Revelation and Human Reality Session 54 A-level Amphitheater LLUMC Feb 12, 2011, 10:30-11:30 AM

Welcome Action  Revelation 20:1-3a Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended.

Action Less Welcome  Revelation 20:3b After that he must be let out for a little while.

Resurrection and Vindication  Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

First Resurrection  Rev 20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.

First Resurrection vs. Second Death  NRS Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.

Satan Released  NRS Revelation 20:7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison.

‘1000 Years’ Summarized  Satan bound “for a thousand years” v. 2  Satan bound “until the thousand years ended” v. 3  Resurrected martyrs reign with Christ “a thousand years” v. 4  The rest not resurrected “until the thousand years were ended” v. 5  Resurrected reign with him “a thousand years” v. 6  Satan released “when the thousand years are ended” v. 7

Before and After ‘the Millennium’ BEFORE  Satan bound  First resurrection AFTER  Satan released  Second resurrection ‘1000 YEARS’

Dispensational Premillennialism  Dispensational Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus will come back to earth after a seven-year tribulation and will rule during a thousand-year millennium of peace on earth. IsraelChurch Great Tribulation Second Coming of Christ Millennium Eternity Final Judgment 7 yrs1,000 yrs

Historic Premillennialism  Historic Premillennialism is the belief that Christians will remain on the earth during the great tribulation. The Church Age Great Tribulation Millennium Eternity Second Coming of Christ

Amillennialism  Amillennialism is the belief that Jesus will come again some day, but there is no literal thousand-year rule by Jesus on earth. The Church Age Tribulation Millennium Eternity Second Coming of Christ & Final Judgment

Postmillennialism  Postmillennialism is the belief that the second coming of Christ will occur after the millennium. The Church Age Tribulation Millennium Eternity Second Coming of Christ & Final Judgment

Millennialisms

Projections for the Future  The most widely held views of the millennium see it as a golden age – a period of peace.  The binding of Satan is understood as though Satan is coercively restrained for a time.

No One to Blame?  God “binds the deceiver and sets up a period of time in which His will is perfectly clear and obvious to all. Nevertheless, it is all to no avail. When the deceiver is set free, he still proves…that humans cannot blame their sinfulness on their environment or circumstances.” Talbert, Apocalypse, 95.

Sovereign Grace?  “Just as he was allowed to enter Eden, so in the restoration of paradise – the millennial earth – he will be permitted to do it again. This final chapter in the world’s history will again demonstrate that people perpetually embrace evil unless sustained by sovereign grace.” MacLeod, “The Fifth ‘Last Thing’: The Release of Satan,” BSac157 (2000), 205.

The Bible and the State of the Earth  What is the state of the earth before the millennium?  What is the state of the earth during the millennium?  What happens to believers when Jesus returns?

The State of the Earth Before the Millennium - 1  Rev 8:8-9 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The State of the Earth Before the Millennium - 2  Rev 16:3 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.  Seals, trumpets, and bowls in Revelation depict a state of progressive devastation.

OT Projections of the Earth as Wasteland  Isa 24:3-6 The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the LORD has spoken this word. The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth. The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth dwindled, and few people are left.

Earth as Wasteland - 2  Isa 24:19-20 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunkard, it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.

Earth as Wasteland - 3  Jeremiah 4:23-25 I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled.

Earth or Heaven?  1 Thess 4:16-17 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.

The Millennial State of the Earth  Key OT and NT texts paint a picture of the millennial earth not as a golden age but as a wasteland.  In such a scenario, Satan is not bound coercively but is bound by force of circumstances.  The first resurrection refers to the resurrection of believers only.

The City as Bride vs. the Bride as People  Rev 19:7 “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”  Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Summary  Second coming before the 1000 years  Earth desolate during the 1000 years  ‘New earth’ after the 1000 years The Church Age Great Tribulation Millennium Eternity Second Coming of Christ

After the Thousand Years  Rev 20:7-9a When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea. They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.

Further Reading  J. Webb Mealy, After the Thousand Years. Resurrection and Judgment in Revelation 20 (JSNT Sup 70; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992).