4 Resurrections In Time
Rev. Neil Steven Lawrence, M.Div.
John 6:40b “…and I will raise them up at the last day.”
This statement Jesus makes is a generic statement of the Resurrection as a whole. There are various places in Scripture which speak of the Resurrection in a general sense. Those who read the Scriptures can become confused concerning the timing of when the Resurrection will occur.
From the plain statements of Scripture we can determined there are 4 Resurrections in time:
1. RAPTURE (I Thes. 4:13-18)- which begins the 7 year Great Tribulation. The saints who resurrect at this time are the Old Testament saints plus the church age saints (whose bodies join their spirits already in heaven), plus all the saints and babies on the earth at the time of the Rapture.
2. TRIBULATION BELIEVERS (Rev. 20:4)- who come to faith during the Antichrist reign of terror. They will be resurrected to reign with Christ for the 1000-Year Millennial Reign.
3. RESURRECTION OF DEAD UNBELIEVERS (Rev. 20:5; 20:11-15)- these are all the unbelievers throughout human history which will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. Their bodies will join their spirits (which are already in hell) to receive God‘s judgment and then be cast into the Lake of Fire forever.
4. FINAL RESURRECTION BELIEVERS – these are the believers who come to faith during the 1000-Year Reign. It is assumed their spirits will already be in heaven as they die during the span of the Millennium and their bodies will join them, maybe sometime just before the Great White Throne Judgment.
So there are at least 4 events in time which qualify as: “the resurrection at the last day.“
