Should the number 1000 in the Book of Revelation chapter 20 be interpreted literally?

Revelation 20:1-6 

Revelation 20:1-6 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.² And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,³ And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.⁴ 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.⁵ But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.⁶ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

I do want to deal with the issue of the 1000 here because it is in fact used in the Book of Revelation. It has to be dealt with.

Premillennialism teaches that there is a rapture of the saints before the 1000 years. That’s what a Millenium is – 1000 years. Premillennialism interprets Revelation 20 as referring to a literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth.

The pre-millennial is someone who believes that Jesus comes before the thousand year period. He believes Jesus is going to reign on the earth for a thousand years.

Conversely, the Amillennialist generally maintains that there is no literal millennium in Revelation chapter 20. That 1000 is figurative and refers to the time after the resurrection and ascension of Christ. To an Amillenialist, we are in the 1000 years now.

Post-millennialists, interpret the thousand years in Revelation chapter 20 literally. But they believe Jesus returns at the end of the millenium, where the premillenials believe he comes before.

So pre-millennial lists aren’t the only ones who have a literal interpretation of Revelation chapter 20.

But in my mind, the 1000 years reign mentioned in Revelation chapter 20 should not be interpreted as a literal 1000 years.

To properly interpret this passage, we need to see where else the Bible uses the number 1000. By understanding how it is used in other places in the Bible, we can get a handle on how the first century recipients of John’s Revelation wold have understood it.

Psalm 50:10 “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”

Psalm 84:10 “For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.”

Deuteronomy 32:30 “How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up.”

Certainly, we don’t take the number 1000 literally in these verses. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, bu the cattle on the 1001st hill are not his?

One day in the Lord’s courts is better than 1000 years elsewhere, but not better than 1001 years? Is one person literally chasing 100, and 2 people chasing 10,000?

No. The number 100 is used in these verses and others to represent a large number. It just means a large number. The scripture uses 1000 in these verses like a kid might say, “I stepped in a bee’s nest and I got stung a million times.”

Generally, it means more than a thousand or just a big number. And that’s the way the thousand in Revelation 20 has been interpreted.

Let’s look at Revelation 20:4 “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.“

Now the comparison isn’t self-evident in the passage until you recognize that the quotation that this particular quotation comes from an earlier place in Revelation chapter 6.

Revelation 6:9 King James Version (KJV) “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:”

Now, go back to Revelation 20:4 “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.”

So this is this, this is talking about the same group. Revelation 6:10-11 “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.“

So these martyrs, these are the ones who had been beheaded and there will be others who will be, beheaded because of the beastly elements found later in the Book of Revelation and been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image.

And so what’s being compared here is the short amount of time that those who are under the altar have to remain in this condition and don’t see their vindication as compared to the 1000 year reign that they’re going to have with Jesus.

Because the only ones who are reigning here in Revelation chapter 20 are those in fact who were beheaded.

So the comparison is here with those who were martyred because of the testimony that they held and the little while that they have to wait until the judgment is going to be made and the 1000 years that they are going to reign with Christ. There’s the comparison. It’s a short amount of time over against a long period of time.

It’s no problem at all to see that Revelation chapter 20, the thousand years, is a symbolic number representing either a period of great quality or a period of an extended period of time as compared to the time that they’re under the altar having to wait for this judgment for the vindication of their martyrdom.

What is the thousand year reign?

According to the premillennial-dispensationalist view that is popular in America, Jesus is going to return in a secret rapture and remove the saints, the believers and raise the dead saints. We go to heaven with Jesus.

For seven years there is a tribulation where the Antichrist reigns. Then Jesus returns to earth with the saints, conquers the Antichrist and reigns on earth for 1000 years.

But this view incorporates a lot of things which are not in this passage of scripture.

Well, what is it not? You should notice there is:

1. No mention of the second coming of Christ.
2. No mention of Jesus being on the earth.
3. No mention of a bodily resurrection.
4. No mention of a rapture.
5. No mention of people living in modern times—only mention of those in the early church who are persecuted (“beheaded because of their testimony”).  Paul, for example.

There is absolutely no scriptural reason to accept the pre-millenial view of a literal 1000 year reign of Jesus on earth.

For more information on the Book of Revelation, check out these two articles of mine:

http://godeeperbiblestudy.com/2019/05/3-secrets-to-understanding-the-book-revelation-in-the-bible

http://godeeperbiblestudy.com/2019/01/is-a-millenial-kingdom-coming