If it be said, that they shall be admitted into heaven before this battle begins, that can hardly be supposed; for if God send them to be companions with his mortal saints, in their prosperous state, will he call them away when the time of their greatest danger approaches, in which their presence might be of the greatest service to their brethren, who are left to struggle with these difficulties? Therefore, upon the whole, we cannot suppose that any shall, in a literal sense, be raised from the dead, till this glorious, though spiritual reign of Christ shall be at an end, and the day of judgment draws nigh, which is agreeable to the general scope of all those scriptures, which speak of the resurrection and final judgment.
Object. But to this it will be objected, that the scripture elsewhere intimates, that there shall be two resurrections; for the apostle says, in 1 Thes. iv. 16. that the dead in Christ shall rise first; therefore why may not this resurrection be understood in the same sense with that mentioned in Rev. xx. which has been before considered?
Answ. We do not deny but that this resurrection, which the apostle speaks of, must be taken in a literal sense; but let it be observed, that he does not here mention any thing of the thousand years’ reign, but of the day of judgment, when Christ shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the arch-angel, with which the glory of that day shall begin, and then the dead shall be raised, in which the saints and faithful shall have the pre-eminence; they shall rise first, that is, before others, mentioned in the following verse, that are alive, who shall be caught up with them in the clouds. And this shall also be done, before the wicked shall be raised, to the end that, when Christ appears, they, as it is said elsewhere, may appear with him in glory; and that they may bear a part in the solemnity of that day, and be happy in his presence; when others are raised to shame and everlasting contempt, and filled with the utmost confusion and distress.
Moreover, this first resurrection of those that died in Christ, is not particularly applied to them that suffered martyrdom for him, much less is there any account of its being a thousand years before the general resurrection; therefore it may very well be understood of a resurrection a very short time before it, and consequently gives no countenance to the opinion, which has been before considered, concerning this resurrection, as going before the reign of Christ on earth.
2. There is another scripture brought in defence of another part of their scheme, taken from the apostle’s words, in Rom. viii. 21-23. where he speaks of the creatures’ present bondage, and future deliverance, and their waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of their bodies, which, they suppose, will have its accomplishment, when this reign of Christ begins: but I cannot think that the apostle, in that scripture, intends any thing else, but that the whole creation is liable at present, to the curse, consequent upon man’s fall; and that the deliverance he speaks of, shall be at the general resurrection, when the saints shall be raised immortal and incorruptible, which is what they now wait and hope for.
Thus we have considered the sense that is given of some scriptures, by those who understand the reign of Christ on earth, as attended with various circumstances, which we cannot readily allow of; and shewed, that some of those texts, which are usually brought to support that particular scheme, have reference to the return of the Jews from captivity,[[203]] and others, that predict their building of Jerusalem, and the temple there, Jer. xxix. 5. Isa. xliv. 28. and the setting up their civil and religious policy, had their accomplishment after their return from the Babylonish captivity; and that those, which seem to look farther, and respect some privileges which they shall enjoy in the last days, will be fulfilled, when they are converted to Christianity, and partakers of many spiritual privileges, in common with the gospel-church; therefore I need only mention two scriptures more, which we understand in a sense very different from what some do, who treat of Christ’s reign on earth. As,
1st, That in which we have an account of the general conflagration, which, as was before observed, some few, who give too great scope to their wit and fancy, beyond all the bounds of modesty, and without considering those absurdities that will follow from it, have maintained that it shall be immediately before Christ’s reign on earth begins: the scripture they bring for that purpose, is that in 2 Pet. iii. 10, 13. in which the apostle says, that the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. This scripture, it must be confessed, is hard to be understood. We are far from thinking, as some do, that it is only a metaphorical description of some remarkable providences, tending to the ruin of Christ’s enemies, and the advantage of his people; certainly the words are to be taken in a literal sense; for the apostle had been speaking, in the foregoing verses, of the old world, which, being overflown with water, perished; which is, without doubt, to be taken in a literal sense. And now he speaks, as some call it, of a second deluge, which shall be not by water, but by fire,[[204]] in which the heavens and the earth shall pass away, or be dissolved, that is, changed, as to the form thereof, though not annihilated. By the heavens and the earth, the learned Mede well understands that part of the frame of nature, that was subjected to the curse, or that is inhabited by Christ’s enemies, and includes in it the earth, water, and air, but not the heavenly bodies, which are not only at a vast distance from it, but it is little more than a point, if compared to them for magnitude. And he also (notwithstanding some peculiarities held by him, as before mentioned, relating to the Millennium) justly observes, that this conflagration shall not be till the end of the world, and consequently it shall be immediately before the day of judgment; and, indeed, the apostle intimates as much, when he speaks of this awful providence, as reserved to the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men, in ver. 7. The main difficulty to be accounted for, is, what is meant by these new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, which are appointed as an habitation for the righteous. Concerning which, if I may be allowed to give my sense thereof, with that humility and modesty that the difficulty of the subject calls for, I cannot think that there is any absurdity, if we suppose, that, by these new heavens and new earth, the apostle means, that the form of them shall be so changed, as that they shall be an apartment of heaven, in which, together with those other parts of the frame of nature, which are designed to be the seat of the blessed, the saints shall dwell and reign with Christ for ever.
