Thoughts From a Postmill Husband & Father by Jay Bruinsma
My wife, Amy and I recently recorded a podcast episode with Grant and Ericha of The Reformed Reset. We spoke about the daily operations within our home having a postmill eschatological outlook. As I listened and reflected on the episode it dawned on me again just how vast the subject of eschatology truly is. I realized we could've talked for much longer.
The purpose of this article is not to try to convince you of the postmillenial understanding of eschatology. There are far better writers, bloggers, podcasters, and authors with far more experience that can articulate themselves much better than I am capable of doing (I will list some resources at the end). I will, however, share some other thoughts I had after listening to the episode.
I mentioned how the postmill stance provides us with an opportunity to raise our children with a positive, hopeful view of what is to come and how we are to live our lives. Of course, other eschatological stances provide a hopeful “end” that Christ wins, but only after God’s people suffer a terrible defeat. This victory happens only after having failed to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth, having failed to take dominion over the birds and fish and every living thing, having failed to “heavenize the earth” as James B. Jordan puts it. The cultural mandate in Genesis 1 has not vanished; we still work toward that goal today. (I realize there are many different outlooks and views, but because there is a cultural mandate to get to, I am going to generalize.) In our home we raise our kids with the same task that Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 28. Our children know that ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ. So when he calls us to go and make disciples of the nations, baptize them, and teach the people to observe all we are commanded, that means we have work to do. We don’t “try to survive”, praying for God to take us before it gets too bad. We don’t teach our kids to simply make it through until Christ comes back to rescue us from a world that has become worthless. We go forth, with confidence, intentionally and deliberately, to reclaim all of this world because it is rightfully Christ’s.
As husbands, regardless of your eschatology, I think most men reading this would agree that our job is to lead, provide, and protect (I hope). Perhaps what eschatology changes is our motivations for why we embrace these tasks. The postmill stance is a long game stance. Very little happens quickly. We plant our seeds and we wait. We slowly chip away at something much bigger, patiently resting in the covenant promises given to us by our Creator as indicated, for example, in Deuteronomy 7:9. “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”
I lead, provide, and protect my family because it is my investment in a better future for my kids, grand-kids, to a thousand generations. It is an investment into a better future for mankind in general. We believe the world to be slowly healing back toward the garden state as God originally designed. No sickness, pain, sadness, or death. No sin. No evil. Admittedly, that can be hard to see at times, especially right now in Canada as the majority wrongfully beg a godless government to claim more authority over our nation. But God is sovereign and His timing, His will, His plans are infinitely better than ours. We can’t see everything happening currently at any one time, but we can trust that He is overseeing everything. The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 5 puts it well. “God the creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”
We have our orders and we faithfully obey, regardless of what our surroundings look like.
Even the way Jesus taught us to pray points to a promising future. “...Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-13)
I build electrical panels for an industrial boiler manufacturer. There is nothing glamorous about my job. There is nothing thrilling about my job. I am certainly not saving any lives. What I AM doing is providing for my family. Providing a way for my wife to stay home and teach our children. Providing a way so my wife can manage her domain as she desires. Providing a way for us to host Sabbath feasts and invest in friendships over fantastic meals prepared by my wife, Amy, and my daughter. Amy doesn’t have to worry about finances, costs of living, or late night drives through nasty weather after a long shift at the plant. Consequently, I don’t have to worry about who is teaching my children or what they’re being taught. I don’t have to be concerned about who is raising my children and what influences they are being introduced to. Amy and I work together with very different roles and responsibilities but toward the same goal of raising children to become godly men and women. We work together to raise godly men and women who know their God-given purpose as they set out to handle their tasks in a world where Christ is making his enemies his footstool. (Acts 2:35)
We don’t have to heavenize the entire earth on our own or do so immediately. We simply have to heavenize what is within our reach. Men, faithfully lead your wives and children well. Women, faithfully manage your homes well. Together, raise your children to be the next generation of faithful men and women. Repeat the process. Build together with other like-minded believers. Watch the earth become heavenized.
As stated earlier, I am not trying to convince anyone of the postmill position. I simply wanted to shed some more light on how our home operates within a postmill framework. There is still much that could be discussed but I will leave you with some resources to delve into. As I said on the podcast, eschatology is a topic that can be overwhelming, exhausting, and intimidating. I would challenge anyone that hasn’t begun looking into it to pick one book or one podcast and start studying. Start small. I believe eschatology actually has a significant impact on how we live, how we interact with fellow believers, and how we interact with the secular world. The end game does not change based on the plays we run, but the plays we run will most certainly change based on how we believe the game ends.
Post Tenebras Lux!
Some resources on eschatology
Books:
Heaven Misplaced - Doug Wilson
An Eschatology of Victory - J. Marcellus Kik (This book has a lot of great info but I found it to be a hard introduction into eschatology)
Victory in Jesus - Greg Bahnsen (I haven’t read this one personally but it comes highly recommended and I haven’t read anything by Bahnsen that hasn’t been great)
Videos:
An Evening of Eschatology - Premillennialism, Amillennialism, Postmillennialism
My Journey to Hope for the Future - James White
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