The Four Major Schools

of Prophetic Interpretation
By Ted Noel

Contents:

The Four Schools

• Historical/Critical
• Dispensationalist/Futurist
• Preterist
• Historicist
• Conclusion

Who Should You Believe?

If any person asserts that a particular view of prophecy is correct, he will

immediately find himself in opposition to the majority of interpreters. This
leads to a question. If there is so much disagreement on what prophecy
means, how can we be sure that any one particular interpretation is
correct? And, if we cannot be sure of our interpretation, how can we be
sure of the kingdom which is promised to us? On the answers to these
questions rides the fate of all who would claim the promises of God.

While it is possible to break down the various schools of thought in a host

of different ways, they fall generally into four major approaches. These
four are Historical/Critical (H/C), Dispensationalist/Futurist (D/F),
Preterist, and Historicist. Most of the remaining differences are minor
subdivisions of the primary four. For example, the Premillenial,
Amillenial, and Postmillenial schools are subdivisions of the D/F school,
based on their understanding of Revelation 20, and do not materially affect
the rest of the D/F schema, and so I will not discuss them at length here.

The essential beliefs of the four schools of interpretation are as follows:

The Historical/Critical school believes that prophecies such

as Daniel are not really prophecy, having been written at a
time later than stated in the text, and were designed to act as
encouragement to Israel rather than being true prophecy.

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 The Dispensationalist/Futurist school believes that God has
operated under different rules in different "dispensations".
The prophecies are to be interpreted exactly as written,
without any transformation from physical Israel to spiritual
Israel. They also believe that the seventieth week of Dan 9:24
has not happened, and will be in the future. This leads to
predictions such as the restitution of literal Israel, with mass
conversion of Jews, an antichrist who forms a one-world
government, peace treaties with the Jews, and a physical
battle of Armageddon.

The Preterist school believes that all prophecy has been

fulfilled. The book of Revelation was written about AD60,
rather than AD94 as many believe. Jesus came the second
time in AD70 at the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the
"midst" of the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27. This coming was a
spiritual rather than a physical event. In order to allow this
interpretation, they maintain that the entire NT after the
gospels is to be interpreted spiritually rather than physically.

The Historicist school believes that prophecy has been in

large measure fulfilled, but that the second coming and
events surrounding it have not yet happened. The physical
promises to physical Israel became spiritual promises to
spiritual Israel when the Jews rejected Christ. Rather than
declare a priori that all texts should be read physically or that
all texts should be read spiritually, historicists believe that
the natural reading of texts should have the greatest weight,
but that such a reading needs to take into account the
linguistic and cultic elements of the day of the writer, as well
as the conditionality of prophecy enunciated in Jer 18:5-10.

Before we move into the details of each school, let us set the stage briefly.
The Bible, in every page and every verse, reveals the plan of salvation. The
core of that salvation is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Various
authorities place the prophetic content of the Bible at about one fourth of
the entire Bible.

19 "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so

that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. John
13:19

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 29 "And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that
when it comes to pass, you may believe. John 14:29

There is only one purpose for the voluminous prophecies of the Bible. In
Jesus’ own words, they are to reveal Him. Any interpretation which does
not reveal the gospel is wrong.

There are three aspects to this faith-building from prophecy. The first is
that we learn again through the fulfillment of prophecy of the reality and
truthfulness of God. This is foundational. Without such faith, anything
said about God is merely words. The second aspect is the expectation of
both judgment and glory.

26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the

knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice
for sins,
27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the
fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Heb 10:26-
27

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus. Phil 3:14

The Christian is ultimately assured of both his own victory and of the
destruction of his adversaries. The third element is in the present. By
seeing the working of prophecy in the world, the Christian can see the
working of the Holy Spirit in himself. It also allows each Christian to more
clearly see the actions of the enemy: Satan. This is a spiritual battle, and
God has given us temporal signposts for the progress of that battle.

If prophecy is interpreted in a manner which does not show these

elements, that interpretation is at best worthless, and may actually obscure
the truth of the gospel. Insofar as it takes attention from the gospel, that
interpretation is a lie, and a product of the father of lies, Satan (John 8:44).
It must be rejected. Without further introduction, let us examine the four
schools.

Historical-Critical School (H/C):

The H/C school is mentioned primarily for completeness. Its

interpretations carry no value whatsoever for the Christian, since the
foundation of this school is the denial of the truthfulness and inspiration of
the Bible. We will discuss one example only to illustrate.

