 |
And the graves were opened;
and MANY BODIES OF THE SAINTS which slept
arose,
and came out of the graves after his
resurrection,
and went into the holy city, and appeared
unto many.
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The First Resurrection
- what is it,
- who partook of that glorious blessing?
Rev 20
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them,
and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not
worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Some observations:
1. "They lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years" - they lived at the beginning of the thousand years. Note
this simple fact.
2. "They lived... this is the first
resurrection" - this first resurrection is ONLY true of a specific people,
i.e. "them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word
of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had
received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands." Note this
plain fact too.
3. "They lived... the rest of the dead
lived not until..." - "they" and "the rest" belong to
one COMMON group, that is, they are God's children who were dead. Some of them
enjoyed the first resurrection; the rest did not, they shall when the 1000
years were finished.
4. "But the rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection." Some partook in the first resurrection, the rest didn't.
The rest need to wait for their turn until the 1000 years were finished, at the
return of Christ until the 1000 years were finished.
I hope these are plain and simple.
It is a very popular notion to equate the
first resurrection as regeneration, an interpretation that repudiates the plain
sense shown above. That fable is just impossible - look at the passage again!
Think a bit please, and maybe stop regurgitating the elders' tradition!
Where in the Scriptures speaks of the first
resurrection mentioned here?
Mt 27:51-53 is the passage that speaks of the
first resurrection of many saints, those described in the Rev 20 passage:
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and MANY
BODIES OF THE SAINTS which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
This happened at the beginning of the
"1000 years" mentioned in Rev 20. Regeneration has been happening
since the day of Adam and Eve!
Many bodies of the saints... not all the
saints that were lying in the graves, but many of them were resurrected.
The first resurrection spoken of in Rev 20
HAPPENED at the beginning of the "1000 years." So the first
resurrection can't possibly be the regeneration of any sort! Also, "they
lived" is simple past tense, it occurred as recorded in Mt 27:51-52.
Tell me what you think. I need sharp sounding
boards to aid me to think.
Amen gallery has no use for me!
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