A Testimony of Jesus Christ : 3.20

3.20 - Revelation 20

3.20.1 - Revelation 20:1

As we have continued in our study of the book of Revelation, we have observed how the number of fellow saints who share our understanding of the text dwindles ever more as we proceed. This is because interpreting the book of Revelation is like traveling along a series of roads from a point of origin to a destination. As with any roadway, along the route we meet with numerous forks in the road which head off in different directions—leading to varied destinations.

The fork in the road which looms before us in Revelation 20 + is the thousand years: the Millennial Kingdom. Is the thousand year reign described here that of a literal kingdom on earth? And is it a future reign—or is it already in progress? Are the two resurrections which bracket the thousand years to be understood as literal, physical raisings from the dead? Or are they spiritual resurrections, related to faith? Or are they some combination of the two? When Satan is bound for the duration of this period, how complete is his binding? Who binds him and how is he bound? Is he bound even now? These are just some of the questions which confront the reader of Revelation 20 +.

That a kingdom would be the subject of this chapter is not unexpected. In the previous chapter we saw Christ ride forth under the declaration that he would (1) strike the nations, and (2) rule them with a rod of iron (Rev. 19:15 +). The striking took place during the Campaign of Armageddon. Now, the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:16 +) is to take up His promised earthly reign (Mtt. 6:10). It would seem most natural that if His Second Coming occurs in Revelation 19 +, then the rule described here (Rev. 20:4 +) would follow upon His physical return. Alas, there is great confusion over what should be obvious.

The reader may recall the introductory material which we studied prior to our verse-by-verse exposition. He may recall the premise which motivated such preparation: If we all read the same text, how is it that such widely-different understandings result? The answer, to a great degree, was found in differing Systems of Interpretation which are themselves the result of different views concerning how to interpret the text, especially Interpreting Symbols. There is perhaps no more dramatic illustration of the significant affect that interpretation has upon meaning than the divergence of opinion attending the Millennial Kingdom which comes before us in this chapter.

The view we set forth is that of the earliest Church Fathers, known as premillennialism or chiliasm—the belief that Christ returns before His kingdom commences on earth for one thousand years.

We now come to Rev. 20:1-6 + which was so universally held by the early Church to teach a literal resurrection, and to be so thoroughly consonant with Jewish views, that the Apocalypse narrowly escaped proscription by the enemies of Chiliasm . . . If we reject the early Church belief in this particular, the veracity of Apostolic Fathers, who assert that they received their interpretation of it from the Apostles and their associates . . . is impeached, and the teaching of the Apostles themselves which directly led to such a faith in all the churches established by them is open to grave suspicion. . . . Popery . . . almost crushed the early interpretation of the passage; but others held fast to it, as e.g. Paulikians, Waldenses, and Albigenses. Various writers, some men of acknowledged ability and talent, have continued from the Reformation . . . down to the present, to entertain the same, and today some of the most able men in nearly all, if not all, denominations, accept of this ancient faith.¹

In accord with our A Policy of Inoculation, we will present elements of alternate views—together with what we view to be their weaknesses—so that the reader is better equipped to judge these matters for himself. Let the reader take note: whether or not one grasps firmly to the Golden Rule of Interpretation will to a large degree determine what meaning is derived from the text. Most agree that a plain, literal reading of the passage results in the premillennial understanding which we hold—that a future, literal reign of Jesus Christ on earth will follow His Second Coming and precede the eternal state:

Kuyper, in trying to refute chiliasm, makes admissions which substantially give his position away. In commenting on the passage Rev. 20:1-7 +, he notes: “Reading this passage as if it were a literal description would not only tend to a belief in the Millennium but would settle the question of chiliasm for all who might be in doubt concerning the same . . . If we take it for granted now, that these thousand years are to be taken literally, that these thousand years are still in the future, and that this resurrection was meant to be a bodily resurrection, why then we may say, that at least as far as Rev. 20 + is concerned, the question is settled. Then we must admit that Rev. 20:1-7 + is a confession of chiliasm with all it contains.”—Kuyper, A. Chiliasm, p. 9.²

It was this very matter, opposition to what the book of Revelation describes regarding The Arrival of God’s Kingdom on earth, which inhibited its Acceptance into the Canon. See Millennial Kingdom. See The Millennial Kingdom in the Early Church.

Depending upon how one understands the first few verses of this chapter, one will most likely wind up in one of the major interpretive camps: premillennial, postmillennial, or amillennial. Only the premillennial interpreter takes the verses in their most literal way—symbolism being used to describe literal events yet future. The other two interpretive positions are forced into spiritualizing elements of the passage in order to achieve self-consistency among elements within the passage (e.g., the nature of the resurrections, the binding of Satan, the duration of the kingdom).

Waymeyer offers a helpful summary of key differences between premillennial, postmillennial, and amillennial interpretations of the first six verses of this pivotal chapter:

Key Interpretive Issues in Revelation 20:1-6 +³
Issue Premillennial View Postmillennial View Amillennial View
Satan’s Binding: Future Present / Future Present
First Resurrection: Physical Spiritual Spiritual
Thousand Years: Literal Literal / Symbolic Symbolic
Locale of Reign: Earth Earth / Heaven Heaven
Chronology of chapters 19-20:⁴ Sequential Sequential / Recapitulation Recapitulation

Key Interpretive Issues in Revelation 20:1-6 +³
Issue	Premillennial View	Postmillennial View	Amillennial View
Satan’s Binding:	Future	Present / Future	Present
First Resurrection:	Physical	Spiritual	Spiritual
Thousand Years:	Literal	Literal / Symbolic	Symbolic
Locale of Reign:	Earth	Earth / Heaven	Heaven
Chronology of chapters 19-20:⁴	Sequential	Sequential / Recapitulation	Recapitulation

We submit that the premillennial interpretation is the only interpretation which does justice to the text—recognizing the use of symbols to describe literal events which are entirely consistent and which do not violate exegetical consistency (e.g., such as taking one resurrection as physical and the other as spiritual).

I saw an angel coming down from heaven
John has previously seen other angels coming down from heaven on divine missions. A mighty angel came down from heaven to stand upon the sea and land and declare God’s dominion retaking the earth (Rev. 10:2 +). An angel with great authority came down from heaven to declare the destruction of Babylon (Rev. 18:1 +). Even before this angel takes action, we know that he is on a mission from the throne having divine authority. Given his mission, it is remarkable that he is not even described as being great or mighty. Nevertheless, he will be able to easily dispatch Satan to his millennial prison.

having the key to the bottomless pit
In the ninth chapter, John saw a “star” which fell from heaven having the key to the shaft of this same earthly compartment (Rev. 9:1 +). The star (angel) opened the pit to loose the demonic locusts at the fifth trumpet judgment. Here, an angel will perform the opposite action with his key: locking up the bottomless pit, probably by means of securing the same shaft. If the star which loosed the locusts was Satan, the irony which confronts him now is being a prisoner in the very abyss which he was previously able to unlock. See commentary on Revelation 9:1.

