Dr. Couch, Acts 2:30-35 does not put Christ on His throne ruling today,
does it? Is it incorrect to say that He is spiritually on the throne?
Does Christ appear on His throne prior to Revelation 20:11? I am trying
to get an amil friend to see the light and understand premillennialism.
Acts 2:35 is quoting Psalm 110:1. Christ the Messiah is now sitting at
the right hand of God the Father. This is the Father’s throne in heaven.
It is not the earthly millennial throne that will be set up in the Holy
Land, in Zion (v. 2). Someday, from Zion, God the Father will cause
Christ to rule over the nations and over His enemies (v. 2). Psalm 110:5
is interesting because, while the Lord Christ is now at God’s right
hand, He will [in the future] from Zion shatter kings "in the day of His
wrath. He will judge among the nations."
These literal concepts are repeated in Psalm 2. Christ applies all of
these thoughts to Himself with His premillennial return to earth. He
says: "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels
with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations
will be gathered before Him. … Then the King will say, ‘Blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
earth’" (Matt. 25:31-34).
How could verses like this, and dozens and dozens of others, be taken in
a spiritualized or allegorized way? Bible study is easy, but few are
reading today and letting the text speak in a plain sense.
You need to get some auxiliary reference books that will help your friend put it all together. I suggest Paul Benware’s Understanding End Time Prophecy, and new book, The Gathering Storm.
Quick answers, even those I give out here, will not help people put it
straight. Men have to be thoroughly committed to read, study, pray over
the text, and interact with good Bible students, such as yourself, in
order to let the Word of God speak clearly. A simple suggestion: When
looking at various Bible verses, get a yellow pad and write down all you
observe in the text. Do the verses read allegorical or literal? Do
other great passage back up what is being written? Men today are not
studying systematically and orderly. They go brain dead when they look
at passages and fail to analyze what the text is saying. I hope this
helps!
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
