Grant Swart
There are diverse opinions concerning the thousand years of peace (Millennium) described in Revelation and the events associated with it. Some interpret a literal, future, thousand-year time period in which Christ will rule over the Earth, a time which will be characterized by peace and harmony. Others understand a literal age of peace, but think the “thousand years” is a figure of speech. Still others see the Millennium as symbolic of a spiritual ideal, with no corresponding earthly condition. All of these positions fall into the category of millennialism, a broad term which includes any and all ideas relating to the millennium of Biblical prophecy.
In a nutshell, here are some very basic definitions of the positions regarding the millennium.
Premillenialism:
There are three definitions, any one of which could describe the views of the premillenialist:
Pretribulationists believe that the second coming will be in two stages separated by a seven-year period of tribulation. At the beginning of the tribulation, true Christians will rise to meet the Lord in the air.
Midtribulationists believe that the Rapture will take place at the halfway point of the seven-year tribulation, i.e. after 3½ years. This event begins the second, most intense part of the tribulation.
Posttribulationists hold that Christ will not return until the end of the tribulation. Christians, rather than being raptured at the beginning of the tribulation, or halfway through, will live through it
Postmillenialism:
Postmillennialists do not believe in a premillennial appearance of Christ. The postmillennial position is that the millennium began at the inauguration of Christ’s kingdom reign when he ascended to his heavenly throne. Christ will appear at the end of the millennium to lead his people into the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem.
Amillenialism:
Amillennialists do not believe in a literal Millennium. The “thousand years” is an expression, a way of referring to the entire period from the first coming of Christ, two thousand years ago, until the future second coming. The Second Coming will be a natural culmination of the process of world evangelization, rather than a revolutionary event that brings sudden and dramatic change.
We will place more polls in the near future which will deal with other aspects of Christian eschatology (an understanding or study of the end times and the destiny of man according to Bible prophecy).
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For the Love of His Truth 
None of the above. I think there is a literal 1000 year reign of Christ, but I’m not comfortable with claiming a position on the rapture. It doesn’t seem as clear cut to me as the pretirb/prewrath/midtrib/and postribbers all seem to claim it is. I find problems with all of their arguments. If I had to choose one, I would say prewrath, but that’s not one of the options above.
All of that being said, I have no problem with my amillenial friends (even my husband is amillenial) and its an interesting topic to study and discuss, but its not one to divide over. We recently started visiting a wonderful church that happens to be amillenial and I actually lost a few friends over it. Its so sad because they have the gospel right, the preaching is great, the people are wonderful, and yet they (and therefore me) are condemned for not being premillenial/pretrib. These “freinds” even went so far as to say we were believing “doctrines of demons”. Sigh.
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Hi Jessica
So nice to hear from you again. 🙂
Grant said he will change a bit to accommodate you.
Indeed i do agree with you it is not something to divide over. Indeed sad if one is falsely accused. I had the same happen to me on Facebook. But we know HE knows our hearts and that is all that matters.
God bless
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Thanks Elmarie!
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Jessica K
Thank you for commenting and for pointing out the glaring omission!
You are quite correct. If you go back through the other polls I have placed on this blog, I think I have always made provision for those who are of an opinion which I possibly did not cover in the options I provided. On this one, however, it slipped my mind and (un?)fortunately the “Other. (If you choose this option, please explain in the comments below)” choice was exactly the option which you required.
My apologies to anyone else who might have required that alternative. I have added the option to the poll and you should be able to choose it by voting again.
Your experience with lost friends who have taken such an unfortunate stance on the matter once again emphasizes the great importance of correctly distinguishing between essential and non-essential doctrine. I certainly hope that the disagreement with them is only temporary and that the incident turns out to be helpful to them in understanding the difference.
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Thank you, Grant.
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Nailed my colors to the mast :).
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Awesome, thanks Mark! New poll: colors or colours? 🙂 🙂 I’ve always thought it should be cullirs.
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My comment would be that of all the positions held, the prewrath does the least amount of damage to the scriptures in proving the point.
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The Rapture is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ !
