20:4-6 Is the thousand year reign of Christ with the resurrected saints referred to here literal or symbolic?
20:4-6 Is the thousand year reign of Christ with the resurrected saints referred to here literal or symbolic?
The millennial or thousand year reign of Christ with the resurrected saints is clearly literal because it has to do with God's eternal kingdom on earth being established by Christ in fulfilment of prophecy, after Christ defeats Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon (cp Dan 2:44-45; 7:13-14, 23-27; Zech 14:1-9; Eph 1:10; Rev 5:8-10).
The millennial reign of Christ only applies to the first thousand years of God's earthly kingdom. It is an everlasting kingdom and Christ and God together will reign over it for eternity. The express purpose of the first thousand years is to rid the earth of all enemies of God and rebellion against Him.
This will be accomplished when the last great rebellion against God is put down at the end of the thousand years. Nations hostile to God will be destroyed, Satan cast into the lake of fire, and the wicked dead judged, and also cast into the lake of fire at the great white throne judgment. Christ will then hand the kingdom over to God (cp Rev 20:7-15; with 1Cor 15:24-28).
He that hath part in the first resurrection in Rev 20:6 refers to all the saints of God, Old Testament and New Testament alike, from Abel until the very last soul saved in the tribulation (cp Ro 3:21-26; He 9:13-15; 2Jn 2:2).. They will all have part in the first resurrection and reign with Christ for the thousand years (cp Jn 14:1-3; 1Cor 15:20-23, 51-58; 1 Th 4:13-18; Rev 20:4).
Some in the church do not believe that Christ will reign over a literal earthly kingdom during the thousand years. They believe that the earth will be desolate in that period, and that the earth itself is the bottomless pit where Satan will be bound for the thousand years. This of course contradicts the clear teaching of scripture.
The earth will not be desolate, for the millennial reign of Christ will be "the times of restitution of all things", spoken of by Peter in Ac 3 (cp Ac 3:19-21). The restitution of all things means that in the thousand year reign of Christ all things will be completely restored to what God intended them to be before Adam fell.
The earth will be delivered from the curse under which it now exists because of Adam's sin (cp Gen 3:17-18 with Ro 8:19-21). In Ro 8:19-21 Paul is teaching that the whole creation - all nature - comprising both the animate and inanimate world, is waiting for the glorification of the saints, so it too may be delivered from the curse. The saints will be glorified when they go to heaven with Jesus in the first resurrection (cp Ro 8:28-30; 1Cor 15:42-44; Col 3:4).
In the eternal kingdom, the earth will be restored to normal fertility and productivity; there will be no more famines in the land; fruitful seasons shall be without interruptions; waste places will be restored to usefulness; deserts will blossom again (cp Isa 4:1-2; 30:23-25; 32:15; 35:1-2, 7; 41:17-19; 43:19-20; 49:8-11; 51:3; 55:12-13; 61:4-5; Eze 34:23-31; 36:8-12, 29-30, 33-38; 47:1-12; Joel 2:18-19, 21-27; 3:18; Amos 9:11-15; Zech 8:12; 14:8; Rev 7:16-17).
There will be no more sin and sickness in the earth (cp Isa 33:20, 24; 35:3-6; 53:5; 1Pe 2:24; Rev 22:1-5). World wide peace will prevail in the earth (cp Isa 2:1-4 (Mic 4:1-3); Isa 9:6-7; 11:10; 19:23; 26:12; 32:18; 54:14; 57:19; 60:18; 66:12; Zech 14:9-11).
There will be no more poverty; material blessings will fill the earth; prosperity will be for all (cp Isa 60:5-17; 62:8-9; 65:21-23; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10). Formerly wild animals will be tame; children will play with once poisonous snakes (cp Isa 11:6-9; Eze 34:25, 28). There will be no more sorrow or mourning; no more weeping and crying; pain will no longer exist (cp Isa 35:10; 53:4; 60:20; 65:18-19; Rev 7:17; 21:4).
The righteous will no longer die (cp Isa 25:8; 1Cor 15:52-57; Rev 21:4). Death will continue during the millennium but only for those who commit sins worthy of death; infant mortality and premature death will no longer exist. A hundred year old man will still be considered a child, and only sinners will die that young (cp Isa 65:20-22).
The lifespan of humans will be extended throughout the millennium, and if they do not rebel with Satan at the end of the thousand years they will continue to live eternally in the new earth (cp Mt 25:46; 1Cor 15:23-28; Eph 1:10; 2:7; Rev 20:7-15; Rev 21:4). And last, but not least, animals will no longer attack and kill humans, or each other (cp Isa 65:25).
It is ludicrous in light of all these scriptures to teach that the earth will be desolate in Christ's millennial reign, and that the earth itself is the bottomless pit where Satan will be bound for the thousand years. (For a detailed study on the bottomless pit see comments on Rev 9:1-2). See also comments on Ac 3:19-21, Ro 8:19-21, 1Cor 15:24-28.