There is this narrative I was taught during my youth while attending church. We’d often find ourselves thumbing through one book more often than any others — that book? Revelation.
The end time narrative was that at some point in time Jesus would come again — destroy all the bad people who weren’t keeping a specific day holy and bring all the good sabbath keeping people up there— somewhere. This somewhere in deep space was called heaven. While in heaven we would be given mansions— all our wishes granted and the job of looking over literal record books of who was naughty and nice. This apparently is going to take 1000 years, not less and not more. After this exact time was finished we would come back to heaven where the remains of the dead were now gone and a beautiful earth restored for us good people.
This odd doctrine was called the millennium and it comes directly from chapters 20-22 in the book Revelation. As I’ve studied the context, authorship, the culture of Rome and the writing style called apocalyptic writing this very frightening, odd book has actually become something very hopeful.
To understand these last chapters one must remember who the audience was. The audience was not 21st century people living in America calling themselves Christians. The actual audience were Jewish people, people who studied the Torah and knew the symbolism and narrative like the back of their hand.
So when this apocalyptic book begins referring to a tree and a garden a Jewish person is not think a someday heaven up there and a literal tree; rather; these people are seeing the deeper reference of the author who is looking back.
John is using past imagery to connect the past to the present. In the Garden of Eden the PLACE was less important than the condition and actions that happen. It was understood Eden was a state of being not a literal place.
And in this state of being the conflict occurs when mankind is deceived by power and knowledge. Mankind uses this power and knowledge to become like the gods and rather than use this new power for good— allow wisdom o steer it— mankind moves toward death until it escalates to an innocent life lost.
At the end of Revelation this tree comes into the narrative again with water and fruit to sustain the people. John is making a very real point that when these people choose the Christ path over the Roman one, they are eating from the tree of wisdom that their ancestors forsook. This state of being they call the New Jerusalem.
John borrows from other writers when describing this symbolic city, this state of being. He’ll borrow from Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah and some of the other minor prophets. All the imagery of course is symbolic.
The dragon is not a literal dragon but a power hungry empire driven by violence.
The woman is the Christ following, inclusive Jewish movement choosing non-violence and love to be their engine for growth.
The lake of fire, also symbolic, is a picture of evil being overthrown.
See, here’s the thing with literalizing SOME of the metaphors and not all. If one simply cherry picks one metaphor over the other to keep with an interpretation then they begin walking a very dangerous line. Cherry picking theology gets a bit subjective and less about the authorial intent and more about conserving a tribe’s interpretation over seeking honest truth.
When one understands it’s ALL symbolism used to present 1st century people with contesting images of two very different paradigms of being in the world then the book makes sense and can even be applied. When it is forcibly removed from context and author intent it becomes an odd mixture of zombie-apocalypse meets Left Behind fiction.
So back to the Millennium. The Hebrew word has a couple meanings. First of all the number always carried with it the idea of totality- perfecting something- being full or a long period of time that is not defined by quantity but quality. It’s a reference toward life more abundantly.
This word was also connected to a popular Jewish prayer of that time and still today entitled Aleinu Leshabeiach which speaks of the current cycle of pain God’s people were in and asking God to hasten the 1,000 years through Tukkun Olam- preparing the world. 1,000 years for the Jew was a symbolic number where things are set right. It would be like people today saying something like, “At some point the ocean will be clean again.” It’s a reference toward a long period of time.
Another point to remember is John is using a number that many other writers in the past have used. In Ezra chapters 7-9 it describes this period as a time Israel experienced a return back to Torah- back to life more abundantly and it’s of course described in a 1,000 year timeline. So for John and His people, the millennium meant a great deal to them. It was a time in which their God would begin to bring people back from bondage into freedom. It was a time when there was turmoil but it ended with resurrection. (Resurrection in that God’s people once again come back to life more abundantly) The Millennium is when people get it right.
While this time is happening the narrative reads that the dragon, again; a reference toward an empire drunk on power and violence, is locked away. To understand this metaphor I might ask someone how they would describe these times in history and their own lives when they overcame something extremely terrible yet looked back and realized new life was just around the conner?
One might look back over that experience and say things like “God definitely held me close there,” or “It was tough but I got through it.”
One might look over all those moments and say that God never left which is why we see this description of the people of in three ways:
- Times of persecution
- Those who choose to allegiance to the lamblike empire
- Those sit on thrones meaning reigning with God.
John describes this as evil being held back during these difficult times when they as a people were struggling to get back to wholeness. And when we finally see the end of it they feel this sense of victory. It’s actually a really beautiful picture.
