14. Revelation 20 - When does the 1000 Year Reign of Christ take place? Is it Literal or Symbollic?

Your view of the Millennium affects much of how you see the bulk of NT & OT prophesies.
i) Millennium
(1) Rev 20 is only place in bible that speaks of this 1000 year reign of the saints with Christ.
(2) Millle = 1000, Annus= year

b) Outline of Chapter
i) Vs 1-3 describes binding of Satan
ii) Vs 4-6 1000 year period during Satan's binding which saints reign with Christ
iii) Vs 7-9 describes the releasing of Satan for a little while to deceive nations
iv) Vs 9-end, describes Satan and enemies of God being devoured by fire and then a general
judgment of the dead.

c) Millennial views
i) This chapter doesn't correspond to the 5 different views of the book (futurism, preterism, etc)
(1) 3 classic views of the Millennium is a separate issue for the most part. (a) Pre-millennial view (i) Christ returns before the literal 1000 years. (ii) Dispensational camp 1. Most popular today. (iii) Historic camp (non-dispensational) 1. Many church fathers held this view.

(b) Post-millennial (i) Millennium comes first, then 2nd coming (ii) Binding of Satan takes place through efforts of the church 1. Evangelism. 2. Done by Christ, through church (His body) (iii) Jesus Christ will conquer world through preaching of gospel 1. Majority (or all) the world will become Christianized. a. Real Christians, not just professing. 2. No war
(iv) When Jesus returns, it's to a subdued world.
(v) Sub-group of Post-millers called Reconstructionists. 1. some call it "dominion theology". 2. Believe society must be reconstructed according to the laws of Moses. a. Including penalties. 3. Not all Post-millers believe this view.

(c) A-millennial view
(i) Means "no Millennium" (literally speaking) 1. Doesn't negate Rev 20
(ii) Christ returns at end of 1000 years (but 1000 years is figurative for church age) 1. 1000 years is symbolic for an extended period of time.
(iii) Binding of Satan took place at the cross.
(iv) Little season at the end is short period of time at the end where the church is persecuted globally. 1. some even see this time period as the great tribulation with anti-Christ and everything else.
(v) Fire from heaven is 2nd coming of Christ followed by the judgment. (d) Each of the 3 views has very impressive scholars in their camp.
(i) Pre-mil 1. George Eldon Ladd
(ii) Post-mil 1. Benjamin B. Warfield 2. Jonathan Edwards 3. Many others since the reformation.
(iii) A-mil

d) Hermeneutics of each view
(1) Pre-mil tends to take things more literally.
(a) Israel in OT is always literal nation of Israel.
(b) 1000 years is 1000 years.
(c) Satan bound is literal binding.
(2) Post-mil and A-mil recognize symbolic language of prophets. (a) Typically see many references to Israel as speaking of the church. (i) NT writers quote many passages and apply them to church.
(b) Both agree that 2nd coming is at end of Millennium.
(c) Binding of Satan is seen as figurative.
(d) Revelation must be interpreted rather than taken at face value.

(3) Question is not "what do we prefer", but "what help do we get from the rest of scripture"?

You may follow along the lecture with these notes, startin on PAGE 121: http://www.digitalministries.us/steve_gregg/text/crombie_revelation.pdf
Steve goes through all the major views on Revelation, explaining the pros and cons of each camp.

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This is the 14th video in a 15 part verse by verse series on Revelation. I will be uploading the remainder soon.

In the meantime, you can listen to free MP3s of the series at http://thenarrowpath.com/verse_by_verse.html#rev
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Steve Gregg's book on Revelation
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Revelation - Four Views A Parallel Commentary by Steve Gregg
Order it here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0840721285/christiantalkrad/002-712867...

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Steve hosts 2 daily Bible Q & A radio programs called "The Narrow Path." Click this link to seen when and how you can listen or call in: http://thenarrowpath.com/index.html

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