Where do they reign with Christ ? As we look…

Where do they reign with Christ ? As we look through these verses we note that nothing is said directly about where they are. Certainly nothing is said about the reign being on earth. But there are plenty of clues to tell us where Christ and the souls are. First of all, note that those who reign with Christ are in the status of “ souls. “ I saw the “souls” of those beheaded. Souls with no bodies do not live on earth; they live , rather, in the spirit realm. This alone would tell us that the reign is not an earthly one. These souls have been in the spirit realm ever since we first met them in Rev. 6.9 as ‘’ Souls ‘’ under the alter. They were in heaven serving God in chapter 7, were in heaven with Christ in chapter 14 were in heavenly praising God for the destruction of the harlot in the early part of 19, and were riding with Christ in a spiritual victory over the beasts at the end of chapter 19. None of these would suggest that the ‘’ Souls ‘’ physically are on earth. But not only have the ‘’ souls ‘’ of the martyrs been in heaven since chapter 6 , Christ has been in heaven since chapter 5, when He came before the throne as a Lamb that had been slain. He was in heaven in chapter 14 where the martyrs followed Him and in chapter 19, where Christ rides in victory over the beast and the false prophet, He achieves this by the power of His word ( 19.15 ) not by his leading an earthly military force. Another reason that this should be seen as a heavenly reign is because Christ and the martyrs sit on thrones. Revelation has told us of many thrones in heaven but the only earthly throne mentioned is the throne of the beast. Since Christ and the souls have been in heaven since early in the book and since the context indicates that this is a victory celebration following the defeat of their enemy, the Roman Empire, this reign is a spiritual reign, not an earthly reign. The clear indication, then, is that this is a reign of souls in heaven , not a physical reign of souls on earth. So, were is this reign? In the spirit realm we call heaven.