The 24 Elders as stated in Revelation

I’d like to focus my Revelation blog on the 24 elders that John speaks of in chapter 4. Revelation is a book that I had read bits and pieces of in the past, when my curiosity of the end times was at a high point. Now that I am older, I realize just how trippy the whole book is. I mean, if John were alive today and told this story, many people would think he just got back from Bonnaroo and taken one too many acid trips…( For those who may not know, Bonnaroo is a huge music festival outside where people do multitudes of drugs and become “one” with music…or whatever that means.) 

                                                                                                                        

John was on the Island of Patmos when all of his visions began. I won’t summarize, because that’s not what this blog is intended to be, but rather, a closer look into the Holy throne room where Jesus sits. While reading this, I sometimes got lost because there was so much going on, so many descriptions of things we really can’t perceive with our mind yet. I tried to imagine what some of these creatures he mentioned looked like and it just wasn’t achievable. Revelation is one of those books that will always confuse me because even though it’s prophesying what is to come, most of it is still a complete mystery…to me anyway. Now that my small rant is over, I’ll get into it.                                                                                                                                                  

  The 24 elders are a part of the Heavenly Throne Room. 

 The room seemed to be set up in layers. The innermost core of this room was the throne, where Jesus sits; out from that, the circle moves to the four living creatures. These creatures had different heads, wings and eyes everywhere. One of those descriptions I can’t wrap my head around. Finally, out from the four creatures were the 24 elders. They are the outermost part of the throne room. Gotquestions suggests that some people believe these twenty-four elders represent Israel, but at the time of this vision, Israel as a whole nation had not yet been redeemed. All of them constantly sing praise to Jesus. According to http://lastdayscalendar.tripod.com/twenty_four_elders.htm there have been many different interpretations as to who the elders are. Some say that they could be a leader from each of the 12 tribes of Israel plus each of the 12 apostles. Others say that they could be 24 godly men from throughout biblical history, or finally, a special class of angels. Here is how noted pre-trib scholar Arnold Fruchtenbaum explains it,

"The identity of these twenty-four elders has been much debated. Some take it to refer to celestial beings, while others take it to refer to andrepresent the church. While the text does not clearly state as to what these twenty-four elders refer, there are clues in the text by which their identity can be deduced. First, these elders are clothed with white garments which throughout the Revelation are symbols of salvation. Celestial beings before the throne of God do not need salvation for they were not lost to begin with. But these elders were at one time lost and at some point received salvation as is seen by their wearing of the white garments. 

"The second clue is the fact that they are wearing crowns. These crowns are not diadem crowns worn by those who are royal by nature, which would have been the case had these been celestial beings. These crowns are the stephanos crowns, the crowns of an overcomer; the type of crown given as rewards to the members of the church at the Judgment Seat of Christ.”

"A third clue lies in their very title of elders. Nowhere else in Scripture is this term used to describe celestial or angelic beings. This term is used of humans in positions of authority either in the synagogue or church.”

"Hence, from these three clues, the twenty-four elders must represent the church saints. If this is true, then they provide further evidence for a pre-tribulation Rapture. The church is already in heaven in chapter four and five before the tribulation begins in chapter six."

            BibleProphecyBlog states that the 24 elders are mentioned five times in the Book of Revelation, as follows: 4:4, 10; 5:8; 11:16; and 19:4. If they represent the church, then it reflects what one would expect if the rapture has occurred before the tribulation has begun. If it represents someone else, then it would not necessarily argue against pretribulationism, especially if they were angels. Some think that the 24 elders are angels. If they are angels then they cannot represent the church or redeemed humans of any distinction. Robert Thomas argues that the 24 elders are angels and says the following:

“This particular group of angels primarily assists in the execution of the divine rule of the universe. Very probably they are part of the assembly of heavenly beings that are regularly pictured as present with God in heaven.”

            So, as we see there are two different ways that people have perceived these elders. Some believe that they are in fact angels while others tend to believe that they are just holy chosen men. After doing my research I tend to go with the majority of scholars who believe that these are men and not angels, mostly because angels do not age, and if the word used to describe these men is elderly, which it in fact is, then they cannot be angels.