One of the popular misconceptions of the “parousia” of the Lord is given the label, “premillennialism”. According to the view, the New Testament era represents the church age that is still in progress because of that rejection. One of the reasons for this conclusion is the belief in a literal kingdom, a messianic rule by Jesus that will commence after a Second Coming when He will be physically present to rule from Israel for 1,000 years and the saints will co-reign with Him. The Dispensationalists teach that the rapture will end this church age just before the seven-year tribulation. Then, Christ will return to earth to begin the millennial reign of Christ immediately after the miraculous conversion of Jews and the defeat of Satan.
Irenaeus was an outspoken premillennialists of the pre-Nicean church. The Pseudo-Barnabas letter teaches it. Papias, Tertullian, Hippolytus of Rome, Montanists, and various Gnostics groups represent other early writers that espoused the view. Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye have received the most attention in today’s culture, though they might be described by the term “dispensationalists,” who link Biblical prophecy to current events. The view admits that Paul and other writers of the New Testament believed in the imminent return of Christ, but they were wrong about Him coming in their own generation. They teach that God planned the kingdom in that generation, but God’s plan was altered because of the Jewish rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. In other words, the Lord and His disciples were wrong about the Lord’s return. It never occurs to them to think they must be wrong about it because they have the notion of the end of the world and the physical return of Christ to sit on the literal throne of David in Jerusalem. So, they would prefer to question the promise of the New Testament rather than their own understanding of the nature of Christ’s rule. The problem with the view is not that they place the second coming before the millennial reign, but refusing to see His coming in the same way the prophets spoke of God’s coming in judgment against ancient Israel and Judah, i.e., through the agency of other nations.
Scofield’s Reference Bible, published in 1909 by Oxford Press had much influence in propagating dispensational views. The view reads the decline of our world and the apostasy of the church as signs of approaching prophetic fulfillment. They promote the establishment of the state of Israel, the rapture of the church, the rise of the Anti-Christ, the building of the third temple in Jerusalem, the revelation of the Anti-Christ as the “man of sin,” the great tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon, and the return of Christ.
Not only does this view ignore the fact that the end refers to the end of old Jerusalem rather than the end of the world, but they repeatedly apply the “last days” to the “church age” that represents our present time and apply the signs for Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70 to some unknown time in the future. A remarkable observation is that in every generation, professed Christians thought their generation was the generation of His coming. It becomes the rallying message that persuades people to follow him before He comes and it’s too late. Around the 1500s, the revival of the Waldenses believed he would come in their lives. It happened again in the 1800s. Of course, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have also predicted a coming and offered explanations when it was not obvious that he came. Looking down through history, almost every generation has been looking for a future coming, thinking he must be coming “soon.” Today, many televangelists and radio preachers fill the airwaves with the teaching that we are in the last days and Jesus is coming soon. Oh, slow of heart to believe all that Jesus and His apostles have spoken. The generation that follows us will make the same mistake if they continue to apply the prediction of a time that has already come.