2. THE Revelation 20:4-6 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:--In the vision John saw thrones and persons sitting upon them, and describes in the next statement who they were. The word "judgment" is evidently used in the sense of rule which is the idea implied in the word "thrones." It means that those whom John saw were reigning in some sense. The particular sense will be discovered in the remainder of the paragraph. It is clear from the language that verses 7-10 logically followed verse 3 to complete the story begun with Revelation 19:19. The narrative is interrupted at verse 3 and this paragraph is interposed to describe things that would transpire during the thousand years which had just been mentioned. It is an explanation of how Satan's binding, the first big event in his overthrow, would affect the church during the millennial period. Both judge and rule carry the idea of authority to command, approve, or condone. One can reign in a secondary sense when he is authorized to state or enforce the laws of the actual ruler. In this sense the apostles rule under Christ as our king. He conferred upon them the right to express the conditions of pardon which he gave them--thus to remit and retain sin. (John 20:21-23.) In harmony with this is the reply of Jesus to Peter's question in Matthew 19:27-28. He said: "Ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." "The regeneration" means the Christian dispensation--that is, the time when men can be regenerated or born again. The apostles had followed Jesus; hence, they were given the right to rule by his authority. There can be no mistake about this, for in Luke 22:28-30, a parallel text, Jesus said he appointed them a kingdom "that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom." This refers to the Lord's Supper and shows that the apostles were in the kingdom while they lived on earth. If so, then they sat upon the thrones and judged while on earth. But Jesus said they would do this while he was sitting upon the throne of his glory. This incidentally shows that Jesus began his reign on Pentecost, as taught in Hebrews 10:12, 1 Corinthians 15:25, and disproves his supposed millennial reign on earth. There is also a figurative sense in which Christians may rule: either by influencing others to correct living, or to condemn by implication the disobedient through faithfulness to God. Such is the teaching of Mat 5:16 Hebrews 11:7. Nothing is more certain than that the lives of men, both good and bad, continue to rule in the hearts and lives of others long after death. See Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 14:13; Hebrews 11:7. It is a solemn thought to know that the final salvation or damnation of men can depend upon how their lives, as examples, have ruled over others. and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand;--This tells who were sitting upon the thrones. The definite statement is that John saw "souls"; no mention whatever of "bodies." Selecting the term "souls" could not have been accidental, and certainly indicates that the resurrection in this passage is not that of bodies. This alone is fatal to the idea that Jesus will come personally at the beginning of the 1,000 years. By a figure of speech soul sometimes stands for the whole man, but in such passage a soul in the body --a living man--is clearly indicated. See Acts 2:41; Acts 27:37. The Greek word for soul (psyche) often means life, as the following texts will show: Matthew 6:25; Matthew 10:25; Matthew 16:26-27. The "souls" John saw symbolically represented the lives of the classes which he immediately mentions. They reign with Christ because their lives are imitated by saints on earth who, like themselves, would die before becoming traitors to the faith, or by accepting false doctrines. Those on the thrones are further described as "souls" of those who had been "beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God," which means they had been killed because of their belief in Christ and refusal to deny him or God's word. Beheading, which was a common form of dispatching the condemned, probably stands for all kinds of martyrdom. It may be questioned whether the whole description here applies to martyrs only, or includes a second class of such as would not worship the beast and his image and refused to receive his "mark." The grammatical construction will allow either view; hence, neither one can be declared as absolutely certain. It is immaterial, however, which is accepted; for in either case they were saints who distinguished themselves by enduring persecution or death for the church. Only the lives of servants of God who have distinguished themselves would fit the symbol of reigning spiritually for a thousand years. Another distinguishing feature of these who are here said to reign is the fact that the thing which gave them their position is that they resisted the power and influence of the beast. They must have lived then before Satan was bound--that is, when the apostate church exercised supreme power. Their millennial reign is put in direct contrast with the period in. which they suffered. This is no mean proof that the millennium--time when Satan is bound--began when the papacy lost its supreme power. This is also proof of two important facts --namely, that we are now in the millennium and that Christ did not come at its beginning. On the "mark" of the beast see notes on 13:16, 17. and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.--"They lived" does not mean that souls were brought to life, for souls do not die in the literal meaning of death. Those who obey Christ can never die (John 5:25), but bodies of saints and sinners will die. Spiritually they continued to live in the sense that their work was vindicated and their names honored through those who perpetuated the same truth for which they suffered or died. Figuratively, that would be as though they had been raised and were reigning in person. This, as a fact, was true of the apostles and other martyrs long before the papal beast came into existence. This passage, however, speaks of a special class of martyrs that fought the corruptions of the apostate church. We know that the apostles, though dead in body, do reign with Christ on earth now. Why not allow that those who were a later set of martyrs do the same? It is also a fact that living Christians whose lives are sufficiently noted reign, which, of course, is with Christ. So teaches Paul in Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 4:8. Such lives cannot be without influence after death. This is the direct promise of Heb 11:4. 5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished.---"Lived not until the thousand years should be finished" implies that they would live after that time. "Lived not" evidently is in contrast with "they lived" (verse 4), which, in the latter part of verse 5, is called "the first resurrection." An important question here is this: Will the living again of the "rest" (an implied second resurrection) come immediately after the thousand years end or some time later? It must be remembered that a comparatively short period, called a "little time" (verse 3), will intervene between the thousand years and the judgment. In this period Satan will be "loosed," which means that wickedness will again prevail and all his evil forces will be marshaled for the last struggle against the church. The vital point that must be considered is, will the second resurrection occur at the beginning of the "little time" or at its close? This cannot be ignored in any fair interpretation of this millennial passage. There is probably no text in Revelation about which commentators are more hopelessly disagreed than this verse. Only four views seem to have enough plausibility to merit consideration. They are: (1) That it refers to the bodily resurrection of all the wicked dead at the end of the thousand years, or, maybe, at the end of the "little time." The advocates of this theory do not seem very definite on the exact time. (2) That the word "rest" means the remainder of the same class--that it includes all the righteous dead except the martyrs and others distinguished for service to God. (3) That it refers to the noted persecutors of saints--such as Nero--who will figuratively be raised in the lives of their imitators during the "little time." (4) That it refers to all the dead --both good and bad--who will be raised bodily at the judgment. The first theory is a premillennial view. The decisive fact that proves it wrong is that Jesus himself places the bodily resurrection of both saint and sinner at the same time. (John 5:28-29.) Until this passage is proved false, that point is settled. If the second theory means that the inconspicuous righteous dead will be raised 'at the end of the millennium, it is pertinent to ask for a reason. If the passage has noted saints reigning during the millennium when Satan is bound, it would hardly be consistent to represent inconspicuous saints as reigning during the "little time" while Satan is loose. If such saints are to be raised at the judgment, then the theory is true so far as the resurrection of the righteous dead are concerned. But it does not express all the truth on the question, for all the dead--righteous and wicked--will be raised then. Regarding the third theory, it may be remarked that it would be no violation of either facts or consistency to represent noted church persecutors as being figuratively raised in the lives of those who imitate them in wickedness in the "little time." However, this would forbid the resurrection to be understood as that of the body. It would be the "souls" of the wicked, similar to the "souls" of the martyrs in verse 4, and, therefore, obviate any charge of logical inconsistency. An apparent objection to the fourth theory is that it violates the law of consistency by making the "first" resurrection figurative and the "second" (which is implied) literal. It is enough to reply that if verse 6, which mentions first resurrection, refers to the body, it also mentions second death which refers to the soul. But there is no unvarying law that prevents words being used in a figurative and literal sense in the same passage. Usually they should be given the same sense, but plain facts may require a different sense. Jesus uses "born" in John 3:6 in both a literal and figurative sense. In John 5:24-25 "life" and "live" unquestionably imply a spiritual resurrection, while the language in John 5:28-29 just as clearly means a literal one. There is, then, really no inconsistency in saying that the "first" resurrection is a moral, spiritual, or figurative one and the "second" (implied) is a literal one. Verses 11-15 of this chapter are a vivid description of a literal resurrection of all classes at the judgment. This is at least strong presumptive proof that the fourth view is correct. It is consistent with words of Jesus and probably the true meaning. To make the first resurrection a literal one involves the following insuperable difficulties, based upon Jesus' words in John 5 that all will be raised at the same time: If Jesus comes before the millennium, all the righteous and wicked will be raised then; hence, there can be no wicked left to be raised at the end of the millennium. If he comes after the millenium, then there will be no righteous dead raised at its beginning. If he comes after the "little time"--that is, at the judgment, then there will be none of either class raised either at the beginning or end of the millennium. In either case the premillennial theory is bound to be false. That Christ's personal coming will be at the judgment is the plain teaching of 2 Thessalonians 1:7. If the first and second resurrections come at the beginning and end of the millennium, and are to be literal resurrections of the body, then there will be three literal resurrections unless there should be none at the judgment. To deny a literal resurrection of the body at the judgment conflicts with verse 13 of this chapter, for there can be no question about what it teaches. This is the first resurrection.--That is, of those mentioned in verse 4, not the "rest" of verse 5. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; --Those who faithfully contended against the beast, false prophet, and all wicked doctrines till death certainly were entitled to the salvation Jesus promised. (Matthew 24:13.) They not only reign during the millennium, but are made sure against being hurt by the second death. The members of the church at Smyrna were urged not to fear what the devil would do to them, and promised that if they were faithful unto death they would "not be hurt of the second death." (Revelation 2:10-11.) The reason for that is that they are in a state where Satan's power can never reach them. If raised bodily and reigning personally, as the literal kingdom theory demands, he could reach them unless their ability to sin has been removed. If so, then the devil could not deceive them when loosed for a season, as verse 8 says he will do. but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.--Those here who are guaranteed freedom from the second death not only resisted false teachings "unto death," but were faithful worshipers of God. Hence, figuratively they are represented as reigning and also officiating in the services of God--they are kings and priests. Peter declares that saints are "an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." (1 Peter 2:9.) A royal--kingly--priest-hood agrees exactly with John's description in this book. (Revelation 1:6.) The idea is a kingdom of priests. Since Peter and John both teach that Jesus had already made that kingdom, then we know that the reign of "souls" in the millennium is through those on earth who imitate their fidelity. Any interpretation that conflicts with John's own words about the kingdom must be wrong. John the Baptist is called Elijah. (Matthew 11:12-14.) He came "in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17)--another way of saying that Elijah was raised from the dead in the person of John. Ezekiel represented the restoration of the Jews from Babylon to their own land as a coming "out of your graves." (Ezekiel 37:12-14.) Those who are old may be "born again," and those naturally alive may die, be buried, and raised without changing their physical state. (Colossians 2:12.) Who can deny the metaphysical use of terms, especially in a book filled with symbols?