You also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

You also will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

Matthew 19:28-30『And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration (Palingenesia) when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

The word “palingenesia” (παλιγγενεσίᾳ), translated as “the world will be renewed,” means rebirth, being born again. The world refers to the saints. When the saints believe that their old self died with Jesus and was resurrected with the resurrected Jesus, they become new. Then, a new temple is built in their hearts, and the new temple represents the place where Christ sits on His glorious throne. Christ returns to the new temple and becomes the master of the temple in their hearts. That is why Christ judges the old temple. The old temple, like the temple in Jerusalem in Israel, symbolizes Jewish legalism. The old temple must be destroyed.

“You will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The twelve thrones signify the new temple in the soul, and the one sitting on the throne is Jesus Christ, and those who are in Christ are seated together on the throne. Ephesians 2:6 says, “And God raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” It is difficult to think of the kingdom of God in the soul as being in the body. No one can know. The Apostle Paul also said that he went to the third heaven, but he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it. 2 Corinthians 12:2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.”

The twelve tribes of Israel symbolize Jewish legalism, and are the fleshly self sitting in the old temple. As for judgment, just as God sent His Son to die on the cross to atone for the sins of the people of the world, all people must die on the cross with Jesus. This is judgment. Whether they want it or not, the judgment of the cross will continue. The method of God's judgment is incomprehensible to humans.

Those who want to will be recognized by God as judged and given resurrection life. However, those who do not want to will only be judged. Those who are legalists who aim for the twelve tribes of Israel within the church community will not have resurrection life, but only judgment.

Jesus also speaks of those who abandon their parents, brothers, sisters, and children. These are people who have a physical bloodline relationship. In other words, they are people who receive and continue the body of sin. On the surface, he is not telling us to do this in human relationships, but he is telling us to spiritually cut off those who are related to the body of sin. And he tells us to abandon our land. In the past, people lived on agriculture, so abandoning our land was like abandoning our lives.

However, when Jesus tells us to abandon our land, he is telling us not to expect salvation in our physical lives. He also says that doing so is the way for the name of Jesus. The meaning of the name Jesus is in Matthew 1:21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” In order to be saved from sin, the body of sin must die with Jesus, and we must deny our own existence that comes from blood relations.

“Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” The first is Israel, and the last refers to the Gentiles. God chose Israel and allowed all people to see the journey to the kingdom of God through them. However, they were trapped in the law and were tainted by the idea of ​​the chosen people, and did not find Christ. Instead, the Gentiles believed in Christ and reached the resurrection life.

The name Israel comes from Jacob. God gave him this name because Jacob wrestled with God all night long at the Jabbok River before leaving his uncle Laban and going to his hometown where Esau was. God said that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised to give them land and descendants.

Jacob lived in Canaan in his later years, but due to a famine, he went down to Egypt to live. Of course, the fact that his son Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt was a decisive factor, but Jacob and his family all went down to Egypt, and a Pharaoh who did not know Jacob appeared and made the Israelites slaves. So they cried out to God, and God led them out of Egypt through Moses and allowed them to re-enter Canaan.

The history of the Israelites’ lives in Canaan is a history of betrayal and repentance toward God. We can see that they betrayed God because they worshipped idols, and then repented to God. In the midst of all this, God protected Israel and bestowed grace upon them, so they came to have a sense of being the chosen people. They were the only people of God. In the end, they fell into the idea of ​​the chosen people and legalism, and were destroyed at the time of Jesus without finding Christ.

God is warning today's believers who hold on to legalism and the idea of ​​God's chosen people through the judgment of Israel that was shown on the surface. In the church community, believers have the idea of ​​God's chosen people. And although the gospel of resurrection life is preached, they still fall into legalism that emphasizes their fleshly self without believing in spiritual resurrection and present resurrection, and they blaspheme God just like the fleshly Israel.

In the hearts of believers, the old temple should be destroyed and a new temple should be built, but instead of building a new temple, they are sitting in the old temple and acting as kings. This is a typical example of legalism. Every day, they are demanding the blood of Jesus as if it were a sacrificial offering to forgive their sins. As Daniel prophesied, an abomination stands in the holy place. The abomination is none other than the idol of the fleshly self.

Jesus said to deny yourself, and this idol of self is none other than the essence of sin, which is wanting to become like God. Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Denying oneself means knowing one’s identity clearly and acting accordingly. God has given us rebirth, meaning that the physical self we received from our parents is not the master, but the spiritual self from heaven is the true master. The physical self is ruled by sin (greed), but the spiritual self is guided by the Holy Spirit. If this is not done properly, we will not be able to identify who our enemy is. The target of spiritual warfare for the reborn saint is the physical self. Therefore, we should not place thoughts from flesh and blood before the Word of God.