What is the Millennium? (Revelation 20 Explained)

0:00 Cold Open: Total Depravity on Display
0:39 Intro: The Straight Truth Podcast
1:19 Defining Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism
2:47 Why We Hold to Premillennialism: The Literal Hermeneutic
7:11 The First Resurrection: Who Enters the Kingdom?
8:24 The Second Resurrection and Great White Throne Judgment
9:11 Mortals, Long Lifespans, and Repopulating the Earth
14:14 Why Sin and Rebellion Occur During the Millennium
17:14 Why a Literal 1,000 Years? God’s Glory and Promises
18:35 The Future Restoration of Ethnic Israel
24:12 Critique: The Problems with Postmillennialism
27:16 Is Satan Currently Bound?
29:17 The Ultimate Purpose of the Book of Revelation

Related Sermons:
The Binding of Satan: https://youtu.be/ZtqhTT4RxvA
The Millennial Kingdom: https://youtu.be/Vppqb9N_Riw
The Last Judgment: https://youtu.be/RMRVZ7GS5pc
Paul's Burdens & Ours: https://youtu.be/qc2qpIohUu0
The True Israel: https://youtu.be/gYVfbQnghSI
God's People Not Rejected: https://youtu.be/CMHtxe4Izbg
The Salvation of All Israel: https://youtu.be/DMW1xQrYu1c
Thinking Rightly About Israel: https://youtu.be/R0usYGR0nM8

Revelation 20 speaks of a 1000-year reign of Christ, often referred to as the millennial reign of Christ or the Millennial Kingdom. What is this millennial kingdom and what is its purpose? Is there a literal one thousand years where Jesus rules on earth, or is the kingdom spiritual in nature, occurring right now? How can we understand it? This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the challenging and often debated topic of biblical eschatology found in the book of Revelation. Specifically, they seek to have Revelation 20 explained in a way that is consistent with the rest of Scripture. How we arrive at our positions of end times eschatology, also affects how we read the Bible on a regular basis, this involves hermeneutics. While there have been disputes regarding the millennium throughout church history, Dr. Caldwell affirms that a consistent literal reading of God's Word leads to a specific conclusion.

The conversation begins by defining the major views held by evangelicals: premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. The core issue separating these views is the timing of the second coming of Christ in relation to the millennium. Amillennialism teaches there is no future literal thousand-year reign, but rather that we are in the kingdom now. Postmillennialism teaches that Christ returns after the millennium, following a widespread advance of the gospel. However, Dr. Caldwell argues for premillennialism, the view that Jesus returns before the kingdom to establish His reign on earth. He explains that this position arises from a consistent, literal hermeneutic. If one takes the Scriptures at face value, acknowledging metaphors where they are obvious but otherwise reading the text plainly, one arrives at a premillennial conclusion. This is vital because the Old Testament is filled with promises regarding a kingdom that have never been fulfilled in Israel's history. A literal reading requires these to be fulfilled in the future, just as the prophecies of Christ's first coming were fulfilled literally.

Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Philpot discuss the differences in amillennialism vs. premillennialism, noting that amillennialism requires spiritualizing texts that speak of physical realities. They also address postmillennialism, noting that the current state of the world does not reflect a golden age of increasing righteousness. Instead, the Bible predicts a time of difficulty leading up to the return of Christ. The premillennial view aligns with the biblical timeline: the church age, a literal seven-year tribulation period, the return of Christ, and then the 1000-year reign of Christ.

A key question arises: who populates this kingdom? Dr. Caldwell explains that the first resurrection occurs at the beginning of the millennium. This includes believers from all ages and those martyred during the tribulation. These saints enter the kingdom in glorified bodies. However, there are also believers who survive the tribulation in their natural bodies. They enter the kingdom, bear children, and repopulate the earth. This explains why there is still death and the need for salvation during the millennium. Even with the binding of Satan, who is cast into the abyss so he cannot deceive the nations during the 1000 years, human beings are still born in sin. The millennium powerfully demonstrates that apart from God's grace, man is totally depraved. Even in a perfect environment with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem, people still need to be born again.

Furthermore, Dr. Caldwell addresses the restoration of Israel. He affirms that God is not done with ethnic Israel. In the millennium, God fulfills His covenant promises to Abraham and David.