Early American Baptist Pastor and educator Morgan Edwards (1722-1795) wrote an essay for eschatology class on his views of Bible prophecy during his days at Bristol Bible Seminary (1742-1744) published in 1788 as Two Academical Exercises on Subjects Bearing the following Titles; Millennium, Last-Novelties. I won't post the entire essay here, which is why I linked to it, but here are its main points. Edwards writes in the 1740s: There will be two resurrections. The distance between the first and second resurrection will be somewhat more than 1,000 years. Christ's personal reign on Earth will be 1,000 years at least. Christ's Kingdom on Earth will be universal. That spot of Earth which Christ will make the seat of his governments: Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. Remember, he wrote that almost 1,700 years since the Jewish Diaspora in A.D. 70 also 200 years before they became an independent state again in 1948. In this section of his essay, Edwards writes that Jerusalem and the Temple would be rebuilt. Edwards says that the risen and changed saints shall reign with Christ on Earth for 1,000 years. Then he, quite bluntly but rightly, states that those who do not believe in a literal millennial reign of Christ on Earth do miserable work on eschatological texts because only such a doctrine of a literal, millennial reign of Christ does justice to these passages.
But Edwards' pre-Darby predictions do not stop at the Millennium. He writes that certain events preclude the Millennium, meaning that certain things must happen to prepare the way for Christ's millennial reign on Earth. This includes the necessity that the usurpers of the country given to Abraham and his seed (Israel) be dispossessed. Though Edwards did not claim to be a prophet, it almost seems prophetic that he wrote of the demolishing of the Turkish or Ottoman Empire. He also spoke of the 12 tribes of Israel would return to their ancient inheritance, meaning the land God gave them. Then he points out something that I have said many times after studying the works of many Bible prophecy scholars. Jesus spoke of the abomination that causes desolation (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Edwards explains that some suppose this refers to Antiochus IV Epiphanes. While I believe it could be reasonably stated that Antiochus was a type of abomination to come, Antiochus IV lived from 215-164 B.C, long before Jesus came to Earth as a baby. Therefore, Jesus was prophetically speaking of a future Temple yet to be built and an abomination yet to come during the global Tribulation that he spoke about throughout the entirety of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In that future Temple during the Tribulation, the Antichrist will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped so that he sets himself up in the temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Edwards also refers to the Rapture, the appearance of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:1-14, and the binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3) as things that must happen before Christ's reign can begin.
Edwards' essay continues with events that will coincide with the Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth after the Tribulation. Any kingdom or state that refuses submission to Christ or his viceroys shall be reduced to obedience. It is only in the context of such occurrences during the Millennial Reign and final rebellion at its conclusion that Psalm 2 makes sense. Christ promises that those who believe that he is the Son of God and do things that please him will get authority and power over the nations to shepherd and rule them with a rod of iron as the earthen pots are broken in pieces (Revelation 2:26-27). Nothing like this happened during Christ's first advent, but it will during his second. Communion or The Lord's Supper will cease when he returns (1 Corinthians 11:26). It will be replaced by an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Anyone that refuses to worship Christ during that time will experience drought. At some point during the Millennium, it is prophesied that Egypt will be among those that refuse to send representatives to Jerusalem to worship Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:17-19). Christ will judge between nations during the Millennium and mediate disputes for many people since they will have beaten their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up the sword against nation because they will never learn war again (Isaiah 2:4). Edwards also draws an important distinction that almost all people except futurist Bible prophecy students miss between those in their resurrected, glorified bodies and those who come to Christ after the Rapture and survive the judgments and persecution of the Tribulation. Resurrected believers will neither marry nor be given in marriage because the church is the bride of Christ, and he is our groom (Ephesians 5:22-33). Thus, they will cease procreation (Matthew 22:30). But those who come to Christ after the Rapture and survive to the end will go into the Millennium in their current bodies that will be permitted to live the entire 1,000 years, similar to those of Genesis 5 before the Flood. Those people will continue on to marry and have children throughout the Millennium. One of the most fascinating things to me is that those children, as they grow, will have to give themselves to Christ just as those of us do who serve him as Lord today. Equally fascinating is that some of those children will be unbelievers during that time. They will be given 100 years to repent and turn to Christ, and if not, they will die at the then-young age of 100 and be eternally accursed. The scripture indicates that some may die even before age 100. It's so interesting to me because the rebellious will not have the excuse of unbelief about Christ, for he will be ruling the world from Jerusalem at that time. Yet there will still be those who resist him with full knowledge of their own peril (Isaiah 65:20). Despite this, the world's overall condition will be restored to how it was meant to be from the beginning (Isaiah chapters 11 and 51). Unbelievers will be in the global minority at that time, just as believers are during this current age.
Pastor Morgan Edwards then describes events that will follow the Millennial Reign of Christ. Satan will be loosed for a short time after the Millennium. Though unbelievers will be eternally accursed beginning with their death at age 100, they apparently will produce many children throughout those generations. The passage describes many who it seems have been waiting for Satan's release so they could follow him in one final, futile attempt to overthrow Christ. Then all who have refused to follow the one true God of the Bible will be assigned their forever places in the fiery lake of burning sulfur commonly known as Hell (Revelation 20:7-15).
He concludes his treatise in bewilderment that more Christians of his day did not think of and look forward to the Millennial Reign of Christ on Earth as the Christians of the first three centuries did. He correctly notes that their writings will full of such references and expectations. Messiah has been awaiting this day since he ascended to Heaven (Hebrews 10:13). Around God's throne in Heaven, they sing of a time when resurrected believers will reign over Earth (Revelation 5:10; Matthew 5:5; Romans 8:19-23). Yet, these things did not occupy the minds of the believers of his day. How much more shocked would he be at how much less it occupies the minds of professing Christians today? This entire book reads like it could have been written by a pre-Tribulation Rapture author or spoken by a pre-Tribulation Rapture pastor today. Yet it was written almost 300 years ago and about 60 years before John Nelson Darby, who is falsely credited by many as the originator of these biblical doctrines.
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