What is premillennialism?

Question 10050.

Premillennialism is the view that Jesus will return before the thousand-year reign described in Revelation 20, coming in glory to establish His kingdom on the earth in person. The name itself quietly announces the timing, since pre means before, so premillennialism places the return of Christ before the millennium rather than after it. This is the position I hold with real conviction, and I hold it because I am persuaded that it does the fullest justice to the plain sense of the whole of Scripture. Let me explain carefully what this view actually teaches, and then why I have come to find it so compelling and so freeing.

This view is really a way of reading the entire Bible, and not just one disputed chapter near the end of Revelation. It follows naturally from taking prophecy literally, from keeping God’s promises to Israel fully intact, and from letting the sequence of events laid out in Scripture set the order of the end. When you read the Bible in that consistent way, the whole shape of the future comes out looking premillennial almost of its own accord, which is exactly why I regard this position as the natural fruit of a faithful method rather than a rigid system awkwardly imposed upon the text from outside.

What premillennialism teaches

At its very heart premillennialism teaches a clear and orderly sequence of events. The present age runs on until the rapture of the Church, then the seven-year tribulation unfolds upon the earth, then Jesus returns visibly and bodily at the Second Coming, and only after all of that does the thousand-year kingdom finally begin. The reign of Christ plainly follows His return rather than somehow preceding it. This is precisely the order laid out for us in Revelation 19 and 20, where the King returns on a white horse in chapter 19 and then reigns for a thousand years in chapter 20, in exactly that unbroken order.

This view therefore expects a real, future, earthly kingdom, the very millennium I describe in my study of what the millennium is. It does not spiritualise the thousand years away into the present church age, nor does it expect the church to somehow build the kingdom by its own efforts before Christ ever comes. The kingdom is His alone to establish, at His own coming, by His own mighty power, and never ours to construct. That single conviction is the strong backbone of premillennialism, and very nearly everything else in the view hangs directly upon it.

The scriptural basis for the view

The clearest support of all is the plain order of events in Revelation 19 and 20, where the Second Coming visibly precedes the binding of Satan and the thousand-year reign that follows. John describes two distinct resurrections, separated by that very span, the chilioi or thousand years, the righteous raised before it and the wicked raised after it, and he pointedly calls the first of these the first resurrection, in which the blessed and holy alone have their share. Read straightforwardly and honestly, this can only mean a reign of Christ that follows hard upon His return, which is exactly what this position affirms and what its rivals must somehow explain away.

Beyond Revelation itself, the view rests firmly on the many Old Testament promises of an earthly kingdom that have plainly never yet been fulfilled in any age. The covenant with David guarantees a descendant reigning upon a literal throne, and the prophets describe in glowing detail a coming age of peace upon this very earth under the Messiah. If those solemn promises are to be kept literally, as I believe they must be, then a future earthly reign is simply required, and that is the millennium this reading looks eagerly for. The alternative views must spiritualise these promises into something else, and I am not willing to treat God’s plain word that way.

How premillennialism handles the rival views

This position stands squarely over against both amillennialism and postmillennialism, and it genuinely helps to see the contrast clearly. Amillennialism denies any future earthly reign at all, treating the thousand years as a mere symbol of the present age, a view I examine carefully in my study of amillennialism. Postmillennialism instead expects the church to usher in a golden age by its own gospel labours before Christ returns, which I take up in my study of postmillennialism. Both of these, in their own different ways, quietly collapse the distinct future kingdom that this reading works so hard to preserve.

What sets premillennialism apart from them both is its steady refusal to spiritualise the plain text. It reads the thousand years as a thousand years, the throne of David as a genuine throne, and Israel as Israel. Critics love to call this reading wooden and unimaginative, but I would far rather call it simply faithful. When Scripture genuinely uses figurative language it usually signals as much quite plainly, and I follow those signals gladly wherever they lead. Yet I will not turn plain, concrete prophecy into thin vapour simply to make it fit a tidy system. This view is the honest reward of trusting the text to mean what it actually says.

The place of Israel in the view

One large reason I hold premillennialism is that it takes God’s many promises to Israel with full seriousness. The dispensational form of this reading keeps Israel and the Church carefully distinct, so that the covenants originally made with the nation are actually fulfilled to the nation, and not quietly transferred over to the church instead. The millennium is precisely the age in which those long-standing promises finally come home, when a restored and believing Israel dwells safely in her own land under the Messiah’s gentle reign, as I discuss at length in my study of whether the church has replaced Israel.

This is really no small matter tucked away in a corner of theology. If God can quietly set aside His own sworn promises to Israel and simply hand them over to someone else instead, then His promises to me in the gospel suddenly rest on far shakier ground than I had ever comfortably assumed. By holding God firmly to His literal word to Israel, this view actually strengthens my confidence in His literal word to the church. The unbroken faithfulness of God to the ancient nation is, in the end, the very guarantee of His unbreakable faithfulness to me and to you.

Why I am persuaded

When I weigh the whole thing carefully, premillennialism wins my settled conviction because it is the one reading that lets the entire Bible stand together without forcing anything out of shape. The covenants all remain intact, the ancient prophecies find a genuine and literal fulfilment, the plain order of Revelation is honestly honoured, and the honour of Jesus is fully secured in a visible reign over the very world that once rejected Him. I am simply not aware of any commitment this view requires of me that forces me to explain away a plain text, and, having tried, I honestly cannot say the same thing about either of the alternatives.

So I hold this position firmly, yet I hold it with real charity toward the many believers who differ from me. This is emphatically not a doctrine upon which anyone’s salvation hangs, and genuinely godly men and women have landed elsewhere in good conscience. Even so, I remain persuaded that premillennialism is the truest map of the future that God has given us in His word, and it fills me with lively hope rather than idle speculation. A King is truly coming to reign upon this earth, and I want with all my heart to be found among those who longed and watched for His appearing.

So, now what?

This whole subject is not really a puzzle to be solved for its own sake but a living hope to steady your life by. If Jesus is truly returning to reign, then the ultimate direction of all history is already settled, and the throne of the universe belongs unshakeably to Him. That truth ought to steady you when the world looks utterly hopeless, and humble you sharply when you are tempted instead to trust in human progress and cleverness to save us. The kingdom is coming, surely and certainly, and it is entirely His to give as He pleases.

The real question this doctrine finally presses upon you is a deeply personal one. When the King at last returns to reign, will you be found among His own people? You can settle that great matter today, simply by trusting the Jesus who died and rose again for you. Bow the knee to Him now, in this life, and His coming kingdom becomes your sure inheritance rather than your dreaded judgement. Are you truly ready to welcome the King who is even now on His way?

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:24-25 (ESV)