by Garrett Glende

The book of Revelation opens with a blessing: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). Judging by the general attitude among Christians toward this book, it would seem as if they have never considered this verse. Most believers avoid the issues that Revelation addresses because they think that it’s too difficult to understand or that it doesn’t really matter what they believe about it. This is quite an unfortunate reality in the church today. However, John promises that those who read Revelation and heed its call will be blessed. It seems as if this promise has fallen on deaf ears, otherwise there would be much more teaching on the subject. Given the everyday Christian’s general ignorance of the book, it is somewhat surprising that its subject matter is also one of the most highly debated and divisive issues. When it comes to the specifics of the Millennium, or the evens described in Revelation 20, there are many differing viewpoints among evangelicals. Historically, there have been three main views on this topic: Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Amillennialism. This article will explore each of these briefly, give a defense of what I believe to be the most biblical position, and summarize the application this doctrine has for our lives.

Before we get into the different views, let’s take a look at the main text surrounding the issue. The following is from Revelation 20:1-6.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. 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 ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Premillennialism

Historically, premillennialists have interpreted Revelation 20 in a very straightforward fashion. Classical Premillennialism teaches that the church age will continue through the tribulation and will end when Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth. At this time, Satan will be bound and the dead in Christ will rise to reign with Him on earth. Premillennialism interprets these events as real, physical occurrences. The thousand years is interpreted as a literal one thousand years where Christ will rule physically with saints who have glorified bodies. After these 1,000 years, Satan will be released and will war against Christ and be defeated, ushering in the final judgment and the eternal state.

Another slightly different view within Premillennialism is called Dispensational Premillennialism. This interpretation suggests that there will be a hidden advent of Christ before the tribulation in order to gather up the living saints. Grudem cites that “this view is found almost exclusively among [those] who wish to maintain a clear distinction between the church and Israel.” Dispensational Premillennialism also interprets many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the nation of Israel in a literal manner.

Postmillennialism

According to the proponents of this view, “the progress of the gospel and the growth of the church will gradually increase, so that a larger and larger proportion of the world’s population will be Christians.” Because of this, the world will be run in accordance with God’s ways until a golden age is ushered in. This new period of time is what they would call the millennium, but it would not necessarily be exactly one thousand years. At the end of this peaceful age, Christ will return and believers and unbelievers will be raised, final judgment will take place, and the eternal state will occur with the new heavens and the new earth.

Historically, this view has been popular when it seems like there is a great spread of the gospel in the world and many people are coming to Christ. Indeed, this was the case during the Great Awakenings of the 1700’s, a time in which many puritans saw the great work that God was doing and then adopted a postmillennial view.

Amillennialism

The amillennial view is dubbed such because it teaches that there is no future millennium to look forward to. Instead, the scene in the beginning of Revelation 20 is the current church age. Amillennialism teaches that Satan has been bound so that the gospel is able to be preached to the nations and people can be saved. However, Christ’s reign is not on this earth, but rather in heaven. Here, all the Christians who have died are reigning with Him in spiritual bodies. Therefore, the one thousand years is not taken literally and only refers to a long period of time. At the end of this period Christ will return, judgment takes place, and the eternal state is ushered in.

Assessment

This is a difficult stand to make, as I must admit that I have not studied enough to become 100% convinced on any side. However, from what I have read in the Bible and other resources, I am led to believe that Dispensational Premillennialism is the most biblical of the views. This is mainly because I see the events described in the book of Revelation as things that have yet to come. In John’s vision of the glorified Christ, Jesus tells him to “Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this” (Rev. 1:19). This verse then serves as an outline for the rest of the book: the things that you have seen (Ch. 1), those that are (Ch 2-3), and those that are to take place after this (Ch. 4-22). Therefore, the millennium is a future event and not something that is already taking place in heaven, as the amillennial interpretation suggests.

Additionally, a strong case for a physical resurrection during the millennial kingdom can be made when we examine the Greek word anastasis, in English translated as resurrection. The amillennial position would like to interpret this to mean “die and go to be with Christ in heaven,” when in Revelation 20:5 it speaks of those who have came to life as having participated in “the first resurrection (anastasis).” This interpretation fits in with a spiritual millennial reign, but this word never carries this meaning in any other place it occurs. Throughout the New Testament anastasis always refers to a bodily resurrection, therefore it seems likely that the resurrection that Rev. 20 speaks of is also a physical one.

It is also my conviction that if one holds to a literal-historical-grammatical interpretation of Scripture, then it makes the most sense to hold to dispensational Premillennialism. I see no reason to over-spiritualize the prophecies concerning Israel in the Old Testament. I believe there is a distinction between the church and Israel and that God still has a special plan for that nation. This literal interpretation of Scripture should carry over into the book of Revelation as it is necessary, and we should take the events of chapter 20 as a continuation of the ongoing chronology.

I would like to say more on this, but it would require much more space or perhaps a whole separate article. I have by no means exhausted the arguments for any position and there is still much to be said on these issues. However, I hope to have outlined some of the main distinctives of each position so that we can have a good foundation when we think of these things. I highly encourage you to read Grudem’s chapter in Systematic Theology or any other trustworthy resource.

Application

I’d like to use this section to call to attention something that I see happen a lot (myself included) in our church. When controversial issues like eschatology are brought up, there always seems to be someone who takes a shot at an opposing view. I’m not saying that we cannot offer any sort of criticism, but I think that our judgments are often times uninformed. We dismiss an interpretation just because others who you respect seem to have done the same. I wonder if there is any real, genuine investigation going on or is it all just blind acceptance? I understand that we need to trust the leadership of the church in their instruction, but I also think that we should examine everything that we hear and come to our own conclusions about what the Bible really teaches. If we don’t do this work for ourselves, then all we can really say when questioned is that “[pastor’s name] says so.” I guess what I’m getting at is that we should all be able to defend what we believe to be the truth using the Bible as our evidence, not having to depend on the opinions of others. When this happens, the truths of Scripture come alive in our hearts and our lives are actually changed by them. This is not something that happens overnight. It takes lots of reading and studying, but I do think it’s well worth it.