My Sheep Hear My Voice- Rev. 20:5

My Sheep Hear My Voice- Rev. 20:5

Before Jesus was crucified He told the disciples to watch and pray, something so simple, but they let their physical bodies take over and they fell back asleep. In these last hours of time you need to hear His voice. When He tells you something, it is very important, but most ignore my voice or just discuss it and go on with what they were doing. You will see many things start to happen shortly and if you do not hear and obey His voice,... it will mean death for some of you....Jesus has only your best interest in mind. Christ knows you heart, and if you are truly His you will hear His voice. He awakes many of you at 3am on the dot, but most will roll over and go back to sleep. There are a few who will get up and pray. Your day is filled with so many things and Jesus is the last thing many of you give your time to. But Christ needs to talk to you,... to fellowship with you and only when you are still and quite (3am) can you hear Him,... the rest of your day is so busy you do not have time for Him,... but you need to make time, for time is short and the Lord has instructions for you.

Revelation 20

The First Resurrection

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Rev. 20:5

rest of the... The wicked dead who were not blessed and holy and who were not in the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4-5). This proves 1,000 years between the first and second resurrections—the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked (Rev. 20:4-6, 20:7-15).

This is the... The resurrection of the tribulation saints and the two witnesses (Rev. 6:9-11; 7:9-17; 11:12; 15:2-4; 20:4-6) complete the first resurrection of all the righteous dead before the 1,000 years.

John was also informed that the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This refers to the resurrection of the wicked dead, discussed later (Rev. 20:11-15).

Those dead who did not accept the Lord as their Savior, have not risen from the grave yet. This 1000 years is just for the resurrected Christians.

the rest of... The bodies of unbelievers of all ages will not be resurrected until the Great White Throne Judgment (verses 12-13).

the first resurrection... Scripture teaches two kinds of resurrections: the “resurrection of life” and the “resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29; compare Dan. 12:2; Acts 24:15). The first kind of resurrection is described as “the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14), the resurrection of “those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23), and the “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35). It includes only the redeemed of the church age (1 Thess. 4:13-18), the Old Testament (Dan. 12:2), and the Tribulation (verse 4). They will enter the kingdom in resurrection bodies, along with believers who survived the Tribulation. The second kind of resurrection then, will be the resurrection of the unconverted who will receive their final bodies suited for torment in hell.

The first part of verse 5 is a parenthesis, and comes chronologically after verse 11.

A parenthesis is defined: A qualifying or amplifying word, phrase, or sentence inserted within written matter in such a way as to be independent of the surrounding grammatical structure.

The first resurrection is the resurrection included in verse 4. It has three principal phases:

1. The resurrection of Christ (the firstfruits; 1 Cor. 15:23; Rev. 1:5);
2. The resurrection of the church (the dead in Christ; 1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 4:16); and
3. The resurrection of Old Testament and Tribulation saints (verse 4; Isaiah 26:19; Dan. 12:2).

The rest of the dead (unbelievers), will be raised in the second resurrection, described (in verses 12-13).

The first resurrection is a resurrection to life (John 5:28-29), whereas the second resurrection is a resurrection to death. The second death is eternal punishment in the lake of fire (see verse 14).

John stated that what he was seeing is the first resurrection. Post-tribulationists refer to this as proof that the church will not be raptured before the Tribulation and that no resurrection has taken place prior to this point in fulfillment of God’s prophetic program. It should be obvious, however, that in no sense could this be the number-one resurrection chronologically because historically Christ was the first to rise from the dead with a transformed, resurrected body. There was also the resurrection “of many” (Mat. 27:52-53) which took place when Christ died. In what sense then can this resurrection in Rev. 20:5 be “first”?

As the context which follows indicates, “the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:5-6) contrasts with the last resurrection (Rev. 20:12-13), which is followed by “the second death” (Rev. 20:6, 20:14). It is first in the sense of before. All the righteous, regardless of when they are raised, take part in the resurrection which is first or before the final resurrection (of the wicked dead) at the end of the Millennium. This supports the conclusion that the resurrection of the righteous is by stages. Christ was “the Firstfruits” (1Cor. 15:23), which was preceded by the token resurrection of a number of saints (Mat. 27:52-53). Then will occur the Rapture of the church, which will include the resurrection of dead church saints and the translation of living church saints (1Th. 4:13-18). The resurrection of the two witnesses will occur in the Great Tribulation (Rev. 11:3, 11:11). Then the resurrection of the martyred dead of the Great Tribulation will occur soon after Christ returns to earth (Rev. 20:4-5). To these may be added the resurrection of Old Testament saints which apparently will also occur at this time, though it is not mentioned in this text (cf. Isa. 26:19-21; Eze. 37:12-14; Dan. 12:2-3).