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.
4. four and twenty seats ] Better, thrones; it is the same word that is used of the throne. Cf. Dan 7:9.
four and twenty elders ] There are two views as to the significance of these, both leading to substantially the same result: (i) that they are the twelve Patriarchs, the heads of the Tribes of Israel, together with the twelve Apostles, the heads of the new People of God: (ii) that they answer to the heads of the 24 courses of the Priests, 1 Chronicles 24. The title of those assessors to the divine Throne is already found in Isa 24:23: and the conception of the twelve Apostles answering to the twelve Tribes appears in Mat 19:28; Luk 22:30, as well as in this Book, Rev 21:12; Rev 21:14. The resemblance between this passage and those in the O. T. and Gospels is not complete in the account of the Judgement, Rev 20:11, the Elders are not mentioned: still on the whole they support the former interpretation. But perhaps the second is not inconsistent with it, for the Elders have certainly a priestly character. They are not called Priests in Rev 5:10 according to the true text, and their white robes, though suitable, are not peculiar to priests: but they act as priests in Rev 5:8: and we may add, their title is the ordinary Scriptural one for the Christian priesthood. Either way of explaining their number points to the same explanation of their office: they are the glorified embodiment and representatives of the people of God. It seems not necessary to read “ the 24 elders,” which would imply that their meaning, and perhaps their number, was known: if it be right, the chief reference is probably to Isa 24:23.
crowns of gold ] The word used does not necessarily imply royal crowns we have a different one e.g. in Rev 19:12: but probably we are to understand that the elders are kings as well as priests. Cf. Zec 6:11-13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats – Or rather, thrones – thronoi – the same word being used as what is rendered throne – thronos. The word, indeed, properly denotes a seat, but it came to be employed to denote particularly the seat on which a monarch sat, and is properly translated thus in Rev 4:2-3. So it is rendered in Mat 5:34; Mat 19:28; Mat 23:22; Mat 25:31; Luk 1:32; and uniformly elsewhere in the New Testament (53 places in all), except in Luk 1:52; Rev 2:13; Rev 4:4; Rev 11:16; Rev 16:10, where it is rendered seat and seats. It should have been rendered thrones here, and is so translated by Prof. Stuart. Coverdale and Tyndale render the word seat in each place in Rev 4:2-5. It was undoubtedly the design of the writer to represent those who sat on those seats as, in some sense, kings – for they have on their heads crowns of gold – and that idea should have been retained in the translation of this word.
And upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting – Very various opinions have been entertained in respect to those who thus appeared sitting around the throne, and to the question why the number twenty-four is mentioned. Instead of examining those opinions at length, it will be better to present, in a summary manner, what seems to be probable in regard to the intended reference. The following points, then, would appear to embrace all that can be known on this subject:
- These elders have a regal character, or are of a kingly order. This is apparent:
(a) because they are represented as sitting on thrones, and
(b) because they have on their heads crowns of gold.
(2)They are emblematic. They are designed to symbolize or represent some class of persons. This is clear:
(a) because it cannot be supposed that so small a number would compose the whole of those who are in fact around the throne of God, and,
(b) because there are other symbols there designed to represent something pertaining to the homage rendered to God, as the four living creatures and the angels, and this supposition is necessary in order to complete the symmetry and harmony of the representation.
(3)They are human beings, and are designed to have some relation to the race of man, and somehow to connect the human race with the worship of heaven. The four living creatures have another design; the angels Rev 5:1-14 have another; but these are manifestly of our race – persons from this world before the throne.
(4)They are designed in some way to be symbolic of the church as redeemed. Thus, they say Rev 5:9, Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.
(5)They are designed to represent the whole church in every land and every age of the world. Thus, they say Rev 5:9, Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. This shows, further, that the whole representation is emblematic; for otherwise in so small a number – twenty-four – there could not be a representation out of every nation.
(6)They represent the church triumphant – the church victorious. Thus, they have crowns on their heads; they have harps in their hands Rev 5:8; they say that they are kings and priests, and that they will reign on the earth, Rev 5:10.
(7)The design, therefore, is to represent the church triumphant – redeemed – saved – as rendering praise and honor to God; as uniting with the hosts of heaven in adoring him for his perfections and for the wonders of his grace; As representatives of the church, they are admitted near to him; they encircle his throne; they appear victorious over every foe; and they come, in unison with the living creatures, and the angels, and the whole universe Rev 5:13, to ascribe power and dominion to God.
(8)As to the reason why the number twenty-four is mentioned, perhaps nothing certain can be determined. Ezekiel, in his vision Eze 8:16; Eze 11:1, saw twenty-five men between the porch and the altar, with their backs toward the temple, and their faces toward the earth – supposed to be representations of the twenty-four courses into which the body of priests was divided 1 Chr. 24:3-19, with the high priest among them, making up the number twenty-five. It is possible that John in this vision may have designed to refer to the church considered as a priesthood (compare the notes on 1Pe 2:9), and to have alluded to the fact that the priesthood under the Jewish economy was divided into twenty-four courses, each with a presiding officer, and who was a representative of that portion of the priesthood over which he presided. If so, then the ideas which enter into the representation are these:
(a) That the whole church may be represented as a priesthood, or a community of priests – an idea which frequently occurs in the New Testament.
(b) That the church, as such a community of priests, is employed in the praise and worship of God – an idea, also, which finds abundant countenance in the New Testament.
(c) That, in a series of visions having a designed reference to the church, it was natural to introduce some symbol or emblem representing the church, and representing the fact that this is its office and employment. And,
(d) that this would be well expressed by an allusion derived from the ancient dispensation – the division of the priesthood into classes, over each one of which there presided an individual who might be considered as the representative of his class.
It is to be observed, indeed, that in one respect they are represented as kings, but still this does not forbid the supposition that there might have been intermingled also another idea, that they were also priests. Thus, the two ideas are blended by these same elders in Rev 5:10; And hath made us unto our God kings and priests. Thus understood, the vision is designed to denote the fact that the representatives of the church, ultimately to be triumphant, are properly engaged in ascribing praise to God. The word elders here seems to be used in the sense of aged and venerable men, rather than as denoting office. They were such as by their age were qualified to preside over the different divisions of the priesthood.
Clothed in white raiment – Emblem of purity, and appropriate, therefore, to the representatives of the sanctified church. Compare Rev 3:4; Rev 6:11; Rev 7:9.
And they had on their heads crowns of gold – Emblematic of the fact that they sustained a kingly office. There was blended in the representation the idea that they were both kings and priests. Thus, the idea is expressed by Peter 1Pe 2:9, a royal priesthood – basileion hierateuma.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 4:4
Upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting.
The elders before the throne
I. The state and enjoyments of the spirits before the throne.
1. Mark, first, that the saints in heaven are represented as elders, which we take to refer not merely to the office of the eldership as it is exercised among us, but rather to the fulness of growth of believers before the throne. The elders in the Church are those who by reason of years have had their senses exercised; they are not the saplings of the forest, but the well-rooted trees; they are not the blades of corn up-springing, but the full corn in the ear awaiting the reapers sickle. As to the number–twenty-four. I think, as there were twenty-four courses of Levites, who were porters at the gate of the temple, and twenty-four courses of priests who offered sacrifice, so the number twenty-four is made use of to show that the service of God in His temple is complete, that every part of the Divine service will be taken up, and around that altar which smokes before God eternally there shall be a full complement of those who shall bow before Him, and do Him homage.
2. These elders are said to be around the throne. We suppose, as near as we can catch the thought of John, sitting in a semi-circle, as the Jewish Sanhedrin did around the Prince of Israel. There is an equality among the saints. There shall not be some near the centre, and others far away on the verge of the wide circumference; but they shall all be near to Christ, all equally His favourites and His friends.
3. The elders are clothed in white raiment. In this they are an example to us. Perfection we must not hope to see here; but oh, we must aim after it.
4. These elders exercised a priesthood. Indeed, their being clothed in white garments, while it is an emblem of their purity, also represents them as being priests unto God. Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests. They exercise the office of priesthood, as you perceive, by the double offering of prayer and praise. Let us look up to them as the priests of God, and then ask ourselves, are we celebrating His worship too?
5. They had on their heads crowns of gold. Now let us imitate them in this. Oh! say you, but I cannot wear a crown as they do. Nevertheless, you are a king; for they who are Christs are kings. Reign over thy sins. Reign over thy passions. Be as a king in the midst of all that would lead thee astray. In the world at large act a kings part. Let your Liberality of spirit be right royal. Let your actions never be mean, sneaking, cowardly, dastardly
II. The occupation and spirit of these glorified ones, as they should be imitated by us below. Notice their occupation.
1. First of all it is one of humility. They fall down before Him (verse 10). The more holy, the more humble.
2. But as they fall before the throne in humility, you will note that they express their gratitude. It is said they cast their crowns before the throne. They know where they got them from, and they know to whom to ascribe the praise.
3. These elders spent their time in joyous song. Thou art worthy to take the book.
4. These saints not only offered praise, but prayer.
5. I must not forget, however, here, that these elders before the throne were ready not only for prayer and praise, but for all kinds of service. You remember there was one of them, when John wept, who said, Weep not. Then there was another of the elders who said to John, for his instruction, Who are these? etc. Now those before the throne are willing to comfort the weeper or to instruct the ignorant. Let us do the same I and may it be ours to wipe the tear from many an eye, to chase the darkness of ignorance from many a young heart. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Four and twenty elders] Perhaps this is in reference to the smaller Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, which was composed of twenty-three elders; or to the princes of the twenty-four courses of the Jewish priests which ministered at the tabernacle and the temple, at first appointed by David.
Clothed in white raiment] The garments of the priests.
On their heads crowns of gold.] An emblem of their dignity. The Jewish writers represent human souls as being created first; and before they enter the body, each is taken by an angel into paradise, where it sees the righteous sitting in glory with crowns upon their heads. Rab. Tanchum, fol. 39, 4.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Some think (and not improbably) that here is an allusion to the twenty-four courses of the priests and Levites, established by God for his service in the sanctuary and temple of old, 1Ch 24:18; 25:31; and that these twenty-four elders either typified the whole church under the New Testament, the number of the tribes of Israel (which made up the church under the Old Testament) being doubled to show the increase of the churchs territories under the gospel, or the heads of the church, either under the Old Testament or New, there being twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles. They are represented
sitting, to denote their state of rest and ease; and
clothed in white raiment, to denote their purity and holiness, or being clothed with Christs righteousness; and having
crowns of gold on their heads, to denote that state of dignity and glory to which God had advanced them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. seatsrather as the Greekis translated in this very verse, “thrones,” of courselower and smaller than the grand central throne. So Re16:10, “the seat (rather, throne) of the beasts,”in hellish parody of God’s throne.
four and twenty eldersGreek,“the four and twenty (or as one oldest manuscript,’twenty-four’) elders”: the well-known elders [ALFORD].But TREGELLES translates,”Upon the twenty-four thrones (I saw: omitted in twooldest manuscripts) elders sitting”: which is more probable, asthe twenty-four elders were not mentioned before, whereas thetwenty-four thrones were. They are not angels, for they havewhite robes and crowns of victory, implying a conflictand endurance, “Thou hast redeemed us“: theyrepresent the Heads of the Old and New Testament churchesrespectively, the Twelve Patriarchs (compare Re7:5-8, not in their personal, but in their representativecharacter), and Twelve Apostles. So in Re15:3, “the song of Moses, and of the Lamb,“the double constituents of the Church are implied, the Old Testamentand the New Testament. “Elders” is the very term for theministry both of the Old and New Testament, the Jewish and thecatholic Gentile Church. The tabernacle was a “pattern” ofthe heavenly antitype; the holy place, a figure of HEAVENITSELF. Thus Jehovah’s throne is represented by the mercy seatin the holiest, the Shekinah-cloud over it. “The seven lamps offire before the throne” (Re4:5) are antitypical to the seven-branched candlestick also inthe holiest, emblem of the manifold Spirit of God: “the sea ofglass” (Re 4:6) correspondsto the molten sea before the sanctuary, wherein the priests washedthemselves before entering on their holy service; so introduced herein connection with the redeemed “priests unto God” (compareNote, see on Re 15:2).The “four living creatures” (Rev 4:6;Rev 4:7) answer to the cherubimover the mercy seat. So the twenty-four throned and crowned eldersare typified by the twenty-four chiefs of the twenty-four courses ofpriests, “Governors of the sanctuary, and governors ofGod” (1Ch 24:5; 1Ch 25:1-31).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And round about the throne [were] four and twenty seats,…. In a semicircular form, as the rainbow also was; the thrones in the above form, came to both ends, or sides of it; just as when the sanhedrim, or great court of judicature among the Jews say m, the “Nasi”, or prince, sat in the uppermost seat, at his right hand was “Ab beth din”, or the father or the sanhedrim, and at his left hand a doctor or wise man, and all the rest of the members sat in a semicircular form upon seats before them, so that they could see them all; and to this the allusion might be thought to be, did their numbers agree, but in the great sanhedrim there were seventy one, and the lesser twenty three, which last comes very near the number here;
and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting; by whom are not meant the twenty four books of the Old Testament, as some of the ancients thought, and also some of the modern writers, as Lord Napier and others; for the things said of them are such as cannot be applied to inanimate things, such as sitting on seats, being clothed with white raiment, having golden crowns on their heads, falling down before the throne, and worshipping him that sat on it; and besides, in Re 5:8, they are said to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, out of very kindred, tongue, people, and nation; for which last reason, angels also cannot be designed, and who, moreover, in the place referred to, are manifestly distinguished from these elders; nor are they to be understood as to the representatives of the Jewish church, or of the Jewish and Christian church together, as triumphant in heaven; and so be signified by the twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles, which together make up twenty four; but rather the members of the Gospel church state, throughout the whole of it, in every succession and period of time, are here meant; and are expressed by the number “twenty four”, in allusion to the twenty four courses of the priests, into which they were divided by David, 1Ch 24:1, and to the twenty four stations of the Levites, who in turn attended the service of the temple daily, and represented the whole body of the people of Israel, in putting their hands upon the sacrifices, and praying for them; of which
[See comments on Lu 1:5]; add to this, that in twenty four places the priests and Levites kept watch in the temple n; so these twenty four elders before the throne of God, in his temple, represent the whole Israel of God, all the members of the Gospel church state, from the first to the last of it: and they are styled “elders”, not on account of office, as pastors of the churches are called, but because of their senile gravity, prudence, and knowledge; they having a greater degree of spiritual knowledge of the manifold wisdom of God than the Jewish church, which was in a state of infancy, and under tutors and governors, had; but the Gospel church is in a state of manhood, and no longer under a schoolmaster, and so fitly expressed by “elders”; and these are represented as “sitting” on their seats, not only to hear the word of God, but as judging in cases that come before them, respecting the admission or exclusion of members, the laying on or taking off of censures, c. and these, their seats being around and near unto the throne, denote their nearness to God, and their communion with him, in his house and ordinances, and his dwelling in the midst of them.
Clothed in white raiment in the pure and spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness, which is comparable to fine linen, clean and white; and is the righteousness of the saints in common, of every true member of Christ’s body.
And they had on their heads crowns of gold; being made by Christ kings, as well as priests, unto God; for so these four and twenty elders are said to be, in Re 5:10; and they now reign as kings over sin, Satan, and the world, and have a kingdom of grace which shall never be removed; and they shall reign with Christ on earth a thousand years, and then reign with him to all eternity in heaven. It is a common saying with the Jews o,
“that there is no eating and drinking in the world to come, but the righteous are “sitting”, , “and their crowns upon their heads”.”
m Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 4. sect. 3. & Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 3. n Misn. Middot, c. 1. sect. 1. o Zohar in Numb. fol. 106. 3. & Raya Mehimna in ib. fol. 96. 3. T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 17. 1. Abot R. Nathan, fol. 1. 3. Caphtor, fol. 82. 2. & 86. 2. & 108. 2. & Nishmat Chayim, fol. 30. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Round about the throne ( ). Here as a preposition with the genitive, though only adverb in 4:8 (only N.T. examples save Textus Rec. in 5:11).
Four and twenty thrones ( ). So P Q, but Aleph A have accusative (supply from 4:1) and (late accusative in –). This further circle of thrones beyond the great throne.
I saw four and twenty elders ( ). No in the text, but the accusative case calls for it. Twenty-four as a symbolic number occurs only in this book and only for these elders (Rev 4:4; Rev 4:10; Rev 5:8; Rev 11:16; Rev 19:4). We do not really know why this number is chosen, perhaps two elders for each tribe, perhaps the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles (Judaism and Christianity), perhaps the twenty-four courses of the sons of Aaron (1Ch 24:1-19), perhaps some angelic rank (Col 1:16) of which we know nothing. Cf. Eph 2:6.
Sitting (). Upon their thrones.
Arrayed (). Perfect passive participle of (to throw around).
In white garments ( ). Locative case here as in 3:5 (with ), though accusative in Rev 7:9; Rev 7:13.
Crowns of gold ( ). Accusative case again like after (4:1), not . In 19:14 (having) is added. John uses (diadem) for the kingly crown in Rev 12:3; Rev 13:1; Rev 19:12, but it is not certain that the old distinction between as the kingly crown and as the victor’s wreath is always observed in late Greek.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Throne [] . A seat or chair. In Homer, an armchair with high back and footstool. Cushions were laid upon the seat, and over both seat and back carpets were spread. A royal throne. Used of the oracular seat of the priestess of Apollo. Apollo, in the “Eumenides” of Aeschylus, says : “Never, when I sat in the diviner’s seat (mantikoisin ejn qronoiv) did I speak aught else than Zeus the father of the Olympians bade me” (616 – 618). Plato uses it of a teacher ‘s seat. “I saw Hippias the Elean sitting in the opposite portico in a chair [ ] . Others were seated round him on benches [ ] ,” questioning him, “and he ex cathedre?ejn qronw kaqhmenov, lit., sitting in the chair) was determining their several questions to them, and discoursing of them” (” Protagoras, ” 315). Also used of a judge ‘s bench, and a bishop ‘s seat.
Seats [] . Rev.., rightly, thrones. The word is the same as the last. I saw. Omit.
Elders [] . See on Act 14:23. The twenty – four elders are usually taken to represent the one Church of Christ, as at once the Church of the old and of the new Covenant, figured by the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles.
“Then saw I people, as behind their leaders, Coming behind them, garmented in white, And such a whiteness never was on earth Under so fair a heaven as I describe The four and twenty – elders, two by two, Came on incoronate with flower – de – luce.” Dante, “Purgatorio,” 29, 64 – 84.
Clothed [] . Rev., arrayed. Better, as indicating a more solemn investiture. See on chapter Rev 3:5.
They had. Omit.
Crowns [] . See on 1Pe 5:4; Jas 1:12. Stefanov with the epithet golden is found only in Revelation. Compare chapter Rev 9:7; Rev 14:14. The natural inference from this epithet and from the fact that the symbolism of Apoc. is Hebrew, and that the Jews had the greatest detestation of the Greek games, would be that stefanov is here used of the royal crown, especially since the Church is here represented as triumphant – a kingdom and priests. On the other hand, in the three passages of Revelation where John evidently refers to the kingly crown, he uses diadhma (chapter Rev 12:3; Rev 13:1; compare Rev 17:9, 10; Rev 19:12). Trench (” Synonyms of the New Testament “) claims that the crown in this passage is the crown, not of kinghood, but of glory and immortality. The golden crown [] of the Son of Man (chapter Rev 14:14) is the conqueror’s crown.
It must be frankly admitted, however, that the somewhat doubtful meaning here, and such passages of the Septuagint as 2Sa 12:30; 1Ch 20:2; Psa 20:3; Eze 21:26; Zec 6:11, 14, give some warrant for the remark of Professor Thayer (” New Testament Lexicon “) that it is doubtful whether the distinction between stefanov and diadhma (the victor’s wreath and the kingly crown) was strictly observed in Hellenistic Greek. The crown of thorns [] placed on our Lord ‘s head, was indeed woven, but it was the caricature of a royal crown.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS ABOUT THE THRONE (Who They Represent) ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH v. 4, 5
1) “And round about the throne,” (kai kuklothen tou thronou) “And round (encircling the area of) the throne,” the central sacred council throne in heaven, on which God, the Father is seated, 1Ki 22:19; Isa 6:1-3.
2) “Were four and twenty seats,” (thronous eikosi tessaras) “(There were) twenty-four thrones,” thrones facing, subject to the central throne.
3) “And upon the seats,” (kai epi tous thronous) “And upon the (twenty-four) thrones,” positions of honor and rulership that honored or had done service of honor to the God upon the central throne.
4) “I saw four and twenty elders sitting,” (elikosi tessaras presbuterous kathemenous) “(There were) twenty-four elders sitting; Twelve elders represent the patriarch elders of the twelve tribes of Israel and twelve represent the church – Israel and the New Testament Church are represented as sitting as kings in sacred council to rule, to witness further, as God’s two Institutional witnesses of the Old and New Testament eras, Luk 22:28-30; 1Pe 2:5; Rev 5:8-10; Rev 11:1-4; Rev 21:2; Rev 21:13.
5) “Clothed in white raiment,” (peribeblemenous en himatiois leukois) “Having been (who had been) clothed, dressed up, in white garments,” symbolizing righteous rulers in Divinely appointed positions or service, Rev 1:5-6; Rev 3:4-5; Rev 19:8; Rev 19:14.
6) “And they had on their heads crowns of gold,” (kai epi tas kephalas auton stephanous chrusous) “and they had upon their heads crowns of gold,” indicating award positions of honor of royal rulers, 2Ti 4:8; Rev 2:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4)And round about the throne were four and twenty seats (or, thrones), and upon the seats (or, thrones) I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.Perhaps the wish to give its due pre-eminence to the thought of Him who sat on the throne caused our translators to describe the elders as sitting on seats; but the same word throne is used of both, and those who are now seated on thrones are called (Rev. 5:10) kings and priests. In the similar vision in Ezekiel no human beings are seen; their appearance here is significant. They are the representatives of Christs Church and people, of those whom Christ calls His friends, and who are admitted to know what their Lord doeth (Joh. 15:15). Various reasons have been suggested why they should be described as twenty-four in number; they are the twelve tribes doubled, to signify the union of the Gentile with the Jewish Church; they are the two sets of twelve, to represent the two Testaments; they are the twelve Patriarchs cojoined with the twelve Apostles. It will be seen that these were all different forms of the same thought, that the twenty-four elders represent the complete Church of God in the past and in the future, in the Jewish and Gentile worlds; and as such the true spiritual successors, as priests to God, of those twenty-four courses (1Ch. 24:1-19) arranged by David, and which some have thought gave rise to the use of the number twenty-four in this passage. It is the great united Church. The same thought is touched upon in the double song of Moses and the Lamb (Rev. 15:3), and in the gates and foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:12; Rev. 21:14).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Round about the throne Forming a full circle, at such distance from the throne as to make an area in the midst.
Seats Thrones: the same Greek word as for the throne just mentioned. For these elders are kings, with both thrones and crowns of gold royal elders, “kings and priests.” Their lesser thrones surround the greater throne, as in fealty to the great King.
Four and twenty The twice twelve of the Old Testament and the New Testament Church, the patriarchal and apostolic twelve. See our note on symbolic numbers, at close of Luke 6. Says Bossuet, (quoted by Hengstenberg,) “It is the totality of the saints of the Old and New Testament Church who are here represented by their chiefs and elders. The same totality of saints is represented in the twelve gates of the holy city, on which were written the names of the twelve tribes, and in the foundation of that city, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles, Rev 21:12; Rev 21:14. In a word, one sees in these twenty-four elders the whole Church in its leaders.” And as throned and crowned, they represent the Church of all ages, both militant and triumphant. The delightful import of the symbol is, that the Church is very nigh and very dear to God in his administration of the governments of the world.
Crowns The crown proper of the New Testament ( , from , to wreathe or weave a garland or chaplet) was originally used for honour to a victor or ruler, and adopted as an ensign of royalty.
Different was the diadem, (from , around, and , to bind,) which was originally a tie around the heads of oriental monarchs, and, being far more imperial, was adopted by the Emperor Diocletian and his successor as matter of regal pride. The Greek for diadem is used in only three passages in the New Testament, namely, Rev 12:3, of the dragon; Rev 13:1, of the beast; and Rev 19:12, of the Messiah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And round about the throne were twenty four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads crowns of gold.’
These thrones might tie in with Daniel’s description in Daniel 7, although Daniel only mentions them in passing. They are an indication that this is a particularly important occasion. All Heaven is participating in what is to happen. The description of ‘elders’ shows the respect in which these figures were held. Their authority is depicted by the fact that they alone sit on thrones. Compare Rev 20:4 where thrones are given to those who sit in judgment. The elders are probably the ones referred to as ‘thrones’ in Col 1:16
In all ancient societies (e.g. Gen 50:7; Num 22:7) older men were looked on as wise and to be respected. But the term elder was also an official one used of those who were given special overall authority, who were usually older men, but not necessarily so. In Exo 24:1 Moses is assisted by seventy ‘elders’, and later every city had its own ruling body of ‘elders’. The influence of ‘the elders’ continued in the appointment of Saul and throughout the Monarchy, as representing the people (1Sa 8:4 on; 2Sa 5:3; 1Ki 8:1; 1Ki 8:3; 1Ki 20:7; 1Ki 21:8 ; 2Ki 10:1; 2Ki 19:2; 2Ki 23:1). Ezekiel had dealings with them in the captivity (Eze 8:1; Eze 14:1; Eze 20:1). There were also ‘elders of the priests’ (Isa 37:2; Jer 19:1).
In the time of Jesus ‘the elders’ were a respected group, separate from the priesthood and the Pharisees (Mat 26:3), men of influence, heads of important lay families who were represented on the Sanhedrin, and who were seen as the people’s representatives (see Luk 19:47).
In the church the elders were a ruling body who looked after church affairs (Act 11:30; Act 14:23; Act 15:2 and often; 1Ti 5:17; Tit 1:5; Jas 5:14; 1Pe 5:1). Peter himself claims to be an elder (1Pe 5:1) as does John (2Jn 1:1; 3Jn 1:1). Thus elders were figures of authority and maturity who ruled over affairs on behalf of others and represented the people, or the priests, or the church or whoever had selected them.
But who are these elders? They are figures of royal authority in Heaven, but they continually cast their crowns down before the throne showing their total submission to God (Rev 4:10). Thus they recognise the total rightness of His judgments and His position. They are clothed with white clothing emphasising their purity and righteousness. The crowns of gold on their heads represent their royal authority under God. They are the only beings who wear crowns in the presence of God.
