What is premillennialism?
What about the 1,000 year reign of Christ?
by Harley Pinon
Brief overview of different Views
There are numerous questions, and numerous ideas about the 1,000 year reign of Christ. Where does the idea come from? In the New King James Version, the expression, “thousand years,” occurs exactly eight times. It occurs twice in 2 Peter 3:8, and six times in Revelation 20. It does not occur in verse 1, but then in each of the next six verses. That’s it! Seven verses in the entire New Testament, yet from the six verses in Revelation, four different ideas have emerged. These views are often stated as pre-millennialism, post millennialism, a-millennialism and preterism. I have been asked to set forth the pre-millennial view of scripture.
Author’s background
In the interest of intellectual honesty, I think I need to state my background. I was not born into a home that believed in pre-millennialism. At the age of 10, I was baptized into Christ at the then 14th and Adams Church of Christ in Hutchinson, Kansas. Because of my asthma, my parents moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico. I later graduated form Abilene Christian College in 1960 with a B.S. degree in the practical field of Bible, and my wife, the former Carolyn Wallace, graduated the following year. As you may know, Abilene Christian College, now University, is not a school that teaches pre-millennialism.
In the years that followed, I did some full time preaching, but changed to part time preaching and full time teaching of math in Texas. I retired from public school teaching in 1995, but keep my part time preaching position. None of what I have said accounts for my belief in pre-millennialism. I want to say that I am not an expert on pre-millennialism. What I believe about the book of Revelation and Bible prophecy has come from my study, and my wife’s study, and our sharing together of what we believe the book of Revelation and all biblical prophecy teach about the coming reign of Christ.
Misconceptions and Generalization
There are many misconceptions and generalizations about pre-millennialism. A simple analogy is to compare it to saying you are a member of the Church of Christ. Tell that to someone and what will they say? Some will say, “Oh, I know, that’s the church that thinks they are the only one’s going to heaven,” or some other conclusion. We all know that different members of the Church of Christ believe a lot of different things. The same is true, and probably more so, about those who believe in pre-millennialism. It is for that reason that I usually like to avoid labels, but they can be of some help if we understand correctly. I’m saying that to say: don’t jump to conclusions. Some will say, “Oh, I know what that is, that’s what the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe.” Well, I don’t believe what they do about the millennial reign of Christ, or many other things, and we could list others as well.
Perhaps the greatest division among those who believe that Christ will return to set up a kingdom here on earth has to do with the timing of the rapture. The expression “rapture” causes some people to be very uneasy. From the Oxford Dictionary, 3 (the Rapture) N. Amer. (according to some millenarian teaching) the transporting of believers to heaven at the second coming of Christ.
I think most believe in this with the possible exception of those who hold the preterist view. The question among pre-millennialists is not whether or not there will be a rapture, but rather when it will take place. Most believe there will be a period called “the great tribulation.” The New King James has the expression, “great tribulation” in Matthew 24:21, Rev 2:22, & 7:14. As with the 1,000 year reign of Christ, there are other references which the pre-millennialists associate with the great tribulation. I will not attempt to list all of those here. Jer 30:7 NKJV says, “Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.”
Again, it is impossible to speak for all pre-millennialists. Foy Wallace, in his book, God’s Prophetic Word, has put together a list of beliefs which he calls the beliefs of pre-millennialists. I do not know of a pre-millennialist who believes all those things. It is difficult to be fair and objective about the views of any group, so I would caution the reader of this article not to assume someone believes everything exactly as I have outlined here. Be fair and let them tell you their understanding before jumping to conclusions.
Back to the two views of the rapture. The pre-millennialists believe that there is to be a great tribulation followed by God’s wrath. Some believe that God will rapture the church before the great tribulation. These are called the “pre-trib” group; that’s short for pre-tribulation. The other group believes that Christians will be subjected to the great tribulation, but will be raptured before the wrath of God is poured out on the world. Paul says, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Th 5:9 NKJV) Accordingly, I believe we will be raptured before the wrath, but not before the tribulation. Christ says, "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:36 NKJV) Some may believe this verse refers only to the destruction of Jerusalem, but I personally believe that it applies to the great tribulation as well.
My personal belief is that Christians in general will go through the great tribulation. There are some things that are not as clear as we might like for them to be. For example: is the great tribulation going to bring suffering equally to all Christians, or is it something that will affect the children of Israel more than Gentile Christians? This is a question I will not attempt to answer. I know the answer I would prefer since I am a Gentile, but that doesn’t make it true.
The Children of Israel
Most pre-millennialists believe that Jesus is not through with Israel yet. Again, it is Revelation 20 that has the six verses containing “one thousand years,” but the beliefs of pre-millennialists are based on many prophetic passages including the “dry bones chapter.” (Ezek 37:4-6 NKJV) “Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! {5} “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. {6} ‘I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD."' "
Many believe that God is through with the nation of Israel, but pre-millennialists believe that God will deal with Israel in the future. God’s dealings are often described as being very harsh with them for their sins. "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderer's soap. {3} He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness.” .(Mal 3:2-3 NKJV)
What Does the Bible say about the Millennial Reign of Christ?
