Rev. 20:4, “ I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

Sequel to the study on the Millennium Reign we just concluded, a question came to me from verse 4 of Rev. 20 as quoted above. So here we want to examine what the thrones in the text are? Who occupies them? What is the kingdom of God? etc.

1. THE THRONES OF REV. 20:4, Are they in existence now or yet to be? Will these be at the second coming of Christ? Who are the occupants of these thrones? Note that they are many.

The word “Throne” means a stately seat, or power.

Matt. 23:1: “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”

The above clearly defines for us what’s a throne or seat of power. The seat or power of Moses was the Law. So the Pharisees sitting on Moses seat means they were administrating the people with the law, and that was their power.

Now in Matt. 19:28-29 is an interesting question by the disciples of Jesus when they wanted to know what should be their reward for following Jesus. In response Jesus promised them THRONES.

Matt. 19:27, “Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us? 28 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,” NIV.

Notice the words “at the RENEWAL of all things” they will be sitting on thrones.

The King James says, “28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, IN THE REGENERATION WHEN THE SON OF MAN (JESUS) shall SIT IN THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

So when was that? Could this be the time of the second coming that men called millennium reign? I think the answer is also found in the scriptures. Look at this;

Titus 3: 4, “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, {love: or, pity} 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

So we see that the time Jesus promised them that they will sit on thrones was the time of the Regeneration which was the time of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost.

This is simple enough. You may ask, but Jesus tied the time of their sitting with His sitting also on the throne of Glory. Exactly so.

Look at it again. Peter speaking on the day of Pentecost said in Acts 2:29,

“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”

Therefore Jesus sat on the throne of His Father David as promised the king in 2 Sam. 7:12,

“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.”

For we know that, Rom. 1:3,

“Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

So Christ sat on His throne right from the Day of Pentecost, not when He comes back again. And so the disciples too took their place on their throne instantly through the Holy Spirit.

Therefore when Peter was speaking on the Day of Pentecost, it was administration of the new law of the kingdom as one seated on his throne.

And of course, we know the outcome of the sitting as a king when the people heard him, Acts 2:37,

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

So the disciples were administrating the authority in His name (Rev. 3:21) as His agents, Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-3.

In their own rights as He promised them in Luke 22:30,

“That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Even those who have stepped into the spirit realm are also exercising the same authority (ministering), Rev. 19:10; 1:1, 22:8-9, in the body of Christ the Church (Heb.12:22-23).

Note that the twelve tribes of Rev. 7:5-8 are not literal Israel because the tribe of Dan is missing. Comp. Num. 1:20-42. Levi is also not a tribe in Israel, and it never started with Judah.

So you see the disciples sat and ate with Him in the kingdom of His Father right from the Day of Pentecost. Those promises were fulfilled in the kingdom.

To be continued…