Man has dreamed (and tried to achieve) a “utopia” and failed. Only Jesus, on David’s throne, will establish this perfect kingdom. This view on this passage divides eschatological views into its two basic divisions:
Premillennialism: (literal view)
Amillennialism: (allegorical view)
Millennium: from Latin, mille (1000) and annum (year). Also, chiliasm, from the Greek, which is the way the early church spoke of it. Christ will reign over the nations of the earth and Israel will enjoy the blessings promised through the prophets. There is more prophecy in the Scripture concerning the Millennium than of any other period.
This view takes the “1000-year reign” literally, as the fulfillment of the numerous promises, in both the Old and New Testaments. Gabriel committed the rule of the Throne of David to Mary at the Annunciation (Luk 1:32-33).
The prophetic destiny of Israel is also the issue. The Bible indicates that the entire world is going to go to war over this issue (Zech 12; Psa 2; et al.). It is about to begin. Read your newspapers.
Amillennialism is usually accompanied by a post-tribulational view. [Walter Martin was an exception.] Amillennialism makes God guilty of not keeping His unconditional covenants to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: The Jews.
Amillennialism began with Augustine (AD 345-430), leaning upon the allegorizations of Origen. Foundation for anti-semitism (Jer 31:35-37). This view is becoming widespread again.
Upon the conversion of Constantine, the Edict of Toleration made Christian Church legal throughout the Roman Empire. Constantine’s successors later made it the official state religion. However, the “premillennial” view—that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to return to rid the world of its evil—became unpopular with then current Roman leadership!
Allegorical methods, adopted by 3rd century theologian Origen, led to Augustine developing the “amillennial view”—that Jesus was to rule “spiritually” rather than literally. This view ultimately became the dominant view of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Reformation, while dealing with many doctrines in its “back to the Bible” emphasis, failed to re-examine the eschatology of the Medieval church, and thus amillennialism became the view assumed by most mainline Protestant denominations.
Literal interpretation, however, was favored by Irenaeus, Sir Isaac Newton, et al. Throughout the centuries, a minority of scholars have held to a literal approach to the Scriptures.
Rarely encountered today; popular a century ago when optimism assumed that the world was getting better and better. The realities of the 20th century has rendered this view obsolete.
The entire creation will be changed: Physical changes (Zech 4:9-10; Isa 35:1-10); Curse lifted (Isa 11:6-9); Creation redeemed (Gen 3 => Rom 8:20-22); Earth full of knowledge of the Lord (Isa 11:9; Hab 2:14). Yet, it is not eternity: Death, sin (Isa 65:20); Each to have land (Micah 4:4); Fruitful (Amos 9:13).
[1] “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand”: This is a continuation of Revelation 19.
The chapter divisions are not “inspired”; they were devised by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in the early 13th century.
“Abousso”: 7X in Rev 9:1-2, 11; Rev 11:7; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:1, 3.
[2] “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years”: Some believe the Millennium has already begun. If so, Satan’s chain is too long...Paul was certain that Satan was loose (Eph 6:10ff; John agreed with him: Rev 2:13; Rev 3:9).
He was cast out of heaven in Rev 12:9; now he is cast out of earth. [Psa 90:4 and 2Pe 3:8 are used to justify “allegorization”: 1000 yrs = 1 day, etc.]
“...a thousand years”: This duration is specified six times in this chapter. How many times does God need to say it before it is true?
[3] “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season”: Here is evidence that the deception of the nations comes from Satan. Satan is not bound alone, but his demons with him (Isa 24:21-23).
[4] “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
Four classes of participants:
[5] “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection”: There are two resurrections: Dan 12:2; Jhn 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Luk 14:14 (“of the just”). The first resurrection is a “category,” not a single event.
anastasei : “to stand up”; a bodily resurrection. The thrones are literal; the martyrs are literal; Jesus is literal; the resurrection is literal; the thousand years are literal.
[6] “Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years”: Sixth of the seven beatitudes in Revelation. (Final: Rev 21:7); Cf. Rev 2:11; Rev 20:6, 14; Rev 21:8.
“...the second death”: Twice dead? (Jde 12)
Physical Death (1st): Separation of the body and soul;
Spiritual Death (2nd): Separation of the soul from God.
“...shall be priests...shall reign with him”: Kings and priests. Reigning with Him; incredible!! [Cf. 24 Elders...]
[7] “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison...”: Satan bound 1000 years. Yet future (or his chain is too long!) Why? Explain to me the first time, and I’ll explain the second!
[8] “And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea”: This is not to be confused with Ezekiel 38; 39: which is from the north, not from the four corners of the earth, and is before the Second Coming, etc. The time, place, and participants are all different.
Gog and Magog show up again? Magog is a people; but how can Gog still be alive after 1000 years? He is a demon king. Amos 7:1 (LXX) “King of the Locusts” (vs. Prov 30:27; Cf. Rev 9 notes.)
[Gog and Magog has become an idiom by then. This is a second occurrence of a “final” battle.]
[9] “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them”: [There will probably be more people in this period than any other due to the perfect environment: no disease or lack of anything, etc.]
Even after 1000 years of perfect rule, there is enough evil resident in the heart of man that, given an opportunity, he still rebels... We belong to a fallen race, and every human being is born with an essentially evil nature. A perfect environment still reveals the fallen nature of man. A perfect environment cannot produce a perfect heart. The serious nature of our own heart can only be known by the Word of God (Jer 17:9).
[10] “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever”: After 1000 years, the “terrible twosome” is still there; there is no “annihilation” in the Bible...
[11] “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them”: Not to be confused with the Bema Seat.
Great White Throne Judgment (Dead): vs. Rev 4; Dan 7:9-11; Isa 6; Eze 1; 1Ki 22:19; Exd 24:9-11.
