CHAPTER 26 Thousand Used as a Large Indefinite Number

The majority of times that the number thousand is used in the scriptures it means specifically one thousand. However, there is a sizeable number of times that the context of the use of the number thousand indicates that it is associated with a large indefinite number. The following verses use the number thousand to represent a large indefinite number:

1. Deu. 1:11 "(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)"

2. Deu. 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"
3. Josh. 23:10 "One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you."
4. 1 Chr. 16:15 "Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;"
5. Job 9:3 "If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand."
6. Job 33:23 "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness:"
7. Psa. 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills."
8. Psa. 84:10 "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."
9. Psa. 90:4 "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
10. Psa. 105:8 "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations."
11. Eccl. 6:6 "Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?"
12. Eccl. 7:28 "Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found."
13. Isa. 7:23 "And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns."
13. Isa. 30:17 "One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill."
15. Isa. 60:22 "A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time."
16. 2 Pet. 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
17. Rev. 20:2 "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"
18. Rev. 20:3 "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."
19. Rev. 20:4 "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."
20. Rev. 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
21. Rev. 20:6 "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."
22. Rev 20:7 "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,"

CHAPTER 26 1000 Year Reign with Christ and 1000 Year Binding of Satan

Rev. 20:1-3   Rev. 20:1 "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 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."

The word, angel, means messenger. The messenger is the messenger of the covenant as set forth in Mal. 3:1: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts." He came down from heaven to do the Father's will. In Rev. chapter 9 Satan is called the angel of the bottomless pit: 9:11 "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." Thus the messenger of the covenant (Christ) has locked up the messenger of the bottomless pit (Satan) for a thousand years.

Someone may ask, "If Satan is locked up, then why does he cause me such trouble?" Satan is not locked up so as not to be able to cause us trouble or to make shipwreck people's lives. He is not locked up so as not to be able to entice us to sin. Indeed he causes much havoc in people's lives and in the world. "How then," we may ask, "is Satan locked up?" Specifically he is locked up so as to deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. If you will recall in chapter 17 we read about the seven heads of the seven headed beast: "10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." The seventh multinational kingdom has not yet arisen to reign over the earth. Satan has been bound so as not to be able to form this seventh head until the thousand years is fulfilled. Verse 4 speaks to us about the significance of the thousand years and we will save our comments about the thousand years until we get to verse 4.

The use of the word, chain, is indicative of the bondage that Satan is under. He is not able to form the seventh kingdom until that chain is removed by the Lord. Once the chain is removed and God sets that date, then Satan shall go forth to once again deceive the nations into yielding to a multinational one world government. Perhaps the United Nations is that seventh head, time will tell.

That the Lord has the key to lock and unlock tells us that He has sovereign control over what Satan is allowed to do. Satan can do no more than what he is allowed to do. This doesn't mean that God causes Satan to do what he does. It just means that Satan is limited by God's sovereign control. Job is a good example of this control that God has over Satan. Satan could not touch Job so long as God had him hedged in. Once God removed the hedge then Satan did his damage, but only to the extent that God would allow him. He couldn't touch Job's life because God restricted him. Thus Satan cannot form this seventh head until God's allows him to.

Let us not forget that once the thousand years is fulfilled, Satan will be loosed a little season so as to go forth and deceive the nations once again.

Rev. 20:4 "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."

Thrones indicate kings. According to Rev. 1:5 those who were redeemed by the blood of Christ are also made kings and priests unto God: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Also in Rev. 5:10 some of those will reign on the earth: "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." The thrones that they sat upon were thrones of judgment. That is, they judged their lives and their actions by the word of God. We reign as kings over our bodies, our hearts, and our spirits. As we reign we sit upon the thrones of God's judgment set forth in the word of God.

"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." Martyrs of Jesus were killed in a variety of ways. Some were beheaded such as Paul. Some were crucified such as Peter. Some were stoned to death as was Stephen. Some were fed to the lions, etc. If the above verse was addressing martyrdom, then the word beheaded is far too restrictive. Therefore, those referred to as beheaded for the witness of Jesus, etc. are not limited to the martyrs. To be beheaded is to lose ones head. The head is the control center for the whole body. We come into this world believing we have control of our own lives. We believe that we are the head of our actions and decisions over our lives. After that we are born of the Spirit of God and see ourselves as sinners and then hear and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and press into the kingdom of God, we give up the headship over our own lives in favor of Christ being the head over our lives and we being guided by his word and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Thus we are beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God.

Those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and had not worshipped the beast, etc. are the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and make up the true church of God. These "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Christ is reigning in his kingdom and these reign with him in His kingdom. Christ reigns over them and they reign over their own lives according to the teaching of His words.

