An Understanding of Eschatology
Written by Darrell Genzlinger
Last revised in Summer 2003No one knows the Day or Hour
Matthew 24:36-44 and Luke 17:20-37 tell us: Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Question 1: Is it the saved or the unsaved which will be taken?
Those who believe it is the saved people that are taken argue that Noah left in an ark (Matthew 24:36-44) and Lot walked out of Sodom (Luke 17:20-37).
Those who believe it is the unsaved people that are taken argue that the wicked ones were taken out of this world by God in the days of Noah and Lot.
Question 2: When is this talking about?
The millennialists say at the rapture. Some say at the beginning of the tribulation period. Some say at the midpoint of the tribulation and some say at the end of the tribulation at Christ’s second coming. Some probably even say at the end of the 1000-year reign of Christ? The amillennialists say at the end of the world or age, and there is only one age and it has its end at the end of the world.
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)
Marriage of Jesus Christ and the Church tells us the ten virgins went out to meet Christ. The five foolish virgins did not have any oil for their lamps, so they went to buy some. The five wise virgins went in with the bridegroom to the wedding. The five foolish virgins came back and tried to get in, but the door was shut.
Question 1: What or Who are the virgins?
The visible church.
Question 2: Who are the wise virgins?
The believing people. Those baptized by Christ. The born-again people. The Christians.
Question 3: Who are the foolish virgins?
The people who say they are Christian, but aren’t. They are christians who have not been baptized by Christ. Those who are carnal christians.
Question 4: Why are they called virgins?
They are called virgins because they are referred to by people of the world as Christians. Definition: wise virgins = Christians; foolish virgins = christians with a small ‘c’ .
The Parable of the Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant (Luke 12:35-48)In verse 35, the servants are warned to be ready to eat (having your waist be girded) and with faith (your lamps burning). In verse 36 the servants are to watch and wait for their Lord for when He returns from the wedding, He will knock and they should open the door immediately. In verse 37, the Lord will gird Himself (preparing to eat) and have the servants sit down to eat and the Lord will serve them.
In these verses our Lord has been to a wedding. I believe the wedding is our wedding - Christ and the Church.
And I believe we will have the wedding ceremony when we are raptured. In the rapture, the saved people will be taken and the unsaved will be left as stated in the parable about ten virgins.
In studying Romans 11:21-24, the Jews, as a nation, are going to get another chance to come to know Christ. They will be grafted back into the olive tree, from which they were cut-off. The natural branches will be grafted back on the olive tree where the wild branches (that is us Gentiles) were grafted.
We would be wise not to think of those missing the rapture as being given a ‘second chance’. Although, all of us Christians have had many second chances. As II Thessalonians 2:1-12 says, “God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie”. I believe it will be just as hard, or harder, for the Gentiles, at least those christian Gentiles, to believe after the rapture as it was for the Jews during the last 2000 years. Remember, when Christ cursed the barren fig tree it died immediately. See Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-14, 20-24. Life has not been good for the Jewish nation these past two millennia.
The Old Testament has some references to Israel ‘getting a second chance’. In Amos 9:14-15 it says, "I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them." Says the Lord your God.’
Jeremiah 31:36 describes it this way. “If those ordinances [i.e., the ordinance of the sun providing light by day, the moon and stars light by night] depart from before Me," says the Lord, “Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.” My pastor during my early teen years when I was taking instruction for confirming my faith (I got confirmed in 1947) said that the Israel talked about in these passages was the ‘new Israel’, that is, the Christians. I didn’t know whether I believed it then but I don’t believe it now.
Romans 11:26 says, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written (in Isaiah 59:20-21): The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
So, is it so hard to believe that there will be 144,000 Jewish evangelists during the tribulation period as stated in Revelation 7? I think not.
Near the end of the great tribulation Christ will make His appearance on earth. This is referred to as His Second Coming by both the millennialists and non-millennialists (amillennialists). The world will be purged of all non-Christians at this time. The unsaved people will be taken at that time. The world will consists of only people who believe in Jesus Christ. All Israel will be saved. Just as in the days of Noah, all believers were saved. They will go into the millennial reign of Christ.
During the millennial reign of Christ a great deal of Scripture will be fulfilled literally, such as, Isaiah 65:17-25, Isaiah 66:14-24, Ezekiel 40-48, Zechariah 14:16-20, and Revelation 20 where the 1000 years are referred to six different times.
Neither do you have a contradiction of Ezekiel 29:8-16 with Christianity’s teaching of an imminent return of Christ. Verse 11 says, “that neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years”. It here is Egypt. This prophecy has not been fulfilled yet. I am expecting the literal fulfillment of this prophecy sometime in the future, possibly during the tribulation and millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
An amillennialist would have to say this prophecy has been fulfilled symbolically, or has yet to be fulfilled. If it is yet to be fulfilled it means that Christ’s return is not, and never was, imminent.
Christ reigns with an iron hand during His millennial reign. Satan is put in prison at Christ’s Second Coming. Mankind doesn’t need any prodding by the king of liars. ‘We can do it all by ourselves’.
At the end of the 1000 years, Satan is released from prison and goes out to deceive the nations on the earth. A great battle ensues between Jesus Christ and His enemies. Jesus Christ wins the war. Court convenes. This is called the great white throne judgment in the book of Revelation. The unsaved are sent to the lake of fire.
The saved go with Jesus Christ to the new Jerusalem which is heaven. There is no sun, no moon, no night, no time, no sea, and no temple in the city. Heaven is full of the Light of the Christ.
Other passages in the Tanach (Old Testament), than the ones already mentioned, which refer to:
1. the remnant of Israel -- Is 10:21-23, Is 11:10-16, Is 41:9, Is 43:6, Is 44:21, Is 49:15, Je 30:11, Je 31:36-37, Ez 37-39, Ho 6:2, Am 8:2, Mi 2:12, Zp 3:13.
2. the rapture -- Ps 12:1, Ps 27:5, Ps 47:5, Ps 81:3, Is 18:3-6, Is 26:19-21, Is 57:1, Jl 2:1, Mi 7:2, Zp 2:3
3. the tribulation period -- Ps 27:5, Is 2:5-19, Is 13, Is 24:1-20, Is 26:1-19, Is 27:12-13, Is 60:2, Je 30:7, Ez 32:6-16, Jl 2:15-16, Jl 3:9-10
4. the millennial period -- Ps 2:9, Is 2:1-4, Is 4, Is 11:3-16, Is 24:21-23, Is 35:5-10
5. the saints reign with Jesus during the millennial period -- Ps 149:5-9
6. heaven for the remnant of Israel -- Is 60:19-22