Historicism vs. Futurism
By
Pastor Irvin Baxter Jr.
There are two major
positions when it comes to interpreting the prophecies of the Bible. One belief
holds that the prophecies of the Bible largely pertain to the end times, and
are either being fulfilled now or are yet to come. This position is known as
the Futurist belief. The other position is called Preterist or Historicist.
Those holding this position contend that the prophecies of the Bible are
largely, if not entirely, fulfilled and past. The Futurist position has been
the view held by the majority of Christians for at least the last century.
However, the Historicist position seems to be reasserting itself of late. Our
purpose today is not to cast reflection on those who may sincerely hold either
of these views. We do want to examine both positions in light of scripture to
see which of these is biblical.
Defining Historicism
One of the most well known of the historicist writings is a book by Ralph
Woodrow
entitled Great Prophecies of the Bible.
We will use his teachings to present the Historicist position as fairly and
accurately as possible.
Major prophetic doctrines
of Historicism are as follows:
1. The prophecy of Daniel's 70 Weeks has already been
fulfilled in its entirety.
2. The Antichrist is not one particular man, but has been fulfilled by the
papacy of the Roman Catholic Church. We should not be expecting an Antichrist
to appear in the future.
3. The prophesied ten-horn kingdom existed at the time of the dissolution of
the
4. The Great Tribulation lasted 1,260 years and is now past. There will not be
a time of great tribulation at the Second Coming. (Woodward does believe in a
Second Coming of Jesus. Apparently, some Historicists do not.)
5. The events of Jesus" prophecy in Matthew 24 have
already been fulfilled and do not pertain to our times today.
The
Futurist position
1. There is a
gap between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel's 70 Weeks" prophecy. The
first 69 weeks have been fulfilled. The 70th week, a seven-year period, is yet
to come to pass.
2. Though there have been many antichrists throughout the years, the Bible
prophesies one Antichrist who will rule a one-world government for three and
one-half years immediately before the coming of Jesus Christ at Armageddon.
3. The prophesied ten-horn kingdom is yet to appear on earth, and the
Antichrist will arise among these ten kings.
4. The Great Tribulation is yet future and will last for three and one-half
years. (Some Futurists believe it will last for seven years.) It will occur
during the last half of Daniel's 70th week, and will be terminated when the
Antichrist is destroyed by Jesus Christ at Armageddon.
5. Most of Jesus' prophecies in Matthew 24 deal with events of the end time and have yet to be fulfilled.
Step by step
Has the prophecy of
Daniel's 70 Weeks already been fulfilled in its entirety?
There are several aspects of the Historicist interpretation of Daniel's 70
Weeks prophecy that we want to examine. Lets look at
the prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-27.
24 "Seventy weeks are
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression,
and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to
bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and
to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment
to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for
himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city
and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end
of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst
of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."
Who is the
"he" that will confirm the covenant for seven years?
Historicists believe the Messiah is the one who was prophesied to confirm the
covenant. Futurists teach that it will be the "prince that shall
come"--the Antichrist. This question is very easy to answer.
Notice that the same
"he" that is to confirm the covenant is also to take away the daily
sacrifice and place the Abomination of Desolation (verse 27). Daniel 11:30-31
tells us in no uncertain terms that it is the Antichrist (the king of the
north) and his followers who take away the daily sacrifice and place the
Abomination of Desolation.
30 "For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be
grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall
he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the
holy covenant.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of
strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the
abomination that maketh desolate."
This passage is obviously not referring to the Messiah. Would the Messiah ever
"have indignation against the holy covenant?” Would He ever "pollute
the sanctuary of strength?” Obviously not! The entirety of Daniel 11:21-45 is
discussing the actions of the king of the north--the Antichrist.
So we can see clearly that
it is the Antichrist, not the Messiah, who takes away the daily sacrifice and
places the Abomination of Desolation.
Remember that the one who takes
away the daily sacrifice also is the one who confirms the covenant according to
Daniel 9:27. So we know for certain that it is the Antichrist, not the Messiah,
who will confirm the covenant for seven years. Daniel 11:22 strengthens this
proof when it calls the king of the north (the Antichrist) the "prince of
the covenant."
This one proof totally destroys the foundation of the Historicist position.
However, there are several other aspects of this question that we want to
examine.
Confirming the covenant
for seven years
Daniel 9:27 says that "he" will confirm the
covenant for one week (seven years). Historicists say that Jesus confirmed the
covenant of the New Testament during his three and one-half years of ministry.
He was then crucified in the midst of the week (after 3 1/2 years), and then
was caught up into heaven 43 days later. Herein lies
the problem.
How did Jesus confirm the covenant for the last three and one-half years of the
70th week since he was gone from the earth? The only escape from this dilemma
is to say that God continued to deal with the Jews through His church for three
and one-half years after His ascension. However, there is no historical or
biblical proof that God turned from Jew to Gentile exactly three and one-half
years after the crucifixion.
