
I use what is called the historical: spiritual view for interpreting Biblical eschatology. As part of that I follow what is known as amillennialism. That is that there is no literal 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth after some alleged 7-year Tribulation and Wrath of God. This is a view that was held by about half the early church up to 300 AD and then by most believers until about 1900 AD when pre-millennial interpretations became dominant.
So following this line of interpretation I want to look at the first 8 verses of Revelation chapter 20. The phrase “thousand years” is only found in these verses in the Bible. The word “millennium” is not found in the Bible.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:1
The word “angel” comes from the Greek word “aggelos” (pronounced angelos) which means messenger. Only Jesus (the messenger here) has power to bind Satan in the bottomless pit, which is a metaphor for a spiritual prison of some sort. Read the following verses from Matthew.