“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4-6, NIV)
Have you ever gotten into conversation with someone over what it will be like when Jesus comes back?
The conversation can be wild. Fun, no doubt, but it can get wild, because of the massive amount of interpretation going on with just a few verses. The question, I think, we ought to be asking ourselves before, during, and after those conversations is something like, “How can I think and talk responsibly about something in the Bible when there’s so much disagreement?”
Years ago theologian Dr. Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) wrote a book on the interpretation of the early chapters of Genesis entitled, “Genesis in Space and Time: The Flow of Biblical History.” And, in it, he asked a great question. His question was something like what’s the least that Genesis 1-3 must mean in order for the rest of the Bible to make sense?
His question comes from a similar relationship with a section of Scripture where many interpretations are “found” and disagreements have children. Dr. Schaeffer wanted to cut through the fog to get at what was important in order to make sense of what Genesis taught in relation to the rest of the Bible. The same principle holds when dealing with a passage like Revelation 20:4-6.
This section of Scripture comes smack in the middle of the infamous “millennial passage”—Revelation 20:1-10. Questions abound.
When will Jesus return?
How will he return?
What will the state of the world be when he returns?
Is the “millennium” a literal 1,000 year period or is it figurative for a “long time”?
How many resurrections are there?
Are the resurrections spiritual or physical or some combination?
These are just a small sample of the questions that come out of this section and, as you can imagine, disagreements multiply as you listen to and read interpreters of this passage. So, what should you and I do when we come to this section of Revelation and perhaps when we have conversations about it?
I think we should employ the advice Francis Schaeffer gave for Genesis. What’s the least that Revelation 20:1-10 (or in this specific case, 4-6) must mean for the rest of the Bible to make sense?
There are souls of those who have lost their lives because of the testimony they gave about Jesus and about Scripture.
Those souls did not worship the beast.
They were brought back to life and reigned with Jesus for a period of time.
Jesus is with those who had lost their lives on account of him.
Now, clearly there’s much more to say about this passage than what’s listed above. But, I wonder if you or I were in a conversation with someone about this small section of Scripture and we said we saw these truths within the text, would they disagree with us? I can’t imagine they would, and this then gives us all a good place to set our feet to move forward together and perhaps have a further conversation if it’s necessary.
A brief note on looking for the least.
Dr. Schaeffer’s instruction to look for the least and my endorsement of it should not be taken to mean that the smaller details within a particular text are not worth it or are somehow less important. Obviousness and clarity do not directly relate to importance. A lot of times very important things take work to find and come with big disagreements. Looking for the least—within difficult passages in particular—means we’re searching for solid ground. Once the solid ground is found, I say get after it for the rest of what’s there—disagreements and all!