The throne of iniquity is overthrown. Satan is expelled from his former sphere of rule and activity and lies chained and imprisoned in the Abyss. The winepress of the fierceness of God the Almighty has been trodden. With fire and with sword the Lord of hosts has pleaded with mankind, and the slain of Jehovah are many. "Come, behold the works of Jehovah, what desolations he hath made in the earth." But the work of Jehovah is not merely negative and destructive. His judgment and vengeance has but cleared the arena for the establishment of His glorious reign long ago by the prophets of Israel and reaffirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles. So long as Satan was prince of the world, while his throne was here (Rev. 2:13) and the Beast was reigning (13:7), this reign of the Lord and of His Christ could not have been inaugurated. But now every rival power is destroyed and every foe cast out by execution of divine judgment and all things are ready for a great step.

      Three verses only, but these weighted with great meaning, tell the story:

      "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. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. 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."

      "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." Who are they that sit upon these thrones and reign with Christ a thousand years, to "judgment" is given? To whom does John refer when he says "they sat"? The context reaches back to that army of Christ that came down with Him out of the opened heaven. (19:14.) Those are certainly "they" to whom it was promised that they should be "ever with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:16, 17), that they should be glorified together with Him (Rom. 8:17) and should appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:4); that they should share His throne with Him (Rev. 3:21), should be crowned (2 Tim. 4:8), and should reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12) and should rule the nations with a rod of iron, even as He also received of His Father. (Rev. 2:26, 27.) These are the "they" whom John now sees, seated on the thrones.

      But in addition he mentions specially two other classes. "And I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony for Jesus and for the word of God." Not only these but also such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their [65] hand." These two classes are mentioned as though super-added to the original number: some, who were "beheaded"; and some who refused to worship the Beast or his image or to receive his mark (Rev. 13) and, in consequence, suffered or perished otherwise. These are saints and martyrs who lived under the reign of the Beast and suffered the unexampled trials of the Great Tribulation. These, too, are accorded part in the glorious reign. Of the whole company it is said that "they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." They lived--that is, they were made alive or came to life (the same word as in Rom. 14:9; Rev. 2:8; 13:14). "This is the resurrection, the first one." (So the Greek.) "The rest of the dead (all other dead) lived not until the thousand years should be finished." (Rev. 20:5.)

      The language here, in its context and plain meaning, manifestly depicts a selective resurrection from among the whole number of the dead, preceding the general resurrection of the dead by a thousand years. The language presents no difficulty whatever. Its meaning is perfectly obvious. But some, finding it impossible to make these statements fit into their conception of things, have taken the liberty to deny their plain meaning, along with a good deal of the rest of Revelation, and proceed to make these words yield a sense that is more in accord with their views--a very arbitrary and ruthless way of dealing with the word of God. Accordingly, we are told that these are "souls" that lived and not bodies at all (comp. Jer. 2:34); that this is but a "spiritual" resurrection, a reviving of faith and high principles, and of the "martyr-spirit," and in that sense the old martyrs reigned; and more of the like sort of "exegesis." Grant such principles of interpretation, and the Bible ceases to have any definite meaning of any sort. A. S. Peake, in his commentary, though a modernist, scorns such exegesis as being a mere subterfuge and trifling with the text. Alford, one of the ablest and most learned commentators, emphatically protests against such dealing with the Scriptures. Here are his words on this text:

      "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 souls lived at the first, and the rest of the dead lived 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, then 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."

      But it is not necessary to spend more time on this point. Neither need we to fear that the simple and evident meaning of these words contradict other scripture-testimony. We are not called upon to help God out by nullifying or perverting any [66] statement of His Word in order to harmonize it with another. There is no necessity.

