A Study Of
Premillennialism
Bob Harding
Table of Contents
Lesson LESSON TITLE Page
1The Test Of A True Prophet……………………………………………..3
2What Is Premillennialism?...... 23
3The Rapture…………………………………………………………….35
4Daniel’s Seventy Weeks And Tribulation……………………………..43
5The Great Tribulation And The Destruction Of Jerusalem In 70 AD…54
6Who Is The Antichrist………………………………………………….72
7The Battle Of Armageddon…………………………………………….78
8Thousand Year Reign On Earth (Rev 20)……………………………...84
9Destruction Of Satan (Rev 20)…………………………………………91
The Test of a True Prophet
INTRODUCTION
A.A “prophecy” in the Bible always meant any message claiming to be miraculously inspired of God. A false prophet merely claimed to be inspired of God.
1.It may concern duties or events of the past, present, or future.
1)In Ex 4:12, Moses was instructed to be God's “mouth”, that is, God's SPOKESMAN.
2)Later, God instructs Moses saying that Aaron would be Moses' prophet (Ex 7:1).
3)Therefore, a “prophet” served as the “MOUTH” of God.
B.Oftentimes, when there is trouble in the world, there is someone trying to sell a new book claiming the recent events are signs that the end of the world is at hand.1. It is obvious that each day that passes brings us a little closer to the end.
1)This obvious truth does not mean that every new crisis that comes along is evidence that the return of Jesus is imminent.
2.What should our reaction be when we hear news of another war, earthquake or famine somewhere in the world?
1)Does this mean the end is near? Not necessarily.
2)There always have been and always will be difficulties and tragedies in this fallen world.
- Christians need to be discerning and not be deceived by every sensational claim that some self-proclaimed prophet announces.
1)A little understanding of history will go a long ways in helping us better understand the present in which we live.
C.The Bible itself proposes the acid test for all men who claim to speak for God and foretell future events.
1.Every false prophet must live in dread of the future because man cannot accurately forecast the details of history.
I.THE TRUE TEST OF A TRUE PROPHET
- Israel had to deal with false prophets in ancient times.
- God gave them a test to use so they could discern between a false or true prophet.
1)Moses told his followers how to expose lies about powers of the occult, magic, enchantment, witchcraft, mediums, palmists, and other self-acclaimed false prophets:
Deut 18:20-22: “But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And you may say in your heart, ‘How shall I know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him.”
2)This passage not only states how to test a false prophet, but also how to test a true prophet.
2.God also warned the false prophets.
Jer 23:25-32: “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ 26 How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, 27 who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? 28 The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain? declares the LORD. 29 Is not My word like fire? declares the LORD, and like a hammer which shatters a rock? 30 Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal My words from each other. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, 'The Lord declares.' 32 Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams, declares the LORD, and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit, declares the LORD.”
1)Lying prophets are sometimes specific in their predictions, but more often vague.
2)The more specific they are, the more vulnerable they are to exposure.
3)Even a little investigation exposes the following so-called “prophets” as MASTERS OF DECEIT.
4)They made predictions by claiming to have divine insight and FAILED!
- Background to false prophets from Old Testament times to New Testament times.
(The following history is taken from a book called The Prophet Motive, by Kenny Barfield)
1.From the eighth century BC onward, clients by the 1000’s—rulers and peasants, the rich and the poor, politicians and lovers—crowded the dusty highways to sites like Delphi, Olympia, Dodona, Didyma, Lebadea, Oropus, and Ephyra. They came to learn the future and how to pattern their lives accordingly.
1)Known as “oracles,” they stood at the entrance to the future, claiming to pry information from both the dead and the gods.
2)Their pronouncements created and legitimatized rulers and empires.
3)Their words called armies into battle.
4)Their flair for the spectacular charmed both kings and peasants.
5)If anyone could compete with the biblical prophets in influence and predictions, surely the oracles had the best opportunity.
The ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma in Turkey reveals that this was where one of the most well-known oracles offered advice for the future.
- In each of the locations mentioned above, like many others, representatives of the gods were thought to possess the gift of prophecy.
1)Some prophets were men; some were women; some were young; some were old.
2)Some prophesied by dreams; some studied entrails of animals.
3)Some worked themselves into a frenzy; some prepared by consuming human blood.
4)Some used clever deceptions in their work.
5)Some appear to have been devoutly honest.
6)Some were well-known; others were obscure.
Yet, what means were used, evidence supplies no proof that any held a hot-line to the supernatural.
- Writings of ancient historians bubble with rich, detailed information.
1)Archaeology also adds to the knowledge of these ancient prophets.
2)The result paints a familiar picture of deceit and fraud.
3)Scandals in the name of religion infested ancient religion as easily as they do today.
4)Like a well-fitting jigsaw puzzle, an insightful pattern emerges: Greek oracular establishments mastered the art of deception.