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The book of Daniel states that it was written in the times of certain
Babylonian and MedoPersian kings who lived in the sixth century BC.
H/C scholars insist that this is false. They point to passages in chapters 8
and 11 which some interpret as applying to Antiochus IV Epiphanes. They
say that these passages were written about 165BC, during the oppression
of the Jews by Antiochus. H/C scholars insist that this must be the case
since "there is no such thing as predictive prophecy." For additional
evidence they point to six Greek words in the text which, they insist, could
not have been in the vocabulary of a sixth century BC Jew.

As we can easily see, this position flatly says that God’s inspired writer is
lying. While H/C’s will deny this, their position denies the deity of God.
The logical conclusion, which they cannot evade, is that the plan of
salvation is a fraud. Only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross can save us
from sin. If God is not who He says He is, then we are without hope.

Fortunately for us, the H/C’s are wrong on both counts. We know that
God is real, and the evidence is conclusive. Those six Greek words are in
fact "loan words", which one language borrows from another. Further,
archeological research has found that the Babylonian and MedoPersian
kings had Greek mercenaries as their palace guards, since their own
people could not be counted on to avoid being part of the various intrigues
of the day. So Daniel is vindicated. (There are other points, but they all
have been resolved in favor of the truth of Daniel’s narrative.)

At this point, I feel a general comment must be made on archeology.

Massive efforts have been made in the middle east to uncover the ancient
cities of the Bible. In every case, the excavations have shown the truth of
the Bible accounts. There are no exceptions. Perhaps the most interesting is
the recent discovery of the true Mount Sinai (detailed in the book "The
Gold of Exodus"). Satellite imagery has now shown the very path the
Israelites took in their escape from Pharaoh’s armies, and their entry into
the Red Sea near Sharm el Sheik on the Gulf of Aqaba (a northern arm of
the Red Sea).

The views of the H/C’s deserve our condemnation. By denying the deity
of God, they deny His power and saving grace. We should never allow
them to divert us from the truth of the gospel. At the same time, we should
work to show them the wondrous mercy of our Savior. He loves them as
much as us, and is not willing that one of them should be lost.

Dispensationalist/Futurist School (D/F):

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Dispensationalists get their name from their teaching that God used
different sets of rules for different periods (dispensations) in history. In
prophecy they teach a strictly literal understanding of the words of
prophecy. Since prophecies use Jewish imagery, they demand that
prophecy speaks of a restoration of a Jewish state. A separate key part of
the D/F schema is a displacement of the seventieth week of Daniel 9:24
into the future, where it is coupled with an antichrist who forms a one-
world government (reconstituted Roman empire) and signs a peace treaty
with the Jews. There is then a 3 ½ year tribulation of the saints before the
second coming.

We can already see that the D/F’s focus not on the gospel, but on politics.
This shows that at best, their interpretations are suspect. Their key focus
on the Jews denies the fact that the Jews had the kingdom taken from them
(Matt 21:43) and that they are no longer the focus of prophecy. (This issue
is explored at length in "Who are the Jews", "The Moral Purpose of
Prophecy", and "The Hope of Israel" and will not be developed here.) A
few key points need to be explored to show the source of their errors.

Daniel 9:24-27 describes a "seventy week" block of probationary time for

the Jews. If they failed the conditions set out in verse 24, the termination of
their status as the favored people of God would ensue. Verse 25 defines
the decree that begins the 490 year period. This decree of restoration was
given in 457 BC (Ezra 7). Sixty nine weeks (483 years) later, the Messiah
was to be manifested. This occurred with the baptism of Jesus in AD27.
Verse 27 gives the time of the crucifixion, 3 ½ years later, in AD31. The
probation ended in AD34 at the end of the 490 years, the gospel went to
the Gentiles (Acts 8), and the church became the "holy nation" (1 Pet 2:9).
(For a detailed discussion of this prophecy see my study of Dan 9.)

The D/F school begins by misunderstanding the decree defined in Dan

9:25. They insist that it is a decree of "rebuilding", and lean on modern
mistranslations to support their position. If they would look at the Word
for what it actually says, they would learn that the decree is a decree of
"restoration". This fundamental error is the pillar on which the rest of their
interpretation rests.

By insisting on a decree of rebuilding, the D/F’s are forced to accept the

royal consent given to Nehemiah (Neh 2) as the decree. This fails to meet
Daniel’s specifications in all but one respect. It does not restore the people
to the land. It does not restore their self-government. It does not restore
their legal observance of God’s laws. It does mention repair of walls and
gates. On this slim thread hangs their entire schema.

