One of the things which made it easiest for me to step back from the Southern Baptist institutional church was their Dispensationalist heresy. While there is no official position required by the Baptist Faith and Message, there is a common assumption you must believe in Dispensationalism in order to be a Baptist. I don't recall exactly when I realized I could no longer follow that lie, but it has been quite some years ago. I adopted the original historical viewpoint of Baptists, which is also Reformed viewpoint, most commonly referred to as Amillennialism.
You've probably seen the long shelf of books covering the typical Protestant studies of Last Things or eschatology. Most are some brand of Pre-Millennial, Pre-Tribulation, something or other. The broad nickname for it is "Dispensationalism." I am often amused at how much it takes to explain that position compared to the Reformed version. You won't find massive libraries on Reformation eschatology because it's really so very simple. Indeed, the only reason there is much at all about it is to discuss the perceived flaws in the other systems.
Reformed eschatology can be summarized like this: Jesus will come back someday, rather suddenly. He will draw us all into the air, calling up the dead believers first. Once we are assembled with Him, He will remake Heaven and Earth. He will descend with us to this new place and Eternity will have begun in the New Jerusalem (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:3). That's it. Noteworthy is Reformed folks insist there is only one Second Coming. When He returns, He returns; none of this business of returning twice.
The foundation for understanding a biblical eschatology is understanding the covenants in Scripture. For the longest time I was teaching the Reformed position on covenants without knowing it. At this point, it would be impossible to recall the source of my understanding, because it was internalized long ago. It has been my thinking longer than I can remember. Let's look at them one more time:
Obviously, there's no room here for Dispensationalism. While Charles Alexander engages in a bit of hyperbole, he clearly enunciates the critical point of contention:
The error has taken different forms in our time, but springs from the same Judaistic root whose fundamental ground is that Jewish privilege and priority are perpetual and that the New Testament Church at best is only a makeshift arrangement of providence to tide over the time until the resources of a baffled and well-nigh impotent Godhead are assembled in sufficient force to compel at last a Jewish solution of the problem of redemption.
Alexander draws his argument chiefly from Galatians. Being a Jew is of no significance after the Cross. They rejected the fulfillment of their Mosaic Covenant in the Messiah. Their advantages are quite limited to such as having a better background for understanding spiritual things, and being by covenant first offered this Grace. Otherwise, they are just another bunch of lost souls in need of grace. That they rejected the Messiah does not make them more despicable, for we all deserve eternal wrath. Naturally, the modern Nation of Israel bears absolutely no relation to Scripture, except as an accident of history.
One of the biggest hurdles to breaking the spell of Dispensationalism is Matthew 24-25. Jesus prophesied Herod's Temple would be destroyed, to the point no two stones would remain vertically arranged. The Twelve asked two questions:
Jesus begins by answering the question unasked: What bad things come with serving in the Kingdom? This is addressed to avoid confusing that answer with those for the other two questions. He warns in verses 4-14 what events do not mark His Return: "See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass" (v. 6). Verse 7 is a known prophetic phrase (Haggai 2:22) reminding them not to be concerned with the rising or passing of any human government, nor any natural disasters. That's simply the background noise of fallen human existence: "All these things are the beginnings of sorrows." The next few verses (9-14) are just the typical reaction of the world to people possessed of a single-minded commitment to a Kingdom not of this world. The Final Day will come after the gospel has reached all the world; the words do not necessarily imply immediately following that accomplishment, nor is it precisely defined what that means. It serves more to say, "It's a long way off. You need to be more concerned with your mission."
The specific prophecy of the Temple destruction we now know came true in AD70. In this (vv. 15-22), Jesus warns them to flee the city when they see the Romans violating the Temple grounds, no longer honoring the prohibition they supported while ruling the Jews by keeping non-Jews out. Some of those living at the time would need to heed this advice, and leave town, or face being caught up in the slaughter. That it was indeed a major holocaust is not in dispute. Because Christians would certainly be still in the city, Jesus promised the Father would make it quick.
For the sake of long-term Christian teaching, Jesus warns His return will not be secret. Many evil and deranged folks would claim to be Him, but it won't be like that at all. It would be something so obvious, no human could miss it. When He Returns, there won't be any confusion whatsoever what is happening (23-28). Verse 29 is a standard prophetic statement, not to be taken literally. Indeed, it was widely known even then: On the heels of any major disaster comes a "dark ages." Again, these aren't signs of the End, but just the nature of fallen human existence.
