Eschatology is the branch of Christian theology that focuses attention on what are believed to be the final events of history, and the ultimate destiny of humanity, according to God's sovereign plan. In other words, eschatology is the study of end time prophecy and God's prescribed eternal destiny for humanity. One of the major focuses of eschatology is the 1,000 year period or millennium described in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. Revelation 20 is one of the most intensely debated chapters in the entire Bible, especially in regard to the 1,000 year Millennium, the ultimate fate of Satan, and the final judgment. There are three eschatological perspectives of the Millennium of Revelation20:1-10, and they are Premillennialism (Christ returns before the Millennium), Postmillennialism (Christ returns after the Millennium), and Amillennialism (Christ returns at a time known only to God). The word "millennium" means 1,000 years. It is a word originating from the Latin 'mille' for "thousand" and 'annus' for "year." The 1,000 years of Revelation 20:1-10 is taken literally by Premillennialists and Postmillennialists as an actual 1,000 year period of time, while Amillennialists take the 1,000 years of Revelation 20:1-10 as symbolic instead of literal, just like other symbolic numbers that appear in various passages of the Old Testament and New Testament. Amillennialists see the number 1,000 as symbolic of the completeness of God's timetable in which the exact timing is known to God but unknown to humanity (Acts 1:7). These three different eschatological interpretations of the Millennium are centered around the timing of Christ's second coming to establish His kingdom on earth. Some believe in the Rapture of the Church to Heaven while some deny there will be a Rapture. Those who are expecting a Rapture believe it will occur either before, during, or after the Great Tribulation.
PREMILLENNIALISM – Premillennialists teach that the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur at the very end of the Great Tribulation at Armageddon and just before the Millennium begins. There are two main groups of premillennialists: historical premillennialists and dispensational premillennialists, and this classification is based on their view of the Rapture and when it will occur. The majority of premillennialists adopt futurism, which is the belief that the prophecies of Daniel's 70th Week, Jesus' Olivet Discourse, and the book of Revelation chapters 4 thru 22, will be fulfilled during the future Great Tribulation, the future Millennium, the final judgment, and eternity future. Other premillennialists adopt historicism as a means of interpreting prophecy. Many Premillennialists, especially those of the Dispensationalism camp, believe that a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church will occur seven years prior to Christ's actual second coming, and that the Great Tribulation ruled by Satan's Antichrist will transpire between the Pre-Tribulation Rapture and Christ's Second Coming, then the Millennium will begin. There are also premillennialists who totally deny that a Rapture of the Church will occur, while other premillennialists believe in a Mid-Tribulation Rapture, a Pre-wrath Rapture, or a Post-Tribulation Rapture, stating that God will use the events of the Great Tribulation to test the integrity and faith of His holy saints (Christians), and to pour out His fierce wrath upon the world of unrepentant sinners. The Bible prophesies the Great Tribulation as lasting seven years with the "abomination of desolation" in the middle and Armageddon at the end (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; Revelation 16:16; 19:11-21). The Antichrist and the False Prophet will rule the entire world during the second half of the Great Tribulation, with the Antichrist claiming to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Antichrist will wage war against Christians and against the nation of Israel. As the armies of the Antichrist make a final assault on Jerusalem, Christ returns at Armageddon to defeat the forces of evil and deliver the surviving Christians and Jews (Revelation 19:11-21). Afterward, Christ will establish a kingdom on earth that will last 1,000 years. Satan and his demons will be bound and imprisoned in the abyss during the 1,000 years, and they will not be able to influence human affairs during that time (Revelation 20:1-3). Premillennialists believe that the present form of God's kingdom is moving toward a grand climax in which Christ will return to earth, the first resurrection will occur (Revelation 20:4-6), and His kingdom will find expression in a literal, visible reign of peace, prosperity and righteousness on the entire planet earth. A revived Jewish nation of Israel, spared from Armageddon, will exist and the city of Jerusalem will be the capital of the Millennial Kingdom, from where Christ will rule over the whole world on David's throne (Jeremiah 23:5-6; Acts 15:14-17). According to premillennialists, the peaceful and prosperous conditions prophesied by Isaiah will be fulfilled during this era of human history (Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:1-10; 33:24; 65:17-25). Multitudes of people living on the earth during the Millennial Reign, including some of those born during the Millennium, will work their way toward human perfection as they learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9). However, many people will never progress and will apostatize instead, and this will verify that humans have an inherently sinful nature that causes them to sin, even under the most benign