What do you think is the next big event in Biblical Prophecy?
And what should we be doing in the meantime?

Here is a typical timetable of Dispensational Premillennialism:

  0. "The Last Days"

  1. The World Gets Worse and Worse

  2. The Rapture

  3. The Great Tribulation

  4. The Second Coming of Jesus the Christ

  5. The Resurrection

  6. Judgment Day

  7. The Binding of Satan

  8. The Age of the Messiah

  9. The Kingdom of God

10. The Millennium

11. "The New Heavens and New Earth" (Isaiah 65/2 Peter 3)

12. Eternity (end of time and human history)

According to this view, our job as Christians today is not to bring about a Christian world by our efforts, but to wait for the Coming of Jesus, who will destroy the unGodly and then exercise His peaceful messianic reign over the earth from a throne in Jerusalem.

The opposing view on this webpage is that our duty is to preach to rebels against the Messiah until they repent, at which point we will have the kind of peace described by the prophet Micah in his “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy.

Jesus: Israel's "Savior" but Not Israel's Messiah??

Most people who call themselves Christians are "premillennialists" if they hold any position on Biblical prophecy at all. (A large number do not think about prophecy: all they know is that they're going to heaven when they die, and they give no thought to what is going to happen to the rest of the world in the future, or what prophecies may be found in the Bible on that subject.)

"Premillennialism" is the belief that Jesus must come to earth again a second time in order to reign as Messiah in "the millennium." At His first coming two millennia ago, He offered to be Israel's Messiah, Deliverer, and King, but Israel rejected His offer, so Jesus could only be Israel's "Savior," by which term is meant "forgiver of sins" and dispenser of tickets to heaven upon death.

This is a mistake. The "Lion" (King) of Judah is also the "Lamb" of God that takes away the sins of the world. But the Lamb also, like a king, executes judgments of wrath on rebels.

Jesus only forgives the sins of those who repent of those sins. It was a sin for Israel to reject Jesus as her Messiah. He did not forgive her for this. Jesus destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70, as He predicted He would.

Those Jews who accepted Jesus as their Messiah rejoiced when Jesus destroyed the Old Jerusalem and the old temple, because this act made possible the creation of the New Jerusalem: the Church. Not the "Roman Catholic Church," or any other ecclesiastical institution, but a Body of believers made up of believing Jews and Gentiles. In this New Jerusalem there is no temple as was found in the old Jerusalem. Christians themselves are a new temple, offering up spiritual sacrifices.

Believers also rejoiced because those who rejected Jesus as Messiah were persecuting believers in Jesus as Messiah, even killing them (Revelation 6:10; Matthew 23:29-36). Good riddance to the whole thing. Jerusalem and the temple authorities had become a wicked center of persecution of the saints.

Jesus Judged Israel for this.

That sentence is the key to this entire webpage.

Premillennialists believe that Jesus is going to return to earth and rebuild the old temple and be Israel's Messiah. They fail to ask, "Why does the temple need to be rebuilt?" and they fail to remember that it was Jesus who destroyed it. (They also may not know that the temple in Jesus' day was a "public works" project of pagan Rome, which is one reason unbelieving Jews did not want Jesus to "deliver" them from their Roman occupiers (Luke 7:2-5), even though the Roman armies had invaded and conquered Israel, subjecting the nation to tribute.)

This distinction between "Messiah" and "Savior"

• is contrary to hundreds of verses of Scripture
• is the basis for a huge superstructure of prophetic speculation known as "Dispensationalism"
• is destroying Western Civilization

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation." That Hebrew word is translated into English as "save" 149 times, "saviour" 15, "deliver" 13, "help" 12, "preserved" 5, "salvation" 3, "avenging" 2, " avenged" 1, "defend" 1, "rescue" 1, "safe" 1, and "victory" 1 time in the KJV.

• Strong's Hebrew: 3467. יָשַׁע (yasha) -- to deliver
• Strongs's #3467: yasha` - Greek/Hebrew Definitions - Bible Tools
• Hebrew Lexicon :: H3467 (KJV)
• Strong's #3467 - יָשַׁע - avenged, avenging, brought salvation, deliver, delivered, - Old Testament Hebrew - Bible Lexicons - StudyLight.org
• Strong's Number 3467 Hebrew Dictionary of the Old Testament Online Bible with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon, Etymology, Translations Definitions Meanings & Key Word Studies - Lexiconcordance.com

"Judges" as "Saviors":

Nehemiah 9:27; Judges 2:18; 3:9-15; 1 Samuel 12:10,11; 2 Kings 13:5; 14:27; Obadiah 1:21

Here is how a very mainstream evangelical scholar defines that Hebrew word:

Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
Hartley, John E. (1999). 929 יָשַׁע ["yasha"], in R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 414-15.

