Revelation 20:5 inserts a parenthetical statement that compares to the amount of information given in verses 8-10. Verse 5 reads, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.” The last sentence should be attached to verse 4 that describes the “souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads nor in their hands.” The next statement reads, “And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” This is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead did not come to life or be resurrected until after the thousand years were completed. This period of time marks another effort of Satan to war with God’s people and persecute them. It is a shorter period of time as Satan is described as being loosed out of his prison “for a season.”
All we are given that describes this season is found in verses 8-10 which did not have any relevance for those reading this book. It is here that we should connect the statement in verse five (5) that reads, “The rest of the dead lived not until after the thousand years are completed.” Revelation 20:8-10 begins with a description of what Satan will do during this season of time, the result of his work, and his final defeat.
“And 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 marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed 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 forever.”
In the subsequent blogs, we will look at this short description.