Four Interpretations of Revelation 20
Introduction
Revelation 20, which is the only passage in the entire scripture that mentions a thousand-year period, or the Millennium, has its interpretation based on the basic understanding of what entails the millennium, and the entire truth about the last things, or eschatology. This is one of the most intriguing books in the bible, whose understanding has brewed a lot of contentions among orthodox theologians, and continues to perplex scholars in the current age. Revelation 20 first describes the largest battle in the entire history of the world, which theologians have come to call the ‘battle of all battles’, which will mark the conclusion of the world. On the other hand, Revelation 20 presents feuding views of the last days, thus befitting a definition as a perfect battleground(Hendriksen, 1998). Based on the contentious interpretation of the book, four main views have been adopted by scholars and religious monks, which basically derive their name from that same chapter: premillennialism, amellennialism, premillennial dispensationalism, and postmillennialism. It is on the basis of the above four eschatological schools of thought that this the author of this paper develops a comparative interpretation of Revelation 20.
Postmillennialism and Amillennialism
Revelation 20 is segmented into various distinct sections, but the most intriguing part is the millennium. This is a derivative of a Latin word that means ‘a thousand years’, and which has been the greatest point of arguments(Leon,1969). Scholars differ in the time of the millennium; whether is in the future, as all premillennialists and a segment of postmillennialists believe; or if it already present among us, as all amillennialists and many of the postmillenialists maintain(Hendriksen, 1998). These biblical jargons are all descriptive of the second coming of Jesus Christ, from the perspective of the millennial period. A premillennialist maintains that Jesus’ return will precede the ‘thousand year-period’; a postmillennialist believes that Christ’s return will happen after the millennium; while amillennialism refers to ‘no millennium’. This last term is categorically misleading, as amillennialists actually do believe in the existence of the millennial period, though they hold that it has already begun, and it is a word used to refer to the period between the first and second comings of Christ.
A better understanding of the difference between the four schools of thought is achieved by an analysis of amillennialism. It serves to give the contrast between those who believe in the future millennium, and those who do not. The two ideologies of amillennialism and postmillennialism agree that Jesus will return in a bodily form after the millennial period to proclaim judgment unto the dead and the living. However, the two differ on their conceptualization of good and evil: postmillennialists believe that good will reign over evil preceding the return of Jesus; while the former believes that both good and evil coexist during the millennial period(Leon,1969). After striking an understanding of the different schools of thought, the interpretation of Revelation 20 becomes easier, as outlined in the proceeding passages.
Just as amillennialism, postmillennialism interprets the millennium in a figurative manner, refuting the literal meaning as a thousand years. Indeed, the latter believe that the ‘golden age’, the heyday of the millennial age for the earthly church will last for more than hundreds of thousands of years(Hendriksen, 1998). As this paper gives an analysis of the different segments of Revelation 20, the Binding of Satan, and the reign of the saints or martyr souls with Christ, a clear difference between postmillennialism and amillennialism emerges.
The Binding of Satan
Postmillennialism interprets the concept of binding of Satan as a gradual incapacitation of Satan, and ultimate deprivation of the power to cause harm to men living in the present age, until all souls are saved, or literally converted to Christianity, and all nations become believers in Christ, being governed by God’s doctrines and guided by Christ’s spirit; and such evil things like drought, wars, crime, and poverty among others are completely curtailed(Hendriksen, 1998). Some more optimistic believers even maintain that when Satan is ultimately bound, even death and sin will be no more in the face of the earth. The postmillennial view of the binding of Satan casts a curious feature that this period is dependent on the aggressiveness of the church’s actions. It charges the church with the responsibility and the fault of Satan’s influence upon individuals and nations(Selbrede,1998). Thus, the ideology holds that if the church was self-exerting, it would have had the power to bind Satan. This differs with the scriptural fact as presented in Revelation 20:1, which places Satan’s binding chain on the angels.
The Reign of the Saints
Postmillennialism believes that the reign of the souls, as enshrined in Revelation 20:4-6, will happen the same time as the gradual binding of Satan. It says that in the present age, as Satan is continually bound, the church assumes control until, ultimately, it will have an earthly dominion over all nations (Walvoord, 1975). At this time, the church will control the media, politics, arts and entertainment, education, and civic justice. This will precede the bodily return of Christ, which will represent the final and ultimate manifestation of the kingdom of God. Postmillennial theologians believe that this earthly universality and reign of souls may last for hundreds of years awaiting the final manifestation.
