Ruling on Twelve Thrones

`In this post I will attempt to address the questions regarding the new twelfth apostle, Matthias.



Why did the Apostles think it important to name a new apostle to replace Judas?



Were the Apostles expecting to sit on thrones ruling over Israel?



Were the Apostles hopes fulfilled or were they disappointed (postponed)?







For most of my life I considered Matthias to be one added to the twelve out of rash intemperate activity just prior to the sending of the Spirit. From that point I would look back at the disciples' fears and denials just a few days earlier and then remark that after they were endowed with the Spirit and they became fearless. Just so, I would assume that their decisions were ill-informed and would have been different just a few days later. Such seems now to be a bit irresponsible on my part.



Seeing this passage differently came very slowly as a result of embracing a different paradigm, first of Revelation and then of the New Testament and consequently Acts. Almost like seeing dominoes fall, changing assumptions forced a reevaluation of things that I had assumed or had been taught to be true.



Assuming that the disciples were heady rash and intemperate, I thought for years that Paul should have been the twelfth man. Clearly, Paul has been the most influential of the writers of the New Testament. Paul has the most phenomenal testimony of all the disciples. Paul clearly claimed the robe of an apostle. In our eyes he is far more qualified to be in the circle of twelve than is the no name, never done anything remarkable, never wrote a book, Matthias. So why would the disciples think it necessary to add this man before Pentecost.



The answer to this demands that we first go back and look at what Jesus said to the disciples.

In three of the four gospels the story is told of a rich young man coming to ask about eternal life. As the disciples watched the young man go sadly away Peter raised the question of what the disciples who had left everything could expect to receive. The answer Jesus gives should help us understand the issues from a disciples perspective.



This story, carried in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18 is the same in every way. Same context, same rich man, same question from the disciple, same answer with only slight variation in wording. So lets see what the disciples heard.



When the Son of Man will sit on HIs glorious throne you will:



sit on twelve thrones ruling the twelve tribes



receive a 100 fold return of houses and farms



receive a 100 fold return of brothers, fathers, mothers, wives, children



receive persecution



This will happen now



And in the age to come, eternal life.





The apostles fully expected to rule on twelve thrones and to receive persecution at the same time. They expected to see a hundred fold increase of their families (tribes) as a result of the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Recognizing this means that we should be regarding the increase of the Kingdom, the ruling of the Apostles as fulfilling the promise of Jesus not in a carnal manner but in a spiritual one. Demanding that these promises be fulfilled in a literal manner with physical thrones should put one in the position of demanding also in the same literal manner a one hundred fold increase in the number of wives