the view that the Kingdom of God is only internal and spiritual. This view is grounded in a misinterpretation of Christ’s words in John 18:36: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Jesus was not denying a future kingdom when He said that, but rather acknowledging that He was at that time heading for a cross instead of a crown.
The other extreme is the one I suspect more of us are guilty of, namely seeing the kingdom of God as something that is only future. The fact of the matter is there are two very legitimate senses of the Kingdom. We will use the term “Kingdom of God” to speak of the sovereign rule of God over the universe, now and always, and the term “Messianic Kingdom” to speak of that future earthly reign of Christ. Some have used the term “already, but not yet” to convey these two aspects of God’s rule.
There are many passages which speak of the Kingdom of God in the sense of God’s activity in history and of His spiritual authority over His children and over the Church. For example, Rom. 14:17: “For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Thus, it is perfectly legitimate for us to speak about advancing the Kingdom of God through the evangelization of the lost and the edification of believers. The Messianic Kingdom, on the other hand, is the future kingdom over which Jesus Christ will personally reign from Jerusalem, as prophesied in the Scriptures. We cannot advance that Kingdom; we just live in the light of its coming and rejoice in the hope of it.
A summary of views on the Messianic Kingdom
I stated earlier that there is a great deal of divergence among Christians in their views of the Messianic Kingdom, probably more than on almost any other Biblical topic. Before we can even begin to discuss the issues, we need to understand the term “millennialism.”
Millennialism (Rev. 20:1-6). The word, “millennium,” of course, means 1000 years. The only place in the Bible where a kingdom of 1000 years is mentioned is Rev. 20. In chapter 19 we are told about the Second Advent of Christ and the Battle of Armageddon. Then, beginning with verse 4 of chapter 20 we read:
“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”
There are three principal views of this 1000-year kingdom spoken of in Revelation 20. All three views have representatives among evangelical believers. The prefixes reflect the view. The Postmillennialist believes Christ will return after (the prefix “post” means “after”) the 1000-year reign. The Amillennialist doesn’t believe there will be a literal millennium on earth (the prefix “a” means “not”), but rather only a spiritual millennium in heaven or in the hearts of Christians. And the premillennialist believes Christ will return before (the prefix “pre” means “before”) He establishes His1000-year reign. Now let’s elaborate a bit on each of these views.
The Postmillennial View. Postmillennarians generally affirm the millennium to be a literal period of 1000 years of peace and righteousness that preceeds the Second Coming. This utopia is allegedly to be brought about through the efforts of the Church, as the Gospel pervades all of society and the vast portion of the world’s population is converted to Christianity.
The late Dr. Loraine Boettner, an evangelical graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, was an advocate of the postmillennial position. He not only believed we can bring in the Kingdom through our influence on society; he apparently believed there is good evidence we are in the kingdom now. In a book entitled The Millennium, written in 1957 he wrote a chapter entitled, “The World Is Growing Better.” Listen to his evaluation:
“Looking back across the nearly 2,000 years that have passed since the coming of Christ we can see that there has indeed been marvelous progress. This process ultimately shall be completed, and before Christ comes again, we shall see a Christianized world…. Christian principles of life and conduct are to become the accepted standards in public and private life…. That a great spiritual advance has been made should be clear to all…. Social and economic conditions in almost all nations have reached a new high plateau. A spirit of cooperation is much more manifest among the nations than it has ever been before. International incidents which only a few years ago would have resulted in wars are now usually settled by arbitration.” [i]
Now frankly I think that’s a lot of wishful thinking. Maybe it faintly resembles the Eisenhower years, during which it was written, but it doesn’t bear much resemblance to what we have seen since. He goes on to talk about the progress of the Church:
“We may add that in 1870 church membership in the United States stood at 18 per cent, a percentage increase three times that of the Revolutionary War period. Today it stands at an all-time high of 61%…. When we contrast the rapid spread of Christianity in recent years with the rapid disintegration that is taking place in all of the other world religions, it becomes very clear that Christianity is the future world religion. There are, however, some who tell us in all seriousness that the world is getting worse. Surely, they are prompted to do so only in defense of a theory that clearly is contradicted by the facts.” [ii]
I personally can’t believe Dr. Boettner would possibly write those words today. And the fact that postmillennialists are about as hard to find as flat earth advocates witnesses to the fact that their viewpoint fits neither the Scriptures nor the world in which we live. We are not living in the Millennial Kingdom, nor will we ever bring in the Kingdom through social, moral, or political efforts.
When we turn to Amillennialism, we find a viewpoint that has many more adherents, including many evangelical Christians.
