Revelation 20:4 – 6

The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

This paragraph refers to the time of the Reformation.

The thrones are the thrones of the kingdoms which were under the rule of the Roman-Catholic church-state. These kingdoms had kings on their thrones, but they were figureheads who were controlled by the church-state. Now that the Bible had been given to the people and the revolt had succeeded in destroying the union of church and state, these kings now had the authority to make their own judgments.

The souls who were beheaded are those who were faithful to Christ and did not give in to the false doctrine of the Roman-Catholic church-state or the ones who followed the false doctrines, or those who imitated the actions of the church-state, or persecuted the faithful because of the heresy they believed in, those who continued to do the persecutions brought on by Nero. This is similar to the souls poured out below the altar, (Revelation 6:9) the ones killed by the pagan Roman empire.

Reigns for one thousand years, we discussed the one thousand year period in the last study. It is not a literal time period, but means a significant period.

The rest of the dead in verse five is symbolical or figurative and refer to people who did not have the spiritual life or desire to defend the truth, the word of Christ.

When the bright period of the Reformation waned and the former ones who had zealously defended the truth, then the enemies of the Bible gained strength and came back to life in attacking the word of God. These are the ones still today who are acting under the influence of Satan and we see the Bible not being adhered to by many even organizations who promote their allegiance to Christ.

This refers to the first resurrection, which is not like the resurrection of the judgment day. (John 11:25 - 26)(Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”) Believing in Christ is being part of the first resurrection, because we never die, just go from a fleshly earthly state to a spiritual heavenly state. Thinking of death being for those who are sentenced to the lake of fire for eternal death. Those who are mentioned here as reigning with Christ are not actually reigning but are aligned with the spiritual leader in the fight of good versus evil.

Jesus was the first to be resurrected and never die again, (Acts 13:34) To be part of the first resurrection means to have part in Christ and reap the spiritual benefits of His resurrection.

Reigning with Christ does not actually happen because Christ is alone on the throne, Thayer explains it as having the supreme moral dignity, liberty, and blessedness which is enjoyed by those faithful to Christ.

This applies to the faithful of all ages, but in this paragraph it is applied to the faithful who suffered at the hands of the Roman-Catholic church-state.

The ones who reign with Christ in this first resurrection is figurative because these who are faithful during this bright time of Reformation are acting faithfully in the same manner as the ones who were faithful during the time of pagan Rome, those were martyrs, or witnesses, just as the ones during the Reformation were witnessing for the word of God, this rebirth of faithfulness was the resurrection which occurred for the one thousand years or the time of the Reformation

There is no indication that this is a special resurrection of some souls while others remain to be raised later. There is only one bodily resurrection and it will happen in the future at the same hour for both the good and the bad, both will be brought to life. (Daniel 12:1 - 2; “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.)(John 5:28 – 29; Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.)

The final resurrection when it occurs marks the end of the kingdom and all things on earth. (1 Corinthians 15:24 – 25; Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.)(2 Peter 3:10; But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.)

All other mentions of resurrection in the scripture before the second coming of Christ are figurative only.