1I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
4I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
7And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison 8and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9They went up over the width of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. 10The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. 12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. 14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Thousand Years (Gk. χίλια ἔτη, chilia ete). (20:2; 2 Pet 3:8; Rev 11:3; 12:6; 14:20; 20: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Strong’s 5507
The word “thousand” is used eleven times in the NT, twice in 2 Pet 3:8, the rest in the book of Revelation. It is used to designate 1000 days, years and stadia. This phrase, “a thousand years,” is repeated six times in successive verse in Rev 20:2-7. The question in the book of Revelation is whether or not the number 1000 is used literally or figuratively. There is a great deal of symbolic language in Revelation, typical of apocalyptic literature. Certainly not every number should be taken as symbolic in Revelation or any apocalyptic writing. Normal rules of interpretation must apply: the author will find ways to clue the reader that a reference is intended as other than literal. There is no compelling reason to take most of the numbers related to time in Revelation as anything but literal, for example, the length of the tribulation (12:6). It is as if John wanted to emphasize the significance and literalness of the thousand-year period by repeating “a thousand years” six times in six verses. It is impossible to make an airtight case, but it does seem most reasonable to take the one thousand year, millennial reign of Christ described in this passage as literal.