Revelation 20:4; The Martyrs

Revelation 20:4 (KJV)  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. 

Regarding this special group of martyrs, the prophet goes on to write, “and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” The verb “they lived” conveying the force of “they came to live” or “they lived again”. this is the meaning of the same form in Revelation 2:8 and Revelation 20:5 (cf. Romans 14:9).

Revelation 2:8 (KJV)  And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

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

Romans 14:9 (KJV)  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. 

This second life is comparable to the second death that is the destiny of the unfaithful (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14).

Revelation 2:11 (KJV)  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Revelation 20:6 (KJV)  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 20:14 (KJV)  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 

This meaning in essence is to accept that the Millennium is a future period on earth.

A further promise to the martyrs is that of joining Christ in His future reign. The subject of “reigned” is still the martyrs.

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody 1995, 415-17]