Premillennial
1.
Premillennial: the millennium will come suddenly and Jesus will return before the millennium
Believe Jesus will return before events of rev. 20:1-10
Prior to Jesus' return there will be a time of great suffering on earth, sometimes called the great tribulation (matt. 24:21-31)
Christ will return and physically reign on earth for the thousand years mentioned in rev. 20:4-5 (not necessarily a literal one thousand years)
When he returns to begin his millennial reign, all believers will be raised from the dead to reign with him. Rev. 20:4
During that millennium, Satan and his demons will be completely removed from all influence on the earth. Rev. 20:1-3
The main view of Amillennials
That Christ could pop up at any moment
1.
Postmillennial: the millennium will come gradually, and Jesus will return after the millennium.
Other Christians believe Jesus will return after the thousand years mentioned in rev. 20:4-5.
As the church grows and Christians have a growing influence, society will start functioning more in line with God’s standards. Gradually a “millennial age” of great peace and righteousness (not necessarily a literal one thousand years) will come about on earth.
Intro
Much debated topic
A lot of the disagreement in the church regarding Christ's return comes from the interpretation of revelation 20:1-6
Specifically in 4-5 when John mentions the thousand years.
Many term the thousand years as the millennium
There is 3 main views on the time and nature of this period
What do Muslims believe
That the universe will be destroyed and all people will be ressurected and those in hell can spend time there to reform and then be sent to heaven for all time
2.
Since Jesus will reign in peace and righteousness, many will turn to him for their salvation. There will still be unbelievers, like how some doubted after they saw resurrected Jesus. Matt. 28:17. Some wont believe bc genuine faith is something that must come from an internally changed heart and cant be compelled even by overwhelming outward evidence and arguments.
Even without Satan, there will still be some people who do evil.
After the thousand year rein, the final judgement will happen, and believers will continue to reign with him for eternity. Those who reject him will be condemned for eternity.
The Bible supports this view the most as it’s a natural reading of rev. 20:1-6, and many have understood it this way since the early church.
Satan in this view
Power weakened because of Jesus's works in the ministry
2.
Christ wont physically reign on earth during this period; instead Christians will have a big influence in society, and Christ’s reign will come about through this influence of Christians.
People who support this emphasize verses showing how the kingdom of god grows quietly but steadily from a tiny start to a huge end.
Matt. 13:31-32 (parable of mustard seed)
Matt 13:33
Matt. 28:18
These verses make it clear that Christ will return, but no one knows when.
John 14: 3
Acts 1:11
1 Thess. 4:16
Heb. 9:28
2 Peter 3:10
1 John 3:2
Mark 13:32
Matt. 24:44
What does Hinduism say about judgement
The are judged based on karma which is their balance of good and bad actions during their life. Some sects have an arrival of Sri Kalki who arrives to clean up the mess of this age
3.
There is a 2nd variation of this view. Its known as pretribulational premillennial view.
Believe Christ returns twice. Once in secret to take Christians out of the world suddenly, and then 7 years later he publicly returns to bring Christians back to reign with him for the thousand years.
During the 7 years where the world is absent of Christ and Christians, there will be a time of great tribulation when the majority of Jews will trust in Christ as their messiah and preach the gospel to those left on earth.
The issue with this is the lack of passages that talk about a secret return.
What happens to us when Jesus returns
The believers and unbelievers will be resurrected. Believers will ascend to heaven, and those who don't will face a final judgement and eternal condemnation.
3.
Jesus will return at the end of this millennial age and then there’ll be one resurrection of both believers and non believers. Believers go to heaven and those who don’t believe will face the final judgement and eternal condemnation. At that time the new heavens and new earth will begin and remain for eternity, and Christ will be present in bodily form to reign on earth.
Called postmillennial view because Christ's return and reign happens after a future millennium.
Verses that say we don’t know when it will happen, but these next ones suggest certain signs will happen first. These aren't meant to say that if they don’t happen, Christ wont return.
Mark 13:10 also Matt. 24:14
Mark 13:19-20
Mark 13:22 also Matt. 24:23-24
Mark 13:24-25 also Matt. 24:29-30 and Luke 21:25-27
2 Thess. 2:1, 3-4
Rom. 11:25-26
Judaism on the Day of Judgement
God will judge all souls on earth as wicked, righteous or inbetween. The messiah will arrive to usher in the new world and a Garden of Eden
Related Verses
Isaiah 65:20
Psalm 72:8-14
Isaiah 11:2-9
Zechariah 14:6-21
1 Corinthians 15:24
Rev. 2:27
Rev. 12:5
Rev. 19:15
Rev. 2:26-27
Luke 19:17
Luke 19:19
1 Corinthians 6: 3
Rev. 3:21
What happens to the rest of everything
A new heaven and earth will be created and reign for an eternity
Last Intro Slide
Luke 21:28 actually shows us they should make our expectation stronger of Christ's return
The 2 biggest questions about these signs are “have any of these signs occurred, and if they haven't all occurred, could Christ really return at any moment?”
The answers vary throughout the church
Zoroastrianism view on judgement day
God will send the wicked to hell, and righteous to heaven. They say it will happen at the end of this cycle of 3000 years.
Amillennial Info
Amillennial: the millennium is now, and when it ends, Jesus will return
Simplest view of the millennium is that rev. 20:1-6 describes not a future time, but the present church age.
Those who believe this, believe that many or all of the signs happened early on in church history and that Christ could return at any moment.
They interpret rev. 20:4 as meaning Christians who have already died are reining today with Christ in a spiritual sense ( matt. 28:18 and Ephesians 2:6)
Since the events in rev 20 are currently being fulfilled in the church, the thousand year period mentioned is a figure of speech for a long period of time.
This view says that Satan, who in rev. 20:2-3 is said to be bound and sealed in a pit “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer”, had his power greatly reduced during Christ's ministry on earth (matt. 12:28-29 and Luke 10:18)
This view is often called amillennial view bc those who hold to it don’t believe rev. 20:4-5 teaches a future thousand year reign either before or after Jesus' return.
Instead they believe when Christ returns, there will be one resurrection of both believers and nonbelievers. Those who believe in Jesus will go to heaven and those who don’t will face the final judgement and eternal condemnation. At that time the new heavens and new earth will begin and remain for eternity. An argument in favor of this view is that its very simple. Christ returns, there’s judgement, and we live in the new heavens and new earth forever.