Bottomless pit is ἄβυσσον [abysson] : a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest parts of the earth. See commentary on Revelation 9:1.

The Angel with the Key to the Bottomless Pit

⁵

a great chain in his hand
This is not a literal chain, but a figure describing the angel’s authority and ability to restrain Satan. This is not the first time where an angelic power will have been said to be chained: “God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness” (2Pe. 2:4) and “the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own above, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6). Since spiritual beings, such as angels like Satan, cannot be restricted by physical means, we must understand the chain to denote a supernatural restraint which is ultimately provided by God for the express purpose of the angel’s task. In a similar way that the rebellious angels were locked away and unable to roam, so too will be Satan. The figure of a chain is used: the restraint provides no degree of freedom whereby it may be stretched.

In our discussion of The Rise of Allegorical Interpretation, we saw that once the tether of literal interpretation is cut, there is virtually no limit to the variety of fanciful solutions which may be provided as possible explanations for the meaning of the text. And so it is with amillennialism which denies the plain meaning of the text and takes almost the entire passage as an imprecise approximation of the spiritual authority now present in the Church. Here, we are told that an angel will bind Satan. Although the Church is never said to be an angel, amillennialist Kik is sure it is the Church which has this chain and that Satan is currently bound:

It is not difficult to ascertain by what means Satan is bound. The chain is the Gospel. Wherever a soul is released through the preaching of the Gospel there Satan is restrained and limited. . . . Unfortunately the Church of today does not realize the power that Christ has given her. Christ has placed in her hands the chain by which she can bind Satan. She can restrain his influence over the nations. But today the Church bemoans the fact that evil is becoming stronger and stronger. She bemoans the fact that the world is coming more and more under the control of the Devil. Whose fault is that? It is the Church. She has the chain and does not have the faith to bind Satan ever more firmly. Satan is bound and the Church knows it not! Satan can be bound ever more firmly and the Church does it not! [emphasis added]⁶

According to amillennialism, the chain is riddled with lack of faith. Its ability to restrain is compromised because the Church doesn’t realize it already has this chain. Satan would be bound ever more firmly if she would just realize this fact. Immediately we meet with a characteristic of amillennialism which fails to do justice to the text: the binding is not truly a binding. It is “loose” and needs to be ever more firmly pulled in. Amillennialism teaches that Satan was bound at the cross:

According to the preterist view, Satan is currently bound (Revelation 20:2-3 +) and crushed (Romans 16:20). The enemy was not just defeated de jure (legally) at the cross, but has been crushed de facto (in fact). Therefore, there is no external spiritual roadblock prohibiting Christians from reigning and ruling now.⁷

If the binding of Satan is now and its ineffectiveness is found in the weak faith of the Church, then what hope is there that he will ever be bound by this means? By the measure of amillennialism, even the “super apostle” Paul was unable to muster the necessary faith to get the job done:

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2Cor. 12:7-9)

Paul was unable to “bind” Satan because Satan is not bound in this present age. His binding is future, after the Second Coming of Christ and during the Millennial Kingdom.

3.20.2 - Revelation 20:2

He laid hold of the dragon
Laid hold is ἐκράτησε [ekratēse] : “take into one’s possession or custody . . . arrest . . . apprehend someone.”⁸ The dragon is the most-frequently used title for Satan in the book of Revelation (Rev. 12:3-4 +, 7 +, 9 +, 13 +, 16-17 +; 13:2 +, 4 +; 16:13 +; 20:2 +).

that serpent of old
Serpent of old is τὸν ὄφιν τὸν ἀρξαῖον [ton ophin ton arxaion] : the serpent, the ancient [one]. This alludes to the serpent in the garden of Eden, which Satan used to deceive Eve (Gen. 3:1-6). His title as dragon and serpent were seen in the heavenly war, when he was cast out: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan” (Rev. 12:9 +). See commentary on Revelation 12:9. Now that his two human accomplices, the Beast and the False Prophet, have been cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20 +) and his demonic forces are imprisoned in the burnt regions of Babylon and Edom (see commentary on Revelation 18:2), he must fend entirely for himself.

In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea. (Isa. 27:1)

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD! Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent? (Isa. 51:9)

bound him
Bound is ἔδησεν [edēsen] : used of actual binding and imprisonment, as they attempted to bind the demoniac of the Gadarenes with chains (Mark 5:3). Used of John the Baptist who was bound in prison by Herod (Mark 6:17), it can also be used in a metaphorical sense, as when describing the deformed woman bound by Satan (Luke 13:16). Paul said that he went to Jerusalem, “bound in the spirit” (Acts 20:22). This generic angel, not said to be mighty or strong, is able to bind Satan with no mention of a protracted struggle. This is an indication of the great authority which the angel has which attends his divine mission. Although he is also a creature, a mere angel like Satan, he is empowered by the Creator and is able to bind any creature with ease—even Satan himself. This is the de facto (actual) fulfillment of what was accomplished de jure (legally) at the cross. In the bruising of Christ’s heel, the serpent had ultimately laid the groundwork for the bruising of his head: “And I will put enmity Between you [the serpent] and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed [Christ]; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

Here is the foundational question regarding the binding of Satan? Is he truly bound or isn’t he? The text will make plain that his binding is complete because it is followed by his being casting into the bottomless pit which is then sealed. Those who assert that Satan is bound even now are faced with a dilemma because it is obvious both from Scripture and real experience that if Satan is bound today, then “his chain is too long!” Hence, amillennialists demonstrate great zeal (and considerable confusion) in their attempt to explain this “binding” such that it is not really a binding:

B. B. Warfield, whose eschatology seems to embrace some of the elements of both amillennialism and postmillennialism, attempts to support the idea that Satan is bound in respect to heaven. He writes: “The ‘binding of Satan’ is therefore in reality not for a season but with reference to a sphere; and his ‘loosing’ again is not after a period but in another sphere: it is not subsequence but exteriority that is suggested. There is, indeed, no literal ‘binding of Satan’ to be thought of at all: what happens, happens not to Satan but to the saints, and is only represented as happening to Satan for the purposes of the symbolical picture. What actually happens is that the saints described are removed from the sphere of Satan’s assaults. The saints described are free from all access of Satan—he is bound with respect to them: outside of their charmed circle his horrid work goes on.”⁹

