The Thousand Years in Revelation

              The issue of the “thousand year reign” or millennialism has sometimes come up in the book of Revelation. Those who teach a millennial reign of Christ teach that after the second coming of Christ, he will reign on earth for a literal thousand years, Christians will be resurrected and reign with Christ.

              However, Gordon Ferguson in his book on Revelation Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory rightly points out, “if we insist on making the thousand years literal, why are not the key to the abyss, the great chain, the beast, etc. also literal?” (Ferguson, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, pg. 148) On the other hand, if we understand Revelation as a persistently metaphorical and image-laden book, we can also understand the thousand year reign as metaphorical.

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.” (Rev 20:1-3)

Ferguson points out that the point here is that “Satan had to be bound in order to stop his horrifying actions against the first-century disciples of the Lamb. When his three allies met their demise, he was then limited in some way, to some degree…The Abyss…is the residing place of the demonic forces.” (Ferguson, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, pg. 149) So Satan is bound, or at least limited, in some way, for a time. In Ferguson’s interpretation Satan is like a chained dog with a limited leash here. In other words, his power is not entirely undone, but he is limited in the scope of his power, due to the work of Christ (see Matthew 12:29 and Luke 10:17-18). The “thousand years” simply signify a long period of time (10 X 10 X 10), a thousand being the ultimate number of completeness. “It is not to be taken literally any more than the other numbers in Revelation.”

Jude speaks of the “binding” of powers of darkness in a similar way:

And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. (Jude 1:6)

When Jude talks about these powers bound does he mean that powers of darkness have been utterly bound, having no power on earth? Of course not. We still see the effects of evil on this world. Yet, in some sense, the powers of darkness have been limited on earth.

              As we keep reading in Revelation, we get more information about this metaphorical thousand year reign:

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years had ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

The persecuted and killed Christians are now reigning with Christ on earth. In Ferguson’s interpretation this is “a symbolic way of showing the victory of their Cause. The scene reminds us of 11:11-12, where the two faithful witnesses who appeared to be dead were raised to life. Their apparently dead Cause was resurrected by the power of God. The symbols are similar in both passages and are the same in the lesson being conveyed: God’s martyrs will not have given their lives in vain, because their movement will triumph over Satan. When he is bound for this long period of time (a thousand years), their Cause is brought back to life. John calls this the ‘first resurrection’ to distinguish it from the physical resurrection of the dead at the end of time…The ones who had seemed to be defeated were reigning with Christ, while the cause of the once victorious heathens was now lying dormant.” (Abid., pg. 151)

Ferguson sees the same description of both a physical and spiritual resurrection in John 5:25 and 5:28-29. The rest of the dead remaining dead (20:5) means the persecutor’s “Cause” will remain in defeat for a thousand years to be revived for a short time and then defeated again (20:7-10).

This is not the first time in scripture we get a metaphysical, rather than literal, depiction of resurrection. We see this famously in Ezekiel 37, referring to the nation of Israel, and also in Isaiah 26:13-14, 19.

Yet, Satan will once again have worldwide success. In 20:7-10, we see Satan let loose for the famous Armageddon battle. There will again be a worldwide persecution of Christians, perhaps the “Beast” of something akin to emperor worship. “Gog and Magog” in 20:8 are “representative of nations deceived by Satan.” (Abid., pg. 154) These names are taken from Ezekiel 38 and 39. Magog is the land over which the prince God rules, and in 39:6, Magog seems to be the name of a people. These enemies of God will surround the people of God to destroy them, but they will instead be defeated. (see 2 Ths 1:7-8)