The number twenty four links them with the courses of priesthood established by David under divine inspiration (1Ch 24:3-5; 1Ch 24:7-19 with 1Ch 28:11-13; 1Ch 28:19). That there were ‘elders of the priests’ is confirmed in Isa 37:2; Jer 19:1 – where they are distinguished from the elders of the people. The fact that they have a priestly role is confirmed by the fact that they sing praise to God (they are the only ones described as singing) (Rev 5:9) and have golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of God’s people (‘saints’ in the New Testament is the name given to God’s people as a whole. See Act 9:13; Act 9:32; Act 9:41; Act 26:10; Rom 1:7; Rom 8:27; Rom 12:13; Rom 15:25-26; Rom 15:31; Rom 16:2; Rom 16:15; 1Co 1:2; 1Co 6:1-2; 1Co 14:33 and often throughout Paul’s letters; the regular introductions to Paul’s letters; Heb 6:10; Heb 13:24).
The twenty four elders continually worship God (Rev 4:10) and sing of what He has done for His people, who parallel on earth what these represent in Heaven (Rev 5:9-10). Thus they are a royal priesthood who in Heaven represent God’s people on earth. They wear crowns because they represent those who are a royal priesthood (1Pe 2:9), those who will one day share the throne of Christ.
On earth Israel were intended to be a kingdom of priests (Exo 19:6), indicating that they had a ministry to the nations to minister for them and seek to bring them to God. Apart from their sacrificial duties one of the responsibilities of the priests was to teach the Law (Lev 10:11; Ezr 7:10; Mal 2:7). This task then became the church’s whom Peter declared to be a holy priesthood, and indeed a royal priesthood, who were to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus (1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9). Thus they too are a kingdom of priests (Rev 1:6).
So while in the number ‘twenty four’ we may secondarily see a connection between the twenty four elders and the twelve tribes of Israel, headed by their patriarchs, combined with the twelve apostles (Rev 21:12-14 – but notice that the two sets of twelve are distinguished there, not combined), it is not the main idea. The main stress is on the fact that the elders are a heavenly royal priesthood, although as with the church, they are interceding and worshipping priests, not sacrificing priests, for they recognise that the one sacrifice has been made once for all (Rev 5:9). In that sense they represent the church of Christ and the saints of the Old Testament before God (for Old Testament ‘saints’ see 1Sa 2:9; 2Ch 6:41; Psa 16:3; Psa 30:4 and often; Pro 2:8; Dan 7:18-27; Mat 27:52).
The popular view that they are the church is based on hope (and a doubtful text in AV), rather than exegesis. This is evident from the fact that:
The elders refer to the church in the third person (Rev 5:9-10). (This later changed to the first person ‘us’ in later manuscripts, as reflected in AV, because of the erroneous application to the church).
An individual elder speaks to John (Rev 5:5; Rev 7:13). They are thus seen as individuals. But it is noteworthy that when the church is to be spoken of it is an elder and not an angel who speaks (Rev 7:13).
The majority of the church is still on earth.
The resurrection has not yet taken place, therefore the righteous are still in ‘conscious soul sleep’ and not resurrected in Heaven (Rev 5:9-11). While this is conscious bliss it is never shown in Scripture to be ‘bodily’.
But the elders are representatives of the church before God, and the fact that the highest beings in Heaven apart from the Godhead (the only ones to have thrones and crowns) are seen as acting on behalf of the church, and bringing them and their prayers to attention before God, was intended to act as an encouragement to the church on earth in the time of tribulation to come.
As each church has its angel who watches over it and represents it before the Father, as demonstrated by the angels of the seven churches (and as angels represent and watch over little children who believe in Christ – Mat 18:10), so the church of Old and New Testament believers are watched over by the twenty four elders, whose specific task concerns the universal church. But they too are servants of God and must not therefore be venerated directly (Rev 19:10; Rev 22:9).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 4:4. Seats: Thrones: and so wherever it occurs. The four and twenty elders may be considered as representatives of the church, paying homage at the throne in the name of the rest.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 4:4 . The twenty-four elders whom John sees sitting [1720] on the twenty-four thrones standing about the throne of God [1721] are, in like manner, the heavenly representatives of the entire people of God; as, in Isa 24:23 , the elders are regarded the earthly heads and representatives of the entire Church. [1722] For, that these twenty-four elders are human , and not a “selection of the entire host of heaven,” [1723] nor angels, [1724] is decided by their designation, that which is ascribed to them (white robes and crowns), and the entire mode of their employment. [1725] They are neither the “bishops” or “prefects of the entire church,” [1726] nor priests, [1727] nor “the entire assembly of ministers of the word,” [1728] nor “all true rectors and faithful pastors of the N. T. Church,” [1729] nor Christian martyrs; [1730] but simply the representatives of the entire congregation of all believers, to whom, as to these elders, belong the holiness and glory indicated by the white robes, [1731] and the royal dominion by the thrones and crowns. [1732] The number twenty-four is not derived from the orders of priests, 1Co 16 , [1733] for the question here is in no respect concerning priests; and still less [1734] is it to be regarded as a type of the elders of the church at Jerusalem, for the idea that this church had just twenty-four elders is without any foundation. All those expositors are in the right way who, proceeding from the number twelve, attempt to indicate a doubling of it. As now, undoubtedly, the simple as well as the doubled twelve [1735] has particular reference to the twelve tribes of the O. T. Church, the twenty-four elders cannot be twelve apostles and twelve martyrs; [1736] but also the explanation that from each of the twelve tribes two representatives are regarded as standing, one on the right, the other on the left of the throne of God, [1737] is of itself unimportant and arbitrary. It is possible [1738] only to regard the twofold twelve, either the representatives of the O. and the N. T. Church, [1739] or the representatives of the Church gathered not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. [1740] Against the latter, Hengstenb. and Ebrard incorrectly say that the mode of view in the Apoc. is not conformable to that of the entire N. T.; for also in Rev 7:9 sqq., those saved from the heathen are distinguished from those from the twelve tribes (Rev 7:4 sqq.), and that, too, without detriment to the view according to which the heathen are added to Israel. Yet the former explanation of the twelve representatives of the churches of the O. and N. T. is to be preferred, because this in itself, and according to intimations like Rev 15:3 (the song of Moses and the Lamb ), is more immediate, and because, by this mode of statement, the twenty-four elders appearing in personal definitiveness can the more appropriately represent the O. and N. T. Churches. To wit, not “the twelve tribes,” as De Wette inconsistently explains, but the twelve personal heads of the Church of the O. T., composed of twelve tribes, i.e., the twelve patriarchs, are comprised in thought together with the twelve apostles, the N. T. antitypes to the patriarchs [1741] [See Note XLII., p. 202.] The objections made against the holiness of the twelve patriarchs [1742] are in no way pertinent, as they could also be urged against the apostles, because the patriarchs come into consideration not according to their own conduct or individual worth, but as the favored chiefs of the tribes of the O. T. people.
[1720] Cf. Rev 11:16 , .
[1721] The acc. depends upon a self-evident (De Wette).
[1722] In reference to this passage, the Tanchuma , p. 48, 1 (in Schttg.), says: “In the future, God ascribes glory to the elders. Our rabbins also have said: ‘God will make for himself an assembly of our elders.’ ” So, too (at p. 52 in Hengstenb.), according to Dan 7:9 , “In the future, God will sit, and the angels will give seats to the magnates of Israel, and they sit. And God sits with his elders, as the president of a senate, and will judge the Gentiles.”
[1723] Rinck.
[1724] Hofm.
[1725] Cf. Rev 5:5 , Rev 7:13 .
[1726] N. de Lyra, who, in their twenty-four seats finds, at the same time, all the cathedral churches portrayed.
[1727] Zeger.
[1728] Calov.
[1729] Vitr.
[1730] Eichh.
[1731] Cf. on Rev 4:3 .
[1732] Rev 20:4 , Rev 1:6 , Rev 3:21 . Cf. Primas, Aret., C. a Lap., Beng., Herd., De Wette, Stern, Hengstenb., Ebrard, etc.
[1733] Zeger, Vitr., Eichh., Ew. i., Hilgenf.
[1734] Grot.
[1735] Or, elsewhere, the quadruple. Cf. Rev 7:4 sqq., Rev 14:3 .
[1736] Joachim.
[1737] Heinr.
[1738] The explanation of Volkm., that the subject here is the representation of teacher and hearer as parts of the Christian Church having an equal title., is very remote. Klief.: The number twelve, the sign of the people of God, is doubled “because the blessed people of God assembled in heaven have increased, and daily increase, by those added to believers from all nations.” But, in connection with this, he rejects the distinction between Jewish and Gentile Christianity, made only by modern theologians in violation of Scripture.
[1739] Andr., Areth., Aret., C. a Lap., Bossuet, Stern, Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[1740] Bleek, De Wette. Cf. also Heinr.
[1741] Cf. Rev 21:12 ; Rev 21:14 ; Andr., Areth., Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[1742] De Wette, according to Joach.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XLII. Rev 4:4 .
Gebhardt, however (p. 48), urges against this view advocated by Dsterdieck, “the fact, that, on the gates of the New Jerusalem, the names of the twelve tribes the names of the patriarchs are written; and, on its foundations, the names of the twelve apostles (Rev 21:12 ; Rev 21:14 ); but neither on the gates, nor on the foundation, do we find the two associated. It is entirely foreign to the thoughts of the seer, to conceive of the two side by side with each other. They are the same, but one as the type, the other the fulfilment. The song of Moses and the Lamb (Rev 15:3 ), which is quoted in favor of this interpretation, is neither a double song, nor is it sung by O. and N. T. believers; it is one, and ascends from the lips of conquerors in the Christian life.” He argues that the elders are not concrete realities, “but, as the living creatures are a symbolical representation of the animated creation of God in general, according to its ideal, so are the elders a symbolical representation of the people of God, according to their ideal, or, in other words, of redeemed humanity.” Luthardt: “Not possibly the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles, or, in general, the representatives of the Church; for they are distinguished from believers, Rev 5:10 (according to the correct reading), Rev 7:9 sqq., 14, Rev 11:16 sqq.; and the glorified as yet wear no crowns, but are expecting only the time of dominion (Rev 2:10 to Rev 6:9 ); but it is the heavenly council, composed of representatives of the people of God in heaven.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(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 forever and ever, (10) The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever 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.
I would speak with all possible reverence, on a subject so infinitely sublime, as the one contained in this Chapter; and desire, rather to propose all I have to offer, by way of inquiry, than in a single instance to speak decidedly. But I venture to believe, that as in this Chapter, in the second vision John was favored with, the Lord was about to commit to him, certain prophecies, which his Church would have unfolded and accomplished, in the different ages, from that time, to the consummation of all things; the Lord in this Chapter was preparing his servant’s mind for that subject, by the solemn representation of what is here delivered. The Lord therefore begins with an account of the throne of God, similar to that of Isa 6 , where all the sanctities of heaven are around. It is the Church in which God erects his throne, therefore we find Elders worshipping before the throne, and though the song they sing is not recorded here, yet it is in the next Chapter, ascribing their redemption to Christ, Rev 5:9 . Now this could not be the song of Angels, but men. Hence, those Elders are men.
And it is as evident, that this representation is to set forth that Church upon earth; for the sea of glass, like unto crystal, intimated the fountain opened for sin, and uncleanness, and which are needed not in heaven. And the seven lamps, figurative of the sevenfold gifts of God the Spirit, are specially for the Lord’s people in this life. They are no longer required as principles of regeneration, and quickening in the state of perfection above. Not that the Holy Ghost through all eternity ceased his sweet influences, either to the Person of the glorious Head of his Church, or his members; but then not in a way as here below, of regenerating, illuminating, convincing, and converting mercy.
Concerning the Elders, and the four Beasts, there needs not to speak of them particularly. The Holy Ghost hath not thought proper to give the Church deeper views, into the mysteries of the kingdom, than is necessary, and to attempt lifting the veil higher, would be both presumptuous and unprofitable. It is enough for us to understand, that they belong to the Church of God: more than this, we need not.
But, Reader! here is enough to gratify our best intellectual faculties, and to employ our contemplation forever, in attending to the Hymn of Heaven, sung by the whole Choir, the Church. Oh! what unknown glories, in the holiness, greatness, and eternity of the whole Persons of the Godhead! This thrice repeating of Jehovah’s holiness, is striking. All God’s perfections and attributes, are standards of character, distinguishing the Lord from all his creatures. But yet, we never meet with any other prerogative of Jehovah, trebled as this is of his holiness. We do not say faithful, faithful, faithful, Lord God Almighty! I do not presume to explain. But I think it proper to notice it. Oh! for grace, to join the whole body the Church in the same hymn of praise, till we all come before the throne, in one full body of the redeemed, to praise God and the Lamb forevermore! Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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.
Ver. 4. And round about ] The saints are round about God, Psa 76:11 , a people near unto him, Psa 148:14 .
