Revelation 20:4; They Sat Upon Them

Revelation 20:4 (KJV)  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 witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 

A widely held view is that the thrones’ occupants are the martyrs seen at various points earlier in the book. The special focus of the remainder of v4 on the martyrs is good support for this (Alford, Beckwith, Johnson) as is the obvious special place John has for the martyrs at other points (Moffatt, Kiddle). A main purpose of his writing is to assure the steadfastness of the martyrs in the face of persecution (Bullinger, Beckwith).

We saw there the heavens opened, and the Lord of lords and King of kings, with His risen and glorified saints, coming forth to meet the Beast and his confederate kings and their armies in dreadful battle. The result was the taking and casting of the Beast and the False Prophet alive into the final Hell, the slaying of the rest with the sword, and the chaining and locking up of Satan in the prison of the bottomless pit.

It was said of the Sitter on the white horse, as it was said of the Manchild in Revelation 12:5, Revelation 19:15 (KJV) “… and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. ”

Revelation 12:5 (KJV)  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 

The repetition of this declaration renders it particularly significant, and calls for our special attention.That does not refer only, if at all, to the calamities inflicted on the Beast and his armies is clearly evident from the record. The instrument of that infliction was not a rod, but is twice stated to be the sharp sword, proceeding from the mouth of the sitter upon the white horse. The effect in that instance was slaughter and death; but shepherding, with whatever severity of judgment and invincible force is not taking of life.

Revelation 19:15 (KJV)  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

[Joseph A. Seiss, The Apocalypse – An Exposition of the Book of Revelation, Kregel, 1987, 454-455]