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ABSTRACT
This comparison of premillennial and amillennial readings of key portions of Revelation concludes that, at each point, the amillennial approach uniquely affirms Pentecostal values. With its call for the church to embrace its identity as a Spirit-empowered, prophetic community in Revelation 11, its clear presentation of the finality of judgment in Revelation 14, its emphasis on the presence of the kingdom and realized eschatology in Revelation 20, and, finally, its breathtaking vision of the consummation of God’s redemptive plan in Revelation 21-22, the amillennial approach provides a firm foundation for Pentecostal theology and practice. These ‘Pentecostal’ themes are missed or minimized in premillennial readings, which relegate the fulfillment of these texts to the distant, and often post-parousia, future.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Menzies, The End of History, 5–46.
2 Weber, ‘Popular Millennialist Movements,’ Loc. 542; Wacker, Heaven Below, 251–252.
3 See, for example, Simpson, The Four-fold Gospel, Loc. 680.
4 Menzies, The End of History, 22–26.
5 Ladd, The New Testament and Criticism, 171–194; Fee and Stuart, How to Read, 231–245; and Keener, Spirit Hermeneutics, 99–151.
6 Isgrigg, Imagining the Future; Thompson, Kingdom Come; McQueen, Pentecostal Eschatology; Althouse, ‘Left Behind,’ 187–207; Althouse and Waddell, eds., Perspectives in Pentecostal Eschatologies; Waddell, The Spirit of Revelation; Thomas and Macchia, Revelation. See excellent reviews of the literature in Isgrigg, Imagining the Future, 19–40 and McQueen, Pentecostal Eschatology, 5–59. A notable exception to the premillennial trend is Australian Pentecostal scholar, Jon Newton. Newton acknowledges that ‘nearly all classical Pentecostal denominations are officially premillennial,’ but states ‘there is no theological necessity for this connection’ (Revelation, 48).
7 Menzies, The End of History, 9–46.
8 Although early charismatics, such as Dennis Bennett, were thoroughly Pentecostal, the term ‘charismatic’ is now often used to speak more broadly of Christians who emphasize the power and gifts of the Spirit (essentially points 1 and 2 above) but are more flexible with respect to the relationship between tongues and Spirit baptism (point 3). For more on Pentecostal identity and theology, see Menzies, Pentecost and Menzies, Christ-Centered.
9 Menzies, Pentecost, 117–122.
10 Waddell, The Spirit of Revelation, 171.
11 For a survey of these identifications see Aune, Revelation 6–16, 599–603.
12 Waddell, The Spirit of Revelation, 150.
13 Beasely-Murray, Revelation, 184.
14 Waddell, The Spirit of Revelation, 174.
15 Waddell aptly states, ‘The entire ministry of the witnesses can now be seen as a replica of the ministry of Christ’ (The Spirit of Revelation, 181).
16 Waddell, The Spirit of Revelation, 174.
17 The Paraclete promises (John 14–16) appear to John’s way of speaking about the prophetic anointing received by the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. See Menzies, ‘John’s Place,’ 41–52. Note also that Richard Bauckham sees a distinction in Revelation between the ministry associated with the ‘Seven Spirits’ (from Zech. 4:1–14) and that of the Spirit, although both are inspired by the Holy Spirit. According to Bauckham, ‘the Spirit speaks through the prophets to the churches; the seven Spirits address the whole world through the churches’ (Bauckham, The Theology of Revelation, 118).
18 Horton, Ultimate Victory, Loc. 2598–2612, 2641.
19 Ladd, Revelation, 150.
20 Mounce, Revelation, 218, 225 respectively (italics mine). For a similar perspective, see Beasley-Murray, Revelation, 176–187.
21 Though, as I have noted, they are stridently anti-dispensational.
22 Isgrigg, Imagining the Future.
23 Isgrigg, Imagining the Future, 248–252.
24 Isgrigg, Imagining the Future, 251. We are not told how this view of post-mortem sanctification and reconciliation are to be reconciled with Hebrews 9:27 or John 5:28–29.
