Revelation 20:1-10
Introduction:
1. The premillennial views we have been addressing regarding Israel and Palestine stem from the interpretation of Revelation 20:1-10.
2. With an end of time view of Revelation, the premillennialist contends that this passage addresses the second coming of Christ.
3. We will see this view simply does not fit the context of Revelation.
Discussion:
I. The General Context of the Book
A. Time stamps in the book indicate it was written concerning things:
1. Which must shortly come to pass (1:1; 22:6).
2. The time of which was near in the first century (1:3; 22:10).
3. That the original readers were about to suffer (2:10).
4. John was not to seal up the book because the time was near, but Daniel was to seal up his book (22:10; cf. Daniel 8:26; 12:4, 9).
5. All this indicates that the book was not addressing a time thousands of years after the time of the original recipients.
B. The crisis addressed in the book:
1. Would impact the seven churches in Asia Minor (1:4, 9-11; 2:1-3:22).
2. Pertained to Satan persecuting the faithful in Christ (12:7-17).
3. Is carried out by the agency of two beasts and a prostitute representing a specific world power (Ch. 13, 17).
4. Several context clues help identify this world power:
a. The key to identifying this power is cross-referencing Daniel 7.
b. Daniel saw four beasts representing four kingdoms, the fourth of which is of special significance (7:17-28).
c. Conservative scholarship agrees that Daniel’s fourth beast is Rome, and John is seeing the same beast in Revelation 13, 17.
d. Furthermore, the prostitute is identified as “…that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18).
e. She is said to sit on seven mountains, a reality of Rome so well-known that coins of the time depict the goddess Roma sitting on the seven mountains (17:9).
f. Both visions emphasize the kings of Rome with special interest in one of these kings (Daniel 7:8, 20-25; Revelation 13:3; 17:9-11).
g. A close examination of all these elements best lends itself to the primary antagonist being Domitian, and the specific crisis being the imperial cult demanding his subjects worship him and Roma.
II. The Specific Context of Revelation 20
A. Chapters 4-19 describe the Lord leading His saints to victory over this seemingly insurmountable foe in repeated cycles.
B. The thrust of the book is that despite the public narrative about the goddess Roma and the “divine emperor” Jesus is the true King of kings.
C. Chapter 20 describes the total defeat of Satan in his deceiving the nations by the false narrative of the imperial cult, specifically through Domitian.
D. There is nothing in the context of the book to suggest that the issue at hand in Revelation 20 suddenly leaps thousands of years into the future.
E. The image of the 1000 years is not so much concerned with length of time as it is the totality of Satan’s defeat and the saints’ victory in Jesus.
III. Things Not Mentioned in Revelation 20
A. The entire premillennial system rests on this passage.
B. However, not one of its key elements is mentioned in the text.
C. Here are several pillars of the system not named in Revelation 20:
1. The second coming of Christ; their system in fact demands a third.
2. The general resurrection (John 5:28-29; 6:39-40; Acts 17:30-31).
3. A reign of Christ on earth.
4. The throne of David in Jerusalem.
5. Earthly Jerusalem.
6. The conversion of the Jews.
7. The church on earth (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
D. In short, everything the premillennialists claim to derive out of Revelation 20 must in fact be read into the text.
Conclusion:
1. So much more could be said here, but we have seen enough from the context to recognize that Revelation does not uphold the premillennial view.
2. Any system of belief based on a text which does not name a single tenet of said system must be rejected as untrue.
3. The thrust of the entire book is that no matter what things look like on the surface, Christ and His people will emerge victorious.
4. Therefore, we must be faithful no matter what, and He will give us the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).