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that in both bodies and souls are reunited. But in the case of the former this results in perfect
life, while in the case of the latter it issues in the extreme penalty of death, John 5:28,29.
D. THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION.
1. THE PREMILLENNIAL VIEW RESPECTING THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION.
It is the common
opinion among Premillenarians that the resurrection of the saints will be separated by a
thousand years from that of the wicked. They almost seem to regard it as an axiomatic truth
that these two classes cannot possibly arise at the same time. And not only that, but the type of
Premillennialism which is now dominant, with its theory of a twofold second coming of Christ,
feels the need of positing a third resurrection. All the saints of former dispensations and of the
present dispensation are raised up at the parousia or the coming of the Lord. Those still alive at
that time are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. But in the seven years that
follow the parousia many other saints die, especially in the great tribulation. These must also be
raised up, and their resurrection will occur at the revelation of the day of the Lord. seven years
after the parousia. But even at this point Premillenarians cannot very well stop. Since the
resurrection at the end of the world is reserved for the wicked, there must be another
resurrection of the saints who die during the millennium, which precedes that of the wicked,
for the two cannot be raised up at the same time.
2. SCRIPTURAL INDICATIONS AS TO THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION.
According to Scripture
the resurrection of the dead coincides with the parousia, with the revelation or the day of the
Lord, and with the end of the world, and will immediately precede the general and final
judgment. It certainly does not favor the premillennial distinctions with respect to this doctrine.
In several places it represents the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked as
contemporaneous, Dan. 12:2; John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:13-15. All of these passages
speak of the resurrection as a single event and do not contain the slightest indication that the
resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked will be separated by a period of a thousand
years. But this is not all that can be said in favor of the idea that the two coincide. In John 5:21-
29 Jesus combines the thought of the resurrection, including the resurrection of the righteous,
with the thought of the judgment, including the judgment of the wicked. Moreover, II Thess.
1:7-10 clearly represents the parousia (vs. 10), the revelation (vs. 7), and the judgment of the
wicked (vs. 8,9) as coinciding. If that is not the case, language would seem to have lost its
meaning. Furthermore, the resurrection of believers is directly connected with the second
coming of the Lord in I Cor. 15:23; Phil. 3:20,21; and I Thess. 4:16, but it is also represented as
occurring at the end of the world, John 6:39,40,44,54 or at the last day. That means that
believers are raised up at the last day, and that the last day is also the day of the coming of the
Lord. Their resurrection does not precede the end by a period of a thousand years. Happily,