What Is Amillennialism?

What is an a millenial view or what is amillennialism or a millenialism?

The Millennium

Millennium simply means one thousand and thus means a one thousand year period of time is a millennium. The Millennium is the one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth and Revelation 20 is where most millennists might turn to where the Apostle John writes “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Rev 20:1-2). John also “saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev 20:4). John’s not finished though as he gives the final piece of the puzzle by writing that “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” (Rev 20:5-6).

After the Millennium

John continues to writes about the conclusion of the so-called Millennium, which simply means one thousand or a millennia and many hold that this means the one thousand year reign of Christ, and so “when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison” (Rev 20:7a) and he will deceive the nations into gathering together to fight Christ (Rev 20:7b-9a) and they “surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:7b-9a). That is when the Great White Throne Judgment occurs (Rev 20:11) and when the Apostle John “saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done” (Rev 20:12-13). Tragically, if their “name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15).

What is Amillennialism (or a millennialism)?

Just read the first paragraph and it is just the opposite of the millennium view. The “a” in front of the word “millennialism” means “no” so it’s like reading is this way; “No millennium.” An example of this “a” in a millennialism (sometimes called “a millennialism”) is someone’s that not typical and that makes them atypical so someone who’s an amillennialist or believes in amillennialism or a millenialism does not believe in a literal one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. They see it as a figurative amount of time. They might even quote Peter’s text (and out of context) and say “do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2nd Pet 3:8) but Peter is writing about the coming Day of the Lord, not the millennium. They might believe in the premillennialism view which says that Jesus will come before the millennium. It’s not that amillenists don’t believe in a literal reign of Christ on earth, they just see the one thousand year figure as language describing a long period of time so they don’t think it’s exactly one thousand years.

King David’s Return

King David knew that he would be in a future, earthly kingdom and reign again on the earth. Psalm 132:11 says “The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.” God spoke to Nathan the Prophet to tell David that God “shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2nd Sam 7:13) and “house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2nd Sam 7:16). David will reign again with, but under Christ, and with the other saints in the coming kingdom to come that arrives with the King of that kingdom.

Conclusion

As I have written before, I am a panmillennist; it will all pan out in time. I am not that highly concerned over that. What I am most concerned about is telling people of Christ’s second coming, before He comes back. He is coming to judge all who in their lifetime, have refused to repent and trust in Him. For the believers, He comes so that we might reign with Him forever. The Apostle John warns all unrepentant sinners, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Rev 1:7).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.