Gospel
The Twenty Four Elders
by Bayo Omoyiola, Jr.
Scriptural references:
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders – Rev. 4:4
The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created – Rev. 4:10-11
And I say to you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven – Matthew 8:11
Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel – Matthew 19:28
Sermon:
Have you ever wondered who the 24 elders are? Revelations 4 tells us that - they wear golden crowns and that they sit on the thrones surrounding the throne of GOD in heaven and that they worship the LORD continually.
From Scriptures, we know that there are twelve tribes of Israel and there were also twelve disciples of Christ. The twelve tribes of Israel represent the old covenant/testament, while the twelve disciples represent the new covenant/testament.
In the Old Testament, the number 24 is used in a similar way as it is used in the book of Revelation. There were twenty four officers of the sanctuary representing the twenty four courses of the Levitical priests (1 Chron. 24:4–5, 7–18). There were also twenty four divisions of singers in the temple (1 Chron. 25). In both instances, the number 24 represented God’s chosen number. Thus, 24 appears to be a representative number in Revelation 4. Therefore I believe that the twenty four elders represent the old and the new covenant. They are glorified saints of GOD who lived for GOD while they were on earth but are now in heaven.
We know that there is no particular statement in the bible that says that, “ the twenty elders are the twelve sons of Israel(Jacob) and the twelve disciples of Christ”. One argument against such assumption would be that – “John the Apostle of Christ who wrote Revelations 4 was among the twelve disciples of Christ but He wasn’t among the twenty four elders that He saw surrounding the throne of GOD”. Another argument would be that Matthew 19:28 speaks of twelve thrones and not twenty four thrones. When John, the beloved disciple of Christ wrote the book of revelations, He was not yet dead and he wasn’t among the twenty four elders. But we know that there were some saints that had already gone with Christ to heaven after he ascended. According to Matthew 27:52, they rose from the dead after Christ rose from the dead. Before then, they were in paradise but not in heaven. For according to Jesus in John 3:13, there was no man in heaven before. Therefore the list of 24 elders may include some notable patriarchs of old.
Before now, this topic has been controversial because some people had believed in the school of thought that says - the twenty four elders were angels who had been with GOD from the beginning. It can’t be so because of two proofs, Firstly, from the original translation of the bible, the greek word that was interpreted to be “elder” is the word, “Presbuteroi” which means an old person. Secondly, from same orginal version, the greek word that was interpreted to be “crown” is the word, “Stephanos” which means “victor”. We know that Angels do not grow old and they are not victors. Therefore we can wisely conclude that the twenty four elders that surround the throne are glorified saints of GOD representing God’s people, both from the old and new dispensation.
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