The Views 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. But after these things he 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. 20:1-3, 7-10).
The millennium refers to the thousand-year period talked about in this passage. There are three main futurist viewpoints regarding this time period, and one main preterist viewpoint. Note: A “futurist” is someone who believes the Second Coming is a still-future event; and a “preterist” is someone who believes the Second Coming is a past event (see more about this below).
The three main futurist views of the millennium are views called: Premillennialist, Postmillennialist, and Amillennialist. Note: There are also some variations within each of these views, but to keep things simple, I will not discuss those here.
Premillennialists (see yellow illustration below) believe the millennium begins after the Second Coming and lasts for a literal thousand years. Note: Some premillennialists take a more figurative view of the thousand years and simply believe it refers to a long time period.
Postmillennialists (see red illustration below) say the millennium happens before the Second Coming. Like premillennialists, most post-millennialists take the millennium to be literal thousand years.
Amillennialists (see blue illustration below) believe the millennium refers to the time period between Jesus’s First Coming (in AD 30) and his Second Coming (which is still future). Amillennialists believe the “thousand years” is symbolic for a long period of time–so far two thousand years and counting.
Besides the three major futurist views of the millennium, there is also the preterist view.
Preterists (see green illustration below) agree with amillennialists that the millennium is a symbolic time period. And preterists also agree with amillennialists that the millennium refers to the time period between Jesus’ First and Second Comings.* However, preterists believe the Second Coming happened in AD 70, based on passages such as Matthew 16:28, in which Jesus said to his disciples: “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death [die] until they see the Son of Man coming” (see also Matthew 10:23, 24:30-34, 26:64 and Revelation 22:7). So preterists believe the millennium lasted approximately forty years, from AD 30 to AD 70.
*Note: There are some variations within the preterist view, which are beyond the scope of this article.
Which view does the Bible Teach?
Regarding the beginning of the millennium…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).
Satan is bound at the beginning of the millennium. Moreover, Jesus implied he had bound Satan during his earthly ministry in AD 30. For example, after casting out a demon, Jesus said he had bound the strongman (the devil): “How can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man?” (Matt. 12:24–30, italics mine). The casting out of demons was the proof, or sign, that Satan had been bound. Jesus also gave this power to bind Satan to his apostles: “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matt 18:18).
Since Satan was bound during Jesus’s earthly ministry in AD 30, this is when the millennium must have begun, per Revelation 20:1–3. This fits both the amillennialist and preterist views of the millennium. The other two views–premillennialist and postmillennialist–are already out of the running!
Possible objection: How could Satan have been bound at Jesus’ earthly ministry when there is so much evil in the world?
Response: 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, italics mine). People are quite capable of evil all by themselves. We don’t need Satan for there to be evil.
Moreover, 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, aka: the New Covenant message, had to get firmly established outside the borders of Judea before the judgment of Jerusalem/Judea hit in AD 70. This is what the great commission was all about. And this task was achieved. 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” or empire (between AD 30 and AD 70) is because Satan had been bound.
When does the millennium end?
The question then becomes, When does the millennium end? Let’s look again at Revelation 20. After describing the binding of Satan, Revelation goes on to say the Devil would be released for “a little while,” after which God would send fire from heaven and cast him into the lake of fire:
“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).
As the passage shows, the millennium ends with God destroying the devil with fire. Both amillennialists and preterists agree that this happens at the Second Coming. In fact, the apostle Paul said in approximately AD 50 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). This is describing the Second Coming.
And when did Jesus himself say his Second Coming would happen? We don’t to speculate about this because Jesus repeatedly said during his ministry in AD 30 that he would come again within the first century. For example, Jesus told his first-century disciples: “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). At another time, Jesus told his apostles they would not finish preaching throughout the cities of Israel–a country about the size of New Jersey–until the Son of Man comes (Matt. 10:23). At another time, Jesus told his disciples he would “come on clouds” within a generation (Matt. 24:30-34). Note: The Bible defines a generation as forty years (see Heb. 3:8–10, Num. 14:30–34, Neh. 9:21), so the Second Coming must have happened by around AD 70.
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). In other words, the Second Coming was about to happen! (See my article “The Dating of Revelation” for more about the dating issues surrounding Revelation.)
