So, what's next? After discussing the four eschatological views and the three millennial views, there needs to be a decision. Just like buying a car or getting ice cream, there are many options, but one decision. So it is with eschatology and the millennium. There are certainly strengths and weaknesses to each view, but of these views, there has to be one that contains the strongest defense. In this post, I will be providing a brief overview of Revelation and will also narrow down which eschatological and millennial views are the strongest.

Overview of Revelation

What is Revelation? Revelation is an epistle written by John in the mid-60's or early 90's of the 1st century. The sixty-sixth and last book of the Bible, Revelation consists of twenty-two chapters and contains apocalyptic and prophetic language. Each of these chapters detail a vision given by Jesus to John while he was in exile on the remote island of Patmos. The epistle of Revelation is was written to seven churches throughout Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

John was a follower of Jesus and was one of the twelve apostles (cf. Matthew 10:2). John was the brother of James, another apostle, and the two of them were nicknamed "the Sons of Thunder" (cf. Mark 3:17). Not much is known about John, but we do know that he was close to Jesus. Not only did John have frequent access to Jesus, but he was also the disciple whom Jesus loved (cf. John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; etc.). And, during Jesus' dying on the Cross, John was tasked with taking care of Mary, Jesus' mother (cf. John 19:26-27). According to tradition, John was the last apostle to die. The other eleven were martyred for their faith; even James, John's brother, was killed by King Herod (cf. Acts 12:1-2). Yet tradition has it that John was boiled in a vat of oil but miraculously survived. As a result, he was exiled by the Roman government to Patmos. During his life, John wrote five literary works: the Gospel of John, his three epistles, and Revelation.

The first chapter of Revelation introduces the book and its purpose. The opening lines provide readers with the reason behind John's writing: "This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John, who testified to God’s word and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw" (v. 1-2). It can be seen that the book of Revelation is Jesus' revelation to John, who simply wrote down what was revealed to him. John writes to churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (v. 11).

The second and third chapters are dedicated to Jesus either exhorting or correcting the churches. Some churches, like the church in Philadelphia, receive high marks for their endurance and faithfulness to Jesus (3:7-13); other churches, like Laodicea, are corrected for their negligence toward Christ (3:14-22).

The rest of the epistle is dedicated to depicting the vision and revelation John saw. Chapter four depicts John's entrance into heaven (v. 1) and being before God's Presence (vv. 2-11). Chapter five depicts the Jesus opening the unopenable book and its seven seals. Chapter six details six of the seven seals. Chapter seven describes the 144,000 saints of God who have the seal of God on their foreheads. According to an angel, these saints "are those who came out of the great suffering" and "washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood" (v. 14). Chapter eight details the seventh seal, which causes silence in heaven (v. 1) and makes way for the next phase, the seven angels with their seven trumpets (v. 2). Four angels sound their trumpets, and natural disasters ensue. Chapter nine describes the fifth angel's trumpet, which causes locust-like creatures to come up out of the earth and torture those that do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (v. 4). The sixth angel's trumpet also causes disaster to come upon the unrepentant sinners. Chapter ten describes a mighty angel who holds a book and cries out something so powerful that John was forbidden to write it (vv. 1-4). This angel also hands John the book and tells him to eat it (vv. 5-9). The book turn out to be bittersweet and contains a prophecy for many nations (vv. 10-11). Chapter eleven introduces two prophets, who are tasked with foretelling of disaster to a wicked nation (vv. 3-6). These two are killed but come back to life three days later (vv. 7-11). Most of the wicked people are killed off by a great earthquake, and the survivors give glory to God (vv. 12-14). The seventh angel's trumpet sounds, which causes rejoicing and praise to God (vv. 15-18). Chapter twelve tells the story. In this story, there is a woman who gives birth to a Son, one who would "rule all the nations with a rod of iron" (v. 5). However, hunting this woman and her Son is a giant red dragon, who seeks to kill both the woman and her Son. God takes the Son to be with Him and provides refuge the woman. Michael and his archangels fight off the dragon (Satan) and throw him to the earth. The dragon, however, survives and continues to pursue the woman. Despite his attempts to kill the woman, the woman miraculously escapes each time. The story ends with the dragon's ongoing attempts to wage war with the woman's offspring. Chapter thirteen builds upon the previous chapter, telling the reader of two hideous beasts. The first beast rose out of the sea and possesses great authority. His authority is given by the dragon, he blasphemes God, and is generally admired by his followers. The second beast rose from the earth and is a false prophet. This beast also authority from the dragon, and he misleads God's people through signs and wonders. Those who follow this beast also follow the first beast and receive a mark for such loyalty. Chapter fourteen depicts the 144,000 learning a new song, three angels with three different messages, and a harvesting of humanity. Chapter fifteen details the victory of those who have overcome the beast and the song of the Lamb. Also, the seven angels who blew their trumpets are now given seven bowls full of God's wrath (vv. 7-8). Chapter sixteen depicts the seven angels pouring their bowls and details the natural disasters that ensue from each bowl. Chapter seventeen depicts a prostitute, who is called Babylon, and who sits on a scarlet beast. The woman is drunken with the blood of the saints (v. 16), and one of the seven angels explains to John what this woman and the beast mean, as well as the foretelling of her destruction. Chapter eighteen proclaims the news of Babylon's fall. There is also a command for God's people to come up out of Babylon (v. 4) and to rejoice over her fall (v. 20). Chapter nineteen continues the rejoicing of Babylon's fall but also transitions to the wedding supper of the Lamb. The King of kings and the Lord of lords arrives from Heaven, triumphant and ready for battle (vv. 11-16). The Beast and the False Prophet are taken and thrown into the lake of fire (vv. 17-21). Chapter twenty shows a sequence of events. First, an angel binds and puts Satan into the abyss, sealing him for a thousand years. During this thousand years, the world is free from deception and saints live their lives for God. However, after these thousand years, Satan is freed from his prison and roams the earth, deceiving the nations. Satan causes the nations Gog and Magog to surround the camp of the saints. However, fire comes down and destroys the evil forces. Satan is finally cast into the lake of fire, and the Great Judgement of the dead and the living takes place.