In Great Prophecies of
the Bible, Woodward says that the confirming of the covenant with the Jews
during the last 3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week was finished 3 1/2 years
after Jesus' ascension. He claims this was when God sent Peter to preach to a
Gentile, Cornelius in Acts 10. However, there is no scriptural or historical
proof for this assertion. This claim has to be made in order for the doctrine
that Jesus is the one that confirmed the covenant to fit. Of course, we have
already proven that this is not true anyway.
The 70th Week--past or
future
The Historicists contend that there is no gap between the 69th week and the
70th week in Daniel's prophecy, even though they are spoken of separately in
Daniel's account. How can we know whether the 70th week is already fulfilled or
yet to happen?
Daniel 9:27 tells us that
the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the Abomination of Desolation
happens in the midst of the 70th week. If we can prove when the Abomination of
Desolation takes place, then we can know when the 70th week occurs.
Historicists say that the
daily sacrifice was taken away by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But we have
already proven by Daniel 11:30-31 that this is not true. This passage plainly
says that the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the placing of the
Abomination of Desolation will be done by the Antichrist and those that forsake
the holy covenant. So what is the Abomination of Desolation, and when does it
take place?
When will the
Abomination of Desolation occur?
Jesus referred to the Abomination of Desolation in Matthew 24:15. He plainly
said that the Abomination of Desolation would be the event that launched the
Great Tribulation.
15 "When ye therefore
shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand
in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains...
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
Matthew 24:15-16, 21
The Great Tribulation will
last for three and one-half years. We know this because Daniel 7:25 says the
little horn, the Antichrist, will wear out the saints of the most High for a
time, times and the dividing of time. A time is one year, times
is two years, and the dividing of time is one-half year, for a total of
three and one-half years.
How do we know that time,
times and the dividing of time is three and one-half years? We can determine
this because another description of this time of Great Tribulation is given in
Revelation 13:5-8. It states that the beast, the Antichrist, will make war
against the saints for 42 months. Of course, three and one-half years and 42
months is the exact same amount of time.
Revelation 12:5-14 also
teaches that the Great Tribulation lasts for three and one-half years. It says
that the woman (
As we can see, every single
reference to the Great Tribulation in the Bible states that it will last for
three and one-half years.
Jesus said that the
Abomination of Desolation would begin the Great Tribulation. Since we know that
the Great Tribulation lasts for three and one-half years, we know that the
Abomination of Desolation occurs three and one-half years before the Battle of
Armageddon. Daniel 9:27 says that the Abomination of Desolation takes place in
the middle of the seven years known as Daniel's 70th Week. This proves that the
Great Tribulation fills the last half of this seven-year period.
Abomination of
Desolation happens three and one-half years before the Second Coming
Matthew 24:29 tells us that, immediately after the Great Tribulation, the sun
will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. If the Great Tribulation
has already happened, as the Historicist viewpoint contends, when did all these
things come to pass? Obviously, they haven't.
Verse 30-31 continues right
on to tell us--"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And
he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other."
This passage clearly states
that, immediately after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon
will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven. It continues on
to say that, right after that, Jesus will come in the clouds, the people of the
earth will see Him, and he will send his angels with a sound of a great trumpet
to gather His elect.
Are we to believe that
Jesus has already come back? Has He in some mysterious way secretly gathered
His elect? Of course not!
The conclusion is simply
unavoidable. The Historicist view that all these things have already happened
is simply not true.
What is the Abomination
of Desolation?
Some Historicists teach that the Abomination of Desolation was fulfilled in 167
BC when Antiochus Epiphanes offered a pig on the
altar in the Jews"
In Great Prophecies of the
Bible, Woodward teaches that the Abomination of Desolation was when the Roman
armies were encamped round about
Immediately after the 3 1/2
year tribulation triggered by the Abomination of Desolation, the sun was to be
darkened, the moon was to not give her light, and the stars were to fall from
heaven. If the Abomination of Desolation occurred prior to 70 AD, when did
these things happen?
Matthew 24:30-31 teaches us
that, right after the sun is darkened and the stars fall from heaven, the Lord
will send His angels to gather His elect and the inhabitants of the earth will
see Him. If the Abomination of Desolation had happened around 70 AD, the Lord
would have gathered His elect at that time. Did anything like that happen? Of
course not! The surrounding of
What then is this event
called the Abomination of Desolation? Matthew 24:15 tells us that the
Abomination of Desolation will stand in the holy place. Where was the holy
place?--In the Jewish temple, of course.
The Apostle Paul describes
the Abomination of Desolation in II Thessalonians 2:3-4.
3 "Let no man deceive
you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God."
Paul says here that the man
of sin, the Antichrist, will sit "In the
So what have we learned
about Daniel's 70 Weeks prophecy?
1. It is the Antichrist, not the Messiah, who will confirm the covenant for
seven years.
2. It is the Antichrist that takes away the daily sacrifice and places the
Abomination of Desolation.
3. The Abomination of Desolation signals the beginning of the Great
Tribulation.