What is the significance of the term, "thousand years?" The word, "thousand," is often used in the scriptures to indicate an indefinite large number:

1. Ps. 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills."
2. Deu. 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;"
3. Ps. 105:8 "He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations."
4. Rev. 90:4 "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
5. 2 Pet. 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
6. Deu. 1:11 "(The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!)"
7. Deu. 32:30 "How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?"
8. Job 33:23 "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness: 24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom."
9. Ps. 84:10 "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."

Thus a thousand years is an indefinite term indicating that for a large indefinite period there would be people living and reigning with Christ in his spiritual kingdom here on earth. Furthermore, this kingdom would continue in heaven after the resurrection of the dead and would have no end as the scriptures have shown us that this kingdom and this throne of Christ is eternal. All of God’s children will reign in this kingdom in heaven with Christ for evermore.

Rev. 20:5 "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 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."
The above passage speaks to us about the first resurrection and the second death. Reason suggests that if there is a first resurrection then there must be a second resurrection. Also, reason suggests that if there is a second death then there must be a first death. We are told that those who have part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power over them. The task before us is to identify the first resurrection and the second resurrection and the first death and the second death according to the scriptures.

God gave Adam a law after that he created him:

Gen. 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Not only did Adam bring death upon himself when he ate of the forbidden fruit, but according to Rom. 5:12-19 he brought death upon all mankind:

Rom. 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

The above is in harmony with 1 Cor. 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." All mankind died in Adam. We were brought under the condemnation of the law of sin and death. We were under the curse of death. This death in trespasses and sins under the law of sin and death is the first death.

John 5:25-29 teaches us of two resurrections and a second death:

John 5:25 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 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."

The first resurrection takes place when the Son of God speaks to those who are dead in trespasses and sins and gives them spiritual life.

Eph. 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)."

It is by his quickening voice that we receive spiritual life. Before that voice spake to us we were dead in trespasses and sins. That quickening voice raises us up out of death in trespasses and sins to spiritual life. This is the first resurrection.

The second resurrection takes place when Christ speaks to those who are in the graves. This takes place at the end of this time world. The elect are changed to be fashioned like the glorious body of Christ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:51 "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.)"

The second death is defined for us in Rev. 20:14 "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

Who is it that has part in the first resurrection on which the second death has no power? It is the elect of God:

1. Rom. 8:29 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

2. Rom. 8:33 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

3. Eph. 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

It is the elect that we are told in Rev. 1:5, 6 who are also made kings and priests unto God: Rev. 1:5 "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Only the elect are capable of reigning with Christ in his timely church kingdom. They are the only ones who have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears whereby they can see the kingdom of God and enter into the kingdom of God.

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." The rest of the dead are those who had not part in the first resurrection. They are the non-elect. They are not born of the spirit and thus have no part in the first resurrection. It is upon those that the second death has power. They are not cleansed by the blood of Christ. The execution of God's wrathful judgment is yet future for them. Their bodies will be raised in the resurrection, not to eternal life, but to eternal damnation.

Rev. 20:7-10  Rev. 20:7 "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 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. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

At the end of the thousand year binding of Satan, which we have shown indicates an indefinitely large period of time, Satan is loosed out of his prison. His goal has not changed from that set forth in Rev. 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Once more, he goes out to deceive the nations into forming the seventh head of the beast. (See Rev. 17:10 "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.")

The phrase, "Gog and Magog," is our key to understanding this passage of scripture. Gog and Magog are found only in Ezek. chapters 38 and 39. Those chapters speak of Gog and Magog with a great army coming against Israel and God himself taking vengeance on Gog and Magog and their armies. Similarly, the nations in the four quarters of the earth and their armies, numbered as the sand of the sea, compass the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. At this time, fire (God's wrathful judgment) comes down out of heaven and devours them.

The term, camp of the saints, refers to the disciples of the Lord as an army. This army is not engaged in natural warfare, but spiritual warfare. This is the Lord's militant church. Remember the dragon went to make war with the remnant of the woman's seed that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, the phrase, the beloved city, also has reference to the church. It can no longer have reference to natural Jerusalem for she is declared to be "Sodom and Egypt." The church, also known as New Jerusalem and Holy Jerusalem is now the beloved city.

We are not given the details about how all this will come to pass, only that it will happen. I make the following observations:

1. Whether the United Nations is this seventh head, I do not know, although it is working toward the formation and has as a goal to form a one-world government.

2. When the seventh head is formed she will continue only a "short space." This will only be a short-lived kingdom.

3. When the beast surrounds the camp of the saints and the beloved city, God takes matters into his own hands and pours out his wrathful judgment on the armies of the beast.

4. It appears to be a complete victory over the beast and her armies.

5. I would much rather be in the camp of the saints than in the camp of the beast. I would much rather have God fighting for me than against me.

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." The lake of fire is defined as the second death or God's eternal judgment of sin meted out upon the devil, the beast, the false prophet, and the non-elect. Ultimately, the Lord has the complete victory over all evil.