When the Bible says a “Thousand” are we to take it literally?
Jesus often spoke in parables, using figures of speech, symbolic language not to be taken literally, but understood to illustrate or represent what he really was communicating. Ten virgins, wedding feasts, sheep and goats, wheat and weeds, good and bad fish, a sower and seed falling on good ground and various sorts of bad ground, etc.–these were not about fishing and farming and ranching and weddings. They were used to illustrate truths about the Kingdom of God. The Book of Revelation is loaded with such symbolism, The key word in Rev. 1:1 in the Greek is eh-say-men-on, which literally means using visible signs, symbols or images to reveal a message. Just like traffic signs use shapes and symbols to inform you what’s coming, so Revelation has its own sign language, for examples, the Lamb represents and tells you something about Christ, scorpions are demons, four horsemen are plagues, a chain represents restraints, a prostitute represents an apostate church, etc., etc.
“A thousand may fall at your side,
Psalm 91:7-8
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.”
Mathematical Equations?
The same can be said for the numbers in Revelation, including the thousand years mentioned in chapter 20. In fact, in God’s Word “thousand” is often used not as a term of mathematical precision, but as a number indicating the fullness, completeness or totality of something. Examples: In Psalm 50:10 God tells us He owns “the cattle on a thousand hills.” In Leviticus 26:8 God promises the Israelites if they obey His commands “your enemies will fall before your sword. Five of you will chase 100, and 100 of you will chase 10,000.” In Psalm 91:7 God promises His faithful people: “a thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it will not come near you.” These are not mathematical equations, but statements of God’s total ownership of all things and complete protection of His people. Similarly, Jesus says we are to forgive our brothers “70 X 7.” (He’s not telling you to use your calculators so you know when you can quit forgiving someone.)
More To Come
Bottom line: you aren’t disbelieving God’s Word if you don’t take the 1,000 years, the millennium, of Revelation 20 literally. More to come on the meaning of the millennium.