To sum up the Biblical concept of "salvation," it means "freedom from archists." Jesus describes the kings of the gentiles as "archists" (Mark 10:42-45). An "archist" believes he has the right to usurp Christ's Messianic authority, imposing his own will on others by force and taking vengeance against his enemies by sending "the sword" (armies). Jesus said His followers are not to be "archists" (Mark 10:42-45). In a world without "archists," we have nothing to fear, and can dwell safely under our own “Vine & Fig Tree.”

Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy is the Biblical picture of "salvation." "Going to heaven when you die" is not the full Biblical idea of "salvation."

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of God judging His hard-hearted, rebellious people by sending archists against them. When Israel repented under this statist chastisement, God sent "saviors" or "judges." We see the whole history of Israel summed up in Nehemiah 9:

²⁷ Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from heaven; and according to Thy manifold mercies Thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

So when the angel of the LORD said to the shepherds on that first Christmas,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
(Luke 2)

the shepherds were thinking about being "delivered" out of the hands of those pagans who had invaded their nation.

If you're a faithful first-century Israelite, when you hear "city of David," you think "king." When you hear "savior," you think "deliverer." When you hear "Christ" you think "Messiah."

Also at that first Christmas, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, and said:

Matthew 1:18-23

Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.

A first-century Jew, steeped in the Scriptures, would hear this angelic message as a promise to save "His people" from the consequences of their sins, the curses imposed on them by God because of their rebellion against His Law. When Bible-believers think of a "savior," they think of someone who will save Israel "out of the hand of their enemies." John the Baptist's father "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied" about Jesus, saying

Luke 1:67-80

⁶⁸ “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
⁷⁴ To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
⁷⁹ To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The Babe born in Bethlehem saved Christians in the first century from their enemies: the Jews who collaborated with Rome. Then the Rock destroyed Rome, and has filled the earth with Christian Civilization -- The City of God. The growing and filling continues.

The Dispensational distinction between "Messiah" and "Savior" is utterly and thoroughly unBiblical, yet it is the heart of their belief in two separate comings of Christ.

• Judge
• Savior
• Messiah

While there are nuances of difference between these terms, they are essentially identical.

“Savior” as “Judge”

Imagine three nations:

• The Third Reich under Hitler
• A smaller Communist "Satellite" nation
• A small but Godly Christian nation

Suppose the Communist satellite nation attacks the Christian nation. God can "save" the small Christian nation by sending Hitler to "judge" the Communist satellite. In one act of initiating war against the Communist nation, God acts both as "savior" and "judge." Savior of the meek, Judge of the wicked.

God sent the Assyrian army to "judge" Israel (Isaiah 10), but then judged Assyria for doing so. God did the same with Babylon (Isaiah 13).

God "ordains" evil.

This is how God acts as "Judge." This is how God the Judge executes His sentence and takes vengeance. When God acts as a Judge, He judges against the guilty and judges for the meek. And God often raises up an army to judge the wicked, passing sentence on them by destroying them, thereby saving the Godly.

We are not to enlist in these evil armies, even though they "serve" God's purposes, and are called His "servants" or "ministers." We are to leave vengeance to God.

Judgment and Rebuke of Nations in "The Millennium?"

Are there Communist satellite nations in "the Millennium" when Christ is on a throne in Jerusalem and Satan has been bound a thousand years so that the nations cannot be deceived? What exactly does it mean, in practical, real-life terms, for Jesus to be a Judge in the Premillennial conception of "the millennium?" Why is there any need for Jesus to "rebuke" strong nations if Satan has been bound and cannot deceive them?

Strong's #8199 - שָׁפַט  shâphaṭ

Ezekiel 7:3
Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send Mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.

Ezekiel 7:8
Now will I shortly pour out My fury upon thee, and accomplish Mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.

Ezekiel 7:27
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 11:10
Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 11:11
This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:

Ezekiel 16:38
And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

Ezekiel 17:20
And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.

Ezekiel 18:30
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Ezekiel 20:4
Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

Ezekiel 20:35
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

Ezekiel 20:36
Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 21:30
Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

Ezekiel 22:2
Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.

Ezekiel 23:24
And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.

Ezekiel 23:36
The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;

Ezekiel 23:45
And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

Ezekiel 24:14
I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 33:20
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

Ezekiel 34:17
And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

Ezekiel 34:20
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

Ezekiel 34:22
Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

Ezekiel 35:11
Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

Ezekiel 36:19
And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

Ezekiel 38:22
And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

Ezekiel 44:24
And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

That's a lot of "judging." And that's just in Ezekiel. Things are not as bad today as they were before Christ came 2,000 years ago and bound Satan. What's so great about "the Millennium" in the Dispensational system if nations are still deceived and Jesus has been demoted from the Right Hand of God in heaven to a tiny throne in Jerusalem? If nations are not deceived, then why does Micah 4:3 say that the Messiah is going to have to spend time rebuking and judging them?

