Most of the common views of eschatology (study of the end times) get their name from their beliefs regarding the timing of Christ’s return in relation to the millennium (the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20). For instance, the Premillennialist believes that Jesus will return “pre” (before) the millennium. Postmillennialists believe He will return “post” (after) the millennium. There’s also Amillennialism, which teaches that the millennium in Rev. 20 isn’t a literal 1,000 years, but rather, it is a symbolic way of referring to the church age. Confused yet? It gets worse.
Many Postmillennialists believe that the millennium isn’t a literal 1,000 years either. So, in that sense they could be called Amillennialists. All Amillennialists also believe that Christ will return after the (symbolic) millennium. So does that make Amillennialists Postmillennial? You can see why some are intimidated by the study of eschatology, and we haven’t even mentioned the five main views on the book of Revelation yet!
Because of this confusion, some have decided to become “Pan-millennialists.” Pan-millennialism simply teaches that it will all “pan” out in the end. While this started out as joke, it is becoming a very popular way to describe one’s view of eschatology. While it is true that it will all pan out in the end, I don’t think Pan-millennialism is a view that any Christian should hold. As difficult as eschatology may be, we should still care about the end times, and there are several reasons why.
1. Your beliefs affect your behavior. What you believe about the future will affect your behavior. If you believed that you only had one week to live, would you act any differently than you do now? Of course you would. If you believe that Jesus is coming in the next decade or so, you may be motivated to tell more people about Jesus, but you probably won’t be as concerned with building a Christian culture or society.
Back when our nation was being founded, the majority of Christians believed that the world would get better, and it did. Now most Christians believe that the world will get worse, and at least in our neck of the woods, it is getting worse. That’s not a coincidence. When the American church changed its views on eschatology, its behavior changed too, and not for the better.
2. God doesn’t waste His breath. The Bible is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16, in the original Greek). Everything in Scripture is there for a reason. God didn’t put “end time” passages in the Bible just for seminary professors; He wants you study them too. Furthermore, 2 Tim. 3:16 says that all Scripture is “profitable.” This means that the Scriptures that talk about eschatology are profitable too.
3. Jesus is important. Your view of eschatology is mostly determined by your view of who Jesus is right this very moment. I dare say that answering the question of who Jesus is should be something that we care about!
Some Premillennialists believe that Jesus will be King after He returns to earth to set up His kingdom. Other Premillennialists and Amillennialists believe that Jesus is King now, but that His kingdom is only spiritual (i.e. He rules in the hearts of His people). Postmillennialists on the other hand, believe that Jesus is King now, and that He rules everything (our hearts, the nations, etc.). Pan-millennialists apparently don’t think this question is worth answering.
4. All areas of theology are interconnected. What you believe about eschatology affects your beliefs in other areas as well. When my eschatology changed, my views of the family changed too, as did my views of discipleship, government, foreign policy, war, birth control, technology, money, and more. By the way, if your eschatology doesn’t affect your thinking in every other area of life, your eschatology doesn’t come from the Bible.
5. A correct view of the future will be be rewarded; a wrong view will be punished. When God says something about the future, we are obligated to believe it, even if God’s promises seem impossible. Abraham believed what God said about the future, and was rewarded (Gen. 15:5-6). Because Zacharias didn’t believe God’s message about the future, he wasn’t able to speak for 9 months (Luke 1:11-20). Another example is the 12 spies who went to spy out the promised land. God told Israel His plan for the future: they would conquer and inherit the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:6-7; Ex. 3:7-8; etc.). Two of the spies believed God, ten did not. The ten who didn’t believe convinced everyone else not to believe God either. The two who believed (Joshua & Caleb) were rewarded, while everyone else was punished (see Num. 13-14 and Deut. 1:19-46).
God has given us Christians a new promised land: the whole world (Matt. 5:5; Rom. 4:13). He has told us to make the nations obedient (Acts 26:17-18; Rom. 1:5; 16:25-26) through the proclamation of the gospel and discipleship (Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:18-20). He has promised to be with us (Matt. 28:20), thus ensuring our success. He has also told us that His Son is not going to leave heaven to return to earth until after this task is accomplished (Heb. 10:12-13). The apostles believed God’s promise and were optimistic (1 Cor. 2:6; 1 Tim. 2:9; 3:8-9; 1 John 2:8).
Today, most American Christians don’t believe in the success of the Great Commission (the Christianizing of all the nations); they believe the nations will become more and more godless (the exact opposite of the Great Commission!). God punished Israel for their unbelief. Could it be that God is punishing American Christians for not believing what He has said about the future?