How it feels to change a doctrinal POV, one can imagine, when I step by step through Grace leading, exchanged my old view of the 'Thousand Years' a la SDA, for this:
I mentioned the significance of suffering for being one of the only four true signs of the life of Christian faith. Therefore, it must be deduced, that John in Rv20 saw, One: Christ reigned (Past Tense - not the-e-ere in the future), and Two: the saints, Three: “on thrones”, “ruling”, “with Him”, “thousand years”, the while he saw: Four: “the souls” – seeing their life, their lives - Five: “under the altar” of sacrifice – their offering, their suffering; their witness; their ‘martyrdom’.
Thus the saints ruled and reigned and witnessed the thousand years with Christ under suffering; or they never, reigned.
Their thrones were the crowns of their suffering "for the faith of Jesus". This is the realism, the reality, the truth of both the saints’ rule and witness of their ‘Thousand Year Reign With Christ’. It is our Age of Faith.
Of the four ‘endeiksies’ two are lasting and eternal; two “for a short while” and passing. Paul says (Scripture explaining Scripture, Steaver), “Now abideth faith, hope, love”. But, says he, “Love beareth all things; Love suffereth long; Love endureth all things; Love never faileth.” In this Scripture Christ is scarcely distinguishable from Love. If instead of the word, ‘love’, is read, ‘Christ’, the passage still makes perfect sense. Jesus Christ and Love are the two eternal of the four essential signs of the Kingdom of heaven. Faith will end, and suffering will end, and in the resurrected life won’t be needed, used or experienced. Jesus Christ will be the Finisher of our faith in the resurrection. He is the Author of our faith in the First Resurrection.
Therefore John speaks of the era in which suffering and faith, with Christ and love, ‘constitute’, or ‘make up’, the very ‘first essentials’ of Christian witness. He pictures the ‘Thousand Years’ of Christ’s and the saint’s “reign” and “rule” wherein suffering crowns the glory of the saints. They are under the altar of suffering witness – they carry the altar as were it the crown on their heads. “They reigned Thousand Years, this, the First Resurrection”. (Just the letters of the text itself!)
This –Rv20:1-5– is the earthly reign and rule therefore under the conditions of our human existence in this very day of persecution, as subjects of the Kingdom of Heaven, being “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” still, “desir(ing) a better country, even an heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.” “For He hath prepared for them, a city”. The souls under the altar wait for that city patiently, believing, Rv14:12, suffering, Rv20:1-4. “I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write! Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” Saved, “are they that die in the Lord henceforth” - from the beginning of their reign with Christ the Thousand Years - their lives and souls “hidden in Christ in God”.