4.On the shore of the Bay of Naples near ancient Baiae, in the 1960’s the location of the Oracle of the Dead was discovered. Using historical and archaeological data, researchers established several facts:
1)Inquirers visited the oracle at a complex underground location (the oracle lived “far below” the surface and that oracular priests used a series of subterranean passageways).
2)Before presenting an inquiry, visitors faced a month of mind-altering experiences. This included solitary confinement in a room plastered with dreadful pictorial representations of the underworld.
3)Visitors lived for a month in extremely cramped quarters, shut off from natural light.
4)The only light came from lamps probably burning hashish.
This setting would guarantee hallucinations.
The oracles used evasive answers (only “yes” or “no”).
A million mitigating circumstances could be invented to “explain away” failures (even a “yes” answer, no one could ever prove the oracle wrong.
Even when oracles offered more than a single-word response, we know that responses were often garbled, capable of multiple meanings and easily misinterpreted. EX: Perhaps the most famous oracular response of all time came from Apollo’s Oracle at Delphi in response to an inquiry by Lydia’s King Croessus. When Croessus attempted to learn the outcome of a battle with Persians, he was informed that such a war would destroy a great empire. Regardless of the outcome, the Oracle was protected. Croessus did attack and he was defeated.
5.Unlike biblical prophets who gained little if anything financially from their predictions, the classical oracles built a thriving monetary empire through their work.
1)Their lifestyle, and it was often plush, depended upon their success.
2)One example of the enormous economic power they possessed comes from the story of Croessus. He invested his wealth and modeled his life and decisions around advice from oracles.
3)Entire communities profited from “the oracle business,” much like many who exploit religion for profit today.
4)Many of those who became rich in the process would be willing to do whatever was necessary to protect their investment.
The famous fable-writer Aesop made the mistake of belittling the profiteering at Delphi. His criticism was not well received. The priests “slipped a gold dish…into his traveling pack, and spread the rumor that the Temple of Apollo had been robbed. The dish was found, and Aesop punished with death. The priests threw him from the Hyampeian cliff.
This event reminds us of Paul’s encounter with a “fortune-teller” in Philippi(Acts 16:16-24).
6.At times the oracles were put to the test.
1)Croessus definitely needed wise counsel (shaky kingdom). To his credit, he attempted to check the validity of the information he received. So he proposed a challenge. Couriers were dispatched to seven antiquity’s leading oracles. They were to consult the oracles 100 days after leaving Sardis and inquire as to what Croessus was doing at that moment in his palace. The king had carved a tortoise and a lamb with his own hands and boiled them in a bronze cauldron with a bronze lid. Only the oracle at Delphi accurately answered the couriers. Croessus was convinced. The Oracle at Delphi became his chief adviser.
2)How was Apollo’s Oracle at Delphi able to correctly answer the king?
Possible to delay the answer until after the event. Then try to learn of what the king was doing at that particular time.
Delphi’s Oracle is suspected of developing one of the more intricate information-gathering networks in antiquity.
A sizable amount of evidence implies that many oracles employed carrier pigeons (can fly 100’s of miles in a day) in order to speed messengers throughout the empire.
II.FALSE PROPHETS PREDICTING THE END OF THE WORLD
A.False prophets predicting the end of the world are nothing new.They have been around for many centuries. Below is a list of some of the false prophets who have deceived multitudes. Over 200 predictions and counting! Yes the end is coming, but all human predictions are wrong!
1.44 AD– Theudas declared himself the Messiah, taking 400 people with him into the desert (Acts 5:36-37).
1)Josephus records that he was beheaded by Roman soldiers.
2.52 AD – Even before all the books of the Bible were written, there was talk that Christ’s return had already taken place.
1)The Thessalonians panicked on Paul, when they heard a rumor that the day of the Lord was at hand, and they missed the rapture.
3.156 AD – Montanusappeared in a small village, fell into a trance, and began prophesying in what he claimed was the voice of the Holy Spirit.
1)With two young women, Prisca and Maximilla, he traveled throughout Asia Minor teaching that Christ was going to appear very soon.
2)Maximilla claimed:“After me there is no more prophecy, but only the end of the world.” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. II, 5th ed. p. 423).
3)Montanism finally disappeared in the sixth century.
4. 400 AD – Hippolytus calculated that 5,500 years separated Adam and Christ and that the life of the world was 6,000 six full ‘days’ of years until the seventh the day of rest.”
1)His calculations in 234 AD indicted there were still two centuries left. (A History of the End of the World, Rubinsky and Wiseman, 1982).
5.410 AD – Jerome(347-419) translated the Greek New Testament into the Latin Vulgate.
1)He believed the capture of Rome by the Vandals in 410 AD and signs of the end of the empire were omens of the approaching end of the world. (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. III, 5th ed. p. 86.
6. 540 AD – 604 AD – Gregory “the Great”
1)Gregory “the Great” was convinced that the troubles in the world in his lifetime (540-604 AD) was proof that the end of the world was near.
2)“Of all the signs described by our Lord as presaging the end of the world some we see already accomplished… For we now see that nation arises against nation and that they press and weigh upon the land in our own times as never before in the annals of the past. Earthquakes overwhelm countless cities, as we often hear from other parts of the world. Pestilence we endure without interruption. It is true that we do not behold signs in the sun and moon and stars but that these are not far off we may infer from the changes of the atmosphere.” (Quoted in T. Francis Glasson, His Appearing and His Kingdom, pg. 45).
7.950 AD – “Treatise on the Antichrist” by Adso of Montier-en Der
1)A response to a variety of crises at mid-century that provoked widespread apocalyptic disquiet, and rapidly become a central text in the European eschatological literature.
8. 999 AD – Europe in the Middle Ages
1)“As the last day of 999 approached, the old basilica of St. Peter’s at Rome was thronged with a mass of weeping and trembling worshipers awaiting the end of the world, believing that they were on the eve of the Millennium. Land, homes, and household goods were given to the poor as a final act of contrition to absolve the hopeless from sins of a lifetime. Some Europeans sold their goods before traveling to Palestine to await the Second Coming. This mistaken application of biblical prophecy happened again in 1100, 1200, and 1245. Prophetic speculation continued. In 1531, Melchior Hofmann announced that the second coming would take place in the year 1533.... Nicholas Cusa held that the world would not last past 1734.” (Gary DeMar, Last Day Madness, pg. 14.
*Churches in France gave their land to monks – explosion of church buildings.
2)Both Halley’s comet in 989 AD and a supernova in 1006 AD were interpreted as signs of the end.
3)1005-1006 AD – Terrible famine throughout Europe, associated with apocalyptic portents in several texts.
4)May 1006 AD – New star sighted (Super Nova of 1006), at same time a chaplain of the Emperor converts to Judaism.
5)1009-1010 AD – Destruction of Jerusalem, apocalyptic reaction in the West including violent anti-Jewish outbursts.
6)1009 AD – Rain of blood, sun turns red and fails to shine for 3 days; plague and death follow.
7)1022 AD – Burning of heretics at Orleans, Francedescribed in several texts in apocalyptic tones.
8)1024? AD – Letter from heaven calling for Peace Councils circulates throughout northern France.
9)1026-1027 AD – Large collective pilgrimage to Jerusalemled by Richard of St. Vaast.
10)1028 AD – Rain of blood (classic apocalyptic sign) on the Aquitanian shore provokes letters on its interpretation.
11)1033 AD – Beginning of millennium because it marked 1000 years since Christ’s crucifixion.
* Mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
9. 1100’s AD – Peter Waldo
1)In the 12th century, Peter Waldo, the founder of the Waldenses, taught that the Pope of Rome was the Antichrist.
2)The Waldenses rejected the Catholic clergy system and taught people did not have to possess any special education or ordination to teach the Bible.
10.1183 AD – Calabrian monk, Joachim of Fiore (1135-1202) on Easter Sunday claimed he was inspired to write his massive Exposition of Revelation. He stands out as a key figure in medieval apocalypticism.
1)Later, near the end of his life, he summarized his prophetic knowledge in the Book of Figures.
2)His writings influenced a wide range of medieval events.
3)The Franciscan order was founded on the basis that they would be the spiritual elite described in Joachim’s “Age of the Spirit,” a future time when God would send revelation directly to believers. Using Joachim’s hints, writers concluded that the “Age of Grace” would end and the “Age of the Spirit” would begin in 1260 AD.This prophecy mixed with German social unrest, created a myth surrounding Frederick II. Having ruled from 1220 to 1250, many believed that Frederick was the “Emperor of the Last Days” who would usher in the new Millennium. The myth gained force when Frederick would return from the dead. Two pseudo-Fredericks were burned at the stake by his successor to the throne. The Book of a Hundred Chapters stated that the returned Frederick would lead a fight against corruption in the state and the church, and that he will instruct his followers to “Go on hitting them,” (referring to the Pope and his students) and to “kill every one of them!”
11. 1500’s AD – Martin Luther and John Calvin
1)Both Martin Luther and John Calvin taught in the 1500’s that the Pope of Rome was the Antichrist.
2)“The last day is at hand. My calendar has run out. I know nothing more in my Scriptures.”(Martin Luther, January 1532).
3)8:00 AM, October 19, 1533 – Michael Stiefel & Martin Luther, Christ’s Coming & Judgment.
12.1533 – 2 Anabaptists – End of the world, preceded by 3 ½ years of apocalyptic tribulation
13.Easter: April 5th, 1534 – Jan Matthijs. “a prophet”, Return of Christ
14. 1600’s – The Presbyterian Church
1)“There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be the head thereof; but is the Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.” (Westminster Confession of Faith in the 17th century).
15. 1666 – London