Eschatology is unavoidably related to another word “teleology”, which likewise is the result of compounding two Greek words: teleos, meaning “end” and “logia” (word). Teleology is therefore the “study of the end”.
Teleology addresses the issue of “what is God’s ultimate goal?” It is directly related to eschatology for all teleological issues lead to eschatological positions.
Without a proper, Biblically consistent, teleology and eschatology we are unable to accurately interpret the past we fail to have insight into the present, and we have a distorted vision of the future.
Most of us began our Christian journey with an eschatological viewpoint handed us by those who proceeded us in the journey. For most of us, especially those with a Baptist, Pentecostal, or Charismatic background we were presented with a form of dispensational premillennialism.
We were taught to interpret the “prophetic texts” on the basis of this eschatological position. Many of us were not aware that, there was another way of interpreting these passages.
Speaking from my own experience, I was taught that any other method of interpreting the Bible was less than orthodox, and possibly heretical.
The problem was the more I studied the Scripture, the more I found that it did not fit into the eschatological frame work of dispensational premillennialism.
I encountered the “time frame” references (Matt. 10:23, Matt. 16:27-28, Matt. 24:34). These passages could not relate to the Second Coming, or else Jesus was wrong.
I could not find a true Scriptural basis for some of the things I had been taught. Such as, the Beast of Revelation and the Antichrist being synonymous, a pre-tribulation rapture, and a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.
Most teaching I heard on Bible “prophecy” was not comparing Scripture with Scripture, but comparing Scripture with the “newspaper headlines”. I found that much of what passed for Bible teaching on this subject, was not an exegetical exposition of the Scriptures, but an attempt to impose a certain viewpoint upon the Biblical text.
Only after I began to read more broadly did I realize that there were other approaches to interpreting the prophetic passages. I found that there were Biblical answers, based on sound hermeneutics to the “problematic” texts. (rather than the “smoke and mirrors” I had been taught).
The purely futuristic approach to prophecy either ignores, or circumvents, certain passages which are declared to be “near”, “at hand”, or “about to take place”. In other words, they fail to address the time frame references of the text.
This futuristic approach virtually dismisses the significance of what occurred in A.D.70 with the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the Old Covenant system. It reads all prophecy as coming to fulfillment at the close of the church age. It ignores Jesus’ words of Matthew 24:34 which states “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
The preterist approach, on the other hand, sees some events taking place in or around A.D.70. They view the term “last days” (as opposed to “the last day”) referring to the end of the Old Testament priesthood, the sacrificial system, and the temple in Jerusalem (Matt.. 24:2). Hebrews 8:13 tells us, the Old Covenant was “becoming obsolete and ready to disappear”.
This approach may seem “unusual” to many today, but historically this view has been common. Commentators such as John Owen, John Brown, Matthew Henry, as well as many others held this view.
The preterist approach sorts out that which was fulfilled in the past and that which remains to be fulfilled in the future.
Most of us were not only indoctrinated in a futuristic approach to prophecy but we were also taught a “defeatist” approach. We were told that “real victory cannot come until Christ returns and defeats the Devil”.
This “defeatist” approach, which is expressed in most of premillennialism and to a lesser degree in amillennialism, ignores the Biblical statements relating to Christ’s victory over Satan at the Cross (Heb. 2:14). Most Christians today are waiting for Jesus to do something that the Bible tells us He has already done. The real issue is Christological rather than eschatological.
Postmillennialism, which was the prominent view throughout much of Church history, addresses the issue of Christ’s victory at the Cross and His ultimate victory through the Church on the stage of human history.
John Jefferson Davis in his book, Christ’s Victorious Kingdom states:
“Developing an eschatological understanding is not a matter of assembling isolated texts in some artificial scheme, but rather one of gaining a comprehensive and integrated perspective of the Sovereign God’s purposes for human history. The New Testament’s witness to the ongoing activity of the victorious, resurrected Christ, now exalted to a place of universal authority at the right Hand of the Father, extending His Kingdom through His Word and Spirit, provides the central focus in relation to which other relevant passages of Scripture are to be understood.”
1) Scripture must be used to interpret Scripture. (II Peter 1:20)
2) The primary purpose of prophecy is not to predict the future, but to call God’s people back to the covenant. (Rev. 19:10)
3) We must deal with time frame references relating to the Coming of the Lord. (Matt. 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:34, James 5:7-8, Rev. 1:1, 1:3, 1:19, 22:6, 22:10).
4) Jesus came in judgment of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
5) The Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:1-34, Luke 21, Mark 13) is not primarily about the Second Advent.
It is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. 6) “The Last Days” is a Biblical expression for the period between Christ’s Advent and the destruction of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70: the “last days” of Israel and the Old Covenant. 7) The Book of Revelation is not to be interpreted “futuristically”; for its first century readers, its message was “contemporary,” and the time of its fulfillment was “at hand.”
8) The “thousand years” of Revelation 20 is symbolic for a long period of time.
9) Satan was defeated and bound by Jesus at the Cross. (Heb. 2:14)
10) All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus Christ in this present age. (Matt. 28:18)
11) Christ has declared that His Church would be victorious on the earth in this present age. (Matt. 16:18, I Cor. 15:25-27, Ps. 110)
12) The Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will continue to advance the Kingdom of God, despite opposition from the world system. (Isa. 49:18-22, Isa. 60:1-5)
13) All of Christ’s enemies will be subdued under His reign from heaven (Ps. 110:1-2). He will remain in heaven until all of His enemies have been defeated. The last enemy, Death, will be destroyed when He returns. (I Cor. 15:25-27)
14) Before the Second Coming of Christ, there will be the conversion of large numbers of ethnic Jews to the Christian faith. (Rom. 11:25-26)
15) Before the Second Coming Christ, the vast majority of the earth will be converted to the Christian faith. (Matt. 28:19-20)
16) The “First Resurrection” is a spiritual resurrection: our justification and regeneration in Christ. (Eph. 2:5-6, Col. 2:11-13, I John 3:14)
17) Christ will return on the Last Day, when the Resurrection and the Last Judgment will occur. (John 6: 39-40, 44, 54)
18) Historically, the Church has always stood with its greatest influence, when it’s eschatology was one of victory rather than defeat.
