Articles and Notes

Three Resurrections

By
Art Braidic
and
Terry Moore

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    Some may question whether the Bible speaks of three resurrections. While one and even two resurrections are very clear, realizing a third, separate resurrection may be difficult. This article will help you to realize that there are in fact three resurrections and this conclusion is based upon scriptural evidence pointing to each one as a necessary step in the process of offering salvation to every man and woman who will choose to accept Jesus Christ and obey God.
    We will begin in Revelation chapter twenty where we find a chronology following a direct time line for all three resurrections. It begins with the return of Christ and the first resurrection.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-6)

    Thus the first resurrection takes place. Those who will reign with Christ over the earth for 1000 years are the only ones in this first of the resurrections. Notice that in verse 5 there is acknowledgment of another resurrection—one to take place at later time—after 1000 years of Christ’s and his elect’s reign.

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. . . (Revelation 20:5)

    This is obviously a separate resurrection than that spoken of in the prior verses as the terms “rest of the dead lived not again” are indicative of some being raised at first and more being raised at a later point. This verse also ends with a direct arrow pointing to the prior verses as being a description of a different and the first resurrection.
    Most will not refute this fact, but some may question whether verse five is speaking of the 2nd of three resurrections or is it speaking of the 2nd and final resurrection. In order to make this clear we must first consider the events following this 2nd resurrection. The chronology of continues to unfold as John writes:

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, . . (Revelation 20:7-8)

    The scriptures state that the rest of the dead are raised after the thousand years are expired. Satan has been bound and put away for that same length of time. He is then released at the same time the rest of the dead are raised and this is done for a reason. It is so those who are raised after the 1000 years and those who live through the millennium can overcome him just as true Christians are striving to do right now. The result of those who overcome before Christ returns is the gift of eternal life and those who live through and are raised after the millennial reign will, in like manner, be given a chance to obtain eternal life.
    So, we see that after the thousand years are expired, the second resurrection occurs. Satan is let go, and he deceives those on the earth once again. This second of the resurrections is a physical one and is further described in great detail by the prophet Ezekiel when he states:

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

    Here is described the miraculous second resurrection to flesh and blood. It is also explained that those who are raised in it are ones who never truly knew Christ, but that they will be taught the right way to live and given a chance to know Him stating “and ye shall know that I am the LORD.”
    After the thousand years Satan is released and those who lived and died—from the time of Adam unto Christ’s second coming—who never truly knew Jesus, will be raised to a physical state of being. At this time they will be instructed in the right way to live and will also be tempted once again by Satan. They will then have to make the most important decision of their life and that is to choose a way righteousness leading to life or unrighteousness and ultimate death.
    Some other verses that verify this second resurrection are found in Luke. Here Jesus describes a time when the different generations of the unjust will be alive at the same time.

The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. (Luke 11:31-32)

    Stating that queen of the south and the men of Nineveh will rise up with this generation, Jesus points to a time when all those who never knew Him will be raised. Thus it is clear that there is a first resurrection to spirit and eternal life and a second resurrection to flesh and blood. If this is so, how long will those in the second resurrection be given to learn the truth and be tempted once again by Satan?
    We have speculated that they will live at least one hundred years. God speaks of this in Isaiah where he reminds us that He will create a new heavens and earth at the end of all things. Before that, He will rebuild Jerusalem and the people who live during that time, will live at least one hundred years. Isaiah writes:

And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:19-20)

    Isaiah proclaims that the elderly who died before Christ’s return will be given a sufficient amount of time to learn the truth. Even the baby who only lived a few days will live again and be nourished with the Word for many years. They will all be raised where they left off, in their former state of being with a new lease on life given to them. Speaking to Israel after they had forgotten God, He told them of a time when they would be confronted with their sins alongside the sinners of Sodom, Samaria and various generations of people. Ezekiel writes the words of the Lord stating:

When I shall bring again their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring again the captives of your captivity among them, that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them. When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state. (Ezekiel 16:53-55 NKJ)

