what to make of the 1000 year reign of christ on earth in revelation

I understand that the church calls the 1000 year reign taken literally as a heresy. But I'm really at a loss when I read it, call me stupid or whatever, I'm a little concerned that it sounds pretty clear about a 1000 year reign.

and what is the first and second death. Sounds to me that some are only part saved by god and still in danger while only those in the 1000 year resurrection are free completely of the 2nd death.

Revelation 20

1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3And 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.
4And 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.
5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6Blessed 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.
7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8And 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.
9And 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.
10And 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.
11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

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Taking your SELF out of what you present yourself to be is harder than killing yourself but it is certainly a lot more rewarding.

could it be that the period of 1000 year reign is the time that saints and martyrs before the end of time are "priests of god" or intercessors between us and god in the sense that we can pray to them and have our prayers heard by god through the saints?

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Taking your SELF out of what you present yourself to be is harder than killing yourself but it is certainly a lot more rewarding.

The Inconsistency of Chiliasm

The Inconsistency of Chiliasm

There is presently a teaching about the thousand-year kingdom of Christ on earth prior to the Universal Judgment that is gaining increased acceptance among different Christian denominations. This teaching is known as chiliasm, from the Greek chiliasmos, meaning "a thousand years." The essence of this teaching is as follows: Long before the end of the world, Christ will once again return to earth, defeat the Antichrist, resurrect the righteous only, and establish a kingdom on earth in which the righteous, as a reward for their struggles and sufferings, will reign with Him for a period of thousand years, enjoying all the good things of temporal life. After this, another resurrection will follow in which the rest of the people will be raised from the dead. Then the Universal Judgment will take place, and God will reward the righteous and punish the sinners. The defenders of this teaching base their arguments on the vision of the Apostle John in the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation.

There it is said that an Angel descended from heaven and bound satan for a thousand years and that the souls of those beheaded for their witness of Jesus Christ and the word of God came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. "This is the first resurrection," says the book of Revelation (Rev. 20:5). "When the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations" (Rev. 20:7-8). Soon there follows the judgment of the devil and of those who were deceived by him. The dead will be raised up and judged according to their deeds: "... And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire … This is the second death" (Rev. 20:14-15). Upon those who have been resurrected in the first resurrection, however, the second death will have no power.

Chiliastic views in antiquity were spread chiefly among heretics. The Second Ecumenical Council in 381 AD., condemning the heretic Apollinarius, condemned his teaching about the thousand-year Kingdom of Christ. To put a stop to further attempts at introducing this teaching, the Fathers of the Council inserted into the Creed the words about Christ: "His Kingdom shall have no end." In other words, when Christ's reign begins there will be no interruptions in His eternal Kingdom. In more recent times, chiliastic views were resurrected in some Protestant sects. As has been indicated, in this teaching there are proposed two future resurrections and two judgments: one for the righteous and later another for sinners; and there are two future comings of the Savior. There is a purely earthly reign of Christ with the righteous ones as a definite historical epoch. Formally, this teaching is based on an incorrect understanding of the expression first resurrection, while inwardly its cause is rooted in many contemporary sectarians' loss of faith in eternal life and in the blessedness of the righteous in Heaven, with whom they have no communion in prayer. Another cause is to be found in utopian dreams hidden behind religious ideas and inserted into the mysterious images of the book of Revelation.

It is not difficult to see the inconsistency of the chiliastic interpretation of the 20th Chapter of the book of Revelation. Parallel passages in Sacred Scripture clearly indicate that the first resurrection signifies spiritual rebirth into eternal life through baptism. Here are some typical passages in apostolic epistles: "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light … You are risen with Christ" (Eph 5:14; Col. 3:1 and 2:12; Eph. 2:5-6). Proceeding from this, by the thousand-year reign we must understand the period of time from the very beginning of the Church of Christ until the end of the world. In the 20th chapter of Revelation, St. John consoles the faithful with the thought that those who were killed for Christ did not perish. Instead, they reign in Heaven with their Savior.

The second death signifies the condemnation of sinners after the Universal Judgment. It does not concern "the resurrected in the first resurrection." This means that those spiritually regenerated in Christ and cleansed by God's grace will not be subject to Condemnation but will enter the blessed life of Christ's Kingdom.

