Why I am a Futurist

Why I am a Futurist

By Harley Pinon

With respect to prophecy, people are broadly divided into two camps: preterists who believe that all prophecy has been fulfilled, and futurist who believe that there are prophecies of things that are yet to be. Such a broad division means that there are many smaller divisions within these two broad categories. The purpose of this article is simply to show why I accept the position of a futurist, not a preterist.

This is not a murder trial, but if it were, how would the jurors decided the case? They would decide the case, and the future life of the one on trial, by the evidence. As the evidence is presented, there will be two attorneys. One will try to prove the man is guilty, and the other will try to show that he is innocent. Since there are two sides, how can you decide which one is right? You decide the case of guilt if there is no reasonable doubt of his guilt. “No reasonable doubt!” There may be some concerns in the minds of the jurors because of what the defense lawyer had presented. That’s what he was hired to do. In fact the one on trial hopes his lawyer will create enough doubt in the minds of the jury that they will not convict him, yet as the jury makes its decision, it has to weigh the arguments and decide the merits of all that has been presented. In the end they must decide guilt or innocence, even though arguments for both sides have been presented.

For many months, I have listened to the arguments of the preterists. Do they have any reason to believe the way they do? Of course they do, or there would be no preterists, but does that mean they are correct? Of course not. Just the fact that there are preterists does not establish the truth of what they say. One great argument that they present is the time argument. They argue that the statements of time urgency mean that all prophecies had to be fulfilled during the life of the generation that heard Jesus speak. In general, their decision is that AD 70 – the fall of Jerusalem completed all prophecies. That’s in general what they believe. I am not going to list all the text that they present, nor all the arguments that they make. That is not the point of this article. I have only presented these as main points of preterism. My intent is to show why I cannot accept the conclusion that AD 70 fulfilled all prophecy that we have in the Bible: Old and New Testaments alike.

In Amos 3:7 we find these words: “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” I think the truth in this passage is very important. What does it mean? I reason this way: One of the things that God is going to do is to bring this world to an end. I believe that He has revealed this to His servants the prophets.

What is the preterists’ view of this? Their view is that He did reveal the end, and the end has already come. I have a problem with that. Their view of the end and my view of the end are entirely different. My view of the end of this earth as we know it is found in (2 Pet 3:5-10 NKJV) For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, {6} by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. {7} But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. {8} But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. {9} The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. {10} But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Verse 6 says, “by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” In Genesis 6-8, we have a complete account of the coming of the flood, and of the flood itself. We know that the end of the world was a complete end. Only Noah, his family, and the animals that were with him on the ark were the exceptions. The destruction of Jerusalem did not come close to being the end of the world. In my article, “Judgments of God” http://www.harleypinon.com/judgments_and_trials.htm , I have pointed out that there have been many preliminary judgments of God, but none to date have been the final judgment of God. The flood of Noah’s day was much closer to total destruction of the world than the destruction of Jerusalem.

We know from the account in Genesis that the world was totally flooded. Peter is comparing that to the final destruction of the world as he says, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. I believe the clear implication of Peter is that the destruction by fire will be as world encompassing as the destruction by water.

I believe that Peter addresses another issue of the preterist: time, or delay! Peter says, {9} The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. It seems this is one of the big objections that preterists have toward the futurist’s point of view. It is as if they are saying, “The Lord should have already come.” In fact, one preterist went so far as to say that either the end of the world has already come, or Jesus is a false prophet. When I have a choice of going with the Lord’s words, or some man, I will go with the Lord’s words every time.

Peter goes on to say, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up,” verse 9. I believe that this end of the world is yet to be. Why do I believe it is yet to be? Because nothing close to this has happened in the last 2,000 years. The destruction of Jerusalem, which is the end of the age, the day of judgment, and the resurrection, for preterists, does not begin to match what is being described here by Peter, and in other passages of scripture as well.

Let’s go back to Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” The Lord is doing something right now. The earth is still here. There is still life here on earth! Things are still going on, and if all prophecy has been fulfilled, then what do we do with this verse? We have life going on, and according to preterists all prophecy has been fulfilled, so we are left with no message from God about what is to happen from now on, because according to preterists, it is all over. There are no unfulfilled prophecies.

No, this isn’t a murder trial. It is rather a searching for the meaning of the prophecies contained in the word of God. The Old Testament is an example of how God works. We have 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, but were the people without any understanding of what would happen? No! Emphatically no! When Herod the king enquired about the birth of Christ, what was he told? “Oh, we don’t have any idea about that. All the prophesies that we have have all been fulfilled.” We all know better than that: (Mat 2:3-6 NKJV) When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. {4} And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. {5} So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: {6} 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

What is my point? My point is that there had been 400 years of silence, but the chief priests and scribes knew the answer to Herod’s question because they knew that much about Bible prophecy. “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7 I don’t think God has sentenced us to wander in a “no man’s land” where we have no idea what will happen next, or what the end will be. I believe that we have prophecy that stretches to the end of time as we know it – till the end of this world system, if you will.

I am a futurist! I believe that God has detailed for us events until the end of the world. These prophecies are many, and they are meant to keep us on track until he comes. In fact, Paul told those of Thessalonica about our Lord’s return: “since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, {7} and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, {8} in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, {10} when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” (2 Th 1:6-10 NKJV)

Is prophecy important? I believe it is. During the first century, some were confused and thought that the Lord was coming back, almost immediately. They apparently had quit their jobs, and were just waiting for the Lord to come back. Paul said, (2 Th 2:1-11 NKJV) Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, {2} not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. {3} Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, {4} who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. {5} Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? {6} And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. {7} For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. {8} And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. {9} The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, {10} and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. {11} And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.”

Prophecy is like God’s road map, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7 That’s why Paul was able to tell the people of his day that it was time for them to go back to work because the end would not come until these specific things had happened. They have not happened to this day. I am a futurist! Yes, I’ve heard the statements of the “lawyers” for the other side, and I know they have things that concern them, but my understanding is that God has given us prophecy of what will happen until He makes His final return. As I pointed out in my article, “Judgments of God,” the Destruction of Jerusalem was a preliminary judgment, but the final judgment is yet to be.

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