A Pre Post Millennium

INTRODUCTION:

How do you handle yourself in areas of strong disagreement on secondary or tertiary issues?

Are you somebody who knows how to disagree agreeably and charitably or do you become disagreeable and uncharitable?

We’re going to examine a passage of Scripture this morning that has been hotly debated by Christians since the inception of the faith.

There are certain areas within Christian theology that are “not up for debate.”

The resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

The exclusivity of Christ for salvation.

The trinity.

But we all know the Christian life speaks to a variety of issues outside those major doctrines. Consider the following list:

Vaccines,

immigration,

critical race theory,

gun control,

voting for Donald Trump,

voting for Joe Biden.

I can guarantee you within this very room there are different groups with entirely different viewpoints on those matters.

If you were to discuss your view with another from a different perspective - how would you treat them?

My reason for raising this question isn’t to suggest that all views are equally valid or some nonsense like that. It’s just to say that second tier and third tier issues are 2nd and 3rd for a reason.

Good and reasonable people can come to vastly different conclusions for a variety of reasons.

How Satan Uses Lack of Clarity

The same is true theologically. There are 2nd and 3rd tier issues that I have STRONG feelings about:

the continuation of miraculous and revelatory spiritual gifts,

the age of the earth and evolution,

the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human freedom...

The timing and nature of Christ’s millennial reign is a secondary theological issue in the Christian faith.

One of the things that make secondary doctrines secondary is that there’s a lack of CLARITY for how they’re to be understood.

Satan loves to exploit that lack of clarity to deceive, divide and destroy.

He will enflame tensions and egos until peace and unity within a congregation are demolished. That’s always been his nature. He’s the best liar who’s ever lived.

LOKI ILLUSTRATION: I listened to a sermon by Sean McDowel the other day wherein he compared Satan to the Loki character in Avengers.

Remember Loki is a master deceiver who rebelled against his Father and came to earth to be worshipped. He knew he couldn’t defeat the Avengers so he tried to get them divided against one another and unleash the hulk and his anger to destroy them all.

That’s what Satan does in the church. He deceives, he lies, he divides and he destroys.

Why am I talking about this when we’re supposed to be talking about Revelation 20?

Because Revelation 20 is one of the most controversial passages in the entire Bible. Good, Bible-believing people come to sincerely held and strong convictions that drastically differ in their approach to this chapter.

So what we’re going to do is read our passage and I’m going to introduce you the three major views for how to understand it.

Then we’re going to make application that I hope all three views can affirm and benefit from.

Read The Text

Let’s start with Revelation 20:1-3.

Revelation 20:1–3 (CSB)

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time.

What’s going on here? You have an angel with a key to the abyss. Keys represent authority. This chain represents bondage or slavery. This angel comes down, seizes the dragon (who we already know to be Satan) and he binds him.

After Satan gets bound by this angel he is thrown into the abyss for 1,000 years so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were finished. After the 1,000 years is done, however, Satan gets released to go and deceive the nations again.

Revelation 20:4–6 (CSB)

4 Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.

This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

What’s going on here? While Satan is bound in the abyss for 1,000 years the saints “come back to life” and reign with Christ during his millennial reign. The identity of these saints are those who

were beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus & the Word

Did not worship the beast or his image and

Did not take the mark of the beast on their foreheads or hands.

Finally we come to the last part Revelation 20:7-10

Revelation 20:7–10 (CSB)

7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

What’s happening here? Satan gets released. He gathers this innumerable army to partner together in warring against Christ during his millennial reign . Right as they surround Jerusalem to take Jesus out fire falls down from heaven and takes THEM out.

Satan is then thrown into the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet are and together they are tormented forever and ever.

The Main Interpretive Questions

That text pretty much speaks for itself so let’s have a word of prayer and go home!

Of course not! All SORTS of questions arise from a passage like this.

If you’ve been with us throughout this study of the book of Revelation, you’ll notice several things about Revelation 20 that you’ve heard or interacted with before.

The dragon and the abyss

The beast and the false prophet

the mark of the beast,

the deceiving of the nations,

the war of gog & Magog and

the great battle around the Holy City.

The Question of When

That brings us to our first important interpretive question when it comes to the millennial reign of Christ. The question of WHEN.

There are so many similarities between Revelation 20 and other portions of the book of Revelation that several interpreters see it as a recapitulation of the same events but from a different perspective. Cyclical view.

Others take it more sequentially to follow chronologically on the heels of Revelation 19.

