Revelation 4
After this I looked , and, behold , a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said , Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter *. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold , a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 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. 5 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. 6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four beasts had each of them * six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not * day and night, saying , Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was , and is , and is to come . 9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying , 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created .
The chapter of revelation 21 is given here so that the reader can see a relationship between the 12 patriarchs, The Apostles, the Priest hood and the the new heavenly Jerusalem.
Revelations 21 I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable , and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. 9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying , Come hither , I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal ; 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon , which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length * is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed *, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is , of the angel. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every * several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 22 And I saw no temple therein * : for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth , neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life
Comment1
The patriarch Jacob had 12 sons, who became the foundations of the 12 tribes of Israel. Their offspring were organized by God under the Law covenant as God’s nation. Twelve therefore seems to represent a complete, balanced, divinely constituted arrangement. (Genesis 35:22; 49:28) God chose 12 apostles, who form the secondary foundations of the New Jerusalem, built upon Jesus Christ. (Matthew 10:2-4; Revelation 21:14) There are 12 tribes of “the sons of [spiritual] Israel,” each tribe consisting of 12,000 members. (Revelation 7:4-8)
Comment 2
Multiples of 12 are also sometimes significant. David established 24 divisions of the priesthood to serve by turn in the temple later built by Solomon. (1 Chronicles 24:1-18) This assists in identifying the “twenty-four elders” who were seated round about God’s throne in white outer garments and who were wearing crowns. (Revelation 4:4) The footstep followers of Jesus Christ, his spiritual brothers, are promised kingship and priesthood with him in the heavens. These elders could not be only the apostles, who numbered just 12. They therefore evidently represent the entire body of the “royal priesthood,” the 144,000 (as represented in the 24 priestly divisions serving at the temple) in their positions in the heavens, as crowned kings and priests. (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 7:4-8; 20:6)
The specific names of each of the twenty-four elders of Revelation[1] are as follows:If you will notice in Rev 4:4, the elders are wearing crowns. Crowns represent authority. A king would wear a crown. Now in 4:10, these 24 elders cast their crowns before the throne of God. That denotes that their authority comes from God. Also, in 5:8 these elders fall down before the throne of Christ. This is saying that even though they had some authority, it was less that that of Christ and that they are subject to Christ. So, we are dealing with an entity that has authority, but their authority is subject to that of Christ.
Comment3
I believe the only authority that fits that description today in the church is that of the 12 apostles. The 12 apostles taught the will of God to the people. We know the apostles had authority because Matt. 16:19 says, "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The apostles had the authority on this earth to reveal the gospel of Christ to mankind, yet their authority was subject to the authority of Christ.
Also, in the Old Testament the nation of Israel was born from the 12 Patriarchs. They fathered the physical nation of Israel. So, from the 12 sons of Israel were born the nation of Israel and from the teachings of the 12 apostles the church was born. So, both laws God has given to man was given through 12 people.... The Law of Moses was given to the children of the 12 patriarchs and the gospel of Christ was given to the church through the 12 apostles. For one to be a member of the nation of Israel, he had to be physically "born" into that nation. They were the physical descendants of the 12 patriarchs. For one to become a member of the church they have to be "born" spiritually into Christ by following the teaching of the 12 apostles.
12 Partiarchs plus 12 Apostles = 24
So, I believe that the 24 elders represent the authority that God gave unto men to bring into existance the nations of his people that were subject to God's laws. Israel was a "physical" nation subject to the Law of Moses and the church is a "spiritual" nation subject to the law of Christ given through the 12 apostles. Therefore, there are 24 elders.
Comment 4
- Judah 13. Peter
- Reuben 14. Andrew
- Gad 15. James
- Asher 16. John
- Naphtali 17. Philip
- Manasseh 18. Bartholomew
- Simeon 19. Matthew
- Levi 20. Thomas
- Issachar 21. James the son of Alphaeus
- Zebulun 22. Simon the Zealot
- Joseph 23. Thaddeus
- Benjamin 24. Matthias or Paul
Israel’s Biblical government is based upon the twelve sons of Jacob making up the twelve tribes (Gen. 49:28). The church (i.e. the Body of Christ) was first organized around twelve apostles (Acts 1-2; Eph. 2:19-20). Therefore the twelve that represent the government of Israel plus the twelve that represent the government of the Church equals twenty-four elders.
