As I understand the second resurrection is the literal resurrection of the righteous and unrighteous. And according to Revelation 20 it occurs after the 1000 years. And it also says that after the 1000 years Satan is released from the abyss. So it seems the earthy =second resurrection takes place at the same time as Satan is released from his 1000 year bondage. Yes truely happy are those who are among those who get the first resurrection just before the 1000 years begins and they will rule as kings together with Jesus. According to this understanding the resurrected will not get 1000 years to attain perfection. During the 1000 years Jesus and the 144000 will make it impossible to be wicked. The human society, the great crowd in the beginning of the 1000 years will be pure according to Revelation 7. But it will be an other thing for their children that have not experienced the consequences of the wicked world. But those who have wicked desires, won't be able to grossly sin because of the watching eye of Jesus and the 144000. So people will mostly conform to be good and stop sinning, stop think about sinful things. But when Satan is released people will again be free to sin and their sinful desires will "wake" up by Satans temptations and misleading. And according to Revelation Satan will have succses to mislead many at that time.
Jan can you show scriptural ref that the resurrection BEGINS after the 1k rather than DURING the 1k? Thanks in advance.
Gabriel, Have you thought about the anointed, when they go to heaven they are perfect. And it has not taken them 1000 years to attain perfection? So I think those with earthly hope can grow to perfection much faster than 1000 years. I think it is more an individual thing how fast people will attain perfection during the 1000 years. Including the children born during the 1000 years.
Im speaking about your comment you made regarding the Rez. That it won't begin till the end of the 1k....the same time that satan is released. How did you reach that conclusion? Thanks again, Sis.
The first resurrection is about the new creation, about the firstborn, about the 144 000 getting life in themselves, getting immortality, becoming sons of God 1 000 years before the GC, before the second resurrection (this expression doesn't exist in the Bible, I just coined it years ago but one doesn't need to be Einstein to understand that which it means), before the moment when mankind as a whole gets back the status of sons of God as Adam was, gets everlasting life. If the 144 000 are firstborn, it means that others will follow suit later. Thankfully !
The Jews under the OT experienced the burden of sin, the spiritual Jews will experience the relief from sin... right away ! Jesus' blood bought them from earth, which is why faith is decisive for those who aren't anointed. Faith saves lives, the NC only concerns Christ's brothers. They won't have to follow the same steps as the GC because Jehovah will have chosen them personally, like Jacob (aka Israel, spiritual Seed) was chosen in preference to Esau (fleshly Seed). Christ's brothers are Jehovah's witnesses. They will show the whole world what Jehovah will accomplish on the GC after the Millenium. Yes, getting to perfection may take less time for some than for others, although it may also depend on what you mean by the word perfection.
It would appear you are using the second resurrection as a metaphor, but it's not necessary. Chronology tells us what the resurrection in Rev 20:20 is. One could say that those involved in this resurrection, the second death has no authority over as well because they are raised after the second death is over, after Satan is let loose, after Satan is destroyed, after those who sinned at the end of the 1000 years are destroyed. This resurrection is literally the very last thing to occur before Jesus hands the kingdom back over to his Father. If you notice, that is the chronology of the chapter. Which means that some are raised during the 1000 years, and they are tested at the end, and then after all of that more people will be raised that wont need to be tested. It's quite clear that these are resurrected after the 1000 years are ended and after Satan is released and then after Satan and those who follow him are destroyed. Rev 20:4 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.) Rev 10:12 "And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. The dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds." These ones are resurrected "after" the events at the end of the 1000 years. You guys are making it more complex then it is. It's very simple, first resurrection is Christs brothers to heaven, during the 1000 years many will be resurrected to be tested at the end of the 1000 years, then after the thousand years are over and Satan is destroyed and mankind that followed him are thrown with him into the lake of fire. Then the rest of the dead will be resurrected not needing to be tested because these are the ones who proved themselves righteous in this world.
*And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ *for 1,000 years.*5**The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended. Revelation 20: 4,5 That's the scripture. I understand this literally. When it says the rest of the dead, it talks about literally dead people and it says they came to life after the 1000 years. That I understand is in other words resurrection= Come to life.
Joshua, What's the basis to believe that there will be resurrection during the 1000 years, except turning Revelation 20: 5 from a literal understanding to a symbolic?
