Let’s read Revelation 20:1-7: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a THOUSAND YEARS; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the THOUSAND YEARS were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on his hands, And they lived and reigned with Christ for a THOUSAND YEARS. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the THOUSAND YEARS were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a THOUSAND YEARS. Now when the THOUSAND YEARS have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth…”

We see in this passage the words “thousand years” SIX TIMES. We call this period the “Millennium,” which means “ONE THOUSAND.” We also see TWO very striking events that happen during this time: 1) The Devil is bound and cast into the bottomless pit until the thousand years are finished; 2) A resurrection of believers takes place and they “live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. We call this period “the Millennial Reign of Christ.” The Devil must be shut up during Christ’s reign so He can rule over the earth without the Devil being able to influence men. Believers in Christ will “rule with Christ” over the earth. There are THREE main views regarding “the Millennium”: 1) The “Premillennial View” believes Christ will return to earth, literally and bodily, BEFORE He establishes His Millennial Kingdom. 2) The “Postmillennial View” believes we are in the Millennium now and AFTER the church converts most of the world to Christ (through spreading the gospel) He will return to raise the dead and judge all mankind and then the eternal state begins. 3) The “Amillennial View” believes that there is no Millennial Kingdom following the Second Coming of Christ. They believe all the prophecies concerning the Kingdom are being fulfilled now “spiritually by the Church.” In their view Christ’s Second Coming took place in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem where Israel was replaced by the Church and now Christ is reigning through His saints and the Devil is in the bottomless pit. Yet He will come again to judge the world and usher in the new heaven and the new earth.

If one takes Scripture LITERALLY the Premillennial View is the correct one. The Postmillennial View and the Amillennial View both resort to “spiritualizing the scriptures.” For example, they do not believe in a literal “one-thousand-year kingdom” even though, as we saw, the words “thousand years” are mentioned SIX times. One rule of thumb for interpreting Scripture is to take it LITERALLY unless the context demands a symbolic meaning. They also don’t see the prophecies of Revelation happening CHRONOLOGICALLY. After the Church is removed from earth (as pictured in Revelation chapters 4 & 5), the Tribulation Period follows in chapters 6-18. Then we have the literal Second Coming of Christ in 19:11-21 and the Millennial Kingdom in 20:1-6. After the Millennium ends, the Devil is released to test mankind, and he is then cast into hell (20:7-10). Eternity begins with Christ judging all those who died without trusting in Christ and they are cast into the lake of fire (20:11-15). Then a New Heaven and a New Earth will be created and God with dwell with all those who were saved in a perfect state of bliss and holiness, with the effects of sin gone forever (21:1-7).

We could list other reasons why views #2 and #3 are wrong. They both teach that the Devil is bound and that Christ is ruling through the Church. I think that most people would agree that the Devil is very active today. And can one really believe that the Church, which is so divided and is failing to spread the gospel throughout the world (Islam and Buddhism are the fastest growing religions), is ruling in Christ’s kingdom? Lastly, the thought that Israel has no future in God’s purposes, and that she has been replaced by the church, is flatly refuted in dozens of Old Testament prophecies and in Romans chapter 11.  (DO)  (729.3)