Four and twenty elders ] A full senate, a stately amphitheatre of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, clothed as priests, crowned as kings and conquerors.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 .] The assessors of the enthroned One . The construction with , partly in the nom., partly in the accus., still continues. And round the throne twenty-four thrones (i. e. evidently smaller thrones, and probably lower than ), and upon the twenty-four thrones elders sitting (the accus., either after understood, or more likely loosely placed with the nominatives after ), clothed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns (these 24 elders are not angels , as maintained by Rinck and Hofmann (Weiss. u. Erfll. p. 325 f.), as is shewn (not by ch. Rev 5:9 , as generally argued, even by Elliott, vol. i. p. 81 f.: see text there: but) by their white robes and crowns, the rewards of endurance , ch. Rev 3:5 , Rev 2:10 , but representatives of the Church , as generally understood. But if so, what sort of representatives, and why 24 in number? This has been variously answered. The usual understanding has been that of our earliest Commentator, Victorinus; who says, “Sunt autem viginti quatuor, patres: duodecim Apostoli, totidem Patriarch.” And this is in all probability right in the main: the key to the interpretation being the analogy with the sayings of our Lord to the Apostles, Mat 19:28 ; Luk 22:30 . That those sayings do not regard the same session as this, is no argument against the inference from analogy. Joachim brings against this view that the twelve patriarchs were not personally holy men, and never are held up as distinguished in the Old Testament. But this obviously is no valid objection. It is not the personal characters, but the symbolical, that are here in question. It might be said with equal justice that the number of the actual Apostles is not definitely twelve. It is no small confirmation of the view, that in ch. Rev 15:3 , we find the double idea of the church, as made up of Old Testament and New Testament saints, plainly revealed to St. John; for he heard the victorious saints sing the song of Moses , and the song of the Lamb . See also ch. Rev 21:12 ; Rev 21:14 , where the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes, and its twelve foundations with those of the twelve Apostles. Various other interpretations have been: that of Lyra, “designantur univers cathedrales ecclesi: qu licet sint mult, tamen sub tali numero designantur propter concordantiam novi Testamenti ad vetus, in quo legitur, 1 Paralip. xxv., quod sanctus David volens augmentare cultum divinum, statuit viginti quatuor sacerdotes templo per hebdomadas successive ministrantes, in sacra enim scriptura frequenter ponitur determinatus numerus pro indeterminato:” that of Alcas., Calov., Vitringa, Zeger, Ewald, al., who explain the number similarly by the 24 courses of priests and their heads, the objection to which is, that these elders are not priests, their occupation in ch. Rev 5:8 being simply connected with their representative character: that of Grot., that the number is that of the presiding elders of the Jerusalem church (a pure assumption): that of Joachim, Heinrichs, Bleek, De Wette, that the number 12, that of the tribes of Israel, is doubled, to signify the accession of the Gentiles to the church: that of Primasius and Ansbert, that the doubling is “propter geminum Testamentum, quin et in veteri et in novo eadem formatur Ecclesia.” Besides these, there have been many fanciful reasons, deduced from numerical considerations: as e. g. that of Arethas in Catena, that 21 Isa 3 7, the combination of the number of perfection with that of the Holy Trinity, and then 3 is added; &c. &c.).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 4:4 . This verse breaks the continuous description of 3 and 5; it is evidently an original touch of the writer introduced into the more or less traditional scenery of the eternal court where “all the sanctities of heaven stood thick as stars” ( cf. Rev 5:11 ). The conception of twenty-four royally (Rev 1:6 ) enthroned as divine assessors, with all the insignia of state, reaches back in part to a post-exilic apocalypse (Isa 24:23 , ), in part to the historic gerousia. But their attire (golden crowns, white robes) and functions are royal rather than judicial or sacerdotal. They are heavenly beings, angelic figures corresponding to the of Col 1:16 ( cf. Isa 63:9 ). The significance of the doubled 12 has been found in the twelve patriarchs or tribes + the twelve apostles (Andr., Areth., Vict., Alford, Weiss, etc.), in Jewish and Gentile Christianity (Bleek, de Wette, Weizscker, Swete), or in the twenty-four classes of the post-exilic priests with their “elders” (Schrer, H. J. P. i. 216 f., so from Vitringa to Ewald, Hilg., Renan, Spitta, Wellh., Erbes, Briggs). But the notion of the church as a fusion or combination of the old and the new covenants is alien to primitive Christianity, and the “elders’ are not the ideal or celestial representatives of the church at all. They pertain to the heavenly court, as in the traditional mise-en-scne of the later Judaism, which had appropriated this and other imaginative suggestions of the heavenly court (Schrader, 3 pp. 454 f.), or, judicial council from the Babylonian, astro-theology, where were ranged four-and-twenty stars, half to the north, and half to the south, of which the visible are reckoned as belonging to the living, the invisible to the dead, (Diod. Sic. 2:31, quoted by Gunkel in S. C. 302 308, who rightly finds in the same soil roots of other symbols in this passage, such as the four and the seven ). In Slav. En. iv. 1. immediately after “the very great sea” in the first heaven is mentioned ( cf. Rev 4:6 ), Enoch is shown “the elders and the rulers of the orders of the stars;” so in Judicium Petri , , twelve on the right hand of God and twelve on the left, as in Acta Perpet . The twenty-four star-deities of the Babylonian heaven had thus become adoring and subordinate angelic beings ( cf. , Rev 4:11 ) in the apocalyptic world of the later Judaism, and our author retains this Oriental trait, together with the seven torches, the halo, etc., in order to body forth poetically his conception of the divine majesty (so, after Gunkel, Jeremias, and Bousset, Bruston, J. Weiss, Scott, Forbes, Porter). A partial anticipation of this feature, as well as of some others, in the Apocalypse occurs not only in the “sacred council” of Doushara, the Nabatean deity ( cf. Cook’s North Semit. Inscr. , pp. 221 f., 443 f.), but in Egyptian mythology, as, e.g. , in the following inscription from the tomb of Unas (5th dynasty, 3500 B.C.) “His place is at the side of God, in the most holy place; he himself becomes divine ( neter ), and an angel of God; he himself is triumphant. He sits on the great throne by the side of God [Rev 3:21 ]. He is clothed with the finest raiment of those who sit on the throne of living right and truth. He hungers not, nor thirsts, nor is sad, for he eats daily the bread of Ra, and drinks what He drinks daily, and his bread also is that which is spoken of by Seb, and that which comes forth from the mouth of the gods [Rev 7:16-17 ; Rev 21:4 ]. Not only does he eat and drink of their food, but he wears the apparel they wear the white linen and sandals, and he is clothed in white and these great and never-failing gods give unto him of the Tree of Life [Rev 2:7 ] of which they themselves do eat, that he likewise may live.”
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
four and twenty. See App-10and App-197.
seats = thrones, as Rev 4:2. See Rev 1:4.
saw. The texts omit.
elders. Greek. presbuteros. These are evidently heavenly beings, “a pattern” after which David arranged his twenty-four courses of the sons of Aaron (1Ch 24:3-5).
they had. The texts omit.
crowns of gold. The only other wearer is the Son of Man (Rev 14:14), a fact which proves the exalted station of these “elders”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4.] The assessors of the enthroned One. The construction with , partly in the nom., partly in the accus., still continues. And round the throne twenty-four thrones (i. e. evidently smaller thrones, and probably lower than ), and upon the twenty-four thrones elders sitting (the accus., either after understood, or more likely loosely placed with the nominatives after ), clothed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns (these 24 elders are not angels, as maintained by Rinck and Hofmann (Weiss. u. Erfll. p. 325 f.), as is shewn (not by ch. Rev 5:9, as generally argued,-even by Elliott, vol. i. p. 81 f.: see text there: but) by their white robes and crowns, the rewards of endurance, ch. Rev 3:5, Rev 2:10,-but representatives of the Church, as generally understood. But if so, what sort of representatives, and why 24 in number? This has been variously answered. The usual understanding has been that of our earliest Commentator, Victorinus; who says, Sunt autem viginti quatuor, patres: duodecim Apostoli, totidem Patriarch. And this is in all probability right in the main: the key to the interpretation being the analogy with the sayings of our Lord to the Apostles, Mat 19:28; Luk 22:30. That those sayings do not regard the same session as this, is no argument against the inference from analogy. Joachim brings against this view that the twelve patriarchs were not personally holy men, and never are held up as distinguished in the Old Testament. But this obviously is no valid objection. It is not the personal characters, but the symbolical, that are here in question. It might be said with equal justice that the number of the actual Apostles is not definitely twelve. It is no small confirmation of the view, that in ch. Rev 15:3, we find the double idea of the church, as made up of Old Testament and New Testament saints, plainly revealed to St. John; for he heard the victorious saints sing the song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb. See also ch. Rev 21:12; Rev 21:14, where the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes, and its twelve foundations with those of the twelve Apostles. Various other interpretations have been: that of Lyra, designantur univers cathedrales ecclesi: qu licet sint mult, tamen sub tali numero designantur propter concordantiam novi Testamenti ad vetus, in quo legitur, 1 Paralip. xxv., quod sanctus David volens augmentare cultum divinum, statuit viginti quatuor sacerdotes templo per hebdomadas successive ministrantes, in sacra enim scriptura frequenter ponitur determinatus numerus pro indeterminato: that of Alcas., Calov., Vitringa, Zeger, Ewald, al., who explain the number similarly by the 24 courses of priests and their heads,-the objection to which is, that these elders are not priests, their occupation in ch. Rev 5:8 being simply connected with their representative character:-that of Grot., that the number is that of the presiding elders of the Jerusalem church (a pure assumption): that of Joachim, Heinrichs, Bleek, De Wette, that the number 12, that of the tribes of Israel, is doubled, to signify the accession of the Gentiles to the church: that of Primasius and Ansbert, that the doubling is propter geminum Testamentum, quin et in veteri et in novo eadem formatur Ecclesia. Besides these, there have been many fanciful reasons, deduced from numerical considerations: as e. g. that of Arethas in Catena, that 21 is 3 7, the combination of the number of perfection with that of the Holy Trinity, and then 3 is added; &c. &c.).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 4:4. [58]- — ) See App. Crit., Ed. ii. The 1st edition of Erasmus is correct: for John is accustomed to mix the cases: ch. Rev 1:16, Rev 18:12-13, etc.-) The article with the force of a relative. There are 24 thrones, and 24 elders; and each of the elders has his separate throne. I wish that he had weighed the force of this article, who in a recent cabalistic work multiplied the thrones, and those seated upon them. The elders (comp. , Heb 11:2), and they 24 in number, appear to be so many individuals, the most excellent of the human race; for instance, Adam, Seth, Enos, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Arphaxad, Selah, Eber, Peleg, Regu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram, Isaac, Jacob, Abel, Japhet (Melchisedech, Job).
[58] So Rec. Text and Tisch. But Lachm. with A, .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rev 4:4-8
2. THOSE ABOUT THE THRONE DESCRIBED
Rev 4:4-8 a
4 And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold.–The visions of this section (chapters 4 and 5) are evidently intended to represent the authority and power of God; his authority to determine the destiny of all classes of beings and his power to execute his decrees. Hence, the general setting is that of a kingdom–the exercise of royal power and its consequential glory and praise. God sitting upon his throne is represented as being surrounded by twenty-four elders sitting upon thrones. These, though inferior to God, are clearly presented as ruling in some secondary sense, for they have crowns of gold on their heads. The essential and most important lesson here, doubtless, is that all intelligent creatures are required to worship and serve Jehovah. Commentators have disagreed much as to why they were called “elders” and why the number twenty-four. It should be remembered that heavenly things can only be described understandingly through something earthly. The term “elders” represents a leading class in both Jewish and Christian systems and, therefore, is an appropriate word to describe those who exercise a secondary rule under God’s authority. The number twelve probably indicates completeness, and double that number may be used to emphasize that idea. Some think the number was suggested by the twelve patriarchs of the old covenant and the twelve apostles in the new. If they only describe a class of purely angelic beings, and have no typical significance at all, it shows that all creatures of that class worship God. If all heavenly beings worship God, then all human beings should do so. This sustains the leading purpose of the vision. Clothed in white robes indicates purity and shows their worthiness to sit in positions of secondary authority.
5 And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders.–These awe-inspiring sounds which John heard were, doubtless, intended to indicate the majesty and power of God. Proceeding from the throne would show that whatever they represented was to come from God’s power. It is almost the same description that Moses gave as literally occurring at Mount Sinai (Exo 19:16) when God spake directly to the people, giving commands and prohibitions. This shows God’s power to bless or punish according to his promises. As the display of power at Mount Sinai warned the people to hear and give heed to what was to he spoken, so this display of the same powers in the vision warned John, and through him all others, to give heed to the things about to begin to be revealed. It was a divine assurance that the things to be revealed to John would surely come to pass.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;–Seven lamps burning show that the scene was perfectly and continuously illuminated. John himself says that these lamps are “the seven Spiritsof God.” This is final as to what they mean in this verse. On the expression “seven Spirits” see notes on 1:4, where it is argued that the Holy Spirit is meant. It indicates that the Holy Spirit would make a complete and accurate revelation to John of all the things to come to pass just as he had made a correct revelation in things contained in other scriptures.
6 and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like unto crystal; –To John there appeared spreading out before the throne a sea smooth and clear as ice or crystal. It is useless to spend time speculating as to what this sea symbolizes; it might be only a part of the heavenly vision with no special significance. Still it will do no harm to mention two facts, true in themselves, that may be involved in the language (1) The broad expanse may suggest the worldwide extent to which God’s rule can go. (2) The calmness and smoothness of a glassy sea may indicate the peace of those who are pure worshipers of God in his kingdom. This would be in contrast with the raging and turbulent sea that symbolizes the upheavals in sinful nations.
and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.–Commentators are agreed that the word “beast,” found in the King James Version of this verse, is an indefensible translation. It is a different Greek word from that correctly translated “beast” in 13:1, 11. “Living creatures” is broad enough in meaning to include all creatures having life, but here the expression is applied to the four described in the next verse. What these four creatures represent is a question answered in a variety of ways by scholars. The most plausible explanation is based upon information furnished by the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah. In his first chapter Ezekiel describes “visions of God” which he saw by the river Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans. These visions are so similar to what John saw that either may be used in explanation of the other. Ezekiel also saw “four living creatures,” but his description of them varies some from that of John. Seeing in the visions some things that did not appear to John does not change the fact that he was viewing God surrounded by heavenly attendants. In his tenth chapter Ezekiel describes another vision and says, “This is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.” (Verse 15.) Mentioning the faces which he saw he said, “They were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar.” (Verse 22.) Referring to the creature again (verse 20) he said, “And I knew that they were cherubim.” In Gen 3:24 we learn that cherubim guarded the approach to the tree of life, and in Exo 25:18 that two cherubim made of gold were placed upon the mercy seat in the tabernacle. Since those John saw were living creatures, not a gold image, the cherubim must refer to some kind of heavenly beings that continually wait upon and worship God. An understanding of their nature, of course, is impossible. In Isa 6:1-4 the prophet gives a similar vision of the “Lord sitting upon a throne” and above him seraphim. This word means “fiery ones,” and probably indicates a bright and glorious appearance on those about God’s throne. The sum of the matter seems to be that the creatures John saw were heavenly beings who are continually about God’s throne.
