TribulationSigns
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- May 1, 2023
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Wow, Davidpt. You are really confused with what God's Word is saying!
You’re reading “the rest of the dead” in Revelation 20:5 into verse 8, and that assumption creates the very problem you’re asking about. Where does John say that the dead in verse 5 come out of their graves to join Gog and Magog? Verse 8 says Satan goes out to deceive the nations. When John describes the dead being given up, they stand before God to be judged, not joining Satan's army (Revelation 20:12–13).
Now... let's start with who “the rest of the dead." They are the ones who have physically dead AND are spiritually dead because they did not take part of the First Resurrection which is being born again in Christ like the Christian believers. They are the dead that remains in the graves UNTIL they will live again the day Christ Returns. That is when their thousand year end.
Rev 20:5
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."
Selah!
Now, I believe that many readers assume that every reference to “a thousand years” in Revelation 20 must describe the same period with the same beginning and end. I disagree. I understand the thousand years symbolically as the fullness of whatever is in view. To see what that means in each verse, ask what John is describing and what, if anything, comes to an end.
Satan’s restraint — Revelation 20:2–3
Rev 20:2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3
"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Here the thousand years represents the full period of Satan’s restraint. Verse 3 gives that restraint a specific purpose and a definite endpoint. Satan is restrained from deceiving the nations as described in verse 8 until the appointed time is fulfilled. Then he is loosed for a little season.
Then exact when is that appointed time fulfilled? I connect it with the sealing of all God’s elect in Revelation 7:1–4 and the completion of the two witnesses’ testimony in Revelation 11:7. Notice the order in Revelation 11:7. The beast makes war against the witnesses when they have finished their testimony. In the same way, I understand Satan’s little season to begin after Christ has finished gathering and sealing His elect where they have experienced the first resurrection (being born again).
The saints’ reign with Christ — Revelation 20:4 and 6
Revelation 20:4
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Revelation 20:6
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
Here John describes the reign of those who have part in the first resurrection. See? The first resurrection as being born again, when God makes us alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4–6)! John says that the second death has no power over those who share in it.
Now how long will they reign with Christ? Forever!! Luke 1:33 says that Christ’s kingdom will have no end, and Revelation 22:5 says that His servants will reign for ever and ever. When Satan’s restraint ends and he is loosed, the saints’ reign continues. The saints’ reign continues beyond Christ’s Second Coming and lasts forever! That is how I read “a thousand years” here. It points to the fullness of whatever is in view. In the case of Satan’s restraint, that fullness is reached when he is loosed. In the case of the saints’ reign with Christ, it is the fullness of an everlasting reign.
Selah! Now let’s move on to next thousand years:
The rest of the dead — Revelation 20:5
Rev 20:5
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."
“The rest of the dead” are those who died physically in their sins, having had no part in the first resurrection. Whether someone died in 1280 BC or in AD 834, that person awaits the same event. On the last day, Christ calls the dead out of their graves, and those who died in their sins rise to face judgment.
John speaks again of the saints reigning with Christ in Revelation 20:6:
Rev 20:5
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
As in verse 4, John is speaking of believers who have been made alive in Christ. They have part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power over them, and they reign with Christ forever. Revelation 22:5 makes that future explicit when it says that His servants “shall reign for ever and ever.”
This is why I read “a thousand years” as the fullness of whatever is in view. In verses 2–3, Satan’s restraint reaches its appointed end when he is loosed. In verses 4 and 6, the saints’ reign continues through His Second Coming and forever. The same expression is used in both passages. Why assume that the saints’ reign must end when Satan’s restraint does?
Selah!
