Revelation 20:4-5 KJV
4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had
not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and
they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This
is the first resurrection.
I don’t see many people point this out, but it seems to be really important. Let me show you what I am seeing in Revelation 20:4-6, specifically. I bolded some of the text above.
1. Saints or church members who are martyred during the great tribulation period for their refusal to worship the beast or take his mark are resurrected and reign with Christ 1,000 years.
2. The rest of the dead did not come to life until after the 1,000 years were compete. Meaning they remained a disembodied soul during the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
In conclusion, what I see is that the first resurrection actually has two groups. The first group is martyred saints from the great tribulation who came to life for 1,000 years. The second group is all of the others saints who didn’t come to life until after 1,000 years.
Thanks for reading this.