📖 Biblical Definition
The twentieth chapter of the Revelation, one of the most-discussed and most-contested chapters in Scripture. It unfolds in four movements: (1) the binding of Satan for a thousand years (20:1-3); (2) the thousand-year reign of Christ with the martyrs and saints (20:4-6); (3) Satan's release for a final rebellion (20:7-10), ending with his being cast into the lake of fire; and (4) the great white throne judgment, where the dead are judged out of the books according to their works, and death and Hades themselves are cast into the lake of fire (20:11-15). The interpretation of the thousand years is the dividing line among the major eschatological positions: premillennial (a literal future thousand-year reign after Christ's return), amillennial (the present church age is the symbolic thousand years between the cross and the return), and postmillennial (a future gospel-golden-age before the return). What is not disputed: the final judgment is real, the lake of fire is real, and the only safety is to have one's name in the book of life.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The millennium and final judgment chapter.
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The Apocalypse's chapter on the binding of Satan, the thousand-year reign of Christ with His martyrs, the loosing for a final battle, and the great white throne where the dead are judged from the books.
📖 Key Scripture
Revelation 20:4 — "And I saw thrones... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
Revelation 20:11 — "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away."
Revelation 20:15 — "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Reduced to chart-wars over millennial timing instead of received as a call to faithfulness under judgment.
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Premillennial, postmillennial, amillennial — the timing matters less than the warning. Whatever your chart, the great white throne stands. Books are opened. The lamb's-book-of-life is the only refuge. Live now in light of that day.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek chilia etē — thousand years.
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['Greek', 'G5507', 'chilias', 'thousand']
['Greek', 'G2920', 'krisis', 'judgment']
Usage
"Read Revelation 20 to be sobered by judgment."
"The book of life is the only refuge."