"And round about the throne were four and
twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and
twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment;
and they had on their heads crowns of gold."
Revelation 4:4 (KJV)
I
mentioned in our last time together that for me,
it seems that John is fairly quiet considering
what he must be seeing. As I read and re-read
the fourth chapter of Revelation, I hear him
describing the throne of God, and the thrones of
the twenty four Elders, and even the odd
captions of the fours beasts. Yet again, there
seems to be a strange silence; almost a
deafening absence of things human, and an
abundance of those things I guess we would have
to call Spiritual. But this would be a good
place to mention that in our deepest most real
sense, we are more spiritual than we are human.
Once we leave these old bodies of clay, our
spirit is what lives on. I believe that's one of
the reasons the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to
speak to that portion of our total being. I
believe that it is our spirit-man that
keeps us "tuned to God", and is the venue by
which he heals and leads and directs and helps
us to understand what some can't - because,
"...the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually
discerned" 1Co 2:14
"But God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God" 1Co 2:10 (KJV)
What
a wonderful Lord we have to provide us with the
spiritual vision to see and know "...those
things which shall soon come to pass".
So
who are these Elders then? Do they have some
significance as to name or personality? Are they
Angels given a special office? Are they the 12
Patriarchs and the 12 Apostles representing the
Jewish Church and the Christian Church joining
together, whose numbers together would add up to
24? Who are they? Well, we know that they are
not angels for the Bible tells us that they
represent redeemed. Revelation 5: 8, 9 tells us
they are said to be "redeemed by the blood of
the Lamb", out of very kindred, tongue, people,
and nation.
We know they are not angels because Angels were
not created with a living breathing soul as we
have. There was never any reason nor provision
for them to repent. Those who followed after
Lucifer, were considered fallen angels, and will
be eternally punished for their betrayal. Also,
there is never any mention of angels wearing
crowns, or having crowns bestowed upon them, nor
put in a position of judgment.
No, these 24 Elders represent the redeemed and
the very fact that these 24 Elders are each
given a throne around the Throne of God, is
indicative of their office. They will rule and
reign with Christ during the Millennium, and
then for ever more. It is the overwhelming
opinion of most Bible scholars, that the 24
Elders represent the souls of the Redeemed
Church of the Gospel; the body of those who were
Raptured.
It has been said by some scholars that they
represent the Nation of Israel, and I can see
where they are coming from from with that,
however, Israel as a nation rejected Christ, and
so I do not believe that they are a
representation of the Nation of Israel as we
know her today. I am more inclined to believe
these are they, "which are Jews inwardly and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the
spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is
not of men, but of God." Rom 2:29 (KJV)
But John continues with His Description of what
he is seeing in Heaven. He Says:
"And out of the throne proceeded
lightnings and thunderings and voices: and
there were seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven
Spirits of God." Rev 4:5 (KJV)
Now,
if we remember last Friday, as John began
describing the Throneroom of Heaven. he said,
"And immediately
I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne
was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne
We
know by verse 3 and the text we just read
regarding the 24 Elders that this is the Temple
of God, because it is where He is. We know it to
be the Temple of God, because of the Shekinah
Glory that is displayed there in all of the
colors and continued praises that are uttered
there in His Presence over and over saying Holy,
Holy, Holy. Oh Friend, doesn't the thought of it
just make everything that we call important here
on earth seem insignificant?
John
then mentions:
"... and there were seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are the
seven Spirits of God."
If
you remember from Revelation Chapter 1, we
discovered that the Seven Spirits of God was
none other than the Holy spirit and you can go
back and read that by clicking here or here).
I
have often said that I would like a ring-side
seat as the chaos of the tribulation began to
unfold, just to see what goes on there in the
Heavens. According to what I see in the Word,
those who are raptured in Revelation 4:1 will
watch and listen as the Lamb opens each seal and
choreographs each trumpet blast; dispatches each
vial, and pours out each bowl upon those who
would not hear the Gospel. How amazing it will
be for those of us who sit on that side of
things, yet how horribly awesome for those who
are left behind.
We will finish up with chapter 4 tomorrow
speaking about the Four Beasts mentioned in
verses 8-11. Until then....
