1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 ;And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 ;and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
Is this a figurative or literal 1000 years?
Scripture, reasoning, proof?
I say figurative. The reasons I say figurative are many.
First, prophecy in scripture as a genre is generally figurative, laden with symbols and allegorical meaning
(even when it can also be taken literally). Next, the literal reading runs into conflict with the infinite nature of divine might and sovereignty. Simply put, there is never a place nor a time when God is not God and almightily sovereignly ruling and reigning over all creation. He is God. The Creator created creation. To suggest there is any kind of limitation to that mightily sovereign rule is to contradict the definition of
God. It does not matter whether the reign is limited to a thousand days, a thousand years, a thousand centuries, or a thousand millennia. God is ALWAYS reigning. After that we have the fact Satan was elsewhere said to have been bound in multiple ways at multiple times. To the degree the thousand-year reign of Christ is correlated to a binding of Satan, scripture provides multiple reports that has already happened. Furthermore, the correlation of Christ's millennial reign and Satan's specific binding (the binding in Rev. 20 is very specific) is a correlation between the aforementioned Creator and a
created creature. There is never a single moment anywhere in all of creation where the Creator is not reigning over the creature -
all creatures. The dichotomy between Creator and creature is
categorical, categorically different. There is not and cannot be any comparison. In addition, all the mentions of time in scripture occur within the fact the Creator is extra-temporal. He exists external to creation and is not in any way shape or form bound by the limitations of time experience here on earth (nor those existing in the heavens, either). This is simply another avenue back to the fact God (Father
and Son) is always and everywhere reigning. Notice the text of Revelation 20 never explicitly states Jesus has left heaven and come to the earth physically. That interpretation is entirely inferential. Nowhere in the preceding chapter is it ever reported Jesus is physically leaving heaven and physically coming to earth. How then can he rule on earth for a literal thousand years if he is not physically on the earth? In point of fact, the book of Revelation
repeatedly states Jesus is enthroned in heaven and the events that occur in the heavens and on the earth are commanded from heaven. Jesus is never explicitly reported to have left heaven and explicitly report to come to earth in the entire book of Revelation until chapter 21. Not even when he is writing the white horse does scripture actually state he leaves heaven. Lastly, for now, if the text is to be read literally then it must be read literally
consistently. That means verses like Rev. 20:4 should be read literally and that would mean headless people reign with Jesus. There will also have to be countries literally called Gog and Magog because those countries ceased to exist long, long ago. The logical necessity being that if
Israel is literally returning to the geography of earth, then so to must the return of Gog and Magog. It is inconsistent to say, this portion of this sentence is literal, but that portion of that sentence is figurative.
The mention of a "
thousand years" is, therefore, simply a figure of speech intended to communicate Jesus reigns over everything; always has and always will. The creature called Satan is and has always been a minion.
Now, if you're amenable, I have a question I'd like to add to the thread because it can/should inform both the question asked in the op and its answer.
Revelation 1:17-19
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore, write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
John was directed to write down things he'd seen (the vision of Revelation had not yet been given when he was told to do that so the "
things which you have seen" cannot refer to the vision's contents. They must refer to events or conditions John had seen prior to the giving of the vision. John was also told to write down "
the things which are." These are things that existed at the time the vision of Revelation was provided, not events or conditions that were
going to occur in the future. These were things that
are, not things that will be. The things that would occur in John's future is the third part of what he is directed to write down, the "
things that will take place after these things." The things that will take place after what John has already previously seen prior to the giving of the vision and things that existed at the time the vision was given.
Therefore, without being to exacting, roughly a third of Revelation had already happened. A third of the vision's contents and the things John was directed to write down were events and conditions he'd already seen. Roughly a third of Revelation describes "
things that are," or events that were happening or conditions that existed at the time the vision was given. And, therefore, only a rough third of Revelation describes events that would come after these things. [Only] A third of Revelation is about John's future
if Revelation 1:19 is read literally. If the verse (Rev. 1:19) previously asserted by Jesus himself is not correctly applied to everything that comes afterwards then frequent mistakes are likely.
The question is this:
Into which of the three categories (John's past, John's present, or John's future) does Revelation 20:1-3 fall into? Are we to read Rev. 20:1-3 as something John had already seen, something that existed at the time Revelation was revealed, or something that would come after what John had seen and what was when the revelation was given?
Is this a figurative or literal 1000 years?
Well, if Revelation 1:19 is taken literally then it's critically important to know whether Rev. 20:1-3 was something that fell into the things John had seen, the things that were, or the things that would come after those things.
- Does scripture elsewhere report Satan's binding as a past or current event/condition?
My answer to that question is "
Yes." The angel tradition says is Satan was reported to have been stripped of all his glory and cast down in Isaiah. Jesus himself reported he saw Satan fall when his disciples preached the gospel. Jude uses past-tense language when it explicitly states angels who did not keep their proper abode
have been held in bonds of eternal darkness. Jesus explicitly stated all his power and authority was given to the disciples for the purposes of making disciples of all the nations, teaching them his commands and Paul reported the gospel had been reported throughout all creation. References provided upon request.
