Except none of that matters in regards to the point I was trying to make. Amils argue that chilioi in Revelation 20, meaning a thousand in that chapter, that it is not literally meaning 1000, it is meaning more than 1000. Unless my Strong's is wrong, and maybe it is for all I know, it records that 'thousand' in Revelation 12:6 is also chilioi. And that it is mathematically impossible to arrive at 1260 if one number is 1000, another number is 200, and another number is 60, but that chilioi, according to Amils, does not literally mean 1000, it means more than 1000.
I can see why you don't quite understand what God means by [
chilioi.] The Greek word for thousand is [
chilioi] which is in the plural and can mean an
uncertain length of time or number. And that is the way that it is used here. To illustrate an unspecified length of time. And of course, it "MUST" be, for God is not interested in notifying the world of the precise actual length of time which Satan is bound (since we know the start of his binding was at the cross). It is to be a mystery to the unfaithful that he is even loosed. They will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage because they are unaware that Satan is loosed. The Spiritual number 1000 years signifies
until "the fulness of time." Or fullness of whatever is in view.
When we study scripture we will find that God often uses certain number relationships to signify things. For example the number
3 for the
purpose or will of God, as in the 3 times Christ prayed, the 3 times the sheet was let down and God said kill and eat, the 3 times Paul sought the Lord that the thorn in the flesh would be removed from him, the 3 times God came seeking fruit on the fig tree, or the 3 days till the Temple was raised up, etc., etc. Likewise, the number
12 representing the
congregation, as in the 12 stars, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 Apostles, the 12 gates of the city, etc., or the number
7 and
it's multiples, 70, 700, 7000 as the "
Totality"
of whatever is in view. And in this same way the number
10,
100, 1,000 is likewise used in a
spiritual sense to signifies the fullness of whatever is being spoken about. As an example, as you might say to your wife, "
I'll love you for a thousand years". You're not literally putting a number on the time, rather, you're expressing the "fullness" of your love for her. The
1000 is a symbolic length of time to indicate you'll love her from now
till the fullness of time. Whatever that time may literally be, whether it be 10 years, 30 years 63 years, whatever it may be is symbolized by the use of the term a thousand years. And God uses this number in that way in scripture. We can see in the Psalms where the Lord God uses it to signify the fullness of hills:
Psalms 50:10-11
- For Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a Thousand hills.
- I know All the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine."
Is that to illustrate a literal number of hills hold his cattle? Does that mean that the cattle upon 1001th hill, or the cattle upon 1002nd hill are not His? No, and so quite obviously the number thousand here is not a number to be understood literally. It's a number that God used here to illustrate the fullness. When we read the verse carefully we see "every" beast of the forest is His. Consider what God is doing here. All the cattle are His! God is using the term 1000 to show us this. But we have to have our eyes open to see it. Nothing is in the Bible by accident. The 1000 cattle indicates the fullness of cattle are His. All of them are the Lord's. Not just those on thousand literal hills. Likewise, Isaiah chapter 7 speaks about the first advent of the Lord (verse 14), and continues:
Isaiah 7:23
- "And it shall come to pass in THAT DAY, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come hither; because All the land shall become briers and thorns."
Are we to suppose that this is a literal number. Were there literally 1000 vines and literally 1000 silver coins, not 1001 or 999? When we look at the verse carefully we see that it is indicating that where there was the fullness of vines, there will be briers and thorns. The 1000 is not to alert us to a literal number of vines, or the literal number of 1000 silverlings (
pieces of silver money), No, it is to illustrate where the fullness of vines once were, and where the fullness of money was, it is Changed to briers & thorns or worthlessness. In other words, it's become bankrupt! God is talking about a "full" destruction.
That's what the 1000 illustrates. The
fullness of what was there, is made briers and thorns. and that is made clear by God as it then says "because
All the land shall become briers and thorns." You see, that's what the number 1000 illustrated. the Fulness. Again when we look at a verse such as Psalms 105, we read,
Psalms 105:8
- "He hath remembered His covenant Forever, the word which He commanded to a Thousand generations. Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac;"
The LORD hath remembered His Covenant, how long?
Forever! And the Word which He commanded to 1000 generations. Is This Literal? Is His Word only commanded to literally 1000 generations and not 1001 or 1002? Will His Word stop commanded to the generations after 1000th generation? Of course not. God would not suddenly break His covenant in the 1001st generation of those who remain faithful to Him. One thousand has to be understood
figuratively here, not literally. Again, look at the context of the verse. His Covenant is remembered
forever. And His Word commanded to 1000 generations! Context tells us that this 1000 generations is "the Fullness or completeness" of all generations. Or even Forever! That's how long it is remembered. Always! And it is remembered by the messenger of the Covenant Christ, send down from heaven. The number 1000 has been put there by God to show us a certain consistency in His use of this number symbolically.
Deuteronomy 7:9
- "know therefore that the Lord Thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth the Covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations".
In light of this scripture, how can anyone say a thousand is always understood literally? Do we keep His commandments to a thousand generations, or do we keep them always in Christ forever? The 1000 is Symbolic of the Fullness. In Revelations chapter 20 where the context is symbolic language, the 1000 years that Satan is bound is symbolic language also. It indicates the fullness of time. In other words, from the time that he is bound by Christ at the cross, to the time that he is loosed, is the fullness of time which God prescribes. Till the time when the fulness of the nations or gentiles be come in, and the Church be fulfilled. Whatever literal amount of time it may actually be is not for us to know. But when the fulness be come in, so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, by the Deliverer, Christ.
Now, you see that 1,000 years means the fullness of whatever the purpose that Satan was bound for. Or 1,000 years means the fullness of time for the rest of the deaf to remain silence in the grave until Christ returns when they shall resurrect for judgment. Or 1,000 years means the fullness of Church commission is finished then Satan will be loosened from the bottomless pit, whenever that may be. Not exactly 1,000 years.
Selah!