Chapters twenty-one and twenty-two are parts of the vision dedicated to the restoration of the world. A new heaven and a new earth is created (21:1), and there is now a union between God and His people. Evil cannot enter here, and all is made right. The Heavenly City is also detailed in all her glory (21:9-27). God is with His people, and He will be their light (22:5). The epistle ends with a declaration of who Jesus is (22:13-16) and a warning for people not to alter the message (22:19-20). The final words of this epistle and the entire Bible are: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen" (22:21).

Scriptural Sudoku

Now, in determining which eschatological and millennial views best fit the Bible, we must play Scriptural sudoku. Sudoku is a logic game that involves solving a number puzzle by ruling out any numbers that do not belong, and this is exactly what I will be doing when it comes to the end times views. As a recap, the four eschatological views are futurism, historicism, preterism, and idealism. The three millennial views are premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. In this section of the post, I will be revealing the strongest views by knocking out which views are weak, both Scripturally and logically.

Eschatological Knockouts: Futurism, Historicism, and Idealism

The first eschatological view that can be knocked out is futurism. While futurism does well with Biblical literalism and application, it fails to take into account context. For example, most futurists interpret the creatures described in Revelation 9:1-10 (the fifth trumpet) as military helicopters. And, when it comes to interpreting Revelation 13:16-17 (the famous "mark of the beast" passage), futurists believe that it is referring to a physical mark, either through a microchip, hidden meanings, or COVID health passes. Aside from its mass hysteria, the fundamental problem with futurism is that it is a circumstantial eschatology. That is, futurism relies on current events to support their interpretation of Revelation. Rather than understanding the context of a biblical passage and then extracting its meaning, futurists attempt to apply meaning to the passage first. Remember, Revelation was written to the seven churches. It is important to note that Jesus tells John -- not us -- that the events of Revelation will happen soon (cf. 1:1), in their near future. Even more so, futurism presupposes 21st-century knowledge on a 1st-century audience. Knowledge, however, is built upon different levels of understanding. To truly understand what a microchip does requires me to know what a microchip is, which then requires me to know what a computer is, which then requires me to know what technology is. This ultimately requires me to understand the cultural context of the 21st century, especially in America, is. Did John and the seven churches know of the microchip? How about a helicopter? The answer is an obvious no. There were no microchips in John's day, and helicopters did not exist yet. Therefore, it is foolish and downright silly to say that John was referring to our current inventions (e.g., helicopters and microchips) in his epistle/book. Hence, the 'helicopters and microchips' view cannot stand and is thus eliminated. 

The second eschatological view that can be knocked out is historicism. While it does well to connect the events of Revelation with the general flow of history, it puts unneeded emphasis on the papacy. Historicists view the papacy as the "little horn" mentioned in Daniel (cf. Daniel 7:8), which arose in the Holy Roman Empire and began to declare himself as God. Even today, historicists believe that the papacy acts out Revelation 13 as the final Beast. For a while, historicism seemed to be correct. Especially during the Protestant Reformation, the papacy was corrupt and even had authority over political matters. Even more so, the papacy enabled leaders within the Catholic church to preach false doctrine. However, after the Protestant Reformation, the papacy lost power and, with that, his authority. Today, the papacy is no longer the political juggernaut it once was. At the time of this writing, Pope Francis is the current pope; though he is clearly misguided, he is nothing more than a voice in a sea of millions. No Christian is forced to listen to the pope anymore. In other words, the pope is just another old man on a hill. Though historicism has a more correct interpretation of Scripture, it too falls into the same trap as futurism. Like futurism, historicism imports its own meaning onto a 1st century audience. To know what the papacy does requires knowing who he is, which requires prior knowledge of the Catholic church. As part of the early church, John and the seven churches had no such system in place, nor would there be for another three hundred years. Just like futurism, historicism can be knocked out.

