Premillennialism

Timeline

A premillennialist, basing his or her view solely on a literal understanding of Revelation 20, has Christ returning to the earth to set up a 1,000 year Kingdom on earth. At the end of this 1,000 year reign, the nations of the world are once again deceived by Satan who is released for that purpose and come against Christ in another battle of Gog and Magog. At this point Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, all unbelieving dead are resurrected to face judgment and are also thrown into the lake of fire. After this, the New Jerusalem comes down from the (new) heavens to a new earth where believers will dwell in the eternal state forever.

 Main Arguments

  1. It is the only view that is literal with regard to interpreting Revelation 20.
  2. It allows for the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel as predicted in the Old Testament (Genesis 12:7; Amos 9:14-15).
  3. The Kingdom is pictured as replacing the kingdoms of the world, not co-existing with them (Daniel 2:44-45).
  4. The future for the Church is apostasy…not earthly triumph. Only a cataclysmic event could bring about such a glorious Kingdom on earth. (2 Thessalonians 2:3,11,12; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 4:3-4; 2 Peter 2:1-5)

 Objections

  1. The Kingdom cannot be said to be "in your midst" if it is still in the future (Luke 17:20).
  2. It brings back temple worship that was done away with at Christ's first advent (Heb. 7-8 Matt 27:51).
  3. It takes a non-literal passage (a dragon bound by a chain) in a non-chronological and symbolic book and gives it precedence over the clear teaching of the rest of Scripture (see below).
  4. It creates more than the one resurrection, "final" battle, and judgment spoken of in Scripture (John 5:28-29; Luke 20:35; Dan 12:2; Acts 24:15).
  5. In claiming to be literal, it cannot explain why only the martyrs are said to take part in the "first resurrection" (Rev. 20:4-5).
  6. The world will be destroyed when Christ returns on the Day of the Lord, there is no 1,000 year gap of time on earth in which to set up this Kingdom (2 Peter 3:10-13).