THE MILLENNIUM KINGDOM

Charles Reeder

BIBL 450: Daniel –Revelation

May 9, 2014

THE MILLENNIUM KINGDOM

INTRODUCTION: We find that the kingdom is a very important theme that we find in the Bible and John Bright describes it like this. “The Bible is one book. Had we to give that book a title, we might with justice call it “The Book of the Coming Kingdom of God”. Many names are used in the scripture to describe this millennial kingdom.[1] In Matthew 19:28 Jesus describes it “in regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory”. In the third chapter of Acts it is spoken of as “times of refreshing” (v. 19) and “times of restitution of all things”. (v. 21) Hindson states that “there can be no true kingdom without a king”, and the kingdom has to be associated with the king. [2]

TIMING, DURATION AND NATURE: The word “millennium” is derived from two Latin words, mille and annus, which is translated as “thousand” and “year”. Thus it is a period of one thousand years. The Greek word that is used for millennium is chilias and this term is found six times in the book of Revelation.[3] It is the time after the church age and the Tribulation and prior to all eternity. All the promises and covenants that God made to Israel will be fulfilled at this royal reign of Christ on the earth.[4] Christ will return to the earth, Satan will be 2 bound, and because Satan’s world system has been destroyed the way is made for Christ’s kingdom on this earth. Because much prophecy of this time has been written in the Old Testament, the book of Revelation does not expand on it as much.[5] This period of time is characterized as being a period of joy and comfort due to Satan being restrained for the thousand years and is called the “theocratic kingdom” because it is ruled directly by God in the person of his son, Jesus Christ. We will find that “nature will be released from its bondage it has experienced since the fall of man”. [6] During the millennium there will be times of spiritual rule because Christ will rule in righteousness and the fullness of the Spirit and holiness will be manifested. Zechariah 14:20 tells us “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” will be on the bells of the horses and in the pots. It will also be a time of political rule because it will be universal, and admonition and judgment for those who violate the rule of the Messiah. What a wonderful time this will be when “everything from work to worship will be holy”.[7]

OCCUPANTS OF THE MILLENNIAL: John gives us details and outlines the different classes of saints that will reign with Christ during the millennial. First will be all the believers from “Abel to the rapture of the church”. The second group will be those souls of the martyrs of the first half of the

3 tribulation period and the last group will be the martyrs of the last period of the tribulation or those who did not worship the Antichrist. [8] Hindson also said that the martyrs are those “who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus.. who had not worshipped the beasts or his image,…and had not received the mark”. Those who had not accepted Christ will remain dead for this millennial period of time. While Satan is bound, Christ, and the bride of Christ, with the martyrs of the tribulation will all rule on earth.[9]

RELATIONSHIP OF ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH: During the millennium God will fulfill three very important covenants that were revealed during the Old Testament- the Abrahamic, the Davidic, and the New Covenant. The temple will be rebuilt. Acts 15:16 tells us, “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up”. Several chapters in Ezekiel talk specifically about the rebuilding of the millennium temple. The Abrahamic Covenant promised that Israel would be a great nation and would possess the Promised Land. The promise that the seed of David (Christ) would reign forever on the throne of David is found in the Davidic Covenant. The New Covenant speaks of a spiritual rebirth for the nation of Israel. All of these promises will be fulfilled in the reign of Christ over the one thousand years. [10] The 4 land of Palestine was chosen by Christ to be the focal point and the center of His government will be out of Jerusalem. God’s chosen people were the Jews and He had promised them this Promised Land which will become their homeland during the millennium. [11]

THREE DISTINCT MILLENNIUM VIEWPOINTS: There has been much controversy and debate on the interpretation of Revelation 20 and this discussion of Bible prophecy. There can be some danger in our study of prophecy, and we should be careful not to take scriptures out of context, not be so focused on the future that we forget the main focal point of the prophecy, Christ. Three distinct views have arisen among Bible scholars – Amillennial , Postmillennial, and Premillennial. We need to take a closer look at each of these views and how they relate to the scriptures in determining which has the better school of thought. [12]