The basic problem with interpretations which assert that the kingdom described in this passage is actually upon us now, having begun at the cross, is that they are unable to understand or unwilling to recognize the delay between spiritual accomplishments and their outworking in the physical realm. On the way to Jerusalem prior to presenting Himself as king, just a few days from His crucifixion, Jesus stopped to teach a parable “because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately” (Luke 19:11). The parable concerned a nobleman who “went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return” (Luke 19:12). He instructs his servants to attend to his affairs in his absence. His kingdom is not received until the time of his return: “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants” (Luke 19:15). This parable, we might observe, was specifically intended to do away with the delusion that God’s kingdom on earth is fulfilled in the Church today. Christ accomplished everything necessary for the establishment of the kingdom at the cross, but the time was not right for its commencement—there was to be an intervening age: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7b). The amillennialist, in his headlong zeal to make God’s kingdom on earth be now, ignores the many interpretive indicators otherwise. We agree with the amillennialist at one point: if the kingdom of God on earth is now then Satan must be bound even today. But the premise itself is flawed. Amillennialism must deny reality to cling to this error:

That something drastic happened to Satan with the first advent of Christ is seen also by the words of John 12:31, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” . . . In spite of the above passages there are people who will not believe that Satan is bound or that he has been cast out of his sphere of influence. They simply will not believe the words of Christ. “If Satan were bound and cast out,” they argue, “why is there so much evil in the world? If we believe that Satan is bound we must deny our senses.” It is better to believe Christ than it is to believe our senses.¹⁰

Kik confuses lack of faith with unsound interpretation. It is not our disbelief which tells us that Satan is not bound, it is our proper reading of God’s word which confirms our real experience. A sound interpretation of the text is in complete alignment with our experience: Satan cannot now be bound. The type of “faith” which Kik espouses is a blight on the people of God. It is founded on a flawed interpretation of God’s word and tries to fly at all costs, even denying reality, to the detriment of the believer. In this, it is like the faith of Christian Science which attributes the reality of sickness to an illusion of the mind.

Typical are amillennial explanations of the binding which is no binding at all:

There has been a binding of Satan. It is such a binding that he cannot touch a Christian. . . . We read in Revelation Twenty that Satan is also bound as far as deceiving the nations is concerned. Where previously he had completely deceived the Gentile nations now [after the cross] he could no longer do so. This does not mean that no one within a nation could not be deceived. There might be many within a Gentile nation that would be deceived by the cunning of Satan. Even though Satan is bound as far as the individual Christian is concerned, yet a Christian may, for a period of time or concerning a certain doctrine, be deceived. So also in regard to the nation. It simply means that Satan would no longer be in complete control of the nations as he was before the coming of Christ. [emphasis added]¹¹

We can agree with Kik at one point: Christians can indeed be deceived concerning doctrine: amillennialists are deceived concerning the doctrine of the binding of Satan! Even a cursory examination of Scriptural passages written after the cross and the resurrection indicate that Satan is not presently bound:

Satan filled the heart of Ananias to lie to the Holy Spirit resulting in the death of he and his wife (Acts 5:3).
Paul said that Satan is blinding the eyes of nonbelievers in this current age so that they should not receive the gospel (2Cor. 4:3-4).
Paul told the Corinthians that Satan transforms himself (deceptively) into an angel of light (2Cor. 11:14).
Paul was given a thorn in the flesh, “a messenger of Satan” to keep him humble (2Cor. 12:7).
Paul told the Ephesians that the prince of the power of the air “now works in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2).
Paul told the Ephesians not to give place to the devil (Eph. 4:27) and that they wrestled against “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
Paul was hindered by Satan from visiting the Thessalonian church (1Th. 2:18).
The coming of the lawless one, the Antichrist, will be “according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders” (2Th. 2:9). This is fulfilled, in part, by the activities of the False Prophet documented in the book of Revelation.
Paul delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander to Satan so that they might learn not to blaspheme (1Ti. 1:20).
James warns believers to submit to God and resist the devil (Jas. 4:7).
Peter warns believers to be sober and vigilant because “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1Pe. 5:8).
John tells us that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1Jn. 5:19).
Satan is a source of deception throughout the events of the book of Revelation (Rev. 12:9 +; 13:14 +; 18:23 +; 19:20 +; 20:8 +, 10 +).

Here is a foundational danger of amillennialism: in their appropriation of “kingdom now” theology, they deny reality. But an important part of reality is the factual, historical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amillennialists need to ask why a skeptical world should believe their witness concerning the historical fact of the crucifixion of Jesus for sin when they hold a theology which essentially denies reality?

This strange theory, the origin of which is traced to the Romish notion that the church is the kingdom, contends that whatever millennium there may be is being experienced in the present age. Its advocates interpret the book of Revelation as a description, or varied, descriptions, of this church age. . . . In their unenviable attempt to fit all the events anticipated in the Revelation into the history of this age, the amillennialists indulge in a form of speculation almost unsurpassed. Their abandonment of reason and sound interpretation has but one objective in mind, namely, to place χίλιοι [chilioi] (“thousand”) years—six times repeated in Revelation, chapter 20—back into the past and therefore something no longer to be anticipated in the future. The violence which this interpretation imposes upon the whole prophetic revelation is such that none would propose it except those who, for lack of attention, seem not to realize what they do. . . . In sheer fantastical imagination this method surpasses Russellism, Eddyism, and Seventh Day Adventism, since the plain, grammatical meaning of language is abandoned, and simple terms are diverted in their course and end in anything the interpreter wishes. [emphasis added]¹²

How much better to take both Scripture and our real experience at face value—especially when they speak in concert that Satan is not bound at the present hour.

The binding of Satan at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom is part of the seventh bowl judgment which was poured out upon the air, the domain of the “prince of the power of the air” (Rev. 16:17 + cf. Eph. 2:2). See commentary on Revelation 16:17. The same bowl judgment also brought about the incarceration of his demonic hoards. See commentary on Revelation 18:2.

thousand years
Thousand is χίλια [chilia] , from which chiliasm is derived: the belief in a literal one thousand year reign of Christ on the earth.¹³ As with all progressive revelation, this passage provides information which was not before revealed—the duration of the Millennial Kingdom. Although critics are fond of observing that little more is revealed concerning the kingdom in this passage, the characteristics of the kingdom are set forth at length elsewhere in God’s word—especially in the OT—so God has no need to repeat Himself here. Even though the duration of one thousand years is listed no less than six times in this passage, few are those who take it at face value. See The Abuse of Numbers. Once we deny that one thousand years means one thousand years, there is no end to the suggestions which can be offered as to what period is really in view:

The term thousand years in Revelation Twenty is a figurative expression used to describe the period of the Messianic Kingdom upon earth. It is that period from the first Advent of Christ until His Second Coming. It is the total or complete period of Christ’s Kingdom upon earth. . . If the binding of Satan began with the first coming of Christ then it follows that the thousand years began with His first coming. . . . Now the natural objection to this view is that the period from the first coming of our Lord to the present time can hardly be described as a Millennium. For one thing wars have not ceased and wickedness is still very much prevalent. As someone has stated: “if Satan is bound he must have a long tether.” All appearances seem to be against the view that we are in the millennium now. The trouble is that we have altogether a too materialistic concept of the millennial blessings. [emphasis added]¹⁴

