The Millennium of Revelation 20

By Ritchie Way

In this book, Ritchie Way argues that amillennialism and premillennialism, instead of being opposed to each other are both valid interpretations of Revelation 20. Amillennialism provides the fulfillment of the prophecy while premillennialism provides the consummation, then it must also have an inauguration—for there cannot be a fulfillment

• Language: English
• Publisher: CMD
• Release date: Jan 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952046056

Ritchie Way

Ritchie Way has a BA in Theology and an MA in Religion. He is an ordained minister and serves as an elder at Gracegate Church in Rosedale, Auckland, New Zealand. He is also the Executive Editor of the Good News Unlimited magazine, He lives with his wife Rosemary, in Auckland, New Zealand. They have one daughter and two grandchildren who live nearby, all who are active church members. Ritchie and Rosemary run a food bank for solo parents, the unemployed, and new immigrants who are refugees,

Book preview

Copyright ©2020 Ritchie Way

All right reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodies in critical article and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The reviews expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Revelation: A Book of Bizarre Symbols

Chapter 2: The Kingdom of Heaven

Chapter 3: The Millennium’s Purpose

Chapter 4: The Inauguration of the Millennium

Chapter 5: The Fulfillment of the Millennium.

Chapter 6: The Consummation of the Millennium

Chapter 7: Where Will We Spend the Next Millennium?

Chapter 8: Revelation 19–22 and the Millennium

Chapter 9: The Millennium Elsewhere in Revelation

Appendix 10: Daniel 2: From Inauguration to Consummation

Appendix 11: The Nature of Jesus’ Punishment

Appendix 12: The Ultimate Fate of the Unrepentant

Bibliography

About the Author

To Rosemary, my best friend, companion, supporter, and the love of my life.

Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all (Proverbs 31:29).

Introduction 

For many years I was an ardent premillennialist, believing the millennium would take place after the return of Jesus. I defended this view against amillennialism, which teaches that the millennium is a period of indeterminate length between the first and second advents of Christ.

In the 1980s, however, after an extensive study of the millennium, I came to see that the arguments for amillennialism were just as solid and defensible as were mine for premillennialism. In support of my now enlarged understanding, I wrote a paper entitled The Millennium for a course called Theology of the Apocalypse, a required part of my studies in pursuit of a Master’s degree.

At that stage, I supported neither premillennialism nor amillennialism as the only correct interpretation of Revelation 20, but held both in tension, recognizing that while they each had weaknesses, they also had undeniable strengths to recommend them.

More recently, while teaching the class entitled inauguration, fulfillment, and consummation in the New Testament, using George Eldon Ladd’s Crucial Questions about the Kingdom of God as a textbook, I was internally challenged to apply this same hermeneutic¹ to the millennium. That began a period of intensive study that resulted in this book: THE MILLENNIUM OF REVELATION 20: ITS THREE PHASES.

These three phases are the millennium’s inauguration by Jesus; its fulfillment by the Holy Spirit; and its consummation by the Father.

This book reveals how the prophecy of Revelation 20 provides the framework for all three accomplishments of the millennium: its inauguration, its fulfillment, and its consummation.

Jesus, who chose to be judged and punished for the sins of the whole world, inaugurated the millennium. His death on the cross constituted what God intended to be his final judgment against mankind’s rebellion. Had every person in the world accepted Christ’s atonement for his or her sins, there would have been no need for another judgment. But, because most people are turning their backs on Christ’s offer to be their substitute, another judgment has become necessary.

This judgment, now in session, is dividing the people of every nation into the saved and the lost by their response to the gospel that upholds Jesus as their substitute because he died on the cross for their sins. The final verdict on the destiny of every person is their acceptance or rejection of Jesus as their Saviour.²

The judgment that begins at Christ’s return will not determine anyone’s destiny; it will only reveal the destiny that each person has chosen. Those who accepted Christ’s atonement for their sins will be raised up in the first resurrection and clothed with immortality, while those who rejected Christ’s atonement for their sins will be raised up in the second resurrection. And all who are raised up in the second resurrection will pay the same price for their sins that Jesus already paid for them on the cross.

Chapter 1

Revelation: A Book of Bizarre Symbols 

In secular literature, some of the more common genres are history, drama, science fiction, and nursery rhymes. Literary genres in the Bible include historical narrative, Hebrew poetry, letters, doctrine, and parables. The prophecy of the thousand years in Revelation 20 is written in a literary genre³ known as apocalyptic. This genre became popular after the time of Daniel and was employed until about one hundred years after Christ.

The apocalyptic genre uses bizarre symbols to convey a divine message, such as death riding on the decaying corpse of a horse, a man eating a book, an altar that talks, and a dragon with seven heads and ten horns. These symbols are not the reality but, like cartoons, they portray significant truths about the realities they depict.

While the book of Revelation was written for Christians in every age, its primary focus is on events at the very end of time when the whole world will be divided into the saved who will be totally for Christ, and the lost who will be totally against him. It is for this reason that Revelation speaks to the present in terms of ‘the crisis at the close’.

Apocalyptic genre deals with international issues on a worldwide stage. The gospel will be proclaimed to every nation (Rev. 14:6), all the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast (Rev. 13:8), the whole world will attack the followers of Jesus (Rev. 16:14; 20:8), and all the dead will be summoned to judgment (Rev. 20:12).

