요한계시록에 나타난 무천년왕국에 대한 해석학적 쟁점(계 20:1-7)

The Hermeneutical Issues of Amillennial Kingdom in the Book of Revelation

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the interpretation of amillennialism mainly based on Revelation 20:1-7 with reference to the inner-contextual relation to the Book of Revelation. Having stated several issues for deciding reality of the millennial kingdom, this paper provides the hermeneutical bases of the amillennial perspectives. First of all, Revelation 20:1-7 should be interpreted symbolically, rather than literally. John employs numeral symbols such as 666 for the reality of anti-Christ and 7 for representing the power of the lamb, as well as the Holy Spirit. The chain and abyss should be understood as the metaphor for restrictions of the dragon. Secondly, the millennial kingdom begins with the ministry of Christ, including death and resurrection by the first coming of Christ rather than the second coming of Christ. The parousia, which is hardly identified as parousia, may have occurred at the final judgment day(cf. 16:6; 19:11-22; 20:7-10). The Christ event of first coming caused war between the dragon and the church; as well as to establish the kingdom of Christ. On one hand, Revelation 12 depicts the reality of the dragon who fell down by defeat in the cosmological heavenly war. On the other hand, Revelation 20 focuses on the same defeat of thedragon by the metaphor of binding with a big chain and restriction in the abyss. Thirdly, the millennial kingdom is the present reality, realized in the life of the church rather than the future reality after the second coming of Christ. The restriction of dragon in the abyss is a signal of millennial kingdom(20:3). There is shockingly no activity of the dragon, except chapter 12, in the Book of Revelation. John sees the present situation of that is reined by the power of Christ and at the same time persecuted by the beasts. Fourthly, Revelation 20:1-7, only states that the base of millennial kingdom should be treated as a new unit which redescribes the life of church before the final judgment and saving day by the second coming of Christ. Καὶ εἶδον (and I saw) is a literary device that refers to a switch over of the other aspect of the same visional event. The large context of Revelation 16- 20 shows the recapitulation of the final war between the army of Christ and the dragon(16:6; 19:11-22; 20:7-10). Before the last eschatological battle takes place, the dragon is already put into the temporary prison so called the abyss. Fifth, the millennial kingdom manifests the reality of heavenly aspects rather thanearthly aspects. In Revelation 20, the dragon is bound and directly put into the abyss. There is no indication that the millennial kingdom is literally established on the earth. The martyrs who sit on their thrones in the heavenly temple court function as a mirror that shows both the present suffering reality of the earthly church and the future glorious reality of the eternal kingdom. Finally, the aorist active verb ἔζησαν(they lived) does not give any clear indication of the general resurrection or bodily resurrection. John only mentions the first resurrection for the life of the martyrs in the heavenly temple. If all human beings participate in the second resurrection as bodily transformation in the eternal kingdom, the first resurrection must be understood as a spiritual or symbolic resurrection appeared in the heavenly vision.