Chiliasm is the Greek equivalent of Millennialism. However, it has a broader meaning when used in regard to the earliest Christian eschatology. Chiliasm is not just the 1,000 years of Jesus’ millennial kingdom, but is the belief in a millennial ‘week’ of 7,000 years. Just as God created the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day, so will mankind work on the earth for 6,000 years and rest on the Sabbath ‘day,’ known as the Millennium.
This belief, by the early church fathers, was reinforced by the following scripture. “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night” (Psalm 90:4). “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
Millennialism is a Christian doctrine, based on the Book of Revelation (20:1-7), that teaches Jesus Christ will establish a kingdom on earth for 1,000 years. The term comes from “millennium” (Latin mille ’one thousand’ and annum ‘year’), which means “one thousand years.” There are three different interpretations regarding the timing and nature of this 1,000-year kingdom.
Some believe that the return of Christ occurs before the millennial kingdom is established on Earth. This is known as premillennialism. Others think His return will happen after the millennial kingdom. This is known as postmillennialism.
There is a third view, called amillennialism, which interprets the millennium kingdom symbolically, and that the church is currently filling that role. The adherents to this view believe it is simply the duration of the imperfect church on Earth between Christ’s first coming and His return, and that the real kingdom of God is in heaven after the millennium on Earth is completed.
The Jews also believe in a Messianic Kingdom (although Jesus is not considered the Messiah), and it is prophesied throughout the Old Testament. This kingdom is not given a specific duration, as in the New Testament Book of Revelation, so it is considered to be eternal. One of the most famous passages of scripture regarding this kingdom is found in Isaiah 11.
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for a banner of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:6-10).
Of course, we know Jesus is the root of Jesse (David’s father) mentioned in Isaiah 11:10. Jesus Christ will be a banner for the Jews and the Gentiles in the millennium. His millennial kingdom is considered a ‘rest’ or a ‘sabbath’ according to this verse.
There are also four major approaches to interpreting the book of Revelation and its meaning for the end time: the idealist, preterist (full and partial), historicist, and futurist views.
The idealist view teaches that Revelation describes, in symbolic or allegorical language, the battle throughout the ages between God and Satan, and between good and evil.
The preterist view teaches that the events recorded in the book of Revelation were largely fulfilled in AD 70 with the fall of the Jerusalem Temple.
The historicist view teaches that the book of Revelation is a symbolic presentation of church history from the first century AD to the end of the age. With this view, the prophecies of Revelation are fulfilled in various historic events, such as the fall of the Roman Empire, the Protestant Reformation, and the French Revolution.
The futurist view teaches that Revelation prophesies future events. These events include the rapture of the church, seven years of tribulation, and a millennial rule of Christ upon the earth.
See John’s Revelation of the Millennium: Part 1 :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready for more information on these different views and who supports them.
Before the third and fourth centuries AD, when Origen (185-254 AD) and Augustine (354-420 AD) popularized the idealist (symbolic) view of Revelation, the earlier church fathers held the historicist premillennial view. Many of the church fathers, such as Papias, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Hippolytus, and others, taught that there would be a visible kingdom of God on Earth after Christ’s return. This early view of historic premillennialism taught that the Antichrist would appear on earth and the seven-year tribulation would begin. Next would be the post-tribulation rapture, and then Jesus and His church would return to earth to rule for a thousand years.
Many Christians in the early church (mentioned below) believed that the millennium reign of Christ would involve mostly Gentile Christian believers (the Church), as the Jews had been punished by God for their unbelief through the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 AD and their dispersion in 135 AD. The faithful would spend eternity in the New Jerusalem.
Some of the early church fathers are identified by modern scholars as ‘premillennialists’ simply because they reckoned Christ’s return to occur at the end of six thousand years, and referred to the Kingdom as the “Seventh Day.” These learned Christian men believed the return of Christ was imminent, as they thought the world was rapidly advancing towards the end of the sixth millennium (according to the LXX chronology), when Christ would literally return to set up His millennial kingdom. Below are some quotes from these early historic premillennialists regarding this subject.
Many of the earliest Christian scholars used the Septuagint version of the Old Testament (LXX) to calculate the date for creation, so they reckoned it occurred around 5500 BC. Christians up to the Middle Ages continued to use this rough estimate. The Chronicon of Eusebius (early 4th century) dated creation to 5228 BC, while Jerome dated creation to 5199 BC.
Bede (673-735 AD) was one of the first to break away from the standard Septuagint date for the creation, and his work De Temporibus (On Time), which he completed in 703 AD, dated the creation to March 18, 3952 BC, but was accused of heresy at the table of Bishop Wilfrid because his chronology was contrary to accepted calculations of approximately 5200-5500 BC. After the Masoretic Text was published, however, dating creation to around 4000 BC became common and was widely supported.
