Isaiah Was An Amillennialist

by on April 30, 2026 | Comment

Isaiah’s apocalypse poem does more than tell us who will be saved in the Last Days. It offers perspective on the question of the millennium: when will the Kingdom of God come and how will it appear? As the nations continue to rage, and the church seeks to find its place amid their warring, this question remains prevalent.

To this end, Calvin’s observation about the Lord working through Zion, rather than Zion doing the work, is an important place to start. Based on 24–27, it would not seem that Isaiah envisions a world of pre-Second Advent glory, nor of an earthly post-Coming reign. Rather, Isaiah sees a time of bitterness and gloom where the saints are few and God’s judgment is brought upon the earth (ch. 24), followed by feasting and celebration, the curse conquered and the death-blow dealt to death (ch. 25). This pattern is largely repeated in 26–27. God’s people are saved, his enemies are destroyed.

This small remnant seen especially in chapter 24 is important in understanding Isaiah’s distinctly non-Post-Millennium vision. It is counterintuitive that the few inhabitants mentioned in Isaiah 24:6 could produce with their voices songs that are heard over all the earth (v. 16)—it is clearly a work of God’s hand, in salvation and in judgment. Surely, men will not bring about the triumph of the Kingdom of God, not as they are described here in Isaiah as a small number, scattered (v. 1) and dwindling (v. 4).

In addition to this gloomy picture is the City of Chaos itself. Though often translated as the City of Chaos, the ruined city, or the wasted city, the Hebrew construct in question might be better rendered “the formless city.” Tohu is the same word used in Genesis 1:2 when the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters of an earth that is “formless” and empty. Tohu is used often to refer to or to suggest a breakdown of order or a reversal of roles, and that is exactly what is pictured here. This City of Chaos is the antithesis of man’s achievements. Humans build, create, order, and fill the earth with great cities, grand monuments, and sprawling infrastructures. But this city is formless, desolate, barren. Described in Isaiah’s vision is the opposite of what humankind was called to do in the creation mandate: to fill the earth and subdue it. Here, people are scattered and few and they live in a city of emptiness. This is not Post-Millennium Glory.

It would be difficult from this text to draw the conclusion that any kind of grand earthly reign of the church will take place before or after the Second Coming of Christ, and it is worth noting that Isaiah himself would not have had context for two separate advents. His prophecy has no timeline for the events foretold (e.g. the virgin birth, the raising up of the suffering servant, the resurrection of the dead, etc.). And yet, in Isaiah 24:23, we are told that the Lord will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and we know that Mount Zion refers to the place of the church, yes, even the church entering into eternal rest.

Read more»

Mary Van Weelden | “No Room for Post-Millennialist Optimism: Considering the Saints and the City of Chaos in Isaiah 24–27” | Modern Reformation | April 17, 2026

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