Monday, November 3, 2014
Revelation 3:11 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."
MILLENNIAL MYTH BUSTERS: MYTH 1: THE LITERAL 1,000 YEAR REIGN
It's common for Christians to focus on Judgment Day as the end of the church year approaches. This is precisely our area of focus this week. To guide our study we examine a very popular teaching about the end of this present world: Millennialism.
Millennialism, also called Chiliasm, is so named because it focuses on selected verses of Revelation 20 which speak of a thousand year reign by Christ and His Church. Many teachings about the Millennium are a result of interpreting Revelation 20 in a strictly literal way.
While Scripture is most often understood in a literal way, there are also many portions which are symbolic. Using the rest of Scripture to shed light on this particular chapter exposes many of the Millennial teachings about the end times for what they are -- myths. God-willing, this study will provide a better understanding of what His true, revealed message is for the final day.
The first doctrine at the core of Millennialism is the literal, thousand year time period. How should we understand this thousand year reign? Are there indicators in Scripture that tell us whether it is in fact literal or figurative?
To begin, it's interesting that Revelation 20 is the only chapter in the Bible that speaks of this thousand year reign. Therefore, it's the only chapter that Millennialists can use to support the idea of a literal thousand year reign by Christ on earth.
That's not very good support, especially given the figurative nature of the book of Revelation as a whole, and what the rest of the Bible says about the end times and Christ's kingdom.
When looking at the rest of Scripture, what we do see is that the number ten, and multiples of ten, are often used in figurative ways to express completeness. For example, the Old Testament practice of tithing mandated that people give 10% of their income, a figure which represented thanksgiving for the entirety of God's gifts. Another example of completeness expressed by the numerical figure of ten is the Ten Commandments, which serve as a complete summary of God's law.
When understood correctly as a figurative time period, the thousand year reign represents the complete reign of Christ's Church here on earth -- through the victorious proclamation of the Gospel.
When Christ died and rose again, He fulfilled the long-awaited prophecy of a Savior that would bind Satan in defeat. While Christians eagerly await Christ's eternal reign in glory, we have confidence now that the work of salvation is complete in Christ and so already now by faith we reign with Him.
