Revelation 20 Footnotes

20:1-3 Satan (the dragon of Revelation) is incarcerated in the abyss for a thousand years. Some evangelicals believe that the reference to “a thousand years” is merely figurative for a long period of time. Others think it speaks of a literal period of a thousand years. Still others think that John saw a vision of a thousand years but that it is impossible to know how the apocalyptic image will actually be fulfilled.

20:4-6 Some evangelicals, following the natural order of the text, believe that the “a thousand years” will come after the second coming of Christ. Others believe that this millennium will be a recapitulation of the time prior to the second coming, viewing it from a different perspective. Among those who take the recapitulation approach, some believe that the reign of Christ is through the church now, spiritually, for a long period of time, taking “a thousand years” as a generalization. Still others believe that the preaching of the gospel will bring about virtual worldwide conversion and a golden era of dominant biblical values lasting a thousand years.

The wording about being priests of God and reigning with him shows that the “a thousand years” is the ultimate fulfillment of earlier precious promises to believers (1:5; 5:10; 7:15). Though those who reign are not just the martyrs, clearly they have an honored position (20:4). Some have argued that the first resurrection is spiritual (e.g., being born again spiritually) in order to maintain that there is one general resurrection of the dead. There is nothing in the text, however, that indicates that one resurrection is not literal and the other is what it says it is. While the second blessing statement focused on the death of the saints (14:13), the fifth focuses on their resurrection (20:6).

20:7-10 At the end of the “thousand years,” Satan will be released from the abyss and gather a final rebellion against God, related to the well-known Gog and Magog prophecy in Ezk 38–39. Apparently this incident will be the final proof that, even after an extended unrivaled reign of Christ, “Adam’s and Eve’s disease” (i.e., indwelling sin) will still prompt the overwhelming proportion of mankind alive at that time to follow the devil. When the rebellion is put down by fire from heaven, the devil will join the beast and false prophet in the lake of fire.