Strong's #3198 - יָכַח   yâkach

Micah 4:3
And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Habakkuk 1:12
Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. 

Micah 6:2
Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

Amos 5:10
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.  

Ezekiel 3:26
And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover*: for they are a rebellious house.  

Jeremiah 2:19
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.     

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  

Isaiah 2:4
And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 11:3
And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:  

Isaiah 11:4
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.  

Isaiah 29:21
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.  

Isaiah 37:4
It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.   

Proverbs 3:12
For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.  

Proverbs 9:7
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.  

Proverbs 9:8
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.  

Proverbs 15:12
A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.  

Proverbs 19:25
Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.  

Proverbs 24:25
But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

Proverbs 25:12
As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

Proverbs 28:23
He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.

Proverbs 30:6
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.    

Psalms 6:1
[To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.] O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.  

Psalms 38:1
[A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.] O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.  

Psalms 50:8
I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.  

Psalms 50:21
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.  

Psalms 94:10
He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?  

Psalms 105:14
He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;  

Psalms 141:5
Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.  

1 Chronicles 16:21
He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,    

2 Kings 19:4
It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.    

2 Samuel 7:14
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:   

Leviticus 19:17
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. [pleonasm: "rebuking thou shalt rebuke"]  

Genesis 31:37
Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

Genesis 31:42
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.   

Knowledge of the LORD - a By-Product of God's Judgment

When God executes His judgments, the Bible says people come to "know that I am the Lord."  Habakkuk 2:14 says:

For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
As the waters cover the sea.

Too often this is interpreted to be a time of uninterrupted peace, with no more "bad guys" anywhere on earth. Non-Christian Jews reject Jesus as Messiah because He has not created (for us) conditions of world peace. Does the Bible predict that God would deliver world peace on a silver platter to a passive people?

In fact, according to the Bible, people come to "know" that God is the Lord when they are judged. Others, seeing the destruction of the wicked, also come to know that God is the Lord. But the Scriptures do not promise us an end to all responsibilities and a lying-in-a-hammock-sipping-margaritas "millennium."

Ezekiel 6 (read the entire chapter - "know the Lord" occurs 4x)
⁷ The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹⁰ And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.” 11 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, ‘Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. ¹² He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. ¹³ Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. ¹⁴ So I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’”’” 

Ezekiel 11:12 I will judge you at the border of Israel. ¹² And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.”’”

Jay Wile writes (An Interesting Observation from China | Proslogion):

Recently, I read an article by Dr. Paul Copan entitled, “Jesus-Shaped Cultures.”¹ In that article, he makes the case for how faithful Christians have transformed the societies they have served. For example, he discusses the Ethiopian famine that took place in 1984 and 1985. Brian Stewart, a CBC journalist, noted that it was Christians who were on the front lines of the famine, giving aid to the suffering. Their service was such a powerful witness to him that it started him on his journey to becoming a Christian himself.

While Copan’s article is interesting, it led me to a book that I thought was even more interesting. It is entitled Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, and it is written by David Aikman, who served as a journalist for Time Magazine from 1971 to 1994. In his role as a Time correspondent, he visited China several times and even lived in China for two years as Time’s bureau chief. He returned to China in 2002 to gather the information he needed to complete his book.

He begins the book in a dramatic way. It is worth quoting at length:²

The eighteen American tourists visiting China weren’t expecting much from the evening’s lecture. They were already exhausted from a day of touring in Beijing. But what the speaker had to say astonished them.

The Victory of Reason Listen Now | Download

“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world,” he said. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next, we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

This was not coming from some ultra-conservative think tank in Orange County, California or from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. This was a scholar from China’s premier academic research institute, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing in 2002. (emphasis mine)

In his book, Aikman suggests that Christianity will transform China to the point where it won’t even be communist anymore. He suggests that in the next thirty years, nearly one-third of China could be Christian, making it one of the largest Christian nations in the world and a strong ally of the U.S.

2. David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, pp. 5-6

See also: The Iona Institute | Christianity the reason for West's success, say the Chinese

In asking whether Habakkuk's prophecy has been or is being fulfilled, and whether the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, don't ask those who should admit that they know the Lord; ask the Scriptures whether they ought to admit it. Sometimes they won't, but many times they will. Truth is truth, whether we admit it or not.

