2169.—The First Resurrection.
In 1 Thess. 4:16 we read, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Was Paul right in saying that the dead in Christ should rise first? In Rev. 20:4-6, where John saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and who, in the word of God, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” J. S. John does not design to convey the meaning that the class mentioned in Rev. 20:4 are all that are raised from the dead. He is just simply assuring us of the great fact that those against whom the enemy has turned his great power in destruction and persecution are alive, they stood before God. With them were all the holy of all the ages, “and the rest of the dead,” those who are not raised to be with Him, did not live until the thousand years were finished. They are mentioned again in verses 8-10. There is no inharmony between the texts. The first resurrection includes not only the class which John mentioned, but all those whose names are in the book of life.