Against Millenialism

Revelation 20:4-6 are the foundation passages of millennialistic doctrine. Without these verses, there is no way millennialists could even begin to support the proposition that Christ will return to earth and set up his kingdom in Jerusalem and reign here for a thousand years. Right away this should alert us to a serious problem with their doctrine.

No doctrine should be based on one passage of Scripture, especially one from such a difficult book to grasp as Revelation. When one is developing doctrine care should be exercised that all passages of Scripture regarding the topic at hand be examined. The resulting doctrine should be one that can be supported by the whole of Scripture. In the case of millennialism, both the Exegesis of the Scriptures in Revelation and the neglect to consult all the passages concerning end times has resulted in a grievous error. But if the passages in Revelation 20:4-6 does not describe an earthly reign of Jesus, how are they to be understood?

First let’s examine the basic tenets of millennialism and its flaws as it relates to these verses in Revelation. As I stated earlier these passages are used by millennialists as proof for their doctrine that prior to the day of judgement, Christ will return and set up an earthly visible kingdom in Palestine which will last for a thousand years. According to this view the "first resurrection " is the physical resurrection of the believing children of God, whose bodies will be raised so that they might rule with Christ in this visible kingdom. This doctrine teaches that the unbelievers will not be raised until the thousand years, the so-called millenium, come to an end.

As evidence for a "double" resurrection, many millennialists cite Paul’s words concerning the Second Coming in 1 Thessalonians. There Paul says, "The dead in Christ will rise first" (4:16). This is viewed as positive proof that the unbelieving dead will not rise at that time. Yet there is not one iota of evidence for a double resurrection separated by a thousand years in that passage. Not one word is said about believers rising a thousand years before unbelievers. What Paul actually said was those living believers will be taken to heaven only after the dead believers have been raised first. The contrast here is not between the believing dead and the unbelieving dead but between living believers and dead believers. Paul explains to the Thessalonians that living believers will have no advantage over dead believers when Christ returns again. In fact, the dead believers will rise first.

Before we proceed to look at what John says we should once again note that in these passages of Revelation we have the only instance of Scripture speaking of anyone reigning for a thousand years. In fact, apart from Revelation 20, the phrase "a thousand years only appears twice in the entire Bible ( Ps 90:4; 2 Pe 3:8), and those passages deal only with the timelessness of God. What the thousand years represents must therefore be determined from the context alone.

Those of us who deny the millenium are often accused of not believing the words of John here. The fact is that John does not say one thing about a thousand-year reign of Christ, in either a literal or figurative sense.

He writes, "I saw thrones and they sat on them." It is not Christ whom he sees here. These words do not yet identify the people sitting on the thrones. We can conclude from the word "thrones" that these people are very likely in a ruling position of some kind, even though the word "throne", qrovno" in Greek, is not necessarily a king’s chair.

John continues by saying, "Judgement was given to them." Here it is clearly stated that they occupy positions of authority. Rendering judgement is a function of governors and kings. This is in agreement with other passages of Scripture that plainly state that on the last day, believers will participate with Christ in the final judgement (e.g., Mt 19:28; 1 Cor 6:3).

At the end of this verse we are told that those whom John saw sitting on the thrones "reigned with Christ for a thousand years." Though it is clear that the thrones do symbolize royal authority, the reigning that is discussed here is not the ruling activity of Christ, but rather of those seated on the thrones.

A careful reading of the text will clearly show this to be the case. If a man says, " I lived in Detroit with my parents for 25 years, before I left home," that sentence does not say anything about how long the parents lived in Detroit. When John says that those sitting on the thrones reigned with Christ a thousand years, it ought to be obvious to any fair-minded interpreter that this passage cannot be used to demonstrate that Christ will set up a special reign "for a thousand years" anywhere. In fact the book of Revelation tells us that he will reign forever and ever (11:15). There are many passages that talk of Christ reigning eternally. There is not one which speaks of or even intimates of a kingdom of Christ that will last a thousand years.

In addition, the passage does not say one word about a millennial kingdom of Christ which will have as its capital the city of Jerusalem. Millennialists insist that the reigning spoken of here will take place on this earth after Christ will return visibly a thousand years before the day of judgement. To such people we must say "Pay attention to the words." We should also direct them to the words our Savior told Pontius Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world’ (Jn 18:36).

Millennialists generally refer to the Old Testament passages that describe the reign of the Messiah in terms of an earthly kingdom, where perfect peace will exist between natural enemies, where the lion will lay down by the lamb and nation will not lift up sword against nation. However, not one of these passages has anything to do with a temporal and earthly kingdom. Millennialists who teach that after the thousand years there will be a great battle in which the unbelieving world will rebel against the Messiah who has kept their wickedness in check ought to keep in mind what Isaiah says. For example, in his description of the "peaceable kingdom’, he tells us that after this kingdom is established nations will train for war no more" (Is 2:4). Evidently the millennialists do not read these words because they teach that at the end of the millenium the nations will once more train for war.

These Old Testament passages do not speak of a temporal, physical peace, but of the spiritual peace and rest that the Messiah will bring to his people. The New Testament clearly explains that this kingdom was established before the apostles died (e.g., Mk 9:1). In the forgiveness of sins earned by Christ and proclaimed by the apostles we kind the peace that surpasses all understanding (Php 4:7). These passages also illustrate for us God’s perfect kingdom, which will endure forever and will be visibly and tangibly realized when the whole creation "will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Ro 8:21). But that world will not endure for a mere thousand years. There those who belong to Christ will rule with him forever and ever (22:5).

Now John identifies those who are sitting on the thrones. They are "the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness about Jesus and because of the Word of God." The accusative ta;" yucav" (the souls), must be the object of the verb "I saw." If there is till any doubt that John is not speaking here of an earthly reign, these words leave no more room for such doubt. John did not see resurrected bodies. No! He saw souls. He saw disembodied souls of behead people who had died for their faith.

