Rather than delve into the various and complex interpretations of the ‘thousand years’, I invite you to consider how these verses might have comforted the Christians who first read them. Remember how they faced daily opposition for holding to the message of Christ (see 2:13; 3:7–9)! It looked as though Satan (literally, the accuser) had them up against the ropes. Some had suffered greatly (v 4); some were suffering still (2:10). 

Revelation never entertains the idea of an even cosmic contest between good and evil. There is no struggle. An angel is all it takes to throw Satan into prison to await trial and sentencing (vs 1–3)! How might this insight into God’s complete control over events help hard-pressed believers? 

Remaining true to Christ was hard then (v 4). It is hard now. Knowing God’s plan for the future (vs 4,6) gave persecuted, powerless first-century Christians hope for the future and strength to endure their sufferings. For them, and for us, this clearer vision of our destination – sharing a limitless, perfected life with Christ (v 6; see 2 Corinthians 4:17) – helps us endure present troubles.   

‘I pray ... that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance.’¹ 

We come to the fourth and (start of the) fifth visions (‘And I saw …’, vs 1,4), over which much theological ink has been spilled! The meaning of ‘a thousand years’ (v 2) has been debated since the second century, but several things are evident. 

First, John never uses numbers literally; they are always symbolic. The seven churches² were not the only seven; the number stands for ‘the whole church’, which is why they hear each other's messages and we overhear them all. A thousand years symbolises a long period, which is why many human empires claim they will last ‘a thousand years’ (they rarely do). This period of Satan’s defeat and the reign of the saints is vast in comparison with the short time of three and a half years of tribulation and testing. ‘For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.’³

Within Revelation, a thousand has an additional meaning. As 10 cubed (10³) it symbolises God’s holy presence, since the Holy of Holies was cube-shaped. Thus the saints are numbered as a square times a cube⁴ and the holy city is a cube cubed!⁵ This makes it very difficult to think that the thousand years stand for the ‘church age’, as if all is right with the world now, before Jesus returns. In our world, where everything is locked, keys mean access, but in the ancient world locks were rare and keys meant security. In the age to come, the world will be completely secure from Satan’s influence – and those who ‘did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death’⁶ will be vindicated on earth as they reign with Jesus. Whatever trouble we face now, as we follow him, we will be more than rewarded.

What most frustrates you in your spiritual life and the world around you? How might you grow in the ‘patient endurance’⁷ that we all need to learn?

¹ Eph 1:18  ² Rev 1–3  ³ 2 Cor 4:17  ⁴ Rev 7:4  ⁵ Rev 21:16  ⁶ Rev 12:11  ⁷ Rev 1:9