even as we have read in Revelation 20:8,9. If the inhabitants of the land during the Millennium are those of Israel

who looked upon the Lord Whom they had pierced and repented, if the nations are those who were `alive and

remained' at the Second Coming, we have no `problem' about Isaiah 65:18-25, for there we read of the possibility of

dying and being accursed, and of the length of life being `as the days of a tree', which, however extended, cannot be

a synonym for life eternal and certainly not of immortality.

Let us observe how these `overcomers' of Revelation 20:4 are intertwined with the prophetic revelation of the

last days. The rewards held out to the overcomers in the seven churches are :

To eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7).

1.

Not to fear, he shall not be hurt of the second death (Rev. 2:10,11).

2.

3.

He will eat of the hidden manna, have a white stone and a new name (Rev. 2:17, see Rev. 19:12).

He shall rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:27).

4.

He shall be clothed in white, and his name shall not be blotted out of the book of life (Rev. 3:5).

5.

He will be made a pillar in the temple, and have the name of the new Jerusalem written upon him (Rev.

6.

He will be granted to sit with Christ on His throne, even as Christ also overcame, and is set down with His

7.

Father in His throne (Rev. 3:21).

All is linked with the book of the Revelation itself, even as we see that in Revelation 20:4, none live and reign

except those who were martyred under the Beast of Revelation 13:18.

`The Millennial kingdom' is a very exclusive kingdom. We are not told in so many words that Israel is a

restored people, we can only infer that from the reference to the beloved city and the camp of the saints. If

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, have been raised from the dead at this time, they do not enter into the picture

drawn in Revelation 20. They have no place in `the first resurrection'. The inspired qualification limits this

resurrection to martyrs of the last three-and-a-half years of Antichristian Dominion. Two resurrections, and two

only are envisaged here and they form a pair :

1. The overcomers, every one a martyr. This is `the first' resurrection.

2. The rest of the dead. No other resurrection takes place until that of the great white throne at the end of the

thousand years. And these two resurrections complement one another and make a pair - `overcomers' v. `the rest'

not `saints' v. `the wicked dead', as is usually taught.

It will be seen we trust, that so far as the record of Revelation 20 is concerned, the Millennial kingdom is pre-

eminently the sphere of reward for those who have suffered unto death during the persecution instituted by the

Antichristian Beast of the time of the end. We only learn from that passage that there are `nations' on the earth at

the same time, by the reference to the rebellion at the end. We learn at the same time that the beloved city and the

camp of the saints have a place there too, but these are not the theme of the Apocalypse.

Only one resurrection is recorded as taking place in this kingdom, and the names of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and

David are not even mentioned.

We realise that inasmuch as the Millennium is the immediate outcome of the Second Coming of Christ to the

earth, all other prophetic features associated with that phase of the coming must find a place here. We learn from

other passages that there will be a resurrection of Israel (Dan. 12:1-3 and Ezek. 37:1-14). These too must find a

place. It is possible that some prophetic passages refer to the period that follows the Millennium, when the

Heavenly Jerusalem shall descend to the earth and be the glorious administrative centre of the earth for we read that:

`The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory

and honour into it ... they which are written in the Lamb's book of life' (Rev. 21:24-27).

The period immediately following the Millennium is marked by five outstanding features :

1.

The rise of Gog and Magog like the sand of the sea, and their destruction.

2.

The casting of the Devil into the lake of fire.