Again we meet with amillennialism’s characteristic denial of reality. We are actually in the Millennium now: our error is that we just don’t happen to realize it! This detachment from reality can reach ridiculous extremes: “[Mild preterist] Gentry actually believes we are in some way in the new heavens and the new earth of Revelation 21 +-22 +. If this is true, then we all must be living in the ghetto side of the New Jerusalem. But there is no ghetto in the New Jerusalem.”¹⁵ In this rush to assert that every work of God has already come to pass, amillennialists devalue the promises of God. If this is the sum total of God’s kingdom on earth, then what’s there to get excited about? If most of the people living on earth in the kingdom have no idea they are even in such a kingdom—much less know and acknowledge the king—how can it be a kingdom in any real sense? In this, amillennialism has more in common with bizarre cults which specialize in “spiritual realities” and brainwash their adherents to ignore objective reality. This is unhealthy and unscriptural. Our God is a God of reality who does not ask us to deny the obvious:

Is the binding of Satan . . . so ineffective that murderers of saints, that dangerous enemies, still exist? What, then, becomes of God’s promises, if persecution, sore trail, threatened death and violent death itself is the characteristic of the Millennium?¹⁶

3.20.3 - Revelation 20:3

he cast him into the bottomless pit
Having unlocked the abyss, the angel casts Satan into it. The picture is of all authority being with the angel and Satan as his helpless prisoner. See commentary on Revelation 20:1.

shut him up, and set a seal on him
Shut him up is ἔκλεισε αὐτον [ekleise auton] : he locked him. Only the TR text has him (αὐτον [auton] ). Set a seal on him is ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ [esphragisen epanō autou] : he sealed over or upon him, which can also denote having authority over the dragon.¹⁷ In the MT and NU texts, it is the abyss which is shut and sealed, not the dragon himself. In any case, the intended result is the same. Satan now has three strikes against him, he is: (1) bound, (2) shut up, (3) sealed in his prison. The word for sealed, ἐσφράγισεν [esphragisen] , is the same word which describes sealing elsewhere in the book of Revelation (Rev. 7:3-8 +; 10:4 +; 20:3 +; 22:10 +).

Examples of sealing elsewhere in Scripture indicate its complete effectiveness:

Nebuchadnezzar sealed Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:17).
Daniel was told to seal the book of Daniel until the time of the end (Dan. 12:4).
Pilate commanded that Jesus’ tomb be sealed (Mtt. 27:66).
Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; 2Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30).
Jesus’ testimony was sealed (John 3:33).
Jesus was sealed by the Father (John 6:27).
The 144,000 witnesses from the twelve tribes were sealed on their foreheads (Rev. 7:3-8 +).
The things which the seven thunders uttered were sealed up so they would not be recorded by John (Rev. 10:4 +).
The contents of the book of Revelation are not to be sealed (Rev. 20:3 +; 22:10 +).

The angel’s treatment of Satan corresponds to Isaiah’s prediction that disobedient angels would be punished and imprisoned:

The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut; its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again. It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be punished. (Isa. 24:19-22) [emphasis added]

First, they are imprisoned, and after many days they receive their final punishment. This corresponds to the age of the Millennial Kingdom during which Satan and his angels are locked away. After his release and final rebellion (Rev. 20:7-10 +), he will meet his final punishment.

so that he should deceive the nations no more
The first human target of his deception was Eve in the garden (1Ti. 2:14). Since then, he has deceived nations throughout history, but never more so than his final attempt at victory during the Great Tribulation (Rev. 12:12 +). He restored the Beast from death so that all the world would worship him (Rev. 13:3 +). He spoke by the mouth of the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11 +) and empowered him to deceive the earth dwellers to their doom by taking the mark of the Beast (Rev. 13:14 +, 16 +; 14:9-11 +). He carried the Harlot as she rode throughout history upon his seven heads (Rev. 17:3 + cf. Rev. 12:3 +) and made the inhabitants drunk with her fornicating wine (Rev. 17:2 +) and sorcery (Rev. 18:23 +). He controlled the three unclean spirits which were sent out to gather the kings to the Campaign of Armageddon (Rev. 16:13-14 +) which led them to the slaughter (Rev. 19:21 +).

His deceptive activities, which affect both believers and unbelievers, are a fact of the Church age:

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2Cor. 11:3).

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (2Cor. 11:13-15)

A plain reading of the passage indicates that Satan is unable to deceive while he is locked away. As soon as he is released, he immediately goes out to deceive the nations (Rev. 20:8 +, 10 +), which he had been completely unable to do while in the abyss. “If this language does not mean that the immobilization of Satan is complete, so far as his deception of the nations (Grk. ethne) is concerned, then there is no way to express the idea.”¹⁸

This is his pattern: misrepresentation of truth through deception so those who respond to his promises always wind up with unforeseen liabilities which attend participation in his schemes. His two greatest tools are temptation and compromise. See commentary on Revelation 13:14.

till the thousand years were finished
What an amazing time of blessing this will be! Satan and his demonic realm will be rendered completely inoperative during the coming earthly kingdom of God. But this great blessing also has a flip side: in the removal of the great tempter is the removal of a convenient excuse by which men hide their own rebellious nature. And this, it would seem, is part of God’s plan in locking Satan away for the duration of the Millennial Kingdom—to show man his utter incapability of obedience to God, even in the midst of ideal conditions and in the absence of the influence of the serpent of old.

But after these things he must be released for a little while.
After the thousand years have expired, he is released to deceive the nations one final time. Here we see the sovereignty of God Who uses all things to achieve His ultimate ends. Satan is no less a tool of God in his rebellion than in his obedience. Although God is not the author of sin, His sovereignty over the affairs of history is not the least threatened by the disobedience of His creatures. See commentary on Revelation 20:7.

3.20.4 - Revelation 20:4

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them
Previously, it was the twenty-four elders who were seen sitting on thrones (Rev. 4:4 +). Here, the throne-sitters are resurrected men which supports our conclusion that the twenty-four elders are not angels, but resurrected men who also sit on thrones. See commentary on Revelation 4:4.

Now the only “Company of Believers” that we see sitting on Thrones are the “Four and Twenty Elders” of Revelation 4:4-5 +. These as we have seen stand for the Church, and were resurrected or caught out before “The Tribulation,” and are the “Harvest” of which Christ and those who rose at the time of His Resurrection were the “First Fruits.”¹⁹

“Surely the sitters on these thrones are those to whom this implied judicio-regal authority is everywhere promised.”²⁰ They are the overcomers who obtained the promises Jesus gave to the church at Thyatira and Laodicea: “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—He shall rule them with a rod of iron: they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels” (Rev. 2:26-27 +), “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21 +). See commentary on Revelation 2:26 and Revelation 3:21. See Millennial Reign of the Saints.

