Sunday School Notes: Revelation 20:5-6

⁵ The rest of the dead did not live [or come alive] until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection. The second death does not have authority over these, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him 1,000 years.

We spent much of this class discussing the meaning of the first resurrection and the second death. Since this was our last class before we take a break for the summer, we briefly looked at the rest of chapter 20. We will examine the rest of chapter 20 in more detail when we resume in the Fall. These notes will, therefore, concentrate on verses 5-6. I’ll post the notes for the rest of chapter 20 when we study it in more detail later in the year.

If those on the thrones in verse 4 are believers it makes sense that “the rest of the dead” are unbelievers. In other words, verses 4 and 5 tell us that when the heaven-dwellers die, they are in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-10), seated on thrones with authority to judge. When earth-dwellers die, they do not. While not stated explicitly here, I think we can deduce from verses 12-13 that the earth-dwellers go to Hades. We’ll look more closely at the state of unbelievers when they die. Suffice to say for now, what we’re seeing here is what’s known as the “intermediate state.” That is, the state of a person between physical death and Christ’s return.

John tells us in these verses that this “coming to life” experienced by the earth-dwellers is the “first resurrection.” Those participating in this “first resurrection” are blessed and holy and will not experience the “second death.” As we try to understand what these terms mean, it’s important to see that “first” and “second” are not being used here in some kind of ordered sequence, or in terms of “primary” and “secondary.” Rather, they mean to convey the idea of old, or previous, and new. We see “first” used in this way in the very next chapter. The new heaven and new earth come because the “first” heaven and earth have passed away (21:1). Also, the “coming to life” of both the believers and the unbelievers are spiritual in the “first” instance, and physical in the second. In other words, the first resurrection is a spiritual resurrection, and the second death is physical death.

Of course, these conditions are given to us in seed form prior to physical death. In Adam, we are born dead in our sins. So a spiritual death has already happened. However, the soul is not in Hades yet. When we are saved, we are made alive and are seated in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-7), even though we are still physically alive on earth. These are a foretaste of the fullness of the truths that will be made more of a reality upon physical death, and then a final full reality when Christ returns. At that point, the heaven-dwellers receive their final glorification as the mortal puts on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:50-55), The earth-dwellers, however, receive final judgment and end up in the lake of fire. Again, more on that when we get to it.

So the “coming alive” in the first resurrection is a spiritual coming alive, whereas in the second death it is a physical “coming alive.” But can we have two different meanings for the same term within a couple of verses? Paul does something similar in Romans 6:4-13 speaking in terms of the spiritual and physical, so there is precedent. Also, the two “coming alives” are not the same. By using “first” and “second” there is an implicit difference between them. The difference being that the “first” is spiritual, happening at death, and the “second” is spiritual, happening at Christ’s return.

While John makes no mention of a “first death” or a “second resurrection,” I think these too are implied. The “first death” is that of the unbelievers to Hades. The “second resurrection” is that of the believers to final glory. The fact John speaks of the initial state of the believer as a “resurrection” and the final state of the unbeliever is a “death” points to another stark contrast between the two. While everyone will succumb to physical death, the believer’s death will actually be a resurrection to life. The unbeliever’s physical death will be a “coming to life” but only to death, that is confinement to Hades awaiting eternal torment.

For further reading on the terms “first resurrection” and “second death,” I recommend Old Testament scholar Meredith Kline’s article, “The First Resurrection.”

I’ve used the term “Hades” to refer to the place where unbelievers go since that is the term used in Revelation. In Greek thought, Hades is the abode of the dead and doesn’t necessarily carry a connotation of evil. It’s where everyone goes when they die. In Scripture, Hades is sometimes used in this generic sense, but often the context shows us that it is not a good place. Our word “Hell” would be an appropriate translation. But notice, Hell is not the final abode of the unbelieving dead. Hell is just a holding place–“death row,” if you will. As we will see, the final abode of Hades, those who are in Hades, and everyone else whose name is not in the Book of LIfe is the lake of fire.

Since we believe the thousand years John refers to is not a literal time period, we are not forced into thinking the dead in Christ reign for a literal millennium to the day. Verse 4 told us that these dead include those who died a martyr’s death as well as those who died naturally. Their deaths all occurred within the time frame of the “thousand years,” which we understand to be the totality of church history. Not everyone dies at the same time, but those die will reign with Christ from that time until the end of the church age. At that time, Satan will be loosed and the saints will join the Lord for the final, inevitable show-down with him (20:7-10).

Our Sunday School class is taking a break for the summer. Lord willing we will resume in September when we will briefly recap and then pick up with verse 7.