And they lived…
This familiar expression is from Revelation 20:4…
“And I saw … the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
We want to specially ask the meaning of the words “they lived.” The first impression which comes to mind is that the saints lived with and reigned with Christ. But some investigation convinces us that the thought intended was “they came to life and reigned with Christ.” There is a significant distinction in the two thoughts.
Weymouth renders the passage: and they came to life and shared Christ’s Kingdom for a thousand years.” Rotherham supplies a footnote on the word “lived”: “or: ‘came to life,’ cp. Luke 15:32; John 11:25; Rom. 14:9; Rev. 1:18, 2:8.”
The context supports this rendering. In verse 4 John sees “the souls” of the saints. Why does he say “souls”? Why doesn’t he say he saw the saints in glory, with white raiment, and girdles of gold, as in Rev. 15:6, and 19:8? Because he is describing dead saints. This description appears once earlier, in Revelation 6:9, and there also refers to dead saints. “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held . . .” Notice where these “souls” were located -under the altar. Why? It is a picture of saints who have completed their sacrifice, and as the ashes of a sacrifice would fall through the grating to the floor beneath the altar, so that is where we find these sleeping saints.
The reference to sleeping saints as “souls” reminds us of Paul’s reference to the Ancient worthies as “the spirits of just men . . .” (Heb. 12:23) So John tells us, paraphrasing, “I saw the souls [dead saints], and then I saw them come to life! They lived!” He is describing the resurrection of the sleeping saints.
He follows this up directly by telling us what he was just watching . . . “This is the first resurrection.” (Acknowledging that the first sentence of verse 5 is spurious.)
To some this may seem an incidental clarification, but it bears on at least three matters of significance in understanding the first 6 verses of Revelation 20.
- It shows there is a time break between verses 3 and 4 (assuming the sealing of Satan in the pit is future, and the raising of the sleeping saints past).
- It may bear on the question of whose “thrones” are described in verse 4.
- It implies that the saints raised from death have entered into the promised reign.