Many theologians and biblical commentators misunderstand Revelation 20:1-6. This misinterpretation usually results from reading the text literally instead of symbolically. For example, the text states that Satan is bound for a thousand years. When properly interpreted symbolically, it does not mean a literal one-thousand-year period occurring before or after Christ’s second coming. In a nutshell, this passage concerns a period of time labeled a (or “the”) “thousand years” and refers to that large, indeterminate but definite number of years between the first and second comings of Christ. The length of this period of time is definite, but it is known only to God (Matt. 24:36).
The author of this article elsewhere explains the one thousand years of Revelation 20:1-6 and its relation to the second coming of Christ in this way.
The one thousand years referred to in Revelation 20:1-6 is a symbolic reference to the time period between the first advent and the second future advent of Christ. And when the thousand years are ended, there will be a brief period of significant tribulation for the Church followed by the second coming of Christ. At Christ’s second coming, the resurrection of all the dead, just and unjust, will occur, and Christ will judge the world, and the world will end, ushering in the new heaven and new earth. Christ will have subdued all His enemies, including death, and He will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, thus consummating the divine plan of salvation (1 Cor. 15:24-26).[1]
CONTEXT
Most biblical scholars believe that the Book of Revelation (“Revelation”) was penned by the apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. John wrote Revelation in the first century to the saints of the first-century churches in Asia Minor to comfort them in their world of persecution as they struggled against the evil of their largely pagan world. Revelation is written in a symbolic literary style that includes parallelism. The symbolism is anchored in the world of first-century Christians, which was full of pagan festivals, idols, superstitions, heathen customs, satanic temples, and all under the domination of Satan, though Satan’s power was not absolute (Acts 14:16).
The symbolic text of Revelation made understanding the meaning easier for the Christians of that day. Nevertheless, even though Revelation was written to the Christians of John’s day, it was also intended for all believers throughout the entire interadvental period, which includes Christians today and in the future until the Day of the Lord.
Correctly understanding Revelation requires our consideration of the contemporary conditions in the latter years of the first century while at the same time correctly interpreting the meaning of John’s symbolic text into today’s vocabulary.
VERSES 1-3
The first three verses of Revelation chapter 20 tell us of the binding of Satan for one thousand years. Verses 1-3 view the interadvental period from an earthly aspect. We should also understand “that the thousand years of Revelation 20 is a symbolic description of the entire church age.…and that Revelation 20 should not be understood as following chronologically from chapter 19.”[2]
Verse 1 tells of John’s vision of an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. This depicts the first advent of Christ as he descends to earth, ready to execute his immediate task, which was to bind Satan. We are told in verse 2 that Christ seized and then bound Satan for a thousand years. Verse 3 explains that Satan will remain bound so that he cannot dominate the nations until the thousand years ends a short time before the second coming of Christ. Then Satan will be loosed to deceive the nations during a short time of great tribulation just prior to Christ’s second coming.
When Christ began his ministry on earth, Satan made a vain effort to tempt Jesus. Christ’s power and authority to restrict the activities of Satan prevented Satan from dominating him as well as the hearts of human beings, as he had been doing. The preaching of the gospel of Christ replaced the lies of the deceiver, Satan, with the truth of the gospel. Thus, the gospel of Christ began to dominate the world, and the strength of Satan was greatly diminished, though not completely. Satan continues to tempt people during the interadvental period but those who accept the gospel of Jesus will not be dominated by Satan. Even though Christians occasionally sin, they are certainly not dominated by Satan’s power as before.
During the current age, the church age, if you will, Satan was bound by the truth of the gospel of Christ. The lies offered by Satan, the evil one, were confined to those who were left to their own corrupt devices. Satan and his demons knew of the superior authority of Christ and their ultimate defeat by Him. Throughout the entire church age, the dominion and influence of Satan and his demons will be significantly curtailed, though not absolutely. William Hendriksen wrote about this as follows:
[T]hroughout this present gospel age the devil’s influence on earth is curtailed. He is unable to prevent the extension of the Church among the nations by means of an active missionary program. During this entire period he is prevented from causing the nations― the world in general― to destroy the Church as a mighty missionary institution. By means of the preaching of the Word as applied by the Holy Spirit, the elect, from all parts of the world, are brought from darkness to light. In that sense the church conquers nations, and the nations do not conquer the Church. Throughout this entire period churches are established. Not only individuals but institutions and ordinances are affected more or less by the gospel of God’s grace. In regions where the devil had been allowed to exercise almost unlimited authority during Old Testament times, he is now compelled to see the servants of Christ gaining territory little by little. Within a comparatively brief period Christianity spreads throughout southern Europe. Soon it conquers the entire continent. During the centuries that followed it is proclaimed everywhere so that the ends of the earth hear the gospel of the crucified One and many bend the knee before Him.[3]
For the entirety of the “thousand years,” the church has and will expand through the missionary activity of preaching the gospel. The nations were and are unable to prevent the growth and expansion of the militant church, and people, institutions, governments, and laws were influenced throughout the known world. This expansion of Christianity replaced the widespread rule of pagan potentates that had predominated in the Old Testament world with political regimes sympathetic to biblical truth.
Unfortunately, the positive effects of the militant church during the “thousand years” will not convert even the majority of the world, as most who hear the gospel will reject it. Despite this, the Church has grown and will continue to grow, positively affecting society. But the world during the interadvental period will not, as some commentators suppose, become a Christian eutopia.
The “thousand years” will end a short time before the second coming of Christ, and Satan will be loosed and allowed by God to dominate the hearts of nations once more, much as he did before Christ’s first advent. Then, after a little while of satanic malicious mischief, Christ will come again and destroy Satan and all Christ’s enemies forever.
