Joshua and Judges: A recall to the Abrahamic Covenant - The errors of Amillennialism and Covenant Theology, part 2. Jos 5:1-3.

Title: Joshua and Judges: A recall to the Abrahamic Covenant - The errors of Amillennialism and Covenant Theology, part 2. JOS 5:1-3.   

 

Announcements / opening prayer:

 

 

What God is going to do with the nation of Israel should make your hearts swell with pride over the God that you can call your Father, Husband, and Spirit. This study is not just a refutation of false doctrines concerning what God is going to do, not only the heavens, but on earth, but an affirmation of them. His promise to Abraham, so long ago, will be seen in its fulfillment upon this earth, and upon the very ground where Joshua and the children of Israel now stand in our study. Its fact and length of time are represented in this passage in Rev 20. This passage leads us back to many more in the OT which reveals the character of the reign of Christ upon His earth, over and above the failure of His enemy, Satan, to rule it. Satan has ruled for thousands of years and it’s still a mess. Christ will return and create a perfect millennial kingdom, as promised to Abraham, and as every human heart longs for, in days.

 

Let us learn this part of God’s revelation with the pride that we should have in our heavenly Father and the pride that should come to every one who can call themselves His son or daughter.

 

REV 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

 

REV 20:2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

 

REV 20:3 and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

 

Next, we have judgment and the resurrection of the tribulational saints.

 

REV 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

 

The interpretation is complicated by the vagueness of who it is that sits on the thrones.

 

The context obviously marks these who are raised as tribulational saints and that their resurrection is bodily. The Amillennialist states that this resurrection is spiritual or of regeneration, but this cannot be true if they reign with Christ for a thousand years after having their heads cut off.

 

If these saints are going to reign with Christ , they will need to be alive in the same sense that He is, namely, having a resurrection body.

 

Perhaps the most important revelation that comes from verse four when combined with verse five and six is that a thousand years separate the resurrection of the martyred dead from the resurrection of the wicked dead.

 

REV 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

 

REV 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

 

A thousand years separates the "first" resurrection from the second.

 

The fact that they are called the first resurrection is interesting. It is obvious that Christ is the first one raised from the dead. In keeping with the symbolism of first fruits MAT 27:52-53 states that the graves were opened and many arose. It is a difficult passage, but true none the less. At the end of the church age the rapture of the church will take place and the dead in Christ will be raised while those that remain alive will be gathered with them in the clouds of the air. At the end of the great tribulation, the tribulation saints will be raised from the dead, as we see here.

 

It would seem, from DAN 12:1-2 that the OT saints will be raised at this time as well.

 

DAN 12:1-2

"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

 

So we have the resurrection of Christ, those of Mat 27 (of what bodies we don't know), the church, the OT saints, and the tribulational saints (resurrection of millennial saints are assumed to be at the end of the millennium). So how could the tribulational saints be the first resurrection.

 

It seems clear here that God is separating the resurrection of the righteous (including all believers from all dispensations) and the unrighteous as the first and second resurrections.

 

This simple distinction is also used by Christ.

 

JOH 5:28-29

"Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

 

The unbelieving dead will be raised at the end of the Millennium and will be judged.

 

Just as there are two kinds of dead, the first death which results in burial, and the second death which is described as being cast into the lake of fire in 20:14, so there are two kinds of resurrection, a first having to do with the righteous, and a second having to do with the wicked; the former believed in Christ unto salvation and the latter rejected Christ.

 

They are separated by at least one thousand years. The special mention of the martyred tribulational saints is likely God honoring them since they were publically humiliated and suffered more than most do. The tribulation is the worst time in history.

 

REV 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

 

REV 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

 

We see here also that not only those of the church reign with Christ but so do these tribulational martyrs. This poses no problem as there are many positions in the government of God. For an example, we see Esther as queen ruling with her husband the king, while Mordecai, her uncle, reigned as the chief political officer of the king. The church will rule with Christ as His bride, with the overcomers presumably holding the highest positions and these tribulational saints, as well as some of the OT saints, will rule with Christ in the capacity that He chooses.

 

They will not only reign in a political aspect but also in a spiritual one since they are called priests of God and of Christ.

