John Piper asked some teachers to remain after the Desiring God conference for a panel discussion on the three views of the millennium in Revelation 20. The audio, video, etc., can be found here. Sam Storms argues the amillennial view based on Paul’s description of the abolishment of death in 1 Cor. 15 (“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” v. 26, ESV). His interpretation of Revelation 20 is the same as what I’ve read from B.B. Warfield: the millennial reign of the saints refers to the martyrs in the “intermediate state”, before the throne of God above. Doug Wilson argues the Post-millennial view, declaring that we are moving towards a “Golden Age” where the Gospel will have a literal reign on the earth. Jim Hamilton argues the historical Pre-millennial view. His interpretation of Revelation 20 is something that you “make room for”, and “use your imagination”. He says that just as the Gospels say Judas was hanged, but Acts says he “fell headlong”; and in the same way, his interpretation of Revelation 20 does not require conformity with the rest of Scripture (e.g. what Paul and Jesus say), but is something that can be added. John Piper tries to hold it all together and maintain unity through it all.
The two-hour session is a good overview for the different perspectives for those who don’t know where they stand as well as those who have picked a team but need to know more about what the others say.