There exists differing lists of the twelve patriarchs over the twelve tribes in Scripture. Therefore, the list found in Revelation 7:5-8 is preferred as it represents the final and presumably purified version.
Naturally, Judas is not on this list as he went to Hell (Acts 1:25). Matthias was chosen by the rest of The Twelve to replace Judas (Acts 1:26). Matthias is unique in that he was the only member of The Twelve not directly chosen by Jesus. However, Paul was directly chosen by Jesus to be His apostle (Acts 9:1-31; 26:12-18; Rom. 1:1). It is for this reason that it is surmised by many that Paul was the actual replacement for Judas. A conclusion is not affirmed here but the possibility needs to be acknowledged.
In addition to this thesis that does well in surviving Occam’s razor, the book of Revelation provides sufficient evidence in interpreting itself on this matter. In the description of the New Jerusalem the reader learns that there are twelve gates with twelve angels on the city. The twelve angels have names written on them after the twelve tribes of the sons (i.e. patriarchs) of Israel (Rev. 21:12). The wall of the New Jerusalem has twelve foundation stones and on them are the twelve names of the apostles of the Lamb (Rev. 21:14). These two groups of twelve names make up the total government of the people of God.
The primary argument among some Biblical literalists[2] is that the twenty-four elders represent the Body of Christ only. This is because they are said to have crowns (Rev. 4:4; 4:10). For reasons that cannot be covered here the crowns are often (and rightly) understood to be awards presented at the Judgment Seat of Christ (or bema seat) (2 Cor. 5:10). Therefore, it is argued that only those baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit are to be at this judgment and receive awards.
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(But Paul in Hebrews 11:32-40 write's they with out us cannot be made perfect so we the Church must receive our glorified bodies the same time has old testament saints.The fact that the great tribulation Jews have not receive their reward's yet does not and will not prevent God from rewarding old testament saints. Blog owner edit Victor) And what shall I more say ? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong , waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again * : and others were tortured , not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned , they were sawn asunder , were tempted , were slain with the sword * : they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins * ; being destitute , afflicted , tormented ; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect .(Blog owner edit)
A notable objection with this list is that it would result in John seeing himself in Heaven. However, John was taken up to Heaven to see things that were yet future (Rev. 4:1). Given that the future John in Heaven would have a glorified body (Phil. 3:21), the earlier version of John would likely not have even recognized him. As incredible as it may seem, John may have even interacted with his future self (Rev. 5:5).
This theory as to the identities of the twenty-four elders is derived from the plainest Biblical evidence available. Its strength is that it requires the least amount of complexity in answering a difficult problem satisfactorily.
Let the reader note that this author is not affirming the names on this list as certain truth. The only way this could be done is if Scripture actually provided the names and directly linked them with the elders. Also, the treatment here is hardly meant to be exhaustive. The post is intended as a starting point for more research and consideration. Ultimately, this is simply a theory that happens to fit the facts.
[1]The twenty-four elders are referenced in chapters four, five and nineteen.
[2] Arguments from other camps are of no interest here in that they do not approach Scripture utilizing a normative hermeneutic. This article is only considering the matter, “in house.”
Blog owners conclusion I believer there is a strong case for showing the 24 elders as possible representative of both old testament believers Patriarchs and the the Church, especially the twelve Sons(tribes) of Israel and the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. These are the Foundation of the Church which consist of both Jewish and gentile believer. I also believe as mention above that the priesthood has arranged by David is also relevant to this understanding because we our also called to be Kings and Priest unto God. God bless and I hope this helps. Continue to be a Berean Search the scriptures and rightly divide.
Blog owners conclusion I believer there is a strong case for showing the 24 elders as possible representative of both old testament believers Patriarchs and the the Church, especially the twelve Sons(tribes) of Israel and the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. These are the Foundation of the Church which consist of both Jewish and gentile believer. I also believe as mention above that the priesthood has arranged by David is also relevant to this understanding because we our also called to be Kings and Priest unto God. God bless and I hope this helps. Continue to be a Berean Search the scriptures and rightly divide.
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