Revelation 20:5 (KJV)
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
The rest of the dead.
What an ominous term.
John Gill writes of it:
“Meaning not the dead saints, for they will be all raised together, but the wicked dead; and not them as morally or spiritually, but as corporeally dead.”
The Bible speaks of a death worse than death.
Death can be defined as separation.
There is physical death (Gill termed it corporeal).
It occurs when the body and the spirit are separated.
There is spiritual death (the Bible calls it being dead in trespasses and sins).
This is the state of all who are unsaved. Their spirit is separated from fellowship with God. They are physically alive, but they are dead in relationship to God.
This was the case with Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit. Their bodies were still alive and functioning, but they were driven from the garden and no longer had communion with God.
There is the second death.
When those who are spiritually dead die physically, they are removed from the presence of God and cast into hell and ultimately into the lake of fire and brimstone. They are not annihilated, nor do they cease to exist. In fact, they will be resurrected to suffer in both soul and body eternally in the lake of fire.
This is the fate of what our passage calls “the rest of the dead.”
And this is the ultimate point of salvation. It is not about having your best life now, having a happy family, or adopting a particular worldview. Salvation is a rescue.
Salvation separates the saved from “the rest of the dead.”
To present salvation as anything less is to reduce it to merely a preference.
#Revelation205 #TheRestOfTheDead #FirstResurrection #BibleProphecy #SalvationInChrist
A Most Sobering Phrase: The Rest of the Dead
Have you ever thought about what the Bible means by “the rest of the dead”? Do you agree that salvation is far more than a preference—it is a rescue from the second death?
Leave a comment below and share your thoughts. I'd love to hear how you understand Revelation 20:5 and the first resurrection.
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