A Simple Definition of the Millennium

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Revelation 20:2

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Revelation 20:7

In two verses we have a simple description of the millennium. It is the period during which Satan is bound. You might think that would settle it. Satan is sure not bound now, so this is not the millennium.

Yet that we are in the millennium now is exactly what my Presbyterian opponent maintained. I debated him on this very topic.

Some people know only a little about the Bible. Some people know the Bible pretty well. But Presbyterians know more than the Bible. Prophecy is a subject most of such churches avoid. They say it divides congregations.

Anyway, they say, who can understand it? Better to avoid it. To them, Jesus revealed it to John in a vain effort. He failed in revealing vital truth. Anyway, it all came true many years ago in symbolic form. Nothing in Revelation is literal. Nero was antichrist, did you know that?

When I said that Satan will be bound a thousand years, my opponent said that he is presently bound, but only so that he cannot deceive the nations. Further, since God owns the cattle "on a thousand hills", thousand is an indefinite term. Once it is used to describe the cattle that God owns, it can never mean exactly one thousand years.

That anyone could say that Satan presently is not deceiving the nations, is astounding! Start with the United States. Are we being deceived?

When you attempt to reason with such people, you realize that you are way outside the Bible. Something else is in view. It is "kingdom grabbing".

The Kingdom of God on the earth, to them, was set up at the crucifixion. The kingdom really hit its stride with the invention of the Presbyterian church. Of course, there have been "setbacks", but they strive on. Some day, they claim, Jesus will return to the earth to congratulate them on the wonderful job they have done. The rapture will be the church rising in the sky to welcome His return.

I was confronted with this nonsense for years. The congregation wanted Bible study, though. They wanted the Word. Is it any wonder that such a denomination is losing membership?