Revelation 20:6

My Notes

What Does Revelation 20:6 Mean?

Revelation 20:6 pronounces a double blessing on a specific group of people: "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."

Two words define this group: blessed (makarios — happy, fortunate, approved by God) and holy (hagios — set apart, consecrated, belonging to God). Both are stated as established facts. If you have part in the first resurrection, you are blessed and holy. Not becoming. Are.

The first resurrection — whether understood as the bodily resurrection of believers at Christ's return or the spiritual new birth that raises the dead soul to life — places you beyond the reach of the second death. The second death (verse 14 — the lake of fire) "hath no power" — ouk echei exousian — has no authority, no jurisdiction, no capacity to affect you. The second death is real. It exists. It has power — over those not in the first resurrection. But over you, if you're in the first resurrection, it's powerless. Jurisdictionally irrelevant. A threat that can't touch you.

The position is extraordinary: priests of God and of Christ. Not subjects. Not servants (though believers are those too). Priests — mediators with direct access to the divine presence. And they shall reign — basileuō — exercise royal authority. For a thousand years. The people who suffered, who endured, who held fast to Christ's testimony become the priests and rulers of the age to come. The last become first. The persecuted become the reigning. And death — the ultimate enemy — has no claim on any of them.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Does knowing the second death has 'no power' over you change how you face death in this life — yours or loved ones'?
• 2.How does the progression from suffering servant (now) to priest and ruler (then) sustain you in the current cost of faithfulness?
• 3.If 'blessed and holy' describes your current status (not future goal), how does that change your sense of identity?
• 4.What does it mean that the people who reign are the people who endured — and are you enduring the thing that qualifies you?

Devotional

The second death has no power over you. Read that again. The thing that terrifies — the final judgment, the ultimate and irreversible end — has no authority, no jurisdiction, no capacity to touch you. If you belong to the first resurrection, the second death is a locked door with no key. It exists. It's real for others. But over you, it's powerless.

Blessed and holy. That's what you are. Not what you're trying to become. What you are, right now, as a participant in the first resurrection. Blessed — makarios — declared happy by God Himself. Holy — hagios — set apart, consecrated, belonging to the sacred. Both states are yours not because of your performance but because of your position. You have part in the first resurrection. And that participation confers a status no human effort could produce.

Priests and rulers. For a thousand years. The people who suffered for Christ's name — who endured persecution, who refused to worship the beast, who held their testimony at the cost of their lives — become the priests and kings of the coming age. Not the powerful. The faithful. Not the impressive. The enduring. The reign isn't awarded to the people who accumulated the most in this life. It's awarded to the people who held fast when holding fast cost everything.

If you're in a season of suffering for faithfulness — if the cost of following Christ is visible and the reward is invisible — this verse is the reward clause. It's specific. It's personal. And it's permanent. Priests of God. Reigning with Christ. Beyond the reach of death. That's where your current faithfulness is heading. And the second death, which looms so large in this life, will have no power over you. None. The jurisdiction ends where the first resurrection begins.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture