Who is Israel? (Part 4)A Postmillennial view of Israel
The Optimistic Turn of Supersessionism
If amillennialism sees the Church as the fulfillment of Israel, postmillennialism takes that same foundation and paints it with bright colors. It shares the same theological DNA, one people of God, one covenant story, one fulfillment in Christ, but it adds an optimistic horizon: the world will not end in chaos, but in revival. The kingdom of God will grow like yeast in dough, quietly and steadily, until the whole thing rises.
In this view, the millennium isn’t a literal 1,000-year reign from Jerusalem, but a golden age of gospel influence on earth before Jesus returns. History bends toward redemption, not collapse. And in that beautiful unfolding, Israel has a part to play, not as a rival nation, but as a long-lost brother returning home.
Many of the postmillennial thinkers from the 17th to 19th centuries believed that the mass turning of the Jewish people to Christ would be one of the final, climactic chapters in the redemptive story. John Owen spoke of a day when “the Jews shall be called,” and Jonathan Edwards saw their conversion as a kind of resurrection moment, echoing Paul’s words in Romans 11: “life from the dead.”
It is eschatological hope. Most believe that when Israel, once hardened, finally turned to Jesus, it would ignite a global wave of renewal, not a separate covenant, not a new nation-state, but a spiritual awakening that would bless the whole earth.
That hope still lives on among modern postmillennial voices, people like Ken Gentry and the authors of The Puritan Hope, who continue to affirm that God’s redemptive plan likely includes a mass salvation of Jews near the end. But again, the expectation is not political Zionism. It’s not a return to the Mosaic system or a temple in Jerusalem. It’s Israel becoming fully Christian, not to create a second people of God, but to be fully folded into the one family of faith.
You could call this optimistic supersessionism. Or, maybe more kindly, inclusion theology with a hopeful timeline. It holds that Jesus is still the only way in. That there’s only one olive tree. But it sees the future as a blooming orchard, and believes Israel will be part of that harvest.
Most postmillennialists view the Church as spiritual Israel, the inheritor of the promises. And while many see the modern State of Israel (established in 1948) as significant from a providential point of view, maybe even a sign that Jewish hearts are stirring, they don’t read it as a prophetic fulfillment in the theological sense. Covenant blessings, they insist, are accessed through Christ alone. Ethnicity doesn’t entitle anyone to the land. Faith does.
So even though postmillennialism shares much with amillennialism, in its view of the Church, the New Covenant, and the fulfillment of prophecy, it diverges in tone and trajectory. Where amillennials are content to wait for Christ’s return, postmillennials expect the world to be transformed before He shows up.
It’s a theology that believes not only in one people of God, but in the global flourishing of that people, and a final homecoming for Israel, not as a separate kingdom, but as part of the Bride.
Evaluating Postmillennialism: A Hopeful Kingdom, A Homecoming for Israel
Strengths
Postmillennialism doesn’t just imagine the gospel winning, it expects it. In a world addicted to apocalyptic despair, that’s already a refreshing counter-narrative. And when it comes to Israel, postmillennial theology gives a vision of mercy, not marginalization.
Where It Shines
Postmillennialism shines with a vibrant, hope-filled vision of the gospel’s future. This view believes that through the faithful preaching of the gospel, empowered by the Spirit, the nations will increasingly come to Christ before His return. Keith Mathison puts it like this, it’s an “eschatology of hope,” rooted in the conviction that the promises of the gospel will bring transformation to families and nations during this age . The Puritan legacy, remembered as the “Puritan Hope”, rests on the belief that such fervent expectation for God’s global kingdom fuels bold cultural engagement, not retreat. In fact, Thomas Boston famously noted, “Hope would inspire ardour,” emblematic of an outlook that sees the whole world as fields for kingdom advance .
Both postmillennialism and amillennialism affirm that the church is the continuation of God’s covenant people, united with Israel, not as a separate entity, but as part of the same olive tree. Romans 9–11 and Ephesians 2 underscore that Jews and Gentiles are grafted together through Christ. Postmillennialists expect that ethnic Israel will come to faith in significant numbers before the end, not by inaugurating a separate covenant, but as part of the same covenant of Christ, bringing to life “all Israel will be saved” as a crescendo of gospel triumph .
Revelation 20’s “millennium” is interpreted symbolically, marking the present era of gospel advance, while seeing the apocalyptic passages, as holding promise for future fulfillment. Rather than going for hard literalism or sweeping allegory, postmillennialists chart a course that reads prophecy through Christ’s resurrection and the Spirit’s historical work in our past and future, all the while anticipating a future consummation confirmed by biblical hope .
At its core, postmillennialism is a worldview of expectant action. It rejects the notion of withdrawal as well as complacency. Instead, it stands on the biblical conviction that Christ’s kingdom influences every part of culture today and promises even greater justice, peace, and spiritual harvest in the age ahead. This theology holds fast to the gospel’s mission, confident in God’s promises for all His people, Israel and the Church, woven into one grand, unfolding story of redemption.
In summary, postmillennialism’s strengths lie in:
Kingdom Confidence: Fueling hopeful mission built on the gospel’s triumph.
Bible Unity: Uniting Israel and the Church as one covenant people without ignoring ethnic identity.
Cultural Participation: Inspiring active work in the world as agents of redemptive transformation.
Interpreting Wisely: Reading apocalyptic genres responsibly while emphasizing Christ’s reign now.
This makes postmillennialism a compelling vision, hopeful, mission-driven, Christ-focused, and biblically grounded.
Where Postmillennialism struggles
It’s fair to say that the optimism of postmillennialism isn’t always easy to sustain. As a minority position in the modern church, its rose-colored view of the future can feel out of step with the stark warnings Scripture gives about apostasy, suffering, and spiritual warfare, and with the very real brokenness we see in the world today.
Critics often challenge this hopeful framework: does the Bible actually promise a globally Christian society before Christ returns? Or is postmillennialism overlaying prophetic texts meant to comfort, instead of pointing to an advance of the global church? Some point to 2 Thessalonians 2 and Matthew 24, where Paul and Jesus describe a rise in apostasy and deception, not worldwide peace, right before the end of the age . They claim that postmillennialists sometimes “keep textual details out of focus… in service of the belief that the prophecies of worldwide righteousness and shalom will reach fulfillment on earth before rather than at the second coming” .
Another major critique revolves around the balance, or imbalance, of their hermeneutic. Historically very rooted in the Reformed tradition, postmillennialism draws theological support from Puritans like Jonathan Edwards, but modern proponents sometimes slip into more political or theonomic applications of gospel victory . This has led to some massively wonky ideas within Post-Mill camps. The concern is that the grand hope for societal transformation turns into a quest for Christian domination, risking the distortion of the gospel into a tool for cultural power rather than personal and communal renewal .
Regarding Israel, postmillennialists are critiqued for their approach to national promises. Like amillennialists, they spiritualize the land, temple, and kingdom, arguing these will be realized in a redeemed Church and a redeemed world, not in a restored Jewish nation-state. Critics worry this makes the New Testament promise of Israel’s stumbling and future restoration sound more like spiritual allegory than covenantal reality. Post-mill believers respond: yes, the promises are fulfilled in this kingdom age, but their moment is still to come, not through geo-political Zionism, but through a mass turning of Jews to Christ, silently woven into the global gospel triumph.
Postmillennialism often leans on historical progress, like the rise of Christian moral reforms or social justice movements, as proof of its forward momentum. But skeptics argue real-world setbacks, religious decline, and global conflict challenge the view’s confidence in progressive gospel victory. The two World Wars, secularization waves, and contemporary cultural fragmentation may suggest postmill’s optimism may be misaligned with both history and prophetic realism.
In short, postmillennialism thrives on hope: it calls us to expect gospel-driven transformation without denying suffering or Christ’s final coming. Yet dissenters ask: does it hold to biblical realism? Or is it too quick to expect utopia before Calvary’s return? The strength of this vision lies in its hopeful momentum, but that same hope can strain under the weight of biblical caution and historical tension.
How Coherent Is It, Really?
In terms of biblical coherence, postmillennialism lands around 80% , similar to amillennialism in structure, but arguably stronger in how seriously it takes Romans 11. The idea that Israel’s eventual repentance enriches the world and signals a kind of resurrection is thoroughly scriptural. And its treatment of Israel is refreshingly hopeful: no rejection, no sidelining, just a final chapter of grace.
The open question is whether the timeline is right. Does Scripture guarantee that kind of cultural victory before Christ returns? That’s where the debate lies. But as far as Israel is concerned, postmillennialism tells a deeply biblical story: God is not finished with His people. They, too, will see the beauty of the King.
Additional Reading on the subject
Mathison, Keith A. Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope (P&R Publishing, 1999). A comprehensive defense of postmillennial optimism, exploring biblical foundations, historical precedent, and practical implications .
Gentry, Kenneth L. Jr. He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology (Eureka, 2009). A systematic and biblically grounded presentation of postmillennial theology, widely recognized as a modern classic .
Bahnsen, Greg L. Victory in Jesus: The Bright Hope of Postmillennialism (P&R, 1999). A pastorally oriented introduction highlighting the gospel’s exponential growth and its cultural influence .
Chilton, David H. The Days of Vengeance: An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Thoburn Press, 1987). A historicist, postmillennial commentary on Revelation, interweaving prophecy with kingdom growth .
Wilson, Doug When the Man Comes Around: A Commentary on Revelation (Canon Press, 2009). A readable, imaginative application of postmillennial interpretation to Revelation’s apocalyptic imagery .
Murray, Iain H. The Puritan Hope (Banner of Truth, 1971). A historical survey of Puritan optimism and its expectation of societal transformation under the gospel’s influence .
Bibliography
Mathison, Keith A. Postmillennialism: An Eschatology of Hope. P&R Publishing, 1999.
Gentry, Kenneth L., Jr. He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology. Institute for Christian Economics, 1992.
Murray, Iain H. The Puritan Hope: A Study in Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy. Banner of Truth Trust, 1971.
Monergism.com. “Noted Theologians in History Who Believed in a Future Conversion of National/Ethnic Israel.” Monergism, www.monergism.com/noted-theologians-history-who-believed-future-conversion-nationalethnic-israel. Accessed 24 June 2025.
“Postmillennialism.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, last modified June 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmillennialism.
Boston, Thomas. Quoted in Iain H. Murray, The Puritan Hope (Banner of Truth Trust, 1971), 124.
Owen, John. Works of John Owen, vol. 9: Sermons on Hebrews. Banner of Truth Trust, 1965.
Edwards, Jonathan. “Nothing Is More Certainly Foretold Than This National Conversion of the Jews in Romans 11.” The Puritan Hope, Iain H. Murray, Banner of Truth Trust, 1971, p. 256.