Among the Masoretic creation calculations for the date of creation, Archbishop Ussher’s chronology, dating creation to 4004 BC, became the most widely accepted and popular, mainly because this date was attached to the King James Bible. Bishop William Lloyd put Ussher’s chronology, with some of his own modifications, in the margins of a 1701 edition of the Bible.
For many years, the King James Version was printed with these dates. It was also included in the widely distributed Scofield Reference Bible. This led many to believe that Ussher’s dates were the correct Bible chronology, a position which is defended by some writers to this day, including Floyd Nolen Jones, Chronology of the Old Testament, Sacred Writ (floydnolenjonesministries.com). Personally, I believe it is off by about 36-44 years. See Ussher’s Chronology :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready
EARLY CHURCH FATHERS WHO BELIEVED IN CHILIASM
The writer of the Epistle to Barnabas wrote (circa 117/132 AD), “Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, ‘He finished in six days.’ This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, “Behold, today will be as a thousand years.” Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. “And He rested on the seventh day.” This means: when His Son, coming again, shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day.”
Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho (written circa 155 AD), wrote, “But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.” Justin did mention that, “many who belong to pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise.” Evidently there were already others who did not believe in a literal millennium at that point in history, but Justin does not supply their names. Justin became one of the first Christian apologists, explaining Christianity as a reasonable system.
Irenaeus wrote in his Against Heresies (written from 180 to 199 AD), “These [promises given by Christ] are to take place in the times of the kingdom, that is, upon the seventh day, which has been sanctified, in which God rested from all the works which He created, which is the true Sabbath of the righteous, which they shall not be engaged in any earthly occupation; but shall have a table at hand prepared for them by God, supplying them with all sorts of dishes.” Irenaeus followed Paul more closely than the apostolic fathers after him. Theologically biblical rather than philosophical, he was the first theologian who wrote for the church. He saw himself as a shepherd of God’s flock.
Tertullian wrote (207-212 AD), “But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire; but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed seventh day; and restoring to Abraham the promised inheritance, in which kingdom the Lord declared, that ‘many coming from the east and from the west should sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Tertullian was one of the first to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity, stating that God is one substance and yet three persons.
Hippolytus (circa 170-236 AD) of Rome, in his literary work, Commentary on Daniel, wrote, “For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem, under Augustus, in the year 5500; and He suffered in the thirty-third year. And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, ‘the holy day on which God rested from all His works.’ For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they ‘shall reign with Christ,’ when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for ‘a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.’ Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled. And they are not yet fulfilled, as John says: ‘five are fallen; one is,’ that is, the sixth; ‘the other is not yet come.’”
Hippolytus employs the creation-week typology widely accepted in the West until Augustine. He set the time of Christ’s return in 500 AD. This would be the “sixth day” or 6000 AM (anno mundi) according to the Septuagint chronology. Hippolytus was the church’s most important theologian in the third century. (Note: the Septuagint LXX is about 1,600 years longer than Ussher’s Masoretic chronology. Usher’s chronology is about 36-44 years longer than my reckoning. See Chronology of Mankind: 6,000 Years of History Pt 1 :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready or a slightly revised version in The Hepta Week Cycle For Six Millennia of Mankind :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
So, the prevailing view among early (1st–3rd century AD) Christians such as Papias, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus was that history would end with a Messianic rule centered in Jerusalem following Christ’s return (i.e., premillennialism). However, after the Roman Empire under Constantine embraced Christianity in the early 4th century, it became more common to spiritualize the concept of the millennium as the reign of Christ in the hearts of his people and the reign of the Christian dead in heaven. The millennium and church history became synonymous in this burgeoning new eschatological interpretation.
Premillennialism began to die out in the established Catholic Church during Augustine’s life (354-430 AD). Chiliasm was suppressed by the dominant Catholic Church but survived through various “fringe” groups of Christians during the medieval period. During the Protestant Reformation, Anabaptists and Huguenots helped revive premillennialism, which was later adopted by some Puritans in the Post-Reformation era.
During the Reformation era (1517-1648), reformers such as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Hugh Latimer, Nicolas Ridley, Thomas Cranmer, and John Knox challenged the Catholic Church in many areas while retaining their amillennial doctrine. See John’s Revelation of the Millennium: Part II :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
The great preachers in Europe and the colonies in America during the Great Awakening (1726-1760), such as Gilbert Tennent, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, David Brainerd, and others, took up the eschatological mantel of amillennialism (and postmillennialism or a combination of both).
