Premillennial Preterism?
Premillennial preterists believe the second coming happened in AD 70, and we are now living in the millennium, the “thousand-year” period talked about in Revelation 20. (Note: some premillennial preterists believe the millennium ended in 1070). Does this view have scriptural support?
First, we know from Revelation that Satan is bound at the beginning of the millennium:
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished” (Rev. 20:1-3).
As this passage says, Satan is bound at the beginning of the millennium. But Jesus bound Satan during his earthly ministry in around AD 30. After casting a demon out of a possessed person, Jesus said:
“How can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man?” (Matt. 12:24–30; see also Matt 18:13).
The casting out of demons was the sign, or proof, that Satan had been bound. And since Revelation said the millennium would begin at the binding of Satan (see above), then the millennium must have begun in AD 30.
Second, Revelation 20:1-3 (see above) says the reason for binding Satan was so that the gospel could go out to “the nations.” The gospel message had to get firmly established outside the borders of Judea before the judgment of Jerusalem hit in AD 70. This is what the great commission was all about. And this task was accomplished! By about AD 60, Paul said the gospel had gone out to “all nations” (Rom. 16:26), the “ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18), “all the world” (Col. 1:6), “all the earth” (Rom. 10:18), and “all creation” (Col. 1:23).
The reason the gospel could spread so fast throughout the entire Roman “world” (between AD 30 and AD 70) was because Satan had been bound.
Third, since the millennium began in Jesus’ day/AD 30 (see above), then the next question is, When did the millennium end?
After describing the binding of Satan (Rev. 20:1-3, see above), Revelation goes on to say the Devil would be released “for little while,” after which God would destroy him:
“But after these things he [Satan] must be released for a little while…Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:3-10).
This passage shows that the millennium ends at the second coming, when fire comes down from heaven and destroys God’s enemies. The apostle Paul used this very same fiery imagery to describe the second coming when he said that Jesus would come “in flaming fire…taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:8-9).
So the millennium ends at the second coming. And when did Jesus say his second coming would happen? In his generation:
“Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death [die] till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:28; see also Matt. 10:23 and 24:30-34).
So Jesus said the second coming would happen with his generation. In fact, by approximately AD 65, Jesus said (through an angel):
“Behold, I am coming quickly!…Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand” (Rev. 22:7, 10).
By this time—AD 65—the second coming was about to happen.
And sure enough, by about AD 70, Jesus had come in judgment against the wicked religious establishment of that day[1]—which was a type/shadow of Satan (see Rev. 2:9-10, John 8:44, 1 Thess. 2:16-18, 1 John 2:22). And when the wicked religious establishment of that day was judged, so was Satan!
This timing for the destruction of Satan also fits well with Paul saying in around AD 58, “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20). Revelation confirms this timing, too, by saying in around AD 65 that the Devil’s time was “short” (Rev. 12:12).
So Satan was destroyed in AD 70. And Satan is destroyed at the end of the millennium (see Rev. 20:1-3 above). Therefore, the millennium ended in AD 70. For more information about the crushing of Satan, please see my article “The Crushing of Satan…in AD 70.”
How could Satan have been destroyed in AD 70 when there is so much evil in the world?
First, we don’t need Satan for there to be evil. The prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Likewise, James said people are tempted when they are drawn away by their own desires, which leads to sin (James 1:14–15). People are quite capable of evil all by themselves. We don’t need Satan for this.
Second, Revelation said there would still be evil after the destruction of Satan, even in the new heaven and earth.
Revelation 20 describes Satan being cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). Then chapter 21 describes the arrival of the “new heaven and earth” (Rev. 21:1-3). And then chapter 22 says:
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city [the New Jerusalem]. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev. 22:14–15).
So Revelation said there would still be evil after Satan is destroyed, even in the new heaven and earth…outside of the city (New Jerusalem/the church). For more information about the identity of the New Jerusalem, please see my article “The New Jerusalem.”
Third, as theologian Dr. Don Preston has pointed out, Satan’s demise in AD 70 did not mean his influence suddenly ended, any more than Hitler’s death meant his influence suddenly ended. Hitler died decades ago, yet his influence is still felt around the world. People still call themselves Nazis, draw swastikas, and hate Jews–even though Hitler died long ago. Yet Hitler was just an ordinary man. How much more would this be the case with someone of Satan’s diabolical stature? The greater one’s significance during one’s lifetime–whether for good or bad–the more one’s influence will outlive him.
When was Satan loosed for “a little while”?
Revelation 20:3 says that after Satan is bound, he would be “loosed for a little while”…after which he would be destroyed. So if Satan was bound in AD 30 and destroyed in AD 70, then when was he loosed for “a little while”?