AMILLENNIALISM: “The name ‘amillennialism’ is somewhat misleading, since it implies that amillennialists do not believe in a millennium”. They do reject the concept of an earthly millennium, but they do believe in a kingdom. Their theory is that the Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah’s kingdom is what is being fulfilled now in Heaven. [13] Some 5 believe also that the kingdom is fulfilled “in a spiritual manifestation through the church”. Amillennialism is based on the nonliteral approach to the scriptures on the kingdom. [14] They do not believe in the rapture, and from the time of Christ’s ascension in the first century until His second coming that good and evil will continue to increase due to the parallel of God’s kingdom to Satan’s kingdom.[15] Our current state of affairs is “probably as good as it’s going to get and that the eternal state (heaven), not the millennial kingdom, will immediately follow the second coming of Christ.[16] In support of amillennialism, Floyd E. Hamilton states that Christ’s kingdom “is not of this world, but He reigns in the hearts of His people on earth”. Believers will enter into heaven after Christ’s second coming for eternity after the immediate final and single judgment of all mankind.[17] Amilllennialism began to dominate the church world when Augustine (354-430) would abandon premillennialism, which the early church favored, to support this view. In his book, City of Angels, Augustine would dismiss any hope of a physical or earthly millennial kingdom and along with other men such as Jerome, and Gregory the Great, the literal interpretation of the scriptures especially Daniel and Revelation, would fade away quickly. [18]The amillennists maintain that the one thousand year reign is only symbolic not literal. They tend to say that the thousand years are mentioned in only one passage, and 6
“that in a highly symbolic book”.[19] Revelation 20 is only a description of “souls of dead believers reigning with Christ in heaven”. They refer to the perfect and future kingdom to the new earth and life in heaven.[20] Perhaps the greatest problem with amillennialism is that the Bible does not support their theory. They cannot show us specific scripture that teaches us their position. Their symbolic understanding of the number 1000 has not been demonstrated in ancient literature. No where in the Old or New Testament is this number used symbolically. “Whenever the Hebrew or Greek words for year are used with numbers, they always refer to literal years”. Their teaching that Satan was bound at some point during the first coming of Christ cannot be true because scripture does not say that he was bound in the past. If he is bound how come he is deceiving so many as a “roaring lion” and doing devious work today? Satan is not bound until after the coming of Christ in Revelation 19. The modern amillennialism includes what is called replacement theology or supersessionism. They deny that the “modern state of Israel has any place in God’s future prophetic plan”. This contradicts that plan of God to fulfill his promises to Israel during the Millennial. [21]

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POSTMILLENNIALISM:

This theory states that the return of Christ will come after the millennium and became very popular during the nineteenth century. The last 1000 years of the present age would find the whole world being won to Christ thus the golden age of the church age. Postmillennialism’s influence began to decline after the world wars happened. [22] From the time of Christ’s coming they believed the world would just get better and better and the assumption that the millennial kingdom would be established on earth and everyone live in peace. These hopes of a man-made perfect world have been banished with the two world wars and now even smaller wars all over the world. [23] The millennial kingdom will be established by the church and not by any intervention of Jesus and they do not believe that Christ will personally reign on earth during this time but through the church. [24] Through the preaching and teaching the world will become more godly, and prosperous and the new age will not be very different from the present, and more people will be saved. They believe that evil will be at a minimum due to the increase of moral and spiritual Christians. This may take more than one thousand years to accomplish and the number could be used symbolically.[25] It is only after this Golden Age that Christ will

8 return in his second coming, the resurrection of the dead will take place, and the final judgment will occur. [26] Norman Shepherd is a supporter of postmillennialism and said, “the view that Christ will return at the end of an extended period of righteousness and prosperity (the millennium)”. The amillennialists and postmillennialists share the common belief that the kingdom or millennium is the current age and some have said that the postmillennism is “an optimistic form of amillennialism”. They both share that the promise to Israel is not literal but apply them to the church. Dr. John Walvoord said that they do not interpret the entire Bible, especially prophecy, literally.[27] Their strength perhaps would be that they believe that the gospel is to be spread around the world and many would be converted and maybe they use the scripture found in Matthew 24:14 to support this theory. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come”. Yet their viewpoints have many weaknesses if we take a closer look at the scriptures. I do not believe this world will get better before the Lord comes. The Bible speaks of wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes. These are not good things and I only have to hear the daily news to know that things are getting worse every day. For us to have a better world Satan would have to be bound somewhere and he would not be able to “seek those to devour”. The Bible

9 tells us he will be bound only when Christ comes in Revelation 19 and Satan is thrown in the abyss.