 

The verbs "will be" and "will reign" are both in the future tense, which provides added proof for a premillennial interpretation.

 

Augustine saw the first resurrection here, not as a bodily resurrection, but a spiritual one that occurs at salvation. From his book the City of God:

 

The first resurrection, of which this chapter treats, refers to the spiritual rebirth in baptism; the sabbath of one thousand years after the six thousand years of history is the whole of eternal life — or in other words, the number one thousand is intended to express perfection, and the last space of one thousand years must be understood as referring to the end of the world; at all events, the kingdom of Christ, of which the Apocalypse speaks, can only be applied to the Church (City of God XX. 5-7)

 

He then has the second resurrection occurring at the second coming.

 

To the Amillennialist the second resurrection is the general bodily resurrection at Christ's return.

 

Alford pointedly states that if we see two resurrections separated by a thousand years and we call one spiritual and the other literal then “there is an end of all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything.” [Alford]

 

To the Amillennialist there is not golden age inaugurated by the second coming but that the world will get steadily worse until the second coming which is the end. To them the millennium is an on-going millennium that now exists either with the church on earth or with the saints now in heaven.

 

Since this is true there can be no literal fulfillment of the promises to Abraham as being "everlasting."

 

If the millennium is now ongoing until the second coming and then it is the end, then there can be no literal fulfillment of the promises to Abraham given as "everlasting."

 

As far as the land promise goes they must claim that it has already been fulfilled under the reign of Solomon [the one who obtained the most land under the rule of Israel] however, he did not obtain all that was promised to Abraham and neither was what he did obtain everlasting. In order to deal with those facts they have to spiritualize these aspects of the covenant.

 

They peer through history and find things that are "like" the fulfillment of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant. It is like a person accepting evolution and then looking for something that humans look the closest to and then determining as face that humans evolved from them. A bicycle looks somewhat like a motorcycle but a bicycle will not evolve into one.

 

So Amillennialism, as spelled out by one of their own has the following tenets.

 

1. First advent - TLJC defeated Satan and limited his power.

 

1. At his first advent our Lord met Satan on his own ground and defeated Satan. Satan now lives on probation until the second coming. In the meantime his power is definitely limited, especially in regards to God's people.

 

2. Then our Lord ushered in the millennial kingdom which will end at the SC.

 

2. Having bound Satan, our Lord ushered in the millennial kingdom of Rev 20. The millennium commenced at the first advent and will end at the second coming, being replaced by the eternal state.

 

3. God reigns over the church which is the spiritual Israel. The church always faces tribulation, which culminates in the antichrist.

 

3. Though God presently reigns in the hearts of his people (spiritual Israel), the church was forewarned by her Lord that she would face tribulation so long as she remains on the earth. This tribulation will grow progressively worse until if finally culminates in the appearance of the antichrist.

 

4. Satan is loosed at the end of the present millennium. SC puts him down.

 

4. Satan, who is now bound in one aspect of his power, will be restored to complete power for a short period of time. This loosing of Satan will come near the end of the present millennium, and he will be put down by the second coming of Christ.

 

5. The Lord will appear the second time in a literal bodily manner. At this second coming, Satan will be cast into hell.

 

6. At the second coming there will be a general resurrection of all the dead of all time.

 

7. This will be followed immediately by a general judgment, resulting in the final separation of the righteous and the wicked.

 

8. The earth will be cleansed and purified by fire.

 

9. The eternal state pictured in Rev 21 and 22 will become a reality, and will last forever.

 

10. All saints of all time will reign in this eternal state, glorifying God, throughout eternity. The wicked will spend eternity in hell.

 

The man who wrote these points in his book did not reference any of the major works on dispensational premillennialism that were widely published before he wrote his book. They cannot be found in his bibliography.

 

ISA 2:2 Now it will come about that

In the last days,

The mountain of the house of the Lord

Will be established as the chief of the mountains,

And will be raised above the hills;

And all the nations will stream to it.

 

ISA 2:3 And many peoples will come and say,

"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ,

To the house of the God of Jacob;

That He may teach us concerning His ways,

And that we may walk in His paths."