Dispensational premillennialism (sometimes called futuristic premillennialism) developed later than historical premillennialism. It was popularized by John Darby, a member of the Plymouth Brethren, in the 1830s and by Cyrus Ingerson (C.I.) Scofield, who published Darby’s ideas in the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. This eschatological view was popularized in the early 19th century… not discovered. You could say it was rediscovered, as there are several examples of dispensational writings dating back very early in the Church.
A sermon by Pseudo-Ephraem (4th-6th century titled “On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World” states, “All the saints and elect of God are gathered together before the tribulation, which is to come, and are taken to the Lord, in order that they may not see at any time the confusion which overwhelms the world because of our sins.” Other examples include Codex Amiatinus (ca.690-716), Brother Dolcino (d. 1307), Increase Mather (1693-1723), John Gill (1697-1771), Morgan Edwards (1722-1795), and others.” 5. Survey of Eschatological Views | Bible.org
The greatest development and spread of premillennialism since the early church came in the late 1800s – early 1900s with the rise of U.S. Fundamentalism and Dispensationalism. Starting in the British Isles and spreading to America, premillennialism (in its dispensational form) has become prominent in the Evangelical faith. Dispensational Premillennialism employs a more consistently literal hermeneutic when interpreting eschatological Scriptures than other views do.
Dr. David L. Cooper describes the golden rule of interpretation: “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.”– Dr. David L. Cooper (1886-1965), founder of the Biblical Research Society.
Clearly, this golden rule has been ignored by some of the great Soteriology preachers, from the early Church to modern times. Augustine, John Calvin, Martin Luther, and O.T. Allis were all Amillennialists who allegorized Scripture “when the plain sense of Scripture made common sense.” John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, and B.B. Warfield were all Postmillennialists who also allegorized much of eschatology and prophecy. They substituted the Church for Israel regarding God’s promises to “His chosen people” when there was no Scripture to substantiate this claim. This substitution of the Church for Israel is called Replacement Theology, also called supersessionism or fulfillment theology.
I don’t understand how these great preachers of old could substitute the Church for Israel, as Israel is clearly the subject in the following scripture. They definitely weren’t following the golden rule of interpretation. “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee…. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising…. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified” (Isaiah 59:20-21, 60:1,3,21).
At least the theologians of the early Church, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, believed in a literal millennial reign of Jesus Christ. They also believed humankind would exist on Earth for 6,000 years (the equivalent of six days for the Lord) before Jesus returns to establish his Kingdom for 1,000 years (the seventh day), before the new heavens and new earth are made (or transformed). However, they and modern preachers such as G.E. Ladd and Alexander Reese all believed in Historic Premillennialism, whose eschatological interpretations did not yield a reasonable exegetical reading of the Scripture involved (I.M.H.O.).
The duration of the Messiah’s kingdom on Earth was never given in any of the Old Testament prophecies. Not until Revelation 20 does John declare it will last for 1,000 years, thus the name “millennial kingdom.” Revelation 20 follows Jesus’ Second Coming as described in Revelation 19. So, the order of eschatology (study of end things) is established in the book of Revelation.
The pre-tribulation rapture is found in Revelation 4. The seven-year-long tribulation is found in Revelation 5-19. The Second Coming of Christ is described in Revelation 19. The millennial reign of Christ is found in Revelation 20, and the eternal order with a new heaven and earth is found in Revelation 21–22. The golden rule of interpretation indicates that these will all be future physical and literal events, not some kind of allegory.
Ever since Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Christians throughout the ages have been wondering when Jesus would return. The worse things got with persecutions, wars, famine, plagues, etc., the higher expectations became, as Christians in that particular age believed they were experiencing the “great tribulation” of Matthew 24:21. I would imagine this is why the Jews were so willing to accept Simon Bar Kokhba as their Messiah in 132 AD when he led a ruinous revolt against Rome from 132-135 AD. This was more than six decades after Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed in 70 AD.
The early Chiliasts of the 1st – 3rd centuries held this belief, as they believed Jesus would return after 6,000 years. Hippolytus employed the creation-week typology widely accepted in the West until Augustine. He set the time of Christ’s return to 500 AD. This would be the “sixth day” or 6000 AM (anno mundi) according to the Septuagint chronology. I’m sure expectations for the return of Christ ran high after the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 AD, especially for the remaining (but dwindling in number) Chiliasts, as they believed there were only nine decades left until the 6th day (6,000 years), Christ’s imminent return which they speculated (according to the LXX chronology) would occur in 500 AD.