This scripture below shows that there is a testing and judgement in the future for some resurrected, therefore it must be before Satan is let loose again for a short time. John 5:29,29 "Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment." These next scriptures in Daniel occur right after the Great Tribulation that is discussed at the end of the 11th chapter showing that right after the GT there will be the resurrection of those who will still be judged. It also says "many" will wake up, not "all" at that time. Dan 12:1,2 “During that time Mi′cha·el will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress such as has not occurred since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, everyone who is found written down in the book. And many of those asleep in the dust of the earth will wake up, some to everlasting life and others to reproach and to everlasting contempt." Mankind (just/unjust) will be ruled over by the 144k and Christ for the 1000 years, after that Jehovah becomes all things to everyone. Therefore this resurrection of those who are destined for "resurrection of judgement" must be before Satan is let loose at the end of the 1000 years. Acts 24:15 "And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." What makes them unrighteous? Daniel explained it when he said these are the ones who would be resurrected to judgement, which means they don't pass the test at the end of the 1000 years. Now again to repeat, those spoken of as being resurrected in Rev 20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended.) is after Satan is thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the 1000 years because that's what the 20th chapter of Rev says in verses 9-13. Rev 20:9-13 "And they advanced over the whole earth and encircled the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down out of heaven and consumed them. And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. The dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead in it, and death and the Grave gave up the dead in them, and they were judged individually according to their deeds." It does not say anyone from this later resurrection would be raised to judgement, everyone part of this resurrection will be counted worthy at that moment because death is done away with right after they are raised. Rev 20:14 "And death and the Grave were hurled into the lake of fire. This means the second death, the lake of fire."
In the Gospels and the NT, there are a few mentions of "the dead" as being the imperfect and mortal humans in general. "Jesus said to him: “Keep following me, and let the dead bury their dead.â€" - Mat. 8:22 "In fact, for this purpose the good news was declared also to the dead, that they might be judged as to the flesh from the standpoint of men but might live as to the spirit from the standpoint of God." - 1 Pe 4:6 "(Romans 6:13) . . .Neither go on presenting YOUR members to sin as weapons of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, also YOUR members to God as weapons of righteousness." (See also Eph. 2:1 and 1 Tim 5:6.) Please compare them now with : "(Luke 24:5) . . .As the [women] became frightened and kept their faces turned to the ground, the [men] said to them: “Why are YOU looking for the living One among the dead?" “Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever," - Rv 1:17-18 In Luke 24:5, I think that the angels aren't really talking about being in a cemetery but about Jesus not being anymore among mankind, in the physical world. Jesus is the living One, firstly because he is now immortal and also because he is the firstborn, the One who gives life (John 4:14; Rom. 6:23) to all, to his brothers at first, those who make up his body and to mankind in general afterwards. Here below, I think that the meaning of "the dead are being raised up" is twofold. It means that there has been miracles, like when Lazarus was resurrected, but also that the Good News are leading "the dead", sinful mankind, towards eternal life. "Hence in answer he said to the [two]: “Go YOUR way, report to John what YOU saw and heard: the blind are receiving sight, the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised up, the poor are being told the good news." - Luke 7:22 Interestingly, I think that death is meant here when Egypt is mentioned : "and he stayed there until the decease of Herod, for that to be fulfilled which was spoken by Jehovah through his prophet, saying: “Out of Egypt I called my son.â€" - Mat. 2:15 We all know the importance that death had in Egypt.
The first resurrection being about 144k humans becoming back sons of God, as firstborn, the second resurrection can't be otherwise but for mankind this time around after the final test. The Rv book won't put facing each other the moment when the 144k become immortal and the basic resurrection of a few individuals from Adamic death. That doesn't make sense at all. The second resurrection will be humans making up mankind having their names in the book of life.
Just in case... I said : Here, I didn't mean the JWs as we know them now. The Israelites were to be a witness, a token, a harbinger of God's purpose towards mankind. Being highly favored by Jehovah, they had first to feel more keenly what sin was through the Law, more than the goyim, the lawless ones. The spiritual Jews*, this time around, would also have the privilege to taste first the relief from sin, by being bought (1 Cor. 6:20; Rv 14:3-5) as forgiven, pure and cleansed people and granted untold blessings at that, like reigning with Christ and being immortal. "But YOU are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that YOU should declare abroad the excellencies†of the one that called YOU out of darkness into his wonderful light." - 1 Pe 2:9 "that we should serve for the praise of his glory, we who have been first to hope in the Christ." - Eph. 1:12 That's what I meant when I said that Christ's brothers are Jehovah's witnesses ! Edit: * "Funny" it is that the Jews according to the flesh stuck to the burden of sin being imposed on them through the Law instead of welcoming the release from it through faith in Christ. I think that it is quite telling. It's as if they had wanted to stick to sin... for some reason... They really didn't understand anything to everything ! It all makes a meaningful connection between sin and lack of faith. That's what human, fleshly faith[SUP]#[/SUP] results in... in the end... # What I call fleshly faith is the kind of faith based on feelings, on human psyche.
