That is your misinterpretation that contradicts 2 Peter 3 because you refuse to accept the fact that the 1,000 years reign happened in heaven, where the old heavenly Jerusalem and temple are located.
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
And we've been thru this already!
Yes, we have been through this already, and I have already demonstrated the error of your interpretations. But for those than are new to this discussion:
Amillennialists argue that the use of the term “thousand years,” which occurs six times over in Revelation 20, is only a figurative expression for a very long time. In considering this claim we need to consider the scriptural uses of the term “thousand years.” In all of scripture it occurs only four times outside of Revelation 20.
The first place this occurs is Psalm 90:4, where we read, “For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.” In the Hebrew, the words here translated a thousand years are alph shnim, which translates literally as thousand-of years.
The second place where we find this term in the scriptures is Ecclesiastes 6:6, where we read, “even if he lives a thousand years twice.” In the Hebrew, the words here translated a thousand years twice are the same alph shnim, but with the added word phomim, which literally means two times.
The third and fourth places where we find this term in the scriptures both occur in 2 Peter 3:8, where we read, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In both of these cases, the Greek, words translated a thousand years are chilia ete, which literally translates as thousand years.
This is all the places where this term is used in the scriptures outside of Revelation 20. In each of these places it is obvious that, as the amillennialists argue, it is indeed simply a figurative expression for a very long time. But now we need to examine first ten verses of Revelation 20, where we read:
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 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. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
In this passage we find the same term we have been seeing, a thousand years, three times. This is used in verses 2, 4, and 6. In each of these cases we find exactly the same Greek words as in 2 Peter 3:8, chilia ete, which literally translates as thousand years.
The thing we notice is that in none of the passages we have examined so far did the Holy Spirit use any article whatsoever, whether definite or indefinite. Now anyone with even a smattering of knowledge of Hebrew and Greek knows that there is no significance in a lack of an article in either of these languages. This is because in both Hebrew and Greek, the use of an article is optional. So the translators were indeed correct in adding the indefinite article in each of these cases without putting it in italics, for it is implied, even though not stated.
But there is a different term also used in Revelation 20. In verses 3, 5, and 7 we find the words “the thousand years” as opposed to the term “a thousand years” we have been seeing. In each of these cases, the Greek words translated the thousand years are ta chilia ete, which literally translates as the thousand years. In each of these places, the Holy Spirit used the definite article. While there is no significance in the lack of an article in Greek, there is significance in the use of the definite article. When this is used, it is used for stress. It is used in regard to something particular. The clause “the thousand years” means a particular period of a thousand years, not just some thousand year period.
We have gone through this exercise to understand that there is a significant difference between the generic usage of the term “a thousand years,” as we see in Psalm 90:4, Ecclesiastes 6:6, and 2 Peter 3:8, and the specific use of the term “the thousand years” we see in Revelation 20. In the generic usage of the term “a thousand years,” it indeed simply means, as the amillennialists argue, “a long period of time.” But the repeated usage of the definite article in Revelation 20 makes it different there. This stresses that the reference is to a particular period of a thousand years.
The Holy Spirit told us six times in just six verses that this period would last a thousand years. Yet in spite of this, the amillennialists claim that He did not mean that this period would actually last a thousand years. They claim that we are in this period now.
But the Holy Spirit didn’t only tell us that this period would last a thousand years. He also very specifically said that during this period Satan would be shut up, and that a seal would be set on him, “so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.” To pretend that this is a description of the current condition is simply nonsense. Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan “the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” If he is now working in the children of disobedience, he is most certainly not at the present time “shut up” and sealed “so that he should deceive the nations no more.”
This brings to mind Hebrews 2:8, where we read, “‘You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’ For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.” Here we are specifically told of a coming state spoken of as if it were already in effect, but then we are specifically and explicitly told that this state has not yet come into effect.
But even if we did not have specific scripture that states that Satan is currently working, anyone with eyes can clearly see it. From the all pervasive sexual innuendo and the outright inappropriate contentography that we have to go out of our ways to avoid, to the outright persecution of believers that exists in most of the world today, and in almost all the world until the last few hundred years, Satan’s work is evident all around us. He is most certainly deceiving the nations at the present time.
