And I saw thrones; and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them; and the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God; and those who had not done homage to the beast nor to his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and hand; and they lived and reigned with the Christ a thousand years
Revelation 20 opens with Satan bound, and John's eye then moves up to a row of thrones with people seated on them. Who sits there, what does it mean that judgment was given to them, and how do the beheaded souls come to life?
An earlier vision, given to the prophet Daniel, left something unfinished. John's sight of the thrones fills it in.
Next John sees thrones. "Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed." Daniel also saw thrones tied to the judgment of the beast, but his vision says nothing about who sat on them. Here we have the full revelation, and it states several times that Christ and His saints will reign for a thousand years. The new age begins: the personal reign of Christ, when all things are put under His feet and all His redeemed people share in it. Six times this chapter speaks of the thousand years. Because this coming age lasts a thousand years, it has been called by the Latin word "millennium."
The text never names the ones on the thrones. Commentators say the pronoun points to a group already familiar from earlier chapters, and that a narrow reading leaves a huge company of the redeemed with no place in the reign.
The "they" clearly refers to a well-known class. More than once we have already seen the redeemed in Heaven, pictured by the twenty-four elders, taking part in the scenes of chapters 4 to 19. They are all the Old Testament and New Testament believers, raised or changed when the Lord comes into the air (1 Thess. 4:15-17). This is a far larger group than the martyrs, so there is nowhere to place them in the reign except inside the two plural pronouns they and them. It would be very strange for the martyrs to reign while those same saints in Heaven, "made kings and priests to God," were left out.
Judgment changes form at this point in the book. The thrones show what it becomes.
The thrones can now be filled for judgment. Before, judgment came in the way of war; now it is the seat of right... But now there are people sitting on the thrones. Among them are two classes who might have seemed to have no place there — the witnesses killed for their testimony, and those who would neither worship the beast nor acknowledge him. All reigned with Christ a thousand years.
John also sees souls. They form two groups, and their place in the reign answers a cry raised earlier in the book.
Then come the souls of those beheaded because of the witness of Jesus and the word of God. These are the martyrs of Rev. 6:9-11, seen long before under the altar... They had cried to the Sovereign ruler to avenge their blood on their enemies. He told them to wait a little, until others, their fellow-servants and their brothers, were killed as they were. So here we have them all. Another company of faithful men is added: those who suffered when the Beast made his worst and final claims... We can see why these two groups of saints are singled out. They suffered after the rapture to heaven. They did not live for the power and glory of the kingdom. But if they died for Christ, God makes sure they do not lose the first resurrection but share in it.
The term is broader than the English suggests.
In Rev. 20:4, those "beheaded" for the witness of Jesus may be killed in other ways, because the Greek word pelekizo means "to cut with an axe," and has no particular reference to the head.
A single verb decides what happens to the two later groups.
These were not yet raised from the dead. They were still in the condition of separate spirits. And there was a third class — people who had not worshipped the beast, nor accepted his claims in any form or degree... "They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." That is, they were reunited to their bodies. That is what coming to life means here.
Not everyone has taken this resurrection literally.
It is remarkable that some have thought the "first resurrection" is only a resurrection of principles. But we read of "souls" that death had separated from their bodies, and then we read of them living again and reigning with Christ a thousand years. There can be no doubt left in the mind that they are persons.
- Thrones filled. Daniel saw thrones set in place but no one seated. John sees them filled, and the thousand-year reign of Christ with His redeemed begins.
- Judgment given. War gives way to settled rule, and those seated on the thrones receive the authority to judge.
- Three companies. The saints already in heaven, the martyrs of Revelation 6, and those who refused the beast's mark all share the same reign.
- Nothing lost. Those killed after the earlier saints were taken up seemed to have missed the kingdom. God raises them so they lose nothing.
- Really raised. Coming to life means souls reunited with their bodies. Commentators call this a resurrection of persons, not of principles.
the rest of the dead did not live till the thousand years had been completed. This [is] the first resurrection.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.