Ways Christians See It

What is the thousand years of Revelation 20?

Revelation 20:1-6

John sees an angel bind Satan for a thousand years, and the martyrs reign with Christ for the same span. Then Satan is released for a short time, defeated for good, and the dead are judged. It is six verses, and it is the only place in the Bible where the thousand years appears.

The disagreement is about when those thousand years happen relative to the return of Christ, and about whether the number is a length of time or a picture of one. The names of the views are built from that: pre-millennial means Christ returns before the thousand years, post-millennial means after, and a-millennial means there is no distinct future thousand-year period at all.

Revelation 20:1-6

¹I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. ²He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, ³and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. ⁴I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and such as didn't worship the beast nor his image, and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵The rest of the dead didn't live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.

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Where everyone agrees

All three views confess that Christ will return bodily, that the dead will be raised, that there will be a final judgment, and that God's kingdom will be consummated in a new heaven and new earth. These are not competing gospels. They are competing timetables.

Premillennial

Christ returns first, and then reigns on earth for a thousand years before the final judgment.

What it claims

The order in Revelation 19 and 20 is the order of events: Christ returns in chapter 19, Satan is bound in chapter 20, the millennial reign follows, and only afterward comes the final rebellion and judgment. The reign is a real period of Christ's rule on earth.

Who holds it

The earliest identifiable view in the second century, held by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus in the form called historic . Today it is held very widely in evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches, most often in its dispensational form.

The texts it stands on

Revelation 19:11-20:6 The return, then the binding, then the reign, in narrative sequence.
Isaiah 11:6-9 A pictured age of peace on earth that many read as awaiting a literal fulfillment.
1 Corinthians 15:23-25 Paul's staged order: Christ, then those who belong to him at his coming, then the end.

Strongest case

It reads Revelation's sequence in the order the text presents it, and it has the earliest attestation. It also gives the Old Testament's earthly kingdom promises a straightforward fulfillment.

Hardest question

It has to explain why the rest of the New Testament, which describes the return of Christ many times, never mentions an intervening thousand-year kingdom, and why passages like 2 Peter 3 seem to move directly from the return to the .

Holding the map

These three have coexisted in the church for its entire history, and all three have been held by people of obvious devotion and learning. Most Christian and confessions leave the question open, which is itself a signal about how central the church has judged it to be.

A useful test when reading anyone on this subject: notice whether they can state the other views in a form the other side would accept. The ability to do that is a better indicator of how carefully someone has thought about it than the confidence with which they hold their own.

Questions that press on this one

None of these stands on its own. What you conclude here narrows what you can say there.

How should Revelation be read?

Your approach to the book as a whole usually decides the thousand years before you get to chapter 20.

Israel and the church: one people or two?

Whether Israel has a distinct future is the hinge that separates premillennial systems from the others.

What are Daniel's seventy weeks?

The gap in Daniel's seventieth week and a future tribulation are held together or not held at all.

EKLI serves Christians across traditions. On questions where churches differ we explain how each one sees it and leave the deciding to you.

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