Fundamental Errors of Premillennialism

This past January, my wife started a new job with Western & Southern Financial Group in downtown Cincinnati. One aspect of her new job that she enjoys is a weekly Bible study with about a dozen coworkers. Unsurprisingly, a wide variety of religious backgrounds are represented.

Recently, during one of their studies, the idea of premillennialism surfaced. That evening, she asked me if I could provide her with a simple rebuttal demonstrating the errors of the premillennial view. To that end, there are three fundamental errors with premillennialism.

Purpose. First is a misunderstanding of Israel's purpose. Stated succinctly: Israel was chosen for service, not salvation.

In Romans 9:4-5, Paul lists multiple blessings that God bestowed upon Israel. Paul saves the greatest blessing for last, “from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came” (NKJV used throughout). This was the crown jewel of blessings — Israel would be the service vehicle through whom God would deliver His Christ to the world. The long-awaited Messiah would come through Old Testament Israel.

Given the reality that many first-century Jews did not accept Jesus as the Christ and were therefore lost, Paul anticipates an accusation that God’s purpose had failed. Thus, in the very next verse (Romans 9:6), Paul states emphatically that “it is not that the word of God has taken no effect.” In other words, God did indeed accomplish His divine purpose. Paul’s reasoning is based on the premise that God never intended the salvation of Israel as His purpose in dealing with them. Rather, they were His sovereign choice as the people He would use to usher the Messiah into the world.

Promise. Next is a misunderstanding of the focus of God’s promises. God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ, not Israel. Stated another way, the Bible is Christ-centered, not Israel-centered.

Many people read the Bible through the lens of Israel, not Jesus. But Christ is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, not Israel. Peter in his message recorded in Acts 3 states, “all the prophets … have also foretold these days” (3:24). Paul preached, “because they [Israel] did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets … have fulfilled them in condemning Him” (Acts 13:27). Finally, Jesus Himself testified that He is the focus of the Old Testament Scriptures. On the road to Emmaus, He taught the two disciples, “‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken’. … beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:24-27).

The death, burial, resurrection, exaltation, and glorification of Jesus, followed by the establishment of His church, was God’s plan all along. God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 3:6, “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.”

Program. Last is a misunderstanding of God’s program for salvation, especially for individual Israelites. In the church age, God is dealing with individuals, not nations, as related to salvation. In other words, salvation is available to individuals, one by one, not nations.

In Romans 9-11, Paul provides a brilliant exposition of Israel’s role in God’s salvation plan. In chapter 11, Paul asks the question, “Has God cast away His people?” Effectively, his answer is no; there is hope for each Israelite.

Paul then develops the metaphor of an olive tree, the tree representing all those who are saved. Specifically, the branches of the tree are the New Testament people of God, the church. Paul then explains God’s program for salvation: individuals are grafted into the tree by faith. Belief or unbelief are the conditions stated as to whether a person is grafted in or broken off.

Paul states clearly that an individual Jew—anytime, anywhere—can be grafted into the tree and thus added to the people of God. Verse 23 provides the straightforward requirement, namely, “if they do not continue in unbelief.”

What about the famous verse 26, “And so all Israel will be saved”? The focus of this sentence should be placed on the phrase and so, not the words all Israel. The phrase and so means “in this manner, thus.” In the preceding verses, Paul elegantly explained how individuals are saved, namely through the process of being grafted into the olive tree by faith. Verse 26 is basically a summary statement of Paul’s olive tree metaphor. The much-misunderstood verse teaches that grafting by faith is the way, and the only way, anyone who is saved will ever be saved.

There are many who embrace the idea of premillennialism. Those of us who understand the errors inherent in that system should strive to follow Paul’s advice to Timothy. Our interactions should be “in humility, correcting those who are in opposition … so that they may know the truth” (1 Timothy 2:25).