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The timing of this event in 444BC causes extreme problems for the D/F’s.
If they count 483 years from 444BC, they get to AD44, which is far beyond
the time of Christ, who even they admit is the Messiah. Since Dan 9 is a
Messianic prophecy, the D/F’s have to call on complex mathematical
techniques to get the time span to end during the time of Christ. They look
in Dan 7:25 (and its repetitions in Dan and Rev) to arrive at 360 day years.
It does not concern them that the Jews never had a 360 day year, and no
evidence exists that the Jews ever thought that prophecy used 360 day
years (The Jews used intercalated days and months to adjust to an average
365 ¼ day solar year). This allows them to get more years between
Nehemiah and Christ. D/F’s insist that this recomputed number of days
extends exactly from the day of the royal consent to the day of the
triumphal entry (others calculate to the crucifixion).

The problem resulting from this is obvious. If the 69 weeks end at the
crucifixion (more or less), then the 70th week doesn’t fit with the Messiah,
since Jesus wasn’t around for the next 7 (or even 3 ½) years. Having no
possible match for the 70th week, instead of reconsidering their
foundation, the D/F’s throw it into the speculative future, where literally
anything goes. Their problem then compounds itself.

The next problem comes from Dan 2, and the discussion of the ten toes.
Daniel very clearly describes a progression from the legs of iron (Rome) to
the feet of iron and clay (the broken up Roman empire) to the kingdom of
God. This is an unbroken sequence, in which the kingdoms resulting from
the breakup of Rome "will not adhere to one another" (Dan 2:43). Because
the D/F’s haven’t figured out what to do with that pesky 70th week, they
look at the fact that "he will make a firm covenant with the many for one
week" (Dan 9:27), and figure that there must be some new character who
in modern times makes a peace treaty with (who else) the Jews. After all,
don’t the prophecies of the minor prophets refer to all nations coming to
Zion to worship? Therefore, there must be a reconstituted Roman empire,
and its leader must be the one who makes the treaty. But, there’s more!

Dan 7 refers to a little horn character who persecutes the people of God.
This guy comes out of the Roman beast, so he must be the leader who
makes (an breaks) the peace treaty with the Jews. Behold! The Antichrist!
Now they look at the deadly wound (Rev 13:3,12), and tell us that he will
be killed and miraculously resurrected. The story gets more and more
fantastic. Not one bit of it has anything to do with the gospel. It serves
purely as a diversion. But there is more.

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Daniel 8 has another little horn character. The D/F’s have decided that he
is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a notorious persecutor of the Jews. They don’t
care that Antiochus simply doesn’t fit the specifications of the prophecy,
he is close enough for them. They repeat this error in Dan 11.

Revelation does not get by without similar abuse. D/F’s see a physical
field of blood up to horses’ bridles (Rev 14:20), an amount several times
greater than all the blood of all the people who ever lived. There is a
whore large enough to be seated on seven mountains at once (Rev 17:9).
Real exegetical abuse comes in the treatment of the Jews. The millennium
(Rev 20) becomes a time when Jesus comes and by the force of His
presence, converts the entire Jewish nation. Even greater liberty is taken
with Armageddon (Rev 16:16).

D/F’s see Armageddon as a great physical battle in which the forces of evil
will take on Jesus’ troops. Yet, in the text, there is not one hint of actual
battle. Satan "gathers his forces", then the seventh angel pours out his bowl
and declares "it is done" (Rev 16:17). Rather than fight Jesus, the wicked
will actually hide from His presence. It is instructive to look at this same
point in time as pictured in Rev 6.

15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the
commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and
free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of
the mountains;
16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on
us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able
to stand? " Rev 6:15-17

The sort of liberties taken with scripture by the D/F’s are so egregious that
one must wonder how anyone can actually believe these stories. They not
only have nothing to do with the text, they have nothing to do with the
gospel. They are nothing more than fantastic fortune telling which ignores
the mighty truths which Jesus inspired His servants to write for our
instruction. And beyond this, they actively draw our vision away from
Christ.

Allow me to review the key issues. First, The D/F’s insist on a literal
interpretation of prophecy. This is totally arbitrary, and simply ignores the
mass of OT evidence that the Jews WOULD lose their favored position
with God. It further ignores the NT evidence that the Jews DID lose that

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status. Second, the D/F’s refuse to properly understand Dan 9:24-27.
Rather than reconsider their position when the dates will not work out,
they twist the Word until they force it to fit their interpretation. This leaves
them unable to accept the unity of the prophecy, and the D/F’s then
engage in flights of fancy regarding the far future.

