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Revelation 20:1–10
“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” (v. 4).
General or cosmic eschatology deals with the end of human history, considering such things as the antichrist and the return of Christ. The millennium is also a part of general or cosmic eschatology, and to the millennium we now turn.
Revelation 20:1–10 is the key passage on the millennium, and it tells us that those who die for the sake of Christ come to life and reign “with Christ for a thousand years” (v. 4). One view of this text sees this millennial reign as entirely future and the time reference as literal. This so-called premillennial interpretation says that when Christ returns, He will establish an earthly kingdom over which He will reign for exactly one thousand years. Premillennialism in various forms is widely popular in modern evangelical Christianity.
Premillennialism errs in relegating the reign of Christ entirely to the future, albeit with some qualifications. Jesus presently reigns from heaven over the church and the world, directing His blessed kingdom’s expansion (1 Cor. 15:25). The symbolic nature of the book of Revelation also makes it unlikely that today’s passage describes a literal period of one thousand years. For these and other reasons, the amillennial view, Louis Berkhof notes, “has always been the prevalent view in Reformed circles.” Indeed, the amillennial view prevails in almost every Christian theological tradition.
Amillennialists view the one thousand years of Revelation 20:1–10 as a symbol of completeness. The idea is that the departed saints share in Jesus’ reign over all things during the complete period between His ascension and return. Premillennialists argue that amillennialism is wrong because it does not seem from observing the world that Christ now reigns victorious over all. Sin and Satan remain very active. Christians, however, walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). If we look at things by faith, we see that Satan has indeed been bound such that he cannot deceive the nations as he did before Christ came (Rev. 20:1–3). Under the old covenant, faith in the one true God was largely limited to ethnic Israel. In our new covenant era, people from all nations trust in the Lord.
One final millennial view—postmillennialism—is really a subspecies of amillennialism. Postmillennialists believe that Christ is reigning now but that this reign will eventually result in worldwide peace and prosperity before Jesus comes back. Most people will become disciples of Jesus, and society will be transformed.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Robert Letham writes in his Systematic Theology that “while the church struggles in this world, the reality behind the scenes is that it shares with Christ in his reign over the nations.” How much that reign will transform human society before His return is debated, but there is no doubt that He is extending the reach of His blessed kingdom. The gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
For further study
- Psalm 90:1–4
- Zechariah 8:20–23
- Matthew 24:14
- 2 Peter 3:8
The bible in a year
- Amos 7–9
- Revelation 7