Revelation 20:4 Meaning – “They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years”

“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Revelation 20:4–6, ESV

The reign of the saints here in our text is said to occur during the thousand-year Church age.

Where is the location of this reigning in Revelation 20:4?

Now, the pre-millennialist believes that Christ is going to return prior to the Millennium and set up a literal physical earthly kingdom for a thousand years on the world in Jerusalem.

For such a one the bodily resurrection of the saints takes place. And afterwards believers are going to reign with Christ on earth.

Then at the end of the thousand years, the rest of the dead – or the unbelievers – will be raised and then be cast into eternal judgment.

So, the pre-millennialist sees the reigning as a bodily earthy reigning of the saints with Christ.

But I want us to see that this cannot be the case.

Thrones in Revelation are usually in heaven

The text is clear that this reigning occurs not on earth but in heaven.

At the start of Revelation 20:4 John sees thrones. And it’s these souls that are sitting on the thrones.

Now, the word throne is used 46 times in the book of Revelation. 42 of those 46 refer to thrones in heaven.

Of the other four, three times it’s talking about the throne of the Dragon or the Beast – which is really symbolic for their authority here on earth.

And then Revelation 21 talks about Christ’s throne in the new heavens in the new earth it.

But those are the only four occasions that describe the throne where it’s not talking about a throne located in heaven.

And so we see that these thrones have to be heavenly thrones that the saints are sitting on.

Souls, not bodies, on the thrones in Revelation 20:4

Those who are sitting on the thrones are said to be – not bodies – but souls.

John in Revelation 20:4 is not looking at headless bodies sitting on thrones on earth. Rather he sees the souls who are in heaven prior to having glorified bodies.

These are the deceased saints who died during the thousand years – those who die over the course of the Church age – or the gospel age.

The text here is making a distinction between body and soul.

When a person dies, their body goes into the ground, but their soul goes to be with the Lord. That’s what John sees in our text.

This is why we believe that the bodily resurrection doesn’t occur until after the thousand years – and that it’s one singular resurrection for all people – the godly and the godless together. All will be resurrected bodily at that time.

We’ve seen these martyrs before

We’ve seen these martyrs somewhere before, haven’t we?

In Revelation 6:9 as the fifth seal is opened there were martyrs under the altar in heaven crying out to God.

And who are we told those Martyrs were? They’re those who were killed for their testimony of Jesus.

These are the saints pictured in our text – the souls of those who’ve been martyred – beheaded – for their testimony of Jesus – who had not worshiped the Beast – and who have not received it’s mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

Christ reigns in heaven in Revelation 20:4 and we reign with him there

If these saints don’t have their glorified bodies yet – if all John sees is their souls – then where is it that Christ reigns until we get our bodies?

It’s in heaven. He reigns in heaven until he returns – when we get our glorified bodies.

This means that if right now he is reigning in heaven, we too are reigning with him in heaven. And our souls are reigning with him in heaven.

Jesus’s message to first century saints in Revelation 20:4

And so Jesus’s message to the first century saints – who refused to utter the phrase, “Caesar is Lord” but who would only serve Christ – and only worship God – is “don’t worry about those who have the ability to kill your body – to destroy you – because as soon as they do, your soul will come to be with me in glory. Here you shall reign upon thrones over the entire world.”

Now Jesus is saying that same thing to every one of us here today as well.

He’s saying that to the suffering Church of every generation. Although you may suffer now, although your time now may consist of persecution, there’s a better place that awaits us when we die – and that’s with Christ – reigning in glory.

Think about how encouraging that message was for the saints in Pergamum. It was in Pergamum that Antipas was put to death for his faithful witness to Christ.

Think about what this message meant for them. What Christ is telling them is “Don’t worry about Antipas. Because Antipas’s soul is with me in glory. Antipas right now is reigning with me in the heavenly places. Don’t worry about Antipas. And when people try to cause you to feel that same persecution and suffering and perhaps even death that Antipas felt don’t fear. If you endure to the bitter end you too like Antipas will be with me in glory reigning with me over all of the nations.”

An encouragement to all believers who endure to the end from Revelation 20:4

But this text doesn’t just bring consolation to those who have been beheaded. This text isn’t meant just to encourage those who die so that we all just go out into the world trying to die so that we can be those who are spoken about in this text.

Rather this is an encouragement to all believers to endure to the end. This is what is laid up for every single believer who dies during this Church age – who endures faithfully with Christ to the end.

This is for those who are martyred for their testimony and those who had not worshiped the Beast nor received its mark. This is the victory of all of God’s people – whether you end up suffering persecution – whether you suffer slander – whether you suffer imprisonment – whether you lose goods or lose your job for holding fast to your testimony of Christ.

It is not death that qualifies us for this glorious living when we die. It is being faithful to Christ unto death that qualifies us to be with him in glory.

What does reigning with Christ in Revelation 20:4 consist of?

Our reigning with Christ consists of judging with Christ – those who sat upon the thrones had authority to judge.

In scripture oftentimes what is true of God is said to be true of believers. We participate a lot in the actions that God does.

We’re told that Christ sits upon the throne. What do we do? We sit upon the throne.

Christ stands on Mount Zion. We stand on Mount Zion.

Christ judges the nations. We judge the nations with Christ. We look upon Christ’s judgment on the sin of the people with great approval and perfect agreement. We rejoice in those judgements being holy and true and just and right.

Likewise, Christ’s reigning and triumphing in glory as victor and conqueror is the kind of reigning we will experience in heaven with him.

We are more than conquerors

Just as Jesus died and ascended and took his seat upon the throne – as he sat upon the throne and demonstrated his victory over all of his enemies – when we die and we take our seat upon the throne it too demonstrates that we are more than conquerors – it demonstrates our victory over all of our enemies.

This is the answer to the nagging question of all the saints – is there any answer when the government seems to be against us? Is there is there any answer when the world seems to be against us? Is there any answer when true Christianity seems to be shrinking in this world and the Church looks to be helpless and weak in the world? Is there any answer? Is God able to do anything about it?

The answer is a resounding yes! Even when the world kills you God is able to turn that apparent defeat into victory. Death for the believer does not defeat us. Death for the believer is victory.

For at death you take your seat upon the throne with Christ judging the nations.

Let’s not fear men

As believers – even though we don’t like to admit it – we fear man.

A fear of man many times causes us not to speak up when we ought to speak up. Fear of man oftentimes causes us not to act when we ought to act – so as to not be found out by the world.

It is not sufficient to lead a godly life in isolation. What does Christ say about the Church? We have the light of the world – we are the light of the world.

So we are to manifest that light before the world. We are to glorify God then at work. We are to glorify God in our homes. We are to glorify God in every area of our life – in all of the world – for the for the advantage and benefit of our neighbor and the Church.

The fear of man should not stop us from doing this. The present suffering that man can cause us to experience cannot compare to the inexpressible glory that awaits those who die and go to be with the Lord.

Allow this vision – this truth – to help you in those times of fear – to get over that hurdle – to jump over that obstacle of fearing man.