Revelation 20 / 1000 Years!
Revelation 20, Faith, and Hope
When I first read Revelation 20 as a child, its imagery seemed terrifying—dead people standing before a throne, books recording everything they did, and the ominous lake of fire. It sounded like the ultimate scene of judgment, one that could easily overwhelm anyone. But over time, I learned that reading Revelation through the lens of fear isn’t what this text is about. This passage, like the rest of Revelation, offers more than just judgment—it offers wisdom, hope, and perspective about what it means to live faithfully.
Judgement in Rev 20
Revelation 20 introduces a unique three-stage sequence involving resurrection, a 1,000-year reign with Christ, and final judgment:
1. The resurrection of the martyrs who stayed faithful to Jesus (Rev. 6:9).
2. A 1,000-year reign with the Lamb (Christ), where they participate in God’s rule.
3. A final resurrection and judgment, where the people are judged according to their actions.
This three-stage structure isn’t found anywhere else in Jewish or Christian texts, and it does not align with orthodox teachings about the afterlife. This suggests that John’s vision in Revelation is not about the afterlife at all. Instead, Revelation 20 offers something symbolic rather than a literal play-by-play of future events. John presents a message about how allegiance matters—our choices in this life reflect who we serve and what kind of future we build.
The 1,000-Year Pause
One striking detail in Revelation 20 is the 1,000-year pause:
“He [the angel] seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:2).
In ancient Jewish numerology, 1,000 years doesn’t mean a literal timespan but rather “a really long time.” This pause represents a break before God finally acts in judgment to put an end to evil. We see similar pauses earlier in Revelation:
• Between the sixth and seventh seals (Rev. 6-8)
• Between the sixth and seventh trumpets (Rev. 10-11)
• Between the defeat of the dragon and Satan’s final judgment (Rev. 20:1-3, 7-10)*
Each pause highlights faithfulness under pressure—particularly the martyrs, those who stayed committed to Christ even when it cost them their lives. \
Allegiance Shapes Our Future
The imagery in Revelation 20 reflects a simple but powerful truth: we share the fate of what we are loyal to. In Revelation 18, merchants and rulers mourn the fall of Babylon because they built their lives around wealth, power, and exploitation. Their mourning is a warning—those who tie their identity to unjust systems will share in their destruction. On the other hand, those aligned with the Lamb’s way of love, faith, and humility will find their efforts endure. Even after the storms of life pass, what they built will stand firm. This echoes Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders:
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock… But everyone who hears these words and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (Matthew 7:24-27)
Living in alignment with God’s kingdom shapes the kind of future we inherit. Revelation 20 encourages us to build lives rooted in goodness and faithfulness, knowing that when the temporary structures of this world fall, what is aligned with God’s purposes will last. Revelation also addresses a deep human frustration: Why does God’s justice take so long? The martyrs cry out, “How long, O Lord?” (Rev. 6:10), a cry echoed by generations of people struggling with injustice, like Theodore Parker, a 19th-century abolitionist minister, wrote:
“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see, I am sure it bends toward justice.”
Revelation invites us to trust that, even when God’s justice seems delayed, the arc of history is moving toward renewal and restoration. We may not see the end from where we stand, but we are called to stay faithful and live according to God’s ways, trusting that His justice will ultimately prevail.
*N.T. Wright, Revelation.
Discussion Questions:
1. When have you felt frustrated by God’s slowness to act?
2. What do you think was the purpose of bringing up the martyrs throughout Revelation?
3. How do you stay hopeful when God’s justice seems delayed?
4. Have you witnessed the fall of a corrupt system/leader? What wisdom did you gain from it, if any?
5. Do you have a particular viewpoint about God's judgment or the afterlife that you would like to share?