These arbitrary and capricious distortions of God’s Word must be

condemned. They are not simply differences of opinion between honest
men. They are active deceptions which must be avoided by Christians.
They take attention away from the Great Controversy between Christ and
Satan. In doing so, they blind us to the nature and person of Satan’s
agents. This restricts our ability to combat evil.

We must pray that the D/F’s who have been so deluded by a slick
presentation can begin to see the truth. God is "not willing that any should
perish" (2 Pet 3:9 KJV), and neither should we. We must confront the evil,
and rescue the evil-doer. D/F’s need to see that all prophecy reveals God’s
power and providence.

The Preterist School

The Preterist school is probably the most difficult of all schools to discuss,
for its members are careful scholars, rejecting the facile excesses of the
D/F’s, yet arriving at conclusions which seem strange to most Christians.
Their fundamental claim is that the second coming was a spiritual event
occurring in AD70, and that we now live in the kingdom of God, and are
full recipients of all the promises of God in the here and now. As one of
them has written:

"You can know the joy of having received all

the promises the OT saints were eagerly
awaiting. You can acknowledge the fact that
you are a full-fledged child of God living in His
eternal kingdom right now, and enjoying the
benefits of a fully accomplished salvation! ...

"You can also have the confidence of knowing

that you are living in the Kingdom age (you
can call it the "Church age" if you like), and that
it is everlasting in its duration!"

Kenneth J. Davies, What the Heck is a Preterist

(and Why Would I Want to Become One)?
(excitement in the original)

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The preterists begin their hermeneutic by taking a rigid position toward
the NT "imminency" statements.

34 "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away

until all these things take place. Matt 24:34

This, and a host of texts like it, point to a second coming within a few years
(40 by their calculation). Simply put, either the second coming was in the
first century AD, or God is a liar. Since God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and there
was no physical second coming, the only possible answer is that it was a
spiritual event. This leaves the preterists with a problem (one of several),
since 2 Peter 3 has a decidedly physical tone, speaking of the destruction of
the world by fire (vv. 7, 10, 12). They fix this difficulty by declaring that the
entire NT after Acts 1:10 refers to spiritual truths, which have no physical
element. This appears to deal handily with such difficulties such as being
"seated" with God (Eph 2:6), and the "fire" of 2 Peter 3.

With their careful approach, why shouldn’t we believe the Preterists? A

full discussion of this would take a book, so we will hit a few high points
here. The first issue to consider is whether prophecy is unconditional.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,

6 "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter
does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the
potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
7 "At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or
concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy
it;
8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its
evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring
on it.
9 "Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation
or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it;
10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I
will think better of the good with which I had promised to
bless it. Jer 18:5-10

In this passage, God makes it very plain that prophecy is dependent on

good behavior. There are a couple of objections to this. First, apocalyptic
(end time) prophecy is written in an unconditional style. This would seem
to negate conditionality. However, there are examples of "unconditional"
prophecy which were reversed. The story of Jonah contains no indication
of conditionality, yet, when the people of Nineveh repented, God relented

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and they were spared. A second point comes from the apocalyptic
prophecies themselves.

Daniel 8:14 contains a prophecy which projects forward to 1844 from

457BC. Dan 9:24 defines a 490 year period which also begins in 457BC.
This period is probationary, and if the Jews behaved properly, the second
coming could have been shortly after this period expired in AD34. Since
both of these time periods began at the same moment, if the Jews satisfied
their probation, 1844 would never have happened. Likewise, a second
coming in AD70 would have eliminated 1844. On the other hand, because
of the Jews’ bad behavior, the implied benefits of satisfying their probation
did not happen. In any case, an apocalyptic prophecy is necessarily
conditional.

This presents the preterists with another problem. If they accept the plain
word of God regarding conditionality, their entire schema evaporates. The
NT imminency statements are no more or less the word of God than any
other word of God. If the other "unconditional" prophecies are in fact
conditional, then so are the imminency statements. The difficulty which
requires a spiritual second coming evaporates. We now have the option of
considering the possibility that the early church failed to carry out its
commission, and that the early return had to be postponed. The preterists
do not accept this, and one of them declared that by making this point, I
was denying the inspiration of scripture.

At this point, we need to look at another aspect of the 2,300 days of Dan
8:14. As we noted, this prophecy extends to 1844. If the preterists are
correct, then the prophecy is wrong. No prophecy, in their view, has a
focus beyond AD70. Therefore, they are forced to accept less than correct
understandings of prophecies in order to make them fit their schema. This
is improper. But, even if we allow them their understanding of the 2,300
days, Dan 11:22 leaves them without an excuse.

