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"And I saw thrones, and they
"And I saw as it were a sea of
sat upon them, and judgment was
glass mingled with fire: and them
given unto them: and I saw the
that had gotten the victory over the
souls of them that were beheaded
BEAST, and over his IMAGE, and
for the witness of Jesus, and for the
over his MARK, and over the
word of God, and which had not
NUMBER of his NAME, stand on
worshipped the BEAST, neither
the sea of glass, having the harps
his IMAGE, neither had received
of God" (Rev. 15: 2).
his MARK upon their foreheads, or
in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand
years" (Rev. 20: 4).
The words of Rev. 20: 4 "for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God", form a
link with the opening statement of Rev. 1: 9, 10 when John was taken in spirit to the day
of the Lord from the isle called Patmos where he shared the tribulation of these
overcomers, before their time "for the word of God, and for the witness of Jesus".
The Pre-eminent Feature
"The Millennial kingdom" seems to have been used by writers on prophecy as a
convenient period in which to place passages that are somewhat difficult to fit into the
overall scheme, and this has blunted the edge of the testimony of Rev. 20:, which places
as a pre-eminent feature, the reward for the Overcomer, and hardly refers to any other
company, people or calling. Regarding the statement "This is the first resurrection", it
cannot mean the first that ever was, but the former of two. The reference to the beloved
city brings with it the numerous passages of Old Testament prophecy which speak in
glowing terms of the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem. Isa. 54: 6-17 reveals a city of
jeweled splendour, echoing the glories on earth of this heavenly Jerusalem itself. Even
so, the chapter ends with a reference to those who will gather together against Jerusalem,
with the comforting words:
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper",
even as we have read in Rev. 20: 8, 9. If the inhabitants of the land during the
Millennium are those of Israel who looked upon the Lord Whom they had pierced and
repented, if the nations are those who were "alive and remained" at the Second Coming,
we have no "problem" about Isaiah 65: 18-25, for there we read of the possibility of
dying and being accursed, and of the length of life being "as the days of a tree", which,
however extended, cannot be a synonym for life eternal and certainly not of immortality.
The Overcomer
Let us observe how these "overcomers" of Rev. 20: 4 are intertwined with the
prophetic revelation of the last days. The rewards held out to the overcomers in the
seven churches are :
(1)
To eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God
(Rev. 2: 7).