LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2007, Page 356

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356 THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—-COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

A Bible Study Companion
to
A Lutheran Response to the “Left Behind” Series!

Study One: An Overview of “End Times” Viewpoints
Introduction

The past century had its share of plagues, famines, and wars. Ac-
cording to historians, more Christians were martyred in the twenti-
eth century than in the previous nineteen hundred years combined.
Conflict continually erupts in the Middle East and terrorism is al-
most always in the daily news. Such atrocities have even reached
American and European soil. These events, according to the theol-
ogy of the Left Behind series, are signs of the imminent return of
Jesus. The following Bible study examines this viewpoint and how
its interpretation of current events affects how the rest of Scripture
is understood.

The first person to propose the end times scenario adopted by
Left Behind was a nineteenth century Anglican priest turned trav-
eling evangelical preacher to the United States named John Nelson
Darby. Minister Cyrus Scofield expanded on Darby’s teachings and
laid them out in his influential Scofield Reference Bible.

Today this view of the end times, called premillennial dispen-
sational-ism (also referred to as dispensational premillennialism),
has become very popular. It is taught by several evangelical de-
nominations and is the basis for the all-time best-selling Christian
fictional series, Left Behind. These books have heightened aware-
ness of such end times topics as the millennium, the rapture, the An-
tichrist, and Armageddon. Yet the ideas expressed in the Left Behind
series are in many ways contrary to the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Though they contain a fictional story line, the books promote a the-
ology that is in important respects at odds with biblical revelation.

Introductory Questions

1. According to the Bible, what is the defining event of the end of
the world? (Dan. 7:13—14; Matt. 24:29-31; Rev. 6:12—17)

Answer: The return of Jesus Christ in His glory will herald the
destruction of this sinful world, the judgment of unbelievers, and
the restoration of His people in the new heavens and the new
earth. For further discussion, see also Is. 66: 15-24; Dan. 7:9-14;
Joel 2:1~11; Matt. 26:62-64; John 14:1-4; Acts 1:6-11; and
1 Thess. 5:1-3.

2. Why does God wait to bring the Last Day? (Matt. 13:24-30;
1 Tim. 2:1-4; 2 Pet. 3:8-10)

Answer: God waits because in His great mercy He desires all
people to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

3. What is the “millennium’’? (Rev. 20:1—7)

Answer: The “millennium” is the “thousand years” mentioned
only in Revelation 20, which describes the period of time when
the people of God reign with Christ. The various views of the end
times are based on differing understandings of what this period
is and when it takes place. Premillennial dispensationalists read
this text as a reference to a literal thousand-year period in which
believers reign over the earth with Christ. The amillennial
view (held by most Christians throughout history, including The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod [LCMS]) understands the
thousand years as a figurative number of completeness depicting
the reign of Christ in and with His church. This reign of Christ
was inaugurated by His birth and will be fully revealed at His
second coming on the Last Day. This period is called the “Church
Age.” More information regarding both of these views is dis-
cussed below.

2007 Convention Workbook

4. What is the “rapture”? (1 Thess. 4:17; Matt. 24:40-41)

Answer: All believers who are alive at the time of Christ’s sec-
ond coming will be “caught up” in the clouds with their Lord at
His return (i.e., “raptured”). However, according to the Left Be-
hind view, this is a secret coming of Christ in which believers (as
well as all children who have not reached “the age of account-
ability”) are taken from the earth. The only people left on earth,
this view holds, are unbelievers who will suffer during the seven
years of tribulation. But according to Matt. 24:37-41 and its ref-
erence to the flood, the first to be taken away at the second com-
ing will be unbelievers. Believers will be left to inherit the
kingdom prepared for them (Matt. 25:34). According to the
Bible, therefore, it is good to be “left behind” (as were Noah and
his family), since those “taken away” will face judgment. Amil-
lennialists, therefore, believe that texts such as 1 Thess. 4:17 and
Matt. 24:37-41 refer to the final, visible coming of Christ on the
Last Day. The rapture is examined further in the second part of
this Bible study.

Two Views of the End Times

Although various views of the end times have surfaced through-
out Christian history and are present also today, the focus here is on
two end-times scenarios. The first is pre-millennial dispensationalism,
the view espoused by the Left Behind series. The second is the historic
position of most Christian churches (including the LCMS), often
called amillennialism. These two scenarios are included in the chart
provided on the back page of the CTCR’s A Lutheran Response to the
“Left Behind” Series (see this report at www.lcms.org/graphics/
assets/media/CTCR/LeftBehind.pdf) and are discussed briefly below.

1. Premillennia!l Dispensationalism

Description: Taking a literal view of all descriptions of the end times in
the Bible, the premillennial dispensationalist view (espoused by the Left
Behind series) reads much of the Book of Revelation as a straight line of
chronology. Everything in the book reads like a novel, in which each chap-
ter’s events take place after the events of the previous chapter.

Definition: A dispensation in this context means a period of time in
the unfolding of God’s dealings with humanity. According to the Left
Behind view, God acts differently toward humanity in each dispensa-
tion. There are seven dispensations: (1) Innocence (before the fall);
(2) Conscience (the fall to Noah); (3) Human Government (Noah to
Abraham); (4) Promise (Abraham to Moses); (5) Law (Moses to Christ);
(6) Grace (the Church); and (7) The Kingdom (the millennium).

The “Church Age” (the sixth dispensation) ends with the rapture, the, se-
cret return of Christ when all believers and children not yet at “the age
of accountability” are invisibly taken to heaven. This is followed by
seven years of suffering and destruction called the tribulation. After this,
Christ returns visibly as judge to usher in the seventh dispensation. He
gives authority to believers so that they may reign over the earth with
Him for one thousand years. During this same time, generations come
and go so that unbelievers increase. This ultimately results in a group of
wicked people who are a part of Satan’s “little season” (Rev. 20:3, 7)
that comes at the end of the thousand years. Christ then returns again for
the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15) that ushers in the
new heavens and new earth.

2. Amillennialism

Description: This view takes the thousand years as a figurative refer-
ence to the era of the church, which lasts from the ascension of Christ
until His final return. The end is marked by the return of Christ, the fi-
nal judgment, and the new heavens and new earth. As noted above, this
has been the dominant position of the Christian church throughout its
history and is the position of the LCMS. This view is discussed in more
detail in study five.

Discussion Question
The Left Behind interpretation of the second coming looks at Scripture
primarily from the viewpoint of Christ’s future, unfinished work. In-
contrast, the Lutheran Church believes that the center of the biblical
revelation is justification by grace through faith in the finished work of
Jesus Christ (see John 19:30; 1 Cor. 2:2). How do these differences in