THE IDEA OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST HAS always been confusing, controversial, and difficult. Whole denominations have split and gone their separate ways over differences of interpretation. My own problem in the study of the millennial reign of Jesus is that biblical eschatology, the study of the events of the last days, works well until you introduce a literal thousand-year reign into it. Simply stated, basic eschatology says that 1) Jesus comes. 2) Jesus dies. 3) Jesus is resurrected. 4) Jesus ascends into heaven. 5) Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead after a period of tribulation, at which time we who remain alive are caught up to be with Him and are changed while those who have “fallen asleep” are raised, all of us imperishable. The wicked are resurrected, as well, but unto judgment. 6) Jesus casts Satan and his angels into the lake of fire along with the unrighteous who refused to believe. 7) Heaven and earth are destroyed and recreated, and we all live happily ever after with redeemed and perfected hearts on a redeemed earth. Inject a literal millennium into this summary and you have trouble making it fit. Things come unraveled.
THREE VIEWS REVIEWED
Premillennialism
Premillennialists see the millennium as a literal, rather than symbolic, period of time. Jesus returns to inaugurate the millennium, His thousand-year reign on earth, hence the “pre” element of the term. Most commonly associated with Dispensationalism, premillennialism sees history as divided into ages or dispensations in which God does particular things. For instance, this view holds that miracles ceased with the end of the apostolic age and the completion of the canon of Scripture. A “dispensation” ended.
According to premillennialists, God has two redemptive plans, one for literal Israel and another for Gentiles during the “church age.” When the church age ends (usually associated with the seven churches of Revelation and the day of the Gentiles) and the church is raptured, the Jews who remain on earth will convert and receive Jesus.
This requires a pre-tribulation rapture with a secret return of the Lord, not visible to the entire world, followed by a visible return of the Lord after the Great Tribulation. The restoration of Israel as a nation becomes part of this prophetic scenario, together with the re-emergence of the Roman Empire in Europe and a Russian/Arab invasion of Israel—signs of the approach of the end times and the secret return of Jesus to rapture the church.
While I would say that the restoration of Israel was obviously a product of divine intervention and obviously a fulfillment of promises made by God, I don’t think Scripture justifies seeing it as a reliable or predictable timeline for the return of Jesus. Nothing I’ve seen written along those lines has ever worked out.
The establishment of Israel also aroused the wrath of the entire Arab world, something not only embedded in biblical prophecies, but an extension of the millennia-old conflict between the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Isaac. Connecting the Israeli/Arab conflict with the return of Jesus, however, also seems questionable scripturally.
Europe, for its part, is no revived Roman Empire and Russia has no interest in invading Israel. They have nothing to gain by doing so. In short, no proposed or supposed sequence of events connecting the return of Jesus to the founding of the current state of Israel has ever panned out.
I will state, however, that God clearly deals with His people on the basis of their relationship to Him. He deals with nations on the basis of their relationship to His people. This includes both the church and literal Israel. While it may not relate directly to the return of Jesus, the future of the nations of the world turns heavily on how they choose to treat Israel and the church.
Premillennialists expect a rebuilt temple and reinstitution of the sacrificial system. In 1976, I took a seminary course on Judaism and Christianity. One of the most prominent conservative rabbis in the Los Angeles area came to speak. One question asked was, “We hear the Jews are planning to rebuild the temple. Is that true?” He answered firmly, “We don’t need a temple. We don’t need animal sacrifice. We have repentance.” Many students of biblical history would say that the prophecies of the rebuilding of the temple were fulfilled one-to-one upon the return from the Babylonian exile and we need not look for a repeat.
In premillennialism, Jesus will rule the nations on earth during the thousand years, but the church (those who believed during the church age) will have been taken to heaven. But how does that fit with First Thessalonians 4:14-17?
