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The 1000 years makes better sense this way The thousand years (20:1) 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 20:4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Rev 20  When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. This has become, unfortunately, one of the more disputed passages in scripture. It is the only place in Revelation where the thousand years appears. The word millennium comes from the two Latin words mille, meaning thousand, and annum, meaning year. There are three interpretations: a. Premillennialism: Christ's return in power and glory will deprive Satan of all his power, raise the Christian dead, and set up the kingdom of the saints on earth. After a thousand years, Satan will re-emerge from his imprisonment, attempt once more to destroy the saints, fail, and be destroyed himself. Then will come the resurrection of the rest of the dead, the judgement of the great white throne, the final destruction of the wicked, and the making of a new heaven and earth. The appearing of the Antichrist, the tribulation, the rapture is usually held to have taken place before Christ's coming in victory, and that comes before (pre-) the millennium: hence the name of this interpretation. This doctrine is sometimes called chiliasm which is derived from the Greek chilios, a thousand. b. Amillennialism: There is no literal millennium, the 1,000 years is symbolic. It stands for the whole time between the life of Jesus on earth and his second coming. There is a biblical millennium, (Cox). The saints are raised with Christ at the new birth, this is the first resurrection, (Eph 2:6, Col 2:12, Col 3:1), and they reign with Christ in life (Rom 5:17). c. Postmillennialism: Christ returns after (post) the millennium. The millennium is the triumph of the gospel in this present age, sometimes a literal 1,000 years. Postmillennialism should be seen as an extension of Amillennialism. For a balanced discussion, which comes down in favour of the premillennial view see Pawson. Cox, Hendriksen, Lenski and Hughes describe the amillennial view. Berkhof is also worth reading. My own preference is the amillennial view. Specific problems with the passage: There are a number of specific problems with the passage: i. This is the only mention of a period of a thousand years in Revelation, many of the other time periods in Revelation follow a formula, 42 months etc. The period of a thousand years (10 * 10 * 10) means a complete period of time, but it also indicates a long period of time. There are few other periods of a thousand years in scripture, see Psa 90:4, Eccl 6:6, 2 Pet 3:8. ii. It refers to Satan being bound for a thousand years to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years was ended. Satan is elsewhere in Revelation referred to as deceiving the nations (12:9, 13:14, 16:13-14 see also 2 Cor 11:3). Clearly Satan is still deceiving the nations now, there are false prophets and false Christs still around. The false prophet in Revelation is clearly an emissary of Satan who deceives the people of the earth. The deception by Satan spoken of here is without the false prophet who is in the lake of fire (v 10). iii. If there is a thousand year reign of Christ on earth (although the earth is not mentioned) together with the saints this is the only place in scripture that describes this. It is unwise to get our theology from an obscure passage in Revelation without backing from other clear passages of scripture. Clear passages of scripture must be used to shed light on obscure passages and not the other way round. The NT does not give support for the idea of a thousand year reign of Christ apart from Rev 20, the main support comes from the OT. iv. There is good evidence that the reign is in fact in heaven. Because this is where souls are, this is where thrones are and this is where Christ reigns. Only souls are mentioned, it is not a bodily reign on the earth. The saints regain their body at the second resurrection. v. It speaks of two resurrections, the first in which the saints reign with Christ for a thousand years and a second general resurrection for the rest of the dead at the end of the thousand years. Usually only one resurrection is spoken of in scripture, see Dan 12:1-4, 12:13, Mat 22:31, Luke 14:14, 20:35-36, John 5:25-29, 11:24, Acts 23:6, 1 Cor 15, 2 Cor 4:14, Phil 3:11, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Heb 6:2, Rev 11:18, 20:12-13. However there is also some hint that there is a resurrection for the righteous only see Luk 20:35-36, 2 Cor 4:14, Phil 3:11, 1 Thess 4:16-17. vi. The battle in Rev 20 seems to be parallel with others battles in Revelation (Rev 16:14, 17:14, 19:17).Rev 16:14-16 The three unclean spirits out of the mouth of the dragon, beast and false prophet. Rev 17:14-17 The ten kings and the beast Rev 19:17-21 The beast and the kings of the earth vii. Rev 20 - Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle - This is also referred to in other passages: The passages in Rev 16:14 and Rev 19:17 are clearly the same battle as Rev 20 they are all supported by Ezekiel 38 and 39. The parallelism argues that the thousand years is the gospel era. See also comments on Rev 12.viii. Beale points out that "And I saw an angel" in 20:1 does not serve to make an historical connection between chapter 19 and 20 but introduces a new vision. He also points out the chiastic structure of Rev 17-22: A judgement of the (17:1-19:6) ...B the divine Judge (19:11-16) ......C judgement of the beast and the false prophet (19:17-21) .........D Satan imprisoned for 1,000 years (20:1-3) .........D' the saints reign/judge for 1,000 years (20:4-6) ......C' the judgement of Gog and Magog (20 -10) ...B' the divine Judge (20:11-15) A' vindication of the bride (21:1-22:5) |
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  blessings my brotherAll things work for the good of those who Love the Lord,  Jenn friend
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Good to see u and i hope all is well
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