Audio Download

Rev 20:1-6 Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection, Part 2

[Study Aired June 15, 2025] 

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4 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.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 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.

We concluded our last study with the determination to continue demonstrating that the promise of Christ’s appearing on this earth in power and glory is to rule over the kingdoms of this physical world for a thousand years, which will yet be realized outwardly before the beginning of the spiritual  great white throne judgment.

The adversary realizes just how powerful this message is in giving us hope and an incentive to endure the fiery trials of this present evil world, and he is determined to destroy that incentive:

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and  that he is a rewarder of them that seek him

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Gal 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Those who teach that “the resurrection is past already” simply ignore the fact that all the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets before Christ were not ministering to themselves but to us, and that “without us [as their saviors] they should not be made perfect”:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you [“Not unto themselves”]:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect [Not ‘we without them’].

The fact is that we without them will be made perfect because Christ tells us this about all these men of Old Testament faith:

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

“He that is least in the kingdom of God will be greater than… John the Baptist” because Christ’s saving faith was not available to anyone until after His death and resurrection, and “Jesus Christ of Nazareth” is the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”

Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

It is “the revealing of His glory” at the beginning of the thousand-year reign which will cause those who are raised up from the dead at the beginning of that reign to “be glad with exceeding joy.”

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

“When His glory shall be revealed” tells us that Peter is looking forward to something which has not yet happened and is yet to come:

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Romans 8:22-25 does not contradict Romans 6:4-5:

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up [Aorist tense] from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk [Aorist tense] in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be [future tense] also in the likeness of his resurrection:

“Christ was raised up” is in the Aorist tense because Christ is still being raised up. “We also should walk” is in the Aorist tense because we continue to walk in newness of life. “Shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” is in the future tense because ‘the resurrection is NOT already past”, as Hymenaeus and Philetus and many until this very day with that same self-righteous, idol of their heart (Eze 14:1-9),  would have us believe.

“The earnest of the spirit” is merely the downpayment of our reward. It is not “the redemption of the purchased possession.”

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Poor Hymenaeus and Philetus and all who have fallen for their lie. They actually think that the ‘promise’ is the possession, while nothing could be further from the Truth. The best is yet to come… “the redemption of the purchased possession”, a glorious ‘spiritual body’ which will never die (1Co 15:44-50), ruling with Christ a thousand years and judging angels and the house of Esau in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death (1Co 6:3, Oba 1:21, Rev 20:7-15).

The contrast is always between being “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb, [at] the resurrection to life” (Joh 5:28-29] with “the resurrection of judgment” at the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/ second death (Joh 5:28-29, Rev 20:11-15). The holy spirit always contrasts those in the first “resurrection of life” with those who will suffer the second death, which is the lake of fire which begins at the great white throne judgment.

According to Paul, every word of God which proceeds out of His mouth is not far from us. It is not hidden way up high, in the physical heavens, nor is it way down low in the physical sea. Rather it is “within you, even in your mouth, and in your heart.”

Rom 10:6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
Rom 10:7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Here is the Old Testament passage from which Paul is teaching.

Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Deu 30:12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deu 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deu 30:14 But the word [Christ] is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

These verses in Deuteronomy 30 and Paul’s statement in Romans 10:8 are both saying the same thing this revelation of Jesus Christ within us tells us at both the beginning and the end of this book.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

It is phrased “do it” in Deuteronomy 30:14, and it is phrased “keep the things written therein” here in this revelation of Jesus Christ, within us. Both, according to Paul, are speaking of bringing Christ to us.

