John literally says Satan is bound for 1000 years. John literally says it comes after the battle of Armageddon. There are no symbolic terms or references needed to be interpreted to come up with a literal frame work of reality of when this happens. If one cannot take the Word of God as it is written, but takes literal words and changes them into some symbolism where only they get to dictate the meaning of that symbolism, God's Word has been discarded for human understanding.
There is a big difference between taking God’s word “literally” and taking it as true. For something to be ‘symbolic’ does not make it ‘untrue’. For example, to use the same analogy as before, if I said it was raining “cats and dogs”, when it was raining torrents, am I lying? I’m not. I’m using figurative language to make my meaning clear.
Thus you do not NEED to have something written in “literalistic” fashion to make it true, or real.
Let’s look at “Armageddon” shall we?
Revelation 16:12-16
[12] The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. [13] And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. [14] For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. [15] (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) [16] And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
This is the “sixth bowl”. We see that they “assemble for battle on the great day of God”. We also see it is directly linked to what Jesus told them in Matt 24:42-43 - “I am coming like a thief!”
This means that this ‘battle’ is taking place just before Christ’s return, or even AT it.
Indeed, what happens immediately AFTER bowl Six?
Revelation 16:17-21
[17] The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” [18] And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. [19] The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. [20] And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. [21] And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
“It is done”. Flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a great earthquake.
Where else do we see this in Revelation?
Revelation 4:5
[5] From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,
Revelation 8:1-5
[1] When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. [2] Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. [3] And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, [4] and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. [5] Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Revelation 11:15-19
[15] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” [16] And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
[18] The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
[19] Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Okay…we see this same language in several other places in Revelation. The first place is about the Throne, where God himself sits in heaven and the 24 elders are around him.
The second is when the 7th seal is opened, and the third is when the 7th trumpet is sounded. Both seal and trumpet have heavenly scenes as well, showing God’s temple and altar. And in both occasions we see that God is either viewed or interacts with the earth, resulting in clear signs of a theophany: flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, etc. When we look back at Mt Sinai, we see the same things about the Mt when God ‘came down’.
Coupled together with the sort of language we see: “it is finished”, “you HAVE taken your power and begun to reign”, “but your wrath CAME and the time for the dead to be judged”.
This language points to the clear idea that the ‘seal, trumpet and bowl’ judgments all end with a theophany, and what we may expect at Christ’s return…things to be done, completed….for the dead to be judged and God’s servants rewarded.
And what else can this conclusion lead us to? To the fact that the book itself is NOT written in a strictly chronological manner. Else you end up with several theophanies, several ‘last battles’ that judges all the nations and those opposing the people of God.
That means that saying that the battle of Rev 20 cannot be “Armageddon” is not, strictly, correct.
And you can cry out that that is not a “literal” reading of the book, but a literal reading gets you several theophanies and several battles.
Where else in scripture supports the idea that Christ is going to crack the sky open several times? Or that we may expect multiple battles where Satan gathers the unsaved of the earth in order to slay God’s chosen?
You don’t. Which ought to point rather strongly towards the fact that much of Revelation will end up distorted and deformed if you attempt to read it in a ‘strictly literal’ manner.
. No one makes up the point this happens after Armageddon. That is clearly written. No one invents 1000 years. That is clearly stated
See above.
Also….perhaps you ought to do a word study throughout the whole bible. How often, when it is used, is 1000 meant literally?