In the midst of the throne and round about the throne is supposed to mean that one stood on each of the four sides of the throne. “Full of eyes before and behind” probably means their ability to see in all directions or comprehend all God’s glory and be ready to give proper adoration.
7 And the first creature was like a. lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.–The living creatures that Ezekiel saw (1:6, 10) appeared to have four faces each; those John saw appeared with one face each. But the faces of a lion, ox, man, and eagle are mentioned by both. These faces represent four classes of created life–man, wild animals, tame animals, and birds. This is strictly a vision of what John saw in heaven about God’s throne, but doubtless was intended to show that all classes of God’s creatures must render proper honor to him as creator. It may also imply that all God’s creatures must share properly in whatever punishments that may be inflicted against evil.
8 And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within:–Full of eyes is repeated here from verse 6. See note there. Wings naturally indicate the swiftness of movement, and probably show the readiness and speed with which they served God.
Commentary on Rev 4:4-8 by Foy E. Wallace
The four and twenty elders-Rev 4:4-5.
1. Four and twenty seats: nd upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting-Rev 4:4.
The four and twenty signified the patriarchs and apostles- twelve each, twenty-four in number. It was the symbol of the totality of Gods people in the New Testament church; the whole body of the redeemed. The twelve tribes and the twelve apostles represented the completeness of the church; the Old and the New were combined in the symbol represented in the chiefs: the patriarchs of the Old, and the apostles of the New.
2. Lightnings . . . voices . . . thunderings”-Rev 4:5.
These were signs of a procession of terrible and awful events and is an impressive representation of Omnipotence. (Exo 19:16) It was a symbol of the accompanying divine presence in the seven lamps and the seven spirits before the throne, signifying universal presence, with eyes to search whole world, and to bring all men to judgment.
The four living beasts (beings)-Rev 4:6-11.
1. The sea of glass-Rev 4:6.
This denotes the great broad space. A throne chamber with crystal pavement as a figure of magnitude and grandeur was added to the scene.
2. The beings full of eyes-Rev 4:6.
The eyes were before, behind, and all around, symbolizing superhuman intelligence. It was imagery of the divine providential rule and protection of an all-seeing God.
3. The four beasts-Rev 4:6-7.
In the midst of the throne and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. The meaning of the word beasts here is beings, or creatures resembling the animals. It is necessary to distinguish these beasts or beings from the beasts that symbolized the persecutors. These beings were in the midst . . . round about the throne; hence, not beasts as in the persecutor symbol.
The first beast was like a lion, symbolizing strength; the second beast was like a calf (ox), meaning endurance under yoke; the third beast was the face of a man, signifying intelligence, reason, and wisdom; the fourth beast was like an eagle, representing penetrating vision and swiftness in the execution of judgment. The four beasts (beings) had six wings each (Verse 8), and the wings were full of eyes, indicating the universal survey of an all-seeing Omniscience.
And they rest not day and night–praising the One on the throne without surcease. There was no suspension of Gods providence; no cessation in the honor ascribed; no interruption of the praise; no intermission in the various dispensations and acts of his providence and in the praise, glory, homage derived and received, and in the worship rendered to him who was declared to be eternal.
4. The doxology-Rev 4:8-11.
Compare the seraphim of Isa 6:2; and the angelic guard of attendants, suited to a grand composite scene, it pictured a glorious epiphany. Acting in concert, the creature– beings–say, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty; and the elders on the throne-seats fell before Him who sat on the throne and worshiped in unison, without discord; in unity of worship, and in unity of honor to one God; and they cast their crowns before Him as a sign of surrender to Gods will, for they were as he willed and were created to do his pleasure
Commentary on Rev 4:4-8 by Walter Scott
THE ROYAL AUTHORITY OF THE REDEEMED.
Rev 4:4 “And round the throne twenty-four thrones,and on the thrones twenty-four elders sitting, clothed with white garments; and on their heads golden crowns.” The thrones and crowns point to a royal company of redeemed and glorified saints in Heaven, clearly not before, but after, the resurrection (1Co 15:23). Spirits sitting, clothed and crowned, is an incongruous thought, and one entirely foreign to Scripture.Grouped round the vast throne in Heaven are twenty-four thrones of which the authority and stability are derived from, and sustained by, the measureless throne of the Eternal. “Seats,” as in the Authorised Version, is a feeble and inadequate thought. The word “throne” is connected with a royal personage; “seat” with a private person.
These twenty-four elders, or chiefs, represent the general body of the redeemed then in Heaven. They play an important part in the scenes recorded and visions beheld from chapter 4 to chapter 19, where in verse four the last notice of them is recorded.
(“Elders” as a term occurs twelve times. The varied actions and services in which they take part show clearly enough that they are the representatives of the redeemed and risen saints. They are enthroned; fall down and worship; one of them comforts the weeping Seer and interprets the mind of Heaven; they have harps and vials of incense; they sing (never said of angels); are the nearest company to the throne and to the Lamb; intelligently explain as to the redeemed on earth; celebrate the millennial and eternal triumph of God; and add their “amen” and “hallelujah” to the judgment of the whore, the corrupter of the earth.
The passages where the word is found are as follows: Rev 4:4; Rev 4:10; Rev 5:5-6; Rev 5:8; Rev 5:11; Rev 5:14; Rev 7:11; Rev 7:13; Rev 11:16; Rev 14:3; Rev 19:4.)
The elders are a distinct company from the beasts or living creatures, and from the angels. In Rev 5:1-14 the action of the elders, as distinguished from that of angels, makes it impossible to regard them as one and the same; verse 11 distinguishes by title the three companies. The elders sing (v. 9), the angels say (v. 12).The angels are never numbered (Heb 12:22), the elders are. Six times the representative number “twenty-four” occurs. Angels are not said to be crowned, the elders are. The choral praise of Heaven, in harp and song, seems the peculiar function of the elders. Heavenly intelligence, especially in themes and subjects connected with redemption, is ascribed to the elders and not to angels. By the elders we understand, therefore, the innumerable company of the redeemed saints, raised and changed, and caught up to meet Christ in the air (1Th 4:17). Their crowns and thrones betoken their royal dignity; the harp and song their joy in worship, while their robes and vials point to priestly character and action. But why “twenty-four?” The significance of the numeral must be sought for in the first book of Chronicles 24, 25. David divided the priesthood into twenty-four orders or courses, each course serving in turn (Luk 1:1-80; Luk 5:1-39; Luk 8:1-56; Luk 9:1-62). The respective elders or chiefs of these courses would represent the whole of the Levitical priesthood. There would thus be twenty-four chief priests and one high priest.(*Josephus, the Jewish historian, informs us that his family was “of the first course of the four and twenty,” no mean order. Some understand the twenty-four to represent the governmental number “twelve,” thus signifying the sum of Old Testament saints as one body, and the sum of New Testament saints as another body of believers, thus the two twelves. We deem it unwarrantable to break up the symbol in this manner. We are satisfied however that the reference in the “twenty-four” is to 1Ch 24:1-31; 1Ch 25:1-31.) Their varied service corresponded to that of the elders in Heaven, for the temple (no less than the tabernacle) in structure,vessels, and services was framed according to things in the heavens. God’s people are termed “an holy priesthood” (1Pe 2:5) and “a royal priesthood” (v. 9), and in both characters they are here seen in action.
The white garments indicate the purity and priestly character of the elders. “On their heads golden crowns ” bespeak their royal dignity. Every redeemed and risen saint will be crowned; this is in no wise a distinctive crown peculiar to some, but intimates royal dignity and authority common to all the heavenly saints.
Rev 4:5-6
THE THRONE THE CENTRE OF ACTION AND INTEREST.
Rev 4:5-6. “And out of the throne go forth lightnings,and voices, and thunders; and seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which art the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne as a glass sea like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.” Having had the relation of the saints to the throne as surrounding it, and their royal authority derived from and dependent upon it, we have next the action of the throne itself. “Out” of it, not “from” it, issue the precursors of coming judgment, “lightnings, and voices, and thunders.” It has been said that “the book hardly ever alludes to anything not Biblical,” and we may add that the author of the Apocalypse assumes that the reader is tolerably acquainted with the previous parts of the sacred volume, and, further, that every symbol with which the book abounds may be interpreted and understood from its use in some part or other of the sacred Scriptures. On no account seek the interpretation of any part of the Apocalypse outside the covers of your Bible. The meaning of every symbol must be sought for in the Word itself. The threefold intimation of immediate judgment is eminently fitted to strike terror into the hearts of the guilty on earth. The throne is about to assert itself in power. God is preparing to break out in judgment and deal with the high-handed iniquity in the coming crisis lying between the Translation of the heavenly saints and their subsequent Return from Heaven. These signs of judicial dealing are Jehovah’s premonitory intimations of His power in judgment (Psa 29:3-5). The same signs, with some additions, are mentioned in connection with the promulgation of the law (Exo 19:1-25). The effect on the people is also stated, “All the people that were in the camp trembled” (v. 16). How much more widespread andalarming will these tokens of wrath be felt in a scene of almost unmixed evil governed by Satan!
Rev 4:5 “Seven lamps of fire burning before the throne” denote the fulness of the Spirit in governmental action. The Spirit here is not viewed as saving men through the preaching of the Gospel, nor in any of His varied services in the Church, but is here witnessed in moral keeping with the throne itself. Everything inconsistent with the absolute purity of the throne must be judged; hence the Spirit is here viewed in connection with the righteous character of the throne. “Those seven (spiritual perfection) lamps of fire will search out and expose all contrary to the holy nature of God” (compare with Rev 1:4; and Isa 11:2).
Rev 4:6. “And before the throne as a glass sea like crystal.” The typology of the Old Testament enters largely into the structure of the Apocalypse. Here there seems an evident allusion to the laver in the tabernacle (Exo 30:18-21), and perhaps more directly to the moltensea in the temple (1Ki 7:23-37), both for priestlypurification. But the sea of glass points to a fixed state of holiness, of purity inward and outward, while “before the throne” would indicate that the purity is in keeping with the holy character of the throne itself. “Like crystal.” (“A sea of glass expressive of smoothness and brightness; and this heavenly sea is of crystal, declaring that the calm of Heaven is not, like earthly seas, ruffled by winds but is crystallised into an eternity of peace.” — Wordsworth.) The clearness and beauty of that scene of holiness spread out before the throne are signified by the crystal. The two symbols, glass and crystal, are nearly allied, but are not quite the same. The former is a manufactured article, the latter is a native production. Thus the “glass” of the sea points to a settled state of purity, while the “crystal” intimates that the state is one according to God in His holy nature. The divine idea is connected with the employment of this latter symbol (Eze 1:22; Rev 21:11; Rev 22:1). The sea of glass isagain referred to in Rev 15:1-8, but “mingled with fire,” expressive of the fiery ordeal, out of which the martyrs emerge. They stand on the sea of glass; here it is unoccupied.
The Seer next describes another class of beings, beasts rather, living ones, distinct, too, from the elders and angels,and more closely connected with the throne than either.
Rev 4:6 “In the midst of the throne” shows that they are an integral part of it, “and around the throne” that theyare externally connected with it. That is, the living creatures (not beasts) may be viewed either as vitally connected with the judicial authority of God, or as apart from, yet in relation to it. Intuitive intelligence, fulness of spiritual discernment, seems to be the force of the words “full of eyes before and behind.”
Rev 4:7-8
THE LIVING CREATURES AND THEIR WORSHIP.
