Eschatology is the study of end-time events. Within that study, there are several areas covered, which means there are many different viewpoints covered.
TERMS
Millenium = 1000 years.
Premillennial = Jesus’ return is before the Millenium.
Postmillennial = Jesus’ return is after the Millenium.
Amillennial = Millenium is not an actual 1000 years.
In this short article, I will confine myself to just the premillennial positions because there are several variations of them.
No one knows when Jesus will return! Speculation abounds and has for 2000 years. Yet, Christians have been divided over the various viewpoints about His return and whole denominations have sprung up around varying beliefs about it. My purpose here is to basically define the terms and what is meant by them.
Premillennial pretribulation – Jesus’ return will be before the millennium and before the Tribulation.
Premillennial mid-tribulation – Jesus’ return will be before the millennium and in the middle of the Tribulation.
Premillennial post-tribulation – Jesus’ return will be before the millennium and after the tribulation.
One can hold either one of these three positions and still be known as premillennial.
The tribulation is a seven-year period often divided into two sections of three and one-half years each. The first three and one-half years is often called the tribulation and the second section is called the wrath of God.
Two words that are often used in referring to Jesus’ return are harpadzo which means to seize or snatch. It is found 13 times in Scripture. The most familiar one is in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds…” This is often referred to as the rapture of the saints.
The other word is parousia which means appearing. It is most often referred to as the Second Coming of the Lord.
The most common belief among the Premillennial pretribulation adherents is that Jesus will come in a secret rapture and then sometime later return with His saints and set up His earthly kingdom.
But, there seems to be a growing trend toward the belief that Jesus will return before the millennium either in the middle or at the end of the tribulation. He will come at the last trumpet (1 Cor.15:52, Rev.11:15) and take up His saints (those who have previously died and those still living) to meet Him in the air and return to the earth to set up His Kingdom.
These beliefs are affected by how one interprets the Book of Revelation.
Many are surprised when they discover that many Christian leaders such as Augustine, Luther, and Calvin were amillennial; that Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney were postmillennial, or that most of the early church fathers were premillennial but post tribulational.