Judge = Christ: Jhn 5:22, 27, 29; Mat 19:28; Acts 10:42; Acts 17:31.
No believers (Jhn 5:24; Cf. Mat 7:22-23).
Note: Ecologists are doomed to failure—you cannot save the earth (Isa 65:17; Mat 24:35; 2Pe 3:10-12; Heb 1:10-12).
[12] And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened...”: What books? [note the plural.]
God’s Word: “the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (Jhn 12:48).
“Works” do not save; they simply mitigate sentences. A judge, but no jury; a prosecution, but no defense; a sentence, but no appeal.
Note “dead” occurs 7X in Rev 20:12-14. [If you know the right people, you can avoid the whole thing: get God’s Son to stand in your place...]
Before God can usher in His new heavens and new earth, He must finally deal with sin; this He will do at the Great White Throne.
[13] “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works”: Judged by works—deadly! Even by their own standards, they fail.
[Pember, et al: demon forces agitated the sea (Mat 8:26); demons took temporary refuge in the sea (Mat 8:30); disembodied spirits from earlier inhabitants??...]
[14] “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death”: The death of death (see Rev 20:6).
Hades, sheol, is temporary. Gehenna is “permanent”; that is, outside our time domain.
[15] “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”: Whose book? Who keeps it?
“Book of Life”: Exd 32:32-33; Psa 69:28; Rev 21:27; Phil 4:3; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8. Names of believers, not deeds Luk 10:20; [Works: Rom 2:11-12.]
[Book of Remembrance, Mal 3:16, “them that thought upon His name,” vs. 1Cr 3:14-15?]
Hell is a witness to the righteous character of God; Hell is a witness to man’s responsibility. God does not send people to hell: they send themselves by rejecting the Saviour (Jhn 3:16-21; Mat 25:41).
If we saw sin as God sees it, we would understand why a place such as hell exists.
Are you written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Or are you planning on defending yourself before the final judgment?
[Did not begin with Emmanuael Lacunza (Ben Ezra), 1812; Edward Irving, 1816; Margaret McDonald, 1830; or J.N. Darby (1820).]
The issue of Imminence (80 anti-Nicene references, 325 AD);
The perception of the “gap” of Dan 9:26 appears in the Epistle of Barnabas, AD 100 and other early writings. Other early writers include:
•; Irenaeus, Against Heresies;
•; Hippolytus, a disciple of Irenaeus (2nd Century), Ante Nicene Fathers, V. p. 182.);
•; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho.
•; Peter Jurieu, 1687,Approaching Deliverance of the Church, (courtesy of Grant Jeffrey);
•; Philip Doddgridge’s Commentary on the New Testament, 1738;
•; Dr. John Gill’s Commentary on the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 1748;
•; James Macknight’s Commentary on the Apostolical Epistles, 1763;
•; Thomas Scott’s Commentary on the Holy Bible, 1792.
Post-tribulationists: Robert Gundry, George Ladd, Walter Martin, Pat Robertson, Jim McKeever.
Mid-tribulationists: Norman B. Harrison, J. Sidlow Baxter, et al.
Pre-tribulation: J. Dwight Pentecost, John F. Walvoord, Charles C. Ryrie, Popularized by Hal Lindsey, et al. (Also, Feinberg, Fruchtenbaum, Charles Dyer, Grant Jeffrey, Chuck Smith, Tim Lahaye, et al.)
Greek, harpazo, Latin, rapturo.
Why the “70th Week” is apparently on the near horizon:
Israel Now Regathered as a Nation: On May 14, 1948, Israel was re-established exactly as the Bible predicted. On June 6, 1967, Israel regained control of Biblical Jerusalem, the “Old City.”
Jerusalem: Zechariah 12 indicates that Jerusalem will become “a cup of trembling” and a “burdensome stone” to all nations of the world. (That would seem to be ridiculous: here is a city with no harbor, no rivers, no natural resources. Significant to a few Jews, of historical interest to Christians, and significant to Islam only since it is to Jews—all told, hardly of serious interest to a materialistic, pragmatic, atheistic world—yet Zechariah, and other passages, predicts that the entire world will go to war over this irrelevant little religious location!
Just watch your newspapers! It’s all heading toward the Biblical climax.
Temple Preparations Have Begun: This is explicitly predicted three times in the New Testament. (Mat 24:15; 2Th 2:4; Rev 11:1-2.) This Temple is a prerequisite for the desecration described by Daniel and Jesus as the “Abomination of Desolation.” After 1900 years a Temple is now being prepared to be built in Jerusalem.
Babylon Being Rebuilt: Isaiah 13 & Isaiah 14; Jeremiah 50 & Jeremiah 51, and Revelation 17 & Revelation 18 all describe the destruction of the city of Babylon as a climactic event at the end of the “70th Week.” Although Babylon was conquered by the Persians, it was never destroyed in the manner that the Bible has detailed. Saddam Hussein has spent over 20 years and over $900 million rebuilding the city of Babylon on its traditional site.
European Superstate Emerging: The confederation of almost 30 European countries (not just the 12 EC nations) is setting the stage for the very scenarios predicted in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.
Russia and the Islamic Invasion Imminent: Russia (“Magog” of Ezekiel 38 & Ezekiel 39) and the Muslim republics of Iran and those of Central Asia (which this passage has detailed) now appear to be setting the stage for the very events that Ezekiel so clearly described. The apparent use of nuclear weapons in Ezekiel 39 is also descriptive of current technology. It is our view that this battle could happen at any time, and would thus set up the need for the famous “peace treaty” of the Biblical scenario.
How does your interpretation affect YOUR life? Does it do anything for you? If your view has no effect on your life, then you might reconsider what you really believe...