As already mentioned, “thousand years” occurs six times in Revelation 20. Of these occurrences, verse four is perhaps best to state the basic idea: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Rev 20:4 KJV) To my understanding, the first clause in red designates a separate group of individuals reigning (sitting upon thrones) which is distinct from the “souls” of those who were beheaded, etc.- who also “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
What Do Pre-millennialists Believe?
The “pre” carries the idea of “before.” The “before” in this case has reference to the return of Christ in relation to the thousand year reign. Pre-millennialists believe that Jesus’ return will take place before the millennium, the reign of Christ described in Revelation 20. While I am not attempting to define the other views for those who hold them, the a-millennialists believe that the 1,000 years is not literal. The expression, “a-millennialism,” basically means, “no millennium.” They believe that the reign is not a literal 1,000 years and we are now living in the time of the “reign of Christ.” Post- millennialists believe that Christians will continue to gradually improve the world so that it becomes more and more like the millennium is to be, and then Christ will come; that is, Christ will return after the millennium.
The pre-millennialists take many things in Revelation very literally. As with any part of the Bible, there are some things that must obviously be understood in the way they were intended. There are references to beasts which obviously do not refer to animals as we know them, but usually they have references to men, or kingdoms of men. The “reigning” with Christ is much different to the pre-millennialists than to the other beliefs. The pre-millennialists believe that Jesus is coming back and will measure out justice to many at His return. Rev 19:15 NKJV says, “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
Sometimes I hear people say things like, "We don't need an earthly reign of Christ!" Paul said, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! {34} "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?" (Rom 11:33-34 NKJV) I think of these verses by Paul, and I think, "It really doesn't matter what you think. If God wants a 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth, then there will be one, and there is absolutely nothing that anyone can do about it."
What does the Bible say about a 1,000 year reign of Christ? We have a brief description in Rev 20:1-7 NKJV, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. {2} He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; {3} and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. {4} And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. {5} But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. {6} Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. {7} Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.”
Some have said that the 1,000 year
reign is not on earth, but notice the following: (Rev 20:7-9 NKJV) “Now when
the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison {8} and
will go out to deceive the nations which are in the
four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. {9}
They went up on the breadth of the earth and
surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came
down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”
So there you have a few verses that have caused such
controversy. When or where did the controversy begin? See the article
The Rise of Millennialism. There is more history, and other articles that I
have listed on another page on my web site.
Articles About the Millennial Reign of Christ. I think these articles are
important because I believe they establish the fact that the early church was
basically what is now often referred to as pre-millennial; that is, that Christ
would rule on earth for a 1,000 years. In
My Approach to Prophecy, I state that I take things as literally as
possible. The verses above from Revelation 20, I take very literally.
A literal Reign on Earth Makes Sense of a Lot of Scripture
I have not always believed in Christ returning to earth for a 1,000 year reign. When I finally reached a point that I began the "what if" search of the Bible, a lot of things made perfect sense that didn't before. (Mat 5:5 NKJV) Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. If there is to be a 1,000 year reign, and if there is to be a new heaven and a new earth, then things begin to make sense that didn't before. (Psa 2:7-9 NKJV) "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. {8} Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. {9} You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'" It all fits beautifully, and, of course, it's repeated in Revelation, (Rev 2:26-27 NKJV) "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations; {27} 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels'; as I also have received from My Father;"
There are other passages as well: (Luke 19:16-17 NKJV) "Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' {17} "And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' If Christ has a literal reign on earth, it's easy to understand the passage. Then there is the one in (1 Cor 6:2 NKJV) “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” A lot of passages become simple and clear if Christ is coming back to reign on earth.
Then there is (Acts 1:6-7 NKJV) “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" {7} And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” Wasn't that His best opportunity to say, "You just don't understand”? I'm not going to restore the kingdom to Israel. My work is complete. The kingdom I will establish is only a spiritual kingdom." Why didn't He say that?
The Sabbath Rest!
(Heb 4:9 NIV) There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; About 6,000 years have passed since creation according to Usher's Chronology. If we take Peter's 1,000 years = 1day, then 6,000 years = 6 days. We are ready for the 7th day: the Sabbath! The Sabbath rest for the people of God. I'm not trying to set dates or years or hours. The Lord Himself said no one knows the hour but God, but I think we can get a general idea.
Conclusion
For me, I accept Revelation as literally as possible, of course, there are
parts that are obviously symbolic, but some make so much of Revelation symbolic
that it becomes too confusing to try to understand what the message is. I
believe that the Lord will set foot on earth again. (Zec 14:4 NKJV)
“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of
Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives
shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of
the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south."
I believe He will do exactly what He said He will do. I have accepted the
pre-millennial view of Christ’s return because to me, it let’s the Bible say
what it says. It let’s me harmonize scriptures that seemed confusing to me
before.
I think that I must add one other important statement. You can memorize Revelation 20 and study it diligently, and you will not have the total picture of the 1,000 year reign of Christ. I recently completed a study of the book of Revelation. Chapter 20 alone does not tell the whole story.
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