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When Christians discuss their millennial views, one aspect that is much debated is the interpretation of Revelation 20:1-10.
"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
"Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
"When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever." (NASB)
Some see this as a future earthly theocracy by which
Christ will rule over the nations for a thousand years. Others see it as a
time during which Christ will rule earth from heaven through the life-changing
power of the Gospel. Still others look at it in another way. And the multitude
of others holds a multitude of other interpretations.
One's final interpretation of the thousand years from Revelation 20 depends
more upon certain factors related to a Christian's hermeneutic than the
strict text of the ten much debated verses. There are several ways in which
orthodox Christians choose to come to Scripture and depending on which of these methods is used, one's understanding of eschatological issues —and a host of others as well—will experience changes both significant and trivial. And since one interprets Scripture primarily through the filter of his understanding of other passages in the Word, one's millennial view does have an effect (whether great or small) on the way in which he lives his life.
Since space is limited, we are unable to treat all the current millennial views, but we do hope to give a brief, but accurate account of the main tenets of the four main existing viewpoints as well as some of the reasons—both Scriptural and interpretive—behind each view. These four main eschatological systems that we shall treat are as follows: dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. Please realize that though these views differ significantly on the topic at hand, the Christians who disagree on these matters agree with each other on probably ninety percent of the rest of the Christian life.
Also, in coming to one's own view, there are certain poor arguments
from which one should shy away. A couple of these are arguments from
history and arguments from the deeds of those who are proponents of
a given view. Arguments from history, while having some use, should
generally be avoided for the simple fact that not only were the
eschatological
views of the early church largely undefined, but
most of the Second and Third Century church fathers held to some
beliefs that would today be considered odd or even unorthodox.
Arguments against an idea from the "bad fruit" of that idea's
proponents, while a popular form of argumentation, should be left
behind; as it happens, every view has had its embarrassing
supporters who claim to act from their beliefs but represent
something altogether outside of Christianity. Amillennialists
are accused because Nazis misapplied some of their beliefs.
Postmillennialists are judged because some over-zealous rebels
in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries misused their principles.
Premillennialists come under attack because both a) the majority of
Christian cults take up their ideas of end-times cataclysm and
b) some of those who profess premillenialism get caught up in setting
dates for Christ's return. With those cautions noted, we shall
examine each of these four views individually.
Definition:
Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. After this period of fulfillment of divine wrath, He shall then return to rule over the earthly nations for one thousand years. After these thousand years, Satan, who was bound up during Christ's earthly reign, will be loosed to deceive the nations, gather an army of the deceived, and take up to battle against the Lord. This battle will end in both the judgment of the wicked and Satan and the entrance into the eternal state of glory by the righteous. This view is called premillenialism because it places the return of Christ before the millennium and it is called dispensational because it is founded in the doctrines of dispensationalism.
Features and Distinctions:
Definition:
Historical premillennialists place the return of Christ just before the millennium and just after a time of great apostasy and tribulation. After the millennium, Satan will be loosed and Gog and Magog will rise against the kingdom of God; this will be immediately followed by the final judgment. While similar in some respects to the dispensational variety (in that they hold to Christ's return being previous to the establishment of a thousand-year earthly reign), historical premillennialism differs in significant ways (notably in their method of interpreting Scripture).
Features and Distinctions:
Definition:
The postmillennialist believes that the millennium is an era (not a literal
thousand years) during which Christ will reign over the earth, not from an
literal and earthly throne, but through the gradual increase of the Gospel
and its power to change lives. After this gradual Christianization of the
world, Christ will return and immediately usher the church into their
eternal state after judging the wicked. This is called postmillennialism
because, by its view, Christ will return after the millennium.
Features and Distinctions:
Definition:
The amillennialist believes that the Kingdom of God was inaugurated at
Christ's resurrection (hence the term "inaugurated millennialism") at which
point he gained victory over both Satan and the Curse. Christ is even now
reigning (hence the term "nunc-millennialism" — nunc means "now") at the right hand of the
Father over His church. After this present age has ended, Christ will
return and immediately usher the church into their eternal state after
judging the wicked. The term "amillennialism" is actually a misnomer
for it implies that Revelation 20:1-6 is ignored; in fact, the
amillennialist's hermeneutic interprets it (and in fact, much of apocalyptic literature) non-literally.
Features and Distinctions:
So what should be concluded from all of this? Before coming to a dogmatic millennial perspective, the lone fact that so many well-intentioned and intelligent Christians believe so variously when it comes to Revelation 20 must give us pause. The Book of Revelation itself is probably the most curious and oft-debated piece of the canon. This ought to place us in a position of caution when either accepting or dismissing another's interpretation.
As with any body of Christians, there are members of the Blue Letter Bible team with differing opinions on the matter. However, in light of all the Scriptures on the subject, the Blue Letter Bible feels that the most consistent viewpoint with a literal interpretation of the Bible is dispensational premillennialism. Our ultimate advice is to go to the Bible itself (Acts 17:11). The best way in which to interpret the Word of God is to see what it has to say about itself. And if, in the final analysis, you are yet undecided, do not fear for salvation is not built or broken on Revelation 20, but on the person of Jesus Christ.
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