22 "And the overflowing forces will be flooded away before

him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. Dan
11:22

The "prince of the covenant" can be no one other than Jesus, the Messiah.
Daniel had already used this term to refer to Jesus in Dan 9:24-27.
Therefore, the remaining half of the chapter, with references to events that
occur far after AD70, stands in stark contradiction to the preterist schema.
This problem cannot be avoided. Prophecy projects its view far beyond
AD70. Because of this fact alone, the preterists cannot be correct.

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Let us now review, in no particular order, a few other problems which the
preterist must confront.

The book of Revelation is commonly thought to have been written about

AD92-95. This date is 20+ years after the proposed second coming.
Preterists challenge the late date of Revelation, and make some very
cogent arguments for a date in the AD60’s. If the late date is correct, it is
fatal to their arguments. If the early date is correct, it allows their position,
but proves nothing.

9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while

they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their
sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He
was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood
beside them;
11 and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand
looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from
you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have
watched Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11

The story of the translation of Jesus into heaven is very physical. Jesus
disappeared into a physical cloud. There is not the slightest hint of a
spiritual event. The disciples were "gazing intently", a physical action. The
angels, without equivocation or qualification state that Jesus will return in
exactly "the same way". The only logical conclusion is that "the same way"
means a physical, not a spiritual return.

Jesus was resurrected physically. In fact, Jesus made a point of having

Thomas (John 20:24-28) touch Him in order to prove the physical nature of
His resurrection. Even the primary definition of the word is physical.

386 anastasis {an-as'-tas-is}

from 450; TDNT - 1:371,60; n f

AV - resurrection 39, rising again 1, that should rise 1,
raised to life again + 1537 1; 42

1) a raising up, rising (e.g. from a seat)

2) a rising from the dead
2 a) that of Christ
2 b) that of all men at the end of this present
age

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 2 c) the resurrection of certain ones who were
restored to life

In the face of this, and in the absence of any statement whatever which
would substitute a spiritual resurrection for physical resurrection, the
preterists insist that the resurrection is spiritual. They declare that when a
person converts to Christianity he is "resurrected" "from death into life",
using a metaphor commonly used by Paul.

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from

the dead, how do some among you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ
has been raised;
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is
vain, your faith also is vain. 1 Cor 15:12-14

Unfortunately for the preterists, their position simply cannot stand up to

the plain language of Paul. Verse 13 equates Christ’s resurrection with the
"resurrection of the dead". Christ’s resurrection was from physical death,
and therefore the "resurrection of the dead" must also be physical, not
spiritual. This brings us to another hermeneutical error made by the
preterists.

Preterists, being careful students, explore the meaning of words carefully.

Words such as "generation", "age", "life", and "death" get explored at
length. Unfortunately, a blind spot develops in these studies. Once a word
usage is determined, it is stated to be the only use of the word. One such
example is "death".

Paul uses "death" in a spiritual sense in many places.

5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us

alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, Eph
2:5

As we saw in the example above, this is not the only way he uses it.

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels,

nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:38-39

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In this text, if "death" means spiritual death, then Paul’s statement is
gibberish, since spiritual death means separation from Christ, and Paul has
said that "death" cannot separate us from Christ! Therefore, "death" in this
text must be physical. For us to take the primary meaning of "death" as
spiritual in this text is arbitrary and unjustified. God did not inspire the
scriptures in a way designed to hide meaning from us. He inspired them
to reveal Himself to us. To arbitrarily change the meaning of a word,
without support from scripture, is to declare that our understanding is
higher than God’s. We should condemn such an assertion. We must learn
what God put in the scriptures, not what man would like to put in them.

Various words are used in different ways depending on context. "Death" is

not the only one. If we look at Paul’s use of the word "fulfill", we will find
more than one use, depending on the context. Is there any reason to expect
that the word "age" should be any different? Yet the preterists require that
there can only be two "ages": the "age" of the Jews and the Kingdom "age".
They say that the age of the Jews, the old covenant, ended with the
destruction of the temple in AD70. To show the error of their system, let us
re-examine the prophecy on which this is based.

Dan 9:24-27 predicts the arrival and crucifixion of the Messiah. 483 years
after the decree of Artaxerxes I (Ezra 7), the Messiah would appear (v25).
The Messiah would then strengthen the covenant "for one week", or seven
years (v27). That would be the end of the 70 weeks. The destruction of
Jerusalem is also predicted (vv. 26-27), but the time of that destruction is
left open. That is, the destruction of Jerusalem had no fixed relationship to
the end of the covenant at the end of the 70 weeks.

