The word millennium comes from the Latin words mille (1000) and annus (year), and means a thousand-year period of time. The word millennium, or its Greek equivalent, does not appear anywhere in the bible, but The Revelation to John mentions a period of time lasting 1,000 years six times in Revelation 20:1–7. This 1,000-year period of time has come to be called the Millennium. This period would eventually end. Satan would be released from restraints and precipitate a great battle that would lead to the end of the world.
It is worth remembering that people in the ancient world did not always use numbers in a literal sense the way many modern people do. For the ancients numbers were also symbolic. The number 1,000 was often used as a symbol for a very large number or a very long time; in this case not necessarily 1,000 literal years.
[...] This involves a more literal interpretation of the Revelation to John, and the people holding this view expect Jesus to return before the Millennium begins, as the most obvious reading of the text predicts. Chapter 20 of The Revelation to John describes the 1,000-year period. Premillennialism says that these events chronologically follow the events in Chapter 19, when Satan is defeated and chained. Therefore, Jesus will return, Satan will be chained, and the Millennium will begin. The other two views argue that Chapter 20 goes back in time and does not chronologically follow Chapter 19 (though the language of Chapter 20 does not indicate this).[7] According to the other views, the Millennium started at the time of the sacrificial death of Jesus.[8] In early Christianity theologians like Justin and Irenaeus supported the premillennial reading of The Revelation to John. [...]
[...] As we will see, the expectation of the period we call the Millennium began in Jewish culture and was recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures that were adopted into Christianity as the Old Testament. Jewish apocalyptic writings continued into the first century when the Revelation to John was written, and first-century Jewish writers, like the writer of The Revelation to John, considered how long the Messiah would reign before the world ended. Their estimates ranged from 40 to 7,000 years. The idea that the Messiah would have a limited reign had not appeared in Old Testament texts. [...]
[...] Retrieved June from http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/Rev/millenn.htm Lings, Martin. The Eleventh Hour: The Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World in the Light of Tradition and Prophecy. Cambridge: Quinta Essentia Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. The Basis of the Premillennial Faith. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, c1953. Anthony Hunter, The Last Days (London: Anthony Blond, 1958). Millard J. Erickson, Contemporary Options in Eschatology: A Study of the Millennium (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, c1977). Martin Lings, The Eleventh Hour: The Spiritual Crisis of the Modern World [...]
[...] According to The Revelation of John twenty-four elders will rule the earth during the Millennium of peace. We see these figures first in Revelation 4:4 where they are dressed in white robes and seated on twenty-four thrones. White robes would signify purity, and this group repeatedly falls down in surrender and worship before God and Jesus (Revelation 11:16; 19:4). This contrasts with the behavior of the Beast, who sets himself in opposition to God. Humans clearly have to choose between these two options: setting up their own wills against the will of God or accepting and submitting to the will of God. [...]
[...] Conclusion From the ancient prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures to the modern utopian visions of fantasy fiction, the idea of a peaceful, abundant earth led by wise rulers and where everyone is safe and cared for has always called to the human heart. Biblical prophecies are both vague and inconsistent. Jewish prophecy still expects God to found a Jewish nation and establish Judaism as the true religion. Christians expect Christianity to be the prevailing faith, and no one agrees when this will happen or how long it will last. [...]
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