REVELATION · Day 13 of 21
The Millennium
1 · READ THE TEXT
Revelation 20:1-10
Revelation 20:1-10
Open in the reader →1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3And 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 fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4And 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. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed 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. 7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And 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. 9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
2 · UNDERSTAND
A thousand years with Satan bound, the faithful reigning with Christ, and then a final rebellion defeated. There are three honest historical readings: premillennialism (Christ returns first and reigns a literal thousand years), postmillennialism (the Gospel expands and Christ returns afterwards) and amillennialism (the millennium is the age of the Church, symbolic). Serious Christians have disagreed for nineteen centuries, and none of the three is heresy. What the text states without ambiguity is what matters: evil has an expiry date, it will be judged, and Christ reigns. Turning chronology into a test of faith inverts the priority of the book itself.
3 · REFLECT AND ANSWER
Read the text again and answer calmly. Your answers are kept only in this browser.
- 1.What does this text reveal about who God is?
- 2.What does it show about people — and about you?
- 3.What will you do differently today because of it?
4 · LIVE AND PRAY
Practical application
Write what you believe about the end and, beside it, what changes in your life today because of it. If nothing changes, the problem is not the doctrine.
Lesson prayer
Lord, keep me from the arrogance of thinking I have decoded everything. May I live ready rather than merely curious. Amen.
Completed: 0 of 21 lessons
The Journey is part of Premium
Get site Premium to open the 21 lessons of this plan. Day 1 stays open for you to try, and reading the Scriptures stays free.
Sign in — free account