Key to understanding the postmillennial interpretation of the reign of souls is its perspective of the first resurrection, as chronicled in Revelation 20:5, 6. It is paramount to this ideology that the first resurrection be interpreted as regeneration. Thus, this school of thought refutes the belief that the first resurrection implies the translation of the elects, or chosen souls, into heavenly glory and life, since with this ideology, the postmillennial explanation does not hold any water(Walvoord, 1975). In the closing text of the passage, though, this explanation is refuted when it is stated that the reign of souls follows their physical death, implying that this reign will happen in heaven.
Amillennialism
This school of thought maintains that the millennial reign of Christ as envisioned in Revelation 20:1-6 is not literal, but rather symbolic of the current age in the power of the church. It holds that this period began when Christ resurrected, and will go on until the second bodily return(Selbrede,1998). This belief is anchored on the ideology that the reign of Christ during the millennium is a spiritual one, and that at the end of the age of the church, Jesus will come back and establish a physical kingdom, after proclaiming a final judgment on both the dead and alive. Amillennialism differs from postmillennialism in the interpretation of the binding of Satan, as the former maintains that this has already happened, and there are chances that Satan might never deceive and influence the nations in any way again(Hendriksen, 1998). Apart from a few fundamental differences, postmillennialism and amillennialism are similar, and foster the same interpretations of Revelation 20.
Premillennialism
This is yet another eschatological school of thought that believes that Christ will come back in a secret rapture to take the righteous back with him to the heavenly kingdom. It is so named because it believes that such a glorious return will take place before the actual inauguration of the millennial age(Walvoord, 1975). It is far much different from the aforementioned forms of Christian eschatology, which believe that the millennial rule will take place before the second bodily return of Christ, or that the whole idea about the millennium is figurative. The premillennialist view of Revelation 20 is believed to be literal, as it describes the coming of Jesus and the institution of the heavenly reign as happening after the end of the apocalypse(Leon,1969).
Dispensational premillennialism is an eschatological view that differs sharply with postmillennialism, not only in their views of the end times, but also the antichrist, rapture, the millennium, and the tribulation(Selbrede,1998). Dispensationalism is an ideology that was constituted based on the observation that God has worked in varied manner of ways throughout the history of the world, through different dispensations, or economies. A believer of such school of thought makes a severe division of the two biblical testaments, and teaches of the coming secret rapture that will accompany the coming of Jesus. It also segments the end times into multiple dispensations, and professes of a conspiratorial historical view where evil forces will fiercely rival the Godly powers. This view depicts evil as having greater forces than good, based on conspiratorial light. It also views the church in the end times as having a sole role of evangelism, being encouraged to save as many souls as possible before the millennium is inaugurated. Instead of 1000 years, the concept of premillennialism separates the time of judgment and the second coming of Christ by 1007 years(Walvoord, 1975). Thus, proponents of this view have come to interpret Revelation 20 as future predictions, rather than a chronology of past events.
On the other hand, historic premillennialism, which is sometimes called post-tribulational premillennialism, is the polemical designation which holds that Christ’s second coming will happen before the inauguration of the millennial reign of the souls, but will be preceded by tribulation and great apostasy(Leon,1969). It presents an historical perspective of premillennialists, which differs sharply from dispensationalism in the relationship between the church and Israel. The former do not set any difference between Israelites and the church, but see the entire team of believers as a body of Christ. Thus, according to them, the church must undergo tribulation, before inaugurating the millennial period. This is in contrast to the belief of the latter, which believed that Christians require a pre-tribulation rapture, separate from that of the Israelites.
Conclusion
From the different viewpoints presented within this interpretational paper, it is clear that postmillennialism and amillennialism have almost the same belief, but differ in the aspect good and evil. The two agree that Jesus’ second coming will occur after the end of the millennial reign, whereupon he will proclaimthe final judgment. However, the premillennialists have a completely contrasting idea, maintaining that the millennial period has not yet begun, but will be inaugurated upon the return of Jesus Christ. The latter presents two varying ideologies: dispensationalism and historical premillennialism. The understanding of the book of Revelation 20 is based upon one’s conviction of the interpretations offered by these different schools of thought.
References
Hendriksen, W. (1998).More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation, Baker Book House.
Leon,M.(1969).The Revelation of St. John.Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 236.
Selbrede,M. G., (1998). “Reconstructing Postmillennialism,” The Journal of Christian Reconstruction: Symposium on Eschatology, 15, 216.
Walvoord, J. F. (1975).” Premillennialism, Postmillennialism and Amillennialism” in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Editor Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 4, 845-6.
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