Then Jesus turns to the second question (vv. 30-31). He describes some unmistakable earmarks of His Return, something different from the previous discussion. Every eye will see Him and recognize Him as God, and angels will be visibly present. He cautions them to fix this in their minds (v. 32-33), to make sure they can tell the real deal as surely as they can discern the change of the seasons. The Second Coming is a distinct event, with no warning whatsoever. All these other signs mean other things. Then returning to His discussion of the Temple Destruction, He warns they would live to see it (v. 34), so heed the signs of this one event which is clearly forecast by signs. He reinforces that warning by mentioning His words are The Word (v. 35).
However, the Second Coming will not have any warning signs (v. 36). The Son Himself was not entrusted to know, so it's not possible for Him to tell. It compares to the Flood in that no one (except Noah) knew it was coming (vv. 37-39). It came suddenly. Using terms commonly understood to depict a sudden coming of judgment and wrath, Jesus describes a couple of scenes depicting victims snatched up by arresting soldiers (40-41). The ones taken are the guilty, and any other meaning was unknown the Jews of that time. This will not be a convenient moment for anyone.
He launches finally into a call for faithfulness (vv. 42ff through ch. 25). The whole point of all this is there will be no signs. You cannot possibly predict by any digging and extracting details to establish a sequence. Get ready now, by obeying to the fullest extent. You can't know. You can't even guess. Don't try, because it's a waste of Kingdom resources.
Thus, Jesus answers the first question plainly, but warns them not to associate the second question with the same event. His mention of the Destruction of Jerusalem was quite consistent with His message of what really matters in the Kingdom: getting away from the ancient Covenant of Moses, getting away from the focus of One Place on earth (John 4:23). It would never again matter, because that covenant was about the be finished, fulfilled, completed, with no unfinished business. Every day He had tried to help break the spell of false understanding of His Disciples, teaching them the Temple would soon be just a pile of rubble. The old ritual framework would be dead, and being a Jew would mean nothing. Only those who walked His path would find God's favor.
A part of the Reformed position on John's Revelation is to see a pattern in what John describes. Having already been imprisoned for his apostolic activities, John saw the hand of persecution was only going to get worse. Thus, the primary purpose of the book was to warn his fellow believers, and explain the need to cling so tightly to the Risen Christ they could view the coming tribulation with a sense of detachment. At the same time, John describes the pattern of fallen human government, and the pattern of how God operates in the midst of that.
Thus, while we should certainly expect a final Harlot Church riding on the back of civil government, we should hardly be surprised when she shows up at numerous points in history, in the time between the publication of his Revelation and Second Coming. We should hardly be surprised when Satan seduces the Church, drawing her into a foolish alliance with civil government. We should hardly be surprised when Satan raises up men and women to very powerful places to serve him. We should hardly be surprised there are numerous anti-christs throughout human history.
In every generation of believers suffering some form of tribulation, many are seized by the assumption they are in the End Times. It takes only a quick check of Christian literature through the ages to see that. The current generation is no different. There are great piles of books seeking to prove how this must be the final period, and struggle through massive efforts to find hidden clues in Scripture to prove it. This, when Jesus pointedly said you cannot predict His Return by reading current events. It will most certainly be a complete surprise to everyone alive when it happens; the operative term often translated "soon" would be better understood as "suddenly."
That we are indeed facing a time of tribulation is indisputable. We most certainly do have a Harlot Church with the current wedding of politics and organized religion. We have several humans exhibiting traits of the Antichrist, fooling even the Elect. From this sham wedding will come a harsh and difficult time on everyone who does not bow the knee to Antichrist. There are numerous pointless wars, and rumors of more to come; we have massive natural disasters, and they come in clusters; we have a decline of civilization and every man withdraws into the self. But we haven't really seen anything, yet. It's about to get really rough, and soon.
We are again in John's audience. Yes, John's Revelation of Jesus Christ is for our time. I seriously doubt this is the Final End, but that hardly matters. The plan is the same for every period of tribulation. Indeed, it's the same whether we believe we are in tribulation or not. We are to detach ourselves from this life, this world, and all it's passions, desires, dreams, hopes, etc. The only thing of any real importance is to lift up Jesus, to reveal Him by glorifying Him. Sure, the time of trouble is here, just outside the door. It's never been far away in the first place. That's the nature of this fallen world.
By no means could I hope to debate with anyone. What's presented here is nothing more than an explanation. Take it before the Lord; if He does not change your convictions, keep what you have. A very practical application of Reformed Theology is seeing no need to go to war with brothers and sisters in the faith. I teach and explain, but what you do with it is between you and the Lord. The most I can do is obey the command to limit pulling in the harness together with those whose convictions put them at conflict with my calling. Fellowship and worship may be largely unaffected. To the degree we can walk together, we must.
By Ed Hurst
01 February 2007
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