The decree was given in 457BC, Jesus was baptized in 27AD, and the end
of the 70 weeks was in 34AD. This was the end of the old covenant, the
covenant with the Jews. We can see this in the book of Acts. After the
crucifixion the disciples continued in Palestine, preaching to the Jews. This
continued up to the stoning of Stephen in AD34 (Acts 7). This act of
rebellion finished the 70 weeks, and the old covenant with the Jews ended.
The very next chapter (Acts 8:4) begins the preaching of the gospel to the
gentiles. This was the beginning of the new covenant.

Preterists deny this conclusion, and state that the old covenant was in force
until the destruction of Jerusalem brought about the end of the sacrificial
system foretold in Dan 9:27. Their foundation for this is suspect.

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 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, Dan 9:27a (KJV)

The "midst" of the week points to the cross, which was at the middle of the
seven year period. This is the time when the sacrifices and offerings
("oblations") of the Mosaic sanctuary system stopped in God’s eyes. Once
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was complete, God signified the end of all
blood sacrifices by tearing the veil shielding public view from the Holy of
Holies (Matt 27:51). The fact that the building still stood was irrelevant. We
had a "better sacrifice" (Heb 9:23-28) which took the place of all the other
sacrifices. It can be unequivocally be said that all sacrifices ended at the
cross, exactly as foretold in Daniel. Further, since the end of the
probationary 490 years was in AD34, every day after that was part of the
new covenant, or church age. The old covenant had ended. Any
interpretation which extends the old covenant to AD70 must therefore be
rejected. The Jews broke the covenant repeatedly (Is 24:5, 33:8), and God
finally ended their probation in AD34.

Preterists insist that Jesus’ use of "age" (Matt 12:32, etc.) refers to the old
and new covenant ages. They then say that the new covenant age applies
to the time after the second coming "in AD70". As we have seen, if we
apply their definitions, then the time does not work out, so once again, the
preterist schema fails.

A full detailing of all of the failings of the preterist schema would require a
book. Let us review a few final texts to show what will truly happen.

21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and

anointed us is God,
22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a
pledge. 2 Cor 1:21-22

The word translated "pledge" is an interesting one.

728 arrhabon {ar-hrab-ohn'}

of Hebrew origin 06162; TDNT - 1:475,80; n m

AV - earnest 3; 3

1) an earnest
1 a) money which in purchases is given as a
pledge or down payment that the full amount
will subsequently be paid

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The Holy Spirit is the earnest money which is paid to guarantee later full
payment of an obligation. God, through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, has
guaranteed us full participation in His kingdom as kings and priests. God
is obligated to come through with His end of the bargain so long as we
keep up ours by trusting fully in Christ. Preterists insist that this debt is
already paid. Yet, they are unable to tell us what we have now that is any
different than the disciples had at Pentecost.

• They had the Spirit: So do we.

• They suffered physical death: So do we.
• They had a less than perfect communion with God: So do we.
• There was sin all around: There still is.

In fact, there is NO CHANGE in the members of the church which can be

identified as happening in AD70 (or later for that matter). Where is the
glory the preterists claim? It doesn’t exist. We do not see God "face to face"
as promised! (1 Cor 13:12) Further, the "eternal" life we are promised
seems to them to be simply some sort of communion with the Eternal God
in this physical life, and not one of them with which I have communicated
is able to suggest what happens after physical death in this "eternal" life.

In other words, the statements regarding our full receipt of the promises
overlooks the fact that there is no fundamental change which has occurred
in Christians since outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
AD31. To say that we literally "reign" now, but in some other realm of
which we have no perception is a sophistry without meaning. It becomes a
hollow claim without substance, and takes away the hope which still
awaits. The scriptures detail that hope for us.

1 Cor 15:12-14 (quoted earlier) identifies the "resurrection of the dead" as a

physical event, just as Christ’s resurrection was physical. Therefore, we
look forward to a physical resurrection into life which is eternal in
duration, not just in spiritual character.

5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by

the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth
was formed out of water and by water,
6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being
flooded with water.
7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being
reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and
destruction of ungodly men. 2 Pet 3:5-7

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This passage sets a physical stage, noting the physical creation of the
heavens and earth and the world’s physical destruction (of its surface and
inhabitants) by water. The second part of the parallel then says, "the
present heavens and earth … are being reserved for fire". Peter, having set
out to make a physical statement, completes that physical statement. At
that day of judgment, all of the "ungodly men" will be destroyed
physically by fire. Before we see the confirmation of this in Revelation, let
us note that the presence of "ungodly men" today confirms that the second
coming has not happened, because they are to be destroyed at the second
coming. Let us now look to Revelation.

