The Twenty-Four Elders

Around this central throne, he sees a circle of twenty-four thrones. On these twenty-four thrones, John sees “twenty-four elders sitting” [verse 4: “and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”]. They are arrayed in white garments. They’re wearing golden crowns on their heads.

There are two Greek words that are used here in Revelation for “crown.” The one that is used here refers to “the wreath of victory,” which the winners in athletic contests received to make their triumph sure. It would seem that the use of this particular word would indicate that these twenty-four elders have received their crown, their reward, signifying a victorious consummation. We will see in verse 10 that they will cast down their crowns before that central throne, and they will worship the One Who sits on the throne [“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.”] We will also see some interaction, as we study further, with different ones of these elders. We won’t go into that now, but they will encourage the weeping prophet in Chapter 5 and verse 5. There will also be various interpretations that they will give in Chapter 7.

Who are, or what do, these twenty-four elders represent? Some scholars believe that they are representations of the twenty-four orders of the priests that existed under the Law of Moses, 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. Those were the ones who stood and offered to God the prayers of the faithful. These twenty-four elders here in verse 4 represented the heavenly worship as the arch-types of the temple worship.

There are others, though, who suggest that these twenty-four elders represent God’s people of every age. Twenty-four? Well, twelve is actually the perfect number in Biblical writing. So, two times twelve is twice perfection, somebody said. It may be that they represent the twelve tribes of Israel from the Old Testament—those sons of Jacob—and from the New Testament, the New Covenant, they represent the twelve apostles. The suggestion would be, then, that there is a representation for God’s people of both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. They represent ALL of the people who are the Covenant people of God. A variation of that view that is reasonable, I think, is that they are the heavenly representatives of all of the faithful, particularly as a royal priesthood offering worship and service to God. Regardless, they are there in the presence of God. They are there to worship God.

Other Elements Around the Throne

Verse 5speaks about “lightnings, thunderings, and voices” proceeding from the throne of God. What were those about? I think they simply represent the majesty and the power of God.

Also before the throne are “seven lamps of fire burning” steadily, “which are the seven Spirits of God.” This is the same expression that we saw in Chapter 1, verse 4 [“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne…”], descriptive of the Holy Spirit in His full sanctifying, enlightening and revealing power. The word translated “lamps” would really be better translated “torch,” a torch that can illuminate and can also eliminate. The idea of “the seven Spirits of God” is to be considered in a symbolic way, not in a literal way. Of course, the Holy Spirit Himself is a singular being, like God is singular, like the Son is singular. Concerning the idea of using the number “seven”, seven (7) is the number for perfection. We have seen this number, seven, used before—the seven churches of Asia, the seven Spirits of God in Chapter 1, and we’ll see it again in Chapter 5. The idea here is the perfection, the completeness, the universality of God and His going out through the Spirit to illuminate, to enlighten and, also, even to destroy. That is the picture that is given here.

We might be reminded, as we think about this scene, and we think about the “lightnings, thunderings, and voices,” of when we were studying an overview of the Old Testament, Exodus, Chapter 19, beginning with verse 16. You remember when God was on Mount Sinai, He wasn’t quiet about it. There was lightning, and there was thunder, and there was the cloud. The people knew that He was there. You remember, first of all, the warning that God gave through Moses to the people not to approach the mountain, and there was the colorful description of the lightning and the thunder that was present that showed, or that depicted, God’s presence. The implication is that the “lightnings, thunderings, and voices” represent the power, the majesty, and the glory of Jehovah God.

[Exodus 19:16-25: “Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. ²⁰Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish. ²²Also let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.’

²³But Moses said to the LORD, ‘The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, “Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.”’

²⁴Then the LORD said to him, ‘Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.’ ²⁵So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.”]