“REVELATION: DOES IT DESCRIBE OUR DAYS?” SERIES
#1: “Five Views of Revelation” (Part 1)
INTRO:
In spite of John’s words in the very first verse of the “revelation” Jesus gave him
– “the things that must soon take place” – here we are 2,000 years later seeking to
apply his apocalyptic words to our day.
I used the word “apocalyptic.” You’ve heard it before. What is its meaning? It’s
an adjective commonly describing or prophesying the complete destruction of the world.
John’s first and second century readers applied it to their world just as we apply it
to ours. The question today is: “Does it apply to their world or ours, or does it apply in
some way to both?”
Over the centuries, five distinct views of John’s Revelation have developed, most
of them out of an interpretation and placement of the millennium or “thousand years” of
chapter 20 and the so-called “seven years of tribulation” leading to “the battle of
Armageddon.” Hence, their designations are:
1. Historic Premillennialism;
2. Dispensational Premillennialism;
3. Post Millennialism;
4. A-Millennialism;
5. and Preterist.
This morning I’ll give an overview of three – historical premillennialism,
dispensational premillennialism, and amillennialism.
Some believe the millennium is to be taken literally, and some believe it
represents a long period of time. Some believe we are in the millennial era now, and
some believe the millennium will begin when Jesus comes in the clouds.