8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and

murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters
and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire
and brimstone, which is the second death." Rev 21:8

Combined with 2 Peter 3, we can now clearly see that everyone who has
died will be physically resurrected, and the wicked will be thrown into the
lake of fire to be killed the second and final time. This is very physical.
And it has not happened.

We could pursue many other avenues to show the shortcomings of the

preterist position, but space prevents it. I believe that we have adequately
shown that the preterist position rests on shaky pillars.

• A rigid spiritualization of the NT yields as faulty a

result as does a rigid literalization of the OT.
• A rigid use of word studies without context yields
faulty results.
• A failure to understand the conditionality of prophecy
leads to a fixed conclusion which is at odds with the
remainder of scripture.
• A failure to properly accept the long range view of OT
time prophecies allows the preterist to avoid seeing
the contradictions in his position.

The preterists appear to be faithful Christians, but, contrary to their fervent

protestations, they are without hope. Such a position destroys the glory of
the final victory of the gospel, and turns away the believer from the truth.
This is to be rejected. We must not allow ourselves to be deluded by
"cunningly devised fables" (2 Pet 1:16 KJV).

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A proper understanding of prophecy and methods of study will allow the
preterists to see the glory that awaits. We should pray that they can come
to see the true focus of the gospel. We will literally, physically, and
spiritually become members of the heavenly kingdom. As believers, we
hold title to that position. At the second coming, we will be able to exercise
the privileges of that title.

The Historicist School:

After reading through my scathing rebukes to the other three schools of

interpretation, you would suspect that I find the historicist school to be
correct, and you are right. However, I caution the reader to examine each
historicist exposition very carefully, because there are many interpreters of
historicist bent who do not exercise the level of care appropriate to their
task. I will give examples later, but first, allow me to lay out the
foundation of historicism.

I do not believe that anyone will seriously dispute the fact that the Great
Controversy between God and Satan is spiritual, not physical.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places. Eph 6:12

Even so, this battle is fought on a physical stage, for the hearts of physical
beings. As a result, prophecy is necessarily a physically framed panorama
of the spiritual war. Prophecies give temporal beings temporal signposts in
the spiritual drama.

19 "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so

that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. John
13:19 (see also John 14:29)

Historicists rejoice in the moral purpose of prophecy, which begins with a

backward look at fulfilled prophecy which confirms the deity of God. This
confirmation gives us faith in the future fulfillment of prophecy. And both
of these facts allow us to see the working of prophecy in the present, both
around us and in us. Such a clear picture allows the identification of the
actions of the devil through his "seducing spirits" (1 Tim 4:1), and gives the
Christian the tools to avoid Satan. Only the historicist position is fully
compliant with the moral purpose of prophecy.

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Context is the key word in the historicist method. Before we can determine
how to understand a particular statement in prophecy, we must
understand its context. This includes not only the grammar of a given text,
but the setting provided by the verses around it, and the historical setting
of the writer. The historical setting includes not only the time, but the
language, location, and culture of the prophet. Only when all of this is
taken into account will a proper understanding be gained. A brief
excursion into Dan 9:26 is illustrative.

26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off
and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to
come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Dan 9:26a

Many interpreters look at the destruction of Jerusalem with modern eyes.

They take the "people" to be the army of Titus, which physically destroyed
Jerusalem, and then make Titus the "prince who is to come". This error
comes from a failure to look at all of the context. The first level of context is
the surrounding texts. The preceding verse introduced "Messiah the
Prince" who "is to come" at the end of the 69 weeks. Therefore, the "prince
who is to come" is Jesus.

This leads to a conclusion which is strange by western thought. Jesus’

"people" were the Jews, but the Romans physically destroyed Jerusalem.
Unfortunately, many interpreters stop here. They reject the correct
conclusion because of a western thought pattern. We have to go further
back in the chapter to see the true context and meaning.

12 "Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken

against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on
us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not
been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. Dan
9:12

In this verse we see the complete context. The Jews had rebelled against
God, and their disobedience led God to destroy Jerusalem the first time.
Therefore, the Jews were responsible for the destruction of the city.
Physically, the Jews did not carry out the destruction. Neither did God, in
any direct physical sense such as at Sodom and Gomorrah.
Nebuchadnezzar’s army actually destroyed Jerusalem. But the Jews were
responsible for the destruction because of their disobedience, and in
Jewish thought, they destroyed the city. Daniel was a Jew, and his writing
confirms that he was part of this tradition. When this context is
understood, we can clearly see that in 9:26 the "prince" is Jesus, and the

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"people" are the Jews. Daniel is pointing out the fact that the Jews will be
responsible for the destruction of their holy city.