There are certainly good reasons to take it chronologically. Revelation 19 ended Jesus and his holy army returning on a white horse and the beast, his armies and the false prophet being thrown into the lake of fire.

If you read the book chronologically the obvious next question is “What’s going to happen to the DRAGON?” At face value it looks like Jesus comes to earth, reigns 1,000 years and then Satan has a final revolt that Christ defeats at the end of the millennium.

Those who come at it from a more cyclical view suggest what happens in Revelation 20:7-9 happens at the same time as what we see in Revelation 19:19 which also happens at the same time as what we see in Revelation 16:14-16.

In other words, the battle at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus is the same battle as the Battle of Armageddon we saw earlier in the book of Revelation.

Add to that the multiple views of whether these events are future (futurist) or whether they are partially fulfilled in first century (preterist) or whether they are spiritually fulfilled (idealist) or throughout history (historicist.)

The Question of How Long

The second question that needs to be answered is the question of “how long.”

The word translated 1,000 years is used no less than six different times in our passage. What does that word mean?

Should it be read as a literal 1,000 years or should it be read - like other numbers in the book of Revelation - more symbolically?

There would be those who say John has used figurative numbers throughout the book of Revelation therefore it’s likely that this number is figurative as well.

We’ve seen the number 1,000 used to describe the idea of completion or perfection. We’ve also seen the number ten or 1,000 as a multiple for other symbolic numbers.

Those who take it symbolically see the idea of 1,000 years as symbol for a literal period of time that is definite, complete and according to God’s perfect design.

The Question of What & Where

The third and fourth questions that need to be answered are the questions of what and where.

What IS the millennial reign of Jesus and where does it happen? The language gives us several clues.

John sees thrones, Christian people coming back to life, and them ruling and reigning with Christ - even being given authority to judge.

Is this millennial reign ON EARTH with Jesus ruling from a specific earthly location like Jerusalem in Israel or perhaps some “New Jerusalem” that comes down out of heaven to a definite location on the earth.

Or, is the millennial reign of Jesus right now - in heaven - with Christians who “come to life” in a resurrected state after their life on earth and are given authority in heaven to judge and reign with Jesus until he comes again with that final defeat of Satan and final judgment of the earth.

Making the Puzzle Pieces Fit

Add to those interpretive questions the overall question of how you fit these puzzle pieces in with all of the others in the book of Revelation.

the binding of Satan,

the resurrection of the saints,

the releasing of Satan and his final destruction.

How DO these coincide with the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven bowels of God’s wrath?

Then you’ve got the interpretive questions from within the text itself!

“what is the first resurrection and who all participates?”

“who are the “rest of the dead” and when do they come to life?”

To what degree is Satan bound, when does it happen and how?

Do these things happen AFTER Jesus comes to the earth physically or before?

If you’ve been paying attention in our study of Revelation you know there are no easy answers to these questions as there’s a lack of clarity for how these things are addressed in Revelation and outside the New Testament.

Though difficult to answer, these questions are important! They don’t just impact your view of the future. They also impacts your view of the PRESENT.

The Main Interpretive Camps

So what I’d like to do with the time we have left is present the three (or four) most common approaches for placing the puzzle pieces of Revelation 20 within the overall puzzle of the book of Revelation.

There are three major views for how these events are to be understood. I’m going to throw each up on the screen to illustrate.

Premillennialism - Says that Jesus will return to the earth BEFORE the beginning of His millennial reign (the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth.)

Post millennialism - Says that Jesus will return to the earth AFTER the end of His millennial reign and that his Church will usher in that reign until Christ’s return marks it’s end.

Amillennialism - Also says Jesus will return AFTER the millennial reign of Jesus but that the millennium is happening RIGHT NOW.

Before we delve into each view I want to make a few points.

First - each of these four views have compelling arguments for why they’re the best approach for understanding Revelation 20.

Secondly - very intelligent and godly scholars advocate for each of these views. It’s not like one side has the serious Bible people and the other side doesn’t. Each of these views has seriously smart and educated proponents.

Finally - each of these four views has been held throughout church history. Some were more popular than others. For each, there were seasons that it was the “most popular” view among Christians. But there is no “unified voice” from Church history as to which view is the best.

Let me unpack each of these a little bit further.

Premillennial Approach

The binding of Satan is yet future. It will take place when Christ returns.

