The nature of the thousand years, or millennium, in Revelation 20:1-8, is widely debated. The four views of the end times are postmillennialism, amillennialism, premillennialism, and preterism. Maybe you wonder what each view means. Hopefully, this answers that for you!

https://youtu.be/llJDdYqts0U
The four views of the end times are postmillennialism, amillennialism, premillennialism, and preterism. Learn what each view means.

Table of contentsWhat Is the Millennium?The Four Views of the End TimesPostmillennialism's View of the End Times: Christ Returns After the Millennium and Rules in Believers’ HeartsAmillennialism's View of the End Times: The Church Age Is the Millennium, and Christ Rules Through the ChurchPostmillennialism and Amillennialism Avoid Literal InterpretationsSatan Is Not ImprisonedPremillennialism's View of the End Times: Christ Returns Before the Millennium and Physically Rules on the EarthPreterismFull Preterism: Christ Returned in 70 A.D., and all Prophecy Is FulfilledJesus's Second Coming Is Physically and BodilyFull Preterism Is HeresyPartial Preterism: Christ Will Return and Some Prophecy Is FulfilledHow Preterists Arrive at Their InterpretationAre We Ready for Jesus's Second Coming?

If you have been in the church for long, you’ve heard people talk about being amill, post mill, and premill. You probably know these describe people’s eschatology or view of the end times. But maybe you wonder what each view means. Hopefully, this sermon will answer that for you!

I'm a premillennialist, but I will do my best to present the opposing views respectfully and share the names of respected people who hold each view.

What Is the Millennium?

The suffix mill in each view is short for millennium. The most explicit passage describing the millennium is in Revelation 20. Look at verse one:

Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit (or abyss) and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

The pit, or abyss, is the temporary prison for demons who sinned by possessing people in Noah’s day and throughout history. You might remember when Jesus cast the demons out of the man in the country of the Gerasenes in Luke 8:31. They begged Jesus not to cast them into the abyss. Demons are locked up here until released as part of the 5th Trumpet Judgment in Revelation 9. The abyss also ends up being the prison for the devil during the millennium.

The millennium is named from the repeated use of the phrase “thousand years” six times in verses 2 through 7.

Revelation 20:3 and threw him into the pit (or abyss), and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

The devil is imprisoned in the abyss for one thousand years and then released. As we'll see, he isn’t cast straight into hell because God has one more task for him. There’s a real emphasis on the devil deceiving the world because it’s mentioned four times in Revelation 19:20, 20:3, 8, 10. It’s interesting that of all the devil’s evils, this is the reason he’s locked up. Revelation 12:9 says he’s the deceiver of the world. He shows up on the pages of Scripture deceiving Eve, and his final actions before being cast into hell also involve deceiving people.

I’m convinced the world will be dramatically different when the devil is locked up and cannot deceive anyone. Please keep that in mind when we discuss each view.

Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.

After the millennium, the devil is released and returns to deceiving people. His 1,