Bible Basics

Who Reigned With Christ?

The notion that Christ will return to the earth to establish His kingdom and reign with the saints for 1000 years is a popular one. It is based upon Revelation 20:4-6 which says, “And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” But does this passage teach the establishment of an earthly kingdom and a thousand year reign of Christ with the saints? Notice first that the thousand years of this passage corresponds with the thousands years that Satan is bound in the bottomless pit of 20:2-3. As pointed out last week, this number is not literal any more than the chain that binds Satan or the abyss in which he is bound. The number 1000 symbolizes “completeness” or “fullness” and refers to the complete period of time Satan is “bound.” However long that is, Christ’s “reign” is the same period of time. But who reigns with Christ? John says, “And 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”(v. 4). These martyrs “lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Neither the return of Christ to the earth, the establishment of an earthly kingdom or His reign on earth with His disciples for a literal thousand years is in this verse. So what does it mean? Find out next week.

                                                                                                               -- Clark Dugger

Bible Basics