The Amillennial View. The Amil view affirms that the Second Coming of Christ will occur after the millennium, so in a sense it is a postmillennial position. The difference is that the Amillennialist believes the Messianic Kingdom is only spiritual and heavenly, not political and earthly. In fact, it is not to be distinguished from the Kingdom of God. It began at Christ’s first coming and is present and universal in the hearts of all believers. The fact that it has been almost 2,000 years, not 1,000, since Christ’s first advent doesn’t bother the Amillennialist, because he interprets 1,000 as simply meaning “a long time.”
Two principles govern the Amillennialist’s interpretation of the prophetic Scripture. First, he sees the prophecies as mostly symbolic, so rather than look for a literal fulfillment, he spiritualizes most of those passages. Certainly, there is a great deal of symbolism in prophecy; the question is whether one is justified in rejecting all, or even most, literal fulfillment.
Secondly, he believes that all the Old Testament promises to Israel are inherited by the Church, because God quit dealing with Israel as a nation when they rejected Jesus Christ as Messiah. The Amil position on Israel made a lot of sense for 1900 years. However, in 1948 Israel once again became a nation through a remarkable set of circumstances. The Amillennialist has to say that the rebirth of Israel and the regaining of Jerusalem by the Jews in 1967, are purely a matter of historical circumstance, an accident of history if you will, that has no prophetic or biblical significance. I personally find that very difficult to accept.
Among the adherents of Amillennialism are almost all Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, Christian Reformed, plus many Southern Baptists, and others. The reason we don’t hear so much about the view is that Amillennialists, believing prophecy to be symbolic, generally don’t do much preaching or teaching from the prophetic portions of Scripture.
The Premillennial View. The Premillennialist’s view, which is the position taken by the Evangelical Free Church, most Bible Churches, independent Baptist churches, and others, holds that Christ’s Second Advent will precede His establishment of a literal glorious kingdom of peace and righteousness on earth. He will personally reign from Jerusalem with His saints.
Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretation of prophecy, whenever possible. The prophecies in the Old and New Testaments regarding Christ’s future reign are interpreted as finding their fulfillment in this future Millennial Kingdom established by Christ at His Second Coming at the end of the Great Tribulation. The city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel will be the focal point of this Kingdom, though Gentiles will also have their place in it. The rebirth of the nation of Israel was predicted by premillennialists, as was their regaining of the city of Jerusalem, and these events are viewed as evidence that the coming Kingdom may be near.
Now let me summarize. In postmillennialism the millennium is the last 1,000 years of the church age during which there will be virtual peace and righteousness here on earth, at the end of which the Great Tribulation will occur and Christ will return, ushering in the Eternal State.
The Amillennialist believes the Church age is the Millennium, only it is a spiritual millennium, with Christ reigning in heaven and in the hearts of believers here on earth. He believes there will be a future time of Tribulation, at the end of which Christ will return, ushering in the Eternal State.
The Premillennialist believes the order of events is as follows: first, the Great Tribulation, then the return of Christ, and then the Millennium. He will establish a righteous rule on earth for 1,000 years, at the end of which there will be a brief final rebellion (called the Battle of Gog and Magog), and then the Eternal State will be ushered in.
I trust that that is a sufficient overview to allow you to see the three viewpoints. While I am personally a premillennialist, I have a great deal of respect for certain amillennial scholars, who I feel have made a sincere effort to wrestle with difficult passages. What we agree upon is perhaps more important than what we disagree on—namely we agree that that this world is going to face a terrible time of tribulation, at the end of which Jesus Christ is going to bodily return to this earth to receive those who are His, and that we shall enjoy His presence for all of eternity. Nevertheless, while Christ’s Second Coming is the most important thing, I believe His Messianic Kingdom is also significant, so I turn your attention to some of the truths taught in the book of Isaiah about this Coming Kingdom.
The prelude to the coming Kingdom
There are three major events the Bible indicates must precede the Messianic Kingdom. There is a current event, a tragic event, and a glorious event.
A current event: the regathering of the Nation of Israel (11:11-16, 27:12-13, 66:7-8). The fact that God was not finished with the nation of Israel following their crucifixion of His Son is clearly taught in the New Testament. For example, in Rom. 11:1, the Apostle Paul says, “God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” Later in the same chapter he adds, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!”
Still later Paul speaks of a partial hardening that has happened to Israel “until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, and thus all Israel will be saved…. From the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.” I believe these passages assert that God has never given up on the Jews as a national entity.
In Isaiah we find that virtually all the Messianic prophecies are directed to Israel, so for them to be fulfilled literally, there had to be an identifiable nation of Israel. Premillennarians not only predicted the rebirth of national Israel, but they saw evidence for its expectation in some specific passages in Isaiah. For example, Isaiah 66:7,8:
“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons. “Shall I bring to the point of birth, and not give delivery?” says the Lord. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God.
