22. What is Amillennialism?

“Amillennialism” comes from a term that means, literally, “no thousand years”. Thus, it is essentially a way of interpreting Revelation 20, which six times mentions a period of a thousand years, during which Satan is bound and believers reign with Christ. Amillennialists believe that there will be no future thousand-year period of time when the Kingdom of God will be visibly flourishing in the world, and the whole earth will be fruitful and at peace. Instead, Revelation 20 is one of a series of visions, each of which describes the entire period of time between Christ’s first and second comings in a different manner. The millennial Kingdom is taking place now, for Satan has been bound by Christ’s work on the cross, so that he can no longer hold all the nations in deception; and believers, who seem to be persecuted and afflicted, are really reigning with Christ, and causing his Kingdom, which does not now come visibly, to spread to every corner of the earth. There is a difference of opinion in amillennial interpretation over whether those who reign with Christ are believers who are still alive, or those who have died in the Lord, and are now in his presence.

Some amillennialists object to the term “amillennialism,” because they do not properly believe that there is no millenium, they just believe that the millennium spoken of in Revelation 20 is taking place now, and thus there will be no future golden age of the Kingdom, prior to Christ’s coming and ushering in the eternal state.

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