his, I
think, may be accounted for as follows.

By considering the context, both preceding and following, of the
clause, "This is the first resurrection," in Rev. xx. 5, it will be
apparent that "resurrection" does not here mean simply returning to
life after death, but may be taken to embrace the whole period of the
thousand years, together with all that concerns "the happy and the
holy" who {113} have part therein. This interpretation is in
accordance with the sense in which our Lord speaks of resurrection
where he says, "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are as the angels, of God in heaven" (Matt. xxii. 30).
That "the resurrection" (_he anastasis_) designates a state or
condition of life into which the elect of God are _introduced_ by
returning to life after death, is still more explicitly signified by
the following corresponding passage of St. Luke (xx. 34-36): "The
children of this world marry, and are given in marriage; but they who
are accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: neither can they die
any more; for they are equal to the angels, and are children of God,
being children of the resurrection." Now, it may certainly be inferred
from what is said in Rev. xx. 5, that the rest of the dead, who have no
part in this first resurrection, return to life at the end of the
thousand years. But they return to life to be judged, condemned, and
suffer death again. This, therefore, is in no sense a resurrection
answering to the description above given of the first resurrection, and
accordingly is not called in Scripture the second resurrection. What
really corresponds to the holiness and happiness of the first
resurrection state is the finally perfected and all-comprehending state
called "the new heaven and the new earth," life in which, according to
our {114} argument, comes out of the second and last death, and is
unconditioned by time. This is the heavenly state which is described
in Rev. vii. 11-17, xxi. 2-4, and 10-27. Thus, although this may be
regarded as that subsequent resurrection to which "the first
resurrection" by its very designation points, it is not called "the
second resurrection," because it is not, like the first, limited or
conditioned by _time_.

The portion of the Apocalypse which is strictly symbolical and
prophetical begins at _v._ 1 of chap. iv. and ends with _v._ 5 of chap.
xxi