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Transcript 212C — Understanding Revelation 20:4-5
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: I have a question. In Revelation 20, verse 4, does this refer to all of us who are raised with Christ during the time between the cross and the Rapture or only those who are beheaded or martyred for Christ's sake? And also, does the last sentence of verse 5 refer to verse 5, or does it refer back to verse 4? May I take my answer over the air?
HC: All right. Fine. Thank you very much. Good night.
Let me refer to the second question first. Let's read Revelation 20:4-5, where we have this statement: "Then I saw thrones. And seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony for Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They lived again and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection."
Now you must remember that in the original Greek, in which this was written, there was no punctuation of any kind. There were no periods. Nor were there capital letters. All the letters were the same and there was no punctuation. Now the translators have chosen to put a period after "This is the first resurrection," and end the verse at that point.
Actually, when we study the context very carefully, "This is the first resurrection" belongs, in a real sense, to verse 6, where it says, "Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection." It is describing, in verse 6, what is the first resurrection. But it also relates to verse 4, because it explains why these people who had been beheaded in their soul existence continued to live and reign with Christ.
Well, the reason that they continued to live and reign with Christ is that they had experienced the first resurrection at the time that they were born again. Their souls had been resurrected with Christ. Therefore they did have eternal life already. And so there was no way that they could die in their souls.
Now in this context (and this gets to the first question), where it talks about those who had been beheaded, it is concentrating on these who were martyred because these are especially the victims of Satan. Actually, the principle that is spoken of here applies to all believers, in the whole period from Adam all the way to the present time. Anyone at all who was saved, at the moment of death, because at the time he was saved he experienced the resurrection of his soul, immediately leaves his body and goes to live and reign with Christ in Heaven. That is a first principle of what salvation is.
But in this context it is especially speaking about those have been beheaded, because the context of Revelation 20 is concerned with Satan, the fact that Satan has been bound. He cannot deceive the nations. That is, he cannot keep people in his prison-house as the Gospel is being proclaimed to them. They will be set free, and they'll come forth from every nation.
But God is teaching that while Satan has been bound so that his house can be plundered of his victims, he still is able to martyr. He still goes about as a roaring lion He is able to persecute
Now the question is raised, really, Is Satan, after all then, somewhat victorious? While his house is able to be plundered, is he really not winning the victory anyway? Because look at all of these who are being martyred. And God effectively is saying, No. No, Satan hasn't won anything, because look where these martyrs went. They didn't go into doom and gloom. They, because they have experienced the first resurrection at the time they were saved, left their bodies and simply changed their residence. They went to live and reign with Christ. And our souls go into Heaven to live and reign with Christ. And so there was no victory for Satan at all. He hadn't won a thing.
Thank you for that question.