The 24 Elders of Revelation

SETTING THE STAGE In chapter 4 of the book of Revelation, John has been "caught up" to be with the Lord in heaven. John first sees the Lord Himself, sitting on His throne. The next thing John sees is twenty-four thrones and twenty-four elders, as he calls them, that sit on those thrones.

THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS "Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty- four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads." Revelation 4:4

Who are the twenty-four elders John saw? The verse above gives us a few clues we can use to identify this mysterious group.

TWENTY-FOUR THRONES The first thing John notices about this group is that they are sitting on thrones next to God. The elders are apparently ruling with God! Who is able to rule with God Almighty? We can find the answer if we back up to chapter 3 verse 21. Jesus, talking to the church of Laodicean says, "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." So this verse says that believers will sit on thrones with Jesus. Paul also says this in 2 Timothy 2:12: "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him" and in Romans 8:17 he tells us we are "joint heirs with Christ". What an amazing promise! Out of love, Jesus will allow those who believe in Him to sit on thrones and rule with Him.

WHITE ROBES The elders are clothed in white robes. The color white represents "pureness". That's why a bride wears a white wedding dress. Isaiah tells us that, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow". Matthew 5:8 says that, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God". This is the Church, forgiven and reigning with their Savior.

CROWNS OF GOLD John also sees that the elders are wearing crowns of gold. These crowns are interesting. Strong Concordance defines them as "a badge of royalty" or a "symbol of honor" and more "elaborate" then an earthly crown. This is the same word that is used by James when he is describing the crown of life that we will receive when we accept Christ. Jesus, too, uses the same word in Revelation 2:10 when He says "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." These are the believers in Christ wearing their promised crowns.

CASTING THEIR CROWNS John then sees the elder's worshiping the Lord. As they are worshiping, they cast their crowns before Him. The crowns represent their salvation and the elders understand that Jesus alone is responsible for this and they are honoring Him by casting the crowns at His feet.

SINGING A NEW SONG In Revelation 5:9-10 we read of the elders, worshiping Jesus, singing this song: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For you were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood. Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth". What a beautiful song. This song backs up everything we've discovered so far: The elders have been redeemed to God (the white robes), they have been made kings and priests (the crowns), they realize only Jesus could do all this for them (casting their crowns). We learn something else from this song. We learn that there are a lot of elders because they have been taken from every "tribe and tongue and people and nation". The number "twenty-four" represents completeness. This group is the completed Church -- Old Testament and New Testament believers - giving praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE Looking at all this it certainly seems that this is the Church. And if this is the Church, then this would support a pre- tribulation rapture view. I say this because the seven-year tribulation appears to begin in chapter 6 - while the Church has been with the Lord since chapter 4.