REVELATION 20 — THE THOUSAND YEARS, SATAN'S END, AND THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
What are the main views of the millennium? Study Revelation 20 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Revelation 206 questions
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Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · REVELATION 20 — THE THOUSAND YEARS, SATAN'S END, AND THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
01
The precise difficulties
What are the main views of the millennium?
Is the thousand years literal?
What is the "first resurrection"?
Are Gog and Magog here the same as in Ezekiel 38–39?
Who is judged at the great white throne?
Why does God allow Satan to be released?
02
Verse and question study
What are the main views of the millennium?
Premillennialism holds that Christ returns before the millennium and reigns on earth for a thousand years. Amillennialism holds that the millennium is the present age or the heavenly reign of the saints and that Christ's return ends history. Postmillennialism holds that the gospel will bring about a golden age before Christ returns. This commentary holds the premillennial view, because it seems to be the most natural reading of the chapter in its sequence after chapter 19 and in agreement with the Old Testament promises, and because it was widely held in the early church. It is held with humility, and the doctrine is not a test of faith.
Is the thousand years literal?
Premillennialists generally take it as a literal period, or at least as a long period of time that is real and in the future. Others take it as a symbol of completeness. The repeated use of the number and the clear sequence of events suggest a real period. This commentary takes the reign as real and does not insist that the number is exact.
What is the "first resurrection"?
It is the resurrection of the righteous, which this commentary understands as a bodily resurrection occurring in stages, and which completes at Christ's return. The "second resurrection," of the unrighteous, occurs after the thousand years. Amillennialists interpret the first resurrection as spiritual. The same Greek verb is used for both.
Are Gog and Magog here the same as in Ezekiel 38–39?
The names are the same, but the identification is debated. Some think that Ezekiel's prophecy is fulfilled in this final battle, and others that Ezekiel describes an earlier event and that John uses the names as a symbol of nations in rebellion. The point is that the nations rebel and are destroyed.
Who is judged at the great white throne?
Unbelievers of all ages. Believers are not judged for salvation, because their names are in the book of life and they have been raised in the first resurrection, though their works are evaluated for reward at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). The unsaved are judged according to deeds, but the verdict is determined by whether their names are in the book of life.
Why does God allow Satan to be released?
The text does not say, but the result is to show the depth of human sin and the justice of final judgment. Even under perfect conditions, those who have not been born again will follow the deceiver. It also shows that the problem of sin lies in the human heart, and that regeneration is necessary.
03
Historical and literary context
Chapter 20 follows the return of Christ in chapter 19 and describes the final stages of God's plan: the millennial kingdom, the last rebellion, and the final judgment. The phrase "a thousand years" appears six times in verses 2–7, and it is the only explicit biblical reference to a thousand-year reign of Christ, though the concept of an age of messianic peace on earth is found throughout the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 2:2–4; 11:1–10; 65:17–25; Zechariah 14:9–21). The passage is the subject of one of the major debates in Christian eschatology. Premillennialists hold that Christ will return before the thousand years and establish His kingdom on earth. Amillennialists hold that the thousand years are symbolic of the present age between Christ's first and second comings, in which Christ reigns from heaven and Satan's power is limited. Postmillennialists hold that the kingdom will be established gradually through the church's work, and that Christ will return after a golden age. This commentary holds the premillennial view, with humility, and recognizes that godly interpreters have held all three views.
04
Apologetic note
The belief in a future earthly reign of Christ was widely held in the early church. Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others taught a literal millennium after the return of Christ, a view called chiliasm. Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho, called it the belief of all right-minded Christians, though he admitted that some did not share it. The view declined after Origen and especially after Augustine, who developed the amillennial interpretation that became dominant in the Western church. The Reformers generally followed Augustine, but premillennialism revived among Protestants in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The Old Testament contains many promises of a kingdom on earth in which the Messiah will rule with justice, and the Jewish expectation of an age of peace was widespread in the first century. The study of the millennium is thus a question of how best to harmonize the biblical promises. The statement that the dead are judged according to what is recorded in books also reflects a consistent biblical picture of God as just and omniscient, who knows every deed and word (Matthew 12:36; Ecclesiastes 12:14).