And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them:
- Group 1: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus
- Group 2: and for the word of God
- Group 3: and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands
- Group 4: and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The word “them” is followed by a colon which usually means more than two items are going to be listed.
Group 1: Those given authority to judge the 24 elders Rev 4:3 .
Group 2: The phrase 'witness of Jesus' is used another time in Revelation 17:6
I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. [NLT]
Is this the group of martyrs referenced to come in Revelation 6:9?
Group 3: The phrase word of God is used in Revelation 6:9, where the saints are identified under the Altar. They were told more martyrs were to come. So we can maybe look at these two groups 2 and 3 actually being one group coming to heaven at different times through the tribulation.
Group 4: The phrase those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name is used in Revelation 15:3 where we see saints standing on a sea of glass. All of these groups of people referenced through Revelation now standing ready to reign with Christ for 1000 years.
Is there 3 or 4 different groups of people?