Revelation 20 - The Millenium
How you understand this chapter has a huge impact on how you understand everything else!
Read / Listen to the chapter:
Read the chapter in an outlined format
Revelation 20 (ESV)
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
holding in his hand
the key to the bottomless pit
and a great chain.
2 And he seized the dragon,
that ancient serpent,
who is
the devil
and Satan,
and bound him
for a thousand years,
3 and threw him into the pit,
and shut it and sealed it over him,
so that he might not deceive the nations any longer,
until the thousand years were ended.
After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones,
and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.
Also I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God,
and those who
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 for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead
did not come to life
until the thousand years were ended.
This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!
Over such
the second death has no power,
but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are ended,
Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will come out to deceive
the nations that are at the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog,
to gather them for battle;
their number is like the sand of the sea.
9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city,
but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
10 and the devil
who had deceived them
was thrown into the lake
of fire and sulfur
where the beast and the false prophet were,
and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
From his presence
earth and sky fled away,
and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead,
great and small,
standing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Then another book was opened,
which is the book of life.
And the dead
were judged
by what was written in the books,
according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it,
Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them,
and they were judged,
each one of them,
according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name
was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Read the chapter on BibleGateway
Previous DIG DEEPER posts on Revelation
Revelation 20 Summary
Revelation 20 is one of the most controversial chapters in the entire Bible. One of the biggest arguments among Christians is how to understand the thousand years of peace this chapter refers to in v3-4. There are two main camps:
Premillennialists - This interpretation has Christ returning before the 1,000 years. This position tends to be pessimistic about the future, in that society will get worse and worse. Some premillennialists think that suddenly Christians will be raptured, and those 'left behind' will face a time of tribulation. Finally, Jesus will return and usher in a 1,000 year period of peace before commencing the final judgment. This position had its heyday around the turn of the 20th century among fundamentalists and other adherents of the Scofield Bible.
Postmillennialists - This position is a little more common in our circles. They understand that a duty Christians have is to build up the Kingdom of God. As this becomes more solidified, Christ will bless it in such a way that a 1,000 year period of peace occurs, at the end of which, Christ will return.
Revelation 20 is the only chapter in the Bible that refers to this 1,000 year period, and the language it uses is frustratingly vague. Both of these interpretations can claim the text supports their position, but both positions have significant holes in them as well. This is why most Reformed theologians favor a third interpretation:
Amillennialism - As its name implies, this position says there will not be a s