Here we begin to see what God has gained out of the whole trail of earth history. Man, made a little lower than the angels, is raised through the redemptive death of the Lord who also was willing to be made lower than the angels (Heb. 2:7, 9), to a higher position. In salvation we are not lifted back to the level from which Adam fell, but higher. We are not lifted to the level of the angels, but higher. We are lifted above all the principalities and powers to the very throne of Heaven.²¹

and judgment was given to them
These both reign and judge during the Millennial Kingdom. See Judgment by the Saints.

These seated on thrones are from two major resurrection events, both of which are part of the category known as the first resurrection:

OT Saints - Those who came to faith and died prior to the baptizing work of the Spirit which began on the Day of Pentecost. These are the OT saints, many of whom are Jews, and who were resurrected after Jacob’s Trouble and the Great Tribulation (Dan. 12:2; Isa. 26:19).²²
Church Saints - Those who came to faith and lived beyond the Day of Pentecost to be baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ, the Church. These were resurrected or translated at the Rapture of the Church (John 14:3; 1Cor. 15:51; 1Th. 4:13-18). See Rapture.

See Order of Resurrection.

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
Souls is ψυχὰς [psychas] . “These souls, once disembodied (Rev. 6:9 +), but here clearly resurrected, for they live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Thus, this is the figure of speech Metonymy of the Cause, whereby ‘soul’ is put for the person. . . . The use of ‘soul’ here provides no basis for asserting a spiritual, as opposed to a literal, reign or resurrection.”²³ It is also possible that John first describes them as souls because as he watches in the vision they come to life (are joined with their resurrected bodies).

Who had been beheaded is πεπελεκισμένων [pepelekismenōn] , perfect tense: the ones having been beheaded with an axe.²⁴ They were martyred and are now identified as having been faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10 +). At the opening of the fifth seal, John saw those who had been slain “for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (Rev. 6:9 +). Elsewhere, John was shown a great multitude who came out of the Great Tribulation, most of whom were probably martyrs (Rev. 7:13-14 +).

The guillotine in revolutionary France was a revival of the mode of capital punishment of pagan imperial Rome. Paul was beheaded [as was John the Baptist, Mtt. 14:8; Mark 6:24-15], and no doubt shall share the first resurrection, in accordance with his prayer that he “might attain unto the resurrection from out of the rest of the dead” (Greek, “exanastasis”). The above facts may account for the specification of this particular kind of punishment.²⁵

for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God
Witness to Jesus is μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ [martyrian Iēsou] , elsewhere translated the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1:2 +, 9 +; 12:17 +; 19:10 +). John “bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ” which included all the things he saw in his vision and are recorded in this book (Rev. 1:2 +). See commentary on Revelation 1:2 and Revelation 19:10.

who had not worshiped the beast or his image
Who had not worshiped is και οἵτινες οὐ προσεκύνησαν [kai hoitines ou prosekynēsan] : and all the ones who not worshiped. The Beast arose from the sea, having recovered from a deadly wound to the acclaim and worship of the world (Rev. 13:4 +). The earth dwellers, under the urging of the False Prophet, constructed an image of the Beast which was worshiped under penalty of death (Rev. 13:14-16 +). These, having faith and being protected from deception by the power of the Holy Spirit, had not been swayed by the great deception of their age. They had rejected worship of both the Beast and His image. As a result, they suffered martyrdom. In their physical death, having held true to their testimony (Rev. 12:11 +), they had escaped eternal torment (Rev. 14:9-11 +) which is the second death (Rev. 2:11 +; 20:6 +). Prior to the bowl judgments, John saw those from among them who had already died, who had “victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name” singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:2-4 +).

The grammar of the Greek provides the possibility that a third group is described beyond those sitting on thrones and those who had been beheaded:²⁶

John describes three groups of resurrected believers (they “came to life”) in Rev. 20:4 +. First, the thrones represent believers of the pre-tribulation era (as the twenty-four elders sat on their thrones before the tribulation began—Rev. 4:4 +); second, the souls of those who will be martyred in the first half of the tribulation; and third, those who will refuse to worship the Beast in the second half of the tribulation.²⁷

The three groups are not mutually exclusive, for the second two are probably a subset from among the first:

That martyrs and the faithful ones under the Beast are not different parties from the sitters on the thrones, but special classes specifically included. A somewhat parallel presentation occurs in Revelation 1:7 +, where it is said of the Saviour at his great Epiphany, that “every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him.” The meaning is not that “they which pierced him” for a separate class apart from “every eye,” but that even those who slew Christ shall be among those denoted by “every eye,” and that they too shall look upon him.²⁸

In any case, these cannot include the living saints who survive the Tribulation until the Second Coming of Christ and enter the Millennial Kingdom in their natural bodies, because these have previously died and are resurrected.

and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands
Their hands is τήν χεῖρα αὐτῶν [tēn cheira autōn] : the hand [singular] of them. Hands is plural in the same sense as foreheads, many people with one [right] hand each that could have received the mark.²⁹ Their refusal of the mark of the Beast meant they could neither buy nor sell (Rev. 13:17 +). Their only means of survival was by supernatural assistance, living off the land, or through the black market. Thus, they demonstrated their faith by their works and lived under extreme duress in order to remain true to their faith in God.

they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years
They lived is ἔζησαν [ezēsan] , used of “dead persons who return to life, become alive again.”³⁰ It is an ingressive aorist: they came to life and began to live.³¹ The same word is used by Christ to describe His own resurrection: “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life (ἔζησεν [ezēsen] )” (Rev. 2:8 +). It describes the revival of the Beast from physical death: “And he [the False Prophet] deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived (ἔζησεν [ezēsen] )” (Rev. 13:14 +).

The reason they come to life is because Christ overcame death (Rev. 1:18 +; 2:8 +). “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will” (John 5:21). “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19). “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him” (2Ti. 2:11). Through identification by faith in Jesus Christ, they obtained resurrection to life. In one of the most significant scenes in the gospels, Jesus makes a dramatic claim:

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:23-25) [emphasis added]

Their persecutors, the Beast worshipers, had saved their own physical lives for a time, but ultimately lost eternal life: “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Mtt. 10:39). This is a resurrection to receive a glorified body never to die again. It differs from those who were raised from the dead, but then died again (1K. 17:22; Luke 7:15; 8:54; John 11:43-44):

Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:34-36)

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1Cor. 15:50-53)

Those who claim we are already in the time which John describes must find a different way of understanding this verse because the physical resurrection of the believing dead has obviously not yet transpired. The most frequent way to explain away the future force of the passage and move it into the past is to explain this resurrection as being a spiritual regeneration by which people come to faith—having previously been spiritually dead.

