We cannot really address the possessing of our Promised Land and what it means for the church without examining eschatology, which is the study of the prophecies of the end of this age. This is an often confusing and controversial subject. For this reason, a large percentage of the body of Christ simply avoids it now. This is easy to understand, but it is not really the way to deal with either confusion or controversy. However, because there is so much confusion and controversy I also think we need to give the maximum amount of grace to others and their beliefs, and have the humility to always be open to those who have views that may differ from our own, while requiring a sound biblical basis for what we embrace.

Of course, I am saying this to prepare you to consider some things that you have likely never heard before. However, most of what you will be reading over the next few weeks did not originate with me, but has been taken from the writings of some of the greatest and most respected teachers and preachers in church history. Before we begin, let's review briefly the two most basic schools of thought or positions in eschatology, which are:

1) The Futuristic View. This view is basically that the Book of Revelation, Book of Daniel, and other great biblical prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. This is a bit of an over-generalization because almost all who hold to this view allow for some of the prophecies to have already been fulfilled. Even though there is much diversity of teaching under this view, in general, this is the most common belief among conservative evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic movements.

2) The Historic View. This is obviously the view that most biblical prophecies have already been fulfilled in history. This was the view of all Protestant churches until the middle of the eighteenth century, when some began to take on the emerging futuristic views born out of the 1844 Advent Movement. This, too, is a bit of an over-generalization because almost all who hold to a historic view of biblical prophecies allow for many to yet be fulfilled. Under this category there is a subcategory which believes that most of the Lord's end-time prophecies, such as are recorded in Matthew 24, were all fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

I consider there to be merit to both of these views, and consider there to be flaws in both when they are not fitted together. I have studied many different eschatological views and found what I thought to be significant contradictions in almost all of them go away when they are combined. The holes in one are filled by the other. Put together they not only make sense, but they form a brilliant and glorious picture. Therefore, my own views come from, to a large degree, splicing together the views of many others.

However, I do not consider myself an eschatologist, but rather just a student of eschatology. Neither do I consider myself to be a historian, but rather a student of history. I also do not have any formal theological training. I have had serious and respected theologians say they thought this was an asset. In some ways it may be, but in some ways it is also a weakness. I, therefore, hold a high respect for trained theologians who have true faith, but I also listen to those who are not trained, even to those who are still immature, simply because of the Lord's declaration in Matthew 11:25:

At that time Jesus answered and said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you hid these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to babes."

By this the Lord said that a new babe in the kingdom can have more truth than the wise and intelligent. Because of this, those who are new in the faith and have not had their minds clouded yet with doctrinal prejudices may be more open to the faith than those who have much learning.

Even so, one of the greatest weaknesses in this is that my research was for the purpose of understanding things myself, and I really did not even consider that I might at some point be teaching or writing it. I just wanted to know the truth. Because of this my notes are sporadic, and most of them consist of highlights in the books I read. I cannot even remember which book I read some of them in. Because my library consists of hundreds of volumes, I probably could not even find some without days or even weeks of searching. For this reason I will not be using many direct quotes, but like the writer of Hebrews stated, "... somewhere it is written!"(see Hebrews 2:6. 4:4)

I believe that a true and accurate eschatology is not possible without the knowledge of history. The Lord has been very busy for the last two thousand years, and to not consider this has to be profound foolishness and one of the greatest weaknesses of the modern church.

To overlook history is to also overlook honoring our fathers and mothers, which is essential to remaining long in the land which the Lord has promised (see Exodus 20:12). If you had boring history teachers and were forced to study the typical history books, it is understandable that you may dread even the thought of having to go into history here, but I do think you will not only find it interesting, but captivating.

The Bride Is 2,000 Years Old!

It is basic to the historic view of the church that the Lord Jesus allowed His bride, the church, to be tempted just as Eve was. He let her eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; yet this did not thwart His plan one bit because He knew it was going to happen. Paul even prophesied this in II Thessalonians 2:1-4:
 

It is the historic view and still the general Protestant eschatology that the temple of God is the church, and that this man of lawlessness would therefore seek to take his seat in the church and display himself as God, taking Christ's rightful place as the Head of His church. We will examine this and the other related prophecies later in more depth, as well as how the Protestant leaders and early church fathers understood these prophecies. However, the one point we need to address here is the apostasy.