China an ally of the U.S.? The U.S. was once a Christian nation, but is now the enemy of Christ and humanity. The U.S. imposes abortion, atheism, and homosexuality on the rest of the world. If China becomes a Christian nation, the U.S. will try to destroy China, as it destroyed the largest Christian population in the Arab world -- Iraq -- and transformed a "secular" nation where Christians had religious freedom into an Islamic Theocracy under Sharia law.

Here is the prophetic superstructure erected by Dispensational Premillennialists:

We move step-by-step upward from "The Late, Great, Planet Earth" to heaven.

Premillennialists have a hard time fitting Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy into this chart. If they can find a place for it, that place becomes contaminated. A future time of "millennial peace" looks all too much like our current situation, and this forces the premillennialist to re-think his outlook on this current world and his responsibilities in it. The key trouble-maker is verse 3, which says that in this "millennial" future, the Messiah will "rebuke" and "judge" "strong nations." This is very messy, earthy, gritty. Why are there other "nations" and other kings when Jesus is (allegedly) sitting on the Throne of David in Jerusalem? If Jesus is going to be judging sinful kings and their armies, what advantage is there to being on a throne in Jerusalem rather than being enthroned at the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven?

None, as it turns out. Premillennialist Dave Hunt criticizes those ("postmillennialists") who are committed to the "Christian Reconstruction" of governments and creating a “Vine & Fig Tree” world before the second coming of Christ, at which point the earth is destroyed and everyone goes to heaven. Hunt says the idea that God's will shall ever be done "on earth as it is in heaven" is foolish thinking. By the time the thousand-year reign of the Messiah is finishing up, Satan, the great Marketer, persuades the world to rebel against Jesus the Christ, and Jesus, about to lose the whole game, picks up His football and goes home.

The millennial reign of Christ, far from being the kingdom, is actually the final proof of the incorrigible nature of the human heart, because Christ Himself can’t do it.

So says Dave Hunt.

This "pessimillennialist" gospel is a false gospel. The true Gospel is "optimillennialism" and "anarcho-preterism."

Mount Zion - Jerusalem - House

Several times Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy mentions The "House of the Lord" (the temple) which sat on Mount Zion. King Jesus destroyed the old Jerusalem/temple in AD 70 and has erected a New Jerusalem/House of God (with no Old Covenant-style temple), which is now being expanded to encompass the earth. Here is how the New Testament speaks of "Zion."

First, it says Jesus is the Messiah/King:

Second, the New Testament says God is creating a new nation, of both believing Jews and Gentiles:

Romans 9

³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; ³¹ but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. ³² Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 11

²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
²⁷ For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”

²⁸ Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, ³¹ even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. ³² For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

The Future of Israel Re-examined  |  James B Jordan 

Next, the New Testament says that a completely New Jerusalem has been established for this new nation of true sons of Abraham and adopted sons of Abraham. Not in the future, but already.

Hebrews 12

¹⁸ For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰ (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” ²¹ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Already.

The "flow" and "stream" that Micah predicted has been happening for 2,000 years. The "New Jerusalem" is not a future event. The building of this City began in the past and continues in the present. Refusing to build this edifice is a sinful act of rebellion.

1 Peter 2

¹ Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

⁴ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

⁷ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”

⁸ and

“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

⁹ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Christians are a "holy nation." There is no other morally legitimate nation.

Finally, the Book of Revelation -- which speaks of the judgment of the apostate nation of Israel in AD 70 -- speaks in the last two chapters of the book of the City of God, the New Jerusalem. There is no temple in the New Jerusalem. This makes it a kind of "anti-Jerusalem." The Church of Jesus Christ -- the body of believers -- is the New Jerusalem. Our job is to build this City so that it becomes a mountain that covers the earth.

Revelation 3:12

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
 

Revelation 14:1

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
 

Revelation 21:22

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

Re-building the physical temple which Jesus destroyed in AD 70 would be an act of blasphemous aggression against our High Priest and King.

A More Detailed Examination of the Dispensational Timetable

Let's have a more detailed look at the Futurist conception of Biblical Prophecy, and compare it to the Preterist model.

Most "Christians" today do not really believe that Jesus was the Christ. They believe He will not exercise His Messianic powers at full-strength until He comes again and sits on a throne in Jerusalem.

It's easy enough to prove that Jesus was made the Christ in the past. Peter explains it in Acts chapter 2. After the Apostles spoke to a large audience of people "from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) in all their various foreign languages, Peter explained that this was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. He further explains how Jesus (at His first coming) fulfilled the Davidic prophecies about the enthroning of the Messiah:

God made Jesus the Christ 2000 years ago, fulfilling the prophecies concerning the throne of David. Peter and other devout Jews came to believe this; Christians should believe this; today's Jews do not. It happened in the past. It is an error to look to the future. But this is what Premillennialists (or "futurists") do.

Conclusion: We should be working to fulfill Micah's “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy TODAY.

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