Rev 4:7; Rev 4:8. “The first living creature like a lion, and the second living creature like a calf, and the third living creature having the face as of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having respectively six wings; round and within they are full of eyes; and they cease not, day and night, saying, Holy, holy,holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, Who is, and Who is to come.” Why “four” living ones? Because “four” represents the attributes of God in judicial dealing with man and creation. It is the signature of the world and of the race, and is employed when universality is in question. The representatives, or heads of the animal creation, are named as the lion for majesty, the ox (calf) for patient endurance, the man for intelligence, and the eagle for rapidity of action. Now these symbols express certain features in the exercise of divine government, and are fittingly introduced here in view of the immediate exerciseof these divine attributes. The whole scene under Heaven is to be visited in judgment; hence the employment of the numeral “four.” (“The numerals three’ and four’ significantly express the divine and the human. There are three persons in the Godhead. Three times the seraphim announce the holiness of God, crying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts (Isa 6:3). Three times the living creatures say Holy'(Rev 4:8). Jehovah’s relationship to time and eternity is expressed in a three fold way, which was, and is, and is to come’ (v. 8). There are three specified temptations of our Lord (Luk 4:1-44). Three times our Lord on earth was publicly owned by God (Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5 : Joh 12:28). On the third day the Lord was raised. The darkness which gathered round the cross and over the landlasted three hours.Faith, hope, and love are the three cardinal Christian virtues.Christ announces Himself in three characters, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The divine blessing is three times expressed (Num 6:23-24). Three’ is the signature of God. Four’ is the signature of the world. Four divisions of the race, nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues’ (Rev 7:9). Four elements. Four winds. Four seasons. Four presentations of Christ in the Gospels. Four living creatures. Four universal empires (Dan 7:1-28). Four great offerings, as the burnt offering (Lev 1:1-17).the meal or flour offering (Lev 2:1-16), the peace or communion offering (Lev 3:1-17), and the sin offering (Lev 4:1-35). God’s four sore judgments (Eze 14:21). Four women in the Lord’s human genealogy (Mat 1:1-25). The brazen altar had four sides and four horns. The golden altar had four sides and four horns. Four is the signature of man and generally of the material creation. “The old Rabbinical writers assert that the four standards for the tribes of Israel,round which they were ordered to pitch their tents on each side of the tabernacle, as in Num 2:2, were as follows: for the tribe of Judah a lion; for the tribe of Ephraim, an ox; for the tribe of Reuben, a man; for the tribe of Dan, an eagle.” “Notes on the Revelation.” by F. Brodie. Hengstenberg quotes an old Jewish saying: “There are four which take the first place in this world: Man among the creatures, the eagle among birds, the ox among cattle, and the lion among wild beasts.”) Thus in the four living creatures grouped together we have a complete and perfect view of God’s judicial government. The symbols are taken from the most prominent animals, not from those in the sea. The first attribute of God’s throne symbolised by a lion is majesty, strength, omnipotence (Gen 49:9; Dan 7:4; Amo 3:8). The second symbol is an ox or calf in patientlabour, assiduously working for the good of others (1Co 9:9-10; Pro 14:4). The third creature had the face asof a man, denoting intelligence or reason (Job 9:24;Ezr 9:6). The fourth symbol of a flying eagle intimates keen sight and rapid action (Deu 28:49; Job 9:26; Hab 1:8; Job 39:27-30). Now these characteristicscombined express the character of God’s throne in relation to the earth. They are attributes of a judicial nature exercised through human or angelic instruments according to the sovereign pleasure of God. The living creatures represent the judicial authority of the throne. From the first mentioned of the cherubim (Gen 3:24) till the last (Heb 9:5) the same leading thought characterises all thepassages, namely, the attributes of God’s government. (It has been sought to identify the cherubim and the living creatures with the Church, but this far-fetched idea cannot for a moment be entertained, for two reasons: first, the cherubim were fashioned out of the same piece of gold which formed the mercy-seat, the gold signifies Christ as divine, as the wood of the shittah tree sets forth His holy and incorruptible humanity; now we are not, and could not be, united to Him as God. The cherubim were not united to the mercy-seat, although they formed a part of it. Second, the judicial character of the cherubim would forbid the application to the Church, which is here to display the grace of God, not His judicial ways.)
The differences between the living creatures of Ezekiel chapter 1, the cherubim in chapters 9 and 10 of the same prophet, and the living creatures of the Apocalypse are numerous and interesting. In the description furnished by the prophet of the captivity each of the four living ones had four faces and four wings (Eze 1:6). The apocalyptic Seer depicts only the third living creature with a man’s face, and each of the four with six wings (Rev 4:7-8).There they had wheels; here they have none. There the throne was above them; here they are in the midst of it and also around it. There they were full of eyes, the “whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about” (Eze 10:12); here they are “full of eyes before and behind” and also “within.” Many of these differences may be accounted for by the fact that the judgment of Judah and Jerusalem is specially treated of in Ezekiel, and as that judgment was to come from the north (Babylon), the wheels would run on earth as presenting the course of earthly judgment, whereas the living ones here are not yet seen in action; they are the ministers of the throne. In judicial activity they act from Heaven; hence wings and not wheels. Besides, a much more extended sphere of judgment is presented by the Seer than Judah and its guilty capital, Jerusalem, for the whole earth is about to tremble under the action of the throne.
The care of the cherubim is for the public, governmental glory of God (Eze 10:1-22). The care of the seraphim is for the holiness of God; these latter are named but once in Scripture (Isa 6:1-13). The living creatures of the Apocalypse area combination of both cherubim and seraphim.
Each of the four living creatures had “six wings.” The seraphim of Isaiah (Isa 6:2) had “six wings” each, two to cover face and feet respectively, and two for rapidity of action. The living creatures beheld by the prophet of the captivity had each “four wings” (Eze 1:5-6). Thenumeral “four” is largely employed in that chapter because the earthly government of God is in question. The “six wings” in each of the living creatures in the Apocalypse denote an activity beyond the powers of nature, supernatural activity.
Rev 4:8. “Full of eyes within” signify inward spiritual perception of the governmental purposes and acts of God.In the previous part of the description the eyes are also said to be “before and behind” (v. 6). The future and the past come equally within the range of the perceptive faculties of the living creatures.
Having given a description of the living creatures the Seer next describes their worship. In this blessed and happy exercise there is no relaxation: “They cease not day and night.” There is no imperfection in their service; neither lassitude nor weakness characterise their worship. Unceasingly they worship, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, Who is, and Who is to come.” We may here remark that in two respects the living creatures resemble the seraphim; in the number of wings and in the threefold ascription of worship (compare with Isa 6:1-13). The works of God praise Him, but deeper still His attributes declare His holy, holy, holy nature, i.e., what He is in Himself. The titles of the Deity here grouped and the respective truths connected with each are ceaselessly celebrated. The very powers which execute the righteous behests of the throne (Rev 6:1-17) here glorify Him in His divine Being. The living creatures symbolically represent the several attributes named, and “give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him that sits upon the throne.”
The divine titles are LORD, or Jehovah, the self-existing One; God in relation to creation; the Almighty in grace, power, and in “sustaining resources.” In addition to these the divine Being is also celebrated as the God of the ages, Who was, is, and is to come. For this latter, i.e., what God is in His own proper Being and nature, see Rev 1:4. Here “Who was” precedes the term of independent and eternal existence “Who is,” this latter is first stated in the earlier reference. Thus the four living creatures worship God.
Commentary on Rev 4:4-8 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 4:4. God has had two organic systems of religion in the world, the Mosaic and the Christian. The former was arranged under twelve tribes (with their heads) and the latter is administered under twelve apostles (Mat 19:28). The four and twenty elders represent the two systems of religion. Clothed in. white raiment signfies a life of righteousness, because all men who live righteously before God, whether they were in the days of the Mosaic system or in those of the Christian, will be Permitted to surround the throne in heaven as victors over the world. These elders are in the vision to represent all the saved under the two systems.
Rev 4:5. Lightnings and thunder-ings and voices symbolize authority issuing from the throne and it is coining from some being whose voice is as penetrating as ligthning and as impressive as a roll of thunder. Seven lamps denote complete illumination and the seven Spirits of God are explained at Rev 1:4.
Rev 4:6. A sea. is deep and crystal glass is clear and pure, symbolizing the beauty of the scene around the throne. Four beasts is an unfortunate translation, for we always think of a “beast” as an animal of the lower world, and hence not a fitting symbol of something enjoying the dignity of these in this verse; the proper rendering of the original word is, “living creatures.” Full of eyes before and behind symbolizes the ability to look in a universal direction.
Rev 4:7. In comparing one living creature with another it is intended only to consider one or two points of similarity, because there might be some characteristics common to all of them. A lion is bold and strong; a calf represents meekness; a man signifies more intelligence than other creatures; an eagle denotes exaltation and fleetness. The identity of these creatures and the reason why there were just four of them will be shown in the next chapter.
Rev 4:8. Had each of them six wings. Had it said that they had four wings even, it would have aroused our inquiry since a flying creature normally uses only two wings. We must conclude, therefore, that these wings were not all for the purpose of flying. A similar figure is given in Isa 6:2 where the creatures that stood near the throne had each six wings. We may obtain some suggestions for our verse by reading the use Isaiah said these creatures made of their six wings. Each one used two of his wings to cover his face (indicating humility in the presence of God); with two of them he cover his feet (indicating modesty before the throne); with two he did fly (denoting a readiness to go on any errand desired by the Lord). Full of eyes within denotes that they could make an intelligent application of the things they could see outwardly or around them. Rest not means they did not pause day or night in ascribing praise to the Lord. Was and is and is to come is commented upon at Rev 1:4.
Rev 4:9. These beasts (living creatures) not only ascribed glory and honor to the Lord, but also gave thanks to Him who sat on the throne continuously. That for which they were thankful will be understood when we study the next chapter.
Rev 4:10. The four and twenty elders are explained at verse 4. Cast their crowns is not a movement as if discarding the crowns for all the circumstances are against anything that unfavorable. It was a gesture of respect, recognizing the Lord as the one to whom they owed all the honor that was being enjoyed in possessing crowns.
Rev 4:11. Thou art worthy is not an overture of flattery, for they immediately give their reasons for the expression of praise, namely, He was the Creator of all things.
Commentary on Rev 4:4-8 by Burton Coffman
Rev 4:4
And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold.
There are almost as many explanations of this as there are commentators. Who are these elders? They have been variously identified as symbolical of: (1) the “raptured” church which allegedly had already happened;[27] (2) the twenty-four star gods of the Babylonian pantheon;[28] (3) in the Targum the elders are interpreted as leaders of the Jewish people; (4) the twenty-four priestly orders enumerated in 1Ch 24:4 ff;[29] (5) a special order of angels, an interpretation rejected by Lenski on the grounds that angels are nowhere symbolized in Revelation;[30] (6) an order of angel princes called thrones in Col 1:16;[31] etc. The interpretation received here is stated thus by Carpenter:
They are described as twenty-four in number; they are the twelve tribes of Israel doubled, to signify the union of the Gentile with the Jewish church; they are two sets of twelve, to represent the New Testament and Old Testament; they are the twelve patriarchs conjoined with the twelve apostles – These interpretations (alleged by many) are all different forms of the same thought, that the twenty- four elders represent the complete church of God in the past and in the future, in the Jewish and Gentile worlds; and, as such, the true spiritual successors, as priests to God, of those twenty-four courses (1Ch 26:1 ff).[32]
The great majority of the commentators we have consulted on this question, including Barnes, Earle, Hinds, Scott, and Wallace, accept the view advanced in the quotation above. Some have objected to it on the grounds of what they call “difficulties” in such an interpretation; and others merely avoid trying to answer the question: “One really needs no theory of their presence. They are heavenly creatures and are part of the heavenly scene.”[33] The views of Lenski are of particular interest. He objected to our interpretation on the grounds that “elders are not representative of the church.”[34] He referred them to “the ministry of the Word,” which he believed to be the reality symbolized by the twenty-four elders. It appears to us, however, that this is a distinction without a difference. Since the church is entrusted with the ministry of the word of God in this entire dispensation, his interpretation still refers it to the church.
There are, however, more considerable objections to this interpretation which have given some scholars hesitancy in accepting it. Some of these are: (1) one of the elders performs an angelic function in Rev 7:13-14, and is addressed by John as “Sir.” If the twelve apostles were typified, John himself must have been included; (2) they seem to be grouped apart from the redeemed in Rev 19:4; (3) these elders appear to be participating in the executive function of the throne of God itself; etc. It must be admitted that such things reflect against the interpretation we have chosen; but we simply set aside such alleged “inconsistencies” on the grounds that similar “inconsistencies” may be leveled against any interpretation. For example, how could human figures represent supernatural beings? There are compelling reasons that underlie the fact of the majority of scholars, especially the older ones, adopting the view presented here. They are:
(1) The number twenty-four cannot be interpreted at all, apart from the view here. (2) The very word “presbyters” connects with nothing else in heaven or on earth except the Jewish and Christian dispensations. (3) The elders’ having crowns suggests Mat 19:28. (4) They say that they reign on the earth (Rev 5:10). (5) The KJV in Rev 5:9 identifies them with the redeemed of earth; and despite this verse’s having been changed in subsequent versions, Seiss emphatically insists that the KJV is correct, since “the Sinaiticus manuscript contains it.”[35]
[27] Ibid.
[28] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 63.
[29] G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 114.
[30] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 181.
[31] F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 642.
[32] W. Boyd Carpenter, Ellicott’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 552.
[33] J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 54.
[34] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 178.
[35] J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1900), p. 104.
Rev 4:5
And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;
Thunder and lightning, etc. … “These announce the presence of God, as at Sinai (Exo 19:16), and the seven burning lamps refer to the Holy Spirit.”[36] The combined symbols of this verse convey no meaning except that of “God’s omnipotent power.”[37] Subsequent versions use “torches” here instead of lamps, and perhaps that is better. Carpenter found a suggestion in this of the “torch” that moved between the parted sacrifice in the account of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 15:17), indicating that both of God’s covenants with Noah and with Abraham were symbolized in this chapter.
[36] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 107.
[37] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 176.
Rev 4:6
and before the throne as it were a sea of glass like unto crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.
A sea of glass … If the sea represents populations of the earth, as in late chapters, the calmness of it here would indicate the tranquillity and peacefulness of souls in the service of God, and how his eyes can penetrate to the very bottom. The purpose of the crystal sea might have been simply the creation of an emphatic distance between the beholder and the throne itself. There is also the possibility that it is an inert factor in the vision, as are certain ingredients in the parables of the Master.
