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Will there only be eleven thrones in heaven because of Judas' betrayal?

by Stephen Davey

Leroy asks, "Jesus Christ promised that His disciples would sit on twelve thrones ruling over Israel when He reigned. (Matthew 19:28-29). Because of the betrayal of Judas, should that be eleven thrones?"

First, you are correct in observing that Judas will not be sitting on one of those thrones. The reason we know that is because Jesus made Judas' fate clear in Matthew 26:24. Jesus, speaking of Judas, said "But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). So, of the original 12 disciples, Judas was excluded from this future blessing. 

When you get to the book of Acts, Peter knew that this prophesy needed to be fulfilled. He knew that there needed to be 12 apostles sitting on 12 thrones. Led by the Holy Spirit, Peter proposed a plan for finding a replacement for Judas. You can read about this in Acts 1:15-26. 

The requirements for this replacement were very specific:

  1. He needed to have been one of the followers of Jesus, beginning with Jesus baptism (Acts 1:21).
  2. He needed to be a witness to the resurrection (Acts 1:22).

They chose two men who met those qualifications, and of the two, the Lord chose Matthias. From that day on, Matthias was counted among the other eleven.

So, there will be twelve thrones, and Matthias will sit on one of them.

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Comments

Bob says:
I agree that there will be 12 apostles on thrones. However, the original 12 were all chosen by Jesus himself. While Matthias was there with Jesus, Jesus did not choose him. Jesus did in effect choose Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus. which brings up the possibility that Paul will be one of the 12 seated. It is one of the mysteries that will be revealed when we meet our LORD and Savior on that glorious day. Shalom, Bob
Dwight Osborne says:
Matthias will be the 12th, not Paul. The 11 indeed chose Matthias but they did it using the lots. If God were displeased He simply would have told them NO. When the 11 spoke and acted they did so in and with the authority of Christ. So Paul won't be a judge over Israel but he will bea judge over Gentilesand at the great white throne over the lost and the fallen angels.
Dwight Osborne says:
Christ Himself stated the apostles will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel so there will definitely be 12 thrones. The question then is who will occupy the 12th throne. If the choice of Matthias was incorrect, then since our Go is sovereign, omnipotent and in control He could have simply spoke audibly to the apostles and nixed him. But He didn't. Also, the apostles followed established procedure and cast lots. Again, God being sovereign and in control He simply could have caused the lot to fall elsewhere but he didn't do that either. While Paul continued to witness to the Jews he was primarily assigned to be the apostle, missionary or emissary to gentiles and he was never promised to be a judge over Israel But because of his faithful service and martyrdom he will be one who is a co-regent with Christ in the millennial kingdom. All Christians will reign in some capacity but with differing degrees of authority and position.

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