external circumstances (Psalm 51:5; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:20-23). At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan will be freed from the abyss to deceive the world once again, and this will be a test of faith for the righteous inhabitants of the earth. Satan will attempt to conquer the Holy City and God's chosen people, but he and his evil forces will be burned with fire and cast into Hell forever (Revelation 20:7-10). After the final resurrection, the final judgment of the wicked at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15), and the renewal of the heavens and the earth, this future Millennial Kingdom will merge into the Eternal Kingdom, and Christ will surrender His authority to God the Father so that God will be all things to everyone (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Afterward the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit), will reign forever in the eternal new heaven and new earth, together with all the holy saints redeemed throughout human history (Daniel 2:44; 7:18; Revelation 22:3-5). Those holding to the eschatological perspective of premillennialism include Dispensationalists like Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, David Jeremiah, and John Hagee. The Seventh Day Adventists hold to their own unique view of premillennialism, based on supersessionism (replacement theology – the Church replaced Israel in God's plans). Jehovah's Witnesses also hold to their own unique view of premillennialism, based on supersessionism (replacement theology). In addition, many different and very peculiar views of premillennialism are held by various denominational and nondenominational churches within Christendom, and the majority of them hold to Zionism (God's forever supporting Israel and the Jews). It should be noted that, once people disconnect God from Israel and the Jews, they will inevitably believe any kind of prophecy, no matter how nonbiblical it may be.
POSTMILLENNIALISM – According to postmillennialists, the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur at the end of the Millennium, not at the beginning. According to postmillennialists, this present civilization, as a result of Satan's powerful deceptions and influences, will undergo a sudden massive upheaval, accompanied by economic collapse, social and political unrest, and a global war between nations that will kill more than one-third of the world's human population (Revelation 6:1-8;9:13-21). Afterward, the surviving human population will be so tired of wars and disagreements over economics, religion, and politics, that everyone will set aside all differences and concede to the fact that Jesus Christ of Christianity is the best and only way to God's salvation, immortality, and perfect peace among people (Psalm 46:8-11; Micah 4:1-4). Postmillennialists believe that the entire world will eventually become Christianized, resulting in a 1,000 year period of peace and prosperity for all people living on the earth. This future period is called the Christian Millennium, and quotes from the book of Isaiah are used by postmillennialists as proof texts for their predicted Christianized world of peace (Isaiah 2:1-4; 11:1-10; 33:24; 65:17-25). Postmillennialists believe that the reign of Christ in the Christian Millennium will be His spiritual reign in the church, and that the peace and glory of the Millennium will come about not through the return of Christ, but through the power of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the Gospel. In other words, the church will gradually conquer the world of unbelief through worldwide revival (Matthew 24:14), and there will be a "Golden Age" or "Utopia" in which righteousness and peace will predominate the whole world for a thousand years. Postmillennialism teaches that Satan and his demonic forces will gradually be defeated by the unstoppable expansion of the Gospel, Christianity, and the Kingdom of God during the Millennium up until the second coming of Christ (Matthew 16:18). However, Satan and his demonic forces, although neutralized, will eventually be judged and cast into Hell at the end of the Millennium. This belief that goodwill gradually triumph over evil has led proponents of postmillennialism to describe themselves as being more optimistic about humanity's ability to conquer evil than premillennialists and amillennialists, who believe God is humanity's only hope in being saved from evil and suffering. This future period will end with Christ's second coming, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15). All of this will ultimately be replaced with the eternal kingdom ruled by Christ and His holy saints forever. It should be noted that some postmillennialists believe in a symbolic 1,000 years instead of a literal one, plus many postmillennialists also embrace preterism (all Bible prophecy was fulfilled in the past) as well as historicism and supersessionism or replacement theology (the Church replaced Israel in God's plans). In addition, some postmillennialists do not accept the idea of a devastating worldwide war preceding the Millennium. Postmillennialism was very popular among the churches during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, but it was largely replaced by amillennialism after the mid Twentieth Century. Those holding to the eschatological perspective of postmillennialism include Benjamin Warfield, William Einwechter, Doug Wilson, as well as liberal Christians like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren. Quite a number of cults and nondenominational churches also hold to postmillennialism.
