Eschatology: Premillennial
Efforts to
determine the exact date of Christ’s second coming are foolish! As the Apostle Paul put it, “Now,
brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know
very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1-2).
However, despite the fact no man can be certain when Christ will
literally return, the book of Revelation does give us clues as to what events
must take place before Christ will establish His eternal Kingdom on earth.
In the book
of Revelation, the author identifies himself four times simply as “John” (1:1,4; 21:2; 22:8). The
earliest church fathers—e.g., Justin Martyr, Irenaeus,
Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen—unanimously
identified this author with John, the son of Zebedee,
one of the twelve apostles, the “beloved disciple” of Christ, to whom the
writing of the fourth Gospel is attributed.
In addition, it is likely that no person in the early church, other than
the apostle, was so well known as to be able to identify himself simply as
“John,” without additional identifying information. It is for this reason, practically all
scholars today who accept the divine inspiration of the Book of Revelation also
accept John the Apostle as its author (Gregg 12).
In addition,
most evangelical scholars affirm that Revelation was written in A.D. 95 or
96. This is based on the accounts of the
early church fathers that the Apostle John had been exiled on Patmos Island during the reign of Domitian,
who died in A.D. 96 (Walvoord 925).
“1The
revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.
He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the Word of God and the
testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed
is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear
it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near” (Rev.
1:1-3).
Although
John received this revelation nearly 2,000 years ago, it stands as a comfort
and challenge to God’s people today.
Believers can rejoice as they understand John’s vision of hope—Christ
will return to rescue His people and settle accounts with all who defy Him!
Among the
various interpretations of John’s vision in the book of Revelation, I hold to
the premillennial approach. This means I believe (1) the binding of Satan
is future and will take place when Christ returns (2) the Millennium or 1,000
years is a literal period during which Christ will reign on earth with His
people (3) the losing of Satan will bring the Millennium to its climax (4)
after the Millennial reign of Christ, there will be a final judgment at the
Great White Throne (5) the new heavens and new earth will be created after the
Millennium. Though some critics argue
that the premillennial approach inevitably detracts
from Christian concern for justice now, those persons who abide in Christ have
a responsibility to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Mt. 28:18-20;
Acts 1:8; Rom.
First, the
binding of Satan is future and will take place when Christ returns.
“1And
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and
holding in his hand a great chain. 2He
seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, which is the devil, or Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years. 3He
threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from
deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set
free for a short time” (Rev. 20:1-3).
Satan is not
cast into the lake of fire, but is thrown into the Abyss, a place of
confinement, where he can no longer tempt or deceive people, for 1,000
years. According to Arthur E. Bloomfield,
“This marks the beginning of a new dispensation. This is not the beginning of a new world, but
the end of an old one. What the Jewish
Sabbath is to the week, the Millennium is to the ages. There is a perfect government during this
reign of Christ and His saints, but there is not a perfect world until the end”
(297). Though Satan will be confined for
a time, we are forewarned this is not the end of his career. For, after the Millennium, he must be set
free for a short time (v. 3). This
passage must be interpreted in a literal way, making possible a final satanic
rebellion at the end of the millennial kingdom.
Second, the
Millennium or 1,000 years is a literal period during which Christ will reign on
earth with His people.
“4I
saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to
judge. And I saw the souls of those who
had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word
of God. They had not worshiped the beast
or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their
hands. They came to life and reigned
with Christ a thousand years 5(The rest of the dead did not come to
life until the thousand years were ended).
This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed
and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no
power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign
with Him for a thousand years” (Rev 20:4-6).
This is the
only chapter in the book of Revelation where a period of 1,000 years is
mentioned, and the fact it is mentioned six times is a clear indication of a
literal thousand-year period. According
to John F. Walvoord, “Events which precede the
thousand years are (a) the second coming of Christ (b) Satan is bound in the
Abyss (c) the martyred dead of the Tribulation are resurrected. These events revealed in their proper
sequence make it clear that the thousand-year period follows all these events,
including the second coming of Christ. The conclusion that the Second Coming is premillennial
is clearly supported by a normal, literal interpretation of this text” (981). In addition, there is much dispute over the
identity of the persons seated upon the thrones (v. 4). Are they (a) God, Christ, and the angels (b)
the twenty-four elders (Rev. 4:4) (c) all the saints of both the Old and New
Testaments (Mt. 19:28) or (d) those who refused to worship the beast (Rev.
