THE FIRST RESURRECTION by John Nevins Andrews

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 8, 1880

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 55, No. 15

THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

By John Nevins Andrews

The first resurrection is brought to view in Rev. 20:4-6. It takes place at the commencement of the thousand years, six times mentioned in as many consecutive verses in Rev. 20:2-7. During this period of a thousand years, those who have part in the first resurrection unite with Christ in the judgment of the wicked. Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:1-3; Dan. 7:22. Another resurrection is brought to view in Rev. 20:5, where it is said that the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. Those who are not raised at the commencement of the thousand years will not be raised till the end of that period. Thus it is seen that there are two future resurrections,—one at the commencement and one at the end of the thousand years.

But may there not be several other resurrections besides these? We answer, No. There can be no resurrection before that one which John calls the first, unless it be of some individuals. He had this vision in A. D. 96. If a resurrection intervened between the time when this vision was given and the resurrection at the commencement of the thousand years, then the resurrection which John calls the first resurrection is not the first, but the second. But the Spirit of God, when it gave John this vision, chose this term to designate the resurrection which will take place at the commencement of the thousand years, and by this term “first resurrection,” it has made it certain that no resurrection will precede it.

There can be no resurrection during the thousand years; for the Spirit of God says of those not raised at the commencement of that period that they lived not again till the thousand years were finished. But this proves that when the thousand years shall be finished the rest of the dead will all live again. There is therefore a first and a second resurrection. There will be no resurrection before the first, and there can be none after the second; for the second brings up those left by the first, or, as John expresses it, it is “the rest of the dead” who live again at the end of the thousand years.

We have, then, this important fact clearly established: There will be two future resurrections separated by the period of one thousand years. The first resurrection will bring up only those who are “blessed and holy.” Rev. 20:6. The second resurrection will bring up all the unjust; for it brings up “the rest of the dead.” Verse 5. The first resurrection is at the commencement of the thousand years, but at what epoch do the thousand years commence? We can answer this question by reference to an important fact. Those who are Christ’s will be raised from the dead when he descends from Heaven at the sound of the last trumpet. 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; 1 Cor. 15:21-23, 51, 52. As there are only two future resurrections, the resurrection at the coming of Christ must be either the one at the commencement of the thousand years or the one at the end of that period. But the resurrection at the coming of Christ brings up only the just, which is the case with the first resurrection, while the resurrection at the end of the thousand years brings up all the unjust. It is therefore certain that the thousand years commence with the coming of Christ; for the resurrection at the coming of Christ is identical with what John calls the first resurrection, and cannot possibly be the same as the resurrection at the end of that period.

But while it is true that the first resurrection brings up only those who are “blessed and holy” (Rev. 20:6), is it certain that all who are blessed and holy will have part in it? Does not verse 4 imply that only the martyrs will rise in the first resurrection? We answer that, if it be limited to the martyrs, it must, by the same reasoning, be limited to a particular class of the martyrs; for it speaks of those who are beheaded, and makes no mention of those burned at the stake, or thrown to wild beasts, or stoned, or cast into the sea, or starved in prison, or killed by lingering tortures in the Inquisition. But in the case of the martyrs one class is taken for the whole number; those who are beheaded representing all who are put to death for Christ. The martyrs, however, are not the only class that have part in the first resurrection. Verse 4, if literally translated, brings to view all the righteous dead. It should read thus: “And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, AND WHOEVER [Greek καὶ οἵτινες,] had not worshiped the beast,” etc.

Dr. Bloomfield in his Greek Testament, and Mr. Elliott in his Commentary on the Apocalypse, call attention to the fact that the literal translation of this verse, as here given, shows that besides the martyrs a second class is mentioned as having part in the first resurrection; viz., all who have not worshiped the beast. And these two classes really include all the dead in Christ, or perhaps we should say these two classes represent all the martyrs and all others who have died in Christ. Thus the first resurrection brings up all the “blessed and holy,” and must therefore take place at the coming of Christ; for “the dead in Christ,” or “those that are Christ’s,” are raised at his coming. 1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. Certainly if those who are Christ’s are raised at his coming, every one who has part in the first resurrection must rise at that time. We see, therefore, that the resurrection at the coming of Christ brings up all the saints, and is the same as the resurrection at the commencement of the thousand years. The resurrection of the rest of the dead at the end of that period is therefore the resurrection of none but those who have died in their sins.

It is therefore with the strictest propriety that the Bible designates these two resurrections by different names. One is called the resurrection to life; the other, the resurrection to damnation. John 5:29. (Martin.) One is the resurrection of the just; the other is the resurrection of the unjust. Acts 24:15; Luke 14:14. One is called the better resurrection, or first resurrection; the other is the resurrection of the rest of the dead. Heb. 11:35; Rev. 20:4-6. The first is the resurrection which Paul sought to attain, and in which all the saints shall be counted worthy to have part. Phil. 3:11; Luke 20:35. The subjects of the other will awake to shame and everlasting contempt. Dan. 12:2. Those who have part in the first resurrection unite with Christ in the work of Judgment, and this honor is promised to the saints in general, which indicates that the first resurrection relates to all the righteous dead. Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:3; Dan. 7:22. Thus it has been shown that there will be two resurrections, the one that of the just at the coming of Christ, the other that of the unjust one thousand years later.

But to this it is objected that all the dead will be raised at the same moment, because Christ says (John 5:28, 29), that the time, or hour (Greek, ὥρα), cometh when all the dead will come forth. But in immediate connection with this declaration Christ uses this same Greek word which we translate hour, or time, to signify the entire gospel dispensation, of more than eighteen hundred years. Thus he said to the woman of Samaria that the hour was coming when they should neither in Samaria nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. And he added, “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-23. Again he said (John 5:25), “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.” That hour had commenced in Christ’s time, and it is not yet finished. We can therefore well understand that the hour, or time, of John 5:28, harmonizes perfectly with the statement of Rev. 20:4-6, that a thousand years intervenes between the two resurrections. After the second resurrection, Satan will gather all the wicked in one vast army against the city of God. The human family will then become one vast assembly, all the righteous being within the city, and all the wicked around it. Then fire from God out of heaven will descend upon the unjust, and devour them.

Or we may state the case thus: The first clause of verse 4 brings to view those who shall take part with Christ in the Judgment. But we know from 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Dan. 7:22, that all the saints participate in this. The first clause of Rev. 20:4 does, therefore, relate to all the saints, while the second and third clauses present two representative classes, viz., those beheaded and those who had not worshiped the beast.

J. N. A.