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Inject a literal, Dispensational, premillennial interpretation into this and it all falls apart. It just doesn’t fit the framework of the rest of the Bible. Better, therefore, to look for a more symbolic meaning in keeping with the nature of apocalyptic literature. Please review Chapter One for a basic explanation of premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. I will not give a broad examination of postmillennialism here, except to say it fits well with Dominionism, the idea that we will establish the kingdom of God on earth by Spirit-inspired human effort and then deliver it up to Jesus at His coming. Hence, according to postmillennialism, Jesus will return after the thousand-year reign to receive His kingdom. I will, however, suggest a simple solution to the millennial problem, best categorized as an amillennial view that brings the victory we have in Jesus into the present.
Amillennialism
Amillennialism essentially means “no literal millennium.” For most of church history until the rise of Dispensationalism in the early nineteenth century, the amillennial view has been the dominant position of the church. What follows is my version, not too different from the historical mainstream prior to about 1830. My view turns on the biblical assertion, seen in the words of Jesus and the other New Testament books, that the kingdom of God is present in the here and now. This assertion is either true, or Jesus lied, which is not a possibility any of us would entertain.
Foundational to the message of the gospel as Jesus and the apostles preached it is the fact that the kingdom of God is at hand. Matthew 12:28 quotes Jesus as saying, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Even more significant is Mark 9:1, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” In the book of Acts, Jesus told the disciples, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In fulfillment of those words, the Holy Spirit fell on the 120 in the Upper Room just ten days after Jesus ascended to heaven. Later, in the power of that original outpouring, Paul “entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8).
In every case, the words of both Jesus and the apostles affirmed the truth that the rule and reign of Jesus has come to earth and is present with us now. We live in the already/not yet when the present age and the age to come overlap while we await the fullness at Jesus’s coming when the present age will end and only the kingdom of God will remain. Meanwhile, we get to live in the kingdom to minister and enjoy the powers of the age to come, winning people, changing cultures, and influencing nations. Holy Spirit moves among us, love multiplies where His nature is truly understood and received, and signs, wonders, and healings flow from the heart of the Father. Doesn’t that sound like victory?
Clearly Jesus announced that the kingdom of God would come with power within the lifetimes of those listening to Him (see Mark 9:1). The only possible candidate for the fulfillment of that prophetic word is the day of Pentecost when the power of the Holy Spirit fell on them in the Upper Room (see Acts 2). The number 1,000 in the thousand-year reign is best taken as symbolic of an extended period of time set by God in which we, as believers, walk in kingdom power and love. Our mandate and purpose is to influence and disciple nations. We are light and life in a dark world that ceases to be dark wherever our presence is felt and seen.
Notwithstanding the fact that mankind has never been able to live out the principles of the kingdom of God governmentally, it remains true that from the time of Jesus until now Christian influence has shaped the stated values and practices of the governments of the world. Apocalyptic language expresses things in extremes and absolutes consistent with the dream/vision state from which they flow. So, in a very real sense, since the time of Jesus’s ministry, and especially the day of Pentecost, the kingdom of God has been present on earth and, more than any other factor, has influenced all the nations of the earth, regardless of how badly those nations may have twisted it up or misapplied it. And this doesn’t even begin to address the presence of the Holy Spirit in demonstrations of power through believers in every age from Bible times until now.
Further, the majority of the world has been favorable toward Christianity as a faith from A.D. 314 until now. In our day, however, this is changing. As we approach the return of the Lord, Satan is being released from his bonds. From the time of Jesus until now, theologians have said that Satan has been bound, but with a long rope. In the last days, the days of the Great Tribulation, restrictions are lifted and he is free to throw one last temper tantrum against the Lord’s people, knowing that he has but a short time before his ultimate and final demise. Still, we prevail in victory in the midst.
In the sense that I’m describing, we have been living in the millennium from the time of Jesus, at least since the Day of Pentecost, until now. It is the already/not yet. Only by looking at it in this way does all the eschatology seem to fit.
You might be wondering how this fits the victory theme of this book, if you haven’t already seen it. If the kingdom of God is truly present, then in some sense the rule and reign of God are here now. In Jesus we have the privilege of ministering that power, demonstrating the Lordship of Jesus, to a world in need. Not only do we have the power of testimony in the midst of all forms of darkness and against all opposition, we have the anointing of God to demonstrate the kingdom in miracles of mercy and love. The sick are healed, the lame walk, and the blind see. In and through touches of the kingdom of God, people come to Jesus and lives are changed. Victory! A great harvest of souls before the return of Jesus! And the faithful ultimately inherit the earth to rule and reign with Him!
