The Literal Interpretation of the genuine New Dispensation of the New Testament called
"the Regeneration".
"Walvoord cites Mt. 19:28 as proof that in the Millennium the Apostles will sit on twelve (earthly) thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. But this text says nothing whatsoever about a millennium, or one-thousand years, or a day, or The End of Time.
"To the contrary, it explicitly states that the Apostles’ rule will occur
“in the Regeneration.”
And in the previous verse we see that the context of "in the Regeneration"
has to do with the Apostles when they asked the Lord,
"we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?"
and in this verse, "ye which have followed me"...
then, in the next verse, "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 an hundred fold:"
Mark adds, "now in this time"; and Luke likewise, "in this present time", in this World;
which may be understood of as Spiritual things,
the Love of God,
the Presence of Christ,
the Comforts of the Holy Ghost,
the Communion of saints,
and the Joys and Pleasures felt in the enjoyment of these things,
being an hundred times more and better to them, than all they have left or lost for Christ's sake, nor of the temporal things, so in Mark it seems to be explained, that such shall now receive an hundred fold in a similar way.
"Now, for the literal reading and Interpretation of
Mathew 19:28; "in the Regeneration."
"This clause is so placed, that it may be read in connection with the preceding words
"we have forsaken all, and followed thee", and be understood of the Disciples following Christ'
"in the Regeneration"; meaning, not the Grace of Regeneration in Salvation, in which they could not be said, with propriety, to follow Christ; and one of them was never a Partaker of it:
"but the New State of things is being spoken of and has to do with the churches of God, which is intended and was Foretold, and is called the Time of Reformation, or Setting all things Right,
which began upon the Sealing Up of the Law, and the Prophets,
and the Ministry of John the Baptist, and of Christ;
who both, when they began to Preach, Declared, that this Time, which they call the Kingdom of Heaven, was at Hand, and was already Ushering in at that moment.
"Now the Twelve Apostles followed Christ here:
believed, and professed Him to be the Messiah;
they received, what the Jews called, His New Doctrine,
and Preached it to others;
they submitted to the New Ordinance of baptism,
and followed Christ, and attended Him wherever He went, working Miracles, Preaching the Gospel,
and reforming the minds and manners of men.
"Now this is the
GENUINE NEW BIBLICAL DISPENSATION called
'the Regeneration', and which more manifestly took place after our Lord's Resurrection, and Ascension, and the Pouring Down of the Spirit;
Wherefore the phrase "in the Regeneration" is and may be connected with the following words,
"when the Son of man shall Sit in the Throne of His Glory in the Regeneration";
"not in the Resurrection of the dead, or at the Last Judgment, but in this New State of things, which now began to appear with another face: for the Apostles having a New Commission to Preach the Gospel to all the World; and being Endued with Power from on High for such Service, in a short time went every where Preaching the Word, with great success.
"Gentiles were converted, as well as Jews,
and both brought into a Gospel church state, by the Lord's New Ordinance in His churches of baptism;
the ceremonies of the Old Law being Abolished, were disused;
and again the Ordinances of baptism, and the Lord's Supper, where practised everywhere;
("In the Jews Religion Old Things Passed Away, and in Jesus Religion All Things became New:
agreeably to this the Syriac version renders the phrase,
"in the New World"; and so the Persic.
"The Arabic reads it,
"in the generation", or
"age to come"; which the Jews so often call the World, or Age to Come, the Kingdom of the Messiah, or the Gospel Dispensation,)
"so
"the Regeneration" is referring to the New Testament Church Age, which is our current Inner-Advental Period, between the Lord's First Coming and His Public Ministry and Ascension, until the Lord's Second Coming at the End of the World, when Jesus Will Separate the sheep from the goats and Create the New Heaven and New Earth.
"When the Son of man shall Sit in the Throne of His Glory", or Glorious Throne; as He did when He Ascended into Heaven, after His Earthly Ministry (Revelation 4) and Sat Down at the Right Hand of God; and was then Exalted as a Prince, and Made, or Declared to be Lord and Christ; and was Crowned in Human Nature, with Honor, and Glory, and Angels, Principalities, and Powers, made subject to Him:
"ye also shall sit upon Twelve Thrones:" for though Judas fell from his Apostleship, yet Matthias was chosen in his place, and took his position, and made up the number twelve; which is a Metaphorical Phrase, setting forth the Honour, Dignity, and Authority of their office and ministry, by which they should be
"Judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel"; Doctrinally and Practically;
by charging the Jews with the sin of crucifying Christ,
Condemning the Jews for their unbelief, and rejection of Jesus,
denouncing the Wrath of God, and the heaviest judgments that should fall upon them, as a Nation, for their sin;
and by turning from the Jews to the Gentiles, under which judgment they continue to this day."
Adapted from:
Matthew 19 Gill's Exposition