Postmillennial Worldview

PMW 2023-043 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

PLEASE NOTE: I accidentally posted this article on 4/26/23 before it was complete. Here is the full article I was working on.

A reader’s question:

A reader, Nathan Radcliffe, responded to my posting of Andrew Sandlin’s article “DeMar’s Hidden Views”:

“Where’s the link to the clip Nathan Anderson provided in which Gary denies the future physical resurrection?”

My reply:

The clip is here (at 1:29 mark): https://hyperpreterism.substack.com/p/gary-demar-denies-the-resurrection

Here is Gary’s mocking the historic Christian position on the matter as he derisively interacts with the idea of a future, physical resurrection.

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PMW 2023-042 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In the universal, historic Christian faith, we have long believed in an intermediate state. That is, the state of existence that we experience immediately upon death and prior to the distant physical resurrection at the end of history. In certain forms of Hyperpreterism, as has been recently so vigorously promoted, there is no intermediate state: you die, are given a spiritual “resurrection” body, and you live in heaven forever.

Another reason many Hyperpreterists deny an intermediate estate is because this system also lacks a consummation. In this unorthodox theology’s view, history continues forever. This is necessarily so since (they believe) all biblical prophecy has been fulfilled in the first century at the destruction of the temple in AD 70.

Consequently, what we are now experiencing — prevailing sin, rebellion against God, the decay of all physical systems, and physical death in history, all which occur in the present operational universe — will continue occurring in history forever and ever and ever and ever. (We are not speaking of the cessation of the eternal, conscious torment experienced under God’s righteous judgment, which is endured by unbelieving sinners while forever constrained in and confined to hell. Hell is a place we cannot access from within the objective universe and which, therefore, cannot impact history or threaten God’s people.) Continue reading →

PMW 2023-041 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

God’s plan of salvation brings together both glory and suffering for Christ. Through his suffering we will experience glory. And this experience of glory begins in history. Let us do a summary survey of Psalm 22 in this regard.

Psa. 22:1–31
According to its title, David wrote this psalm. It is divided into two basic parts: lamentation (vv. 1–21) and thanksgiving (vv. 22–31). It was written about some intense historical problem in David’s experience. Yet God’s Spirit lifts his poetic cry to Messianic significance and points to Jesus’s crucifixion as the ultimate Suffering One. Several details of Jesus’s passion appear within: forsakenness (v. 1), mockery (v. 8), shame (vv. 13, 17), piercing (v. 16), and dividing of his garments (v. 18). We see this in its use in the New Testament (Matt. 27:35, 39, 43, 46; John 19:23, 24, 28; Acts 2:30–31; Heb. 2:12).

Psa. 22:1–2
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me
This cry calls out of a sense of deep despair that is intensified by God’s apparent forsaking (v. 1). But even in despair it shows an abiding trust in God that leads to the psalmist’s continuing prayer (vv. 2–3).
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PMW 2023-040 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Like Isaiah 2, Psalm 2 provides powerful evidence for postmillennialism in the Old Testament. As I did with the preceding articles on several Isaiah passages, here I will present just a quick, running analysis of this glorious Psalm.

Psa. 2:1–12

This is a royal psalm, wherein David (Acts 4:25) recalls his enthronement. It is also a Messianic Psalm, which skillfully weaves together David’s human kingship with Jesus’s divine (Messianic) kingship. As such it is a counterpart to Psalm 110 (see Psa. 110:1–7 Note). It is frequently cited in the New Testament (see esp. Acts 4:25–27; cp. Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Acts 13:33; Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:5; etc.). David the king and Jesus the Messiah are related both biologically and theologically (Matt. 1:1; 22:41–46; Rom. 1:4): David is a type of Christ. Though the psalm opens with turmoil (vv. 1–3) it promises the universal dominion of God’s Son (vv. 7–9), then ends with a gracious invitation for kings to submit to God’s rule (vv. 10a, 11, 12a) — or be destroyed (vv. 10b, 12b).

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PMW 2023-039 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Isaiah’s prophecy regarding “Lucifer” (Isa. 14:12) is a fairly well-known passage in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, among most Christians and in much of popular culture it is widely misunderstood. In this article I will give a brief survey of the relevant verses in Isaiah 14, which should re-direct your thinking if you understand Lucifer to be Satan.

Isa. 14:1–4: When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob.
These four prose verses show that the preceding poetic movement has ended (see 13:1–14:23 Note). The next movement begins in v. 4b. Both movements are directed against Babylon (vv. 1, 17, 19; 14:4, 22). Though Israel will be banished from her land by Babylon (see Isa. 6:12 Note), God will bring her back (vv. 1–3). Her future return from exile echoes the original exodus from Egypt and serves as a new hope-filled beginning for her. And this even looks further into the future to her ultimate “exodus” from the bondage of sin under Jesus as he calls out a new “Israel of God,” which is a being formed as a “new creation” (Gal. 6:15–16; cp. 2 Cor. 5:17). Jesus speaks of this with Moses at the transfiguration (Luke 9:31; “departure” is the translation of the Greek exodos).

Isa. 14:1: strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob.
This is not simply a return of Jews to their original land (though it does speak of the return from Babylonian exile; see vv. 1–4 Note). More distantly and fully, however, the “strangers” here are Gentiles who will become a part of the future “Israel of God” in which circumcision does not matter (Gal. 6:15). this will begin fulfilling the promise of salvation and the inclusion of Gentiles among God’s people (see 11:12 Note; cp. Matt. 28:18–20; John 10:16; Acts 11:18; 13:46–48; Eph. 2:11–12).

PMW 2023-038 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In my last posting I gave a brief survey of Isaiah’s glorious postmillennial hope as found in Isaiah 2. In this one I will quickly summarize this hope as it is found in Isaiah 11, another great chapter embodying the postmillennial hope.

Isa. 11:1–2: a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse.
Along with Assyria, Israel has been chopped down to a stump (10:18–19, 33–34). Yet the Messiah, the true Davidic king, will arise from the lineage of Jesse (vv. 1, 10; David’s father, 1 Sam. 16:10–31). Christ is the greater David who was typified in David (see 9:7b Note). He will be endowed with “the Spirit of the LORD” (v. 2), thereby exercising wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and the fear of the LORD (v. 2). Continue reading →

PMW 2023-037 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Isaiah is an important book in Scripture and an invaluable witness to the postmillennial hope. We may see the importance of Isaiah in the following.

Isaiah has been widely used. The book of Isaiah has long been important to God’s people. We see this in several ways. Among the Jews at Qumran, the second most cited book in the Dead Sea Scrolls is Isaiah, exceeded only by Deuteronomy. Not only do we find among these Scrolls a complete, well–preserved Isaiah scroll, but twenty partially-preserved copies. The New Testament alludes to Isaiah 411 times, directly quoting it over fifty times (e.g., Matt. 13:14–15; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:26–27; Rom. 9:29; Heb. 2:13; 1 Pet. 2:9).

The next three observations explain why Isaiah was so popular to New Testament writers.

Isaiah presents us with an exalted view of God. It especially emphasizes his sovereignty (6:1ff; 24:1–3; 37:15–20; 43:8–11) and his holiness (1:4; 5:16; 30:9–16; 37:23; 43:8–11). And in light of these glorious doctrines, it especially condemns human pride (2:11–18; 14:12–15; 37:23–25; 66:1–3).

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