Christian theologians have developed several different interpretations of the 1000 year reign as described in the book of Revelation. As we examine Revelation 20:1-7, we will present our interpretation of the 1000 year reign and will support our views with Scripture. To better understand this concept, we first need to examine the timetable of the binding and loosing of Satan. We hold the conviction that Satan was bound on the Day of Pentecost, which occurred 50 days after Jesus died on the cross. The link below will link you to a document explaining the concept of the binding and loosing of Satan.
Satan is Bound for 1000 Years
The first four verses of Revelation 20 describes the binding of Satan, the purpose for that action, and includes a time period described as 1000 years.
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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."
Revelation 20:1-3
As stated in our introduction, we hold that Satan was bound on the Day of Pentecost and is an event which occurs simultaneously with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. This view harmonizes and is supported by the statement made in Rev. 20:3 which declares that the purpose for the binding of Satan is so that he "should deceive the nations no more". In John16 we read that the Holy Spirit could not be sent to minister to mankind until after Jesus was to die on the cross.
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." John 16:7-8
In John 16 Jesus is teaching us that the Holy Spirit will "reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment". The English word "reprove" is a translation of the Greek word "elegcho". It means to convict, refute, correct, rebuke, or convince. It is also what a judge does when judging. In Rev. 20:4 we will again see that the act of judging is mentioned.
I Saw the Souls of Them That Were Beheaded
In Revelation 20, after Satan was bound and cast into the bottomless pit, John sees the "souls of them who were beheaded" and they are living in heaven with Christ for 1000 years. He then calls this event the first resurrection.
"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
John saw the souls of people that had once been living in the world, but are now living in heaven with the Lord. In 2 Corinthians we read that to be present in the body is to be absent from the Lord, and to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6-8
These souls are with Christ in heaven because they have been redeemed from the world by Christ and they now belong to God. Because they have been redeemed, they cannot carry the mark of the beast on their foreheads and hands. This further supports the view that these souls are no longer living on earth.Notice this passage is making a clear distinction between those who have been redeemed from the world and are present with the Lord, and those who are found with the mark of the beast.In other words, their eternal destinies have been sealed. To have a mark on the forehead signifies to be owned. In Revelation chapter 7 we read about the angels who seal God in the foreheads of those He redeems.
"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
Revelation 7:2-3
The souls John sees are sitting on thrones because they are reigning with Christ and they are also given the privilege of judging.
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." Rev. 20:4
When a true believers is born again, he becomes a part of God’s holy priesthood and reigns with Christ.
"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5:10"Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you." 1 Corinthians 4:8
The First Resurrection
In verse 5 John declares:
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."
First let's examine the expression "first resurrection". As explained at the beginning of this study, the souls John sees are all those who had died saved and went to to be with the Lord. In Matthew 27 we find an account of a resurrection that occurred at the moment when Christ yielded up the ghost on the cross.
"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Matthew 27:50-53
In 1 Corinthians we read:
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:20-26
Here we see that Christ had to be the first one to be resurrected. The moment Christ died at the cross, he was resurrected being the firstfruit, after which all those who had been in their graves were then resurrected with him. "Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." Once Christ had died at the cross and was resurrected, from then on out, all those who die saved experience this "first resurrection" when they leave their bodies and go to be present with the Lord in heaven. However, this has to be called the "first resurrection" because they do not receive their glorified bodies until Judgment Day.
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28-29
"To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." 1 Thessalonians 3:13
The second death is eternal damnation. Because these souls have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, they will never have to face the possibility of being judged and banished into hell. They are blessed and holy.
"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." Rev. 20:6
If we are correct in our interpretation that the souls that are living and reigning with Christ in heaven are all those who had died and were redeemed up until the time when Jesus went to the cross, then the "rest of the dead" mentioned here have to be all those who died as children of God after the cross. They are not resurrected until the Last Day when Christ comes to rapture His Elect.
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28-29
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
They Shall Be Priests of God and of Christ
"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. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison."
Rev 11:20-6-7
Why are these souls in heaven called priests? Priests are responsible for bringing the Word of God to their congregations, ministering to its members, conducting holy services, and building up their churches. Priests are not ordinarily responsible for conducting any business outside of the church. It is our view that these "priest" of Christ who are in heaven are responsible for assisting Christ along with His Holy Spirit in building up all the New Testament churches that would rise up during the entire New Testament period. This period ends when Satan is loosed, which in turn launches the beginning of the great tribulation period as mentioned in Matthew 24. Also consider that verse 6 states that they shall be priests of God and of Christ. The fact that John uses the expression "of God and of Christ"? could further supports our view that these souls are assisting both Christ and the Holy Spirit in the work of building up all the New Testament churches.
A question then arises here. If Satan was loosed 1000 years after Christ died on the cross, then would he not have been loosed around the year 1000 A.D.? All numbers in the Bible have a significance. For example, the number 2 signifies the church; the number 3 signifies the purpose of God; the number 4 signifies universality; the number 5 signifies God’s grace or judgment; the number 6 signifies work; the number 7 signifies perfection or totality; the number 8 signifies redemption or salvation; the number 10 signifies the completeness of whatever is in view; and there are other numbers. When we take the number 10, and multiply it by 10 twice, we get to the number 1000. Since the number 10 signifies the completeness of whatever is in view, when we multiply the number 10 by 10 twice, we can interpret this to mean that God is emphasizing the total completeness of whatever is in view. The expression “1000 years”, therefore, can be understood to represents the complete amount of time that God will need to complete His work of building His church. This kind of mathematics can be Biblically validated when we study the passage in Matthew 18:21."Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."
Matthew 18:21-22
Jesus did not have in mind that after we forgive someone 490 times that we stop at 491. But rather that we are to forgive our brother 7 X 7 X 10. That would signify that we forgive our brother a perfectly, total, and complete amount of times.
After 1000 Years Satan is loosed
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Rev 20:7-8
If these souls lived and reigned with Christ for 1000 years, and their reign started at our Lord’s death on the cross, doesn’t that mean their reign would have ended around the year 1000 A.D.? All numbers in the Bible have a significance. For example, the number 2 signifies the church; the number 3 signifies the purpose of God; the number 4 signifies universality; the number 5 signifies God’s grace or judgment; the number 6 signifies work; the number 7 signifies perfection or totality; the number 8 signifies redemption or salvation; the number 10 signifies the completeness of whatever is in view; and there are other numbers. When we take the number 10, and multiply it by 10 twice, we get to the number 1000. Since the number 10 signifies the completeness of whatever is in view, when we multiply the number 10 by 10 twice, we can interpret this to mean that God is emphasizing the total completeness of whatever is in view. The expression “1000 years”, therefore, can be understood to represents the complete amount of time that God will need to complete His work of building His church. This kind of mathematics can be Biblically validated when we study the passage in Matthew 18:21."Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."
Matthew 18:21-22
Satan is Loosed
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle."
Revelation 20:8
Why do these souls who are with Christ stop reigning as priests after the 1000 years has expired? As you can see their reign ends when Satan in loosed from the bottomless pit. Their mission to assist Christ in building up the New Testament churches ends when Satan is loosed because it is at this time when God uses Satan to begin His judgment process on these churches. God reaches the moment in His timetable where He must divorce Himself from His churches, punish, and destroy them. History repeats itself in that just as God reached His timetable during the Old Testament period when He divorced Himself from ancient Israel, judged, and destroyed her, He must begin that process with the New Testament churches. The main difference here is that the ultimate destruction of all these churches occurs simultaneously along with the destruction of the universe on the Last Day when Christ makes His appearance on the coulds of Glory.