The early church fathers, including Polycarp, a disciple of John who had the Revelation, saw this as beginning in the first century with the death of the first century apostles. It seems that all of the non-Catholic Christian leaders during the Middle Ages saw themselves living in the times of the great apostasy, and from the beginning of the Reformation on they saw it as having been fulfilled during the previous twelve centuries. When you read the historic accounts of just how far the church drifted from the basic Christian truths during this time, it is very hard to disagree with this position.

If this is true, that the apostasy Paul and the others prophesied has already taken place, what does this mean? For one thing it means that we can now expect the light to continually increase in the church until she truly is without spot or wrinkle, a perfect bride prepared for her coming King.

Even if the great apostasy has taken place, it does not mean that apostasy will not happen from time to time in various places. However, possibly the main reason for the apostasy of the Middle Ages was the removal of the Bible from the church. During that time it was capital punishment to be caught with a Bible, even for priests, and sermons were preached in Latin, a language that only the priests could understand. This allowed all forms of superstitions and false teachings to be promulgated throughout the church. Of course, what began to break this darkness was the publication and distribution of the Bible in the common language of the people. Now, with almost every family having several Bibles, it is not likely that the kind of darkness and apostasy that reigned over the church in the Middle Ages could ever do so again on a wide basis.

Again, what I am sharing here is not my own doctrine, but was the basic doctrine of the entire Protestant church and is still found in the catechisms of many denominations. The present eschatology that puts the fulfilling of most biblical prophecy, especially the Book of Revelation, into the future is not found in the church until the 1844 Advent Movement. This does not negate the fact that much truth can be found in the futuristic view of biblical prophecy, but it will never be accurate if it is not balanced with a historical perspective that illuminates which parts of the prophecies have already been fulfilled, and many of them have, very specifically and accurately.

It is essential for Christians to grasp that the Lord has been very busy preparing the world for His return and the establishing of His kingdom. The devil has also been very busy on a parallel course seeking to thwart it. However, just as the devil thought he would win by killing Jesus, it backfired and became the very thing by which he was forever defeated. Every strategy of the devil has ultimately worked to help prepare the way for the kingdom, even the seduction of the bride of Christ. Through her own restoration, she will understand restoration much better and will be able to rule with Him in the age to come because of it.

Eschatology Is Important

The coming of the kingdom is irresistible. It will come even if our eschatology is all wrong. You can even be used in a great way to prepare for it if your eschatology is all wrong. Abiding in the Lord is far more important than just understanding the details of what is to come. However, we do need to heed the exhortation of I Thessalonians 5:2-6:

As we have covered, there are yet many prophecies to be fulfilled from the Book of Revelation and other prophecies of Scripture, but to place all of them in the future is to overlook the very first verse in the Book of Revelation, that these things would begin to "shortly take place." There has been an unfolding of these prophecies since the first century. We need to see this if we are to fully understand where we are now in prophecy, and what is next.

Though the historical perspective was overlooked by many after the 1844 Advent Movement, this is not to imply that the historical view is the only accurate one either, but just that it must not be left out. There are elements to it that are essential for understanding biblical prophecy. It is now time to start putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. Having a wrong eschatology probably did not affect things too much in the main work of the church until now, but it will in the days to come if it is not corrected.

Even so, until the Lord returns, we may not understand all of the prophecies with complete accuracy, which should keep us humble and teachable. Until He returns we will see, know, and prophesy in part. However, as the exhortation from I Thessalonians 5:2-6quoted above declares, we should understand enough that the great events of these times do not overtake us like a thief.

For this reason, in the weeks to come I am going to lay out some of the basic eschatology of the Protestant church, which is basically a historical view. We are then going to look at some of the futuristic view, and how they fit together and compliment each other rather than conflicting. I think it will give you an amazing view of prophecy.

In all of this I ask you to not just accept any of these views without searching them out. I am not implying that you, too, should spend thirty years, or read hundreds of volumes, but simply to ask the Lord to be your Teacher in this. He will lead you to the right material, and confirm things to you in the special way that only He can. We must have the nobility of the Bereans who listened patiently to the things spoken of by the Apostle Paul and then searched the Scriptures themselves to see if they were true. This is something we must now give ourselves to understanding.