From at least the time of Augustine, the first resurrection was understood as a regeneration of the soul and the second resurrection as the general physical, bodily resurrection of the just and unjust (City of God 20.9-10). It must, however, be insisted that it is quite weak exegesis to make the first resurrection spiritual and the second one physical, unless the text itself clearly indicates this change, which it does not.³²

But this cannot be a spiritual resurrection because these are said to have previously died because of their faith! The very faith which the amillennialist now claims is attained at their “resurrection”:

It seems absurd to press this passage into a spiritual or moral conversion in the face of the beheading which was endured for the Word, since it is virtually affirming that the sinner, previous to his conversion, suffers death because of his witnessing for Jesus; that the unregenerated man endures a beheading for his unswerving devotion to the truth; and then, after such an exhibition of love, he is resurrected, i.e., converted, etc. . . . The persons who have part in this resurrection are such as were converted to the truth before this death.³³

This is the future physical resurrection of the just which the early Church Father Irenaeus described:

“For, behold,” says Isaiah, “the day of the Lord cometh past remedy, full of fury and wrath, to lay waste the city of the earth, and to root sinners out of it.” And again he says, “Let him be taken away, that he behold not the glory of God.” And when these things are done, he says, “God will remove men far away, and those that are left shall multiply in the earth. And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them themselves: and plant vineyards, and eat of them themselves.” For all these and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in [the times of] which [resurrection] the righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through Him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom intercourse and communion with the holy angels, and union with spiritual beings; and [with respect to] those whom the Lord shall find in the flesh, awaiting Him from heaven, and who have suffered tribulation, as well as escaped the hands of the Wicked one.³⁴

Their coming to life and reigning with Christ is a future event which is the fulfillment of the prayers of the saints throughout history that God would bring His kingdom to earth (Mtt. 6:10). See The Arrival of God’s Kingdom. This is the beginning of the literal kingdom on earth which smashes all other earthly kingdoms and fills the globe. See Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and Daniel’s Vision. See Millennial Kingdom. Both Jesus and the saints rule in the kingdom. See Millennial Reign of Messiah. See Millennial Reign of the Saints.

At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, it was announced that “He shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15 +). The reign of Christ and the saints eventually extends beyond the thousand years and on into the eternal state (Rev. 22:5 +).

3.20.5 - Revelation 20:5

But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.
Live again is ανεζησαν [anezēsan] : used “of the dead become alive again, rise again, return to life.”³⁵ The MT and NU texts have ἔζησαν [ezēsan] , the same term described the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs in the previous verse. “Since all of the righteous are raised during the first resurrection, these designated as ‘the rest of the dead’ must refer to the unrighteous, who are not raised until after the first thousand years of the reign of Christ have transpired.”³⁶

Those amillennialists who are consistent in their exegesis are forced to take this resurrection as a spiritual resurrection, as they do the first resurrection. This places them in a bind because it is clear that these are the unsaved dead who are never spiritually regenerated. Kik illustrates the interpretive gymnastics which result when attempting to overcome the consistent literal meaning of the text:

It might seem that these dead would remain so only during the thousand-year period. They lived not until the thousand years were finished. One might think that when the thousand-year period ended that these dead would live. But the conjunction until is used in the sense “to the time that.” The rest of mankind remained in spiritual deadness to the time that the thousand years ended. . . . Their souls remained dead.³⁷

Kik tortures the word “until” until it finally cries out “never!” But until cannot mean never in this context because we see the rest of the dead resurrected a few verses from now! If the first resurrection is spiritual, then so must be the second. But if the second resurrection is taken as being spiritual, the amillennialist has a problem—after the thousand years the unsaved dead are resurrected: regenerated! Thus, he must make “until” mean “never.” It is difficult to imagine a clearer example of bringing a faulty concept to the text and twisting the interpretation until it yields the desired results. Here we see the most significant danger of amillennialism which is not its denial of the Millennial Kingdom, as serious as that might be, but its proclivity to distort God’s word.

This resurrection is not that of the Church, previously taken up in the Rapture:

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1Th. 4:15-17)

Nor is it the resurrection of the two witnesses which occurred at the rise of the Beast from the abyss at the mid-point of the Tribulation:

Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. (Rev. 11:11 +)

This is the first of two resurrections subsequent to Christ’s Second Coming, one prior to the Millennial Kingdom and the other afterward. The text describes two resurrections separated by a period of one thousand years.³⁸ This fact is compatible with the many other resurrection passages which indicate this very thing.

As early as the book of Daniel we see an indication of two categories of resurrection: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2). The Hebrew in this passage is difficult. The passage makes a distinction between many versus all and between two resulting categories: everlasting life and everlasting contempt:

Tregelles translates Daniel 12:2 as follows: “And many from among the sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake; these shall be unto everlasting life; but those [the rest of the sleepers, those who do not awake at this time] shall be unto shame and everlasting contempt.” [S. P. Tregelles, Remarks on the Prophetic Visions in the Book of Daniel, p. 159; words in brackets supplied by Tregelles].³⁹

The true rendering of Dan. 12:1-3, in connection with the context, is “And (at that time) Many (of thy people) shall awake (or be separated) out from among the sleepers in the earth-dust. These (who awake) shall be unto life everlasting, but those (who do not awake at that time) shall be unto shame and contempt everlasting.” So, the most renowned Hebrew Doctors render it, and the best Christian exegetes.⁴⁰

Numerous passages in the NT indicate different categories of resurrection:

And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:14) [emphasis added]

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:28-29) [emphasis added]

Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. (Heb. 11:35) [emphasis added]

Paul taught that all men will be raised from the dead:

But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets. I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. (Acts 24:14-15) [emphasis added]

Although Paul appears to describe a single resurrection, elsewhere his teaching betrays otherwise: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Php. 3:10-11). If Paul taught that all men were to be raised (Acts 24:14-15), how could he say he hoped to attain the resurrection from the dead? Here he speaks of a specific resurrection, the resurrection of the just—a separate resurrection from that of the unjust and the subject before us in this verse.

This is the first resurrection.
First is πρώτη [prōtē] which can be used “of time: first, earliest”⁴¹ or it can describe relative priority: “foremost, chief, most important of all.”⁴² The various individual resurrections which make up the category of the first resurrection all precede the second resurrection in time. It is also the chief or foremost resurrection, the “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) because participation in the first resurrection indicates a person is saved and participates in the blessings of God’s kingdom on earth.