PREMILLENNIALISM: The view of the premillennialists is of the literal interpretation of Revelation 20. After the second coming of Christ and the Tribulation, Christ will return to earth to establish a literal 1000 year reign. Ryrie states, “All forms of premillemmialism understand that the Millennium follows the second coming of Christ. Its duration will be 1,000 years; its location will be on earth; its government will be theocratic with the personal presence of Christ reigning as King”. [28] This view taken is not based solely on the writings of John but take into account all the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament as well. There are several reasons for such a kingdom to come in the future given in Old Testament scriptures. The fulfillment of Jewish covenant promises, the predictions of the Jewish prophets, a completeness of Christ’s blessings and the bringing of the rule of God to earth are some of the reasons. One of the most important points of Revelation 20 is to make clear who the real Ruler will be, and that is Jesus Christ and not the Antichrist.[29] Much debate regarding the millennium has been over the issue of hermeneutics. Yet Floyd E. Hamilton, an amillennialist, acknowledges with this statement. “Now we must frankly admit that a literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies gives us 10 just such a picture of an earthly reign of the Messiah as the premillennialist pictures”. Postmillennialist Loraine Boettner said, “It is generally agreed that if the prophecies are taken literally, they do foretell a restoration of the nation of Israel in the land of Palestine with the Jews having a prominent place in that kingdom and ruling over the other nations”. With such comments as these one would agree that interpreting Old Testament prophecy literally to be the premillennial view.[30] We can clearly see that the early Christians were premillennialists. Some have tried to say that this view is relatively a new theory, but most scholars will agree that it was a view that was dominant during the first three centuries of the early church. With the rise of allegorical approaches to the scriptures and with philosophy replacing the study of the scriptures, premillennialism views declined. After the Reformation things changed and it began to rise again. With the increase of Bible colleges and Christians schools and their emphasis on the literal interpretation of the Bible, premillennialism has become the dominant millennial view today.[31] In comparison to the other two views, premillennialism can be strongly supportive due to its clear and precise interpretation of Revelation 20. In verse four of this chapter it speaks of all the martyrs who gave their lives and did not worship the beast, nor take the mark of the beast who will live and reign with Christ during this 1000 years. They have literally been given much hope for their sacrifice.

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CONCLUSION:
Which one of these views do I find the most appropriate for the millennial reign of Christ? I cannot agree with the ammillennial view of Satan currently being bound. He is very much at work today and more than ever before, evil is on the rise because of his tactics. The fact that the postmillennials view the world as getting better and better cannot be justified as well. We know it is getting worse and worse every day. Our only hope is the rapture of the saints. In my heart I know that the views of premillennialism would have to be the best one. If one studies the Word of God as we should, the scriptures will reveal to us that Christ will literally return to earth to reign for the 1000 years and Satan will be bound. “A natural, literal, detailed exposition of the Scriptures shows that the Bible teaches premillennialism.” Dr. Gerald Stanton shared some points to agree with this view. The Bible should be interpreted consistently and literally, Christ taught of an earthly kingdom as well as the Old Testament, the early church was premillennial, Revelation 20 teaches premillennialism, and premillennialism harmonizes the entire Bible. [32] The book of Revelation ends with this era of the millennium where Satan is bound and Christ and his saints rule for the 1000 years. Satan is released for only a short time in the end and finally is cast into the lake of fire followed by the great white throne judgment. This was only the earthly kingdom and not heaven. My goal is to do all I can to make sure that I am ready to be a part of that eternal city where we will live in paradise forever with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Revelation 22:17 the Spirit and the 12
Bride say “Come”, then Jesus answers in verse 20, “Surely I come quickly”. John’s reply is “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”. My reply is an “Amen”.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Douglas, J. D. and Merrill C. Tenney. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001.

Hindson, Edward. The Book of Revelation, Unlocking the Future. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2002.

LaHaye, Tim and Ed Hindson. The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001.

MacArthur, Jr., John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 12-22. Chicago: Moody Press, 2000.

Towns, Elmer L. Theology for Today. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008.

Unger, Merrill L. Unger’s Guide to the Bible. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1974.
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[1] MacArthur, Jr., John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 12-22 (Chicago: Moody Press, 2000), 228.

[2] Hindson, Edward. The Book of Revelation, Unlocking the Future (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2002), 199.

[3] Ibid, 200.

[4] Unger, Merrill F. Unger’s Guide to the Bible (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1974), 542.

[5] Ibid, 418.

[6] Towns, Elmer L. Theology for Today (Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008), 801.

[7] LaHaye, Tim and Ed Hindson. The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 236.

[8] Unger, Unger’s Guide to the Bible, 418.

[9] Hindson, The Book of Revelation, Unlocking the Future, 199, 202.

[10] Towns, Theology for Today, 806-807.

[11] Ibid, 801.

[12] Ibid, 719.

[13] MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 12-22, 230.

[14] Towns, Theology for Today, 800.

[15] Lahaye, The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, 18.

[16] Ibid, 234.

[17] Ibid, 274.

[18] Ibid, 18.

[19] Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001), 1082.

[20] Ibid, 771.

[21] LaHaye, The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, 20-21.

[22] Ibid, 235.

[23] Towns, Theology for Today, 720.

[24] MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 12-22, 230.

[25] Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 771.

[26] Douglas, J. D. and Merrill C. Tenney. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 811.

[27] LaHaye, The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, 274-275.

[28] Ibid, 279.

[29] Ibid, 280.

[30] MacArthur, Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Revelation 12-22, 231.

[31] Lahaye, The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy,234.

[32] Ibid, 276.