20:4
We must always remember that this was given to a people experiencing severe persecution, or for whom the prospect of persecution was very real. The power of the state (the Roman Empire) seemed overwhelming. The vision now shows “those who had been given authority to judge”. The world does not have the power that it claims to have. John then sees the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony. When they were beheaded it seemed as if the enemy had won, just as it looked as if the enemy had won when Christ was crucified. The exact opposite was the case. These martyred souls were the ones who had refused to worship the beast or its image, and had not received the mark of the beast. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
20:5,6
It seems that the martyrs are given special treatment, the rest of believers who died in faith will rise at the end of the thousand years. “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection”. This resurrection is not like that of Lazarus, who went on to die of something else later, but the second death has no power over them. They will be “priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years”. There is a great reward for those who are martyred.
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