This resurrection is, therefore, the chief, principal, pre-eminent one, because it pertains to that of the first-born, constitutes the persons embraced in and experiencing its power the first born that belong exclusively—in a particular sense typified by the Jewish first-born—to God Himself. Hence not time but distinction is denoted.⁴³

The expression “first resurrection” has constituted an exegetical problem for all interpreters. Posttribulationalists cite this reference as evidence that the rapture could not occur until after the tribulation. Pretribulationalists have rightly held that the first resurrection is not an event, but an order of resurrection . It is evident that our Lord rose form the dead as the first one to receive a resurrection body—others previously raised from the dead had merely been restored to their former natural bodies. His resurrection, though widely separated from resurrections which follow, is included in the first resurrection, otherwise the event described in Revelation would not be “first.” According to 1 Corinthians 15:20, Christ is “the firstfruits of them that are asleep,” i.e., the first part of the resurrection of all saints. Likewise, the evidence that the translation of the church takes place before the tribulation would point to a large segment of the righteous dead being raised before the tribulation. These also would qualify as taking part in the first resurrection. In contrast to the first resurrection of Revelation 20 + is the resurrection of the wicked dead portrayed in the latter part of the chapter. The first resurrection therefore becomes the resurrection of all the righteous in contrast to the final resurrection which is the resurrection of the wicked. [emphasis added]⁴⁴

The first resurrection must not be spiritualized into the new birth experienced in this life by every believer, for such is not called a resurrection in Scripture. Many interpreters have been confused by failing to understand the meaning of “first.” “First” is here a term of priority, and the first resurrection includes all the several resurrections of the righteous dead which have occurred.⁴⁵

Dean Alford (“New Testament for English Readers,” Com. loci) remarks: “I cannot consent to distort the words from their plain sense and chronological place in the prophecy, on account of any considerations of difficulty, or of any risk of abuses which the doctrine of the Millennium may bring with it. Those who lived next to the Apostles, and the whole Church for three hundred years, understood them in the plain literal sense; and it is a strange sight in these days to see expositors who are among the first in reverence for antiquity, complacently casting aside the most cogent instance of consensus which primitive antiquity presents. As regards the text itself, no legitimate treatment of it will extort what is known as the spiritual interpretation now in fashion. If, in a passage where two resurrections are mentioned, where certain persons lived at the first, and the rest of the dead only at the end of a specified period after the first—if, in such a passage, the first resurrection may be understood to mean spiritual rising with Christ, while the second means literal rising from the grave; then there is an end of all significance in language, and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything. If the first resurrection is spiritual, then so is the second, which I suppose none will be hardy enough to maintain; but if the second is literal, so is the first, which, in common with the whole Primitive Church and many of the best modern expositors, I do maintain, and receive as an article of faith and hope.”⁴⁶

3.20.5.1 - Order of Resurrection

The use of first to describe a resurrection which follows after Christ’s resurrection, gives us an initial clue that first cannot denote absolute chronological order—as that of a single event which occurs before all others. By this time, Christ has been resurrected for almost two thousand years, yet Scripture calls this subsequent event “the first resurrection.” It is first from the perspective of its priority : those who participate in the resurrection of life rather than the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:28-29). It is also first relative to the Millennial Kingdom since the subsequent resurrection will not be until one thousand years later. Christ was the first man to rise in the category which is the first resurrection:

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. (1Cor. 15:20-23) [emphasis added]

In this passage, Paul describes two, or possibly three resurrection events: (1) Christ, (2) the Church at His coming in the Rapture, and possibly, (3) all other believers at His physical Second Coming in judgment. An examination of Scripture reveals a number of individual resurrection events separated in time, all of which fall into one of two categories: the resurrection of life (the first resurrection) and the resurrection of condemnation (the second resurrection).⁴⁷ The first resurrection consists of several sequential resurrection events which are treated as a single category—the raising of all who are redeemed:

A man on Thanksgiving day may say, with great satisfaction, “All of the harvest is gathered in.” That harvest may have included a few handfuls gathered on the first day, then after a long interruption due to a rainstorm, for example, the major part of the harvest may have been gathered, and then, after another momentary interruption, the final sheaves are garnered.⁴⁸

These references [Luke 14:1-14; Php. 3:10-14; John 5:28-29; Rev. 20:6 +] show that there is a part of the resurrection program that is called “the resurrection of the just,” the “out-resurrection from the dead,” “a better resurrection,” “the resurrection of life,” and “the first resurrection.” These phrases suggest a separation; a resurrection of a portion of those who are dead, which resurrection leaves some dead unchanged while these resurrected undergo a complete transformation.⁴⁹

There are several different resurrection “events” which transpire in history, each of which falls into one of two categories. All but the last resurrection event make up the first resurrection.⁵⁰

The Resurrections⁵¹
Order Which Timing Who Description Scriptures
1 First The Third Day Jesus Christ The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Mtt. 28:1-7; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18; 1Cor. 15:20

2 First Shortly after Christ’s Resurrection. A Few OT Saints At the earthquake attending the crucifixion, graves were opened. Shortly after the resurrection of Christ, these saints were raised.⁵² Mtt. 27:50-53
3 First Before the Tribulation. Church The resurrection of Church-age believers at the Rapture. John 14:3; 1Th. 4:13-18; 1Cor. 15:50-53
4 First Middle of the Tribulation.⁵³ Two Witnesses God’s two witnesses will be raised after being killed by The Beast. Rev. 11:11-12 +
5 First After Jacob’s Trouble OT Saints Old Testament saints will be resurrected to enter the Millennial Kingdom.⁵⁴ Dan. 12:1-2; Isa. 26:19; Eze. 37:13-14 ⁵⁵
6 First Beginning of Millennial Kingdom. Tribulation Martyrs The Tribulation martyrs will be resurrected so that they can rule and reign with Christ. Rev. 20:4-6 +
7 Second End of Millennial Kingdom Unbelieving Dead⁵⁶ At the end of the millennial reign of Christ, the final resurrection will consist of all of the unbelieving, wicked dead. They will be found guilty at the Great White Throne Judgment and cast into the Lake of Fire. Rev. 20:11-15 +

The Resurrections⁵¹
Order	Which	Timing	Who	Description	Scriptures
1	First	The Third Day	Jesus Christ	The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”	Mtt. 28:1-7; Mark 16:1-11; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-18; 1Cor. 15:20
2	First	Shortly after Christ’s Resurrection.	A Few OT Saints	At the earthquake attending the crucifixion, graves were opened. Shortly after the resurrection of Christ, these saints were raised.⁵²	Mtt. 27:50-53
3	First	Before the Tribulation.	Church	The resurrection of Church-age believers at the Rapture.	John 14:3; 1Th. 4:13-18; 1Cor. 15:50-53
4	First	Middle of the Tribulation.⁵³	Two Witnesses	God’s two witnesses will be raised after being killed by The Beast.	Rev. 11:11-12 +
5	First	After Jacob’s Trouble	OT Saints	Old Testament saints will be resurrected to enter the Millennial Kingdom.⁵⁴	Dan. 12:1-2; Isa. 26:19; Eze. 37:13-14 ⁵⁵
6	First	Beginning of Millennial Kingdom.	Tribulation Martyrs	The Tribulation martyrs will be resurrected so that they can rule and reign with Christ.	Rev. 20:4-6 +
7	Second	End of Millennial Kingdom	Unbelieving Dead⁵⁶	At the end of the millennial reign of Christ, the final resurrection will consist of all of the unbelieving, wicked dead. They will be found guilty at the Great White Throne Judgment and cast into the Lake of Fire.	Rev. 20:11-15 +

