1000 (One Thousand)
Symbolic treatment of this number in the corpus by E.W. Bullinger and Stephen E. Jones.
One thousand is the number of divine completeness and glory: the fulness of God’s governance on a cosmic scale. Bullinger connects it to the millennium as the period of divine kingship. Jones develops the millennium theme exegetically through the pattern of the two silver trumpets of Num. 10:2 (two resurrections) and extends jubilee theology to the cosmic horizon: one thousand jubilees — forty-nine thousand chronological years — as the Jubilee of Creation.
Biblical References
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Ps. 90:4 | A thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday when it is past |
| 2Pet. 3:8 | One day with the Lord as a thousand years, a thousand years as one day |
| Rev. 20:4 | They reigned with Christ a thousand years |
| Rev. 20:7 | When the thousand years are expired |
Symbolism in the Corpus
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger describes one thousand as the number of divine completeness. In his chronological architecture of salvation history one thousand functions as a scalar factor: four hundred and ninety (seventy times seven) describes prophetic periods at the level of a generational cycle; one thousand elevates this to the scale of a royal age. The millennium in Rev. 20 is God’s thousand-year kingship — a symbolically complete period that surpasses ordinary historical time and expresses the earthly reign of Christ and his saints. 1
Stephen E. Jones
Jones describes one thousand as “Glory of God, Completeness.” In his jubilee theology he connects one thousand to the cosmic dimension of the restoration plan: “The creation itself will, I believe, be set free by the law of the Jubilee after 1,000 Jubilees have elapsed. This will be 50,000 years of legal time, but only 49,000 years of chronological time (1,000 × 49). This is the Jubilee at the Creation level, the highest and most far-reaching level. It will affect all creation.” One thousand jubilees are the Jubilee of Creation — the ultimate release of the entire cosmic order. 2
The millennium in Rev. 20 is for Jones a partial resurrection: only those called to reign with Christ are raised in the first resurrection and reign a thousand years as priests of God (Rev. 20:4-6). The second resurrection follows and encompasses the full human community. The two silver trumpets of Num. 10:2 prophesy this pattern: one trumpet summons the rulers, two trumpets the whole congregation — two phases of resurrection. 3