A.) This is the emphasis: ORDER of EVENTS
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father,
when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
1 Cor 15:20-26
B.) His Second Coming has not yet occurred - therefore the Thousand Year Period has not yet occurred.
Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands.
And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share 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. Revelation 20:5-6
C.) After the Thousand Years have expired - Revelation 20:7-8
When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
D.) The last enemy, Death, will be finally destroyed - Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.
And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Question
Is Revelation 20 suppose to be interpreted literally or symbolically? What about the 1000 years?
Answer
There are many views of the millennium, or thousand-year period (
Rev. 20:1-6). The three most prominent are Pre-Millennialism (Pre-Mill); Post-Millennialism (Post-Mill); and Amillennialism (A-Mill). In general, Pre-Millennialism believes the millennium begins after the Second Coming of Christ. In Post-Mill (meaning, "after the millennium"), the assertion made is that the millennium occurs toward the end of the church age. In the A-Mill, view we assert that the millennium was: (1) inaugurated in Christ's life, death, resurrection and ascension; (2) continues through the church age; and (3) then is consummated at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Those in the Pre-Mill camp normally look at Revelation and take it literally. However, can a chain literally hold the Devil? (
Rev. 20:1). What kind of lock or seal is John referring too? Of course, we should also ask what is a Dragon as well? Is this to be literally interpreted too? Apparently not, as the Apostle John also refers to him as "that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan" (
Rev. 20:2). In other words, John sees the Dragon as the serpent in the Garden (
Gen. 3:1), who is the equivalent of the Devil or Satan. So, John himself says he is using the word symbolically. Since this is the case, then shouldn't 1,000 years be interpreted symbolically too?
The book of Revelation contains multiple visions. Since this is the case, the Apocalypse uses a lot of symbolism. For instance:
(to see list of symbols click on the article link at the end--could not post all because of word count limit)
While the list above is not by any means exhaustive, every chapter of the book of Revelation contains symbolism; this includes Revelation 20. So, one applying literal interpretation methods will necessarily misinterpret the entire book.
1,000 years should also be interpreted symbolically. There are many reasons for this: (1) the figurative use of numbers in the Apocalypse (
Rev. 5:11;
7:4-9;
9:16;
14:1;
21:16); (2) the figurative use of other terms (chain, abyss, dragon, serpent, locked, sealed, etc.) in Revelation 20; (3) the figurative use of 1000 in the Old Testament (
Deut. 1:1-11;
7:9;
32:30;
Josh. 23:10;
Job 9:3;
33:23;
Pss. 50:10;
68:17;
84:10;
Eccl. 6:6;
Song 4:4;
Isa. 7:23;
Isa. 30:17; and especially
1 Chron. 16:15-17 =
Psa. 105:8-10, where God's "covenant forever" and "everlasting covenant" are equated with "the word which He commanded to a thousand generations"). See Greg Beale in
The Book of Revelation (The New International Greek Testament Commentary, Eerdmans).
Related Questions:
Other reasons Amillennialism is correct?
Answer by
Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr.
Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at
Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).
https://thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/46755