The four living creatures … The many eyes “before and behind” in these creatures have a suggestion of something approaching omniscience, yet their being “creatures” limits this. The visions in Ezekiel 1 and Isaiah 6 are so similar to this that we feel justified in accepting what is revealed there as having the same application here. For some time, it appears, Ezekiel wondered what the living creatures were; but a later vision (Ezekiel 10) gave him the clue to the mystery. Then he said:
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew they were cherubim (Eze 10:20).
We may safely set aside, therefore, the ancient interpretations that interpret these as the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, or the symbols of the four divisions of Israel’s marching formation in the wilderness,[38] “the countless living earthly agencies of God’s providence,”[39] “the entire animate creation,”[40] or “the four chief signs of the Zodiac,”[41] etc. There is practically nothing that can be fully known about these living beings in God’s presence. John’s description of what he saw in this vision of God’s throne is not a photographic depiction, but an impressionistic view.
[38] Adam Clarke, op. cit., p. 989.
[39] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 181.
[40] G. R. Beasley-Murray, op. cit., p. 117.
[41] Ibid.
Rev 4:7
And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.
Of course, everyone is familiar with the adoption of these figures in church architecture to stand for the Four Gospels, but this has no foundation in the Bible. Roberts did not hesitate to identify these with the “seraphim” in Isa 6:2, and the “cherubim” of Eze 10:20.[42]
ENDNOTE:
[42] J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 56.
Rev 4:8
And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
Six wings … The use of these, as indicated in Isaiah 6, was: two covered the face (reverence), two covered the feet (humility), and “with twain did he fly.” No such employment of the wings is mentioned here.
It would appear that the big point of this was properly ascertained by Barnes:
All these creatures pay ceaseless homage to God, whose throne they are represented as supporting; emblematic of the fact that all the operations of the divine government do, in fact, promote his glory, and, as it were, render him praise.[43]
Holy, holy, holy … In commentaries, now and then, one finds this referred to as the Trisagion; but the designation is not accurate.
The Trysagion is the hymn which is sung, according to the rite of Constantinople, in connection with the Little Entrance …. In the Roman liturgy, it is sung on only one day of the year, Good Friday, in the special office called the Reproaches.[44]
Who was and who is and who is to come … On this reference to Exo 3:14, see comment on similar words in Rev 1:4; Rev 1:8.
[43] Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 107.
[44] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 147.
Commentary on Rev 4:4-8 by Manly Luscombe
4 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. 24 elders – Most commentaries teach that this number represents the 12 tribes of Israel (Jewish Age) and the 12 apostles (Church Age). Thus, they represent Gods dealing with man in all periods of history. NOTE: The names of the 12 tribes are inscribed on the 12 gates of heaven. The 12 apostles are on the 12 foundations. 24 thrones – Some believe this represents the heavenly court (similar to our President meeting with his Cabinet). White robes and gold crowns – White robes are used in Revelation to signify purity and salvation. The gold crowns show us that they are reigning with God. Of course, they are not over God. They are reigning with Him.
NOTE: This is an important point to remember when you get to chapter 20.
5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Thunder and lightning – John returns to focus on God, His power and might. Seven Spirits of God – Are connected to the seven lamps. This may refer to the seven churches and their messengers. (See Rev 1:20) Burning before the throne – God is aware of each church. He knows of our faith, works, teaching, and steadfastness. He is aware of our sins, weakness, and downfalls.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. Sea of glass – Have you been near a lake at sunset. All is very calm. The water is smooth, like glass. The picture here is one of calmness and tranquility in heaven. This stands as a sharp contrast to the hardship, persecution and exile John was enduring on earth. Four living creatures – There are three possible explanations here – a) Since the number four represents the earth, these creatures may represent the entire population of earth. b) These four creatures may be the archangels. We know of Michael and Gabriel by name. Some have thought there are four of them. They would be close to God because they are over all the heavenly host of angels. c) The four creatures represent all living things. (See the comments on the next verse.)
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four creatures are described – The first like a lion (wild animal); the second like a calf (tame animal); the third like a man (humans); the forth like an eagle (birds). Here you have represented four major categories of living things. God is creator of all life. He created man, but He also created wild animals, which can cause us great harm and even death.
8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come! Six wings – The graphic picture here may show us the speed and swiftness of their ability to deal with our needs. Eyes around – They have the ability to see in all directions and know what is happening everywhere. Nothing goes on that escapes their sight. They worship God – While they might have some amazing abilities as we humans see them, they are subject to the Lord God Almighty. Was, is and is to come – God is present tense. What God was in the past, He is today, and will be the same tomorrow. With God all things are present tense. God is the great I AM.
Sermon on Rev 4:1-8
A View of Heaven
Brent Kercheville
Do you wonder what heaven looks like? Wouldnt it be great to have the opportunity to peer into the throne room of God and see what is going on in heaven? John gets the opportunity and he tells us what he saw. There are three key texts that give us a picture of heaven. Two of those texts are in the Old Testament. The third text is found here in Revelation 4. What do you suppose we will see? The typical picture of heaven today is people laying on clouds, wearing wings, and playing harps. We wont read anything like that in the scriptures. So erase your mind of what you think heaven is like and open your mind to receive the view of heaven that John sees.
After speaking to the seven churches that are in the Roman province of Asia, the book of Revelation moves forward in the prophecy. There are two phrases in Rev 4:1 to tell us that we moving forward: After this and what must take place after this. The point is to show us that the information concerning the seven churches has stopped. A new series of images is beginning. John sees a door standing open in heaven. The voice that spoke to John at the beginning that sounded like a trumpet tells John to come up. Christ is speaking to John and calling him into heaven. John does not actually go into heaven, as we see in verse 2. John is having a new vision and John is going to see into the throne room of heaven. As we are taken into this vision, we must visualize the picture before us. Paint the image in your mind and see what is going on in heaven.
The Throne Room
One picture that is repeated throughout this chapter is the throne of God. Twelve times we are told about the throne, and this does not count the 24 thrones which are also mentioned. Twelve times we read about the throne and one sitting on that throne. The throne of God is the focus. In Rev 4:2 we see that the throne is established in the idst of heaven and one is seated on the throne. This is a statement of respect, not naming who is on the throne, because it is the Almighty God who sits on the throne.
Vivid colors are used to describe the throne room and the one who sits on the throne. God is pictured having the appearance of jasper and carnelian. At that time jasper had characteristics and color similar to a diamond or crystal. In Rev 21:11 the jasper stone is described as being clear as crystal. So we should visualize something like the gleam of a diamond. Further, carnelian was a fiery red stone. Around the throne is a rainbow that has the shine or glimmer of deep green, that like an emerald. The rainbow image will be seen again in chapter 10. It seems that the rainbow is a reminder of Gods faithfulness to his covenant, just as it meant to Noah after the flood.
Not only is the rainbow around the throne, but there are 24 thrones around the throne. Seated on those 24 thrones are 24 elders who are clothed in white garments and have gold crowns on their heads. We are left to wonder who the 24 elders are and what they represent. Are the 24 elders simply another group of spiritual beings, like angels, or are they the saved people of God? Many see the 24 elders representing the saved people of God of the Old and New Testaments. They say that the 24 consist of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles, which represent all the saved under both covenants. However, there are some problems with this interpretation. First, we are not told to separate the number 24 into two groups of 12. God could tell us that this was two groups of twelve if he wanted. Second, it is apparent in the book of Revelation that the 24 elders are repeatedly distinguished from the saints. We can see this distinguishing in Rev 7:13-17 where one of the elders tells John that the great multitude represent those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. One of the elders is telling John that this other group represents the saved. Third, we will read about the 24 elders holding the prayers of the saints in Rev 5:8. This also shows that the 24 elders are not the same group as the saints of God. Fourth, we will read about the 24 elders acting as intermediaries and interpreters (Rev 5:5; Rev 7:13-17). These functions are things that we read about angels doing in the scriptures also. There is no reason to not understand these 24 elders as another group of spiritual beings. They seem to form part of the heavenly council as they are before Gods throne and there is nothing in the scriptures to tell us that these 24 elders represent something else. I will conclude the discussion of the 24 elders by asking us to consider that the people of God are not in view at this point in Revelation. The point is not about the saved people of God and what they are doing. The point is what is God doing. The point is to look around the throne room of God and be in awe of the activity and splendor.
From the throne comes flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. The throne and the one who sits on the throne is pictured as being very active. The Lord is not asleep on the throne. There is action. The reader is being prepared for the outpouring of Gods wrath. In Rev 8:5 we will see the lightnings, rumblings, and peals of thunder representing judgment as God sends forth his judgments from his throne. This language also reminds us of the thunder and lightning when God came to Mount Sinai. This thought matches what we see in the rest of verse 5. We see the seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. In Revelation 1 we noted that the seven spirits of God are a symbol of the Holy Spirit. In particular, the image reveals that it is God who is at work. We will save our study of the seven spirits of God until Rev 5:6. But it is enough to see that the throne room pictures the Spirit of God at work.
Before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. Again, the splendor, beauty, and majesty of the throne room of God is emphasized. Not only are the 24 elders around the throne, but the four living creatures are around the throne as well. The description of the four living creatures is amazing with a face of a lion, ox, human, and eagle. Further, the four living creatures have six wings and are full of eyes all around and within. These are amazing spiritual beings that are difficult to visualize and grasp. Before we can move forward in the description of this throne scene, we need to see that this is not the first time these images have been recorded for us.
The Throne Room in the Old Testament
Ezekiel 1 also records a similar throne scene. As we read through Ezekiel 1, notice the similarities to what John saw. The first thing we can see in our comparison is that Ezekiel gives a much more lengthy description of the four living creatures. We see a similar sea of glass like crystal in Eze 1:22. Ezekiel also records a colorful throne room in verse 26 and the rainbow in verse 28. Fire is all around, similar to the picture of the lightnings coming from the throne in Johns vision (Eze 1:27).
Daniel 7 also mirrors the imagery found in Revelation 4. Here are some of the parallels (NIGTC, 314).
A throne set in heaven (Dan 7:9; Rev 4:2)
God is seated on the throne (Dan 7:9; Rev 4:2)
Fire before the throne (Dan 7:9-10; Rev 4:5)
Heavenly servants before the throne (Dan 7:10; Rev 4:4; Rev 4:6)
Book/scroll before the throne (Dan 7:10; Rev 5:1-5)
The book/scroll is opened (Dan 7:10; Rev 5:2-5; Rev 5:9)
The divine messianic figure approaches the throne to receive authority (Dan 7:13-14; Rev 5:5-7; Rev 5:12-13)
Authority over every tribe, language, and people (Dan 7:14; Rev 5:9)
Emotional distress at seeing the vision (Dan 7:15; Rev 5:4)
An explanation from the heavenly council (Dan 7:16; Rev 5:5)
Concludes with the mention of Gods eternal reign (Dan 7:27; Rev 5:13-14)
Revelation is in contact with the prophecy of Daniel. Even the order of events seem match in Daniel and Revelation. Revelation is showing us that we need to keep Daniels prophecy in mind as we read.
Conclusion
So what are we to take away for ourselves today in reading these vivid images of the throne room of God?
1. God remains active. Too often God is depicted as a God who created the world and then operates with a hands off approach. God is on the throne and he is not asleep on the throne. God has not taken a vacation. God is aware of what is going on and he is active. The thunder and lightning coming from his throne depicts God in action, issuing judgments throughout the earth.
2. See the Lord in his splendor. This is what the LORD says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place? My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the LORD, have spoken! I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. (Isa 66:1-2 NLT)
Be struck by the glory of the Lord. Understand what he asks of his people since he is the Almighty God. He demands submissiveness from us, a yielding heart that trembles at the very words of God and desires to obey.
Sermon on Rev 4:8-11
Holy, Holy, Holy
Brent Kercheville
Revelation 4 has drawn our attention to the throne of God as we look into heaven. God is seated on the throne and he is active. From the throne come flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. These images symbolize Gods action, in particular his judgments, against the earth. The brilliance of the throne room is overwhelming. We have seen the glimmer of crystals and fiery red colors on the throne. John sees a rainbow around the throne that shines like an emerald. There is a sea of glass like crystal before the throne and there are 24 elders seated on 24 thrones that are around the throne. Also around the throne are four living creatures. They have the faces of a lion, an ox, and human, and an eagle in flight. This brings us to Rev 4:8-11 for the rest of our study.
The Lord Is Holy (Rev 4:8)
As John looks he sees the four living creatures around the throne. Each of them have six wings and are full of eyes all around and within. But turn your attention away from what they look like and listen to what they say. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. How often do these four living creatures say these words? John tells us that these creatures say these words day and night. They never stop saying these words. Can you visualize the scene? Can you hear the repetition? A double repetition signifies an emphasis on the word. A triple repetition designates a superlative and calls to our attention the infinite holiness of God. It must not be lost upon us this is the only characteristic of God that is repeated three times. We never read, Love, love, love, is the Lord God Almighty. We never read, Anger, anger, anger, is the Lord God Almighty. We never read, Mercy, mercy, mercy, is the Lord God Almighty. Consider how many characteristics of the Lord that could have been used to describe him. The quality that the four living creatures ascribe to the Lord is his holiness. We must not pass this thought by too quickly. Three times the holiness of God is repeated.
This is not an isolated incident. In Isaiah 6 these four living creatures are called seraphim.
Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! (Isa 6:2-3 ESV)
We learn that when we think about the Lord, we must have his holiness firmly placed in our minds. The attribute of his holiness that is emphasized is not his sinlessness. Rather, the emphasis is on his authority and power. Notice that when his holiness is described, Gods power and authority is described with it. InRev 4:8 we read, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty. The one with all power, all authority, and all might is holy. In Isaiah 6 notice the same refrain, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts or Lord of armies. Psalms 99 ties these two concepts of holiness and power together also.
