Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) POSTMILLENNIALIST Folly of Looking Back in Fleeing Out of Sodom Sermons in the Year 1739, Compiled into the 1776 Volume, The History of Redemption | Miscellanies

"'Tis evident that when Christ speaks of his coming; his being revealed; his coming in his Kingdom; or his Kingdom’s coming; He has respect to his appearing in those great works of his Power Justice and Grace, which should be in the Destruction of Jerusalem and other extraordinary Providences which should attend it."
Miscellany #1199

Jonathan Edwards's interpretation of Revelation 4:1-8:1 "David Holwerda notes that "even when a prophecy points to a final future event in the eyes of most interpreters, Calvin usually insists that it is already being fulfilled.. The millennial belief assumes that Christ will reign visibly on the not-yet-renewed earth for a limited period of time. But Calvin believes that the... perfected kingdom already exists in Christ, that it is eternal and includes the renovation of the world. Consequently, Christ's visible appearance can mean only the final revelation of a perfected kingdom"

"And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world. But we who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation; and therefore there seems to be at least as much reason, that we should commemorate the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate the work of the old creation." (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2 - "The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath" )

'Tis evident that when Christ speaks of his coming; his being revealed; his coming in his Kingdom; or his Kingdom's coming; He has respect to his appearing in those great works of his Power Justice and Grace, which should be in the Destruction of Jerusalem and other extraordinary Providences which should attend it." (Jonathan Edwards; Miscellany #1199)

(On the Significance of A.D.70)
"Thus there was a final end to the Old Testament world: all was finished with a kind of day of judgment, in which the people of God were saved, and His enemies terribly destroyed." (vol. i. p. 445)

(On I Thessalonians 2:16)
"The 'wrath is come,' i.e., it is just at hand; it is at the door: as it proved with respect to that nation: their terrible destruction by the Romans was soon after the apostle wrote this epistle." (Works, vol. iv. p. 281)

(On New Heavens and Earth)
"We read, That "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," and the church of old were to commemorate that work. But when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, those that belong to this new heaven and new earth, by a like reason, are the commemorate the creation of their heaven and earth. ("The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath" (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).

"The Scriptures further teach us to call the gospel-restoration and redemption, a creation of a new heaven and a new earth.... ("The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath" (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).

"The gospel-state is every where spoken of as a renewed state of things, wherein old things are passed away, and all things become new." ("The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath" (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).

"And the dissolution of the Jewish state was often spoken of in the Old Testament as the end of the world. But we who belong to the gospel-church, belong to the new creation; and therefore there seems to be at least as much reason, that we should commemorate the work of this creation, as that the members of the ancient Jewish church should commemorate the work of the old creation." ("The Perpetuity and Change of the Sabbath" (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 2).

(On Josephus)
"These things [were] are all related by one of the most prudent historians who lived at that very time and that very place, and he says that many were alive when he wrote and could attest to all this." (Misc. 972)

From The History of Redemption

"Heaven and earth began to shake, in order to a dissolution, according to the prophecy of Haggai, before Christ came, that so only those things that cannot be shaken may remain, i.e. that those things that are come to an end may come to an end, and that only those things may remain which are to remain to all eternity.   So, in the first place, the carnal ordinances of the Jewish worship came to an end, to make way for the establishment of that spiritual worship, the worship of the hearts, which is to endure to all eternity.   This is one instance of the temporary world's coming to an end, and the eternal world's beginning.  And then, after that, the outward temple, and the outward city of Jerusalem, came to an end, to give place to the setting up of the spiritual temple and the spiritual city, which are to last to eternity ; which is another instance of removing those things which are ready to vanish away, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." (History of Redemption, p.216)

"The whole success of Christ's redemption is comprehended in one word, viz,. his setting up his kingdom... Christ's appearing in those wonderful dispensations of providence in the apostle's days, in setting up his kingdom and destroying the enemies of his kingdom, which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem.  This is called Christ's coming in his kingdom, Matt. xvi, 28.  "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."  And so it is represented in Matt. xxiv." (History of Redemption, p. 219)

