William Kristol writes in The Weekly Standard:
Intellectually, it’s always safer to be a pessimist than an optimist.
I’ve been thinking about that statement. I’ve always tended to be a pessimist by nature. If it is correct, perhaps I’ve just been taking the easy way out by playing it safe.
But one place where I have been learning to be more optimistic is in the area of eschatology (study of the end times). I was raised being taught a pessimistic eschatology: Dispensational Premillennialism. Under this scheme, Jesus Christ will return to earth to usher in the Millennium, in which He will physically and politically reign over all the earth from Jerusalem.
But a big part of this scheme involves the idea that things will continue to get worse until Christ returns. I recall hearing people say that it is doing the devil’s work to attempt to make things better, since it is God’s plan for things to get worse. Now, if that is pessimism squared!
One of the advantages of this scheme is that you can look to the newspaper to validate its truth. There are always problems in the world. Wars, earthquakes, famines, etc. If you want to find things getting worse, there are always places you can find them.
For years I was content to accept this pessimism. But the problem was that as I read the Bible, I saw there is great optimism. There are promises of the success of the Gospel and the advance of the kingdom of God to the farthest reaches of the world.
Here are just three examples of the promises of success for the Gospel, all from the book of Isaiah. (There are many other examples just from Isaiah I could also have included.)
2 In the last days
the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD ,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 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.
5 Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD .
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD .
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.
9 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 waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
Because of these and other Scriptures, I have come to be a Postmillennialist. I believe that God will continue to prosper and grow His kingdom and give the Gospel success until Jesus Christ will return. We are currently living in the Millennium, and as such we can expect the Gospel will ultimately succeed. We might not see the success in our time, but succeed it eventually will.
It can be easier to see the terrible things that are going on around us than to see the quiet way God’s kingdom is advancing in our time. But Scripture has convinced me to be optimistic, contrary to my nature. “Intellectually, it’s always safer to be a pessimist than an optimist.” Well, maybe I’m living dangerously, but I believe that Scripture teaches an optimistic eschatology.
