Study Series 16 Lesson 8: This study covers chapter 20 and goes into numerous topics such as:
Chapter 20: REVELATION 20:4-6
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
What Was the First Resurrection which also occurred at the Beginning of the Millennium?Rev. 20:4 “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and
reigned with Christ for a thousand years.Rev. 20:5 The REST OF THE DEAD did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Rev. 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the FIRST RESURRECTION; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
Notice that all of the folks who participated in the FIRST RESURRECTION seem to be martyrs. That was the Jewish understanding of resurrection (harvest festival typology: there was a presentation of the firstfruits in the temple BEFORE the rest of the harvest was gathered at a later date) (Refer to Study Series 8 Lesson 1 for a more in depth study). That is exactly what
we see here, the firstfruits were to be raised first, then the rest of the dead later. This means we should expect to find a resurrection of martyrs sometime during Jesus’ earthly ministry before He ascended. And we see something like that mentioned in Matthew 27:52-53, “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”I believe that the First Resurrection occurred at the resurrection of Jesus. Notice what Apostle Paul says about this and the millennial reign in his great discourse on the resurrection of the dead in 1 Cor 15:23-26. I believe this passage alone dispels any doubts about the 40-yearmillennium concept (we will look into this deeper later in this study). Notice what he says in verse 25 in particular:
1Cor. 15:23 “But each in his own order: Christ the FIRST FRUITS, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
1Cor. 15:24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
1Cor. 15:25 For HE MUST REIGN UNTIL He has put all His enemies under His feet.*
1Cor. 15:26 The last enemy that will be abolished is DEATH.”
* the Greek text in 1 Corinthians 15:25 “for he must reign” is a present infinitive verb, denoting that action is occurring during the time of Paul’s writing….one could say, “for it behooves him to keep reigning until….” This assumes that the “reign” of Christ was a reality at the time of Paul’s writing.
When we compare Rev 20:6-14 with 1Cor 15:23-26, we see the exact same ideas in both texts:
(1) Christ and His firstfruits were raised first (first resurrection).
(2) He reigns with those saints until the End (of the millennium).
(3) All of His enemies, including DEATH, were crushed by the End of His reign.
As we saw, that first resurrection was mentioned briefly (without detail) in Matthew 27:52-53. I believe those were martyrs that were raised at the same time as Christ. They appeared in Jerusalem for forty days, just like Christ did, and then ascended with Him (like Eph. 4:8-9 implies). When He ascended with those martyrs, He deposited them under the altar in the heavenly temple (Rev. 6:9), and then ascended the rest of the way to the Highest Heaven (the Holy of Holies) to present His blood on the heavenly mercy seat.
Then at the Parousia, when He descended from heaven in AD 66, He brought those martyrs with Him (as 1 Thess. 4:15 teaches) and then raised the rest of the righteous dead out of Hades, changed the living into their new immortal bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-54), and then caught them all up together into the glory cloud above to remain with Him forever afterwards (1 Thess. 4:17). AD 70 was certainly the END that Paul was referring to in 1 Cor. 15:23-24. Those who were Christ’s is referring to those Christians who had died during the forty year transition period (AD 30-70). They were raised at the Parousia. This included both Jewish and Gentile Christians who died during that time.
** In addition, we do an in-depth Sub Study on: The Millennium – the Transition Period
Including topics such as:
• The Language of a “Thousand Years”
• A Day as a Thousand Years
• The Binding of Satan
• The Forty Year Millennium
• When the Thousand Years Are Over
Full “Study Series” PDF (Available upon request if not hyperlinked. Please email me)
Chart: Millennium Chart
Listen to the weekly Bible study audio:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6