MILLENNIUM
(lat. “a thousand years”, expression arising from Rev. 20:1-7). It was of this duration that Christ, after his return, will make justice and peace reign on the earth.
The OT does not cease to announce the glorious kingdom that the Messiah will establish here on earth. Just as we believe in the literal fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the sufferings of the Lord, there is no objective reason to reject the promises concerning Israel, the great judgments of the end, and the visible triumph of Jesus Christ on the earth.
In fact, the kingdom of Christ is to fill “the whole earth”, that is, the same space occupied by the empires of the nations (Dan. 2:35; 38-39; 7:27; Ps. 72:811) .
Jesus Christ has been promised “the throne of David his father,” which has never been located in heaven (Luke 1:32; cf. Acts 1:6). The elect will initially reign with Him “on the earth” (Rev. 5:10; 20;4 b, 6), before being transported to the new heavens and the new earth.
Regarding the millennium, there are three main points of view: (a) Postmillennialists. Postmillennialists teach that the First Coming of Christ and the conquests of the Gospel have so bound Satan that humanity is slowly entering its Golden Age through the action of the Church.
The Lord will only have to come to introduce it into eternity. This is the conception held by the Church of Rome and by a good number of Protestant churches, for which the term “thousand years” symbolically presents a long period of indeterminate duration, covering somewhat more than the era of the church militant.
After the two World Wars, the extermination camps and the atomic terror, it seems very difficult to accept this interpretation; Rather, it would seem that if Satan is already bound today, as postmillennialists propose, his chain is very long indeed.
In any case, the optimism of this position, which maintains an improvement of humanity in constant progression, through which the Church introduces the kingdom of God on earth, is at odds with the entire teaching of the NT, which proclaims the fall into a general apostasy of professing Christianity, and a cataclysmic intervention of Christ, with tremendous judgments, before the violent establishment of his reign (cf. Lk. 17:20-27; 18:8; Mt. 13 and cf. YEAST
regarding the interpretation of this parable; Ro. 11:11-24 ff.; 2 Thes. 2:1-12, esp. v. 7; 1Ti, 4:14; 2 Ti. 3:1-14; 4:1-7; 2 Peter 2:3; Judas); The entire book of Revelation is evidence that humanity will not be won to Christ by the Gospel; In fact, it will only be in the future era that large masses will be reached by the Gospel (cf. also Acts 20:28-32).
The picture presented in the NT is not one of a triumphant advance of the Church until the world is ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather a deeper and deeper slide toward apostasy, and a coming of the Lord to reign ushered in by judgments (cf. Is. 26:9; “after there are righteous judgments on earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness”).
(b) The amillennialists. Amillennialists believe that no visible kingdom should be expected from the Lord. All of the OT promises about the Kingdom are spiritualized in favor of the Church, and “Zion” simply represents the heavenly Jerusalem.
According to this position, there is no national future for Israel: the return of the Jews to Palestine has no relation to the prophecies, and their restoration and conversion at the national level are nothing more than a vain hope (cf., however, Rom. 11:11-15, 25-26; Jer. chapters 30, 31, 32, 33; Ez. chapters 36-48; Zech. 12:10; 13:89; see also ISRAEL).
In the amillennial theory the six mentions of the thousand years in Rev. 20:2-7 are reduced to symbolism of the current period of the Church. However, this theory faces serious exegetical difficulties in explaining the meaning of the resurrections in this passage.
The majority of amillennialist expositors “spiritualize” the First Resurrection before the thousand years, maintaining, however, that in v. 5 yes it is a true “return to life” (Berkhof: “Systematic Theology”, p. 871).
This is the general position, from which Hoekema however differs, who spiritualizes the entire passage, and places the general resurrection only in Rev. 20:11-13 (Hoekema: “Amillenialism”, in “The Meaning of the Millenium”, editor R. G. Clouse, PP. 167-172, see Bibliography).
Nor is the chaining of Satan satisfactorily explained with this theory. Furthermore, while in the OT the announcements of judgment on the nation of
Israel as a nation are followed by wonderful promises of redemption and salvation also at the national level (cf. Jer. 7-25 and 27-29 with 30-33; Ez. 11:1-13 with 14-25, etc.), On the other hand, in amillennialism only the judgments apply to Israel, while the promises of blessing to Judah and Israel apply to the Church.
Finally, the reign of Christ with his saints, which postmillennialism applies to this age of the Church on earth, amillennialism, according to one of its most prominent exponents, applies to a reign of the souls of the saints in the present age. , with Christ, in heaven (Hoekema, work cit., p. 150).