"That coming of Christ which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem, was preceded by a glorious spiritual resurrection of souls in the calling of the Gentiles, and bringing home multitudes of souls to Christ by the preaching of the gospel." (History of Redemption, p. 220)

"I. The abolishing of the Jewish Dispensation.  This indeed was gradually done, but it began from the time of Christ's resurrection, in which the abolition of it is founded.  This was the first thing done towards bringing the former state of the world to an end.  This is to be looked upon as the great means of the success of Christ's redemption.  For the Jewish dispensation was not fitted for more than one nation." (History of Redemption, p. 229)

"In showing how the success of Christ's redemption is carried on, during this time of the church's tribulation, I would: Show how it was carried on until the destruction of Jerusalem, with which ended the first great dispensation of Providence which is called Christ's coming in his kingdom." (History of Redemption, p. 237)

"This destruction of Jerusalem was in all respects agreeable to what Christ had foretold of it, Matt. xxiv. by the account which Josephus gives of it, who was then present, and was one of the Jews, who had a share in their calamity, and wrote the history of their destruction.  Their city and temple were burnt, and rased to the ground, and the ground on which the city stood, was ploughed ; and so one stone was not left upon another, Matt. xxiv. 2." (History of Redemption, p. 246)

(Historical-Typological Jerusalem)
"Jerusalem was like Sodom, in that it was devoted to destruction by special divine wrath; and indeed to a more terrible destruction than that of Sodom. Therefore the like direction is given concerning fleeing out of it with the utmost haste, without looking behind, as the angel gave to Lot, when he bid him flee out of Sodom.  If it be inquired why Christ gave this direction to his people to flee out of Jerusalem, in such exceeding haste, at the first notice of the signal of her approaching destruction; I answer, it seems to be, because fleeing out of Jerusalem was a type of fleeing out of a state of sin. Escaping out of that unbelieving city typified an escape out of a state of unbelief. Therefore they were directed to flee without staying to take anything out of their houses, to signify with what haste and concern we should flee out of a natural condition, that no respect to any worldly enjoyment should prevent us one moment, and that we should flee to Jesus Christ, the refuge of souls, our strong rock, and the mount of our defense, so as, in fleeing to him, to leave and forsake heartily all earthly things." (Folly of Looking Back in Fleeing Out of Sodom)

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

Randall Balmer
"Throughout American history, evangelicals have vacillated between pre- and postmillennialism. While the Puritans were decidedly premillennial in their views—that is, they knew that Christ's return could take place at any moment—the revivals of the Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s promoted a sense that God was even now working on earth to establish the millennial kingdom. No less a figure than Jonathan Edwards, regarded by many as America's premier thinker, believed that the millennium would begin in America.    For Edwards's apocalyptic views, see The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol 5: Apocalyptic Writings, edited by Stephen J. Stein (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977), esp. pp. 27–29.." (Thy Kingdom Come)

Christianity Today
"In City of God, Augustine (354-430) viewed the thousand years of Revelation 20 not as some special future time but "the period beginning with Christ's first coming," that is, the age of the Christian church. Throughout this age, the saints reign with Christ—not in the fullness of the coming kingdom prepared for those blessed by God the Father, but "in some other and far inferior way." This position, often called "amillennial," became the view of most Christians in the West, including the Reformers, for almost 1,500 years." 

"Impressed by New England's spiritual awakening in the early 1740s, he wrote, " 'Tis not unlikely that this work of God's Spirit, that is so extraordinary and wonderful, is the dawning, or at least a prelude, of that glorious work of God, so often foretold in Scripture…. And there are many things that make it probable that this work will begin in America." After the Great Awakening, Edwards became more cautious and dated the Millennium (a term he used rarely) somewhere around the year 2000." (October 12, 2001)