Holy Boldness

of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is likely why the apostles went to the trouble to choose a replacement for Judas after his betrayal of Jesus, while they were waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. 29 This was an astounding revealing of His purpose. Jesus was not establishing a small insignificant group of followers but was initiating a completely new plan and people to change the world. His church was meant to be a governmental body “not of this world” (John 18:36) but certainly influencing this world. His assignment and those who worked with Him was to call the nation of Israel back into its original purpose in God and then to go make disciples of the nations of the world. Kingdom government does not initiate from a throne however but from a table. “…that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom…” . Eating and drinking at the table is where the culture of the kingdom is discovered and integrated. It was in spending time with Jesus as he traveled and as they ate and drank together that they came to understand the nature of Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus taught some of His most significant lessons around the table. The table is the place of learning. The throne is the place of judging based on what has been learned. After eating and drinking at the table, learning the culture of the kingdom, then the disciples were promised that they would “sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The role of government was given to those who entered into the fellowship meal with the Lord. They were intimate friends of Jesus. They sat with Him and learned from Him and then they knew Him and finally ruled with Him. Intimate, table fellowship is a prerequisite to sitting on a throne to dispense justice. No one enters the Kingdom of God to reign with Christ unless they have had significant time with Him around the table! Jesus did not use the term lightly. In John 15 Jesus makes a distinction between His friends and His servants. That distinction was about truly knowing His heart. Jesus’ friends do what He says to do and through obedience came to understand more of what He is about. There is something that is obtained through Family First Thrones of Judgment

29

Acts 1:15-26

2 27