Two Resurrections

Many who read today’s verse might wonder if there is a mistake. The verse begins, “The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.” But the next sentence says, “This is the first resurrection.” Wouldn’t the first resurrection be of the righteous dead at the Second Coming?

First, let’s be clear that the Bible indeed teaches that there are two resurrections. Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28, 29).

The first resurrection takes place at Christ’s return, at the beginning of the thousand years (1 Thessalonians 4:14–17). The second resurrection, “the resurrection of condemnation,” takes place after “the thousand years were finished.”

So, why does the last part of verse 5 say, “This the first resurrection”? The simplest explanation is that this is an unfortunate division of a sentence and verse. In the original Greek, there was no punctuation or chapter or verse numbers. These were later placed by those who translated the manuscripts. The sentence, “This is the first resurrection,” therefore, does not refer to the wicked or the second resurrection, but to verse 4, speaking of those “who lived and reigned with Christ.”

In fact, verse 6 explains, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.” Surely, this could not be speaking of the wicked. Thus, utilizing the previous verse, we may understand this text to read this way: “And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years (but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished). This is the first resurrection.”

May God grant that we be in the first resurrection should we die before ?He comes.

Lord, I place my life in Your hands so that if I perish before You come, I will be raised in the first resurrection.

For Further Study: Matthew 25:21, 41; Luke 20:35, 36; Acts 24:15

Key Bible Texts

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