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Postmillennial Absurdity: New Heavens & Earth Are Already Here
Kenneth Gentry, Jr., is the managing editor of Postmillennialism.com and has written a most interesting article regarding Isaiah 65. In his post, Bro. Gentry tells us that the new heavens and the new earth are already present in history. They exist now.
While I have dealt with Isaiah 65 before, this is a teaching which crosses the line of speculation into the realm of absurdity.
First, he quotes Isaiah 65:17-19 which reads:
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
He follows by saying this:
Some amillennialists declare that there is “substantial evidence . . . for identifying [Isaiah 65:17ff] with the perfect eternal state.” And these verses do seem to speak of something that can only occur in eternity. No weeping and crying? How can we hold that this new creation exists now?
The answer to this problem is found in considering Isaiah’s fuller statement. He speaks of glorious elevated conditions, to be sure. But these conditions are still continuous with the present. We see this in the experiences of birth, aging, death, time, sin, and curse:
The fuller statement of Isaiah he refers to is Isaiah 65:20:
“No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.”
Bro. Gentry concludes with these statements:
This must be preconsummational, for sinners will not be in the post-resurrection perfect state. Nor will infants be born. Nor will people die…
The new heavens and new earth here (and many places elsewhere) refer to the new covenant era. It characterizes the worldwide transformation that begins occurring with the coming and spread of the gospel. (emphasis mine)
The new heavens and earth refer to the new covenant era? Really?
Then why, pray tell, in the new covenant era, do we have the apostles speaking of the new heavens and earth as yet to come?
We must understand such an interpretation to be silly for the following reasons:
First, 2 Peter 3:13 says: But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
What promise is that? Why, it is the promise of Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 of course.
Now the God the Holy Spirit inspired the writings of Peter, and thus, there is no mistaking on the part of the apostle. If God, through Peter, instructed Christians that the new heavens and the new earth were yet to be seen and realized, then that is the end of the matter and it is an impossibility that the new heavens and the new earth are already here.
Secondly, God, through Peter again, tells us that before the installment of the new heavens and the new earth, the current must be dissolved, burned up, destroyed altogether. 2 Peter 3:10-11.
Surely, my intelligent readers, you do not swallow the nonsense of this postmillennial teaching?
5 Pt. Salt 
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Some amillennialists declare that there is “substantial evidence . . . for identifying [Isaiah 65:17ff] with the perfect eternal state.” And these verses do seem to speak of something that can only occur in eternity. No weeping and crying? How can we hold that this new creation exists now?
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Really!!!, and these amillenialists have names??
Just another example of the obfuscation and trickery that some of these guys employ. Post millenialism is even further out there than dispensationism and premillenialism combined.
If you took the time to look at the original article, he DOES name the amillenialist he is referring to.
Further, if the author of this article took the time to actually read the views of postmillenialists concerning I Peter 3, he would have found that they actually have consistent explanations for how these Scriptures fit. Of course they will not fit if you interpret them according to your own view of eschatology! If you are going to be charitable to other brothers in Christ, you can at least see if they have already answered your objections before you accuse them of spouting nonsense or being unintelligent.
Thank you for your words of wisdom, and please continue to speak the truth. A lot of myths are spoken as truth now, just as they were in other times, and it’s up to the men and women of God to read and study His word, and to boldly speak the truth as you have here.
God bless you,
Cheryl
Bishop John Lightfoot (one of the guys who formulated the Westminster Confession) said the following about 2 Pet. 3:13:
‘We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth.’ The heaven and the earth of the Jewish church and commonwealth must be all on fire, and the Mosaic elements burnt up; but we, according to the promise made to us by Isaiah the prophet, when all these are consumed, look for the new creation of the evangelical state” (A Commentary of the New Testament
from the Talmud and Hebraica (1658), vol. 3, p.453)
In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus said that not a “jot or tittle” would pass away from the law until “heaven and earth” passed away. Josephus, writing in the first century, states that the temple/tabernacle was divided into parts that were called, literally “heaven” and “earth” (Antiquities of the Jews, 3.6.4[123], 3.7.7[181]) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) states: “There is some evidence for the view that the Jerusalem temple was regarded as a replica of God’s heavenly home…. It is also possible that Mt. Zion was believed to be the place where heaven and earth intersected and ordinary distinctions between the two did not apply (“Temple”).
You can certainly claim that John Lightfoot was spouting “nonsense.” Just understand that many people actually study this issue in depth and find a lot of sense in this interpretation.
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If you took the time to look at the original article, he DOES name the amillenialist he is referring to.
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Okay, my bad and my apologies, he does name amillenialists, but I still hold to the view that postmillenialism cannot be consistently reconciled with scripture.