But this position is based on the spiritualization of the “First Resurrection.” If this spiritualization can be shown to lack a true exegetical basis, the amillennialist theory then faces a fatal basic difficulty.
(c) The premillennialists. Premillennialists admit that Jesus Christ will come before the millennium. It is clear that humanity has failed; No effort by nations or churches can achieve the establishment of the kingdom of God (or golden age) in the world (cf. Dan. 2:34, 44).
His coming will fulfill the divine plan apparently thwarted by the fall of man in Eden. The Lord will vindicate his name not only in judgment with the destruction of the wicked, but also by turning the earth into an orchard.
The opposition that many present to premillennialism arises above all from the idea that a kingdom in which Israel has a role to play would mean a setback in terms of the spiritual salvation achieved by the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ.
But there is no reason to maintain such a position. There is no such setback. The king. He is now rejected by his own people and by the world (John 1:10, 11; Rom. 11:25-36). However, his work on the cross is the basis for the forgiveness and acceptance of all those who come to Him.
Those who accept Him now in the time of their humiliation will reign with Him in the day of their exaltation (2 Tim. 2:12). At his coming, the rejected Lord will be recognized (Zech. 12:10; cf. Phil. 2:5-11), and he will reign from Zion (Zech. 14).
The current situation, with Israel rejected and true Christianity following a rejected Lord, and therefore rejected with Him (John 15:20), is anomalous. It can be assimilated to the prophetic figure of David, rejected and persecuted by the official Israel of his time.
His situation as an outlaw by Saul, accompanied by the rejection of him by a handful of faithful, who upon his accession to the throne reigned with him, can be assimilated to that of the Lord Jesus Christ, outlawed by the official Israel of the time of him and that,
As he waits for the Father to make his enemies his footstool, he is followed by a company of faithful who suffer with him, and who will reign with him.
This situation is not and cannot be definitive, as the Scriptures indicate, but Christ must still reign, and must be accepted, just as those who have suffered with Him must be recognized and vindicated, in a reign of peace and of universal justice, in which all the promises of restoration and regeneration will be fulfilled, just as the previous threats of judgment and desolation on Israel and so many nations were fulfilled.
For an exegetical examination of the literality of the resurrections in Rev. 20:1-7 and of the millennium intervening between the first resurrection and the resurrection of damnation, see Ryrie, C.C.: “The Foundations of the Premillennial Faith” (Evangelical Spokesman Pub. , Barcelona, 1984, PP. 189-204) and especially the book “The Meaning of the Millenium”, ed. by Clouse (see Bibliography), in which this question is debated.
It may be noted, however, that, as Ladd rightly says, the expression “they lived again” (Rev. 20:45 gr. “ezêsan”) is only used throughout the rest of the NT of resurrection (“The Meaning.. .», p. 190).
Characteristics of the millennium: (a) Satan will then be bound and prevented from seducing the nations (Rev. 20:1-3) (b) A judgment will determine who will be the subjects of the kingdom (Rev. 20:4 cf. Mt. 25 :31-34).
(c) Those who have taken part in the first resurrection (the “judges” and the tribulation martyrs) will reign with the Lord (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; Dan. 7:27; 1 Cor. 6:23) (d) This kingdom lasts a thousand years (based on the figure repeated six times in Rev. 20:2-7)
(e) Peace is finally established in this scene (Is. 2:2, 4; 9:5-6) along with justice and equality (Is. 11:1-9).
(f) The presence of the Lord is manifested in a glorious manner (Is. 11:10; 24:21-23) (g) The subjects of the kingdom know great longevity and immense prosperity (Is. 65:1825).
(h) Yet the Lord rules with an iron scepter, evil is no longer overlooked in patience, and those who sin openly die, overtaken by the curse (Isa. 11:4; 65:20).
(i) The converted Jews become the missionaries throughout the earth (Isa. 66:18-20).
(j) The end of the millennium is frustrating, why is Satan being unleashed? (Rev. 20:3, 7-9): It is so that the subjects of this kingdom of
blessing, but authoritative, can freely decide for or against God (in the same way that all creatures, human and heavenly, have been tempted before them).
The regrettable choice of many of them shows that the evil heart of fallen man is not improved by a thousand years of blessing, prosperity and peace. After this display of rebellion and divine punishment, the present earth and heavens are destroyed to make way for the eternal state (Rev. 20:11; 21:1).