The Millennium, Millennium, Millennium,Millennium

,As we come to the final two visions of John's Revelation, it is well that we review once again how the entire book is organized. We looked at that early on after examining the message John was to send to the seven churches.Then we learned that Jesus is the One worthy to open the seven seals. What follows are seven scenes or visions of these End Times. Note again the importance of symbols and the symbolical number 7.

Thus in chapters 6 - 21 seven scenes of the End Times are presented, each revealing more about what we are to expect in these last times as we await the return of our King.

1. Christ opens the Seven Seals (Rev 6:1-8:5)
2. Seven Trumpets are blown (Rev 8:6-11:19)
3. The battle between the Triune God and the Anti-Trinity (Rev. 12:1-14:20)
4. The pouring out of the Seven Bowls of Wrath (Rev 15:1-16:21)
5. Babylon, the Prostitute, is overthrown (Rev 17:1-19:21)
6. The Final Judgment (Rev 20:1-21:8)
7. The New Jerusalem, the Bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev 21:9-22:5

Epilogue: Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:6-21)

So we open chapter 20 to learn about The Final Judgment.

Michelangelo's  Downfall of Adam and Eve 

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 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. 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. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 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. - Rev 20:1-6 ESV

So here we come at last to THE MILLENNIUM, the source of so very much controversy over the years. What is it? When will it begin? Is it a reference to a literal 1,000 years? etc., etc. The Blue Letter Bible gives a quick summary of four prevailing interpretations of the thousand years. They are

1. Dispensational Pre-millennialism: tribulation, rapture, 1,000 year reign of Christ, armageddon
2. Historical Pre-millennialism: rise of the Beast, False Prophet, rapture, 1,000 yr. reign, conversion of Jews.
3. Post-millennialism: after destruction of Jerusalem, gradual conversion, all nations blessed, optimism
4. A-millennialsim: Christ reigns now, church=Israel, Kingdom of God, rapture at the end

This blog's position is that of historical Lutheranism, written from an Amillennial viewpoint. The Commission on Theology and Church Relations of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has published an extensive study of this topic with diagrams: The "End Times"A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism. Study that document in detail. In my next blog I will present a summary of the Amillennial view, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the understanding that the Revelation is a symbolical book, not to be interpreted literally on some occasions and symbolically on others.