The Kingdom of Promise and Prophecy

by Robertson L. Whiteside

MATTHEW 19:28; 25:31; LUKE 22:28-30; 1 COR. 6:2 EXPLAINED

Matthew 19:28; 25:31; Luke 22:28-30; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3. Please explain—Owen W. Smith.

1. Matt. 19:28: “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Read the context. The rich young man had refused to follow Jesus. Peter said: “We have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have?” The reply of Jesus does not mean that they had followed him in the regeneration, for Jesus had passed through no regeneration. Luke says they had followed him in his temptation. Jesus was telling his apostles what they would have in the regeneration. The regeneration is that period of time in which people are being regenerated. The other passage in which the word “regeneration” occurs shows that people are being regenerated in this dispensation. (Tit. 3:5.) But it was during this time of regeneration that Christ was to sit on the throne of his glory and the apostles were to sit on thrones. Hence, both Jesus and his apostles are now on their thrones, for all were to sit on thrones at the same time. On Pentecost, Peter declared that God had raised up Jesus to sit on David’s throne and had made him both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:30-36.) Jesus himself declared that all authority had been given to him. Those who say that he has all authority, but is not exercising it, overlook the therefore in the next verse. Suppose Jesus had expressed that idea, it would have read something like this: “All authority has been given me, but I am not exercising it; and because I am not exercising it, go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations.” The command was based on his having all authority. Some have overlooked the therefore. As Jesus is on his throne, so are the apostles on their thrones. But how are they judging? McGarvey says on this point:

This statement of Paul that “the saints shall judge the world” (1 Cor. 6:2) has led many to suppose that the judging here mentioned is to take place at the final judgment. But clearly the judging and the sitting on the thrones are declared to be contemporaneous with the regeneration and with Christ’s sitting on his throne; and, therefore, they must be regarded as now in progress. If we are correct in this, of which we entertain no doubt, the judging consists in pronouncing decisions on questions of faith and practice in the earthly kingdom, and the twelve are figuratively represented as sitting on thrones, because they are acting as judges. During their personal ministry they judged in person; since then they judge through their writings. True, we have written communications from only part of them, but judgments pronounced by one of a bench of judges with the known approval of all are the judgments of the entire bench.

On the twelve tribes he remarks:

The apostles have sustained no such relation to the twelve tribes of Israel, literally so called, as the text indicates, nor is there any intimation in the Scriptures that they ever will. Their work is with the true Israel, and not with Israel according to the flesh; consequently, we are to construe the terms metaphorically, the twelve tribes representing the church of God of which they were a type.

In judging, the apostles declare who is free from guilt and who is condemned. This is made plain in John 20:23: “Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

2. Matt. 25:31: “But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory.” This verse is incomplete, and is really explained by the rest of the chapter. He shall sit on the throne of judgment, and before him will be gathered all nations for judgment; but the people will be judged as individuals and not as nations. It is not a judgment of nations, or governments, as has sometimes been said. Even a little attention to the gender of the Greek words of the passage will show how ill-founded is that assumption. “Nations” is neuter in the Greek; it cannot, therefore, be the antecedent of them in verse 32, for it is masculine. And so is ye blessed in verse 34, and ye cursed in verse 41. Both these and the righteous in verse 46 are masculine. It is, therefore, not a judgment of nations, as such, but of the people. The passage is in perfect harmony with 2 Thess. 1:6-10. Here he comes to take vengeance on the wicked and to be glorified in his saints. It is, therefore, the judgment at the last day.

3. Luke 22:28-30: “But ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations; and I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and ye shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Read the context. They had just eaten the Passover and the Lord’s Supper. A contention had arisen between the disciples as to who would be accounted the greatest; and Jesus had told them that there was to be no one among them exercising lordship over the others, but that service would be the thing that counted. The apostles had faithfully followed him in his temptation; he would, therefore, appoint them a kingdom, and they would eat and drink at his table in his kingdom. On account of the fact that they had just eaten the Lord’s Supper we naturally associate the Lord’s table with the Lord’s Supper. They, therefore, would eat the Lord’s Supper in his kingdom. But the Lord’s Supper will not be eaten after he comes again. But as they were to eat it in his kingdom, it is certain that they ate it in his kingdom while they lived. The kingdom now in existence is, therefore, the kingdom he appointed them. In Luke 12:32, Jesus said: “Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The Father was to give this kingdom to the “little flock.” This cannot mean that he will give his kingdom to his followers at the end of this dispensation, when the little flock shall have swelled into “a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues.” (Rev. 7:9.) No; it was to be given to a little flock and not to a numberless host, and the language clearly shows that it was to be given to those who were then present. And that was the kingdom which he appointed to them, and in which they sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. On this last point, see comments above on Matt. 19:28.

4. 1 Cor. 6:2, 3: “Or know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that ye shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?”

Commentators have had no end of trouble over these verses, and there is little agreement among them. In some sense saints judge the world and angels, but how? and when? It is a hazardous and foolish thing to build a theory on a difficult passage, especially when little, if any, light on the point can be gained from other Scriptures. But it does not seem possible that Christians will be judges in the last day, when all shall be judged. From Matt. 25:31-46 we learn that the righteous will be judged along with the wicked. Saints will not then occupy judgment thrones, but will be gathered before the judgment throne. They cannot be judges while being judged. After that they cannot judge the world, for the world will already have been judged. And there is no Scripture that teaches that the heavenly angels will then be judged by any one. But the gospel is God’s law, and every time it is preached sinners are judged as guilty, as are also the devil and his angels. And saints have this same law by which to judge among themselves. These are facts, whether the passage in question has that meaning or not. This view has the merit of not being out of harmony with the general teaching of the New Testament. But let us be sure not to build a theory on a difficult passage of Scripture, nor use it in support of a theory. We might be found wresting the Scripture to our own destruction.