By using context carefully, the historicist is able to avoid the excesses of

the rigid literalism of the D/F’s and the tunnel vision of the rigid
spiritualism of the preterists. The careful historicist will use all of the tools
available, including the word study employed by the preterist. However,
he will be careful not to misapply the word study the way preterists do.
Let us look at one example.

Daniel 9:24 refers to anointing "the most holy". Interpreters debate whether
this refers to anointing the sanctuary or anointing Jesus. Word study helps
us here. The Hebrew qodesh translated "holy", is used over 300 times in
the OT. It is used in repeated form in 9:24 and about 40 other places. In all
of the other places (with only one disputed exception), it is used to refer to
an object rather than a person. This means that Daniel is referring to a
"thing". When we then consider "anointing", we find that the only "thing"
which was ever anointed was the sanctuary. Only one conclusion is
possible: "the most holy" refers to the sanctuary.

We can see that while proper study can be demanding, the rewards are
substantial. By adherence to proper principles of study, we can gain a clear
understanding of the prophet’s message, and we can become "a workman
who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."
(2 Tim 2:15) Proper study will always be uplifting, bringing new light to
the student, revealing again and again the beauty of the gospel.

This is not the place to do a detailed study of any prophecy, but, to show
how even those using presumably correct methods can err, let us examine
two texts.

15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour
and day and month and year, were released, so that they
might kill a third of mankind. Rev 9:15

Certain historicist interpreters take the phrase "the hour and day and
month and year", and apply the "year for a day" principle to it. In doing so,
they come up with a period slightly over 400 years, which, depending on
how you view certain details, happens to equal the duration of the
Ottoman Empire. Unfortunately for these exegetes, their level of care is not
up to the proper standard, because the phrase in question does not refer to
a duration of time. This phrase begins in both English and Greek with the
definite article "the". Therefore, the phrase is a formulaic literary way of

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saying that the angels were prepared for that specific point in time. When
the error is corrected, a different understanding of the prophecy emerges.

1 And when He broke the seventh seal, there was silence in

heaven for about half an hour. Rev 8:1

This is another place where the year for a day principle gets applied
overzealously. Some interpreters multiply out the half hour to become
seven days, and say that it is the "time of flight" for Jesus in transit from
heaven to earth at the second coming. While this fanciful exercise may be
satisfying for some, it ignores the context.

John was a devout Jew. He grew up steeped in Jewish traditions, and the
apocalypse is totally filled with such imagery. The half hour of silence is
part of that imagery, not a significant point of exegesis.

17 "When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no

one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he
may make atonement for himself and for his household and
for all the assembly of Israel. Lev 16:17

The half hour of silence is part of the conclusion of the day of atonement
ritual! At the time noted in Lev 16:17, the entire camp was to move out of
the tabernacle. They waited in silence until they heard the bells on the high
priest’s robe tinkle when he left the holy of holies. The sound of the bells
showed that God had accepted both the high priest and the cleansing
sacrifice he presented. Unfortunately, this little bit of "trivia" is not in
scripture. It is, however, well documented outside of scripture. Its
omission from holy writ has led many interpreters to overlook the fact that
it is simply part of the day of atonement tapestry in Revelation 8, and they
give it significance it does not deserve.

Conclusion:

It is vitally important, when studying prophecy, to use a proper study

method, or hermeneutic. Failure to do so will give results which are not
only incorrect, but which destroy our view of the gospel. At the same time,
that hermeneutic must be properly applied. Those of us who read the
work of others must carefully examine each writer’s use of scripture to be
certain of the truth of his conclusions.

First, a rigidly literalistic or rigidly spiritualistic application of scripture is

to be condemned. The complete context must be respected to properly
understand the writing of the prophet.

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Second, the complete voice of scripture must be heard on any particular point.
All scripture will be in agreement, and one part of scripture will amplify
another.

Third, the complete prophecy must be kept in view. An interpretation which

bypasses "inconvenient" details bypasses the truth. God states that "all
scripture" (2 Tim 2:15) is for our benefit. This includes all prophecy,
including those "inconvenient" details.

Finally, the complete gospel must always be kept in view. Any interpretation
which does not more fully raise the gospel into our view must be rejected.
God has prepared His kingdom of glory for us where there will be no
more sin, no more tears, and no more struggle. We must always keep our
eyes focused on "the prize of the upward call of God" (Phil 3:14). No one
will enter that kingdom based on his heritage or his merits, but only by his
dependence on the cleansing blood of our Savior.

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