PREMILLENNIALISM. Also called millennialism and chiliasm, it is an interpretation that the Second Coming of Christ will occur before His literal reign of one thousand years on earth.
1. Contrasting views. Premillennialism is contrasted to amillennialism or nonmillennialism, which considers prophecies of the millennial kingdom as being fulfilled between the First and Second Advent of Christ, i.e., a spiritual reign of Christ in the heart of believers in the present age. Some amillenarians consider the millennium fulfilled in the intermediate state in heaven between death and resurrection. Premillennialism also is contrasted to postmillennialism, which regards the last one thousand years of the present age as a triumph of the Gospel, fulfilling the millennial promises of a kingdom on earth, with the Second Coming of Christ occurring after the thousand-year reign.
2. Literal interpretation of Scripture. Premillennialism depends upon a literal interpretation of prophecy, taking the words in their ordinary meaning. This was the prevailing opinion in the 1st and 2nd centuries of the Christian era. The first significant challenge to premillennialism was by the liberal school of theology at Alexandria led by Origen and Clement of Alexandria. They advanced the interpretation that the millennium should be considered as a symbol and that it would be fulfilled in a spiritual sense in the present age between the two advents of Christ. Although early considered a heresy not acceptable to orthodox interpreters, amillennialism gradually replaced premillennialism because of the influence of Augustine in the 4th and 5th centuries. Augustine rejected the premillennial view of a millennial reign as too carnal and literal. He introduced a dual system of interpretation, recognizing literal interpretation as normal for most Scriptures, but following the principle of figurative or spiritual fulfillment for prophecy. Following Augustine, amillennialism became the dominant doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and was generally adopted by the Protestant reformers. Premillennialism has been a minority position ever since Augustine, but in modern times this position has attracted conservative interpreters of the Bible who consider prophecy as subject to the same rules of interpretation as other forms of divine revelation. The decision between the two major interpretations—premillennialism vs. amillennialism—is almost entirely determined by principles of interpretation.
3. Old Testament doctrine of the kingdom. Although only Revelation 20 specifically mentions a thousand-year period, many passages in the OT anticipate a kingdom on earth and prophesy a period of righteousness and peace with Christ reigning in Zion and the nations completely under His control. Psalm 2, which prophesies the rejection of Christ, portrays God as holding the nations in derision, speaking to them in His wrath, stating, “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill” (Ps 2:6). Yahweh declares, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (2:8, 9).
Psalm 72, in the form of a prayer of David, describes the reign of Christ as having “dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!” (72:8). The whole earth is described as filled with His glory (72:19).
Isaiah 2 parallels Micah 4:1-5 in describing the rule of Christ, with His capitol in Jerusalem, in a period of universal peace. The prophecy relates to Judah and Jerusalem (Isa 2:1), and describes the nations as coming “to the house of the God of Jacob.” “The law” is stated to come “out of Zion” and “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (2:3). Universal peace is described:
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (2:4).
Such a period obviously is not being fulfilled in the present age and requires a future presence of the King of kings on earth in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah speaks frequently of this glorious kingdom, as in Jeremiah 23:5-8 where a descendant of David is declared to reign as a king. He “shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” at a time when “Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely” (Jer 23:5, 6). The name of the king is “The Lord is our righteousness” (23:6). This kingdom period is preceded by the regathering of Israel “out of all the countries where he had driven them” (Jer 23:8). Many similar passages can be found of a kingdom reign of Christ following His Second Advent (see Second Coming).
Premillennialism is related to the major Biblical covenants of the OT. The covenant of Abraham, introduced in Genesis 12:1-3, promises the perpetuity of title to the land to his physical seed, a promise subsequently ratified by hundreds of OT prophecies. Because of their number and detail, most premillennial interpreters consider prophecies of Israel as necessarily being fulfilled to the literal seed of Jacob, and prophecies of the land as literally referring to the geographic area described in detail in Genesis 15:18-21. Only by spiritualizing and denying the natural and literal interpretation of such passages can views other than premillennialism be supported.
The covenant with David (2 Sam 7), which assures David’s seed that his throne will be perpetuated forever, requires fulfillment on earth in keeping with the earthly character of the Davidic kingdom. A Davidic throne was never spiritual nor heavenly. David understood the covenant as being literal, and this interpretation is confirmed in the NT (Luke 1:32, 33).
Many OT passages predict the revival of the rule of David, as does Amos 9:11-15, with a glorious period of a kingdom on earth being fulfilled. The new covenant promised Israel in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (cf. also Isa 61:8, 9; Ezek 37:21-28) predicts a future time of spiritual blessing in Israel when all will know the Lord and missionary effort will be unnecessary, a purpose of God supported by the prediction that God will never cast off Israel (Jer 31:35-37). Although the NT also outlines a new covenant for Christians in the present age, no claim is made that the new covenant in the present age fulfills the particulars of the covenant with Israel. A literal interpretation of these covenant promises, accordingly, requires a future kingdom on earth with fulfillment to the descendants of Jacob.
4. New Testament doctrine of the millennium. In the NT, numerous confirmations of the OT doctrine are found. The Virgin Mary by the angel Gabriel was led to believe concerning her Son, “the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32, 33). It is inconceivable that if the intent of the OT promise was to be a spiritual role of God in the heart of believers, that the common anticipation of Israel of an earthly kingdom should be confirmed to Mary on this occasion. Mary obviously understood the prediction literally.
In like manner, the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Matt 20:20-23), anticipated an earthly kingdom in which her two sons might reign with Christ, indicating the general belief in such an earthly kingdom. Christ did not contradict her view, but He did rebuke her ambition for her sons. Christ also predicted that in His kingdom the apostles would “eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). The kingdom in view seems to be a future earthly kingdom. In the Olivet Discourse, Christ outlined a sequence of events beginning with the future great tribulation (Matt 24:15-22), His glorious Second Coming to the earth (24:27-30), and the establishment of His throne on earth (25:31). Here the earthly throne follows the great tribulation and the Second Coming in chronological sequence, which by any normal interpretation harmonizes only with a premillennial view.
On the occasion of the Ascension of Christ, the disciples asked the question, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Christ did not rebuke them for misapprehension that such a restoration was in prospect, but stated only that it was impossible for them to know when it would occur.
Undoubtedly, the classic passage on millennialism is in Revelation 20 where a reign of a thousand years is mentioned six times. Although amillenarians interpret Revelation 20 as a recapitulation of the preceding chs. with considerable spiritualization in the fulfillment of the prophecy, the text itself reveals Revelation 20 as a subsequent action to Revelation 19. John sees in vision the binding of Satan, the thrones of judgment, and the resurrection of those martyred in the persecution preceding the Second Advent. This vision is then given interpretation relative to its duration—a thousand years in length—and to its purpose. The first resurrection, which includes specifically the resurrection of those martyred in the preceding great tribulation, is declared to begin the thousand-year reign. The purpose of the binding of Satan is declared to be that he will not be able to deceive the nations during the thousand-year reign. The loosing of Satan at the end of the thousand years builds upon the normal and literal interpretation of the preceding prophecies. Whereas a vision could be subject to various interpretations, the text interprets the vision, and such interpretation should be regarded as giving the real meaning in nonsymbolic language. The amillennial interpretation is in obvious difficulty in this passage because there is no possibility of any reasonably literal fulfillment of these predictions in the present age when the nations are being deceived and Satan obviously is not bound. The martyred dead of the tribulation period do not suffer their fate until just before the Second Coming.
The details of the prophecy also specify that the wicked dead are not raised until after the thousand years and after the final loosing of Satan (Rev 20:2, 3, 7, 12-14). If the resurrection of the wicked dead in the ch. is literal, so also is the resurrection of the martyred dead before the Second Advent, and the two events are separated by the thousand-year reign of Christ.
The majority of contemporary premillenarians contrast dispensationally the age of Israel under the law of Moses, the present age since Pentecost, and the future age of the millennium following the Second Advent. Coupled with this is the contrast between Israel and the Church, the future fulfillment of prophecies relating to Israel’s regathering into the Holy Land, and Israel’s spiritual renewal and reconstitution as a political kingdom under Christ, following Christ’s Second Advent. The millennial kingdom, while possessing many qualities of high spiritual life and universal knowledge of the Lord, can be fulfilled only when Christ is actually reigning as universal King on earth.
Some contemporary premillenarians such as George E. Ladd consider the millennial kingdom essentially soteriological and spiritual rather than political, and tend to interpret prophecies relating to Israel in a spiritualized sense rather than racially, politically, or nationally. In his interpretation, the kingdom is primarily spiritual and soteriological, and an extension of the spiritual kingdom concept found in the OT and NT. This form of premillennialism builds upon the Augustinian view of a special principle of interpretation regarding prophecy as spiritually fulfilled, and often is indistinguishable from the nonliteral interpretation characteristic of amillennialism.
5. Summary. All forms of premillennialism regard the millennial kingdom as subsequent to the Second Advent, and to various degrees find literal fulfillment of prophecies relating to this period of the earthly rule of Christ. Amillennialism and postmillennialism require extensive nonliteral interpretation of prophecies of the OT and NT as being fulfilled either in earth or in heaven, contemporaneously to the present age.
Bibliography C. F. Feinberg, Premillennialism or Amillennialism (1936; 2nd Ed., 1954); L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, IV (1947), 255-439; J. Bright, The Kingdom of God (1953); J. F. Walvoord, The Millennial Kingdom (1959); J. D. Pentecost, Things to Come (1961); A. J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom (1968).