Resurrection
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
"Saved"
Baptism
Resurrection
Psalm 50:5
Matthew 2:17,18
John 5:28,29
1 Cor. 7:14
1 Cor. 15:22
1 Cor. 15:52
Philippians 4:3
Hebrews 13:20
1 John 1:9
1 John 2:2
Revelation 20:5
Antichrist
Unique
Catholic
Mormon
SDA
JW
British Israel
Church
of Christ
Pentecostal
Islam
Science
Miracles
Evolution
Creation
Carbon Dating
Inspiration
Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies
- Revelation 20:5
- "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."
- Problem:
- Many religious groups separate the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. The righteous, it is argued are raised at the return of Christ but the wicked i.e., "the rest of the dead" are not raised until the thousand years are finished.
- Solution:
- The word "lived" in verse 4: "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" refers to eternal life. See this use of the Greek word "zao" in Rev. 1:18; 4:10; 5:14; 10:6; and 15:7.
- Similarly "lived" in verse 5 has the force of "eternal life". The dead are the righteous dead as is indicated by the context in verse 4. The dead under consideration are those who sit upon thrones and reign with Christ. (cf. Matt. 19:27,28), hence the rest of the dead must be the remainder of the righteous dead. These are the rest of the class seen in the vision. The "firstfruits" are those who are raised before the 1,000 year period, and the "harvest", those who are faithful during the 1,000 year period and ingathered at the end of the millennium. (Rev. 14:1-5; 7:9).
- "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished" should be read as parenthetical. "This is the first resurrection" refers not to the rest of the dead, but to those who "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (vs. 4 and 6) - i.e., those immortalized at Christ's return.
- In the parables of Jesus, the wicked and righteous are judged at the same time - when he appears. (Matt. 25:31-46 - the righteous and wicked converse with Jesus at the time designated: "when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory"; cf. Luke 13:24-3 - the sitting down in the kingdom is presented in the same context as the casting out of the wicked, thereby indicating that there is not a 1,000 year interval between the resurrection of the just and unjust).