Revelation 20 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

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rection...Antithetically, though a second death is mentioned four times (2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8),
no mention is made of a first death.” (P. 1090)
It is also noteworthy that John mentions the "first resurrection" in verses 5 and 6 of this
chapter, which apparently implies a “second resurrection,” but the phrase “the second resurrection"
does not occur.
John may mean that the spiritual life and rule of the martyrs is the “first resurrection”--
which seems the most probable understanding. But it is also possible that John means the
“new birth life” which the faithful people of God enjoy even now. There are many passages in
the Gospel of John (see footnote 2310) which emphasize the present possession of "longlasting
life" on the part of every person who places faith in Jesus, God's Son.
Aune comments that “However problematic the conceptions of two resurrections might
be, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that precisely such an innovation has been formulated
by the author.” (P. 1090)
John 5:28-29 has Jesus saying “... the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs
will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and
those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment,” certainly a depiction of two resurrections.
Can this be what John is referring to?
Aune recalls that Albert Schweitzer in his book on Paul “argued that Jesus and the
Book of Daniel placed the resurrection at the beginning of the messianic kingdom [but we
ask, where in Daniel, or in the sayings of Jesus, is this said?], while apocalypses such as 4
Ezra and 2 Apocalypse of Baruch placed it at the end...Paul, he claimed, joined these two
conceptions by supposing that there would be two resurrections (Paul, 93-97), and it is precisely
this harmonizing conception that was later incorporated into Revelation 20:4-6.” (P.
1091) Here again, the assumption of Schweitzer is that these apocalyptic visions give an
exact time table of the future–not recognizing the enigmatic, unclear, puzzling nature of such
visions–and turning them into sources of exact doctrinal statements, rather than the fuzzy,
inexact nature of their visions.
Commentators such as Hendricksen hold that "The first resurrection is the translation of
the soul from this sinful earth to God's holy heaven. It is followed at Christ's second coming by
the second resurrection when the body, too, will be glorified." (P. 192) But John says not one
word concerning the "translation of the soul from this sinful earth to God's holy heaven," nor
does he mention "Christ's second coming," or its being followed by the "second resurrection."
It is always a temptation to read into biblical language our own doctrinal concerns and viewpoints!
But when this is done with apocalyptic, prophetic visions, there is no end to the
confusion that such treatment produces!
Walvoord holds that "At the end of the church age the rapture of the church will take
place, and the dead in Christ will be raised. At the end of the great tribulation, the tribulation
saints will also be raised from the dead. It would seem clear from these facts [!] that the term
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