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Have to agree with Jessica. I don’t see a New Testament reference to the tribulation at all that isn’t in the context of the 2nd half; 3 1/2 years; Day of the Lord; etc. Tried to discuss this with a pastor leading a friend’s small group on Revelation and he looked at me like I was crazy and thought I was insisting that the Tribulation is not 7 years. Indeed the tribulation is 7 years, but is there a passage outside of Daniel that makes reference to the entire 7 year period? Would LOVE to connect with someone local (I’m in Ventura County, Southern Cal) with an interest in eschatology.
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Christians have forgotten what Jesus said to His disciples, “it is better for you that I go away”.
Has it been better for YOU? Why are YOU always looking for Jesus?
Look at this way:
The Father is Eternal, the Holy Spirit is Universal, while Jesus was Local!
I know its not perfect, but it should help us to see that Jesus was confined to space & time while on earth, but the Holy Spirit is not & so can minister to all the members of the Church, anywhere & at anytime!
Welcome the Holy Spirit as you would Jesus & ask Him all the questions you want answers to! Praise Him & thank Him for His fellowship!
John 16:5-15
(ERV)
5 Now I am going back to the one who sent me. And none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But you are filled with sadness because I have told you all this. 7 Let me assure you, it is better for you that I go away. I say this because when I go away I will send the Helper to you. But if I did not go, the Helper would not come.
8 “When the Helper comes, he will show the people of the world how wrong they are about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. 9 He will prove that they are guilty of sin, because they don’t believe in me. 10 He will show them how wrong they are about how to be right with God. The Helper will do this, because I am going to the Father. You will not see me then. 11 And he will show them how wrong their judgment is, because their leader has already been condemned.
12 “I have so much more to tell you, but it is too much for you to accept now. 13 But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words. He will speak only what he hears and will tell you what will happen in the future. 14 The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me by telling you what he receives from me. 15 All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will tell you what he receives from me.
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It is a matter of understanding the Bible the way God intended it to be undertood and not following our evil and wicked hearts
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Hi All,
Has anyone done a serious study on Jeremiah 7 underline verse 4, 16, 21-22, 23-27?
I am perturbed by verses 21-22 for they seem to say that the Israelites from the very beginning offered sacrifices to God, that He NEVER wanted. There could have been TWO religions in Israel, one Priestly & Sacrificial and the other Prophetical and all about Obedience.
Remember that YHWH wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth in Exodus 32:7-14. They had offered HUMAN sacrifices to Moloch in the Wilderness & that is why 3,000 of them were slaughtered by the Levis, on Moses command (Exodus 32:21-28). This fact is hidden until we read Amos 5:21-27 and Acts 7:37-43.
Jeremiah 8:8 would seem to indicate that the scribes corrupted the Old Testament & that is why YHWH had to keep sending prophets, which the Priestly gang kept killing!
Talmudic Jews teach that the Book of Esther is a FARCE/COMEDY!
I would like to hear your thoughts on this issue.
Leonardo
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I had to click “other” because i am premillenial, and pre-wrath. you really should drop the Post tribulational option as it is falling out of favor and interpretation among the body of believers. Pre-wrath is gaining an audience once people see the biblical support for it and IF they are able to still receive insight that conflicts with what they were taught from birth by well meaning pastors schooled in Pre-trib themselves. the Left Behind series only helped cement it without any bible basis. so sad.
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Linda Poindexter Strawn
Thank you for participating and for your comment. If I were to drop the Post tribulational option, those who hold to that understanding would not be accommodated by the poll. Simply because a certain belief is gaining or losing favor among the people of the time, does not mean that it is biblically correct, or not.
All the options available on the poll were at some or other time, the ones which were gaining or losing favor in the church. As the winds of change blow throw the seminaries and bible schools, as certain preachers and authors gain and lose popularity, so does eschatological understanding ebb and tide. The Left Behind series is such a case in point.
The group who were listening when our Lord Jesus spoke the words in Matthew 24:34, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place”, must surely have understood it to be their generation He was speaking about? According to the current result of this poll, it seems as if that understanding has remained unaffected among a large segment of the body of believers.
That having been said, the result of this poll cannot be regarded as authoritative, and the winning result will not necessarily prove to be the biblically correct understanding.
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