Revelation 20 and the Thousand Year Reign

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4)

The Bible reminds us that God is not the “author of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33), but there are some passages in the Scriptures that may give people some difficulty in understanding them. There is a great danger when studying the Scripture to interpret what one is reading based upon their bias or what some respected person has taught and not consider if what others have said is truly what is being taught in the Scriptures. When the Bible is being studied it should be done so with an open Bible and an open and honest mind/heart, desiring to understand what God would have us to know from His Word. We are commanded to “rightly divide” (“handle aright” ASV) the Word when we study, and this is definitely the case when studying Revelation 20. Some have taught from this passage that there will be a literal one-thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, not considering the highly figurative nature of the book of Revelation. Does the Scriptures support the view of a millennial reign on earth or is this another example of the figurative language being used throughout the book?

Before we examine the text let us notice the way the term “thousand” is used in other passages. In Deuteronomy 7:9, God is described as a “faithful God” that keeps His covenant to a “thousand generations.” If we apply the use of “thousand” in this passage as some have done in Revelation 20 would this mean that God is not faithful to the thousand and first generation? In Job 9:3, man is unable to contend with God and that “he cannot answer him one of a thousand.” Does this passage imply that man can contend with God after the thousand attempts have been made or should the “thousand” be used as figurative language to suggest something differently? Also, in Psalm 50:10, the cattle upon a thousand hills belong to God, so to whom do the cattle on the remaining hills belong? It is evident that the word “thousand” is a word that is used throughout the Bible that is used in a figurative manner, and as it pertains to Revelation 20 it should be used in the same manner as the rest of Scripture.

Another point that should be made regarding the book of Revelation that may aid in the study of chapter 20 is the entire book of Revelation is filled with symbolic language. Throughout the book of Revelation there are locusts, horses and horsemen, dragons, beasts, frogs, horns, etc. which are not to be taken as literal language but are images that are used to convey the message of God to Christians that were under imminent threat from the Roman government and these figurative depictions could be used to conceal from the Romans while at the same time reveal to the Christians the truth of God’s Word. The first verse of Revelation should give indication to the reader that the things that are discussed in this book are highly figurative. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:” (Revelation 1:1;emphasis mine). The word signified in the Greek language is a word that carries the idea of something that is used to give a sign or symbol, it is something that is indicated by a sign and should be considered figurative and not literal.

With all of these preliminary thoughts in mind, what is Revelation 20 all about? If one wanted to give a title to the twentieth chapter of Revelation may I suggest that it could be “God Wins!” In the previous chapters, 16-19, there has been depicted a great battle that has taken place, and the conclusion to that battle is found in chapter twenty. Satan is bound, the saints reign with Christ, and God wins in the final Judgment! What a great message for the original readers of this book, as well as those that will read this message in the future. Although Satan has corrupted and deceived many, and although the outcome looks dark, God wins the victory and the great enemy, Satan, will be ultimately defeated.

There are four major sections of this chapter that describe the victory of God. The first section deals with the binding of Satan (verses 1-3). It is in this section that Satan is thrown into a bottomless pit and placed there for one thousand years (a term that is used to describe an infinite or complete amount of time). The second section (verses 4-6) describe the saints reigning with Christ. In this vision, John sees souls of those that had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, for the Word of God, and had not worshipped Satan. The things being described in this section are written in order to comfort those that were under persecution, encouraging them to be faithful regardless of the consequences. The third section (verses 7-10) describes the loosing of Satan. Satan is seen as going about to deceive the nations of the earth and surrounding the people of God, but just as doom seems obvious the fatal blow is delivered, and Satan is cast into the lake of fire forever. The fourth and final scene in this chapter is the final judgment (verses 11-15). The Judge of all is seen sitting on His throne and judging from the books. Those that did not have their names written in the book of life are cast into the lake that burns with fire, and it is in this section that one can understand that the victory belongs to God!

Dear reader, God has granted the victory. His Son offers for all to partake in this victory by shedding His blood for the remission of sins. Obey the commands of Jesus, have your name written in the book of life, and be prepared to enjoy the victory of God!