4. The Great Tribulation lasts for three and one-half years--th last three and one-half years
of Daniel's 70th week.
5. Immediately after the Great Tribulation, Jesus appears, sending his angels
to gather His elect. At this time those dwelling on earth shall see him.
Once we understand these things, it becomes obvious that Daniel's 70th week is
a future event, not something past.
Antichrist: Future or
Past?
Another prominent view of the Historicists is that there will not be a future
Antichrist.
Historicists say that the
prophecies about the Antichrist have been fulfilled by the papacy of the Roman
Catholic Church. They teach that the ten-horn beast of Daniel 7 symbolized the
We have to acknowledge that
tremendous persecution has been carried out against Christians by the papacy
over the last 1,700 years. It is estimated that over 50 million Christians have
died in these persecutions because they would not profess belief in the
doctrines of Roman Catholicism. There is no doubt that the harlot on the back of
the beast in Revelation 17 is the Roman Catholic Church. But does this mean
that the papacy fulfilled the prophecies about the Antichrist?
In order to answer this question, we need to understand that several different
names are used in scripture to refer to the Antichrist. He is called the man of
sin, the son of perdition, the little horn, that
wicked one and the beast. Most commonly today he is simply referred to as the
Antichrist.
The Bible teaches us that
there will be two evil personages on earth at the time of the Second Coming of
Christ--the Antichrist and the False Prophet. This is taught in Revelation
19:19-20.
19
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against
his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought
miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into
a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
Notice that both the beast
(the Antichrist) and the False Prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire
when Jesus comes to earth at the time of the Battle of Armageddon. This means
they will both be alive on earth at that time. If we say that the coming of the
Antichrist is not future, we also must say that the Second Coming and the
Battle of Armageddon are not future events either. Even the Historicists admit
that the Second Coming of Jesus is a future event.
The teaching that ten
Gothic tribes growing out of the old
In the prophecy of Nebuchadnezzari's image in Daniel 2, the ten toes on the
image represent the same thing as the ten horns on the beast in Daniel 7 and in
Revelation 17.
It states in Daniel 2:44…
"And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."
Notice that this passage clearly says that God will establish his kingdom "in the days of these kings." What kings?--the prophesied ten-nation union that will be the power base of the Antichrist.
Revelation 17:12 teaches the same thing--
"And the ten horns
which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received
no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast."
These ten kings receive
power for a very short period of time with the beast, the Antichrist.
The Bible also says that
this ten-nation union will fight against Jesus Christ when He returns to earth
with His saints. We know this from verse 14.
"These shall make war
with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and
King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and
faithful."
The prophesied ten kings
will be on earth with the Antichrist at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus
to earth. These ten kings will actually fight against Jesus Christ Himself.
All of these things prove
conclusively that the Antichrist is yet to appear on earth. We also know that
the ten kings were not to appear 1,600 years ago. The fact is--their appearance
on the world scene lies just ahead of us now!
Will the Pope be the
Antichrist as Historicists claim?
Bible prophecy teaches us that the Antichrist will come out of a revived
The
It will be the same
arrangement under the end time world government of the
Antichrist. The political leader will be the Antichrist, and the spiritual leader
will be the False Prophet. So we can see clearly that the pope will not be the
Antichrist. However, it is also obvious that whoever is pope at the time of the
Antichrist will be the False Prophet.
The Great Tribulation--past or future?
In Great Prophecies of the Bible, pages 69-70, Ralph Woodrow teaches
that the Great Tribulation began at the Roman invasion of
Daniel 7:21-22 plainly
teaches that the Antichrist will make war against the saints until the coming
of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom.
“I beheld, and the same
horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of
days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time
came that the saints possessed the kingdom."
Matthew 24:29-31 affirms
the exact same thing.
29 "Immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other."
Notice that this passage
states that, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the coming of the
Son of man will take place.
On every major point of
prophetic understanding, the Historicist view inevitably ends up in conflict
with scripture. As we have seen, the evidence is absolutely overwhelming that
this view is simply not what the Bible teaches.
However, it should be noted
that some prophetic fulfillment is now history. For example, the rebirth of the
nation of
I believe it can be proven
that the first three seals of Revelation 6 have now been opened (see Lesson 4
of Understanding the End time). The farther we move
into the end time, the more of the prophecies will be
fulfilled and become history rather than futuristic.
What is important?
The Historicist vs. Futurist discussion is not a salvation issue and should not
be allowed to become divisive in the church at a time when our attention should
be focused on reaching the lost. However, proper understanding concerning
prophetic fulfillment is vital if we are to accomplish God's will for these end times.
Daniel 11:32-33 reveals
what God's people should be doing right now: “… the
people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that
understand among the people shall instruct many--" If we don't understand,
how can we help someone else?
Rev. Irvin Baxter, Jr.
is the pastor of Oak Park Church of Jesus Christ in Richmond, Indiana and the
director of End time Ministries. Pastor Baxter can be
reached through his website www.endtime.com .
as of 12-2006