Additionally, shouldn’t we be using our gifts to benefit governments, employers, and others in authority? Shouldn’t believers in Jesus be recognized as the most valuable people in society to have on anyone’s team? Like Joseph in Egypt, who interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and proposed a wise plan to prepare and survive a coming famine, shouldn’t we be sought out by employers and government officials for our gifts and our wisdom? Pharaoh promoted Joseph from prison to a positon of authority second only to his own. Shouldn’t we be similarly placed, and for similar reasons? Rather than waiting and hoping for escape, shouldn’t we be ruling and reigning?
In February 2018, Billy Graham passed away. By virtue of love, anointing, and integrity, he ministered to a succession of presidents of the United States from both sides of the political spectrum in addition to winning untold numbers of people to salvation in our Lord. We have come into a period of history in which a new crop of Holy Spirit-filled Christians must arise to influence governments, business leaders, and civic organizations. My own wife, on a more local and simple level, has befriended cashiers in grocery stores and won the right to pray for them. In one case, this resulted in a Walmart worker’s mother receiving a healing for life-threatening diabetes. In another instance, my wife presented herself as a servant in a grade school to help teachers in setting up classrooms. Having thus won the respect and trust of the school principal and staff, she was not only allowed to pray through the halls of the school but was given lists of specific student needs to take to our children at church for prayer. Change resulted. This is victory and this is influence, the reign of Jesus on earth.
SYMBOLISM UNPACKED
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 (Revelation 20:1-2).
A Thousand Years
As a symbolic number, 1,000 stands for a long period of time. Alternatively, we can break it down as a multiple of three tens: 10x10x10 = 1,000. The number 3 points to the Trinity, our triune God, fully one and yet fully three. Ten is a number of fullness. We are therefore looking at a God-ordained fullness of time, rather than a literal number of years.
Satan Has Been Bound
[The angel] 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 (Revelation 20:3).
Satan is bound, but how? Since Jesus broke the power of the devil and his angels by the cross and resurrection, Satan has been bound, but with a long chain as the theologians sometimes say. Jesus secured his defeat at the cross and by the victory of the resurrection.
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him (Colossians 2:13-15).
The idea that Satan can no longer deceive the nations means at least that he is powerless to prevent Christian influence from spreading into every nation on earth, as it has certainly done and is doing. The values of nearly every government on earth, even when twisted and distorted into an evil form, have been shaped by the gospel.
Released for a Short Time
Just at the end, Satan is released for a short time. I believe this is the basis for the Great Tribulation. Satan rages, knowing that he has only a short time to do as much damage as possible. This, however, is only so that he can at last be thoroughly and finally broken. We must learn to regard Satan as the defeated foe that he truly is and stop fearing him as some kind of powerful adversary.
This fits Second Thessalonians 2:7-8: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.” Here we see the restraint placed on Satan and his minions, as well as the idea that at some point they will be released, exposed, and defeated. At every point, Scripture presents us with victory.
It would be important to note that the context of the passage does not indicate that the church will have been evacuated when all this comes to pass. Because both the church of Thessalonica and the apostle clearly believed the end times were upon them, Paul was speaking to that Gentile church about what would happen to them. He was informing them what to look for in their present lives, not what would happen after they were gone. The fact that Jesus did not return within their lifetimes in no way diminishes the truth of what the apostle had to say about end-time events. He might have been wrong in his underlying assumptions, which he never clearly stated as a teaching, but his words ring true for what must eventually transpire.
Resurrections
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 (Revelation 20:4-5).
Historically, beheading has not been a common punishment for heresy or for refusal to buy into an opposing religion. Is it not interesting that radical Islamists now use it as a common means of execution for those they consider infidels? At the very least, the statement that they “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” points once more to the ultimate victory and to the certainty of our own resurrection regardless of the possibility of earthly martyrdom. Consider, as well, Ephesians 2:6 where the apostle says that we have been seated with Christ—stated as present reality—in the heavenly places where Jesus sits at the right hand of God.
