Reclaiming A.B. Simpson’s Urgency and the Prophetic Hope
Why Simpson’s vision of the Kingdom still matters
Introduction
At the recent Council of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in Columbus, Ohio 2025, delegates reaffirmed a pre-millennial understanding of Christ’s return.
At the recent Council of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in Columbus, Ohio 2025, delegates reaffirmed a pre-millennial understanding of Christ’s return.
Though unsurprising, this decision reaffirms a core tenet of our movement: the conviction that a coming Messianic Age remains central to the hope of both Scripture and the early Church.
Yet what was not clarified is equally important. There was no distinction made between historic premillennialism—the position held by our founder, Dr. A.B. Simpson—and the more rigid dispensational frameworks that emerged later. These later systems, heavily shaped by ‘flat’ or easy readings of the Apocalypse of John, continue to dominate much of the popular evangelical imagination. But Simpson’s voice was different. And it is precisely that voice we need to recover today.
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First Immanency and Simpson’s Mission
As Franklin Pyles rightly emphasizes, Simpson’s eschatology was never theoretical. It was deeply practical and rooted in mission. He believed in what we might call a First Immanency—not just the belief that Christ would return soon, but that His return was near in a way that demanded urgent obedience. For Simpson, imminency was not a speculative timeline. It was a call to faithful action.
As Franklin Pyles rightly emphasizes, Simpson’s eschatology was never theoretical. It was deeply practical and rooted in mission. He believed in what we might call a First Immanency—not just the belief that Christ would return soon, but that His return was near in a way that demanded urgent obedience. For Simpson, imminency was not a speculative timeline. It was a call to faithful action.
“This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” — Matthew 24:14
This verse wasn’t background noise to Simpson’s theology—it was its beating heart. “The Coming King” was not just a doctrinal tag; it was the driving force behind the Alliance’s global mission. In The Fourfold Gospel, Simpson named Jesus as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. But that final title was never about apocalyptic escape—it was a summons to urgent, worldwide engagement and Kingdom preparation.
Some feared this focus on Christ’s return would distract from mission. In truth, it fueled it. This is what Simpson helped correct: the idea that eschatology weakens mission. In fact, it strengthens it—when rightly framed. What we must reject is easy eschatology—one that avoids the symbolic depth of Scripture for fear it complicates our agenda. As the Lord says, “My ways are not your ways” (Isa. 55:8).
Revelation invites us not to predict, but to perceive—to read symbol with faith, and live with holy imagination. Simpson’s vision calls us to think deeply, act boldly, and proclaim creatively. The Kingdom is not only coming. It is already breaking in.
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Why Does History Go On and On?
Today, the global news stream is relentless—conflict, catastrophe, collapse. We scroll through endless tragedy and wonder: Will anything ever truly change? History drags on, seemingly with no resolution in sight.
Today, the global news stream is relentless—conflict, catastrophe, collapse. We scroll through endless tragedy and wonder: Will anything ever truly change? History drags on, seemingly with no resolution in sight.
But this is not a new question. The Apostle Peter spoke of it long ago:
“Where is the promise of his coming?” — 2 Peter 3:4
“Where is the promise of his coming?” — 2 Peter 3:4
We don’t ask this mockingly, but out of lament. We cry out as those waiting for history’s fulfillment.
Simpson would answer this cry the same way he answered it over a century ago:
History continues because one prophecy remains unfulfilled—one promise still burns in God’s heart and must burn in ours.
“This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” — Matthew 24:14
This is not just a timeline—it’s a mandate. Not speculation about empires. Not identifying the Antichrist. The return of Christ hinges on global proclamation. Simpson saw history as God’s field for gospel sowing, and the Church as the laborers—not through conquest or mere humanitarianism, but through proclamation of the reign of Christ in power, word, and Spirit.
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Beyond Charts: A Sabbath Cosmology
This contrasts sharply with much of today’s premillennial discourse, which has become entangled in speculative literalism and doctrinal gridlock. In truth, the term premillennialism deserves rethinking. Simpson stood closer to the early Church chiliasts, who anticipated a real, embodied reign of Messiah—not as domination, but as covenantal restoration.
This contrasts sharply with much of today’s premillennial discourse, which has become entangled in speculative literalism and doctrinal gridlock. In truth, the term premillennialism deserves rethinking. Simpson stood closer to the early Church chiliasts, who anticipated a real, embodied reign of Messiah—not as domination, but as covenantal restoration.
Our modern eschatological categories—“millennium,” “rapture,” “tribulation”—are often shaped more by post-Enlightenment frameworks than the biblical prophets.
Augustine’s amillennialism was symbolic but framed within a questionable ecclesiology. Later dispensationalism dissected history into epochs. Simpson bypassed both and I believe for his love of the Jewish people would be more aligned to the Hebraic rhythm of sacred time.