AMILLENNIALISM – According to amillennialists, the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20:1-10 is symbolic instead of literal, just as the number 144,000 is sometimes seen as a symbolic number for the Christian Church (Revelation 7:3, 4; 14:3). The number 1,000 symbolizes the completeness of God's timetable in which the exact timing is known to God but unknown to humanity (Acts 1:7). Amillennialists believe the symbolic millennium spans from the beginning of the Church Age at Pentecost 33 A.D. to the onset of the Great Tribulation, and that the second coming of Jesus Christ will occur at Armageddon at the end of the Great Tribulation. The Millennium describes the present reign of the disembodied souls of deceased believers with Jesus Christ in Heaven. As part of the "first resurrection"every Christian who dies in the body during the Church Age is taken to Heaven in their disembodied soul to reign with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:21-24; Revelation 20:4-6). Satan is bound and imprisoned in the abyss in the sense that he no longer has complete domination over all the nations of the world during the Church Age, which is unlike the time prior to the Church Age. Satan was bound through Christ victory at the Cross and His resurrection (Luke 10:17-18; John 12:31-32; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Peter 3:18-22), thus paving the way for the Gospel of Salvation in Christ to spread to all nations and save people in every part of the earth (Matthew 24:14). The spiritual restraints on Satan and his demonic forces will be removed at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and at that time Satan will use the Beast or Antichrist to deceive the world into waging war against faithful Christians during the Great Tribulation (Ezekiel 38:1-23). Satan and his forces of evil will seem to prevail at first (Daniel 7:24-26; Revelation 13:7), but Christ will return to Rapture the Church and defeat the Antichrist at Armageddon (Revelation 11:12; 16:16; 19:11-21; 20:7-10). After this will come the general resurrection (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28, 29; Acts 24:15), and the final judgment at the Great White Throne (John 12:48; Romans 14:10-12; Revelation 20:11-15). Finally the current heavens and earth will be replaced with an eternal new heavens and new earth that is totally free of wickedness, imperfection and death (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22, 23; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-5; 22:3-5). At that time, Christ will surrender His authority to God the Father so that God will be all things to everyone (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Afterward the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit), together with all the holy saints redeemed throughout human history, will reign forever in the eternal new heaven and new earth (Daniel 2:44; 7:18; Revelation 22:3-5). Roughly half of all amillennialists adopt partial preterism, which holds that most of the end times prophecies in the Bible, including most of the prophecies in the book of Revelation, have already been fulfilled over the past 2,000 years, as early as 70 AD. Amillennial preterists believe the Great Tribulation occurred during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but the second coming of Christ, the final judgement, and the creation of the new heaven and new earth will transpire later at the end of the symbolic Millennium. Other amillennialists adopt idealism as a means of interpreting prophecy. Most amillennialists also hold to supersessionism (replacement theology), which is the belief that God totally abandoned the nation of Israel after they rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, and that the Church has replaced Israel in God's plans. Some amillennialists believe in a Post-Tribulation Rapture of the Church while others deny that a Rapture will ever occur. Most professed Christians holding to the eschatological perspective of amillennialism are preachers of the Reformed Theology, including Paul Washer, Timothy Conway, Steve Gregg, Mark Fitzpatrick, Richard Bennett, and many others in this camp. The Roman Catholic Church also embraces amillennialism.