And, just a few years later, in AD 70, Jesus came in judgment against the wicked religious establishment of that day, which Jesus and the apostles linked with Satan (Rev. 2:9-10, John 8:44, 1 Thess. 2:16-18, 1 John 2:22). The first-century historian Josephus confirms that Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70. He said 1.1 million Jews were killed, and another 97,000 were taken into slavery. Jesus came in flaming fire (in judgment), just like Revelation 20 said would happen.
In other words, this is when the millennium ended.
Various Objections to the Millennium Ending in AD 70
Objection #1: How could Satan have been destroyed when there is so much evil in the world?
First, as mentioned above, we don’t need Satan for there to be evil. The Bible says people are prone to evil all by themselves (see Jer. 17:9 and James 1:14-15).
Second, Revelation itself teaches there would still be evil even after the destruction of Satan. After describing the destruction of Satan (20:10) and the arrival of the new heaven and earth (21:1), Revelation goes on to say: “Blessed are those who do His [God’s] commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city [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, italics mine). Keep in mind, this is after the Second Coming, in the New Heaven and Earth. And there are still sinners and evil…outside the New Jerusalem. Note: The New Jerusalem refers to the church (Heb. 12:22-23). For more about the identification of the New Jerusalem, see my article “The End of the Age.”
Third, Isaiah also confirms there would still be sin in the new heaven and earth (which comes after the Second Coming): “For behold, I [God] create new heavens and a new earth…For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed” (Isa. 65:17, 20).
Fourth, as theologian Don Preston mentioned in one of his debates with a futurist, 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 one.
Objection #2: Jesus didn’t come in flaming fire in AD 70
Some commentators say this flaming fire judgment literally happened when the Romans burned down Jerusalem and the temple during their siege of Jerusalem in AD 67-70. In fact, Josephus describes this fiery event in stunning detail in his historical accounts. For more about this topic, see my article “Prophecy Fulfilled.”
Personally, though, I think this fiery language was intended more figuratively. After all, God the Father had come in flaming fire many times in Old Testament times. For example, the Lord came in a “flame of a devouring fire” when he judged Assyria in approximately 700 BC (Isa. 30:30). God the Father also came in flaming fire against Israel in 586 BC (Zeph. 1:18). And God also came in flaming fire against Davids enemies in 1000 BC (Ps. 18:8). This is typical judgment language; and it’s no different in Jesus’ case in the New Testament. Jesus came in flaming fire–in judgment–in AD 70.
Objection 3: How could a “thousand years” refer to a mere forty years? Doesn’t the number “thousand” refer to really long period of time?
First, that the number “thousand” would be meant symbolically in Revelation 20 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!
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.'”–Dr. Randall E. Otto, Case Dismissed: Rebutting Charges Against Preterism, pg. 63.[1]
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, Dr. Don 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.[2] For example, Genesis says Adam lived to 930 (Gen. 5:5), Seth lived 912 years (Gen. 5:8), and Methuselah lived to 969 (Gen. 5:27).
Fifth, the number 1000 represents completion; and Jesus completed the restoration of mankind’s relationship with God during the forty-year period between his 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 [at his Second Coming in AD 70]” (Heb. 9:26-28).
It’s interesting that none of the patriarchs in the Old Testament lived to age 1000. Why not? Because the number thousand represents perfection, forgiveness of sins, and the presence of God. The Old Covenant system (and prior) 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 a “thousand years.” However, after Jesus completed the atonement, people finally made it to 1,000 (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.[3]
Aside: 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”…until he was finally dealt with by God. 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 Jewish-Roman War of AD 67–70. In fact, Peter said something very telling in the mid/late AD 60s, which 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.” Remember, Satan had been bound by Jesus back in AD 30 (see above); but by the AD 60s Satan was once again on the loose…although “the devil knew his time was short” (12:12). In fact, Paul said in around AD 58 that Satan would be “crushed shortly” (Rom. 16:20). These time statements all fit perfectly with Satan’s demise in AD 70. For more about the destruction of Satan, see my article “The Crushing of Satan.”
For an in-depth discussion of the issues described in this article, see my book End Is Here: How the New Testament’s Prophecies Were Fulfilled, which will be available for purchase Summer 2024.
By Alex Polyak, Director of The Bible Fulfilled, 7/27/24
[1] Brian Martin, Behind the Veil of Moses, 359.
[2] Michael Sullivan, “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.
[3] Timothy P. Martin and Jeffrey L. Vaughn, Beyond Creation Science, 2nd ed., 414.
