Premillennialism
The Kingdom - Its Beginning
In 2nd Samuel 7:12 God made a promise to David. He said, "When thy days are fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom." In fulfillment of this promise the angel Gabriel said to Mary, "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord shall give unto Him the throne of His father David" (Luke 2:31-32). In Matthew 1:1 it says, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." In Matthew 3:1-2, having described the birth of Jesus, the record says, "And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." At hand simply means near, or as we might say, right around the corner. In Luke 3:1-3 the record says, "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberias Caesar... the word of God came unto John.. and he came unto all the region round about the Jordan." Notice John came during the reign of Tiberias Caesar, a Roman ruler.
In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that Daniel interpreted to mean four kingdoms. The first was Babylon, the next Medo-Persian, the third Macedonia, the fourth was Rome. In Daniel 2:44 Daniel said, "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." As we have seen from Luke, John the Baptist came during the days of the Roman government, and he said that the coming of this kingdom was at hand or near. So, the kingdom that was promised to David was to be set up during the days of the Roman government.
Furthermore, Jesus told some of His disciples, "Verily I say unto you, There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power."
It is the contention of premillennialists that the kingdom was offered to the Jews but they rejected the offer and Jesus postponed the setting up of the kingdom until the second coming of Christ. This has some serious consequences. Jesus said it would come during the earthly life of His disciples who were with Him. If it was not to be set up as to the time He said, He was mistaken about it. Was Jesus mistaken about anything? It also leads to the absurd conclusion that some of those who were alive when Jesus was on earth are about 2,000 years old! It also raises the question: Was the offer of the kingdom to the Jews a sincere offer? If it was, Jesus was mistaken about it. How can that be? it also raises the question, What would have happened if the Jews had accepted the offer? The church would not have been established.
It is also the contention of premillennialists that the kingdom as foretold by Daniel will eventually be set up. Daniel, however, said that it would be during the days of the Roman government. Premillennialists argue that government is to be restored and then the kingdom will be set up. Daniel's prophecy concerned a Roman government that was preceeded by a Macedonian government which was preceeded by the Medo-Persian government which was preceeded by the Babylonian government. Will all these kingdoms have to be restored? This stretches credulity! It would be far better to accept the truth that the kingdom has been established and it was done so during the days of the apostles. - Hiram Hutto
"He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:15-19