Thrones of Judgment Revelation 20:4

An “angel” from heaven showed John the apostle many things which will occur in the tribulation time on the earth, and John wrote about commercial Babylon's destruction and the people who were affected by it. John wrote about great worship which occurred in heaven afterward and then shared about the birds being gathered together to eat the flesh of the bodies of the opponents of Jesus. He wrote, “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel come down from heaven,

having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.” John continued, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. John continued, “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” In Revelation chapter twenty and verse four John sees, “thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them” where we read:

And 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 worshiped 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.

The verse reads, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:” John began with the words, “and I saw” which means “and John perceived, noticed, discovered and discerned” “thrones” or “chairs of state having a footstool and hence has kingly power or royalty”, “and they sat upon them” which means “and the ones who were sitting upon, appointed, fixed and settled down on the thrones”, “and judgment” or “decree, sentence, condemnation and damnation” “was given” which means “was granted, bestowed, furnished and supplied” “unto them” or “to the ones upon the thrones”. John looked upon “chairs of authority” with people seated on them that were granted “justice”. John saw “chairs” of great authority, and the ones seated upon them were given the right of “justice”.

The verse continues, “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 worshiped the beast, ...” John added the words, “and I saw” which means “and John perceived, noticed, discovered and discerned” “the souls” or “the living beings which hold the seat of feelings, desires, affections and aversions” “of them” which means “of the people” “that were beheaded” or “who were truncated” “for the witness” which means “because of the testimony” “of Jesus” or “pertaining to the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate”, “and for the word” which refers to “and because and on account of the account, decree, mandate and order” “of God” or “belonging to the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”, “and which had not worshiped” or “and who did not prostrate or make homage and obeisance to” “the beast” which refers to “the ferocious living being which was the antichrist”. John watched as those who were “beheaded” for their faithful “testimony”, God's word and not aligning with the antichrist made an appearance before him.

Finally the verse says, “... 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.” John concluded this verse with the word, “neither” or “and not” “his image” which refers to “the antichrist's figure, likeness or stature”, “neither” or “and not” “had received” or “accepted, taken, claimed or procured” “his mark” which means “the antichrist's sign and imprinted stamp” “upon their foreheads” or “on the front of their heads between their eyes”, “or in their hands” which refers to “or upon their hands”; “and they lived” or “and the ones who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ were alive, active, blessed and full of vigor” “and reigned” which means “ruled and exercised kingly power and influence” “with Christ” or “alongside the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God” “a thousand years” which refers to “for one thousand years”. These who were “beheaded” for the testimony of Jesus Christ did not take the “image” or “mark” of the antichrist, and they were given the opportunity to “rule and reign” with Jesus for “one thousand years”.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we see how these “martyrs” were avenged by God during this time. Though they gave their lives by having their “heads cut off”, God knew their keeping of the “witness” of Jesus Christ. They refused to take “the mark of the beast or antichrist”, and they were to “rule” with Jesus during the “millennium”. God desires for every person to receive His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”, and those who do before the tribulation shall be spared the troubles, but should there be one reading these words who is living during that time, do not take the mark of the beast, nor worship his image or worship him, and if you are “beheaded” for it, Jesus has a special future planned for you.

Next time John shares how, “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.