Now this is not an easy passage, and there are many different interpretations of it. Amillennialists generally view “the boy born without labor pains” as the New Testament church. It is, so to speak, a nation born in one day, the day of Pentecost. However, most Premillennialists see it as a reference to Israel’s rebirth as a nation. Almost totally unexpected by the world at the end of W.W. II, suddenly this new nation appeared, and despite the efforts of all the Arab and most of the Communist nations of the world to destroy it, it still stands. We believe God was not about to bring it to the point of birth and not complete what He started.
I have listed two other passages from Isaiah (11:11-16, 27:12-13) which are likely references to the regathering of the Nation of Israel, which I will let you examine on your own. Note that this event has happened during the lifetime of many of us. I believe it to be a prelude to the Coming Kingdom.
The regathering of the nation of Israel is in my view a necessary prelude to a tragic event that is going to face this world—the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon.
A tragic event: The Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon (24:1-6, 34:1-17). There are, of course, both Old and New Testament passages which speak in detail about this seven-year period of trouble that is going to come upon the earth, and particularly upon Israel, as world powers from the north, south and east converge upon Palestine. The Book of Revelation speaks of the seals, trumpets and bowls of God’s wrath that will be poured out in those last days. Matthew describes it in this fashion: “Then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.” The Battle of Armageddon will conclude the Great Tribulation, resulting in the deaths of more than one third of the population of the earth, quite possibly by nuclear holocaust. That would be over 2 billion people.
Isaiah, too, speaks of this time of great trouble. I have listed two passages, but we will take time to look only at one. Let’s read Isaiah 24:1-6:
“Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
The 34th chapter adds a detailed description of the Battle of Armageddon itself.
But there is one more event besides the regathering of Israel and the Great Tribulation that the Scriptures present as a prelude to the Coming Kingdom, and that is a glorious event.
A glorious event: The Rapture of the Church (1 Thes. 4:13-18, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). You will notice that I give no references from Isaiah for the rapture of the Church. The reason is simply that Isaiah says nothing about the church. Remember, he did not even distinguish between the First Advent and the Second Advent, so he was completely unaware that there would even be a church.
The fact of the rapture, however, is indisputable. In I Thes. 4:13-18 we read:
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The term “rapture” comes from those words we just read—”caught up together with them in the clouds.” First Corinthians 15 adds that it’s all going to happen “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet sounds.” This is the blessed hope of the believer—to be caught up with Christ and to be with Him forever.
The time relationship between these events. Does the Tribulation come before the Rapture, or will believers live through the Tribulation and be caught up to be with the Lord after it, or will the Rapture occur somewhere in the middle of the Tribulation? It is, of course, a matter of great practical interest to us whether we may live through those terrible days described in Isaiah 24. Unfortunately, there is even more difference of opinion among believers on this topic than there is on the Millennial question, the reason being that the Bible nowhere spells out a clear chronology. I would certainly prefer a Rapture before the Tribulation, but our preferences don’t always conform to reality, and there are several passages that are very difficult to harmonize with a pre-tribulation rapture. Since the time of the rapture is not a topic germane to Isaiah, I believe I will leave it at that.
The signs of the times. One thing that is clear is that the signs of the end times are with us and increasing. One of the prominent signs of the end times is a falling away from the faith, a great apostasy, which according to 2 Thes. 2:3, will precede the appearance of the Anti-Christ. 1 Timothy 4 adds that “in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” I don’t think one could necessarily prove that men are more wicked today than in earlier times in the world’s history, but sin may be more public, with more people coming out of the closet with their degrading lifestyles, and there is less shame when sin is exposed. Then in 2 Tim. 3:1-5 we read,
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
When one puts these spiritual signs together with the physical signs spoken of in Matthew 24:4-7, it is hard to argue with the fact that the stage is set. I am not saying that Christ will come soon; but I am simply saying that the predicted signs are all in place.
Since my time is more than up, I will simply close with an exhortation based upon the predictions in God’s Word regarding the Second Coming of Christ.
“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation.” (2 Peter 3:14)
If God has tarried and the end times have not yet begun, it is for the benefit of those that do not yet know Christ. His patience is your salvation. Trust Him today. Jesus died for you, and the forgiveness He offers you is your only hope for eternity. Don’t wait for clearer evidence that God is about to wind down the clock of history, for the Scriptures say that no man knows the day or the hour, and the Second coming will come upon us as a thief in the night.
DATE: September 9, 1984
Tags:
Prophecy
Kingdom of God
Kingdom, Millennial
Kingdom, Messianic
Amillennialism
Postmillennialism
Premillennialism
Tribulation, the Great
Rapture
[i] Loraine Boettner, The Millennium, “The World Is Growing Better.”
[ii] Ibid.