First, an event was coming soon by the authors of the New Testament. “At His coming,” those who belong to Christ will be raised (1 Cor. 15:23, cf. 1 Thess. 4:16, “the dead in Christ will rise first”). This resurrection is described in Revelation 20:4 as a “coming to life” and a “reigning with Him for a thousand years”. Christ has indeed raised us and made us sit together with him in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2:12), but this is long before His coming. The fact that this is written as an event before his coming proves that the resurrection that is commensurate with his coming is not the same spiritual resurrection found in Romans 6, Colossians 3, or Ephesians 2, as these are not bodily resurrections.
Second, this same event is described in 1 Corinthians 15:24 as the time when Jesus Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after having abolished all enemy rule and power. This is the point at which He begins his reign with his saints. He has the keys of death and hades and the resurrection of the saints is commensurate with His reign with them for a long period of time. It is a spiritual reign in a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44). Another figure that is used to describe this event is the marriage of the Lamb which takes place at the beginning of this reign, and their resurrection. He presents her to the Father as His bride without spot, blemish, or any such thing. This was predicted by Daniel (Dan. 7:9-14). An illustration of one experiencing this first resurrection is found in Revelation 11:8 when the priests’ dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, Jerusalem. John describes it in verses 11-12:
After 3 ½ days, the breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them ‘Come up here.’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.”
Then, Revelation 11:18-19 gives another description of the dead being judged. We see the prophets, saints, and them that fear God being rewarded while punishing those that destroy the earth. Jesus describes it in Matthew 24:29-31:
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Jesus explains that, for the elect, this would be a “redemption.”
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Luke 21:27-28, NASB).
Third, comparing the same thing that was taught in Corinth was taught in Thessalonica when he wrote that we will not all sleep, but we will be changed. The dead would rise first and those that were alive and remained when He came would be changed and “caught up” together with them in the clouds (1 Thess. 4:17, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). This translation or transformation is necessary because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We do not propose the literal and physical resurrection of our earthly bodies. Indeed, Jesus’ body was physically raised, but it was necessary to demonstrate undeniable proofs for a period of 40 days and to establish witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. Still, a transformation occurred with Jesus when he ascended to the right hand of the Father (Acts 1:6-11).
Fourth, when Jesus returned (in 70 AD), he gathered his wheat into the barn and burned up the chaff. Remember, Jesus is still reigning in heaven and on earth (cf. Eph 2:6) and must reign until he has put down the last enemy, which is death (1 Cor. 15:26). Death and hades would be finally thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14) after the 1,000 years. At this same time, Satan is loosed, a heavenly fire will consume the enemy and Satan, and the second resurrection will occur.
I reserve the right to change my mind as we all do. But, at this point, this is the best construction I can make from the events of Revelation 20.