The 1000 Years of Revelation 20:1-6

For this paper I am boiling the redemptive trend hermeneutic down to two components. First is the concept of momentum – asking if an interpretation or application of the passage continues in the spirit of previous Scripture. For example, Webb argues that both testaments “make significant modifications to the institution of slavery relative to their broader cultures” (74), therefore reading a passage such as Titus 2:9, “tell slaves to be submissive,” as pro-slavery would be a contradiction of what had previously been accomplished within God’s people. Second is the concept of now and then (with a shout out to The Blue Parakeet), where the redemptive thrust, projected by the Bible, along with general cultural ebbs and flows, may have changed our contemporary world so much that components of the original text have become confusing, dated, or perhaps even irrelevant.

According to this view, the events in Revelation are not tied to any specific events historically or in future. It reduces John’s prophesies to a one simple ‘big picture’ idea about the continuing struggle between good and evil (Gundry, 2012). Though there is some truth to this summary, the idealistic approach is heading towards the mindset that Boxall warned his readers about. The idealistic view seems to emphasize the analogy aspect of Revelation, as if it was only written to hold devotional value. This approach would be good to use to gain a simple understanding of the overall theme of Revelation, but should not be the sole perspective used to interpret the book.

While banished to the island of Patmos John received an apocalyptic visions from an angle of God. In this vision he was told by Jesus to “write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things” (Revelation1:19).

Comparing and contrasting different written works is a key aspect to discovering truths about the Christian Bible. When we compare and contrast canonical books, we can learn many things about the theology and context in which these books were written. Today, we will be comparing two books from the New Testament: Hebrews and Revelation. While Hebrews is often referred to as an epistle, it is actually more similar to a sermon. Revelation is a book that describes a supposed “vision” from the author John. John wrote this vision down on the instruction of a heavenly figure. While we compare these books, we will specifically focus on their relation to Judaism and their positions on Judaism. We will examine three major difference and/or similarities: Their views on the relevance of Jewish History, the superiority of Christ, and, the Second coming of the Messiah.

In chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation, we see Christ enter John’s vision in the form of the slain lamb, a picture of Christ sacrifice (Rev 5:6). In the ‘new song’ of the saints, the lamb is said to have “ransom[ed] for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation’ (5:9) and, later in the chapter, that “…every creature in heaven and on earth…” now sings praise to the lamb (5:13). These verses speak of God’s victory already having been fulfilled in Christ’s sacrifice in a way that leaves the reader with a vision of the eschatological hope of the Christian faith as being both fulfilled, but yet to be completed, a conception which falls within an inaugurated understanding of eschatology. As such, the ‘end of the world’ in Revelation can be considered as having already occurred in Christ’s death as evil was defeated and the New Creation initiated, while simultaneously not complete as the forces of Satan; the beast, the false prophet, and the harlot, still function in the cosmology of the First Creation. This understanding of the eschatological reality is an important aspect of John’s text, as it is through this that he is able to identify the dangers to the Church as well as encourage and strengthen its faith.

In the early sixteenth century, scholars were studying the millennial expectations of the ancient worlds that had become such a radical component for the central institutions of Christendom. Advocates of this new millennial belief appeared after the completion of the New Testament. They argued diverse assumptions of this revolution, but found common roots in Revelation 20:1-10, which states that those who died for defending Jesus would sit at God’s right-hand with the power to judge and Satan would be released from his prison and thrown into a fiery lake of burning sulfur where he would be tormented.

The purpose of this paper is to research and analyze the preterist and futurist views of interpreting the Book of Revelation and determine which view provides the most accurate Biblical interpretation. As Richard L. Mayhue states, the "word 'preterist' comes from the Latin term praeteritus which basically means 'past' in regard to time." A preterist interpretation of the Book of Revelation, therefore, asserts that incidents described therein have already come to pass. A futurist interpretation, on the other hand, suggests the opposite namely, that Revelation is a prophecy of things to come.

If one is able to reach this conclusion that history is repeating itself in a chronological manner based on the overwhelming similarities between ancient and modern historical occurrences, then preparing for the next occurrence could not be more crucial. The next occurrence is the foremost reason why historical prophecies in Ezekiel should be utilized as a tool to educate people on how to approach and possibly solve current problems.

2007. The Rapture Exposed : The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation. New York, US: Basic Books. Accessed February 28, 2017. ProQuest ebrary. 20

On one hand, some believe that the Book of Revelation was the message from Jesus Christ’s which was sent directly to Christians of the first century to comfort them in a time of conflict and struggle. On the other hand, some comprehend the book of Revelation in another way—They argue that the Revelation was not written only for Christians in first century, and the original purpose was not to console their pain. It’s also important to explore these different approaches to interpret the Revelation. The first kind of view which I hold is called the Preterist view. And the other view which considers Revelation to be fulfilled in past history is called the Historicist view. Historicists would “see Revelation as predicting the major movements of Christian history, most of them have been fulfilled up to the time of the commentator.” According to this description, the historicist interpreters regard the purpose of the Book of Revelation as predicting a part of the future (which in this case means after the1st century). Different commentators in different time interpreted the Book of Revelation in different ways, but all of them only considered the history before the time when they studied it. But if Jesus Christ was to show the future, why did he just show a part of it rather than the whole Christian history? To answer this question, a new school called the futurist view emerged. “The futurist view

During my research into the viewpoints concerning the book of Revelation, I have come away with the knowledge that while there are a variety of differing views with various degrees of merit knowing which is correct is highly improbable. And that the pursuit of greater understanding continues to strengthen my faith and walk as I strive to continue to grow not only from this course but in life. It is through that desire that one can approach with an open mind and spirit the differing views presented concerning Revelation. The four primary viewpoints currently presented are Preterist, Historicist, Futurist, and Idealist/Spiritualist. According to Dr. Zukeran:

Historical context and biblical allusions are crucial to the interpretation of the Book of Revelation as seventy percent of the content found in the Book of Revelation is a parallel to the

As Lewis Chafer notes, continuity in the Bible is best shown through the fulfillment of prophecy (164). Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. And the Second Coming of Christ is the expected fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies. In both cases, and throughout the Old and the New Testaments, "highways of prophecy" are directed towards Advents of Christ.

To start this off, I don’t know much about the New Testament but I can name a few specifics. For instance, the first four books of the New Testament are all the same story just different perspectives. I know that the book of Revelation is a story of the end of times, written by John. However, Jesus was speaking through John, as he wrote the book. I know that Jesus was born of a virgin, named Mary. Jesus, before his time, had performed his first miracle of turning water into wine. By the age of thirteen, John the Baptist had baptized him. From that moment on, Jesus was now the man he was called to be, our Savior. I know that Jesus traveled through the Middle East, to more place than we know, performing miracles, such as, healing a leper, making

Hoekema is the author of the final chapter of this book. It is devoted to four specific topics that relate to amillennialism. First, he focused on interpreting the book of Revelation to show "the background for the amillennial view of the millennium." Then, Hoekema discussed his interpretation of Revelation 20:1-6 and also "two OT passages commonly viewed as predicting an earthly millennial kingdom." A brief sketch of amillennial eschatology followed. The "sketch cover[ed] two areas: first, what amillennial eschatology teaches with regard to [four topics relating to] inaugurated eschatology, and, second, what it teaches with reference to [seven subjects relating to] future eschatology." This chapter ends with four implications of amillennial eschatology for the theological understanding of Christians.