I don't see any problem with testing and judgement when Devil is back after 1000 years. To the contrary this situation should enable the testing and lead to judgement for those who allow themselves to be mislead by the Devil. This scripture is in itself hard to understand. The first part which says some will wakeup to everlasting life is easy to understand. It talks about those who have part in the first resurrection to immortality. But who will literally be resurrected to everlasting reproach and contempt? l don't understand this to mean a literal resurrection of some unfaithful. I think this just means those anointed that proved to be unworthy the heavenly resurrection. Those brothers and sisters will just be remembered as wicked slaves, because it becomes clear to the faithful anointed who God and Jesus judged wicked. Because of their absence in the heavenly kingdom. This part of the scripture I take symbolically, in the same way as when the Revelation book tells that Devil will be tormented forever in the lake of fire.
Yes Utuna , I know that many take Revelation 20: 5 in a symbolic way, by referring to such scriptures. That is exactly what the WT org explains about this scripture. But for me a such explication of Revelation 20: 5 is an error.
Joshua, I understand that you see this chapter to go in a chronologic way from the begining to the end. But I think this chapter contains 2 different visions about almost the same time. I think You have to separate this chapter as I did and not connect them in a chronologic order. That the dead are judged according to their deeds , means as I understand, at the resurrection those who did more good before they died, they get rewarded better than those who did lesser good in their prior life. I don't see the above scripture denies the fact that all will face Devils temptations after the 1000 years. And I don't see that this resurrection is only for the very faithful. I see this part of Revelation 20 to be a separate vision about the second resurrection.
Hi All: Utuna is correct about the difference between being "alive" and being "dead". You are "dead" in the scriptures (whether you are breathing or not) if you are not "born again" by being adopted as a Son of God. You can be alive physically as Adam was after he sinned and still be "dead" as Adam was. You see, he really did die the day he sinned, not physically but as to the spirit, he lost his position as a true Son of God, he was in essence dead to God. Also, you do not have to be a part of "Christs Bride" to be "born again" by the spirit. Galatians 4 tells us this at verses 26, 27... But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Be glad, you barren woman who does not give birth; break into joyful shouting, you woman who does not have birth pains; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of her who has the husband.†Paul reveals to us here that those "born again" who become adopted Sons of God are more numerous than those of the physical nation of Israel. Clearly, there were more than 144,000 members of Israel (Jacobs descendants). Whether you are a part of Jesus Bride or not, you can be "born again" because that is the "life" that Adam lost for us the day he sinned. Yes, he also eventually died physically, but on that day that he sinned he died spiritually. Jesus was the last Adam and he was not only a human but was also "born again" in the spirit, so since if Jesus = Adam then Adam = Jesus in this regard. Adam was both physically and spiritually a Son of God. When he sinned he lost his "life" in the spirit, when his body wore out do to imperfection, he died physically. Jesus also implied this in his statement to Nicodemus. He said... In response Jesus said to him: “Most truly I say to you, unless anyone is born again,*+ he cannot see the Kingdom of God.â€+ 4 Nic·o·de′mus said to him: “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter into the womb of his mother a second time and be born, can he?†5 Jesus answered: “Most truly I say to you, unless anyone is born from water+ and spirit,+ he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus Bride will rule God's Kingdom from the Heavens where they will reside with their husband Jesus. They will carry this out through "born again" members on earth who will carry out their orders from heaven. This is the "Israel" of God, all who are born again and are a part of the Kingdom of God, whether it is in the heavens or on earth. Those who are not "born again" before they die physically will be resurrected to the earth physically just as they died. They will not "come to life" (be born again and adopted as Sons of God) until he 1000 years are over. All those who are "born again" and have been sealed are written into the book of "life". Many though will have to wait till the 1000 years are over to be Sons of the "Jerusalem" above. frank
The chapter says what it says, no need to tip toe around it, the literal reading is sufficient. Regardless, this is a prophecy for a thousand years from now, so by then I'm sure these things will be uncovered, no need to be dogmatic.