For the law will go forth from Zion,

And the word of the Lord  from Jerusalem.

 

ISA 2:4 And He will judge between the nations,

And will render decisions for many peoples;

And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they learn war.

 

Jerusalem will be the capital of the millennial kingdom and war will be no more.

 

ISA 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,

And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

 

ISA 11:2 And the Spirit of the Lord  will rest on Him,

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord .

 

ISA 11:3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord ,

And He will not judge by what His eyes see,

Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

 

ISA 11:4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,

And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;

And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

 

ISA 11:5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,

And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

 

ISA 11:6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,

And the leopard will lie down with the kid,

And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;

And a little boy will lead them.

 

ISA 11:7 Also the cow and the bear will graze;

Their young will lie down together;

And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

 

ISA 11:8 And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,

And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.

 

ISA 11:9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord

As the waters cover the sea.

 

Isa 11 describes the righteous reign of Christ and the peace and tranquility of His kingdom. There will be justice for all, the wicked will be punished, and even the natural ferocity of beasts will be abated. Israel will be regathered from the various parts of the earth and brought back to her ancient land rejoicing in the fulfillment of God’s prophetic word.

 

The last psalm of the primary collection is written by Solomon. The psalm is about his reign, but it is also about the Messiah’s reign. Solomon ruled the largest and most peaceful of all the eras of Israel’s kingdom, but his was not an everlasting one.

 

The end of his reign was not like the beginning and the middle of it. That fair, that glorious, that pure image of the Messiah which he had represented waxed pale; and with this fading away all hope of such a kingdom as described under anyone else besides the Messiah were lost.

 

Psalm of Solomon.
PSA 72:1 Give the king Thy judgments, O God,

And Thy righteousness to the king's son.

 

PSA 72:2 May he judge Thy people with righteousness,

And Thine afflicted with justice.

 

PSA 72:3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people,

And the hills in righteousness.

 

PSA 72:4 May he vindicate the afflicted of the people,

Save the children of the needy,

And crush the oppressor.

 

PSA 72:5 Let them fear Thee while the sun endures,

And as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

 

PSA 72:6 May he come down like rain upon the mown grass,

Like showers that water the earth.

 

PSA 72:7 In his days may the righteous flourish,

And abundance of peace till the moon is no more.

 

PSA 72:8 May he also rule from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.

 

PSA 72:9 Let the nomads of the desert bow before him;

And his enemies lick the dust.

 

PSA 72:10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

 

PSA 72:11 And let all kings bow down before him,

All nations serve him.

 

PSA 72:12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help,

The afflicted also, and him who has no helper.

 

PSA 72:13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy,

And the lives of the needy he will save.

 

PSA 72:14 He will rescue their life from oppression and violence;

And their blood will be precious in his sight;

 

PSA 72:15 So may he live; and may the gold of Sheba be given to him; And let them pray for him continually; Let them bless him all day long.

 

PSA 72:16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth.

 

PSA 72:17 May his name endure forever;

May his name increase as long as the sun shines;

And let men bless themselves by him;

Let all nations call him blessed.

 

PSA 72:18 Blessed be the Lord  God, the God of Israel,

Who alone works wonders.

 

PSA 72:19 And blessed be His glorious name forever;

And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.

Amen, and Amen.

 

PSA 72:20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

 

Psa 72 gives a similar picture of the righteous reign of Christ, describing righteousness as flourishing and abundance of peace as continuing as long as the moon endures. The dominion of Christ is stated to be from sea to sea with all kings bowing down before Him, all nations serving Him,, and the earth being filled with the glory of the Lord. Then will be fulfilled the desire of the nations for peace and righteousness, for the knowledge of the Lord, for economic justice, for deliverance from satanic oppression and evil. For the whole period of one thousand years the earth will revel in the immediate presence of the Lord and His perfect divine government. Israel will be exalted and Gentiles will also be blessed, just as Jehovah promised Abraham that He would. The major factors of the millennium, therefore, include a perfect and righteous government with Christ reigning in absolute power over the entire earth. Every nation will be under His sway, and God’s purpose in originally placing man in charge of the Garden of Eden will have its ultimate fulfillment in the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will reign over the earth.