The 1,000 years is a literal period of time during which Christ will reign on the earth, with His people in their resurrected bodies. (not all say a literal 1,000 years but a definite time)

The loosing of Satan will bring the Millennium to its climax. That final revolt will be crushed by Christ and culminate with a final judgment at the Great White Throne where the “rest of the dead” will be raised and everyone judged.

The new heavens and the new earth will be created after the Millennium (i.e. the 1,000 years after Christ’s Second Coming) and result in the eternal state.

There’s a difference between what’s called “Dispensational Premillennialism” and “Historic Premillennialism.”

The main difference is in relation to the rapture of the church and the role that ethnic or national Israel plays in the events of the End Times.

For those who place the rapture of the church BEFORE the start of the 7 year tribulation there’s a heavier focus on ethnic Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people with Jesus fulfilling specific Old Testament promises about the land during the Millennial reign.

Amillenial Approach

The binding of Satan happened at the cross of Christ. Since then Satan has been bound in that He can no longer resist the advance of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

The 1,000 years is symbolic of a long, indeterminate period, corresponding to the age of the church (now.)

Satan will be loosed briefly to wreak havoc and to persecute the church in the end of the present age.

The fire coming from heaven and consuming the wicked is symbolic of Christ’s Second Coming to the earth.

A general resurrection and judgment of the evil and the good will occur at Christ’s coming, followed by the creation of new heavens and a new earth.

Postmillennial Approach

Some interpret the chapter essentially as do the amillennialists, but with an added note of optimism about the success of the gospel in the present age.

Some say the binding of Satan happens at the cross others see the binding of Satan to represent a future point in time when the successful preaching of the gospel will have effectively reduced Satan’s influence to nothing.

The 1,000 years may or may not be a literal duration, but speaks of the future glorious age, prior to the Second Coming, in which the influence of the gospel will have universal sway.

A final attempt on the part of a loosed Satan at the end of the age will get no where.

A general resurrection and judgment will occur at the second coming of Christ.

Different Strokes Different Folks

As you can see, each view has a different approach for how they understand the binding of Satan, the resurrection and reign of the saints, the final rebellion of Satan and Christ’s ultimate response to it all.

Binding of Satan

Those who understand this from a premillennial view largely see the binding of Satan as something that happens AFTER Jesus returns to the earth. Up until that point Satan’s fury is being unleashed on the earth through the activities of the Anti-christ and false prophet.

Those from a post-mil or a-mill perspective appeal to passages like Col 2:15 which say Christ restrained the devil at the cross.

Colossians 2:15 (CSB)

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.

Or Jesus’ parable about his own binding of Satan and demons in Luke 11:21-22

Or Hebrews 2:14 which says Jesus - through death - “destroyed the one holding the power of death - that is, the devil..”

Interestingly, even though they see Satan’s binding as past they also agree with premils that Satan will be loose during the period of tribulation that directly precedes the second coming.

The Resurrection & Reign

When it comes to the resurrection of the saints and their ruling from thrones those who come from the amill/post-mill perspective see that resurrection as a spiritual resurrection that takes place in heaven after a Christian dies.

Pre-mil interpreters see the language as describing a literal and physical resurrection that Scripture always associates with the second coming of Christ.

Those are two fundamentally different ways of understanding what it means to “come to life.”

Likewise, the idea that Christians “rule” with Christ from heaven is not a far fetched idea by any means but premil interpreters will appeal to OT passages about the Millennium and say the reign of God’s people will be ON EARTH not just IN HEAVEN.

Some Dispensational interpreters see this resurrection and rule as narrowly Jewish and only those who died in the Great Tribulation. Historic premils take it in a more general and inclusive sense.

The Final Rebellion of Satan

Finally, this final rebellion of Satan is seen differently. Those who come from a more a-mill perspective see this final rebellion of Gog and Magog as the same rebellion that takes place in the battle of Armageddon.

Some see it as a general spiritual battle between good and evil. The beast and false prophet represent the ongoing battle of Christ’s people against godless authoritarian governments and false religion that ultimately threatens to crush them at the end of days but miraculously Christ comes in a moment and overthrows that final rebellion.

Pre-mil interpreters see a distinction between the Battle of Armageddon and this final rebellion of Satan with himself as God the prince who leads Magog his evil horde of nations.

As they say, different stroke for different folks. The assumptions you make early on this this book will come home to roost later on.

Challenges With Each View

No one view answers every question perfectly. Each one of these views has particular strengths. But they also each have their own weaknesses.

