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Is the Millennium Mentioned in the Old Testament?

by Gerard
(Vienna, Austria)

Question: The millennium is only mentioned in Revelation chapter 20. There appears to be no mention of it in the Old Testament or other New Testament books. Could it be that the millennium is code for something else?

Your explanation of why the saints might be in the millennium (to prepare for judging the not yet resurrected, or to understand their judgment) - should this take 1000 years to achieve? This reason actually appears a weak argument and I think is not reflected in other scripture - the lack of understanding/reason adds weight that such a millennium is a guess, and therefore probably (statistically, guesses are often wrong) not correct.

Considering it is 2000 years since Jesus' time, do you think the church age could be the millennium, or part of? The generalization of length (maybe using an estimation to hide dates or expectations) is a figure that gives a scale, not an exact rendition. Jesus gained authority after His resurrection; maybe he chained Satan after this event. Satan's angels/demons are not mentioned, maybe they still are in effect. The Catholic church and political systems (beasts and false prophet) are in existence in the church age!

This leaves the gap between the two general resurrections unresolved. However, from descriptions of Jesus' return, it appears the universe behind Jesus on His return is being destroyed, and after the rapture the earth is destroyed, so the second general resurrection would be around the same time (sorry to be vague, I'm not as studied as yourself.) Also at this point (or shortly after, I have no timescale) is the new heavens and earth.

What do you think?

Answer: Hi Gerard. I will try to answer your questions.

The word "millennium" does not appear anywhere in the Bible but the concept of a 1000-year period is definitely there - and is mentioned as such only in Revelation 20. The Millennium is a period of time within a train of events, including the Second Coming etc. in chapter 19. A code for something else? - I don't thing we should try to make the Bible any more complex. The Sabbath (Saturday), the seventh day of the week and God's holy day is symbolic of the millennium. Just as a week consists of 6 days followed by a sabbath of rest, so salvation history (many believe) will be 6 thousand years followed by a 7th thousand-year period of rest for the world.

The saints will have a 1000-year opportunity to judge and investigate each case. That doesn't mean they will be doing it the whole time. At the end of the millennium, as the Great White Throne Judgment is about to happen (Rev 20:11), no one will be able to say "I didn't have enough time to go over the books." The saints will be involved in judgment:

"Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" (1 Cor 6:3)
We should avoid any guesswork in trying to understand the Bible but allow it, as far as possible, to interpret itself.

The past 2000-year church age could not be equal to a 1000-year period (math tells me that!) of future events. It is not Jesus, but an angel (Rev 20:1) that chains Satan at the beginning of the 1000 years.

The gap between the two resurrections is not unresolved - it is clearly spelled out in Revelation 20. The rest of the universe will be fine; it is the earth that will be returned to the "without form and void" condition it was in before creation week. The second resurrection is at the end of the millennium. This is all clearly laid out on my page about the millennium. Please read it. The new heavens and the new earth are after the millennium. (Rev 21:1)

I hope that helps. I will add that many people see various Old Testament scriptures as being fulfilled in the millennium as they understand the millennium to be a time when God will reign over the earth from the earthly Jerusalem. I will address this in a coming series titled "All Eyes on Israel" Watch for it.



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Oct 03, 2018
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The Millennium ONLY in "Revelation"?!? RED FLAG!! NEW
by: Critical Christian

The Book of Revelation is the ONLY text in the BIble which mentions Jesus' millennial reign. THIS SHOULD RAISE A RED FLAG.

So far, I have encountered only ONE study of the Book of Revelation, which puts this book to the test, a thorough test! It can be found in http://historical-jesus.info/rjohn.html

The author, Bernard D. Muller, points out discrepancies, contradictions, falsehoods, pagan elements, later Christian-like insertions (including the person of Jesus) and utter nonsense in the book of Revelation. He demonstrates that many parts of 'Revelation' could not even have been written by a Christian!

Search the (long) article with the word "thousand" and you will find a couple of notes by the author about Jesus' so called Kingdom of one thousand years. He concludes it is a (later)'christian' insertion, "that looks very much like a reboot in order to make way for the Last Judgment & the New Jerusalem of the original version [of Revelation].

The original version of Revelation was meant for the Jews, and had to do with the destruction in 70 AD of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans.

This may be hard to swallow for many. For more info go to http://trthndcptn.punt.nl/category/view/book-of-revelation-not-from-god-not-abt-us

P.S. It was not God who determined which writings later became the Bible, but humans! Fallible men deliberated, disagreed, and decided which ancient writings to include in what we call the Bible. Concerning the Book of Revelation, throughout many centuries there has been much dispute if it belonged in the Bible. Our God is not a god of confusion! (1 Corinthians 14:33) The Book of Revelation is a major source of confusion and discord within the Christian community.

Mar 10, 2016
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The Millennium of 1000 years NEW
by: Georges

I agree, let's not complicate matters further as it is not expressed in the Bible whether the 1000 years are figurative or actual. So we should take it as read as 1000 years of whatever compilation Yahuweh/God chooses!

There is a world of difference between the Fururist view of the Millennium and the Protestant Historicist view. The one operates on earth while other from heaven! How can we/Reformers Protestants possibly believe that Yahushuah Ha-Mashiach/Jesus Christ the Messiah will do a flip flop back to earth for 1000 years after exclaiming that His kingdom is not of this earth? Surely all that is "It is finished" as He exclaimed. But anything is possible! Balanced Christians must not believe only in the Futurist view which is highly publicised on Satellite TV by Futurists such as Hal Lyndsay, Jack van Impe, Tim Lahaye, etc... However it is not infallible even if these promoters do not feature any Disclaimers which they should and as all should do - including me! No Christian should promote only one view but also the contrary one. In this case it will be Futurist and Historicist. This dualism is carried through all the way from believing in Original Sin or not, to God choosing us rather than we choose Him, etc... I say know all the views!There are only two dominant ones at present. Leave out the minority rabble of the cults. The one says that we are saved by grace alone and then followed through faith, etc... The other says that we are saved by faith that we place in Him. Does He save us - His doing or do we save ourselves by believing? There is a difference. Check out the great Monergism vs Synergism debate which forms part of this dichotomy which have complicated inplications! All this is all over the Internet. Enjoy the ride!

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