No other place in Scripture mentions two resurrections, save perhaps First Thessalonians 4:16 with reference to the second coming, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Even then, however, the context indicates that “first” means only that this resurrection is just the first of two connected events. “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).
A clearer reference would be John 3:36: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life.” The word has is present tense. In effect, we have been raised from the dead to eternal life the moment we believe. New life has come. We are born again. In that light, the second resurrection would be the resurrection of the physical body unto the judgment at the end of the age, the end of the millennium—the moment of reward for believers and punishment of the wicked.
See also First Corinthians 15:22-24:
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
Life has been granted to us now and in eternity, as well as authority and power for victory on this earth. Our lives affect those around us. The gospel goes forth victoriously even in the midst of trial. Our hope transcends all circumstances. Historically, the Christians won the Roman Empire. “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:15-16). The biblical promise and mandate is for victory, not escape.
“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” (Rev. 20:6). Clearly, the first resurrection occurs when we are born again, resurrected from death to life. This gives us power over the second death. The first death is the death of the body. The second death is hell and alienation from the presence of God.
“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison” (Rev. 20:7). This points back to Second Thessalonians 2:7-8: “He who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” It would seem that different writers, receiving the same word under different anointings and in different situations, expressed the same truths in varying terms.
Revelation 20:8-9 speaks of Gog and Magog gathering the forces of the nations to come against the saints in the beloved city, stating simply that fire came and devoured them. Again, apocalyptic literature speaks in symbolic terms, often explainable by other passages of Scripture. Here we see rising universal opposition to Christianity. “The number of them is like the sand of the seashore” indicates widespread opposition. “The beloved city” represents believers. “Fire devoured them” says that God will consume the opposition. In prophetic perspective, this represents the events that led to the eventual victory of Christianity under the Roman Empire as well as to a greater thing yet to come that is foreshadowed and completed in the depth of the prophecy.
John prophesied a widespread revulsion toward Christianity in the end times following a period of acceptance. This has been true in modern times. In America alone, we have seen a transition from defining the nation as “Christian” to a growing rejection of that premise, even to the point of many on the left seeing Christianity as a threat. John foresaw ultimate victory and redemption for believers on this earth, regardless of opposition. This was the hope of the early Christians and this is the hope of believers in our time. We get to win.
Revelation 20:10-11 paints a picture of the devil and all his minions being cast into eternal destruction and torment while Jesus assumes the throne. Verses 12 and those that follow show us the final judgment of men and women.
What we see at the end of it all is destruction of the entire corrupted created order, soon to be replaced with a new one (see 2 Pet. 3:13). On this renewed and redeemed earth, we rule and reign with Jesus, having walked victoriously in this world until His return.
SUMMARY
Revelation 20 is a partial rewind that reviews the end-time events once more from yet another perspective with a focus on the finality. In Jesus’s earthly ministry Satan was cast down and bound. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (Matt. 12:28-29). This is the beginning of the millennial rule. In Jesus we plunder what the devil thought was his.
As Satan is bound/limited for these many years—the symbolic 1,000—Christian influence fills the earth, represented as the “rule” of Christ. Every government system on earth has been influenced directly or indirectly by Christian values, while every government ever raised up against Christ and Christian values has ultimately fallen, either to dominance by Christianity or to destruction.
Our salvation in Jesus constitutes the first resurrection as we who believe have been transferred from death to life. In the second resurrection, we move into eternal life, or in the case of the unrighteous unbelieving, the judgment of hell and eternal alienation from God in the lake of fire.
Corresponding to the period of the Great Tribulation, Satan will be released, unbound, in order to oppose believers with a rising opposition to the gospel and those who stand for it—culminating in what might be called Armageddon—but only so that he may at last be destroyed when the Lord returns and we join Him in victory.
The thousand years of the millennial reign began with Jesus’s ministry on earth and took real root on the day of Pentecost when those who were alive during Jesus’s lifetime saw the kingdom come with power. Since that time, the will of heaven has been done on earth in signs and wonders and in Christian influence spreading through the nations. We have been living in the millennial reign of Christ and should be walking in its power and authority today. We win!