A Note on God's Purposes

In class recently, we started discussion on the doctrine of anthropology (man). I noted that before sin and salvation became an issue, man was tasked to fill, rule, and subdue the earth for God's glory (Gen. 1:26-28). Thus, a successful kingdom rule over the earth by man as mediator is foundational to God's purposes. This is a good clue that a kingdom rule over creation is the primary thing God is pursuing. 

Redemption of people is a big and wonderful theme in Scripture, but it fits under God's kingdom purposes. Redemption/salvation is not an end in itself. It is a means in God's purposes for both relationship (with God and people) and function (rule and subdue the earth).

For a theological system to be comprehensive it must do more than address salvation, as important as that is. It must adequately account for the 'kingdom over the earth' theme in Scripture.

Theology Nugget About Millennial Views

 A theology nugget about millennial views: 

Premillennialism and Postmillennialism actually agree on one thing against Amillennialism. While Amillennialism says Jesus' millennial kingdom is only a spiritual kingdom, both Premill and Postmill see Jesus' kingdom as much more. Both believe Jesus' millennial kingdom transforms society and creation too.

In other words, Premill and Postmill believe Jesus' kingdom includes but involves more than just human salvation and spiritual realities. Earth and its political/societal structures are transformed and function for God's purposes.

Premill and Postmill disagree when this transformation occurs. Postmill says it happens before Jesus returns while He is in Heaven. And Premill says the transformation of all things occurs after Jesus comes again when He reigns from and over the earth. But the impact of Jesus' millennial kingdom is extensive and widespread with both Premill and Postmill.

I personally believe Premill has a much stronger case that the restoration of all things can only happen when Jesus reigns on the earth. But to restate, both Premill and Postmill agree against Amillennialism that Jesus' kingdom is much more than just spiritual and more than just salvation from sin.

Genesis 1 and the Roots of Premillennialism

 

The case for Premillennialism does not begin in Revelation 20—it starts in Genesis 1. How so? Remember that Premillennialism consists of four elements: (1) a future kingdom; (2) an earthly kingdom; (3) a kingdom of the Messiah who represents man; and (4) a kingdom that is 1000 years in duration.

To see how Premillennialism relates to Genesis 1 we need to look at Genesis 1:26–28:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

What is described in this passage relates to points 1, 2, and 3 above—a future kingdom, an earthly kingdom, and a kingdom of man who rules as God’s mediator. In short, Genesis 1:26-28 teaches that man, as represented by Adam, is to “fill,” “rule,” and “subdue” the earth. The concepts of “rule” (radah) and “subdue” [kabash] have strong king and kingdom implications. These are forceful terms used of kings in the Old Testament. Man is tasked to by God to forcefully rule the earth. The command for Adam and Eve to “fill the earth” means that the commands to rule and subdue will also apply to the descendants of the first couple.

So what does this mean and how does it relate to Premillennialism? God created man in His image to rule and subdue the earth as God’s mediator. To be more specific, man was created to rule from and over the earth. Man was not created to reign from heaven over heaven or from heaven over a spiritual realm. Nor was man tasked to reign over the earth from heaven. No, man was created to rule from the earth and over the earth. We could call this a “boots-on-the-ground kingdom.” Psalm 115:16 states, “The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.”

Adam, as representative of mankind, sinned and failed the kingdom mandate (see Gen. 3). Man can only rule successfully for God’s glory while being in a right relationship with God. But that was ruined with the Fall. Man’s destiny to rule the earth was not removed, but he cannot do it successfully while alienated from God. Man cannot succeed with sin and the curse present.

Mankind ever since, including the theocracy of Israel, failed to rule and subdue the earth successfully. But God never abandoned His plan for man to rule the earth rightly. A successful mediatorial kingdom reign of man as God’s mediator over the earth must happen! Psalm 8:4-8 reaffirms that even in a fallen world man’s right to rule the earth and its creatures remains. Hebrews 2:5-8 also says man is destined to rule “the world to come” even though now we do not yet see that occurring.

So how does this kingdom mandate happen? Jesus, the Last Adam, and perfect representative of mankind, will make it happen. He is destined to successfully rule from and over the earth to fulfill the kingdom mandate. Jesus is worthy to rule the earth because He is perfect and because of His atoning death (see Rev. 5:9-10). No other person can accomplish this.

When Jesus returns He will establish His kingdom (Matt. 25:31; Acts 3:20-21; Rev. 19:15) and rule the earth. And so too will those who are united to Jesus (see Rev. 5:10; 20:4). 

In short, Jesus will succeed from and over the realm where Adam and mankind failed. This means a successful mediatorial kingdom. When this successful reign occurs Jesus will hand the kingdom over to God the Father and the Eternal State will begin (see 1 Cor. 15:24-28). Man’s task will be successfully completed and the Eternal State will commence. This is the ultimate “Mission Accomplished!” in human history.

To come back to our original assertion—Genesis 1 is connected with Premillennialism. It does not mention “1000 years” but this passage reveals that man is destined to rule from and over the earth, which is at the heart of the premillennial view. Jesus is the One who will make it happen!

The premillennial view does indeed have roots in Genesis 1!

Michael J. Vlach is a seminary professor and author. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeVlach

The Four Elements of Premillennialism

Just a quick note on what makes Premillennialism what it is. Premillennialism asserts there will be a future, earthly kingdom of the Messiah (Jesus) for a period of 1000 years.

There are four elements associated with Premillennialism: (1) a future kingdom; (2) an earthly kingdom; (3) a kingdom of the Messiah and (4) a kingdom that lasts for 1000 years.

I believe the first three elements are discussed in Scripture even before one looks at Revelation 20 and its mention of a 1000-year reign of Jesus and the saints.

First, that the kingdom is future is taught in passages like Matthew 6:10; 19:28; Luke 22:28-30; Acts 1:6; 2 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 2:26-27; 19:15, etc.

Second, that the kingdom will be an earthly kingdom is taught in passages like Psalm 2; Psalm 72; Psalm 110; Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 11; Zechariah 14:9; Matthew 5:5; 6:10; 19:28-30; 25:31; Rev. 5:10; 19:15, etc.

Third, that the kingdom is Messiah’s kingdom is taught in passages like Psalm 2; Psalm 110; Isaiah 9, 11; Luke 1:32-33; Acts 1:6, and many other texts, etc.

And then, fourth, Jesus’ kingdom is stated to last 1000 years before the Eternal State according to Revelation 20.

Note that the first three elements of Premillennialism mentioned above—(1) future, (2) earthly, and (3) Messiah’s kingdom—are well established in Scripture even before one looks at Revelation 20. 

What is new in Revelation 20 is the fourth element—that Messiah’s kingdom will last 1000 years before the Eternal State of Revelation 21–22 begins.

Hypothetically, if we did not have Revelation 20, we could still know that there would be a future, earthly, kingdom of the Messiah from other Scripture texts. What we would not know is how long Messiah’s kingdom would be before the Eternal State.

So Revelation 20 contributes to the Premillennial understanding but it is not everything there is to the premillennial view.

A Brief Comment on Premillennialism

 

Yes Premillennialism believes in a literal 1000-year reign of Jesus. But the length of this period is secondary to a more foundational issue. At the heart of Premillennialism is the belief that there will be a future earthly kingdom reign of the Messiah from and over the earth in which Jesus and His saints rule the nations and transform every aspect of the world, culture, society, nature, animal kingdom, etc.

This is the fulfillment of the rule and subdue mandate of Genesis 1:26, 28 and the complete fulfillment of all the dozens of promises of the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New covenants which include spiritual, physical, national, and international dimensions.

This is also a period in which Jesus will rule with a rod of iron in the realm of His rejection at His first coming (see Rev. 19:15). The coming millennium is the direct sustained reign of Jesus the Messiah from David's throne (Luke 1:32-33; Matt. 25:31). It involves Jerusalem, the nation Israel, and all the nations of the world. After this Jesus hands the kingdom over to the Father (1 Cor. 15:24, 28) and the eternal kingdom commences. At this time the Father and Son will be on the same throne according to Revelation 22:1, 3.

To me, Premillennialism is not some incidental doctrine. It is an important part of the Bible's storyline and a great source of hope.

Jesus Tells Us When He Will Sit on the Davidic Throne

In Luke 1:32-33, Gabriel told Mary that her son, Jesus, would sit on the throne of His father, David. This is the Davidic throne.

On two occasions Jesus explicitly linked His sitting on David’s throne with His future return and kingdom. Matthew 25:31 states:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, THEN He will sit on His glorious throne." (emphasis added)

Here, Jesus connected His sitting on His throne with the time of His coming in glory and all the angels coming with Him.

Second, in Matthew 19:28 Jesus linked His sitting on His throne with the renewal of the cosmos (“regeneration”), and the twelve apostles sitting on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel:

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’”

Put together, Jesus will sit upon the throne of David in connection with: (1) His return to earth in glory; (2) all the angels coming with Him; (3) the renewal of the earth/cosmos; (4) the twelve apostles sitting upon twelve thrones; and (5) the twelve apostles judging the restored twelve tribes of Israel.

NEW RELEASE: THE OLD IN THE NEW BY MICHAEL J. VLACH

I am excited to announce the release of my new book, The Old in the New: Understanding How the New Testament Authors Quoted the Old Testament. The book is published by Kress Biblical Resources with an imprint from The Master’s Seminary. I have been working on this book since 2011. It was formed through years of teaching a Th.M. seminar at The Master’s Seminary called, “New Testament Use of the Old Testament.”

Trying to understand NT quotations of the OT is a huge topic for any one person but I have tried my best to address most NT uses of the OT in this book. This includes the “harder” cases like Matthew 2:15’s use of Hosea 11:1, and Paul’s use of “seed” in Galatians 3:16. In his endorsement of this book, Walter Kaiser states, “He [Vlach] has also taken up a wide sample of most, if not all, of the passages usually raised on this subject and has given a reasonable solution in Scripture text after Scripture text—in a succinct, but credible manner. I cannot endorse Vlach’s work too highly, for I found that he had hit the nail on the head in case after case.” 

I also address the various ways the NT authors quoted and used the OT. In addition, I also evaluate the seven different approaches to this topic. And I lay out the perspective that I think is accurate.

This topic is very complex but it is understandable. In the end I argue that the NT authors quoted and used the OT in an overwhelmingly contextual way. The quotations of the OT are consistent with the inspired authorial intents of the OT authors. To grasp this, one must know when the NT authors are quoting the OT concerning meaning, and when they are quoting the OT concerning significance or implication.

This book also takes a minority view that the NT authors were not reinterpreting, transforming, or transcending the meaning of the OT. I hold that there is great continuity (not discontinuity) between the message and storyline of the OT and that found in the NT. To understand how the NT authors quote the OT, one must also understand the concepts of (1) Messianic hope; (2) corporate representation; and (3) divinely intended correspondences.

No one person can fully master the topic of NT use of the OT before Jesus comes again, but I hope this book makes a helpful contribution. This book can be read straight through or as a reference for when one encounters a particular use of the OT in the NT.

For more information and how to purchase this book, click here.