25 Yong, Mission after Pentecost, 241–248, 267; Thomas and Macchia, Revelation; Thompson, Kingdom Come.
26 Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 354, 619. See also the views of Allan Anderson and Amos Yong, to whom I respond, in my article, ‘Judgment as a Motivation for Missions,’ 7–27.
27 Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 621 (quote), 621–622.
28 Thompson, Kingdom Come. Thompson calls for Pentecostals to embrace an eschatology that is informed by a Wesleyan view of sanctification, Jürgen Moltmann’s theology of hope, and the Russian Orthodox perspective of Sergius Bulgakov.
29 For example, see Thompson, Kingdom Come, 101 (Eph 1:14); 120, (‘all truth’ and John 14:26; 16:13); and 151 (Luke 12:6–7).
30 Thompson, Kingdom Come, 100–108, 120, 131.
31 Thompson, Kingdom Come, 89–108.
32 Thompson, Kingdom Come, 155.
33 Thompson, Kingdom Come, 160n74.
34 Isgrigg (Imagining the Future, 241) quotes with approval Moltmann’s cryptic statement, ‘the church is eschatologically “parallel to Israel, and over against Israel”’ (Moltman, The Coming God, 199).
35 More traditional premillennial readings of Revelation 14 typically interpret the passage as a description of future events that immediately precede the end (e.g., Horton, Ultimate Victory, Loc. 3281).
36 Faupel, Everlasting Gospel, 20, 24.
37 Ladd, ‘Historic Premillennialism,’ 190.
38 Hoekema, ‘Amillennialism,’ 156 (citing Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors). These sections include: Chapters 1—3; 4—7; 8—11; 12—14; 15—16; 17—19; 20—22.
39 Hoekema, ‘Amillennialism,’ 156–157.
40 A case in point is the text we have previously discussed, Rev 11:1–13.
41 See especially pp. 47–84.
42 Beale, Revelation, 985–987.
43 Mark 3:22–27; Matt 12:22–30; Luke 11:14–23.
44 Ladd, Theology of the New Testament, 249–344, 397–614.
45 Note also that Satan is bound ‘to keep him from deceiving [planaō] the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended’ (Rev 20:3). Rev 12:9 declares, ‘The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray [planaō]’ (Rev 12:9). Rev 12:9, which parallels Rev 20:3, thus also presents Satan’s decisive defeat as taking place during Christ’s first coming.
46 John describes the church collectively, all of the faithful followers of the Lamb, as ‘martyrs’ (Rev 11:3, 7–10). This interpretation is supported by the juxtaposition of the descriptions, ‘They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark’ (Rev 20: 4) and ‘those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image’ (Rev 19:20). The former describes the saints in toto; the latter, all who are unrepentant and oppose God.
47 Wilcock, The Message of Revelation, Loc. 2552–2558.
48 For example, Thompson, Kingdom Come, 127: ‘Pentecostalism is millenarian …because amillennialism does not do justice to the earthly and future nature of the coming Kingdom of God.’
49 Waddell, ‘Apocalyptic Sustainability,’ 110: ‘The early Christians and the Jews before them expected an end to the “present world order” but not a cosmic end to the space-time universe.’
50 The notion that our world will be destroyed in a fire ball is an incomplete view of the future at best. This view is based on 2 Peter 3:10–13, where we read that ‘the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire.’ Yet the context here, which centers on judgment and the ‘destruction of ungodly men’ (2 Peter 3:7), suggests that what is said here parallels closely what is stated in Rev 21:22 of the New Jerusalem: ‘Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.’ In other words, the reference to the ‘elements’ being ‘burned by fire’ refers to the destruction of all that is impure. It is not a comprehensive statement about the future state of our world and all that is in it. How could it be, when we see that the New Jerusalem will contain its splendor?
51 Menzies, ‘Was John the Revelator Pentecostal?,’ 221–234.
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Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies (PhD, University of Aberdeen) has lived and served in China for most of the past three decades. He serves as the Director of the Asian Center for Pentecostal Theology (www.pentecost.asia).