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By Eli Kittim
The Contradictions of Millennialism
Millennialism is a belief that there will be a paradise here on earth before the final judgment. There are, of course, various scriptural discrepancies within this view, as I have often pointed out in my other papers. For example, how will people live here on earth if the earth itself will be destroyed in a great conflagration? 2 Pet. 3.10 reads:
âthe heavens will pass away with a loud
noise, and the elements will be dissolved
with fire.â
Besides, there are other contradictions. For instance, how could the same people who would not be resurrected âuntil the thousand years were completedâ (Rev. 20.5) simultaneously live and reign with Christ for a millennium? (Rev. 20.4). They cannot be both dead and alive at the same time! There are other contradictions as well. For example, Millennialism directly contradicts scripture by implying that there will be at least 2 additional comings of Christ, 2 appearances by Satan, 2 Great Wars, 2 Great tribulations, 2 resurrections, 2 apocalypses, 2 Armageddons, 2 judgments, 2 Great Ends, and so on. This is preposterous. In Scripture, there is only one of each. Scripture mentions only one resurrection (Dan. 12.2) and only one Armageddon (Rev. 16.16)! Where else does it mention a second resurrection or a second Armageddon? Besides, 1 Thess. 4.17 says that after the rapture âwe will be with the Lord forever,â not just for 1,000 years. And the Book of Daniel is clear that both the Saved and the Damned will be resurrected simultaneously, not successively (12.2). Therefore, this DOUBLING of scriptural events is unwarranted and without merit! It is worth mentioning that the doctrine of millennialism was formally condemned at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381 AD.
Millennialism Repeats Events a Second Time; But Revelation is Recording Single Events
The same event that is mentioned in Ezekiel 38 is repeated in Revelation 20. The endtime Gog/Magog war that Satan is said to unleash at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20.8) is the exact same Gog/Magog war that is mentioned in Ezekiel 38, which is also alluded to in Luke 21.20! The Book of Revelation isnât saying that the exact same Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel will repeat 1,000 years later. Thatâs ridiculous. Itâs actually talking about one and the same Gog-Magog war; not 2. In fact, the phrase that is used to indicate that Satan will be released âfor a little whileâ (Rev 20.3) is actually a reference to the Great Tribulation, which only lasts for âa little while,â namely, only 3 and a half years, or 42 months, or 1,260 days, or a time, and times, and half a time (cf. Rev. 11.2; 12.6, 14; 13.5)!
Moreover, the narrative in Rev 19 & 20 is basically telling the reader what will happen when God no longer restrains Satan (see 2 Thess 2.7)ââthat is, when the restrainer is removedââand the Antichrist is finally revealed at the end of a thousand years. Thatâs when Satan will be unleashed, once and for all, to wreak havoc âfor a little whileâ (i.e. for 3 and a half years, during the Great Tribulation)!
Why would the Book of Revelation REPEAT the exact same story TWICE, like the film âEdge Of Tomorrowâ? Why would Satan (Incarnated; Rev. 12.9) come out TWICE âto deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth [from the exact same location, Gog & Magog (Ezekiel 38)] in order to gather them for the [exact same] battleâ (Rev. 20.7-9)? And why is it that âfire came down from heaven and consumed themâ (Rev 20.9) exactly as it did in Ezekiel 38.22? And why is it that they âsurrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved cityâ exactly as they did in Luke 21.20? Are you kidding me? What is this, a repeat of âGroundhog Dayâ?
Thereâs an Interpretive Mixup: Millennialists Conflate Scenes that Occur Before 1,000 Years with Scenes that Occur After 1,000 Years
If Jesus appears BEFORE the millennium on a white horse, and the beast and his armies are killed, and the beast is then captured and âthrown alive into the lake of fireâ (Rev 19.19-21), then how does Satan manage to escape âthe lake of fireâ and mount a comeback? Notice that following Christâs FIRST encounter with the Beast, BEFORE the millennium (Rev. ch. 20), the Beast was captured & immediately âthrown alive into the lake of fireâ (Rev. ch. 19)! But the lake of fire is the second death! Itâs game over! No one survives the lake of fire and comes back to to tell stories about it. Thatâs another red flag. It would be a scriptural contradiction to state that AFTER being âthrown into the lake of fire,â the Antichrist escaped and mounted a comeback. That would constitute a scriptural contradiction. Notice the description of the âlake of fireâ in Rev. 20.14:
âThen Death and Hades were thrown into the
lake of fire. This is the second death, the
lake of fire.â
This event is final! It is the final separation of life and death. So, itâs completely bogus to say that Satan survived the lake of fire in chapter 19 & came back physically to fulfill chapter 20. Itâs complete nonsense! Moreover, Satanâs activities in Rev. 20 suggest that heâs incarnate, otherwise how does a nonphysical being fight a war on earth? Besides, Rev. 12.9 tells us that Satan will be incarnated on earth! So, the Millennialists are mixing apples with oranges. Theyâre conflating scenes that happen BEFORE the 1,000 years (Rev. 19) with scenes that take place AFTER the 1,000 years (Rev. 20)! And if the description in Rev 20.10â-concerning what happens to Satan AFTER the supposed 1,000 yearsââturns out to be the exact same version of Rev 19.20â-about what happens to Satan BEFORE the 1,000 yearsââthen we obviously have one story, not two!
Conclusion
The Bible never mentions the alleged âthousand-year reign of Christ on earth.â Only 2 verses mention those who âreigned with Christ a thousand years.â These are temporal signs that reveal the timing of Christâs coming and of the apocalyptic events! In other words, when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be loosed for a little while (a reference to the 3 and a half year Great Tribulation). Then, the resurrection will occur, followed by the rapture, and the believers will henceforth reign with Christ forever!