20:4) during the Tribulation? (Gregg 465).
It seems likely the identities of the persons seated upon the thrones
are those who refused to worship the beast during the Tribulation. It only makes sense to single out these
martyred dead for resurrection since the Church is going to be raptured prior to the Great Tribulation (1 Th.
Third, the
losing of Satan will bring the Millennium to its climax.
“7When
the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8and
will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for
battle. In number they are like the sand
on the seashore. 9They
marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's
people, the city He loves. But fire came
down from heaven and devoured them. 10And
the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake
of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day
and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:7-10).
Satan’s
release from the Abyss will produce a worldwide rebellion against the Millennial reign of Christ. The enemy armies of Gog
and Magog (v. 8) will be so vast they are
described as being like the sand on the seashore (v. 8). This evil force is previously identified in
Ezekiel 38 and 39, as coming down from the far north to invade
Fourth,
after the Millennial reign of Christ, there will be a final judgment at the
Great White Throne.
“11Then
I saw a Great White Throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and
there was no place for them. 12And
I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were
opened. Another book was opened, which
is the Book of Life. The dead were
judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea
gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that
were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. The lake of fire
is the second death. 15If
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).
There is a
noted difference between the books from which the dead were judged, and the
Book of Life (v. 12), which contained none of their names. According to Steve Gregg, “The latter was mentioned
in the promise made to the overcomers in the
Fifth, the
new heavens and new earth will be created after the Millennium.
“1Then
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2I saw the
This new
earth or New Jerusalem (v. 2) is not the present heaven and earth
renovated, but an entirely new heaven and a new earth: the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away (v. 1).
In contrast to the present earth, which has most of its surface covered
by water, no large body of water will cover this new earth: there was no
longer any sea (v. 1). This final
revelation foretells the saints in the New Jerusalem will enjoy a new intimacy
with God, which is now impossible because humanity lives in a world where sin
and death are still present. This new
earth will be one without sorrow: God will wipe every tear from their eyes,
there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away (v. 4). In
addition, John wrote that he did not see a temple in the city because the
Lord God Almighty and the Lamb [God the Son] are
its temple (v. 22). The glory and
light of the new earth will be the full presence of God, not needing the sun
or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb
is its lamp (v. 23-24). This
revelation given to John describes a beautiful and glorious future for all
persons who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
“1Then
the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of
the great street of the city. On each
side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,
yielding its fruit every month. And the
leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3No longer will there be any
curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb
will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. 4They will see His face, and His
name will be on their foreheads. 5There
will be no more night. They will not
need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give
them light. And they will reign for ever
and ever” (Rev. 22:1-5).
As the curse
of Adam’s sin led to illness requiring healing and death, so in the New
Jerusalem there will no longer be any curse (v. 3). Instead, the saints will see His face and
His name will be on their foreheads (v. 4;
Upon
extensive research and study, I find the information above to be most
accurate. It is for this reason I
anticipate a rapture of Christians to heaven before the Great Tribulation;
believe the binding of Satan is future and will take place when Christ returns;
believe the 1,000 years is a literal period during which Christ will reign on
earth with His people; believe the losing of Satan will bring the Millennium to
its climax; believe after the Millennial reign of Christ, there will be a final
judgment at the Great White Throne; and believe the new heavens and new earth will
be created after the Millennium. That is
to say, my eschatological interpretation of John’s vision in the book of
Revelation is premillennial.
Works
Cited
Bloomfield, Arthur E. All Things New: The
Prophecies of Revelation Explained.
Gregg, Steve. Revelation: Four Views.
Life Application Study Bible: NIV.
Walvoord John F., and Zuck Roy B., eds. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament.