[These notes are courtesy of David’s outline for this lesson. Thanks, David! Also, note that for the sake of brevity premillennialism is often abbreviated as PM in this outline.]

**Revelation 20:1-7.

  • What is Premillennialism?
    • Charles M. Neal debated Foy E. Wallace, Jr. on this topic in 1933. Mr. Neal affirmed this: “The Bible clearly teaches that after the second coming of Christ and before the final resurrection and judgment, there will be an age or dispensation of one thousand years during which Christ will reign on earth” (Neal-Wallace Discussion, p. 9).
    • The word “millennium” means a period of a thousand years. The prefix “pre” means before. Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus will come before the millennium. There is also a doctrine called Postmillennialism, which teaches that Jesus comes after the (symbolic) 1000 years.
    • Graphic (http://www.nyu.edu/fas/projects/vcb/ChristianMedia/prophecy_premdisp.html). This is a huge, complex doctrinal system that we could study for weeks, but in this lesson I’ll try to present a few basic points that prove that the doctrine as a whole simply doesn’t harmonize with the Bible. This graphic does not represent what all premillennialists believe. They differ on the timing of some things and other points.
    • I’m just trying to give a general sense of PM.
      • PM states that Jesus came to earth in order to establish an earthly kingdom, but since He was rejected, He postponed His plans and did not set up His kingdom.
      • Instead, Jesus set up the church as a temporary measure. Premillennialists refer to the church age as the “parentheses.”
      • PM focuses on the covenant God made with Abraham, and looks for the ultimate fulfillment of the “land” promise as something still in the future.
      • The belief is that Israel still needs to be made into a permanent physical nation, which Christ will accomplish when He comes to earth, sits on the literal throne of David, and reigns as an earthly king in Jerusalem for 1,000 years.
      • At some point before the 1000 years, the rapture will occur, meaning that God will snatch up the Christians from earth, and everyone else will be left on earth, and there will be a 7-year period called the Tribulation.
      • At some point, there will be a huge battle between good and evil called the battle of Armageddon.
      • After the 1,000 years is over, eternity will begin.
    • The proof text for this doctrine is Revelation 20, and then many other passages, especially OT prophecies, are interpreted from the PM perspective.

I will attempt to expose what I believe are some fundamental problems with this interpretation of Revelation 20.

  • Jesus did not fail.

    • The basic teaching of PM is that Jesus tried to set up His kingdom, but failed in that He was rejected by the Jews. Therefore, He set up the church as a sort of temporary measure, and He will come to earth again, at which time He will set up His kingdom and reign for 1,000 years.
    • Dr. Scofield wrote, “The kingdom announced as ‘at hand’ (Mt. 4.17, note) by John the Baptist, by the King, and by the Twelve, was rejected by the Jews, first morally (Mt. 11.20, note), and afterward officially (Mt. 21.42,43), and the King, crowned with thorns, was crucified…Afterward He announced His purpose to ‘build’ His church” (Scofield’s Reference Bible_,_ p. 1226, as cited in Samuel G. Dawson’s tract).
    • W.E. Blackstone, “This kingdom was at hand, that is, it came nigh, when Jesus, the King, came. So much so, that the three favored disciples witnessed a foretaste of its glory and power on the Mount of Transfiguration. But the Jews rejected it and slew their king. They were not willing to have this man reign over them, and therefore the kingdom did not ‘immediately’ appear” (Jesus is Coming, p. 83, as cited in Samuel G. Dawson’s tract).
    • So at the very heart of the doctrine is the claim that Jesus failed. The Bible nowhere teaches such a thing. Yes, most of the Jews rejected Jesus, but this was not a surprise to Him or a failure on His part.
    • Isaiah had foretold the rejection of Jesus 700 years ahead of time: “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3.
    • Jesus explained to His apostles that His crucifixion was foretold by the prophets.
    • Peter repeated this on Pentecost, Acts 2:23.
    • Paul taught it again later: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3.
    • Ephesians 3:10-11. The church had been the Divine plan the whole time. It wasn’t Plan B.
    • “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4.
    • It was the Divine plan the whole time for Jesus to come to earth and be crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
    • It’s a scary prospect to think that men can thwart what God fully intends to do.
      • In John 3, Jesus taught Nicodemus about being born again in order to see the kingdom of God. If PM is true, Jesus’ teaching became irrelevant for Nicodemus because the kingdom was postponed for thousands of years.
      • Who’s to say He won’t get it wrong this next time and fail again? Even if Revelation 20 is teaching PM, who’s to say that plan won’t be thwarted somehow, and God has to change plans again?
    • None of that squares with the Bible. The rejection and crucifixion and church of Jesus was always the plan, and Jesus did not fail!

  • The kingdom has already been established.

    • In PM, the kingdom is still in the future.
    • Charles Ryrie (Ryrie Study Bible) wrote, “Certainly the kingdom was not set up when Christ was on earth. Instead it was rejected” (The Basis of the Premillennial Faith, p. 95, as cited in Samuel G. Dawson’s tract).
    • However, notice what Jesus said about the timing of the kingdom, Mark 9:1.
      • He had been preaching that “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15
      • But in Mark 9:1He got more specific, saying it would come within the lifetime of some of the people He was talking to.
      • In His omniscience and foresight, Jesus did not get it wrong.
    • Acts 2:
      • Acts 2:30, What had been prophesied? That a descendant would sit on David’s throne.
      • Acts 2:31, What was the prophecy talking about? Peter connects it to the resurrection of Christ.
      • Acts 2:32-33, Jesus did rise from the dead. He ascended to Heaven and reigns and rules on the symbolic throng of David as king today, fulfilling the prophecy!
    • Colossians 1:13.
      • To what had the saints and faithful brethren of Colossae been transferred? The kingdom!
      • That implies that the kingdom had to have been in existence at the time the Holy Spirit had Paul write this.
      • If I tell you that I transferred (past tense) some money into my bank account, would that make you think that I already had a bank account, or that I would get one in the future?
    • Revelation 1:9.
      • How is it that John was already a partaker in the kingdom?
      • Taking this in its normal meaning, there’s no reason to think John was talking about something yet in the future.
      • Like those in Colossae, he had already been transferred into that kingdom. It was already in existence!

  • The kingdom is spiritual in nature.

    • Another basic error of PM is the belief that Christ’s kingdom was ever intended to be physical in nature.
      • That’s what many of the Jews thought when Jesus was on earth. Premillennialists are making that same mistake.
      • John 6:14-15. If Jesus were intending to become an earthly king, occasions such as this one would have been ideal. Why did He withdraw Himself from this situation?
      • When we combine this with other passages, we find that a physical kingdom was never His goal.
    • John 18:36-37.
      • Jesus wasn’t raising an army or securing the borders of the land that had been promised to Abraham.
      • As King, He was testifying to the truth. His reign was and is spiritual, not physical.
    • Luke 17:20-21.
      • According to PM, the kingdom will come with signs to be observed. Jesus said it would not. That’s a big difference. That’s a fundamental conflict between what Jesus said and what PM states.
      • The truth is that the kingdom of God is not that kind of kingdom. It is spiritual in nature. The word “kingdom” [basileia, 932] denotes “‘sovereignty, royal power, dominion’…then, by metonymy, a concrete noun, denoting the territory or people over whom a king rules” (Vine).
      • Jesus said the kingdom is within you. That is, it is the rule or reign of God in our hearts. It is internal, not external. By extension, as Vine points out, it refers to the people who are under that reign/rule.
      • When a certain scribe showed great understanding of the laws of God, Jesus said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34.
    • Much of the misunderstanding that feeds into PM is the failure to understand figurative language. Yes, the Bible tells us that Jesus would be a king and sit on a throne, etc., but as Jesus Himself explains, it is spiritual in nature, not physical.

  • God has no promises or favor toward physical Israel today.

    • PM has a huge effect on United States foreign policy. Our nation goes to great lengths to protect and preserve the physical nation of Israel because of the widespread belief that this is what God wants.
    • But this worldview misses the figurative language of the Bible.
    • In the OT, God chose Abraham and his descendants to be His covenant people who carried out His plan of bringing a Savior to the world. But all of that has been fulfilled and accomplished, and the nation of Israel is no longer unique in that way.
    • Romans 2:28-29. God is not especially concerned with the physical descendants of Abraham. The NT uses the words “Jew” and “Israel” and “Abraham’s descendants” to figuratively refer to a spiritual relationship, not a physical relationship.
    • Galatians 3:7**, 26-29 have been erased.
    • When Peter first preached the gospel to Gentiles, he said, “in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:35.

  • In PM, much is made of the promises God made to Abraham, Genesis 12:2-3, 7. Certainly these provide the framework for the rest of the Bible narrative. They were repeated numerous times, and not just to Abraham, but to Isaac and Jacob as well. But it’s also critical to understand that all three of these promises have been fulfilled.

  • The “great nation” promise was fulfilled.

    • “do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there” (Genesis 46:3.
    • “The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number” (Deuteronomy 1:10.
    • “You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation” (Deuteronomy 26:5.

  • The “blessing” promise was fulfilled.

    • Jesus Christ was the seed (descendant) of Abraham who became the Savior of mankind. It is through Jesus that all the families of the earth can be blessed.
    • “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:25-26.
    • “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus” (Acts 13:32-33.
    • “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ” (Galatians 3:16.
    • “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29).

