In evangelical Christianity today, we have a lot of views on how Revelation 20 should be interpreted. I've already talked about the hermeneutics of eschatological genre, now I want to give you an overview of what the major views of the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20. There are three major views: Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Realized Millennialism or Amillennialism as most know it today.
Premillennialism:
Premillennialism teaches that before Christ returns, there will be a literal, earthly millennial kingdom.
There are 2 forms of Premillennialism: 1. Dispensational and 2. Historic.
Classical Dispensational theology is a complete system of doctrine, with a very strict literal hermeneutic which requires that prophecies of the kingdom given to Israel in the OT be interpreted to only be fulfilled literally in the contemporary nation-state of what we know as Israel today.
They believe in a literal rebuilding of the temple and a re-institution of the sacrificial system.
They believe in a literal rebuilding of the temple and a re-institution of the sacrificial system.
One of the foundational hermeneutic principles of Dispensational theology is the belief that God has 2 separate plans of redemption: (1) one for Israel and (2) one for the church.
Traditional Dispensational premillennialism teaches that Christ offered the Jews the kingdom of David, but they rejected it, so this kingdom was postponed till sometime in the future.
They believe that the church age is simply a parenthesis between the return of Christ and Israel's restoration.
Dispensationalists believe the church will ultimately fail and become apostate toward the end, and will not be restored until after the return of Christ. Christ returns to SECRETLY RAPTURE his saints before a future great tribulation.
During the tribulation period, the world is oppressed by a world leader who promises peace but is really a deceiver whose main agenda is to stomp out Christianity (somehow it still exists even though every single believer has been raptured). However they do believe that two prophets will come back from the dead (maybe Moses, Elijah, or Enoch,) and preach to the people, and the antichrist leader will try to kill these guys.
Then Christ comes back a 3rd time into this world and will establish a Jewish political kingdom headquartered in Jerusalem and that monarchy will exist for 1,000 years with Jesus ruling and reigning over the entire world before creation has been redeemed and sin still exists with unregenerate members of society, however, Satan will be bound from tempting anybody.
The temple will be rebuilt and the sacrificial system will be reinstated. Sometime at the end of these blissful, 1000 years, Satan is going to be released just so God can have a war with him. Satan and his followers will attack Jerusalem, and Christ will call down judgment and destroy all of them, and then we will finally enter eternity.
The temple will be rebuilt and the sacrificial system will be reinstated. Sometime at the end of these blissful, 1000 years, Satan is going to be released just so God can have a war with him. Satan and his followers will attack Jerusalem, and Christ will call down judgment and destroy all of them, and then we will finally enter eternity.
I love what RC Sproul says about Dispensational Premillennialistm, “But while the pretribulation rapture is popular because it provides Christians with hope of avoiding the great tribulation at the end of the age, I find not a shred of evidence in Scripture to support it.”
Sorry folks, as you can see, I don't hold this view.
Sorry folks, as you can see, I don't hold this view.
Historic Premillennialism:
They teach that the church is the initial phase of Christ’s kingdom, as prophesied by the OT prophets. The church also ultimately fails in its mission. It loses influence and becomes corrupt and worldwide evil increases to the end of this time period.
The Great Tribulation takes place on the earth, and at the end of the tribulation, all the saints are raptured to meet Christ in the air and come back down with him to fight the battle of Armageddon, bind Satan, and establish a worldwide political kingdom where Christ reigns from Jerusalem for a thousand years on an unredeemed earth.
At the end of those 1,000 years Satan will be released, massive rebellion will take place against Christ and God will intervene with fiery judgment and rescue Jesus and all the saints on earth with Him. Then the Great White Throne Judgment takes place and eternity begins.
The Great Tribulation takes place on the earth, and at the end of the tribulation, all the saints are raptured to meet Christ in the air and come back down with him to fight the battle of Armageddon, bind Satan, and establish a worldwide political kingdom where Christ reigns from Jerusalem for a thousand years on an unredeemed earth.
At the end of those 1,000 years Satan will be released, massive rebellion will take place against Christ and God will intervene with fiery judgment and rescue Jesus and all the saints on earth with Him. Then the Great White Throne Judgment takes place and eternity begins.
Postmillennialism:
They believe that the kingdom of Christ began when Jesus was here the first time. They do not believe the church is distinct from Israel, but rather that Elect Israel has always included the church made up of messianic Jews and gentiles. The distinguishment is between the nation-state of Israel and the elect/faithful Israel. They also see the kingdom of God being one that is spiritual in nature that’s foundation rests on redemption and salvation, not political and economic reform.
They believe that the kingdom of God will have a transformational influence on the world so much so that the gospel of Jesus Christ will have a positive, redeeming influence on culture. Despite times of weakness and corruption the church will ultimately triumph over the wickedness of the world and gradually expand over the earth. They believe the great commission will succeed, and this will usher in the second coming of Christ. The millennium is not a literal 1,000 years as we know it, but rather a long period of time that cannot be determined.
They believe that the kingdom of God will have a transformational influence on the world so much so that the gospel of Jesus Christ will have a positive, redeeming influence on culture. Despite times of weakness and corruption the church will ultimately triumph over the wickedness of the world and gradually expand over the earth. They believe the great commission will succeed, and this will usher in the second coming of Christ. The millennium is not a literal 1,000 years as we know it, but rather a long period of time that cannot be determined.
Realized Millenialism:
This is the simplest millenial view. They believe the church was prophesied in the OT and that the church and true elect Israel are one and the same. They would understand the distinction also as one between true spiritual Israel and the nation-state Israel. They would also see history has telling the story of redemption. They would believe that we are in the millennium now. The “binding” of Satan took place sometime during Christ’s ministry. Some believe that the great tribulation has taken place, others believe it is an on-going season and/or there will be a future greater tribulation. The next thing to happen on the eschatological timeline is the return of Christ where all judgment will take place, and eternity will begin.
Now that you have an overview of the millenial positions, next week will will discuss what we all know for sure, and then I will talk about where I tend to lean and why.
Be Edified.
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