Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

c. This theory is also in flagrant opposition to the Scriptural representation of the
great events of the future, namely, the resurrection, the final judgment, and the end of
the world. As was shown in the preceding, the Bible represents these great events as
synchronizing. There is not the slightest indication that they are separated by a
thousand years, except this be found in Rev. 20:4-6. They clearly coincide, Matt.
13:37-43,47-50 (separation of the good and the evil at “the end,” not a thousand years
before); 24:29-31; 25:31-46; John 5:25-29; I Cor. 15:22-26; Phil. 3:20,21; I Thess. 4:15,16;
Rev. 20:11-15. They all occur at the coming of the Lord, which is also the day of the Lord.
In answer to this objection Premillenarians often suggest that the day of the Lord may
be a thousand years long, so that the resurrection of the saints and the judgment of the
nations takes place in the morning of that long day, and the resurrection of the wicked
and the judgment at the great white throne occurs in the evening of that same day. They
appeal to II Pet. 3:8... “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day.” But this can hardly prove the point, for the tables might easily be
turned here. The same passage might also be used to prove that the thousand years of
Rev. 20 are but a single day.
d. There is no positive Scriptural foundation whatsoever for the Premillennial view
of a double, or even a three- or fourfold resurrection, as their theory requires, nor for
spreading the last judgment over a period of a thousand years by dividing it into three
judgments. It is, to say the least, very dubious that the words, “This is the first
resurrection” in Rev. 20:5, refer to a physical resurrection. The context does not
necessitate, nor even favor this view. What might seem to favor the theory of a double
resurrection, is the fact that the apostles often speak of the resurrection of believers only,
and do not refer to that of the wicked at all. But this is due to the fact that they are
writing to the churches of Jesus Christ, to the connections in which they bring up the
subject of the resurrection, and to the fact that they desire to stress the soteriological
aspect of it, I Cor. 15; I Thess. 4:13-18. Other passages clearly speak of the resurrection of
the righteous and that of the wicked in a single breath, Dan. 12:2; John 5:28,29; Acts
24:15. We shall consider this matter further in the following chapter.
e. The Premillennial theory entangles itself in all kinds of insuperable difficulties
with its doctrine of the millennium. It is impossible to understand how a part of the old
earth and of sinful humanity can exist alongside of a part of the new earth and of a
humanity that is glorified. How can perfect saints in glorified bodies have communion
with sinners in the flesh. How can glorified saints live in this sin-laden atmosphere and
amid scenes of death and decay? How can the Lord of glory, the glorified Christ,
establish His throne on earth as long as it has not yet been renewed. The twenty-first
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