I know there’s never a shortage of talk concerning the subject of eschatology, which I think is a good thing providing we are actually seeking the truth of God’s Word above all, so I have put this simple series of studies together to draw attention to what appears to me to be a major catalyst for varying eschatological positions. Namely the promises made by God to Abraham.
Without wanting to create any ill feeling to those of a premillennial position, I cannot help but believe that this position seems to be arrived at through a wrong understanding of the promises God made to Abraham and his offspring. Therefore with this short series of articles, I am simply going to attempt to trace the promises made by God to Abraham, and how these promises have been passed on through the generations from Abraham down to Christ Himself.
Before continuing I would like to concede some important points that are often made by those of a premillennialist position. Namely that if the promises made by God to Abraham are unconditional, and are passed onto all his descendants of the flesh, then premillennialism (especially dispensationalist premillennialism) is no doubt the truth. Also it would be a fair accusation that those of an amillennialist position could be described as “replacement theologians”, just as is commonly claimed by many premillennialists today. In other words, if the promises made to Abraham are directly passed on to the whole earthly nation of Israel unconditionally, then I concede that premillennialism is a correct interpretation of Scripture, and there must remain a time where those promises are fulfilled to the earthly nation of Israel.
I have no interest in these articles of quoting from various reformed theologians, or bad mouthing anyone who holds a premillennial theology themselves, but will attempt to keep the bulk of these studies as the Biblical text itself, along with my own explanations of how I believe it ties in with other areas of Scripture. The conclusions are entirely for you to draw for yourself, but at least this way it can be predominantly from what the Bible text actually teaches us.
The doctrine of premillennialism is built upon the unconditional promises of God made to Abraham, and passed down to his descendants in the nation of Israel. This doctrine confesses that those promises were made solely to the nation of Israel, that not all have yet been fulfilled, and so based on those grounds, the argument is made for a future earthly millennial reign. I realise the arguments made for the millennium spoken of in Revelation 20 to be speaking of this time, but for the sake of clarity I will try and stick to what the Bible clearly says on this subject. The promises to Abraham would be the following:
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
[Genesis 12:1-3 ESV]
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
[Genesis 15:4-6 ESV]
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
[Genesis 15:18-21 ESV]
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
[Genesis 17:4-8 ESV]
The promises made to Abraham and his offspring after him, were not simply made to all the descendants of his flesh, but through the line of his son Isaac. Although God blessed Ishamael greatly, the promises made to Abraham were clearly to be fulfilled solely through the line of Isaac.
God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
[Genesis 17:19-21 ESV]
It should also be noted that when the apostles first began to preach the Gospel message, it was the earthly descendants of Abraham who were the first to be given the opportunity to repent and believe:
You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
[Acts 3:25-26 ESV]
God makes it clear that He has chosen Abraham to instruct his children in the ways of righteousness:
For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
[Genesis 18:19 ESV]
The righteousness spoken of was before the giving of the Law, and was according to the faith in God expressed by Abraham in Gen 15:6 that God accounted to him as righteousness. The “children and his household after him” the Lord refers to, are those who share the same faith as Abraham, by believing the promises of God. These are not isolated to his earthly descendants, but are found according to the promise of God to make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations.
Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
[Galatians 3:6-9 ESV]
After the testing of Abraham, when God called him to sacrifice his son to Him, once again the covenant between Abraham and God was confirmed by the angel of the Lord who said:
“By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
[Genesis 22:16-18 ESV]
In the following articles, I will follow these promises through the revelation of God through His Word, and how they are fulfilled and carried on through the seed of Abraham. Not only that, but also how the Law was given through Moses to take these promises captive until the rightful Heir to these promises should be revealed, the true Servant of God, Jesus Christ.
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