Although Scripture makes no mention of it, some believe there may be a resurrection of saints from among those who entered the Millennial Kingdom in their natural bodies and their offspring (Mtt. 25:34). If the righteous die at an advanced age (Isa. 65:20), then their resurrection is not recorded in Scripture:

The question has been raised concerning the judgment of those who die in the millennium. It is clear that the unsaved who die in the millennium are included in [the Great White Throne] judgment. The Scriptures are silent, however, concerning any rapture or translation of saints who survive the millennium and concerning the resurrection of saints who may die in the millennium. Both events may be safely assumed, but are not the subject of divine revelation, probably on the principle that this truth is of no practical application to saints now living. Further light may be cast upon this in the millennium itself as the truth of God is made known.⁵⁷

Others suggest that only unbelievers die during the Millennial Kingdom resulting in no believing dead to be resurrected:

The resurrection of the Tribulation saints completes the first resurrection. There will be no such thing as a resurrection of millennial saints.⁵⁸

According to Fruchtenbaum, in the Millennial Kingdom, believers never die but sinners die at age 100. This could account for the lack of mention of a post-millennium resurrection of the righteous dead.

Death in the millennium will be for unbelievers only. This is why the Bible does not speak of a resurrection of millennial saints, and why the resurrection of the tribulation saints is said to complete the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6 +).⁵⁹

A key passage which describes longevity in the Millennial Kingdom is found in Isaiah:

No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isa. 65:20)

This passage does not unambiguously teach that only unbelievers die in the Millennium. It merely describes the great longevity which will be the blessing of those who are still in their natural bodies during this period. For example, what could it mean for an old man to fulfill his days if all sinners die at a relatively early age and the faithful never die? Furthermore, there is no indication whatsoever that death has been abolished until after the Millennium (Rev. 21:4 +). The argument that only unbelievers die during the Millennium is an argument from silence—the silence of an explicit mention of a post-millennial resurrection of the righteous dead. Although it is possible, arguments from silence are generally to be avoided.

Others suggest that the second resurrection includes believers who die during the Millennial Kingdom and who stand in judgment with the unbelieving dead at the Great White Throne Judgment.⁶⁰ This view has its own complications:

Scripture consistently recognizes two categories of resurrection in such a way as to infer that believers are not to be found in both.
The names given to the second resurrection, the resurrection “unto shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan. 12:2) and “the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29), seem to exclude the possibility of the inclusion of believers.
Believers do not face the possibility of standing in a judgment which decides their eternal destiny: (John 5:24).
The passage (below) which describes the second resurrection and subsequent judgment makes no mention of the presence of any faithful. Although the Book of Life is mentioned, nothing is said of the destiny of those who might be found written therein. Everything seems to indicate the book is used merely to testify to the absence of the names of the unsaved. “Only one group will be seen at this judgment, the dead—the spiritually dead.”⁶¹

See Births, Deaths, and Resurrections.

3.20.6 - Revelation 20:6

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection
They are blessed because “they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6 +). This blessing is equivalent to the blessing for those “who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9 +) because they find entry into the kingdom of God (Luke 14:15). See commentary on Revelation 19:9. Their blessing is one of seven blessings given in the book of Revelation. See commentary on Revelation 1:3.

These are holy (ἅγιος [hagios] ) because they are the saints (ἁγίων [hagiōn] ). They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14 +).

Over such, the second death has no power
Christ promised the overcomer of the church at Smyrna, the persecuted church which experienced martyrdom, that they would not be hurt by the second death (Rev. 2:11 +). They would be part of the first resurrection (at the Rapture of the Church) and the second death would have no power over them. The second death is the destiny of those who are not written in the Book of Life: “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14 +). “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8 +).

In the Palestinian Targum on Deuteronomy 33:6, the OT locus theologicus in rabbinic Judaism for proving the resurrection from the dead, the Targum reads: “Let Reuben live in this world and not die in the second death in which death the wicked die in the word to come.” In the Targum the second death means exclusion from the resurrection. Not to die the second death, then, means to rise again to eternal life.⁶²

3.20.6.1 - Births, Deaths, and Resurrections

Scripture knows of two births, two deaths, and two resurrections. Everyone is physically born once. Those who do not undergo the second birth, the spiritual birth, also undergo the second death which is the permanent separation from God with eternal torment.

Participation in Births, Deaths, and Resurrections
Event Unbeliever Believer Description
Born Again No Yes The first birth is physical birth. The second birth is spiritual and occurs when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ.⁶³ Only believers are “born twice.”
1st Death Yes Yes The first death occurs at the end of one’s physical life.
1st Resurrection No Yes The first resurrection is a category and occurs in stages, beginning with the resurrection of Christ (1Cor. 15:20) and ending with the resurrection just prior to the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:5-6 +). Only believers participate in the first resurrection.⁶⁴ See Order of Resurrection.
2nd Resurrection Yes No The second resurrection occurs at the end of the Millennial Kingdom at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-13 +). Only unbelievers participate in the second resurrection. See Order of Resurrection.
2nd Death Yes No The second death is after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:14-15 +). As there is eternal life beyond this present life for the faithful, so there is eternal death beyond the death of the wicked.⁶⁵ The second death is commonly known as hell.⁶⁶

Participation in Births, Deaths, and Resurrections
Event	Unbeliever	Believer	Description
Born Again	No	Yes	The first birth is physical birth. The second birth is spiritual and occurs when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ.⁶³ Only believers are “born twice.”
1st Death	Yes	Yes	The first death occurs at the end of one’s physical life.
1st Resurrection	No	Yes	The first resurrection is a category and occurs in stages, beginning with the resurrection of Christ (1Cor. 15:20) and ending with the resurrection just prior to the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:5-6 +). Only believers participate in the first resurrection.⁶⁴ See Order of Resurrection.
2nd Resurrection	Yes	No	The second resurrection occurs at the end of the Millennial Kingdom at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-13 +). Only unbelievers participate in the second resurrection. See Order of Resurrection.
2nd Death	Yes	No	The second death is after the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:14-15 +). As there is eternal life beyond this present life for the faithful, so there is eternal death beyond the death of the wicked.⁶⁵ The second death is commonly known as hell.⁶⁶

When a person is born again (John 3:3-7; 1Pe. 1:23; 1Jn. 2:29; 3:9; 5:1, 18), he will only undergo the first death, but the second death has no power over him: “though he may die [the first death], he shall live [be resurrected never to face the second death]” (John 11:25b). they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years
Christ made the saints “kings and priests to His God” (a kingdom, priests to God , MT and NU texts) (Rev. 1:6 + cf. Rev. 5:10 +). See commentary on Revelation 1:6. See Millennial Reign of the Saints.

The priestly duties of some will include service in the Temple:

“I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the