To anyone who knows his or her Bible, what John says here should not be a surprise. The Scriptures tell us that when believing children of God die they go to live with Christ in the glories of heaven. In the symbolism of this passage John teaches the same truth. Paul had taught that truth also when he wrote in Romans 8:35,37

When the heathen in Rome during the Neronian persecution saw the head of Paul rolling in the sand of the arena, they, with doubt, believed that Paul had been defeated and destroyed by the emperor. but the persecution in which he died and the sword that cut of his head had not separated Paul from Christ’s love. he could even in the moment of utter outward defeat say, "In all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

Now, in the days of Domitian, when John wrote, Christians were again being beheaded for their witnessing. The genitive in the phrase th;n marturivan JIhsou' (The witnesses of Jesus), is an objective genitive which should translated "their witnessing about Jesus." Although the possessive pronoun is missing in the Greek text, the definite article often has the force of a possessive pronoun.

As the believers in John’s time saw their friends and family arrested and killed it often must have felt like the church was losing the battle. As they mourned for their dead friends and family they were in desperate need of encouragement.

John’s vision spoke to that need. When John says that he saw the souls of those who were beheaded, it was just as though he were saying, Although it appears the Romans have won, they have killed our friends and family, and it appears the church is going to be defeated. remember this; they have only killed their bodies. And with our mortal eyes that is all we see. But God has given me a vision allowing me to see their souls. Those souls were not lying bloody and torn. They were sitting on thrones in heaven. They were living and reigning with Christ. Such encouragement and hope he gave those people.

Millennialists will try to argue that the word souls here must be a figure of speech for "person" as it is in the sentence "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers" (Ro 13:1 KJV). It is, of course true that the word can be used in that way. But John does not say I saw the souls that were behead. He says, " I saw the souls of those (persons) who were beheaded." This can only mean that those souls had been separated from their beheaded bodies.

Others will argue that the bodies must have been there because John could see these people and souls are invisible. But that argument shows just how untenable their position really is. This was a "vision" in which John saw many things that ordinarily are invisible. To say "I saw souls" is really no more of a surprise than to say "I saw angels" because angels too are invisible.

John says of these souls, "they lived and reigned with Christ." Many translators render ejvzhsan in English with "they came to life" or "they lived again." However, "lived again" in Greek would be ajnevzhsan. Although it is claimed that the textus receptus has that reading here, niether the UBS Greek New Testament nor Nestle’s text gives that variant, which would obviously be wrong even if it were found in a few manuscripts.

It is obviously wrong because the subject of this verb is souls. Of souls, especially souls of the believers, it cannot be said they came to life. The souls John saw here had never died. In his Gospel John helps us to understand what he means here. There he wrote that at the grave of Lazarus the Lord told Martha, "Whosoever believes in me will never die" (Jn 11:26). Paul spoke of the time of his death as the time when he would leave his body and go to be with the Lord (Php 1:28). When the body dies, the spirit returns to God who gave it (Ec 12:7). For children of God that continued existence is described as a living with Christ. Their souls do not come to life. They just keep on living.

Of the unbelieving dead John says that "they did not live until the thousand years came to an end." Here the NIV again translates ejvzhsan with "come to life." The translators seem to have been misled by the "until" which introduces the dependent clause in this verse. Their rendering implies that the dead unbelievers came to life at the end of the thousand years. But while unbelievers continue to exist aftere death their continued existence is never called zwhv or life.

A definition of life derived from the Bible will help us to understand what John is really saying here. Life in the biblical sense might be defined as "the enjoyment of or participation in the blessings of God." This definition does not need to be essentially changed when we speak of the three kinds of life which we usually distinguish. Temporal of physical life is the enjoyment of or participation in the temporal or physical blessings of God. Spiritual life is the enjoyment of the spiritual blessings of God and eternal life is the enjoyment of the eternal blessings of God. Therefore the Bible says they are dead in trespasses and sinss (Eph 2:1), and if they die in their sins they remain spiritually dead. Their "souls" do not live. They do not become alive in the biblical sense when they are raised out of the grave, for they are raised only to condemnation. The unbelieving dead will continue to exist in everlasting pain and torment. While it might be said that they have Bivo" life in a purely physical sense, it cannot be called zwhv life on a far higher level.

The clause "until the thousand years are finished," does not imply that they will begin to live when the thousand years come to an end. When the Bible tells us that Michal had no children until the day of her death (2 Sm 6:23) this does not mean that she had children after she died. An "until" clause or phrase does not of itself tell us what happened when the designated point was reached. That always depends on context. And the context here tells us that when the thousand years end the unbelievers will be raised to eternal death, to eternal separation from the blessings of God. Thus John is saying that while the believing dead will live during the thousand years, that is, enjoy the blessings of God which apply to them in their disembodied state, so the unbelieving dead will not live during that time, will exist in a state of separation form all the blessings of God.

The thousand years, in this verse is simply the New Testament era. Ten and its multiples represent completeness. So the thousand years simply the fullness of time. the ruling saints in heaven must have been comfort to the suffering church. The authorities who oppose the church and who are agents of the beast from the sea appear to have ruling power over God’s people. This is how it looks especially in times of active persecution. For that reason John (and the Holy Spirit who inspired him to write these words) evidently considered it worthwhile to remind the church a second time that their dead fellow believers who had suffered an ignominious outward defeat at the hands of those who had ruled over them on earth are in reality ruling the universe with Christ. The Scriptures do not explain what this ruling with Christ entails, but since John calls them priests we might say that they are heavenly priests in the church triumphant with their prayers for the church helping to bring about the final victory of the church militant.