Revelation 20:4

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 testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them ... This is another proleptic vision of the blessed state of the dead in Christ, introduced for the encouragement and support of suffering and persecuted Christians. It was by this device that this prophecy "strengthened the faith of those who were suffering persecutions by giving them a vision of the final triumph of Christ and of the blessedness of his followers."[21] Some millennial theories place these thrones upon earth, but there is no more reason to do this than to suppose that the "twelve thrones" occupied by the apostles during "the times of the regeneration" (Matthew 19:28) are actually upon earth. In fact, those thrones are exactly like these.

And judgment was given unto them ... It is wrong to think that this means only the martyrs received judgment and sat upon thrones. "The thrones are occupied by the living, reigning saints, who have either suffered martyrdom or refused to worship the beast."[22] It is also easy to miss the meaning of "the judgment" that was given unto them. It means that God's judgment was given in their favor, and not that the prerogative of judging other people was to be exercised by them. The New Testament makes it absolutely clear that that prerogative belongs to the Son of God alone (John 5:27). Another view is advocated by some who appeal to 1 Corinthians 6:2,3 for support; but that passage also is devoid of any thought that judgment will ever be the prerogative of Christians. Judgment belongs to the Son of God alone. For further discussion of Christians "judging," see in my Commentary on 1,2Corinthians, pp. 82-85.

And I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded ... Not these alone, but including these, is the thought. Even those who were beheaded are shown by this vision to have been favorably judged by the Lord and granted the right of glorification at the last day. "This assurance was of importance for the Christians of John's day ... even if they were called to yield up their lives, their sacrifice would issue in God's vindication of them."[23]

And such ... "In the Greek, this is literally and those who, a second class of persons who had not necessarily been beheaded."[24] This forbids limiting this passage to the martyrs.

Worshipped the beast ... Glorious indeed as were the martyrs, God also loves those who are faithful throughout life, regardless of the time or manner of their death. One may only deplore the over-emphasis upon "the martyrs" by so many commentators, as if the blessed promise of a passage like this pertained only to martyrs.

And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years ... Again, this is exactly the same promise Christ made to the Twelve (Matthew 19:28), where he defined the period as "the times of the regeneration," a reference to the whole Christian age; and it is absolutely imperative so to understand it here. Neither did any of the apostles, nor any of those in view here, actually live a thousand years; but what is taught is that the reign of Christians with Christ will be a perpetual phenomenon throughout the whole Christian age (the thousand years).

And the souls of them that had been beheaded ... "John sees souls, not bodies."[25] The reigning here is not that of people who have been bodily resurrected from the dead. The thrones also are not upon the earth, but in heaven where this vision is centered.

And how do they reign with Christ? They do this in the spiritual sense of their victory over sin and temptation, doubt, fear, suffering, and persecution.

And they lived ... Ladd read this as meaning "They came to life again";[26] but that is neither what this says nor what it means. It means that the righteous dead do not really die, in the sense of perish; they pass through death but continue to be "with the Lord." "Although they die, yet their souls will live and reign with Christ."[27] "The selection of the term souls in this passage could not have been accidental, and it certainly indicates that the 'resurrection' in this place is not that of bodies."[28]

And they lived ... is described in Revelation 20:5 as "the first resurrection." "This can only be referred to that first awakening from sin to the glorious life of the gospel."[29] For more on the first resurrection, see under next verse.

[21] James William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 651.

[22] Michael Wilcock, op. cit., p. 192.

[23] G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation (Greenwood, South Carolina: The Attic Press, 1974), p. 293.

[24] Ralph Earle, Beacon Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 610.

[25] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 230.

[26] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), p. 265.

[27] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1089.

[28] John T. Hinds, op. cit., p. 284.

[29] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 472.