VERSES 4-6
Now we turn to Revelation 20:4-6. These verses look at the interadvental period from a heavenly aspect. The apostle John writes here about the heavenly reign of the saints. The saints reign with Christ in heaven for the interadvental period with authority given to them by Christ even as He received authority from God the Father. These saints are the disembodied souls of the believing dead who have persevered and confessed Jesus Christ during their earthly life (Rev. 2:26, 27). John particularly singles out the martyred Christians who died for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God (Rev. 6:9; 20:4). However, all the other saints who persevered in the faith were not excluded, since we read in verse 4, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
We know the reign of the saints is in heaven because that is where the thrones are located (Rev. 1:4, 3:21, 4:2). The souls of the saints, the disembodied souls, reign in heaven with Jesus until His second coming. Therefore, the souls of the saints reign for a limited time, but after Christ’s second coming, the resurrected saints, soul, and body, will reign forever and ever (Rev. 22:5). The thousand-year reign is in heaven where Jesus lives and is enthroned (Rev. 12:5).
Verse 5 makes a statement about “The rest of the dead.” This is referring to the unbelieving human beings who have died (the first death), but they did not participate in the first resurrection as did the believers. The first resurrection is best understood as the translation to heaven of the disembodied souls of believers.
Clearly, the unbelievers die the first death or that bodily, physical death experienced by all human beings. However, their souls remain in hell and do not go to heaven. Unbelievers do not experience this first resurrection spoken of here in verse 5. But the second death is experienced only by unbelievers at the second coming of Christ, and it is not bodily but spiritual death.
Therefore, believers, as well as unbelieving humans, die a bodily, physical death (the first death). After the first death, the disembodied souls of believers are translated to heaven to reign with Christ until His second coming while unbelievers go to hell. At Christ’s second coming, believers do not experience the second death, but unbelievers do experience the second death.
Both believers and unbelievers are resurrected at Christ’s second coming, and this is referred to as the general resurrection (referred to in verse 5 as the second resurrection for believers). At the final judgment after the general resurrection, unbelievers receive God’s eternal condemning wrath of spiritual death (the second death). Believers are saved from God’s wrath and do not experience spiritual death but are ushered into the new heaven and new earth to receive their inheritance and glorification and life with God for eternity.
Verse 6 affirms that the blessed and holy ones, that is, believers, share the first resurrection as they are translated to heaven. They are destined not to experience the second death as will be experienced by unbelievers. Here, we also are assured that the disembodied souls of believers will reign with God and Christ until the second coming of Christ.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation consists of four parts. The first two parts are found in verses 1-6. Verses 1-3, discuss the binding of Satan and are presented from an earthly aspect of the one-thousand years. Verses 4-6, discuss the saints’ reign with Christ in heaven and are presented from a heavenly aspect of the same period of time.
These verses, like the rest of the Book of Revelation, are written in symbolic language and therefore, must be interpreted as such.
Verses 1-3 use several symbols, namely, an angel, the key to the bottomless pit, a great chain, the Dragon, and a thousand years. The angel represents Jesus Christ. The key to the bottomless pit represents Christ’s divine authority over all things, including hell. The great chain refers to the divine commands of Christ. The Dragon refers to Satan. And a thousand years is a metaphoric reference to the large period of time, the length of which is known only by God, between the first and second advents of Christ.
Of course, Satan is a spiritual being and cannot be affected by metal keys and metal chains. But this vision metaphorically has Jesus Christ binding Satan with his divine key of authority as effected by the sacred chain that commands the curtailing of Satan’s actions.
One might correctly interpret verses 1-3 as follows. The apostle saw a vision of Christ coming to earth the first time, the first coming. Christ brought with Him the divine authority to make the divine commands necessary to subdue Satan until the second coming of Christ. Just before the second coming of Christ, Satan will be released again to deceive the world for a short period of time.
In verses 4-6, we see the heavenly aspect of the interadvental period. This portion of John’s vision occurs in heaven. First, John sees thrones in heaven on which the disembodied souls of believers sit with the honor of judging human beings and angels with Christ. Note that this is not eternal judgment, which is the responsibility of Christ at His second coming. The saints’ authority to rule in heaven is more in line with the Old Testament judges. These saints have been granted the right to sit on thrones beside Christ as he judges the humans and angels. The saints will judge more akin to governing, not sentencing to punishment (Matt. 19:28). They worship Christ and praise him for his righteous judgments. They sing about his righteous judgments and participate in His activities from the throne. They live with Christ (Rev. 7:9ff). They share in Christ’s glory.
We are told here that the unbelieving dead did not continue in spiritual life in heaven but instead remained in that location assigned to them by God until the general resurrection at the second coming of Christ.
The translation of the disembodied souls of believers to heaven to reign with Christ is called the first resurrection in verse 5. The saints are blessed and holy after the first resurrection and consequently will not see the second death, a spiritual death on judgment day. They will continue to reign with God in Christ until the second coming of Christ.
It is evident from this passage of Scripture that the one-thousand-year reign that premillennialists say lasts a literal one thousand years on earth after the second coming of Christ clearly is a misinterpretation of Revelation 20:1-6. This view of eschatology is an attempt at a literal rather than a symbolic interpretation of this symbolic text.
During this spiritual reign from heaven, Satan will lose his dominance of the hearts of human beings on earth and the gospel of Christ will dominate in the hearts of the elect believers in Christ. At the end of the “one thousand years,” Satan must be released for a little while (v. 4) and he will then gather the wicked nations against Christ. Christ will then defeat Satan and the wicked nations once and for all at His second coming.
[1] The One Thousand Years Error, www.christianinquiry.com, accessed September 9, 2023.
[2] Richard D Phillips, Revelation (P&R Publishing, 2017), 567.
[3] William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (Baker Books, 1940, 1967), 207.
