I believe in this post that I can disprove the pre-trib rapture and premillennialism using only the Scriptures. Proverbs 18: 13 says that, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” So I ask you humbly, as a fellow servant in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, please consider this post with an open heart and mind.
So Jesus and Paul only knew of two ages.
That is correct! The age that we are currently living in and the millennial period, which is described in Revelation 20:1-7 with the words "a thousand years" referred to six separate times and which follows Rev.19:11-21 which is a detailed account of the Lord's return to the earth to end the age.
End of the age = Christ's return to the earth to establish His thousand year reign, which is the "age to come."
I think by looking at some further Scriptures to see how this current age ends, we can rule out any possibility of a 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth and therefore disprove premillennialism. Let us proceed and take a look at the next set of Scriptures.
Matthew 13: 47-50, “The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The above is in reference to the judgement of the sheep and the goats which will take place when the Lord returns to the earth to end the age. Those gathered will be those who will have made it alive through the entire wrath of God, with the sheep, (great tribulation saints), as those who will repopulate the earth during Christ's thousand year reign along with the remnant of Israel.
2 Peter 3: 10-13, “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. Therefore, since all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of person ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
In the scripture above, Peter is speaking in general terms, not sequentially. In other words, yes, the event of the Lord coming like a thief in the night will take place and at some point after the thousand year reign of Christ, then this current heaven and earth will pass away and the new Jerusalem will come down. This is why it is important to cross-reference and compare scripture. You can't just adhere to one scripture and ignore others, which is what you are doing by attempting to circumvent the scriptures regarding the thousand year reign of Christ.
We know from other scriptures that this present heaven and earth are not destroyed when the Lord returns to the earth to end the age, because according to Rev.20:1-7 we have a thousand years which needs to be fulfilled after the Lord returns. It is during this time when Isa.2:4 will be fulfilled:
"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
The millennial period is when prey and predator animals will be at peace with one another and the lion will eat straw like the Oxen:
The wolf will live with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the goat;
the calf and young lion and fatling will be together,
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will graze with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play by the cobra’s den,
and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all My holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the sea is full of water.
(Continued)