I don’t want to spend too much time on these

PREMIL: For example, with dispensational premillennialism there seem to be “TWO” comings of Jesus. His second coming happens at the Rapture but it also happens at the beginning of the millennium. That’s a point of divergence with historic premil and amil and post mil.

PREMIL: Post-mills could accuse premil of not taking seriously the power of the Gospel to change lives and society. Jesus said the gates of hell aren’t going to prevail against the church.

POSTMIL: The premils will turnaround to the postmils and say, “how do you make sense of Matthew 24 where Jesus says the tribulation that preceeds the second coming will be unlike any that has ever come before it?”

Premills needs to take seriously the power of the Gospel but Post-mills need to take seriously the depravity of human nature!

AMILL: Both premil and postmill will accuse the Amill of over-spiritualizing Old Testament passages about the reign of Christ and the book of Revelation.

A premil is going to look at a post-mil nor a-mil and say “if we’ve living in the millennium right now then the millennium really STINKS!

What Really Matters

As far as I can tell, a large degree of your interpretation depends on your personality type and general outlook on the future.

If you’re more of a pessimestic type of person you might lean more towards premill.

If you’re more of an optimistic type person you might lean post-mill.

If you’re more indecisive or prefer things to be simple and uncomplicated you might lean more towards amill.

I know premills who’ve turned amill. I know postmills who’ve turned premil. I know amills who’ve jumped back and forth between both. It’s simply not a simple question to answer. So as you pick a view keep that in mind.

I think the most important thing to remember as we approach this discussion is that we approach it with HUMILITY.

To approach something or discuss something with humility doesn’t mean that you don’t have CONVICTION. You can have very strong convictions and yet still express those convictions with humility.

If you remember last week we said humility is one of the core values of our church and the final expectation of our church members. We are most like Jesus when we embrace his mindset of humility.

Humility entails a willingness to concede that this question isn’t easily answered because there’s a lack of clarity on what means what.

The word millennium is used six times in this passage but it’s nowhere else explicitly mentioned in all of Scripture.

In the essentials we have unity. In the non-essentials liberty. In all things, charity.

Common Ground

I think the other big takeaway from this discussion is to promote unity within disagreement by elevating what we agree on OVER what we disagree on.

We should begin and end the discussion with what we share in common. In between those areas of major agreement we can explore the areas of minor disagreement.

Christ is King Now.

Whether the binding of Satan took place during the death of Jesus on the cross or whether that binding was partial then and more explicitly done by an angel after the return of Jesus to the earth - the point is Jesus is still king.

Christ is King NOW

Through the cross Jesus TRIUMPHED over evil. He is ruling and reigning as king NOW. Everybody agrees on that point. It’s an already / not yet fulfillment to the kingdom of God.

Jesus won’t “become” king He already IS king. All authority in heaven and on earth has ALREADY been given to him. He is RIGHT NOW seated at the right hand of God.

Satan always Loses.

Not only is Christ king NOW. Satan always LOSES.

There are debates whether Satan is finally defeated at the battle of Armageddon along with the Beast and the False Prophet.

Others say there’s an additional final battle at the end of the 1000 year reign of Jesus on the earth. The OT type of this final battle was the battle of God and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39.

There are good arguments for both views. But the point is Satan loses in BOTH cases. His minions fail at the Battle of Armageddon and HE FAILS in the final battle against Christ and His Kingdom.

Every Saint Sill Rise

The third point of agreement is that every saint will RISE.

Some think the “coming to life” in Revelation 20 is a spiritual resurrection of a new resurrection life in heaven. Others believe this is an actual physical resurrection at the second coming of Jesus before the eternal state.

Whether you take this particular resurrection as spiritual or physical EVERYBODY agrees that we will be physically raised when Jesus brings about the eternal state.

Every Saint Will Reign with Christ!

Not only will every saint RISE. Every saint will also REIGN with Christ forever.

Some begin this reign now in a spiritual sense as we living between the two kingdoms - the kingdom of this world and the coming New Jerusalem.

Others say we will reign on the physical earth on physical thrones when Jesus comes again in heaven.

The point of agreement is that all authority has been given to Christ and he will share that authority with us because of our union with him in salvation.

Every single saint will participate in the millennial reign of Jesus.

People may mock us and destroy us and persecute us now. But the day is coming when those roles will be reversed.

So what do we do in the meantime? We persevere. We overcome. We earnestly pray, Maranatha! Even so, come Lord!