PREMILLENNIAL LIES AND DECEPTION

     As Christians we have a responsibility to learn what the Bible says, and to judge what is being taught, making certain that it agrees with the Word of God (1 Corinthians 10:15, Isaiah 8:20). In order to carry out that responsibility as God intended, the actual statements of Scripture must be our doctrine and we must judge what is being taught by those statements, rather than by our ideas, opinions, or interpretations. In other words, because God's church is to teach God's Word, not man made doctrines, the core and substance of our teaching must rest on facts so clearly set forth in Scripture that they need no interpretation, facts so clearly stated that no true disciple of Christ would ever contradict them, facts such as the following:
 

 1. "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4).
 2. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
    whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
 3. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
 4. "Every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up
    at the last day" (John 6:40).
 5. "He that rejecteth me… the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John
    12:48).
 6. "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).
 7. "Jesus Christ… shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom" (1 Timothy 4:1).

     Because Christ said that He would raise up believers "on the last day" we can be absolutely certain that the resurrection of believers, and rapture, described in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17 will take place on the last day. We can also be certain that anyone who contradicts Christ by claiming that Christ will raise up believers before the last day, is a false prophet and teacher of lies (John 6:40, Romans 3:4).

     Because Christ said that He would raise up believers "on the last day" we can be absolutely certain that Christ will not resurrect believers, and then remove all believers from the earth, prior to the events described in chapters four through twenty of the Book of Revelation (John 6:39-40). Therefore, we can also be certain that anyone who contradicts Christ by teaching that Christ will raise up believers before those events take place and thus before "the last day", is a false prophet and teacher of lies (1 John 4:6, Proverbs 30:6).

     Because the Bible plainly tells us that the heads of the seven headed beast described in Revelation 13:1 are seven mountains we can know as a fact that the seven headed beast is not the antichrist (Revelation 17:9).
Therefore, we can be certain that anyone who contradicts the Bible by claiming that the seven headed beast is a man, is a false prophet and teacher of lies (Isaiah 8:20, Romans 3:4).
     The angel who spoke to John, identified the woman sitting on the seven mountains (the seven heads) as "that great city, which reigneth [present tense] over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 17:9&18). The use of the present tense points to the time the angel was speaking, and thus to Rome which at that time reigned over kings like Herod.

     Because Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this world" we can be absolutely certain that Christ will never physically reign on this sin corrupted world (John 18:36). Therefore, we can also be certain that anyone who contradicts Christ by teaching that He will reign on this sin corrupted world, is a false prophet and teacher of lies (1 John 4:6, Romans 3:4).
     Revelation 20:4, which is often interpreted to teach that Christ will reign on this world, actually says nothing about Christ reigning on this world. What John actually said was that he saw "souls" (not bodies) reigning with Christ, and the very fact that he saw souls reigning indicates that they were reigning in heaven.

     Because Christ said that He would both raise up believers and judge unbelievers "on the last day" we can be absolutely certain that both believers and unbelievers will stand before Christ "on the last day" (John 6:40,44, John 12:48). Therefore, we can also be certain that anyone who contradicts Christ by teaching that believers will be raised up prior to "the last day" and will not be present when the unbelievers are judged, is a false prophet and teacher of lies (Matthew 25:31-33, Revelation 20:11-15, Romans 3:4).
 
     Because the Bible says of Christ, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" we can be absolutely certain that no one ever was, or ever will be saved other than by Christ (Acts 4:12). In fact, if men could have been saved by the Law in any period of history, God would not have sent Christ to the cross (Galatians 3:21). Therefore, we can be also certain that anyone who contradicts the Bible by teaching that salvation was of works in the past, or will be of works in the future, is a false prophet and teacher of lies (Romans 3:4, 19, 20).
 

     Because Christ said that He would raise up believers "on the last day", the dogmatic assertion that there will be seven years of tribulation after He raises believers from the dead, is totally dishonest. Furthermore, because the Bible nowhere says that there will be seven years of tribulation, Premillennialists are not being honest when they lead people to believe that the Bible actually teaches it.
     I am perfectly aware of how Premillennialists arrive at their doctrine. What I am trying to get across is that, because their doctrine rests on a controversial interpretation of Daniel 9:27 coupled with other assumptions and unscriptural ideas, it is man's word, not God's Word. In order for a doctrine to be the Word of God, God must actually say it.

     Because Christ said that He would both raise up believers and judge unbelievers "on the last day", the dogmatic assertion that believers will not be present when unbelievers are judged, is totally dishonest. There is no Scriptural reason for anyone to think that the final judgement referred to in Matthew 25 is a different judgement than that referred to in 2 Corinthians 5:10 or Revelation 20. Therefore, the idea that the Bible teaches a number of different judgements comes from the mind of man, not the Word of God, and Premillennialists are being dishonest when they palm such teaching off on a gullible public as the Word of God.
     Premillennialists make a big deal out of the fact that the phrase "judgement seat" (found in 2 Corinthians 5:10) is a translation of the Greek word "bema". I heard one of them claim that, since the word "bema" was the Greek name for the place where winners (in Greek games) received their reward, it could not possibly refer to a place where punishments are given out. What they conveniently overlook is the fact that the Bible defines the word "bema" by using it in reference to a place of trial (Acts 25:6, 10 & 17). Such an oversight is dishonest to say the least.

     Because Christ said that He would raise up believers "on the last day" the dogmatic claim that all believers will be removed from the earth prior to the events described in the fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation is totally dishonest. There is not one scrap of Scriptural evidence to support such a claim.
     I know that Premillennialists base that claim on the idea that the seven churches described in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation represent a "church age", however, the Bible never says that. There have been many theologians, over the centuries, who have wondered if the seven churches might give us a picture of the church throughout history, but that is speculation not something the Bible says. Furthermore, even if the Bible did say that those seven churches represented the church throughout history, it would still say nothing about believers being removed from the earth. That idea is pure myth, and it is dishonest to call such mythology the "Word of God".

     Because the Bible does not identify the rider of the white horse described in Revelation 6:2, the dogmatic claim that he is the antichrist is misleading and therefore dishonest. Some theologians think the rider is Christ. I personally see a parallel between the woman and dragon of chapter 12, and the white and red horse. For that reason I see the white horse as God's church and the red horse as persecution. At any rate, the point I am trying to make is that it is dishonest for Premillennialists to act like their own highly questionable interpretation is a fact when it is little more than speculation.

     The Bible identifies the woman described in Revelation 12:1 when it tells us that those who trust in Christ are her seed (in other words, she is our mother, Revelation 12:17), and when it tells us that the "Jerusalem which is above… is the mother of us all" (Galatians 4:26).  Therefore, because the Bible so clearly identifies her, it is dishonest for Premillennialists to act like her identity is a matter of opinion, or to claim that she is Israel when Galatians 4:22-30 tells us that she is not Israel.
 

     God expects His church to teach His doctrine, not the speculation, assumptions, and private interpretations of men. For that reason, our doctrine must rest on the bare words of Scripture, not on exegesis, and Bible prophesy needs to be interpreted in the light of what the Bible clearly and objectively says. Furthermore, any interpretation that contradicts what the Bible clearly says must be rejected as false (Romans 3:4, Isaiah 8:20).