6. Will There Be Two
Resurrections from
the Dead?
The
churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)
Most millenarians believe there will be a
resurrection of
the martyrs (and the saints) a thousand years before Judgment Day and a
resurrection of the wicked (or the general resurrection) on that Great
Day.
However, in the Bible God speaks of only one resurrection from the
dead that will
occur when the Lord visibly returns to judge the quick and the dead. A
few
passages that have been abused and misinterpreted by millenarians will
now be
explained.
The Bible distinguishes between two resurrections, but not both of them are bodily resurrections. The first resurrection is the resurrection of the soul from spiritual death, and the second resurrection is the restoration of the body to life on the Last Day. By nature all accountable people are spiritually dead as Paul says: "We all (all the regenerated) had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh . . . and were by nature (our natural birth) the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up," etc. (Eph. 2:3‑6). Everybody who reads this must acknowledge that here conversion is represented as the resurrection from spiritual death. Death is separation from, and absence of, life; and the spiritually dead are separated from Christ, our Life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4). From this death we were raised (saved) by the grace of God through faith in the Savior (cf. Eph. 2:8; Col. 2:12-13; 3:1‑4).
Both resurrections are sharply distinguished when the Lord says: "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25). Here He speaks of the spiritual resurrection. Then He proceeds: "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28‑29; cf. Dan. 12:2).
This same distinction is found in Revelation 20.
There it is
said of the souls of the dead martyrs
that "they lived and reigned with
Christ" during the thousand years. "But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the
first resurrection; on such the second death (cf. vs. 14) hath no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ and shall
reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4‑6). Here
the blessedness of those departed souls
in heaven (who had been made alive from spiritual death) is described.
They were
united with Christ. After their departure from this world "they live
and
reign with Christ," are priests and kings before God (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9), already during the
"thousand years," i.e. in the era of the New Testament before the end
of the world. They had part in the first resurrection and therefore
they are blessed
(Rev. 14:13). On them
the "second death" has no
power. This "second death"
is described as "the lake of
fire," i.e., eternal separation from God and Heaven,
usually
called hell and damnation, "everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).
Here we dare not overlook two or three features (or circumstances) of the Bible text.
First: God is
speaking here of the souls of the departed confessors, but not of their
bodies.
According to John
Secondly: Nowhere
in Revelation 20 is it said that the departed souls shall live and
reign with
Christ a thousand years here on earth. The
Thirdly: In this
chapter (Revelation 20) the two resurrections, the first and the
second, are
distinguished. In verses 4‑6 we are told of the resurrection from
spiritual death (the being united with Christ our Life) which is
affected by
regeneration on earth and which the departed soul fully enjoys in
Heaven, being
with Christ. But the second resurrection, the resurrection of the body,
is
described in verses 11‑15 where it is said that "the dead,
small and great," i.e., all the dead,
were standing before the Great White Throne; that the Book of Life and
other
books were opened; that "every
man" was judged; that "whosoever
was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into "the lake of
fire." This is in full accord with 2 Corinthians 5:10 where Paul,
who
certainly also was a martyr, says that "we all
must appear before the judgment‑seat of
Christ," and with the promise of the Lord: "Every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him
shall have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the
last Day" (John 6:40); but nowhere does He say that
He will raise such a one up a thousand years before the Last Day.
In the face of such plain statements of God we
cannot but
say that millennialism perverts the Word of God by teaching two
different
bodily resurrections and two future glorious appearances of Christ on
earth.
But, it is objected, does not Paul say in 1 Thessalonians 4 that "the dead in Christ shall rise first"? Here we have to examine the context, that is, the connection in which Paul makes this statement, and to compare other passages in which he treats of the same matter in order to get at the real meaning of his words. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13‑18 he points out the comfort the Christians have when their loved ones have died in the Lord. He says: "We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." If on Judgment Day the dead in Christ will rise first and then we who are still alive shall be caught up together with them, then they certainly will not rise a thousand years earlier than we who will still be alive at the coming of the Lord, but we shall be caught up together with them, that is, at the same time.
Of this same event Paul says in 1 Corinthians
15:51-52: "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an
eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." No millenarian can
deny that Paul here speaks of those things that will happen at the
advent of
the Lord on the Last Day, "at the
last trump." Then the dead shall be raised and we who are still
alive
will be changed and then be taken up together with them. Remember, in
John
5:28-29 and
The other passage abused by millenarians is 1 Corinthians 15:23-24: "Every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father." In the entire fifteenth chapter the apostle does not mention the resurrection of the unbelievers, but similarly as in 1 Thessalonians 4:13‑18, speaks exclusively of the resurrection of Christ, and of those "that are Christ's." He says that Christ, as the firstfruits, had to be raised first. Afterwards, at Christ's coming, they that are Christ's will be raised from the dead. Mark well: "at His coming,” namely, on the Last Day; for the apostle says immediately after this: "Then cometh the end.”
This becomes evident too if we compare all
similar passages,
and particularly if we take note of the language Paul employs when
speaking of
the coming of Christ (cf. 1 Thess.
Go To Mill 7:
Understanding Revelation 20:1-10
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Millennialism