When it comes to eschatology (the study of end times), I really want to be Amillennial. So much of that position attracts me and I think I would pretty much agree with all that it states… except for the idea that there will not be a literal 1,000 year reign of Christ! I just can’t take the leap into Amillennialism because of that. In fact, I have six reasons for believing that there will be a literal thousand year reign:
- “… and bound him for a thousand years…” (Rev. 20:2)
- “… until the thousand years were ended…” (Rev. 20:3)
- “… They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years…” (Rev. 20:4)
- “… until the thousand years were ended…” (Rev. 20:5)
- “… and they will reign with him for a thousand years…” (Rev. 20:6)
- “… And when the thousand years are ended…” (Rev. 20:7)
Seriously, Revelation 20:1-10 gives me six really good reasons to be Premillennial. I obviously say this tongue-in-cheek, but I don’t think it’s as ridiculous to hold to a literal 1,000 years just from one passage of Scripture.
This isn’t to say that I don’t find support for a Premillennial interpretation throughout the Old Testament or also within the pages of other parts of the NT either, because I do. It’s just that Revelation 20 gives me six really good reasons!
I think that one of the best defenses for a literal thousand year reading of Revelation 20 is found in Dr. Jack Deere’s “Premillennialism in Revelation 20:4-6” (Bibliotheca Sacra 135, published January 1978, pp. 58-74) as well as the arguments made by Grant R. Osborne in his Baker Exegetical Commentary on Revelation (pp. 696-718).
This is not to be confused as an advocacy of Dispensational Premillennialism, because I’m not convinced of that at all! But one need not believe in a pretribulational rapture to be a Premillennialist… just ask the apostle John or Jesus.
🙂
Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
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