Thursday 20 October 2011

The Millennium

Long Time Passin'

"The thousand years (of Revelation 20:3) is to be understood as a symbolic number, denoting a long period. It is a round number, but stands for an indefinite period, an eon whose duration it would be a folly to attempt to compute. Its beginning dates from the great catastrophe of this book (Revelation), the fall of the mystic Babylon. It is the eon which opens with the going forth of the great Conqueror of Revelation 19:11-16, and continues until he shall have put all his enemies under his feet (I Corinthians 15:25). It is the same period as that required for the stone of Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 2:35) to fill the earth, and the mustard seed of Jesus' prophecy to consummate its world-wide growth (Matthew 13:31-32). How long the King of kinds will continue His battle against evil and defer the last decisive blow, when Satan shall be 'loosed for a little time' no man can even approximately judge. It may require a million years."

Milton Terry, Biblical Apocalyptics, cited by David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance, p. 507

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