This 20^th chapter is “the things written therein” which we are to “keep”, but we must ‘rightly divide the Word of Truth’ and pay attention to qualifying statements such as “the things which must shortly be done… until the thousand years are finished… when the thousand years are expired… the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years are finished…” etc. Nowhere in scripture are we ever told… ‘the resurrection is past already.’ That is clearly labeled as the self-righteous, iniquitous, false doctrine of Hymenaeus and Philetus. This 20^th chapter clearly has to do with things which must shortly be done, not things which are “past already”:

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

In Christ we are given the “key of knowledge”, enabling us to understand the message of scripture which concerns what “is done” and what “must shortly come to pass.” When we rightly divide The Word of Truth we are ‘keeping the things which are written’ in this prophecy, and we are fulfilling these words:

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

These words of our Lord Himself accord perfectly with these words which the holy spirit later inspired the apostle Paul to pen:

Eph 3:8  Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

Paul reiterates this same Truth in his epistle to Timothy:

1Ti 3:14  These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:
1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

There is no contradiction with Paul’s declaration that “the church of the living God… is… the pillar and ground of The Truth” and His declaration to the church at Corinth telling them that Christ is the only foundation on which to build His church:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Rather these verses complement each other by showing just how much our Lord identifies with “His body… which is the church.”

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Like Pharaoh’s dream, and like the four different names for Satan, the principle of “the dream is one” helps us to see that it is we who have ‘come down from heaven’ with ‘the key of knowledge, and the keys to the kingdom… to make known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.’ All of this is true only “because [we faithfully] speak this [fiery] Word”:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

We still have to also ask, “Why in the world does God chain Satan in this “bottomless pit… place a seal on him so that he cannot deceive the nations during that period, just to release Satan onto an unsuspecting world at the end of this “thousand-year reign” of God’s elect?? What good did it do for the elect to rule the nations of this world a thousand years just to have the entire world immediately deceived again “when the thousand years are fulfilled”??? Why does God do this?” All these questions were and are meaningless to anyone who has been given over to the false doctrine which teaches that “the resurrection is past already” (2Ti 2:16-18).

Before we answer that vital question, I want to share with you the differences between the bottomless pit of Revelation 9:1-2 and the bottomless pit of this 20^th chapter.

In our English King James Version, “the bottomless pit” is the exact same phrase we find in chapter 9:

Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless [G12: abussos, deep, the sea], pit [ G5421: phrear, well, pit].
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless [abussos, deep, the sea] pit; [G5421, phrear – well, pit] and there arose a smoke out of the pit [phrear], as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit [phrear].

Here in chapter 9 there are two Greek words for ‘bottomless pit’. The first is the Greek word ‘abussos’, which simply means ‘deep’, and the second is the Greek word ‘phrear’, which means, as it is properly translated, ‘pit’. So there is no such thing as a pit with no bottom, and a much better translation would be ‘the deep pit.’ Satan is bound in ‘the deep’ for a thousand years. It is from this ‘abussos’ that all flesh arises:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The Greek word for ‘sea’ in this verse is ‘thalassa’. Nevertheless a study of the story of the devils whose name was ‘legion’ who Christ permitted to enter into the swine which in turn drowned in the sea, demonstrates that this Greek word ‘thalassa’ and the Greek word ‘abussos’ are used interchangeably for the sea of Galilee as we will see later.

The fact of the matter is that the Greek word ‘phrear’, meaning ‘pit,’ is not to be found  here in this 20^th chapter. In this chapter the two English words ‘bottomless pit” are translated from the single Greek word ‘abussos’. Still the translators opted to use the two words of chapter 9… ‘bottomless pit.’ The ‘abussos’, meaning ‘the deep’, is used as an adjective to describe the depth of the ‘phrear’, the pit.  The Greek word ‘abussos’, with the Greek word ‘phrear’ or ‘pit appears three times in Revelation 9:1-2 :

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless [abussos] pit [phrear].
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless [abussos] pit [phrear]; and there arose a smoke out of the pit [phrear], as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit [phrear].