2dly, We shall now consider the sense that may be given of that scripture, in Rev. xx. and more especially what we read therein, concerning the first resurrection, in which the martyrs are said to live, when this thousand years’ reign begins, and the rest of the dead not to live, till these thousand years be finished, in ver. 4, 5. on which the stress of the whole controversy principally depends. I cannot but adhere to their opinion, who think that these words are to be taken in a metaphorical sense; and then they, who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, viz. the martyrs, shall live when Christ’s spiritual reign begins, that is, the cause, for which they suffered martyrdom, shall be revived: this is supposed to have been in a languishing and dying condition, during the reign of Anti-christ, and towards the close thereof, to be at the lowest ebb, and, as it were, dead; I say, this shall be revived, these martyrs shall, as it were, live again, not in their own persons, but in their successors, who espouse the same cause. Before this, the enemies of Christ, and his gospel, persecuted and trampled on his cause, insulted the memory of those that had suffered for it; but afterwards, when it is said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, then Christ’s cause revives, and that which was victorious over it dies, and shall not rise again, or be in any capacity to give disturbance to the church, till the thousand years are finished, and Satan is loosed again out of prison, to give life and spirit to it; and then we read of a new war begun, a fresh battle fought, the nations deceived, the camp of the saints compassed about; and this will continue till Christ shall come, and put an end to it at the day of judgment, when the devil shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. In this sense some, not without ground, understand the account which is given of the slaying and rising of the witnesses, Rev. xi. 7, 11. as signifying that the gospel, which before had been persecuted, and the preaching thereof prohibited, shall then prevail without restraint. The witnesses’ death, denotes their being silenced; their rising and standing upon their feet, their having liberty again to preach. And therefore why may we not understand the resurrection, in the chapter we are now considering, as taken in the same sense? And this agrees very well with the sense of ver. 6. in which it is said, concerning them, who have a part in the first resurrection, that is, the saints, who live and reign with Christ, on such this second death hath no power, that is, whatever the enemies of the church may attempt against them, after this thousand years reign, shall be to no purpose; for they shall not prevail, their cause shall never die again. Or, if it be applied to their persons, the meaning is, that they shall not die eternally. Eternal death is a punishment to be inflicted on their enemies, who shall be cast into the lake of fire, which is expressly called the second death, in ver. 14. But these, as it is said, in Rev. ii. 11. shall not be hurt of it, i. e. not exposed to it; but, as they have lived with Christ, in a spiritual sense, on earth, so they shall live with him for ever in heaven.
We are, in giving this sense of the text, under a kind of necessity to recede from the literal sense thereof, because we cannot altogether reconcile that to the analogy of faith. And it will not seem strange to any, who consider the mystical or allegorical style in which this book of the Revelation is written, that this text should be understood in the same sense: However, that this sense may be farther justified, let it be considered, that it is not disagreeable to what we find in many other scriptures, that speak of the church’s deliverance from its troubles, under the metaphor of a resurrection; and of the destruction of its enemies, under the metaphor of death. Thus the Babylonish captivity, and Israel’s deliverance from it, is described, in Ezek. xxxvii. 1-12. The former by a metaphor taken from a valley full of dry bones; the latter by another taken from their being raised out of their graves, living and standing on their feet an exceeding great army. And, in Ezra ix. 9. we read of God’s extending mercy to them, who were before bond-men, and not forsaking them in their bondage, giving them an opportunity to set up the temple and worship of God; this is called, giving them a reviving; and the prophet, speaking concerning the captivity, in Lam. iii. 6. says, He has set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old; and the prophet Isaiah speaks concerning their return from captivity, as a resurrection from the dead, Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise; awake, and sing ye that dwell in the dust, Isa. xxvi. 19.
Many other scriptures might be cited, out of the writings of the prophets, to justify this metaphorical sense of the words, death, and resurrection and also some out of the New Testament, of which I need only refer to one, which has a particular respect to the subject under our present consideration, when the apostle says, that the receiving of them, to wit, of the church of the Jews, when converted, shall be as life from the dead, Rom. xi. 15. therefore the scripture gives countenance to its being called a resurrection.