It is important to understand that the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation does not introduce any new teaching about the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ. Its purpose is to summarize the battle between the devil and the Church which permeates the whole history of mankind. The devil is defeated twice: first spiritually, by the redemptive death of the Savior, and at the end of the world, completely and finally, when he will be thrown into the lake of fire. Christian martyrs began to celebrate their victory over satan immediately following their death for Christ.

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The more ardent the love, the more fervent the prayer.
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Of course, I have noted that the Byzantine Empire lasted about a millennium and then there was a kind of Armageddon...making me cock an eyebrow and wonder if the Byzantine Empire was the Millennium. Not saying it's a serious belief of mine, just throwing it out there....

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Author of fantasy novel "Tojet" and Gothic story collection "The Lighthouse." Details on my website.

Could it be that when the early Church was heavily persecuted (Prior to Constantine)that satan was then first bound and the thousand year period was when the Church was able grow in numbers and strength (Post Constantine). Could it also be that the 1000 year period (remember the 1000 year period does not represent an actual 1000 years, it represents a long period of time) was when those who believed (and also now believe) in Christ die and are in paradise? So those who believed do not feel death's sting but are living in paradise awaiting the bodily resurrection.

Could it also mean that when satan was loosed (it is obvious that he is) he would set out to destroy the Church? If the nations are to be deceived I feel this began to happen during the period of "enlightenemt" 1800's maybe? Or when the protestants shattered the authority of the Church?

What do you guys think?

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The Holy Apostolic Assyrian Church of the East, the Church of martyrs.

We are in it now! Figurative numerology signifying the completed period of time before His return.

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I'm all ears here. I have certainly always been able to read the 1,000 years as purely Prophetic, applicable to the overcoming believer.

It's also possible to extend that kind of Spiritual application to the return of Christ though. I read a book by an orthodox Rabbi, explaining Jacob's ladder. I thought it was great and my heart was very open. At the end he expounded that all of these future promises of Messiah were applicable this way; in other words, Jews lost all hope. (according to his teaching)

I was crushed!

"Rightly dividing the word of Truth" = ESSENTIAL. More please ...

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Unwitting summary of the human condition before God: "Either you say what you want to say in a way that everyone can understand it, or accept that I discard your opinion solely due to the fact that I don't speak your language" - Freodin

if the same energy was put into proving Jesus Christ out of the scriptures vs what Scripture is silent on we could actually be the pillar and ground of the truth rather than of assumptions and speculations - Fire

Come on Clement , your telling me you dont think the 1000 year reign began in 395 A.D. when the Emperor Theodosius made christianity the official religion of the land and handed rule over to his 2 sons? And that it ended in 1395 a.d. when the ottomon turks under Bayezid attacked constantinople in the first seige that truly weakened the capital ending with the disasterous battle of nicopolis ?

On a serious note, Rev 20 does not speak of a literal earthly reign. Those reigning with Christ are the heavenly saints, they have passed over death unto life. They need not worry about the final judgement, where the wicked in hades reunited in their bodies are sent to gehenna to die all over again.

Revelation 20.4 is clear that the millenial reign is figurative of the heavenly saints:

4' "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then i saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

The evangelist saw the heavenly souls not their headless bodies. He saw the martyrs souls reigning in heaven not on earth. This is made more evident since the evangelist saw 'thrones'. Thrones are not fancy seats for royalty, but a rank of angel found only in the heavens. As Paul says:

"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." (Col 1.16)

These spiritual beings are described in greater detail in Daniel 7.9- “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;"

The entire scene in Rev 20 takes place in heaven and is a description of the church triumphant. They are priests because they intercess on behalf of the living and like Christ were martyred, that is their priestly sacrifice.

So this reign is in no way attainable in this life?

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Unwitting summary of the human condition before God: "Either you say what you want to say in a way that everyone can understand it, or accept that I discard your opinion solely due to the fact that I don't speak your language" - Freodin

if the same energy was put into proving Jesus Christ out of the scriptures vs what Scripture is silent on we could actually be the pillar and ground of the truth rather than of assumptions and speculations - Fire