Featured Who Has Part in The First Resurrection?

Where in Rev 19 does He step foot on terra firma?

 

:thumbsup: Excellent point.

 

It does not say explicitly that he does, nor did I say it does. You pulled that second quote from a brief discussion on the similarities between Historic premillennialism and amillennialism, not a discussion on Rev 19.

That he does actually set foot on the earth again, at his glorious appearing, should be unquestionable. Is that the return pictured in Rev 19? That, I suppose, is debatable to some but I do think that Rev 19 is the final return of Christ at the end of the age.

 

Thank you.

So you think Rev 19 pictures this final glorious appearing:

But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ`s, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. 1 Cor 15:23,24, 25

Note, at His next coming comes 'the end'. The kingdom has been already. He has reigned already.

 

Right here ...

Revelation 20, NASB
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ​

The judgment is based on their obedience, resulting in their resurrection and reign with the church age saints for a thousand years.

5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. ​

"This" referring to the Tribulation saints from v. 4.

 

Nope. Just like James said, "Show me your faith without works, I'll show you my faith by my works."

Old Testament believers were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit is removed as an indwelling Spirit at the Rapture, the Tribulation saints will also believe without being indwelt. Theirs will be the same faith of Abram we have, without the Spirit just as Abram.

 

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, Rev 20

By that logic (of repetition) Babylon the great is judged in exactly one literal hour:

10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 for in an hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any wither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rev 18

....or is it rather that the former is conveying the idea of a very long period of time while the latter is presenting something that happens very suddenly?

 

I agree he is reigning already. I defended that rather well I thought in the other thread, regarding the New Covenant. Whether 1 Cor 15 allows for a millennium or not, that's the interpretive question of the day, and have not yet ruled out either option yet.

 

That very well could be an option. I see how people come to that conclusion and I partly lean that way myself. Just not there yet.

 

You're right. I didn't say it said anything about church age saints. Paul wrote to his protégé and affirmed this.

2 Timothy 2, NASB
11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. ​

In Revelation 19, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb takes place just before Christ returns to Earth with His army -- us. So, if we aren't raptured and in heaven as a the body/bride of Christ prior to the tribulation, how do we follow Him into battle after the Wedding Feast, and then get resurrected after the battle? We don't. We're in heaven because of the rapture. The tribulation saints are resurrected after the defeat of Satan and the antichrist.

 

It is the first resurrection after the Tribulation. The Rapture itself is a resurrection apart from the one in Revelation 20. There is obviously more than one resurrection.

 

There is a series of resurrections. The first was the dead Jesus raised before the cross. The "great resurrection" was that of Christ after the cross, which included many saints (Matthew 27:52) who were said to have "fallen asleep." That is, died.

Next will come the resurrection of the church, occurring at the time of the Rapture. All those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ during the church age, and have died before Jesus returns, will be resurrected at the rapture. The church age began on the Day of Pentecost and will end when Christ returns to take believers back to heaven with Him.

John 14, NASB
1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

1 Thessalonians 4
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. ​

Paul explained that not all Christians will die, but all will be changed, i.e., given resurrection-type bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-58), some without having to die. Christians who are alive, and those who have already died, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and be with Him always.

Another great resurrection will occur when Christ returns to earth (His Second Coming) at the end of the Tribulation period. After the rapture, the Tribulation is the next event after the Church Age in God’s chronology. This will be a time of terrible judgment upon the world, described in great detail in Revelation chapters 6-18. Though all Church Age believers will be gone, millions of people left behind on earth will come to their senses during this time and will trust in Jesus as their Savior. Tragically, most of them will pay for their faith in Jesus by losing their lives (Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17; 13:7, 15-17; 17:6; 19:1-2). These believers in Jesus who die during the Tribulation will be resurrected at Christ’s return and will reign with Him for a thousand years during the Millennium (Revelation 20:4, 6). Old Testament believers such as Job, Noah, Abraham, David and even John the Baptist (who was assassinated before the Church began) will be resurrected at this time also. Several passages in the Old Testament mention this event -- Job 19:25-27; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:1-2; and Hosea 13:14.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 describes primarily the regathering of the Nation of Israel using the symbolism of dead corpses coming back to life. But from the language used, a physical resurrection of dead Israelis cannot be excluded from the passage. Again, all believers in God (in the Old Testament era) and all believers in Jesus (in the New Testament era) participate in the first resurrection, a resurrection to life. This is the resurrection spoken of in Revelation 20:4.

The final resurrection is at the end of the millennial reign, as some believers will die a physical death during the Millennium. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed” (Isaiah 65:20). On the other hand, it is also possible that death in the Millennium will only come to the disobedient. In either event, some kind of transformation will be required to fit believers in their natural bodies in the Millennium for pristine existence throughout eternity. Each believer will need to have a “resurrected” type of body.