And so the first resurrection can be understood as when Jesus followers move through these points in life, moving toward wholeness we experience resurrection. And when we experience resurrection we defeat evil!
That odd pit of fire that people grimace over — again— not literal. It’s not literal. What this means is that when we overcome these things, these movements that bring life, evil is defeated and you can live life fully again. You’re a new creation! You do what John and His people do- you open the books
You look back over your story and your judgment of where was God comes to a conclusion. You see where there was death, those people who deceived you, those people claiming to be friends, are now brought into the spot light. The people who truly did love you, stayed up late hours talking through the pain and brokenness rather than egging you on into more savage anger and guilt, those good people are obvious in your story and you can turn and say, “I’m so thankful for the life all of these moments have led me to.” The resurrection is the movement from the brokenness to understand how you’ve come to fullness.
The New Jerusalem that so many have interpreted as a literal city falling from the sky? Again, think deeper metaphor; pretend you’re Jewish.
Ezekiel 48:8-9 and 30-35 describes a state of being when his people experience healing as a city which is 1.5 miles in each side. It’s fiscally a large square. John essentially take that number and says, oh yeah, New Jerusalem will be a thousand times greater- 1,000= completeness. All of the promises made through the Old Testament will be fulfilled when this bigger and better state happens.
12,000 Stadia (1,400 miles in a cube) would cover a good chunk of America but it’s not a reference to America, it’s actually a reference to another power found in John’s time. This city has the approximate footprint, actual size of the entire land mass of the Roman Empire- large enough to encompass the world John knew.
And John describes this metaphorical square city falling down and landing on top of Rome. A better way to read this today would be that it REPLACES Rome. The way of Christ replaces the way of Rome. Peace replaces war. Love replaces violence. Justice replaces injustice.
And notice something else here about this city. It reads that there are three open gates on each side welcoming people inside it. Jesus told the woman at the well there was coming a day when there would no longer Jew nor Gentile but worshipers in spirit and truth- he was talking about this new thing, this new Kingdom he was in the process of planting!!! When this city replaces Rome— when the IDEALS and VALUES of Jesus replaces those of Rome and life is restored. John describes this as the sea turned to glass, no more death, tears, no sun, moon or stars needed- all references Isaiah also uses to refer to the thing God will do someday. When people get it right and experience real freedom.
And what does this city do?
In Revelation 22:1-2 it reads that there will be healing. And again, Joh uses images borrowed from Ezekiel 47 and Zechariah 14 where rivers were symbols of Eden where life is nurtured and restored.
So for John and his people this had obvious historical meaning. Their oppression under Rome did eventually fall and they experienced peace for a time. Yet, they fell back into cycles of brokenness. They are still waiting for New Jerusalem and Messiah to come and point the way toward life- toward New Jerusalem.
But here’s the beauty of the Christian faith- we’re not waiting anymore. We’re not waiting because Jesus pointed us toward life, healing, New Jerusalem. There is no better way to understand life which is why Jesus says no one can come to the Father but through me. He was telling readers that the way to this new thing, this new life, this New Jerusalem in found fully in Jesus’ teachings- the life, death, and resurrection.
And this is the crux, the tension of reading this book in our culture and taking a literalist, predictive view.
If this book is simply about future geo-political events than I miss the beauty of what Jesus was doing during his ministry. I miss the rich Hebraic traditions and the interesting 1st century historic connections.
If we take this book to simply revolve around a message of not dying and going to heaven some day then we are no better than the empires John described.
Remember, it was the Egyptians that sought immortality by burying their kings with golden treasures killing young children and shrinking their blood over his remains in an attempt to escape death.
It was the Babylonians and Persians and Greeks that constantly wrote of eternal life and a hereafter where virgins would wait on you day and night.
But think, where the Hebrew people? What mindset did they have?
They weren’t concerned with an after life or a golden ticket, predicting future geo-political events. Jesus followers were learning how to live fully in this life, bringing heaven to earth. They were learning how to pray the prayer, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Revelation 22:7
So while others are waiting for a someday where metaphorical cities fall from the sky and fiery pits burn enemies I’m choosing to walk the Christ path of repairing the world, brining Tikkun Olam.
Life here isn’t about some evacuation plan to simply leave this place. The plan is to make this place the kind of place you want to inhabit.
We are called to follow the lamb into the new creation.
I am one who is tired of the static of graphs, wars, and decoder rings. I am one who has decided to follow the lamb into New Jerusalem.