      It is not correct to say that the doctrine of the First Resurrection rests only upon Rev. 20:4-6--though even one passage as explicit as this ought to be sufficient. Even from Old Testament times the people of God understood that there are distinctions in the resurrection (Heb 11:35; Dan. 12:2), though they may not have known that any interval of time separated them. Our Lord spoke of "the resurrection of the righteous" as the time and occasion of the saints' reward. (Luke 14:14.) Uniformly, when the resurrection is a "resurrection from the dead"--Greek, "ek," "out of," or "from among"--the Revised Version preserves the distinction. (See, for example, Luke 20:35, 36.) That is a selective resurrection. Paul, in Phil. 3:11, hopes to attain to the "out-resurrection from among the dead," which is the literal force of the Greek term employed there ("Exanastasis ek ton nekron"). Where both resurrections are mentioned together, that of the just is always mentioned first--as in John 5:28, 29.¹ When the Lord Jesus returns "the dead in Christ shall rise first"--that is, before the living saints are changed and caught up (1 Thess. 4:16). The resurrection of the rest of the dead must be after that, for, though all men indeed shall rise, it will be "each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then they that are Christ's at his coming." (1 Cor. 15:23.) If there is to be a resurrection of the "rest of the dead" it must be after the resurrection of those who are Christ's. How long after, we learn only in Rev. 20:5--"The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years are finished."

      In this "first resurrection" are included all that are raised before the Thousand Years. "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." Truly the promise is wondrous and great. May we have a share in it

      Having seen now who they are that participate in this thousand years reign with Christ, we must next inquire over whom their rule and reign is exercised. There is a general tendency at this point to refuse the plain and evident sense of the inspired record. The thought of another, a Millennial, dispensation on the earth, to follow the Lord's return, is repugnant to some, and denounced by them as opposed to the teaching of other scriptures. So they think that these statements must needs be manipulated and whipped into agreement with their preconceptions on the matter. Accordingly, some have adopted the "post-millenarian" view, a comparatively modern invention. Others have it that in some "highly figurative" sense the millennium is going on now, [67] or is even "past already." Adventism depopulates the earth entirely and has Christ and his saints "reigning" up in heaven. These and other schemes have been devised to evade the plain sense of the scripture, and the difficult questions that arise therefrom. But it is always fatal to adjust the Bible to our views instead of our views to the Bible; and although they may avoid some difficulties in this manner, they raise other greater ones. It is better far to take the Word simply as it stands and to leave the problems to God. To quote once more from Alford:

      "I cannot consent to distort its words [the words of this passage, Rev. 20:4-6] from their plain sense and chronological place in the prophecy, on account of any considerations of difficulty, or 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 300 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 of antiquity, complacently cast aside the most cogent instance of unanimity which primitive antiquity presents." (Alf. Comm., on Rev. 20:4-6. Bold type mine.)

      But over whom do Christ and the saints reign? The answer is not difficult. By His own statement and promise it is "the nations." (Rev. 2:26, 27.) "The saints shall judge the world" (1 Cor. 6:2) which, as generally in the scriptures, means the administrative office as well as the judicial. It is "the kingdom of the world" that passes over into Christ's hands (Rev. 11:15), the very sphere of dominion which before was held by the Beast.

      But are not all nations destroyed in the terrific judgments of the Day of the Lord? Are not the wicked slain, and all the righteous saved at Christ's coming? Will anybody on earth survive those times? From whence come those nations?

      The earnest and faithful believer would not feel that it is his concern, in the first place, to determine where these "nations" come from. The one thing certain is that they will be here, and the saints shall reign over them. Equally certain it is that they are men in the flesh, not resurrected dead; because all the raised ones thus far are of the First Resurrection--the rulers themselves. The rest of the dead live not until after the Thousand Years. Regardless of whether we can figure out where those nations come from, they will be here, and the saints will reign over them, for God says so. Our inability to account for them would not affect the matter nor give us license to explain away the word of God. However, even if some passages taken alone in themselves would seem to teach that the earth will be swept of all men, we have additional scripture testimony that nations will survive those judgments. Israel, as a nation, will abide (Jer. 31:35-37) and stand exalted above all others. And many other nations, though some reduced to merest remnants, will be left. (Comp. Ps. 46; Isa. 13:6-12; 24:13; Zech. 14:16; Dan. 7:22.) In the very earth where so long man's rebellion has prevailed, where but lately the lawless One held his God-defying sway, Christ and His saints shall now have the power and government. Not up in heaven, but "under the whole heaven," is the sphere of their sovereignty. (Dan. 7:27.)

