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What are all the resurrections of the end times?

resurrections of the end times

What are all the resurrections of the end times?

The Bible speaks of two types of resurrections: (1) The Resurrections of the Righteous and (2) the resurrection of the Unrighteous. Jesus and Paul plainly declared two basic resurrections:

John 5:28 "for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned."

Acts 24:15 having hope toward God, which they themselves also wait for, that there is about to be a rising again of the dead, both of righteous and unrighteous; (Also see: Daniel 12:2)

As you can see, there will be resurrections of both the righteous and unrighteous. This doesn't mean, however, that there will only be two resurrections in number, just that there are two TYPES of resurrections

  1. The resurrection of the righteous (called "first resurrection", Revelation 20:5-6)
  2. The resurrection of the unrighteous (the "second resurrection", Revelation 20:5)

Revelation 20:4-6 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The [resurrection to the] second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.


The Resurrection of the Unrighteous

The resurrection unto death (or the SECOND resurrection) will occur at the end of the Messianic Kingdom at the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). At that judgment, Jesus will judge all who have rejected Him and His salvation.

Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

This massive judgment concerns every dead soul contained in Hades (Sheol) after the thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth, which means it involves every unredeemed person throughout history.

The event which divides the first and second resurrections is the millennial kingdom. The last of the righteous (the gleanings) are "raised to reign with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4), but the "rest of the dead [that is, the wicked (cursed)] lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:5).


The Resurrection of the Righteous

The first resurrection is the resurrection of the righteous, meaning those in right-standing with God. Again, when Jesus and Paul spoke of two basic resurrections they were talking about TYPES of resurrections and not numbers. While there's only one resurrection of the unrighteous, the resurrection of the righteous is multiple events and takes place in STAGES that correspond to Christ's return. The imagery of a harvest that is used in resurrection verses is a key to understanding the first resurrection — the resurrection of the righteous. 

Please Note: Everything above is clear biblical doctrine and contains no personal interpretation. However, when we come to the first resurrection, there are a lot of different interpretations around this multi-part event. Below is my personal interpretation of what makes up the parts of the first resurrection.

The First Fruits

The resurrection of the righteous will occur in stages. This is clearly taught in 1 Corinthians 15:20-24. In fact, the first stage of the resurrection of the righteous has already happened, for verse 20 says that "Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep." We, who are the Body of Christ, are connected to Christ's death and resurrection. We died with Him. We were raised with Him. In this regard, we are part to this firstfruits resurrection. At the rapture of the body of Christ, prior to the 7-year Tribulation, there is only an instantaneous rapture of the living members of Christs body. In other words, there is no resurrection of the dead. Those of the Body of Christ who have died are already in resurrection bodies in heaven. We cannot be resurrected twice! When members of Christ’s Body die they go immediately to be with the Lord, (Phil.1:23; 2 Cor.5:8). We are clothed with our glorified body which is already prepared (2 Cor.5:1-5—"we have a building…"). And technically speaking, we are not awaiting resurrection since we are already raised, Eph. 2:5-6. Those who are living are simply waiting to be changed in the pre-tribulation rapture, (Phil. 3:21, 1 Cor. 15:51).

The Main Harvest

Verses 22 and 23 go on to explain that all who have died in Christ shall be made alive, "but each in his own order: Christ, the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming."

Since the rapture of the Body of Christ is the firstfruits of the harvest, the next stage pertains to the main harvest. Those that make up the 'main harvest' part of the first resurrection, might be considered as,

  1. The resurrection of the the ACTS church between Pentecost and 70AD with the fall of Jerusalem. This group is also known as the 'Little Flock" of believers under the administration of the 12-apostles.  
  2. The 144000 who are marked by God to evangelize throughout the 1st-half of the tribulation.
  3. The converts of the 144000 who are saved and martyred within the 1st-half of the tribulation.
  4. Possibly the 2-witnesses who are killed and then resurrected and ascended into heaven.
  5. The martyrs of the great tribulation, saved under the eternal gospel of the angel (Rev.4:6)

The groups labeled (#1, #2 and #3) above, have a unique relationship. The ministry started under the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was put on hold at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. This same ministry is therefore continued in the power of the Holy Spirit by the 144000 at the beginning of the tribulation. Since the 144000 will be preaching a Kingdom gospel, they will either be going to Jews ONLY, or if they'll evangelize all nations, their converts will probably have to proselytize.

ALL members of the groups (#1 to #4) give up their lives for their faith. They pick up their cross and follow Christ. They endure to the end, keeping the faith. They "love not their lives unto the death", Rev.12:11. According to details in Revelation, is seems that the 'Little Flock' receive white robes (glorified bodies) first, while they are waiting for their fellowservants and brethren. As the tribulation martyrs (fellowservants) are killed, they receive white robes (glorified bodies) too. BTW: It is my interpretation that these white robes are resurrection (or glorified) bodies. Similar to the tribulation saints, as the martyrs of the great tribulation (brethren) are killed, they will be given white robes too, see v.13 below.

See my commentary in brackets between the verses to clarify my views,

Rev.6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them [the members of the 'Little Flock' (Jews and proselytes)]; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants [tribulation martyrs (Jews and proselytes)] also and their brethren [great tribulation martyrs (All Nations, Gentiles and Jews)], that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Rev.7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands [The main harvest of souls of all nations, (groups #1 to #4 above)]; ... 13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation [not 'the great tribulation', but those who endured great tribulation, even unto death], and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

The Gleanings (Leviticus 19:9-10)

This is the resurrection of Old Testament believers (Job 19:25-26; Daniel 12:1-2, 11-13; Isaiah 26:19-21) like Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, ..., David, the Prophets, ..., John the Baptist, Lazarus, etc. One might wonder how this can be called the gleanings if one considers that the timespan is from Adam to John the Baptist, about 4000-years. Well, consider that irrespective of the timespan, only a tiny percentage of these people were righteous. The Gentile nations were pagan and even much of Israel (from Moses to Christ) did not believe the prophets message or Kingdom gospel and can be considered lost. Only a tiny percentage of all peoples from Adam to John the Baptist came into right standing with God through faith.

The Whole Picture of the Resurrections

The following image is a representation of the multipart FIRST resurrection (of the righteous) and then the SECOND resurrection (of all the unrighteous) at the Great White Throne judgement, separated by the Millennial Kingdom.

resurrection stages


I trust this was an informative post and hope that it provides a measure of clarity or confirmation based on your views. Remember that the details of the first resurrection above is my personal interpretation of scripture and how I have come to understand it and plot it out from what the scriptures say.

God bless.



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