The expectation of Christ’s imminent return always spikes after a major disaster. In the 8th and 9th centuries, it was the Muslim invasions. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the Crusaders’ wars against the Muslims. In the middle of the 14th century, it was the Black Death plague. In the middle of the 15th century, Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks. The list is exhaustive and continues into modern times, with two world wars in the 20th century and a major war between Russia and Ukraine now in the 21st century.
Of course, the number one sign of the return of Christ, especially for dispensational premillennialists, is Israel’s return as a sovereign nation (in its ancient homeland) on May 14, 1948. This should be proof to the amillennialists and postmillennialists that the Church hasn’t (and never has) replaced the nation of Israel regarding God’s promises to them. Another indication we are in the last days is given in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (prevalent sin comparable to the days of Noah and Lot). Also, we now have the technology for the prophecies of Revelation 11:9 and 13:13-18 to be fulfilled.
However, the major sign that we are living in the end times before the Tribulation and the Second Advent is the convergence of all the signs given in Matthew 24:3-14 and the other synoptic gospels.
As a modern Chiliast (dispensational premillennialist) with a belief in the millennial week theory, I believe that Christ’s return is imminent. Unlike the 1st–3rd-century historic premillennialists, whose chronology was based on the Septuagint, I believe the correct chronology of human history is given in the Masoretic Text. In this reckoning, major biblical and faith-based events occur, or will occur, approximately every 2,000 years.
MAJOR BIBLICAL EVENTS EVERY 2,000 YEARS – THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH
Adam was made on the sixth day of creation in approximately 3968 BC. See The Hepta Week Cycle For Six Millennia of Mankind :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
Abraham was born approximately 2,000 years after Adam’s creation. Abraham is not only the father of the Israelites but the father of all the faithful. “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).
Author’s note: According to my chronology, based on Scripture, Abram (Abraham) was born around 2017 AM (anno mundi) or 1951 BC. Abram’s birth may not be the event that personifies the importance of the 2,000th anniversary of mankind’s existence (2000 AM or 1968 BC). After all, Abram didn’t even know of Yahweh until he was much older. He, by faith, answered God’s call and left Haran to travel to the Promised Land at age 75. Instead, the person who might mark the 2,000th year is Melchizedek, the priest of the “Most High” God and the King of Salem. He is first mentioned in Genesis 14, but was no doubt King of Salem (and priest of the Most High God) long before he met Abram. We will discuss this theory in a later article.
Jesus was crucified approximately 1,000 years after King David died (in 970 BC) and 2,000 years after Abraham’s birth. Christ was crucified, resurrected, and ascended to heaven, and the faithful Church was born approximately 4,000 years (4000 AM) into recorded history (3968 BC + 33 AD = 4,000 years). Of course, we know 4,000 years is as 4 days for the LORD.
Interestingly, God/Elohim (The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) made the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day of creation. “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14). These heavenly “lights” were primarily made for man to keep up with time, by way of calendars (lunar and solar). They were also made for signs pointing to future important events. See Signs and Seasons Pointing to Jesus :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready.
Isn’t it fitting that Jesus, as the second Person of the Godhead, the Word, created and set in motion the sun, moon, stars, and earth eons ago? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
The same heavenly bodies that the pre-incarnate Jesus created would determine when He would come to the earth to accomplish His mission for the Father. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
This “fullness of time” was on the “fourth day” (4,000 years from creation, as a day for the LORD is as a thousand years). The number 4 represents Creation. In the beginning, there was the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The fourth thing was the creation of the heavens and the earth (and everything in them). It is the number of the world and material completeness.
Even during creation (and before), God, the Father, had in place His plan to redeem mankind. He would send, in the fullness of time (4000 AM), the Word to the earth to become the Son of God and the Son of man (Jesus Christ), a kinsman redeemer for His creation. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).
Will Jesus return on the exact “sixth day” (6000 AM), or will it be “approximately” 6,000 years? Is 2033 AD the six thousandth year from creation (3967 BC years + 2033 AD years = 6000 AM)? Of course, if He were to return to establish His millennial kingdom in 2033, the pretribulation Rapture would occur seven years earlier, in 2026. Hey, that’s this year! For how the seven-year Tribulation chronology could theoretically play out (on both the Gregorian and Jewish calendars), see (100) Reckoning Daniel’s 70th Week From the Gregorian Calendar.
We know that man, who was made in the image of God, was made on the sixth day, and God gave him dominion over all of the other created beings (the animals) of the earth. 1 Corinthians 15:45 calls Jesus the “last Adam.” Just as Adam was made on the sixth day of the creation week, the “last Adam,” Jesus, will return to the earth on the “sixth day” (IMHO), where His reign and dominion will be absolute.
“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:32-33).
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Randy Nettles
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