Response: The “little while” likely refers to the time period of intense persecution of Christians leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem during the Jewish/Roman war in AD 67–70. In fact, Peter said something very telling in the mid AD 60’s that indicates Satan had been loosed:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
Remember, Satan had been bound by Jesus back in AD 30 (see above); but by the mid AD 60s, Satan was once again on the loose…although “the devil knew his time was short” (Rev. 12:12). This fits perfectly with Satan’s demise in AD 70. For more about the destruction of Satan, see my article “The Crushing of Satan…in AD 70”
How could the “thousand years” refer to a mere forty years? Doesn’t the number “thousand” refer to really long period of time?
First, the number “thousand” is symbolic in Revelation 20, which should not be all that surprising. After all, the entire book is filled with symbolism. There’s a seven-headed beast (13:1); a lamb with seven eyes (5:6); a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet (12:1); an angel with a chain (20:1); and on and on. Given all the symbolism in Revelation, we should not be surprised that the “thousand years” would be symbolic too.
Second, the Bible repeatedly uses “thousand” to refer to short periods of time. For example, Peter says: “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8).
Likewise, the writer of Psalms says: “For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night” (Ps. 90:3-4). Note: A “watch in the night” equates to three hours!
So if a “thousand years” can refer to a day–or even three hours–would it really be all that surprising that it would refer to forty years (in Revelation)?
Third, many ancient rabbis believed the millennium would last exactly forty years.
“Older traditions concerning the days of Messiah fix a very short interval for the interim period [the millennium], namely forty years…Similarly, the Qumran materials indicate such a period, as, for instance, the Damascus Document [which says]: ‘from the day of the gathering in of the unique teacher, until the destruction of all the men of war who turned back with the man of lies, there shall be about forty years’ (CD xx, 14–15), and a Commentary on Ps. 37:10 [says]: ‘I will stare at his place and he will no longer be there. Its interpretation concerns all the evil at the end of the forty years, for they shall be devoured and upon the earth no wicked person will be found.’”[2]
Notable amillennialist G. K. Beale confirms in his commentary on Revelation that early Jews believed the millennium would last exactly forty years. In fact, Beale, himself, acknowledges that the millennium can be symbolic of a short period of time.
Fourth, Preston cites sources showing that the ancient Hebrews often used extremely large numbers, such as a thousand, to describe short periods of great significance. The large numbers magnified the short time period’s importance.[3] For example, the book of Genesis says Adam lived to 930 (Gen. 5:5), Seth lived 912 years (Gen. 5:8), and Methuselah lived to 969 (Gen. 5:27). See more about this below.
Fifth, the number “thousand” represents completion; and Jesus completed the restoration of man’s relationship with God during the forty-year period between his earthly ministry in AD 30 and his second coming in AD 70. Jesus sacrificed himself for sin at his first coming, and he complete the salvation process at his second coming:
“But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself [at his first coming in AD 33]…To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation [in AD 70]” (Heb. 9:26-28).
It’s also interesting that none of the patriarchs in the Old Testament lived to age 1000 (see point 4 above). Why not? Because the number thousand represents perfection, forgiveness of sins, and the presence of God. Yet the old covenant system, with its animal sacrifices, could not restore man’s broken relationship with God (Heb. 10:4; 2 Cor. 3:7). If it could, then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. Animal sacrifices were merely types and shadows that pointed forward to Jesus’s sacrifice/atonement, which could take away sin and restore man’s relationship with God (Heb. 9:26–28). Therefore, nobody prior to Jesus lived to 1000. However, after Jesus completed the atonement, people finally made it to 1000 (figuratively): “And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4). Man finally made it back into God’s presence because their sins have been forgiven.[4]
For more information about the topics discussed in this article, please see my book The End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled, available NOW on Amazon!
By Alex Polyak, director of The Bible Fulfilled, 2/2/26.
[1] The Jewish establishment in Jesus’ day pushed for his crucifixion (Luke 23:21) and persecuted his disciples and prophets of God (Matt. 21:33–45, 22:1–14, 23:31–36).
[2] Dr. Randall E. Otto, Case Dismissed: Rebutting Charges Against Preterism, pg. 63.
[3] Dr. Don Preston, “A Response to Sam Frost and Jeremiah Nortier on the Coming of the Lord,” Sept. 4, 2022, YouTube, 49:57, viewed Nov. 23, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW2M9hLWAmg.
[4] Timothy P. Martin and Jeffrey L. Vaughn, Beyond Creation Science, 2nd ed., Pg. 414.
