Eschatology, end times theology, is such a blending of so many smaller parts of theology and intertwines in so many other aspects of theology. Dispensationalism vs Covenant vs Christocentric, as one example, can have a large impact on what you think will happen and how your understand biblical prophesy. If you take a more liberal or figurative view of scripture you may then apply the same method of reading to what is to come and come to another understanding. Because of how this is so impacted by so many factors there are a myriad of different conclusions people have drawn, and we could spend years delving to each and every one but for the purpose of this series I will be focusing on what it is that I believe in eschatology, and why.
To start with I hope you have a basic idea of some of my prior blogs to where I stand theologically as my starting point. I am Christocentric, which means that I believe all parts of time point to the Messiah consistently and that there is ultimately a singular covenant which has always been which saves someone to eternal destruction. I believe that the unbeliever is annihilated after judgement and that until judgement we all remain in a state of soul sleep. Because of such beliefs in how I understand scripture the foundation for my eschatology is known as Historical or Classical Premillennialism.
In a nutshell that means that I first believe that our earth is a Pre millennium state, that there is a millennium to come that is set apart, different. This would be a literal millennial kingdom. I also take an approach to this state of being ahead of a literal millennium which is called either historical or classical, which, as the name suggests, was held throughout many parts of history. For a large part of history it was a prevalent doctrine, loosing its place to amillennialism before the dispensationalist premillennialism became the most popular and exploded into popularity through such pop culture creations as the Left Behind fiction series.
So besides a literal millennium what ultimately does this view hold to? Whole books can, and have, been written on that subject. The booked titled The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Christine Miller was especially well done in my opion and a read I would encourage. At it's heart though this belief is that from the time of the ascension, from the time that the Messiah returned to the heavens, that we have been in the end times. That there is no distinct seven years of tribulation, no distinct human as the anti-christ, but that all are in a state in which they continue to grow and work through time. That we have been in the period of tribulation and the end times from the time of the Apostles.
Through this I have drawn a number of my own conclusions. Issues such as the seat of the anti-christ being the Roman Catholic Church, the time of Lawlessness being the prevalence of anti-nomian doctrines throughout time and how that veil has been lifting in 'recent' years. We can look through history and see the presecution of the body of the Messiah throughout the world, to the extent that even secular news sources (BBC, The Guardian, Express UK) have now admitted that Christianity is the single most persecuted religion worldwide.
This means that I do not hold to the idea that there is a tribulation only to come, but that we are in it! We have been for nigh on 2000 years. I do believe that it will get worse, from being seemingly the whole world as it was during the roman era to being physically world wide as even our western post christian society begins to joy the fray. It truly will mirror as Daniel 12:1 says, "When that time comes, Mikha'el, the great prince who champions your people, will stand up; and there will be a time of great distress unparalleled between the time they became a nation and that moment. At that time, your people will be delivered, everyone whose name is found written in the book. We know it has already begun from such passages as 2 Thessalonians 2:7 which shows that the workd of lawlessness had already begun at that time. Yet we also see scripture show us many signs which have continued through time. From believers being murdered, lawlessness, the increase in seismic activity, wars and rumours of wars, all have continued through time. Every generation has been able to look at them and say, "The End is Nigh!" And every generation, contrary to popular belief, is right. The end draws nearer every day, we have been in the end times, and they are only getting worse. Remarkably so in recent time, but I will elaborate on that in a later post.
Because of this I reject the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, only accepting that as believers will be brought to Yeshua upon his return. I think that is the only consistent conclusion we can have to passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Look, I tell you a secret - not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. or 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, For the Lord himself will come down from the heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God's shofar; those who died united with the Miessiah will be the first to rise; then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. Passages which speak to the return of the Messiah, to the beginning of the millennial reign, and believers still being among the living.
This view of the tribulation and being caught up with the Messiah is called historical or classical because of the people who have held it in the past, and how it was the prevalent theory before Amillennialism took that title under the leadership of the Catholic church. People such as Iraneaus, Polycarp, Martyr, Papias, Tertullian, and others.
I would encourage you to read more regarding this subject and it's broader picture and see how this foundation piece of understanding eschatology is built upon by pieces that I will be adding to this series. Search and study the scriptures as a Berean, dismissing your preconceived notions to the text to take an open and objective view. You may be surprised at what you see, or don't see, in them regarding what is to come. Shalom.