THIS VIEW IS BEING RECONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF EQUATING
"THE DAY OF THE LORD" WITH "THE 1,000 YEARS" OF REV 20:1-10
AS 2 PETER 3:8 SEEMS TO HINT TOWARD.
I PLAN TO UPDATE SOME OF ITS WORDING.
I am not completely satisfied with my efforts here and post this in the hope of cajoling along further study by others more qualified. However, this remains the most attractive approach to me concerning Revelation 20:1-10's "1,000 Years." While seriously entertaining the view of my Covenant Eschatology/Modern Preterist critics, it dawned upon me afresh the idea that Revelation 20:1-10's "1,000 Years" may be just another way of saying "The Day of the Lord" per 2 Peter 3:8 and Ps 90:4. And that those very same verses suggest with equal force that "The Day of the Lord" is an actual 1,000 years of human history. Which brings me right back to consider the approach below. Does not all eschatology ultimately revolve about "The Day of the Lord" ? ~jwr
I continue to find it attractive to entertain the idea that "The 1,000 Years," like the rest of Rev 18-22, is directly associated with the Fall of Babylon aka Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Consequently, "The 1,000 Years" have their beginning circa Babylon/Jerusalem’s A.D. 70 Fall alongside all the other events that Revelation 18-22 envision. If 2 Peter 3:8 can be taken to hint that "The Day of the Lord" = "The 1,000 Years" of Rev 20, then it also is taken to mean that "The 1,000 Years" is the amount of of actual time "The Day of the Lord" encompasses.
2 Peter 3:8
8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years , and a thousand years as one day.
NASB
This can also be expressed in this wise:
But do not let this one hint get by you, my friend, that "The Day of the Lord" = "The 1,000 Years," and a 1,000 years span the "Day."
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The book of Revelation is regarded as series of visions. In the passages following The Fall of Babylon the Great, each "THEN I SAW" and "THEN I HEARD" is a mini-vision describing a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF BABYLON'S FALL, ie. the destruction of ancient, Old Covenant Jerusalem in 70ad. These are the reason why there is so much celebration & rejoicing over Babylon's Fall.
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Revelation 18:1-2-3 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
"
Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! " ...
[the immediate consequences of Babylon's Fall are hereafter described]
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Revelation 18:4-24 "
Then I heard ..."
[more immediate consequences of Babylon's Fall described from another perspective...]
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Revelation 19:1-10 "
After this I heard ... "
[still more immediate consequences of Babylon's Fall described from still another view point...]
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Revelation 19:11-21 "
I saw ..."
[yet more immediate consequences of Babylon's Fall are described...]
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Revelation 20:1-10 [and once again, more of the consequential aftermath of the Fall of Babylon is detailed below.... The Millennium = The first 1,000 years of the New Heavens & New Earth which are described in greater detail in yet more "And I saw" mini-visions hereafter...]
20:1
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore
until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
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4 I saw [consequences of Babylon's Fall] thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.
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And I saw [consequences of Babylon's Fall]the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth — Gog and Magog — to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, The City He loves [i.e.-the hitherto described New Jerusalem]. BUT FIRE CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND DEVOURED them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
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Revelation 20:11-15 Then I saw [consequences of Babylon's Fall]a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
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12 And I saw [consequences of Babylon's Fall]the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 4 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
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Revelation 21:1-3 - Rev. 22:5 Now I saw [consequences of Babylon's Fall]a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
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2 Then I, John, saw [consequences of Babylon's Fall]the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ...
NKJV
OBSERVATIONS
1) The Text of Revelation itself makes abundantly obvious that the 1,000 years follow the Fall of Babylon - described as being one of its direct consequences. If we cannot be shown to grasp such straightforward communication as that, then we needlessly forfeit much credibility on any other timing issue, including that of the Lord's Return. It has been shown by many capable commentators that Revelation's "Babylon" = Old Covenant Jerusalem. Presently popular attempts, (among some preterists), to stuff the 1,000+ years that follow the Fall of Babylon (aka ancient Jerusalem) into the 40 years that precede it will never work alongside the preterist insistence that "time statements" be taken seriously, (not to mention the "expectation statements" and faithfulness to the actual Text). This awkward attempt only serves to undercut preterist credibility, leaving us all exposed to the rightful charge of hypocrisy regarding our stance about "time statements."