The Greek phrase ‘abussos phrear’ is found twice in these two verses, but referring to this same ‘abussos phrear’ it is referred to twice as simply ‘phrear’. Later in this same chapter this ‘abussos phrear’ is also referred to simply as ‘abussos’:

Rev 9:11  And they [The locusts which “came out of the smoke which had ascended out of “the abussos phrear” of vs 2] had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit [G12, a single Greek word, ‘abussos’], whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Understanding all of this it is not adding to the word to use both words in Revelation 20 even though there is but one Greek word, ‘abussos’. The problem is not in using two words where only one is used. Rather, the problem is that the English word ‘bottomless’ is not at all the meaning of the single Greek word ‘abussos’ which is the only word that appears here in chapter 20 to describe Satan’s one-thousand year imprisonment:

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [G12: abussos – the deep] and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit [G12: abussos], and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The concept of ‘a pit’ is not an issue regarding Satan’s imprisonment. The only consideration is where he is imprisoned and for how long. Therefore the Greek word ‘phrear’ is not needed here speaking of where and for how long Satan is to be in prison. The reason the word ‘pit’ occurs in Revelation 9 is that the subject of that chapter is not the pit alone, but the depth of the deception proceeding forth out of that  pit. It is an “abussos phrear.” It is a ‘deep pit.’ Satan’s one-thousand year long imprisonment is to be in the depth of all flesh yet completely stripped of any power and incapable of deceiving the nations or withstanding the Lord’s elect during that one-thousand year kingdom.

The spiritual significance of “the key…”

This Greek word for ‘key’ appears three times in this revelation of Jesus Christ within us. A key is used to open a door. It is through an open door that we are given the ability to see what is within or what is behind that door.

Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

This word ‘key’ is mentioned twice in reference to this thing called “the bottomless pit”, first in Revelation 9:1 and again here in today’s study on Revelation 20:1. This word ‘key’ is first used in chapter 2 when we are told that the overcomers will be given “the key of David.”

Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

It is with a key that a door is opened and not closed, and it is with a key that a door is closed so no man can open. As we are hopefully beginning to understand, “the dream is one” principle (Gen 41:25, 32) demonstrates for us that the “key of David” of Revelation 3:7, the “keys to the kingdom of God” of Matthew 16:19, and the “key of knowledge” of Luke 15:52 are one and all a God-given gift of eyes that see and ears that hear the meaning of all the symbols and significations used by the holy spirit to keep mankind blinded in this present time:

Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Luk 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

This is just how important ‘the key of knowledge’ is to us:

Hos 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

If we are gifted with eyes that see and ears that hear “the mysteries of the kingdom of God” then we are in possession of “the key of knowledge”, and we will have the knowledge and understanding that the “key of David” is but another iteration of the blessing of eyes that see and ears that hear and understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which the Lord has simply withheld from the multitudes who come to Him to hear His parables, take advantage of His physical healing power, eat His loaves and fishes, and still have no room for His Words and still want Him crucified (Mat 13:9-15, Joh 8:30-44).

All these ‘keys’ and ‘the key to the bottomless pit’ are all the same one “key” which symbolizes the “key of [the] knowledge” which this key opens up to us. This is that very vital key of knowledge which will save us from being destroyed:

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: [and knowledge, (Hos 4:6)]

Here is the lifesaving knowledge of Hosea 4:6:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

I have stated in this study that the bottomless pit is the carnal mind of all flesh whence comes the self-righteous rebellion in all men of all time. The Greek word for ‘bottomless pit’ as we have already noted is first ‘abussos phrear’ in Revelation 9:1 where an angel falls from heaven and opens the ‘abussos phrear.’ This deep pit has been open from the very beginning because this ‘abussos’ can be shown to be nothing less than the carnal mind of man which is capable of producing 200 million false doctrines by which mankind has darkened the air and the sun.

Contrary to what many believe, this thing called “the bottomless pit” is not first mentioned in Revelation 20. As we saw much earlier, the ‘abussos phrear’, the “bottomless pit” is first brought to our attention in Revelation 9.

We have seen that it is not bottomless, and yet it is indeed deep and dark because it is the symbol of our rebellious, yet very self-righteous carnal mind. It is in the carnal mind of the whole world that Satan will reside for a thousand years while being stripped of any power to be ‘the tempter’ (Mat 4:1), to be ‘a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour  (1Pe 5:8), stripped of his ability to be ‘a lying spirit in the mouths of false prophets’ (1Kg 22:22) and stripped of any ability to fight against the Lord and His Christ’ (Rev 12:7).

There is more to learn about this ‘bottomless pit’ but we will pause at this point and continue our review of the bottomless pit in our next study.