A Partial Summary
In Revelation 18, Babylon the Whore has fallen. At the time Revelation was written, Babylon probably meant Rome, although it can stand for any dominating worldly power. It can even apply to us today!
In Revelation 19, heaven rejoices at the fall of Babylon, and gets ready to attend the wedding of the Lamb and the Bride, which is Jesus and his church. John’s vision continues and he sees a Rider on a white horse called Faithful and True. He has many crowns and is called the Word of God. On his robe and thigh are written his name, King of kings and Lord of lords. He has a sharp sword in his mouth to strike down the nations. An angel calls out to all the birds to prepare for a great feast of the slain bodies of mighty men. John sees the beast (the Antichrist) and the armies of the kings of the earth getting ready to fight Jesus. And with him the false prophet who deceived people into worshipping the Antichrist. The beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown into the lake of fire, and all the armies are killed by the sword in the mouth of Jesus, and they are eaten by all the birds who had gathered.
Chapter 20 then starts. Verses 1-6 are about the Millennium. These verses are the only ones in scripture to mention the thousand years, what we have come to know as the Millennium. An angel comes down with a key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He seizes the Dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and throws him into the bottomless pit, binds him for a thousand years, and shuts and seals the pit over him. This is so Satan can no longer deceive the nations. Then John sees thrones with those who have been entrusted to judge sitting on them. He sees the souls of believers and specifically martyrs sitting on them helping. These are resurrected and will reign with Jesus during the thousand years. Then there is a resurrection of everyone else, good and bad, for judgment.
But the devil is also released and deceives the nations into attacking Jerusalem. We see Gog and Magog (who Shirley talked about in Ezekiel 38 and 39) gathering the nations and they march up to the beloved city. But fire comes down from heaven and kills them all. And Satan is thrown into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet forever.
Then all the dead are gathered in front of the Great White Throne for judgment. If a person’s name is not written in the book of life, they are thrown into the lake of fire forever.
An Apocalyptic Book
What a mess! We have to remember that Revelation is an apocalyptic book. It is filled with symbols from the book of Daniel, Ezekiel, and elsewhere. These symbols are codes, because the Christians (probably under Emperor Domitian) did not want to be killed by the Romans. Christians were hoping the Romans would not have understood that Rome was who was being described as Babylon or the Great Whore! Another thing is that Revelation is not a linear history or prophecy. It doesn’t progress in order, but in a series of sevens, with lots of recaps. The seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls are symbolic recaps. One author suggested we look at the whole book as if you were looking down from the top of a spiral staircase. At each level you get the story, just told in different symbols. Basically, the whole book is about this: God Wins! Period. The Great Serpent, Antichrist, and Beast are just Satan’s way of trying to copy the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The world is constantly being seduced and sidetracked by temptations thrown in our paths by the satanic trinity, and we are supposed to stick with the Holy Trinity and not be fooled.
Millennial Views
Back in the 90’s, a scholar named Bruce Metzger wrote a book on revelation called Breaking the Code. He was assisted by a young scholar named David deSilva. DeSilva recently revised and updated the whole book. See this link. Regarding the Millennium they write (page 121):
During this period the souls of those who had died a martyr’s death because they would not worship the beast come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years. Whether it is these or another group not otherwise identified that are “given authority to judge” (20:4), John does not say. Nor does he say that Christ and those who come to life return to the earth for these thousand years. In any case, however, John carefully distinguishes the martyrs from all others, going so far as to say that none of the rest of the dead come to life in this millennial blessedness (20:5). Their resurrection appears to be spiritual and not corporeal. A beatitude (the fifth of the seven in Revelation) is pronounced on those who participate in this resurrection (20:6). “The second death has no power” over them and as “priests of God and of Christ” they will enjoy unimaginable exaltation, security, and blessedness. Their patient endurance of persecution was, by comparison, for only a short time.
Regarding the Millennium, there are three schools of interpretation. Metzger and deSilva write of them (pages 123-124):
1. Postmillennialists believe that Christ will come after the millennium has taken place. The kingdom of God is now being extended in the world through the preaching of the gospel and the saving work of the Holy Spirit. Christ is already reigning through his obedient church and will bring to the world a thousand years of peace and righteousness prior to his return at the conclusion of history.
2. Premillennialists maintain that Christ will come before the millennium begins. Despite all attempts to Christianize society, things will become worse and worse, and in the last days Antichrist will gain control of human affairs. Only the catastrophic return of Christ can inaugurate the golden age of one thousand years of peace here on earth.
3. Amillennialists regard the thousand years, like other numerals in Revelation, to be symbolic. Instead of being a literal period of exactly one thousand years, the expression refers to a very long time, extending from the first coming of Christ to his Second Coming. During this entire period Satan’s power is limited by the preaching of the gospel (Luke 10:18). The “last days” began with Jesus (Hebrews 1:2) and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16, 17), and they will end when the “last day” arrives (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24; 12:48). Instead of the optimism of the postmillenarian or the pessimism of the premillenarian, the amillenarian takes seriously the realism of Jesus’ parable of the weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43), namely, that good and evil will develop side by side until the harvest, which is at the end of the world.
Opinion
I tend to side with the amillennial point of view. Jesus already rules (Ephesians 1:19-22), and we are with him now spiritually (Ephesians 2:6). So, I believe that the Millennium started with Pentecost and continues until Jesus returns.
To be fair, some of the early church fathers (such as Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian) believed in the premillennial view. Saint Augustine (354-430) proposed the amillennial view, which was pretty much the standard for the next thousand years. Eusebius (260-339) believed in the postmillennial view, thinking that Christianity would improve the world gradually until Christ’s return. This was again preferred by the Protestant Reformers as well as by Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, and Puritans. It lost many following because of World War I and the disastrous history of the Twentieth Century, and premillennialism became favored among many, along with a hopeful premillennial rapture.
I stand with amillennialism, but am very ready to see the premillennial reign of Christ, if he so chooses to return that way. Again, like our views on The Rapture, it makes no difference which is right in the end, as long as you are saved in Jesus.