Revelation 20:4-6

Strauss-' Comments
SECTION 66

Text Revelation 20:4-6

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: 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; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Initial Questions Revelation 20:4-6

1.

John saw two groups of persons in Revelation 20:4 - who were they?

2.

How long was Satan to be bound according to Revelation 20:2? How long were the martyrs to reign with Christ according to Revelation 20:4?

3.

What group composed those that reigned with Christ in Revelation 20:4? Who, then are the rest of the dead of Revelation 20:5?

4.

John says that they shall be priests of God and of Christ. Where, in the N.T., are all Christians called Priests? (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10).

Revelation 20:4

On the central throne of the universe God alone sits. In this verse we note that there are other thrones. God has delegated some of His judgmental authority. To whom did God give the power to judge?---I saw (there is no verb here in the text) the souls of the ones having been beheaded because of (or on account of) the witness of Jesus, and because of Word of God, and who did not worship the beast, nor the image of it, and did not receive the mark on the forehead or on their hands; and they lived again (literally they lived) and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Who are these souls who lived again and reign with Christ a thousand years? The text is very plain - they are the ones having been beheaded (pepelekismenôn - perfect, passive, participle, the word comes from pelekus, the word for an axe) because of the witness of Jesus, and because of the Word of God,----. Clearly, this is a special group of martyrs. Many died for the reasons mentioned above but decapitation was the fate of souls that John saw. John himself was banned to Patmos for the same two reasonswitness and word.

Revelation 20:5

John then says that the rest of the dead did not live (again) until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (Who are the rest of the dead?) The rest (hoi loipoi) included everyone else that was dead except the beheaded martyrs. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:16; John 5:29; Acts 24:15 on the resurrection). Does this verse teach two chronologically separate resurrections? We must admonish Bible students to be very careful about building up theological positions on very ambiguous language. The general biblical teaching about the resurrection and judgment are clear, but passages such as this one present insoluable exegetical problems. We should be absolutely certain on any matter, before we claim that it is a doctrine of the Word of God.

Revelation 20:6

What are the characteristics of those involved in the first resurrection? John says that they areBlessed and Holy; but these are not special blessings which only members of this unique class of martyrs will receive, because all Christians are holy (both in The Revelation and all other N.T. books), and those that are invited to the marriage feast are also called Blessed (Revelation 19:9). The second death has not authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him the thousand years. According to the N.T. scriptures all Christians are priests of God and Christ. (See 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10). The characteristics of the reigning ones are the characteristics of all followers of Christ; therefore, if these are a special group who receive a special favor from God besides redemption, we cannot learn this from this verse. The reason is simply - that the characteristics - holy, blessed, shall escape death, priests of God are all specifically applied by inspired men of the N.T. to all Christians. Much of what we have said will depend upon whether or not one interprets the thousand years literally or symbolically. Though we cannot enter a debate with all of the millennial groups who take the millennium literally; we do not interpret it as literally one thousand calendar years. (See Special Study on Millennial Theories.) Revelation 20:4-6 tells us (1) where the reign takes place, (2) what its nature is, (3) and who participates. It takes place in heaven; it has a spiritual nature, and it involves judging with Christ, living with Christ, and sharing with Christ.

Discussion Questions

See Revelation 20:11-15.