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2) Someone might say, "I think the 1,000 years are just a metaphor." Regardless of whether one considers the 1,000 years as a metaphor or not, it follows the destruction of Jerusalem, being a divinely ordained direct consequence thereof. Would one dare to dismiss the prophecies regarding the life & death of Jesus Christ as "just a metaphor?" What of the prophecies regarding the ministry of John the Baptist? Did not God deliver fulfillments that entered the history books? Fulfillments that men could handle and know? Fulfillments that impacted the lives of earthbound men, being witnessed by them? Whatever metaphors are employed in Revelation, they have impact of historic proportions, recognisable in history itself. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." They shall at least see God's hand in history.
Someone else may suggest, "We need to look at the millennium from a heavenly rather than an earthly perspective." Perhaps, but why not do both? Who says we can only view things from one side? Since these words were delivered by our Heavenly Father to us living upon the Earth, and that He has come and made his dwelling among men, these words will definitely have components that are detectable by earthbound men, as well. And if we demand these fulfillments be seen from God's perspective, remember again, He has made His home in and among us: "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men!" (Rev 21:3). We are the Temple of God. He dwells within us. He looks out there through our eyes, albeit, with perfect understanding. But that is an understanding He wishes us to attain. "Be ye perfect therefore, ... "
Another may rush over my words here and then twist, exaggerate, and misunderstand saying, "I don't think Revelation 20 is sequential." The same will go on to assert that the New Heavens, New Earth, & New Jerusalem appear AFTER the 1,000 years are ended. Why should anyone bother to lift a typing finger to refute him? He contradicts himself.
Let us not be such individuals that selectively -and thereby erroneously- apply Bible interpretation techniques in order to dodge the weight of Biblical meaning & message, or to preserve brownie-points with seemingly well-regarded men, whoever they are -God alone really knows. Rather, let us humble ourselves before each fellow Christian, ready of mind to possibly learn something, learn something from the Word of God, from Christ our Teacher. We all have some things to share because the Holy Spirit works through each of us as He wills, and for the same reason we all have some things to learn. But no man but Jesus Christ has it all.
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3) The above two points firmly stand whether or not what follows is valued. It was this very subject that drew me to the preterist view to begin with: If one is to go fishing into the deep, dark waters of distant history for anything remotely resembling prophecy fulfillment, it seems reasonable to begin looking for a big fish such as a 1,000 year period characterized by Christian rule. I was drawn to investigate the possibility that the 1,000 years might be equated with what historians commonly refer to as the 1,000 years of the Middle Age during which today's major world powers were discipled, Christianized.
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It was engaging to discover how violently out of control and dark things got in the, (by comparison to what they just had enjoyed), "Dark Ages" that followed the Middle Ages and preceeded the Reformation/Rennaissance (French, "Rebirth"), Age of Discovery of the New World, and the dawn of Modern Science and Modern times. Then I read in St. Augustine's City of God (circa ~425ad) and Eusebius' Church History (circa ~325ad) and Phillip Schaff's (a preterist) History of the Christian Church and find that: during the Middle Ages most Christians believed that they were living during of the Millenium (this is one reason why they also believed that saintly martyrs were being resurrected and attaining delegated powers over Creation from the reigning Christ). They antipated that all hell would break loose again at the end of their Millenium which was to end, according to their calculations, at 1000AD. Had they acquired the fortitude of faith to recognise the full prophetic ramifications of Jerusalem's 70AD destruction coupled with Jesus' insistent teaching to His generation that "this generation shall not pass away till all these things are fulfilled", (Mat 24:34), they would have adjusted their calculations to expect the end of their era to end around 1070AD rather than 1000AD.
Continued at History following the 70-1070AD Middle Age /?q=node/160.
*Feel FREE to claim as your own anything I write - while I retain the right to do the same the same with it.*