Do you think the millennial reign of Jesus Christ is a literal reign or is it symbolic?
Answer
I don’t think the “millennial reign of Jesus Christ” is either literal or symbolic. I think it is a fiction that can’t be found in the Bible.
Before you stop reading and start saying I don’t know what I am talking about, let’s look at the passage most people get the idea of a millennial reign from.
“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” (Revelation 20:2-8)
This passage does mention a thousand year reign. As with everything else in the book, it is most likely symbolic of a long period of time rather than a literal thousand years. What this passage does not mention is a thousand year reign of Jesus Christ. Verses 4 and 6 talk about certain martyrs reigning with Christ for a thousand years. Their reign is a millennial reign, but that doesn’t limit Christ’s reign. It is like saying that Hannibal Hamlin was Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President for four years. All it says is how long he was Vice President, not how long Lincoln was President. This passage puts no limits on the reign of Jesus. He is now reigning, has been reigning for almost two thousand years, and will reign for eternity.
Further, since Jesus says he will not be a king on this earth (John 18:36), his reign is a spiritual one. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus will reign for even a second as a physical king on this physical earth. Were he to do so he would make himself and the prophet Jeremiah both liars. If he is a liar, he is not Messiah and he would not come back to reign anyway.