  • The “land” promise was fulfilled.

    • Joshua was Israel’s leader as they conquered and inherited the land that God had originally promised to Abraham.
    • “So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:43-45.
    • “You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give him the land of the Canaanite, Of the Hittite and the Amorite, Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—To give it to his descendants. And You have fulfilled Your promise, For You are righteous” (Nehemiah 9:.
    • Here’s what Joshua said before he died: “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed. It shall come about that just as all the good words which the LORD your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you. When you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you” (Joshua 23:14-16.
    • Notice that the land promise was conditional! That’s why later, when they went into sin, they lost the land and went into captivity.
    • Premillennialists then say that God has said He will restore the land to Israel, and that the restoration is still in the future.
    • But that restoration was to take place in 70 years according to Scripture: “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place” (Jeremiah 2.
    • And that happened: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:1-3.
    • Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the Jews returning and rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem and the temple. We are not still waiting for the restoration of Israel. It was restored way back then.
    • This is just a quick overview, but at least we have presented a number of Scriptures to show that the three promises to Abraham have been fulfilled.
      • His descendants multiplied into a great nation, the OT nation of Israel.
      • Through His descendant, Jesus, all families of the earth have been blessed.
      • The Israelites inherited the promised land, lost it because of sin, and then were restored to it, all within the time frame of the OT.
    • We should not look for a future fulfillment of these promises that, according to Scripture, have already been fulfilled.

  • Revelation 20:1-7.

    • One of the common sense rules of Bible study is to let plain, easier to understand Bible passages help us understand the more difficult passages. That’s what we’ve tried to do with Revelation 20. The whole book is a challenge, therefore we’ve cited dozens of other Scriptures to help us understand this chapter.
    • I have tried to give enough Scripture to show that, whatever Revelation 20 means, it can’t mean what so many people say it means. I’ve tried to show that the doctrine of PM, which supposedly is taught here, contradicts a long list of plain Bible passages, and that therefore the premillennial interpretation must be wrong.
    • Notice a few critical components which are not mentioned in the PM proof-text (Revelation 20:
      • The second coming of Christ
      • A reign on the earth
      • Jerusalem
      • A physical kingdom
    • How is it that PM is based primarily upon a passage that doesn’t mention the core parts of the doctrine?
    • We need to understand the kind of literature this is. Revelation 1:1, this message was “sent and communicated [footnote: signified].” The book of Revelation is full of signs, symbols, and figures of speech.
      • Sometimes these figures are explained, Revelation 1:20, 5:8.
      • Most of the time the figures are not explained.
    • So what should we do when we get to chapter 20?
      • Revelation 20:1. Is this a literal key and literal chain that will bind Satan, a spiritual being?
      • Revelation 20:2. Is that a literal 1,000 years, or just a long, but indefinite period of time?
        • “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (II Peter 3:8.
        • “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10.
        • “the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation” (Deuteronomy 7:9.
        • Last week, my son asked me to play Legos with him 1,000 times. Not literally, I just mean a lot.
    • Can we take a book full of signs and symbols and then insist that Revelation-7 is definitely talking about literal events?
    • The book of Revelation describes in sweeping word pictures and beautiful figures of speech that good triumphs over evil; Jesus defeats Satan.
      • I can’t tell you (since we don’t have an inspired man to explain these images) what every claw and noise and horn represents, but I can at least understand that Jesus wins! We can’t know with certainty the details of chapter 20, but we can know it fits into that overall theme.
      • John wrote to first century Christians who faced severe persecution about things “which must soon take place” (1:1, and this message of victory would certainly comfort and encourage them as they lived under evil Roman emperors such as Nero.
      • At the same time, the figurative language probably served to hide the message from the persecutors, so as not to bring even more punishment if a copy of the book fell into their hands.
    • I know Revelation 20 can’t be teaching Premillennialism, because God wouldn’t contradict what He had already said in so many other plain Bible passages.

  • Conclusion.

    • There are definitely more parts of PM that can be discussed.
      • We haven’t talked about the claim that I Thessalonians 4 teaches the “rapture”—that the righteous will be snatched off the planet, the basis of the best-selling Left Behind series of books. Not only is the word “rapture” absent from the Bible, I believe the doctrine is as well. I Thessalonians 4 doesn’t seem to describe a secret or invisible event as the rapture is pictured—it describes a “shout” and “the trumpet of God.”
      • We haven’t discussed the multiple resurrections of PM, but Jesus taught there will be only one, for both the good and the evil, in John 5:28-29. None of this sounds like there are multiple resurrections occurring at different periods of time.
      • Hopefully the points we have studied will be helpful in our understanding of how to serve God now and what to hope for in the future.
      • It’s time now to be part of spiritual Israel, not be waiting for a physical Israel.