In Jewish cosmology, time unfolds in six “days” of labor followed by a seventh—the Sabbath of the Lord. The Messianic Age is not merely a thousand-year marker, but the redemptive culmination of covenant history.
Reframing “premillennialism” as pre-Messianic ageism captures this vision more faithfully. The “thousand years” in Revelation may signify not a precise duration, but the very character of the age—an age marked by witness, suffering, and perseverance. It is the age out of which the martyrs emerge, whose testimony defines much of John’s vision across Revelation’s chapters—yet always with the Lamb on the throne.
⸻Simpson’s Remnant and John’s Revelation
In The Coming One, Simpson wrote:
In The Coming One, Simpson wrote:
“Both find their historical fulfillment in the faithful few who have ever existed in even the darkest ages of medieval corruption… There has ever been a little flock, of which He says: ‘They shall be mine in the day when I make up My jewels.’”
This remnant vision includes the sealed 144,000 in Revelation—not merely as a theological metaphor, but as a covenantal remnant of Israel. It stands as a witness to Jewish faithfulness through suffering, exile, and pacifism—from the early centuries of Islamic conquest, through the endurance of the Middle Ages into the complex struggles of modern Zionism.
This remnant recalls the parables of the Treasure and the Pearl, where what is hidden and costly is preserved through trials. Eschatology must not be reduced to a flat timeline or simplistic scheme—it demands depth, memory, and covenantal imagination.
Perhaps the Millennium mentioned in Revelation is not a word in sequence, perhaps we are in the final battle of Gog and Magog?
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With Whom Will He Reign?
This reframing raises a crucial question—not just when Jesus will return, but how, and with whom. For Simpson, unity with the Jewish people was not a sidebar to prophecy. It was central to the eschatological mystery.
This reframing raises a crucial question—not just when Jesus will return, but how, and with whom. For Simpson, unity with the Jewish people was not a sidebar to prophecy. It was central to the eschatological mystery.
But what kind of unity are we talking about? Simply grafting Messianic Jews into Protestant categories? Or something more profound—a reconciliation with the Jewish narrative itself, and a partnership that fulfills God’s promises to Israel and the nations?
Isaiah’s last chapter puts it plainly:
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool… Where is the house you will build for Me?” — Isaiah 66:1
The final vision is not a temple of stone or a kingdom of coercion, but the descent of divine presence—a reign of justice, humility, and healing. It is a vision rooted in the Hebrew prophets, where so much remains unrealized and yet to be fulfilled.
Texts like Isaiah 2, 19, and 63 & 66 plus Micah 4, offer a more expansive and redemptive horizon than even the apocalyptic frameworks often drawn from Daniel’s historical imagery.
⸻The Kingdom Must Be Preached
This is why Simpson resisted the idea that the Kingdom would come merely through education, medical aid, or cultural uplift. In Larger Outlooks on Missionary Lands, he warned against the belief that societal improvement could substitute for gospel proclamation.
This is why Simpson resisted the idea that the Kingdom would come merely through education, medical aid, or cultural uplift. In Larger Outlooks on Missionary Lands, he warned against the belief that societal improvement could substitute for gospel proclamation.
“We do not believe that this is the Scriptural standpoint of missions… If we are to do effective work, we surely must understand and work in harmony with the plan of our great Leader.” — A.B. Simpson
Yes, the Kingdom must be modeled. But it must also be proclaimed. Not either/or—but both. The Church must never forget that proclamation is the engine of fulfillment.
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A Prophecy That Answers History’s Ache
Simpson’s missionary vision—and Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:14—reveal not only the why of history’s long arc, but the what now of the Church’s mission.
Simpson’s missionary vision—and Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:14—reveal not only the why of history’s long arc, but the what now of the Church’s mission.
We are not called to wait for the world to burn.
We are called to bring the King back!
This is the prophecy that answers the ache of creation. It declares that even the delay is mercy—and that every act of gospel faithfulness brings the Kingdom closer.
From this mountaintop, we glimpse the end: not extinction, not collapse—but Kingdom.
Until that day, the mandate is clear:
Preach. Proclaim. Display. Declare without end!
Prepare the world for the Coming One.
Let us not merely say He is coming soon.
Let us live—like Simpson—so the world knows:
He may come today. Maranatha!
Sources
Franklin Pyles, The Missionary Eschatology of A.B. Simpson, Read here
Franklin Pyles, The Missionary Eschatology of A.B. Simpson, Read here
A.B. Simpson, The Fourfold Gospel. PDF Download
A.B. Simpson, The Coming One, pp. 32–33.
A.B. Simpson, Larger Outlooks on Missionary Lands (1895).
