Who are the twenty-four (24) elders in Revelation?

Another notable object meets his eye: round the throne are twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones twenty-four elders* sitting, arrayed in white garments, and upon their heads crowns of gold. Isaiah saw no such company in Isa. 6; nor did Ezekiel in his opening chapter: Ezek. 1 or at any other time; nor does Stephen hint it in Acts 7; nor Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. Daniel indeed saw thrones set up (not "cast down"); but they were empty. John here and now saw them filled with four-and-twenty elders, the chiefs of the twenty-four courses of priesthood. They exercised priestly functions in Rev. 5:8. But they are a royal priesthood also; they wear crowns of gold and sit on thrones; and their garb is in accord. Can there be a doubt that they are the glorified saints?

ELDERS IN HEAVEN. The four and twenty elders seen by John in heaven are frequently referred to in the Revelation. They were seen round about the throne, sitting on thrones (not seats), clothed in white raiment, with crowns of gold on their heads, and they worship God. Rev. 4:4, 10. In the O.T, when all was in order there were twenty-four courses of the priesthood, each course having an elder as head or chief, 1 Chr. 24:7-18; and the elders in the Revelation being twenty-four in number may be in allusion to them. The elders in heaven have harps and golden vials full of odours, "which are the prayers of saints," showing that they act as priests, Rev. 5:8; and in Rev. 5:9 they celebrate redemption in a song. They are doubtless the redeemed, including both Old and New Testament saints. Rev. 7:11, 13; Rev. 11:16; Rev. 14:3; Rev. 19:4.

Another thing the apostle pauses to describe before proceeding, "And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones:* and upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on, their heads crowns of gold." (v. 4.) Who then are the elders? Two things mark them — white raiment and crowns of gold. The first of these things speaks of their priestly character (Exodus 28:39-43, etc.), and the second as plainly tells of their royal dignity. In one word, they are those who through association with Christ (though not yet in display) are kings and priests. John himself, when he breaks forth in adoration in the name of the saints, uses these two terms.† The reason for the number twenty-four is found in 1 Chronicles 24:1-4. When David distributed the priests into courses he found there were twenty-four heads of the priestly families, and hence there were that number of courses; and these twenty-four heads were consequently representative of the whole priesthood. In like manner the twenty-four elders (the principle being known in Scripture) are taken to represent, not only the saints of this period, but also the saints (all who are Christ's) who share in the first resurrection. For it should ever be borne in mind that, while only believers since Pentecost are members of the body of Christ, He will yet call out of their graves, on His return, all the saints of every previous dispensation.

(V. 4) Round about the throne John sees four and twenty thrones; and upon the thrones "four and twenty elders." That the elders do not represent angelic beings is clear from the eleventh verse of the following chapter, where we find the angels described as a distinct company standing round the elders. The number twenty-four would seem to be an allusion to the twenty-four courses of the priesthood instituted by David for the "princes" or "governors of the sanctuary." In David's day they were invested with a royal and priestly character and represented the whole priesthood (1 Chron. 24:5). The saints of this day have the character of "a royal priesthood" to show forth the praises of God (1 Peter 2:9). Thus the elders would appear to symbolise the Old Testament saints as well as the assembly, in their completeness, associated with Christ in glory. Christ is seen upon His throne about to reign, and the saints are seen with Him in His reign — for He is enthroned and they too are enthroned. They are spoken of as "elders," signifying spiritual maturity. No longer do they "know in part;" they are intelligent in the mind of heaven. They are not seen as departed spirits, but with bodies of glory clothed in white raiment, speaking of their priestly character (Ex. 28:39-43). On their heads are "crowns of gold" speaking of their royal character. They have finished their earthly pilgrimage in which they suffered for Christ; now they are crowned to reign with Christ.

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 (1 Cor. 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. The elders are a distinct company from the beasts or living creatures, and from the angels. In Revelation 5 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 (1 Thess. 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 (Luke 1, 5, 8, 9). 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. 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”‎ ‎(1 Peter 2:5) and “a royal priesthood” (v. 9), and‎ in both characters they are here seen in action.‎

Who is represented by these twenty-four elders? They cannot be angels. Angels are never seated upon thrones (not seats, as in the Authorized Version), nor are they crowned, nor can they sing redemption's song as the elders do. There is only one possible meaning. They represent the redeemed, the saints in glory. They are priests (clothed in white) and they are kings (crowned); they are the royal priesthood in the presence of the throne. And why twenty-four? It points us back to the work David did for the temple. He appointed twenty-four courses of the priests (1 Chron. 24). Twice twelve would suggest the saints of the Old and New Testaments.

