Rev. 20;

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulf illed: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Understanding The Thousand Years Language Of God.

INTRODUCTION: As a result of the conflicting interpretation of Rev. 20:1-9 by Christians, two major doctrines and then the THIRD have emerged which are ;

(1) PRE-MILLENNIALISM suggesting that the Lord will come before the one thousand years reign and

(2) POST–MILLENNIALISM indicating that the Lord will come after the Millennial reign and the THIRD, the Preterits perspective which says, it’s already a fulfilled Scripture. But what I have for you here is the Kingdom Eschatological Perspective making it the Fourth Dimension to this view and so you have the opportunity to decide for yourself what to believe.

In this series of studies therefore we intend to find out whether there are scriptural bases for these beliefs. What exactly is one thousand years? When and how is Satan bound? What is the bottomless pit? And being loosed for a little season? Etc.

Let me first take a look on the Preterits because I don’t intend to dwell so much on this view.

In the words of Dr Don K. Preston; a strong Preterists which is fulfilled Eschatology, he said;

“Millennium is important– critical. If the Millennium began in AD 70 futurism is a viable doctrine. If the Millennium ended in the first century, all futurism is falsified.” I believe Scripture is clear that the Millennium began in the Ministry and Resurrection of Jesus, and extended to just prior to AD 70.

Speaking further he said;

“In the words of Campanik’s The Millennium of Revelation 20 is symbolic of the (roughly) 40 year transition period between the Cross (30 AD) and Parousia (70 AD), when the second temple was destroyed by Rome (Titus).” Since Satan is released for a “short time” (Rev. 20:3) at the terminus of the millennial rule of the saints, I would assume this time would correspond to the three-and-half-year tribulation period during which time Titus laid siege to Jerusalem, in which case the duration of the Millennium (strictly speaking) would be from around 26-30 A.D. to 66 A.D.”

These are all Preterists point of views indication that the Millennium is come and gone, but I want to present to you the kingdom Perspective of that which I called the Millennium.

Rev. 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

Mark 3:27, “No Man Can Enter Into A Strong Man’s House And Spoil His Goods Except He Will First Bind The Strong Man, And Then He Will Spoil His House.”

The above states clearly who the strong man is, the devil and who alone must cast him out? Of course that must be Jesus. So then who will be the Angel of verse 2?

To be continued…