Using Peter’s idea that the time periods are not referring to time but to metaphors for power I want to suggest another way of reading this passage. I would say though that they do refer to periods of history but the emphasis is power not time. Jesus’ power is a thousand times more powerful than Satan’s.In order to present my case, I need to spell out my understanding of the 1st century mission. I begin with Paul’s mission to the Gentile world. Paul as a Jew believed that the world was divided into 70 nations (see James Scott’s book "Paul and the Nations" Book review at rbl http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=2577&CodePage=2779,4620,2577. He believed that he was called to bring the message of the reigning Jesus to those nations. He believed it had occurred. Second, we can not downplay Jesus’ prophetic announcement that Israel would be punished by God through Rome. Jesus’ status as a true prophet from God hinged on that claim coming to pass. Paul was aware of this prediction I think in light of the fact that he could say that rebellious Israel was  destined for wrath (Rom. 9). But Paul knew that God was waiting patiently until the "full number of Gentiles" (i.e. "all the nations in the table of nations Gen. 11) had responded to the Gospel. Only then could the judgment come to Israel and pave the way for "all Israel" to be saved. If God had not prolonged judgment on Israel, the gospel would not have spread to the Nations. The disobedience of Israel and the long-suffering of God were both needed for the Gospel to spread.  The ‘1000 years’ represents the period up to 70 AD when the Gospel triumphed over Rome and Jewish resistance. The Gospel had spread to all nations. Satan was not able to prevent the spread. The outbreak of violence against Israel in the late 60’s represents the unbinding of the evil one. We must remember that the text doesn’t say Jesus stops ruling.This means that we are in the period of time when Satan is trying to deceive the Nations again. However, using Peter’s power metaphor, we realize that Satan’s power is nothing compared to Jesus’.The relevance for our 2nd century brothers and sisters is that, since they found themselves post-70 AD, they read this vision to remind themselves that Jesus reigns and that their suffering is but a blip on the screen. For us this means that we followers of Jesus are still in conflict with the powers BUT we know the power is limited.