Millennium




Revelation 20:1-6
1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 4Then 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. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Millennium – such a loaded word inside of Christian circles! These six verses have created a storm of thoughts, ideologies, and theologies over the centuries. This devotional will only point you Christ – because He is right there at the center of these verses and it is His work that defines the impact that this passage carries.

Throughout the centuries, thoughts on these six verses have been divided into three main schools of thought: pre-millennium, a-millennium, post-millennium. Pre-millennials believe that Jesus will return before the 1,000 years reign. Post-millennials believe that Jesus will return after humans have gotten better and better, thus paving the way for His second coming. A-millennials believe that we are currently in the 1,000 years spoken of in this passage. If you have followed along with this blog at all during our study of Revelation you already know that I’m going fall into the a-millennial category. Let me detail this out a little bit, based on the passage for today.
  • When Jesus dies on the cross and defeats sin, death, and the power of the devil, Satan is “bound” for 1,000 years. That means that he has been cast forever from heaven, no longer able to accuse Christians of their sin before the throne of God. He has been cast to the earth and while he is able to assault the Church (Believers) he is unable to destroy the church. His power and strength go only as far as God allows.
  •  Apparently, he will be released from those boundaries immediately prior to the Second Coming of Christ. This hasn’t happened yet. It will be a terrible day but will most certainly be yet another sign that Christ return is soon.
  • The Church will be tormented by Satan, but never destroyed. The souls of those beheaded for their faith is an interesting designation and most certainly puts one in mind of those Christians who even today are being publicly beheaded because of their faith by ISIS. With that said, “those who have been beheaded for the testimony” could mean every Christian who has died in the Lord, remaining faithful to Him and not receiving the “mark of the beast.”
  • “They came to life” refers to the new life that is given to every person who believes and is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Church reigns with Christ here on earth until He returns.
  • The “first resurrection” is a spiritual resurrection. When one becomes a believer, they are resurrected from the death that awaits all who reject Christ as their Savior. The second resurrection, which will be discussed in the next few verses, is the physical resurrection that will take place for every human, believer and unbeliever, when Christ returns. More about that tomorrow.
As you can see, when Christ and His saving work is the filter through which these verses are read, you arrive at a fairly simple and forthright explanation for the Millennium. It’s always about Jesus – every time.

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