      What sort of reign will that be, and what will be the nature of those times?

      1. It will be an era of righteous rule, such as the world has never seen. The "iron rod" stands for strict administration of inflexible justice. The Great King, whose reign is prophetically celebrated in Psalm 72 and sketched in Isa. 11, breaks in pieces the oppressor and procures right and justice for the weak and needy. Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins. And the work of righteousness shall be peace, "abundance of peace until the moon be no more." "Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice." (Isa. 32:1.) The world has never yet known the real meaning of the word "government," nor has it ever seen righteous law righteously enforced. But when the kingdom of this world passes into the hands of Christ (Rev. 11:15), men will learn righteousness and experience the blessings of peace.

      2. It will be a time of world-conversion. Government, the maintenance of law and order, is not salvation or conversion. The hearts of men are not reached by outward rule. That must come through the Word, which will then go out from restored Israel to all the world. (Ps. 67.) The knowledge of Jehovah shall cover the earth as waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:9.) Satan, who now veils the minds of the unbelieving that they may not perceive the glory of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4) and who for ages had been systematically deceiving men (Rev. 12:9), is then bound and imprisoned. To the light of the Truth, then shining unobstructedly, men shall come by multitudes, in glad surrender.

      3. It will be the era of the "restitution of all things" as promised by the prophets of old (Acts 3:19-21); the day of the "revealing of the sons of God" for which all creation is eagerly waiting, as for its day of deliverance. (Rom. 8:18-24.) Then the earth's curse will be lifted: thorns and thistles shall disappear; swamps and deserts with them. Wild beasts shall lose their ferocity. The enmity and bitter struggle for life and supremacy manifest in Nature will cease. Although death shall not be banished until the millennial age gives place to the eternal state (1 Cor. 15:26; Rev. 20:14), yet the longevity of men will be restored as in the primal days: "as the days of a tree." (Isa. 65:20-25). The glowing pictures of Isa. 11 and 35 and many Psalms, whatever preliminary application they may have, refer to that golden age to come.

      This era of the glorious reign covers a thousand years, hence called the "Millennium." During this time no dead are raised. Whether this is a literal time-measure or not would not matter; for in any case it stands for a long period. But there is no good reason why it should not be just what it says, a thousand years."²

      The Millennium is not the final state, nor does it mark the completion of God's perfect design. At the end of the thousand years the earth is teeming with a population who have long and amply enjoyed the clear light of truth, and all the goodness of God. But these must be tested. So from his prison-pit Satan is loosed--only only for a short season, however. Immediately he sets about once more to deceive the nations, and meets with a success far too great. Alas for poor, weak, humanity! In their rebellion the hordes of Gog and Magog rise against the righteous dominion of Christ, come sweeping across the breadth of the earth, and compass the camp of the saints and the beloved City. But there is no war nor conflict: suddenly, in a moment, they are consumed by fire from on high.

      But now man has been fully tested, and all probation is done. There appears a great white throne; and before the face of the Sitter on that throne the heaven and earth vanish away, and there is no place found for them. Now come forth the dead of all ages and climes--all the "rest of the dead" who were not in the First resurrection--and they must appear before that Throne in the searching light of God's holiness. Books are opened--and another book, which is the Book of Life. The dead are judged by the things written in the books, according to their works; and whosoever is not found written in the Book of Life is cast into the Lake of Fire--where "are" (are yet, though a thousand years have passed since they were cast into it) the Beast and the False Prophet. This fate constitutes that "Second Death"--as much more terrible than the first, as hell is more terrible than dying. Death itself is destroyed, for all that belong to the domain of that king of terrors go into the Lake of Fire. Satan also goes there. And none that enter that place do ever return from it. Thus ends all the old order with its long story of sin and judgment, to make room for a New Heaven and New Earth that shall abide eternally.

[TR3A 65-71]