Beheaded Souls

“I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, … and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”—Revelation 20:4

TO see human souls which had been beheaded would be a strange sight indeed if the soul is an invisible something which lives in the body, and escapes when the body dies. But when we recognize that the term soul as used in the Bible denotes the entire being, this text becomes understandable. The meaning would be the same if the Revelator had said, “I saw those who had been beheaded,” etc. The text is speaking of the true followers of Jesus who will reign with him during the thousand years of his kingdom. Not all of these are literally beheaded, but all do suffer with him. However, all surrender their own wills, and accept the will of God through Christ. Thus Christ becomes their head, and in this symbolic sense they are all “beheaded.” It is another way in which the Scriptures set forth the thought of full consecration to the divine will.

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