The problem is that your explanation is not what scripture teaches. You are purveying a modern premillianialist view that was developed by Miller in the early 19th century and popularized in the mid 20th.
Well Cassian truth be told, I have never read any thing by Miller, but my interpretation of Scripture comes solely from studying the word of God and not by the teachings of men.
The Christians to whom John is writing could care less about some event that is going to come at the end of time. They were being persecuted and killed right at that time. John was writing encouragement. It is the same thing that Pual was doing for the Romans in Romans 8:29 to the end of the chapter.That was during the time of Nero's persecution.
Just because John was given the information for the book of revelation doesn't mean that it was exclusively for those living during John's time. Also, what you are forgetting is that John wasn't writing from his own passions or desires, but he wrote what God told him to write. Therefore, none of the events found in the book of Revelation are of John's own interpretation or experiences regarding the time, but what God wanted him to write. We have plenty of examples showing that the prophets spoke of things that were to take place in the far future. The Psalms are a good example of this with king David writing of the prophesies of Christ well ahead of time by the Holy Spirit. Another example would be all of the prophets of old who wrote regarding "the day of the Lord" which is still future. So please don't tell me that everything that John wrote of was specific to his generation, because it wasn't. The events found in the book of Revelation from chapter four on, namely the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments, which are the wrath of God, are still future events and are approaching quickly.
The book of Revelation is divided into three parts (not seven) as demonstrated in Rev.1:19 when John was told to "write therefore, w
hat you have seen, what is now and what will take place later."
1. What you have seen
Everything that is written prior to the time that John was told to write, which includes the vision of Christ's return to the earth in Rev.1:7 and Christ in his glorified state, the seven candle sticks and the seven stars.
2. What is Now
The "What is Now" is represented by the letters to the seven churches, which is also representing the entire church period, which is still on-going. That is, we are currently living in the church period, which is the Now. The Now will come to its close when Christ descends from heaven and gathers the dead and the living believers to remove them from the earth before the wrath of God commences.
3. What will take place later
The "what will take place later" will commence once the Now has completed. The "What will take place later" is synonymous with the "
what must take place after this” of Rev.4:1. The events from Revelation chapter four on are still future.
there is no literal resurrection here. It has been understood as a spiritual resurrection for almost two thousand years. I don't think some man made theory will offset what the Holy Spirit gave to the early Church.
I'm sorry, but the burden of proof is on you, as I have already demonstrated that the word "Anastasis" translated as "Resurrection" only refers to a physical, bodily resurrection. There is no such thing as a spiritual resurrection. As an example, at the time of death, according to Scripture, the believer's soul/spirit departs and goes to be in the presence of the Lord. This is not a resurrection because as I said, the word refers to a standing up again of the physical bodily. If you don't believe this I suggest that you go take it up with Thayer's and Strong's as well as the examples found in Scripture which all demonstrate the rising of the physical body.
Further more you said "It has been understood as a spiritual resurrection for almost two thousand years." This is no truth to this whatsoever! Are you making this stuff up as you go along? Do you believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ? His bodily resurrection is a guarantee of all believer's bodily resurrection. Again, I have to refer you back to the definition of the word "anastasis." Did you even bother to look at the definition that I provided? Instead of just protecting your adopted belief, why don't you give the truth of Scripture and honest look?
Regarding your claim of a "spiritual resurrection" there is nothing in the Scripture itself that would suggest anything other than a literal bodily resurrection. John sees the spirits/souls of the dead in heaven and then he sees them come to life (resurrected).
John sees the souls of those that were beheaded. Souls that were beheaded and are now before the Throne of God. These are not physically resurrected individuals, since the end of time has not yet come.
What you not taking into consideration regarding the above, is that John is seeing a vision of the future after Christ returns of those great tribulation saints. The chronology of revelation proves that with the order being the wrath of God, Christ returning to the earth to end the age, the beast and the false prophet thrown into the lake of fire, Satan thrown into and restricted in the Abyss, the resurrection of the great tribulation saints and the establishing of the millennial kingdom. Therefore, John is seeing a vision that takes place after Christ's physical, visual return to the earth when those great tribulation saints are physically resurrected.
I pray that you would unlearn what you have learned and start over fresh, because the information that you have is in serius error. You have demonstrated that you don't even pay attention to the actual meaning of the Greek words nor to the context. Just out of curiosity, please show me how you come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Rev.20:4 is spiritual. Show me how you came to that conclusion using the Greek words, the context and anything else contained in Scripture. And please keep it short and to the point.
Yes it is. It is based on Christ Incarnation, the assumption of our human nature which He raised to life.
NO! It is based on Christ's physical, bodily resurrection. To be clear, Jesus rose in the same body that he was crucified in as can be seen from the following:
Psalms 16:10 - because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
Above is a prophecy regarding the Lord's resurrection. Spirits don't decay, bodies do.
The Jewish leaders knew what Jesus meant when he said that he would resurrect on the third day as can be seen in the following:
"The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal
the body and tell the people that he has been
raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
Jesus himself demonstrated that he was in the same body that was crucified in, as can be seen from the following:
"While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see;
a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
All references to the resurrection have to do with a physical, bodily resurrection and never to a spiritual resurrection. I wish that I could help you to understand, but it seems that you have been taught this interpretation and that because I have heard it many times before.
