How are we to understand, the end of verse four, where it says, "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
So you need to think carefully with me. What does this mean, "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years"? Because here is what premillennialists would say, "Christ comes back, and the dead in Christ, those who believe in Jesus and are dead, they are raised up from their graves, bodily, and they meet Christ in the air and they go back up to Heaven. Then Christ establishes his thousand-year reign on the Earth. It is a literal 1,000 years, where he is on a literal throne in Jerusalem. At the end of that Millennium Age, then those who did not believe in Jesus, their bodies are now resurrected and they are sent off to judgment.”
So the premillennialists would see there are two resurrections. There is a first resurrection, the believing dead, and then a thousand years later, the unbelieving dead. This is not a terrible interpretation. Many godly people would offer that. It is just not what I think that the text teaches. So we are going to move through this beginning at verse four.
In order to answer this question, we need to start by figuring out where are we? What are we looking at in this text? The simple answer is we are looking at a scene in Heaven. This isn’t Earth. This is Heaven. We know that, because we see thrones. Almost every other time in Revelation where there are thrones, it is a Heavenly scene. Think back to Revelation Chapter 4, John's vision of Him who sits on the throne, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. He is on the throne. And around that are what? Twenty-four other thrones on which sit 24 elders representative of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Twenty-four being a symbolic number, Christ's people in both Testaments, old and new, 24 being Christ's people. And they are sitting on thrones. That is Heaven.
We also know this is Heaven, because we are looking at disembodied souls. The second sentence in verse four says, “I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded.” This is similar to the heavenly scene described in Daniel Chapter 7. Daniel said,
“I looked and thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow. His hair was white as snow. His throne was flaming with fire. A river of fire was flowing coming out before Him thousands upon thousands attended Him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened.”
So you need to think carefully with me. What does this mean, "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years"? Because here is what premillennialists would say, "Christ comes back, and the dead in Christ, those who believe in Jesus and are dead, they are raised up from their graves, bodily, and they meet Christ in the air and they go back up to Heaven. Then Christ establishes his thousand-year reign on the Earth. It is a literal 1,000 years, where he is on a literal throne in Jerusalem. At the end of that Millennium Age, then those who did not believe in Jesus, their bodies are now resurrected and they are sent off to judgment.”
So the premillennialists would see there are two resurrections. There is a first resurrection, the believing dead, and then a thousand years later, the unbelieving dead. This is not a terrible interpretation. Many godly people would offer that. It is just not what I think that the text teaches. So we are going to move through this beginning at verse four.
In order to answer this question, we need to start by figuring out where are we? What are we looking at in this text? The simple answer is we are looking at a scene in Heaven. This isn’t Earth. This is Heaven. We know that, because we see thrones. Almost every other time in Revelation where there are thrones, it is a Heavenly scene. Think back to Revelation Chapter 4, John's vision of Him who sits on the throne, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. He is on the throne. And around that are what? Twenty-four other thrones on which sit 24 elders representative of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Twenty-four being a symbolic number, Christ's people in both Testaments, old and new, 24 being Christ's people. And they are sitting on thrones. That is Heaven.
We also know this is Heaven, because we are looking at disembodied souls. The second sentence in verse four says, “I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded.” This is similar to the heavenly scene described in Daniel Chapter 7. Daniel said,
“I looked and thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow. His hair was white as snow. His throne was flaming with fire. A river of fire was flowing coming out before Him thousands upon thousands attended Him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened.”
(To be continued)
Chris White
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