    In bringing again their captives, God will be releasing them from the captivity of the grave and returning them to their former state as flesh and blood beings. Speaking of Jesus’ resurrection it is said that “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, (Eph 4:8).” This means that when Jesus was raised, He was the first to be released from the captivity of death and the grave. He was the leader and trailblazer of the resurrections. This shows us that Ezekiel writes of a time when people will be raised right back where they left off, at the same age as their death and very likely in the same location of their prior existence.
    They will awake realizing their past mistakes alongside vast generations of the unjust, returned to their former state, but now living in a completely different world. There will have been 1000 years of peace, prosperity and progress under the government of God and this earth will be a virtual paradise with God’s wisdom and blessings poured out upon it. The Holy Spirit will be accessible to everyone who repents and accepts Jesus Christ and all will know the right way to live and that He is the Lord.
    After the thousand years are ended and the rest of mankind has been raised to flesh and blood again, there will be a period of time when Satan is released to deceive the nations once again. This will take some time for Satan to start all over in weaving his web of lies and devising a crafty plan to influence a people who have now lived peaceably and have been taught the truth. Revelation continues in its revealing of future events and shows us that many millions will be persuaded to rebel against God as it states:

And (Satan) shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:8-10)

    After the time mentioned in Isaiah 65, when those who never knew Christ are given a chance to know Him and choose to walk in righteousness or not, there is a final resurrection for the purpose of judgment. This is the third resurrection. Revelation continues:

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (Revelation 20:11-13)

    Those who knew Christ and did not accept Him in the first six thousand years of history are now raised. Those who died or lived through the millennium are also raised or changed, and those who died or lived after being resurrected proceeding the thousand years are raised. This is a separate resurrection from the first two altogether and there are several indications of this.
    During this last resurrection all that are raised will “stand before God” to be judged according to their works. Considering that the Lord told Moses “there shall no man see me, and live (Exo 33:20)” and “the dead small and great” will now “stand before God,” this cannot be a resurrection to flesh and blood. It must be a resurrection to spirit, a state where a being is able to stand before God and live. Since this is the case then the resurrection of the unjust and to “flesh and blood” (Eze 37, Luk 11) into their “former state” (Eze 16) must be a separate resurrection altogether. It is clear that the resurrection spoken of in Ezekiel 37 and 16 is not the first and it now becomes clear that it is not the last, so it must be in the middle, a second resurrection in a series of three.
    Something else to consider is this. Since we know that the first resurrection is that of God’s elect—the chosen ones to rule with Christ in the millennium—and the last resurrection is the rest of humanity; if there were in fact only two resurrections, does it seem acceptable that our loving, merciful, wise and just God would raise billions of people that never had a chance to know Him and His truth, and would judge them “according to their works” when they were not only deceived by Satan, but never given a chance make a choice based upon knowledge of the Almighty? This would be completely out of character for God who is the very embodiment of love and justice.
    This third and final resurrection will be a great multitude, so great that they cannot be numbered. As they are judged many will at this point be given the gift of eternal life and those who made the wrong choices and are not found written in the book of life will die the second death. Revelation continues:

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15)

    As the scriptures state those not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire. Contrary to what some believe, this scripture requires that some of those in this final resurrection will have eternal life. It is not just a resurrection to condemnation. It is a formal judgment in which rewards are also given, like those of the first resurrection, who are rewarded for their works (Mat 16:27). This is spoken of by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians when he says:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

    Thus we see that there is a resurrection of the firstborn at the return of Jesus Christ and this is a resurrection to spirit beings who will rule with Christ for a thousand years. After the thousand years, there is a second resurrection, but to flesh. These are then given a chance to know the Lord and choose life or death (Deut. 30:19). Then, at the very end, there is a third resurrection. This final resurrection consists of all those who lived and died and is for the purpose of a formal judgment. This last resurrection is not to flesh and blood, but to eternal life or death.
    Speaking to His disciples, Jesus spoke of this final resurrection and judgment. It is recorded in the book of Matthew where He states:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:32-34)

    This is a resurrection of both the just and unjust for the purpose of separating the good from the bad and further expanding the family of God. This is also mentioned in the book of Acts where it states:

. . . that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. (Act 24:15)

    Therefore, the scriptures reveal that there are two spiritual harvests of mankind. They are the first resurrection and the third resurrection. Besides the timing of Revelation chapter 20, it is also possible to identify these different resurrections by the individuals who are involved in each of them and the state in which they are raised to. Different types of people are in each one and they are raised to different forms of being.