Who are these crowned elders? In my judgment they are symbolical of the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints — the great company of the heads of the heavenly priesthood. This is the reason why they are said to be four-and-twenty — which was the number of courses of priests under the Mosaic dispensation. You must not suppose that the twenty-four means twenty-four individuals — there might be thousands, possibly millions of saints. The great idea of the symbol, I take it, is that the twenty-four are the heavenly priesthood — the chief-priests of glory. God is to have other priests and kings besides these. Who are they? Persons who are called to the knowledge of God after the elders are taken to heaven. For, remember, the elders are never added to; you never find twenty-five or twenty-six — still less have you thirty-six or forty-eight. There is no addition. It is a complete body. Now, that is a very important fact. Others will be objects of divine grace, but they are not added to the four-and-twenty elders — they are grouped by themselves. They are a company blessed of God — glorified, no doubt, in due time, but not added to the twenty-four.

Note, first of all, that they are a representative company. The elders, both in the Old and New Testaments, stand (or act) for the whole company of God's people (Ex. 4:29; Deut 31:28, Acts 11:30). The number corresponds with the divisions of Israel's priesthood in 1 Chronicles 24 and 25. The twenty-four chief priests were representative of the whole priestly family. The elders of the Revelation are manifestly priests; their robes (Rev. 4:4) and censers (Rev. 5:8) indicating this. They have also a royal character, for they are both crowned and enthroned. They are not angels, for the angelic host is everywhere shown as a company apart (e.g., Rev. 5:11); and, moreover, angels are not called to occupy thrones, rule being no part of their office (Heb. 2:5). Nor are the elders the spirits of departed saints awaiting the resurrection, for their number remains the same throughout — there is no increase. Who then can the elders be but the whole Heavenly priesthood, viewed under this representative symbol? By the Heavenly priesthood we mean all those who are glorified at the moment of our Lord's descent into the air — the saints of the Old Testament dispensations, and the Church "which is His Body" (Heb. 11:40). All these, whatever differences there may be in their position and relationships in other respects, can unitedly and joyfully sing: "Unto Him that loves us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. AMEN" (Rev. 1:5-6). I find myself amongst that holy throng !

(2) But it is not the one throne that is before us simply. There are thrones around the throne; and here at once we come again to what is of central importance for the understanding of what follows. In the common version we find, perhaps, an illustration of the strange way in which even Christians hesitate fully to believe the grace of God. The translators have put "seats," although there is no possible doubt as to the meaning of the word; and there is a similar illustration, as one may surely think, in the view of many, that those who fill these thrones are angels rather than saints. Yet everything here decisively declares that they are saints, and saints alone, who are intended. The very word "elders" naturally implies this. The elders in Israel were the representatives as well as the judges of the people, representing God indeed in that judgment which they exercised for Him, so that, as we know, and as the Lord argued with the Jews, they were even called "gods," as those to whom the word, that is, the commission, of God had come. As His representatives, they are identified with Him. Here, of course, everything is in a higher sphere, but we see upon these elders the white garments which are afterwards interpreted to us as the "righteousnesses of the saints;" and while their golden crowns proclaim them kings, their number seems designed to speak of the priestly courses, which were twenty-four in Israel, as their priestly connection afterwards confirms; and it is in their song of praise that we hear the explanatory words as to the redeemed, "Thou hast made them to our God kings and priests, and they shall reign over the earth" (Rev. 5:10).

Who then are these elders? Their number was four-and-twenty, corresponding with the twenty-four courses into which the priests were divided by David (see 1 Chr. 24), and hence representative of a complete body. But whom do they represent? You will notice that they were "clothed in white raiment," and that "they had on their heads crowns of gold." The white raiment will set forth their priestly character, besides being the well-known symbol in this book for the righteousnesses (exact translation) of saints (Rev. 19:8); while the crowns of gold bespeak their royal dignity. Where then are we to look for this combination of character? We get the answer in this same book: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father," etc. (Rev. 1:5-6); and again in the epistle of Peter: "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood," etc. (1 Peter 2:9.) The elders therefore, it is clear, represent glorified saints, and, inasmuch as their number represents the whole body (as we have seen), the saints in their totality glorified together with Christ. Hence we see that the church is on high, having been caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and glorified together with Him before the commencement of the judgments of which the book afterwards speaks.