A Study of Eschatology

Revelation 20: 1-10

Mankind has longed in his soul for an age in time when peace, prosperity and perfection would be the plan of every day. The 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth that happens directly after the time of the Tribulation will be such a time.

There this this one remaining event to deal with as the LORD Jesus sets up His Reign as KING of kings and LORD of lords. He will have Satan placed in prison. The prison is called the “bottomless pit” or the “abyss” and it is not identified as a specific local, nor is it the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet are. An angel who has the key to this place also has more power that Satan as He is able to over power the devil and place him in chains.

There are not many people who have not heard the lyrics to the hymn – Joy to the World, by Isaac Watts. But there may even be some of us that do not know that the song fits the Second Advent of Christ during the Millennium better than it does His First Advent. Let's take a look at the song. It will be only during the Millennium that these words will find complete fulfillment. And during the Millennium we will witness this truth – first hand since we will be in the first resurrection. It just may be that this song or one similar to it will be sung.

Evidence of a New Dispensation – Revelation 20:1-6

This portion of scripture is the only text which is explicit in explaining that our LORD's earthly reign will last for 1,000 years. This fact however does not mean that only church age believers; believe this. Early church fathers who were taught by Jewish dispensationalist, from the Torah and from the Old Testament, such as; Justin Martyr and Irenaeus calculated that the earthly reign of Messiah would be for a 1,000 years. C.I Scofield in his study of dispensationalism pulls from the Old Testament many passages that prophets spoke of regarding this period of time. Psalm 72:1-20; Isaiah 9:6-7; 11:1-9; 24:22-23; 30:15-33; 35:1-10; 44:1-28; 49:1-26; 65:17-25; Micah 4:1-4, Matthew 25: 31-32 and 1 Corinthians 15:24-28.

There are Three Views

The history of the church will show that there are three views that seek popularity concerning the Millennium. These are:

1. Post-millennialism is an invention by Unitarian minister Daniel Whitby around 1750AD. He taught that the church would bring about the Millennial Reign of Christ through the preaching of the Gospel. He taught that as more people became converted that when the correct number was reached than Christ would come down and set up His Reign. This view gain popularity, but by World War One it became abundantly clear that the world was not getting better but worse. Then when World War Two broke out, this teaching all but vanished. In recent years thought this view is regaining a small revival.

2. A-millennialism teaches that a literal 1,000 years is not promised as the reign of Christ. Instead it is the church that inherits the blessings associated with the millennium and that Christ remains in heaven and reigns through the church right this very moment through an allegorized millennium. This view was developed by Augustine in the fourth century and remains a common view in many “reformed churches”

3. Pre-millennialism, this is the oldest view of the three and holds that Christ will physically return to earth to put down His enemies and reign over the earth for a literal 1,000 year length of time. This view is found in writings of the early church fathers and remains the most common view among evangelicals.

A Look at the Millennial Need:

We live in a world of mixed humanistic views, mixed religion and a condition of extreme evil. One could think that God has given ample time for Satan to see the tragic results of His rebellion. We could also conclude that man left alone to himself cannot improve on what God has completed by creation. So why not just be done with the whole event of time and move on to our eternal estate? There may be more reasons why there is going to be a millennium, but here are four to think about.

1. There are many promises in the Word of God that provide for “reward” to the people of God for faithful service. Isaiah 40:10, Matthew 5:12, 16:27 and 25:34; Colossians 3:24; and Revelation 22:12. These promises are completed in the Millennium.

2. The disciple's prayer or better known as the LORD's prayer states clearly that there is a Kingdom to come to the earth, Matthew 6 and Luke 11. This is not the same kingdom of when the LORD Jesus reigns in the heart of believers (as it is now), but a future kingdom when the lion will graze in the field like the cow. Isaiah 11:1-9.

3. The Millennial kingdom will redeem Creation from the curse. Romans 8 describes this time when God will relieve the curse. At this present time the animals, all vegetation and all of the elements of the earth mourn.

4. The most critical reason I believe is that the depravity of mankind and the necessity of the crucifixion of the LORD Jesus Christ will be understood. The Millennial reign of Christ will answer the question. What mankind have fallen into sin if Satan would not have caused Adam and Eve to reject the promises of God?

The Millennium will be a time of peace, prosperity, purity, perpetual health and personal joy. All of these promises are for the people of earth to have, and all of these things we have for a shortened period of time, but during the millennial years these qualities of life will be extended to what God had intended in the beginning. You may recall that in the beginning and before sin and the depravity of mankind gained such a grip on the world that people lived nearly 1,000 years. We want to believe that this time was odd or strange, we even look at the millennial in the same light – strange. But this is not strange to God, He lives forever. Scriptural references. Micah 4:2-3; Isaiah 11:6-9; Isaiah 25:9, 66:23; Isaiah 35; Zechariah 13:2; Isaiah 65:20; Isaiah 9:3-4;12:3; 14:7-8; 25:8-9; 30:29; 42:1 and verses 10-12. Jesus will literally reign during this time, but we can determine from passages like Jeremiah 30:9, Ezekiel 34:23 and Hosea 3:5 that David in His glorified resurrected being, will serve as the LORD's vice-regent.