The third eschatological view that can be knocked out is idealism. While idealists score high marks in application and seeing the big picture, they risk diluting or misunderstanding Scripture. An idealist sees the events in Revelation as a repeated fulfillment of the conflict between Christ and Satan. Though this is a principle that can be gained from reading Revelation, an idealist must be careful not to dismiss 1st-century context. Consider "Babylon" (vv. 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21) and the "Beast" (v. 13:1-10) mentioned in Revelation. For an idealist, "Babylon" and the "Beast" are terms that uniquely refer to any anti-God establishment. However, it should be noted that the primary reference here is to the Roman Empire (cf. 1 Peter 5:13). Remember, the book of Revelation is a revelation of Jesus written down by John (cf. 1:1) to the seven churches in Asia Minor (cf. 1:4) within the 1st century. For John and the 1st-century Christians, the terms "Babylon" and "Beast" would have been recognized as the Roman Empire. Granted, there is a Beast in every age, a government or corporate entity that sets itself against Christ. However, in the context of John and the 1st century, that Beast was Rome (especially during Nero's reign). When reading the Bible, it is important to have a good understanding of the context in which a book or passage is in. And while there are certainly principles that we can extract from Revelation, the book is not written to us; rather, the book of Revelation is written to the Christians in the seven churches. Idealism, though it means well, can dilute or even distort the Scriptures to mean whatever a Christian wants them to be. This, no doubt, can result in a liberal, 'Play-Doh' approach to the Scriptures. In addition, idealists can also fall for 'newspaper eschatology' -- that is, seeing current events as Scriptural fulfillments. Like futurists, idealists tend to apply current events or problems to Scripture, especially when it comes to the book of Revelation. Though it would seem idealism is the answer, it fails to tether itself to historical and biblical context. Thus, idealism can also be eliminated. 

Eschatological Winner: Preterism

For eschatology, the winning view is preterism. Of all the different views, preterism contains the least errors and is generally on the right track. A preterist has a good understanding of history, noting the cultural context and background of Revelation. For preterists, the first chapter of Revelation serves as a basis for their argument. John writes Revelation to the seven church, each of whom are recipients in this epistle. Preterism also exists as a 'spectrum' view, which means there are varying degrees of preterism. Partial preterists believe that a majority of Revelation's prophecies have been fulfilled through the fall of Rome or Jerusalem, but still hope in Jesus' Second Coming. Preterism holds that the events in Revelation 20-22 are in the future, but 1-19 are in the past. Full preterism holds that all the events in Revelation, including Jesus' Second Coming, has already happened. For all preterists, the Beast is the Roman Empire. While full preterism is problematic, partial and regular preterism both have an accurate understanding of context in Scripture.

Millennial Knockout: Premillennialism

On the millennial side, there is one view that can be easily knocked out, and that is premillennialism. Like its eschatological cousin, futurism, premillennialism interprets the millennium to be a literal 1,000 year reign based upon its literal interpretation of the text. It can be said that this literal 1,000 years is the crux of premillennialism. However, the main problem with premillennialism is that it fails to see the rest of Scripture. When we see the word 'thousand' in Scripture, it generally is a figure of speech to mean a long time. Peter writes in 2 Peter: "But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8, WEB). And David writes in Psalm 84: "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalm 84:10, WEB). As was argued before, it is impossible to correctly interpret the millennium as a literal 1,000 years without distorting the rest of Scripture. A good rule of thumb: if the word 'thousand' is mentioned outside a narrative context, then it is a figure of speech that refers to a long time.

And aside from its misunderstanding of the word 'thousand', premillennialism also misunderstands the role of the Church. Dispensational premillennialism, in particular, believes that the nation of Israel will overtake the Church in terms of importance and glory. For a dispensational, this includes the reinstatement of the Old Testament-era sacrificial system and the building of another temple. This not only undermines the Church, but also undermines Jesus and His work. The author of Hebrews makes it clear: "But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:11-12, WEB). Ironically, the finishing blow to such thinking is found in the Old Testament: "'Behold, the days come,' says Yahweh, 'that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,' says Yahweh" (Jeremiah 31:31-32, WEB). Premillennialism, then, can be eliminated.

Millennial Winners: Amillennialism and Postmillennialism

It would seem that amillennialism and postmillennialism are the two winners. Both hold that the reign of Christ is a symbolic thousand years, with John using the word 'thousand' to refer to a long period of time. Support for these two views are found in a cursory search in Scripture (as argued above). Both believe that the reign was established post-resurrection and continues in partial completion as the Church. Eventually, the Kingdom of God will be completely here with the Second Coming and all will be made right. And though both have their own weaknesses, both contain an accurate depiction of the millennium and build their cases using correct Scriptural understanding. While amillennialism is more realistic, postmillennialism provides Christians with more hope in the Kingdom of God.

In the next post, I will discuss the practicality of eschatology in daily living.