The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! 2 The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! 4 The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he! 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them. 7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them. 8 O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. 9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy! (Psa 99:1-9 ESV)
Notice that the Lord reigns, is enthroned, and is exalted over all the people. Holy is he. The Lord establishes equity and executes justice. Exalt him and worship him for holy is he! The Lord gives laws, is forgiving, but avenges wrongdoing. Holy is he! Power and holiness are tied together. Because God is all powerful and has all authority, he is holy because he is separate from all other rulers. Therefore the world must worship him. This is what we see in Revelation 4. The four living creatures are worshiping the Lord as they exclaim the infinite holiness of God.
In Rev 4:9 we are told that this is exactly what the living creatures are doing. They are giving glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne. We glorify God by appreciating and exclaiming the infinite holiness of God. We honor him when we keep in the forefront of our minds that God is infinitely holy. He is not like us. He does not think like us. His ways are not our ways. His power is not our power. His authority is not our authority. He is the infinitely holy God.
The Lord Is Worthy (Rev 4:10-11)
The second attribute we learn about God is that he is worthy. The Lord our God is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. When the living creatures cry out, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, the 24 elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. Further, they cast their crowns before the throne. We see in this symbolism the infinite authority of God. These 24 elders are pictured as having authority. They are wearing crowns and they are sitting on thrones. But when the four living creatures cry out the infinite holiness of God, the 24 elders get off of their thrones, fall down before the Lord who is on his throne, and cast their crowns before the throne. The Lord has all authority and rule. In the secular realm it was common for petitioners to prostrate themselves before the king and kiss the garment. Lesser kings would lay their crowns before the emperor to show their submission to him (Osborne, 239). How often does this happen? These acts are happening constantly. The four living creatures never cease to declare the infinite holiness of God. The 24 elders fall down and cast their crowns before the throne whenever the four living creatures declare the infinite holiness of God. Therefore, the 24 elders never stop falling down before God and casting their crowns before him.
God alone is truly worthy of worship. The Lord is superior to all other rulers. He is superior to any Caesar. He is greater than anyone who thinks he has might and authority. The Romans would describe the emperors after their death as a god. Then the emperors took that title to themselves while they were alive. But none of them are worthy of any such title or description.
Friends, do not worship other gods. They are not worthy of worship. Our gods are not worthy of our attention. We must not yield to other things in this world. We must not give priority to anything that is not the true and living God and his will for us. God alone is worthy of our attention, worthy of our affection, worthy of our priority, and worthy of our submission.
The Lord Is Creator and Sustainer (Rev 4:11)
The rest of verse 11 tells us why God alone is worthy of these things. God is worthy because he created all things and because it is through Gods will that all things exist and are created. There are two reasons that the 24 elders state as to why God is worthy. First, God created all things. God is the creator. He created it and therefore he owns it. All things are in subjection to God because he created all things. This is a very simple and logical thought. All people must worship him because he created all people. All creation must worship him because he created all creation. You are not the ruler of your life. You are not the authority of your life. God created you and you owe your life to him. God is worthy of your worship because he created you.
Also, God is worthy of your worship because Gods will brought all things into existence. God made the decision to create all things and to have all things exist. I believe the point is that God is worthy of worship because he created you and he decided for you to exist. God is actively ruling. God is actively exerting his authority. God sustains the world and sustains the creation. The Expositors Bible Commentary points out that the tensing of the Greek may lead to this reading as an appropriate translation: Because of your will they continually exist and have come into being.
Conclusion
If you are not interested in giving glory, honor, and thanks to the Lord who sits on the throne while on the earth, what makes you believe that you will be in heaven where this is all that happens day and night? If we are unwilling to choose worshiping God now, why do we think we will be in heaven where every created being worships him?
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
were four: Rev 11:16, Rev 20:4, Mat 19:28, Luk 22:30
four and twenty: Rev 4:10, Rev 5:8, Rev 5:14, Rev 7:11, Rev 19:4
clothed: Rev 3:4, Rev 3:5, Rev 6:11, Rev 7:9, Rev 7:13, Rev 7:14, Rev 19:14
crowns: Rev 2:10, Rev 9:7, Est 8:15, Psa 21:3, 2Ti 4:8
Reciprocal: 2Ch 23:11 – put upon Isa 61:10 – for Eze 16:11 – and a Eze 44:17 – they shall Zec 3:5 – fair 1Co 9:25 – but 1Ti 5:1 – an elder 2Ti 2:5 – is he Rev 3:11 – thy Rev 4:8 – which Rev 5:5 – one Rev 5:6 – in the midst of the throne Rev 5:11 – the throne Rev 7:15 – are Rev 13:6 – and them
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 4:4. God has had two organic systems of religion in the world, the Mosaic and the Christian. The former was arranged under twelve tribes (with their heads) and the latter is administered under twelve apostles (Mat 19:28). The four and twenty elders represent the two systems of religion. Clothed in. white raiment signfies a life of righteousness, because all men who live righteously before God, whether they were in the days of the Mosaic system or in those of the Christian, will be Permitted to surround the throne in heaven as victors over the world. These elders are in the vision to represent all the saved under the two systems.
Rev 4:5. Lightnings and thunder-ings and voices symbolize authority issuing from the throne and it is coining from some being whose voice is as penetrating as ligthning and as impressive as a roll of thunder. Seven lamps denote complete illumination and the seven Spirits of God are explained at Rev 1:4.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 4-5.
The four and twenty elders–Rev 4:4-5.
1. “Four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting”–Rev 4:4.
The four and twenty signified the patriarchs and apostles- twelve each, twenty-four in number. It was the symbol of the totality of God’s people in the New Testament church; the whole body of the redeemed. The twelve tribes and the twelve apostles represented the completeness of the church; the Old and the New were combined in the symbol represented in the chiefs: the patriarchs of the Old, and the apostles of the New.
2. “Lightnings . . . voices . . . thunderings”–Rev 4:5.
These were signs of a procession of terrible and awful events and is an impressive representation of Omnipotence. (Exo 19:16) It was a symbol of the accompanying divine presence in the “seven lamps and the seven spirits” before the throne, signifying universal presence, with eyes to search whole world, and to bring all men to judgment.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 4:4. In the next part of the description we are told that there were round about the throne twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones twenty-four elders. It is important to observe the word thrones (not as in the Authorised Version, seats) here used by St. John, for there can be no doubt that it is deliberately chosen in order to bring out the fact that the glorified Church of Christ is placed in no lower position than that of the Saviours and the Fathers throne (comp. Rev 3:21). These twenty-four thrones were like the rainbow round about the throne. It may be a question whether they were within or without the circle of the rainbow. Chap. Rev 3:21 seems to determine against the latter. But perhaps we are even to
think of them as set in the very circle of the rainbow in order to denote standing in the covenant of grace. The thrones were occupied by twenty-four elders; and, as these unquestionably represent the one Church of Christ in its triumphing condition in heaven, the number must be taken from some idea which presented itself to the mind of the Seer as a suitable expression for the whole Church of God. The twenty-four divisions of the sons of Aaron, described in 1 Chronicles 24, might have suggested it, the only difficulty being that this classification of the priest hood belongs to the time of the Temple rather than of the Tabernacle. It seems better, therefore, to have recourse to the doubling of the number twelve, so that the whole number twenty-four may represent the Church in her double aspect as at once the Church of the Old Covenant and of the New. We have already met with this principle of doubling, although in a somewhat different form; and there does not appear to be anything unnatural in resorting to it now. The twenty-four elders, thus embodying the conception of the Church of Christ in her perfected condition, have three characteristics. (1) They are sitting, the attitude of rest and honour. (2) They are clothed in white garments, the robes of perfect purity, the robes of priests. (3) They have on their heads golden crowns, those of chaps. Rev 2:10, Rev 3:11, and Rev 14:14, in which last passage the same golden crown is assigned to the Son of man. Like Him, they are not only priests but kings. At chap. Rev 6:11 the white robe alone, without the golden crown, is given to the souls under the altar; but the reason is obvious. These souls are waiting. Here the time of waiting is past. The Church is before us in her triumphing condition.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
St. John having described Almighty God as sitting upon his throne in the former verse, here he declares whom he saw about the throne as assessors with him, namely, Four and twenty elders; by which some understand the patriarchs and apostles, as representatives of the Jewish and Christian church; others understand hereby the whole body of private Christians, a certain number being put for an uncertain, who are represented,
1. As round the throne, to denote their nearness unto God, and their communion with him.
2. As sitting, to signify their state of rest and ease, and to denote their settled and secure condition of happiness which they now enjoy.
3. As clothed in white raiment, to represent their priestly dignity, that they were all priests unto God; as also their celestial purity and glory.
4. As having on their heads crowns of gold; this kingly dignity implying, that as kings they do and shall reign with Christ for ever and ever, who having loved them and washed them from their sins, in his blood, has made them kings and priests unto God.
5. They are called elders, to signify their great wisdom and experience; such as with patriarchs and apostles have done the greatest services to God on earth, shall share with him in the highest dignity and honour in heaven, sitting nearer the throne than others: St. John saw the elders not only near the throne, but sitting round about it.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The exact identity of the twenty-four elders is unknown. They wear white, the color for purity and holiness, and have golden crowns on their heads, which may symbolize the victory Christ has given them. Since there were twelve tribes of Israel, it may be these represent the leaders of God’s people redeemed in physical and spiritual Israel.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 4:4-5. And round about the throne In a circle; four and twenty seats Greek, , thrones; and upon the thrones four and twenty elders Signifying, perhaps, the most wise, holy, and useful of all the former ages, whether of the patriarchal, Jewish, or Christian Church, Isa 24:23; Heb 12:1. In the number, there seems to be an allusion to that of the patriarchs and apostles, and they may be called elders, because the presidency of elders was common among the Jews. Or, as Bishop Newton thinks, the allusion is to the princes of the four and twenty courses of the Jewish priests: and if so, these four and twenty elders must be considered as representing the Jewish Church. Indeed, their harps, and golden vials full of odours, (Rev 5:8,) seem to intimate their connection with the ancient tabernacle service, in which such things were wont to be used. Sitting In general; but falling down when they worshipped; clothed in white raiment A habit resembling that of the Jewish priests, and emblematical of their purity; and on their heads crowns of gold In token of their being made kings as well as priests unto God. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, voices The usual concomitants of the divine presence, representing the awful majesty of the one true God, the King of Israel; and also emblematical of the revelations about to be given, and of the commotions and convulsions about to take place in the world and in the church. See on Rev 8:5; Rev 11:19. And there were seven lamps of fire, &c., which are the seven spirits That is, which represent the various gifts and operations of Gods Holy Spirit. See on Rev 1:4.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 4
Elders; officers.–Crowns of gold; indicating very exalted rank and station.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
4:4 {5} 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) By the company attending about him in that, as that most high Judge, he is accompanied with the most honourable attendance of prophets and apostles both of the old and new Church, whom Christ has made to be priests and kings; Rev 1:6; Rev 5:10 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
John saw 24 thrones surrounding the main throne in what is obviously a subordinate relationship. The throne is a place of rule. Evidently these elders will have positions of authority under God.
The identity of the 24 elders (Gr. presbyteros) is difficult to determine. There have been two basic views: men and angels. If they are human beings, they may be representatives of Israel, the church, or both groups. [Note: Smith, A Revelation . . ., p. 104; Walvoord, The Revelation . . ., pp. 106-7; Alford, 4:596; J. D. Pentecost, Things to Come, pp. 207-9; John F. McGahey, "The Identity of the Twenty-Four Elders," (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1954); Ironside, p. 82; Barclay, The Revelation . . ., 1:19-25; Tenney, pp. 189-90; Swete, p. 69; Stanton, pp. 200-4; David J. MacLeod, "The Adoration of God the Creator: An Exposition of Revelation 4," Bibliotheca Sacra 164:654 (April-June 2007):207.] If angels, they could be angelic representatives of either of the Old Testament priestly orders (cf. 1Ch 24:4-5; 1Ch 25:9-13), or angelic representatives of the faithful of all ages, or a special group or class of angels. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 348; Bullinger, p. 219; Lange, p. 152; James Moffatt, "The Revelation of St. John the Divine," in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, 5:378; Beckwith, pp. 498-99; John Phillips, Exploring Revelation, p. 103; Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ, p. 92; Ladd, p. 75; Beasley-Murray, p. 114; Beale, p. 322. See Aune, pp. 287-92, for a helpful summary of the views.]
I think the 24 elders are either 12 human leaders of Israel and 12 human leaders of the church or a special group of 24 angelic leaders who represent the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 apostles of the church. All that John wrote about them fits angels, and some of what he wrote could fit some men. Their song of praise seems to set them apart from those purchased by Christ’s blood (Rev 5:9-10). However, "elder" is a term used nowhere else in the Bible to describe angels. Their number may relate to the 24 priestly orders in Israel that worshipped and served the Lord (1Ch 23:6; 1Ch 24:7-18). They evidently serve God by executing His will in the universe, but they do so in rank under the four living beings of Rev 4:6. Perhaps the four living creatures represent the general creation and the 24 elders represent the elect of God’s special creation. [Note: Beale, p. 322.]
White apparel is the characteristic dress of angels (cf. Mat 28:3; Mar 16:5; Joh 20:12; Act 1:10). These elders wore crowns (Gr. stephanous). This Greek word often refers to a victor’s crown (Rev 2:10; Rev 3:11), but John also used it to describe a crown that represents authority (Rev 6:2; Rev 9:7; Rev 12:1; Rev 14:14).