Apocalyptic passages also present everything in black and white; there are no grey zones. Everything is presented as being either one hundred percent for Christ or one hundred percent against him. There is no middle ground, no unconquered territory. Christ reigns and Satan is bound. All believers are portrayed as martyrs and as ruling with Christ as judges, etc. All unbelievers are portrayed as worshipping the beast or besieging the faithful, etc.

Apocalyptic depicts the harvests of both good and evil as approaching full maturity. The battle between good and evil is portrayed as advancing rapidly to its conclusion, and the outcome of this great battle for all human beings is either eternal life or eternal death.

Those who fail to understand that this genre pictures every individual either in the climax of faith or in the climax of rebellion against it, run into great difficulties when trying to interpret apocalyptic Bible passages.

Principles of Interpretation

Before attempting to interpret the prophecy of Revelation 20, it is important that I define the principles of interpretation that have guided my understanding.

1.  The Millennium Interpreted by the Rest of the New Testament

A principle of interpretation that is important to the correct understanding of Revelation 20 is that the unknown must always be interpreted by the known. In other words, the plain language of the Gospels and the Epistles must provide the framework for the symbolic prophecy of Revelation. This means that the teaching of Revelation 20 should harmonize with the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and that we should not find any teaching in Revelation 20 that is contrary to what is found elsewhere in the New Testament. We must interpret the more obscure passages of Scripture in the light of the clearer ones. Above all the gospel must be our interpretative key: the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and all that it achieves for us.⁴

2.  Key Words, Phrases, and Concepts

When interpreting the thousand-year prophecy of Revelation 20, consideration should be given to the key words, phrases, and concepts of this prophecy that are found throughout the book of Revelation. These key words, etc. point us to other parts of Revelation that will provide us with further insights into the millennium.⁵ Some of these keys are listed below.

Key Words and Phrases for Further Insights

Authority to judge (20:4) 2:26–27.

(144,00) (7:4; 14:1-3).

Priests of God and of Christ (20:6) 1:6; 5:10.

Redeemed reign with Christ (20:4, 6) 3:21.

Satan cast into the abyss (20:1–3) 12:9–10.

The mark of the beast (20:4) 13:16–17.

The second death (20:6, 14) 2:11; 21:8.

Thrones (20:4) 3:21; 4:4; 5:9–10, 11:16.

Worship the beast and his image (20:4) 13:8, 15.

Satan and his agents released from prison (20:3, 7) 9:1–11; 11:7; 17:8.

Satan and his agents attack the redeemed (20:8–9) 16:14, 16.

The lost are destroyed outside the city (20:9) 14:17–20.

The dragon, beast and false prophet (20:10) 16:13–16.

Judging the dead (20:11–15) 11:17–3:8.

3.  Any interpretation of the millennium must be relevant to the sevenchurches of John’s day.

Just as the letter to the Galatians had a current message for all the churches in Galatia, as well as to the worldwide church in the future, so the Revelation of Jesus Christ had a current message for seven churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Rev. 1:11). To each of these seven churches was given not only a specific message, but also a general message, because the whole of Revelation was sent to all seven.

Both at the beginning and the end of the Revelation, these seven churches were told,…the time is near (1:1–3; 22:10–12).⁶ John’s prophecy is of immediate relevance to his contemporaries. It relates…to the situation John himself shares with his contemporaries in the seven churches of Asia.⁷

When Jesus said that the events presented in vision must soon take place (Rev. 1:1; 22:6), the word soon should be understood as the seven churches would have understood it. A correct interpretation of the millennium, therefore, has to be both applicable and relevant to the time and situation of each of these seven churches of John’s day. That is to say that any interpretation that excludes an application to the early church cannot be a correct one. John emphasizes the nearness of the prophecy’s fulfillment by stating, …the time is near (Rev. 1:3; 22:10). The fact that he uses the words soon and near at both the beginning and conclusion of his prophecy should warn us against accepting an interpretation of the millennium that ignores the significance of these two words.

4.  Christ’s Kingdom—both Now and Not Yet

Christ’s kingdom is not only a future reality but also a present reality; it is not only a kingdom that will come but also a kingdom that has come. Jesus became king through his death and resurrection (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20–22). Revelation 20:4 portrays Christ as reigning, and it is in this age, as well as the next, and that Christ is enthroned with the Father in the heavenly realm (Heb. 1:3; 1 Peter 3:22). Additionally, it is in this age as well as the next that the saints reign with Christ (Eph. 2:6; Rev. 3:21; 20:4). Kim Riddlebarger counsels, "The tension between the already and the not yet is an important feature of New Testament eschatology, and we should not attempt to eliminate it. Rather, we should adopt a millennial position which best comports with it."⁸

It would seem logical, therefore, to assume that the millennium, which is about Christ’s reign, should cover both this age and the age to come.

5.  The Last Days—Both Now and Not Yet

Because the book of Revelation is written in apocalyptic, it focuses on the last days—the time when God breaks into our world as Judge. According to the New Testament, therefore, the last days have two applications: firstly, to the first advent and the period following (Acts 2:14–17; 1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20), and secondly, to the second advent and the period following (John 6:39–40; 11:24; 12:48). And because the prophecy of the thousand years is also about the last days, it would therefore be consistent to interpret it as having an application to the first advent and period following, as well as the second advent and period following.

6.  The Two Ages—Both Now and Not Yet