24 Elders

One book of the Bible that contains many subjects that are hard to understand is clearly the Book of Revelation. One of such subjects is the identity of the twenty four elders mentioned twelve times in the book (Rev. 4:4,10; 5:5,6,8,11,14; 7:11,13; 11:16; 14:3; 19:4). And because of the near-enigmatic details given of them, much speculations have been made by Bible teachers about who or what these 24 elders are.

What People Teach About Them

The popular schools of thought are the following:

• They are a class or order of angelic beings.
• They are the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel as mentioned in Rev. 21:12,14.
• They represent those who serve in heaven as priests according to the 24 orders of Levitical priesthood set up by David in 1 Chron. 24:1-19.

All of these notions are purely speculative. No one knows who they are. There are things written of them that suggest they are non-human beings and there are also things written by John that portray them as human beings. Attention should be paid to the following points which support or speaks against classifying them as angelic or human beings.

They Are Angelic Beings

1. Apostle John said, “and when he [the Lamb, symbolising Jesus Christ] had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before the Lamb. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). (Rev. 5:8 NET, words in square brackets and emphasis added by me). The fact that the 24 elders present the prayers of God’s people before Him is suggestive of the fact that they are not human beings. Compare what angel  Raphael said in the apocryphal book of Tobit. He said, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.” (Tobit 12:15 KJVAAE). It would appear from these two passages that it is one of the duties of some angelic beings to present the prayers of God’s people to Him.
2. In their song (Rev. 5:9,10) the 24 elders used the pronoun “them” (Greek: “autous”) in reference to the saints purchased for God with the blood of the Lamb. By using the third person pronoun, they distinguished themselves from the humans who were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. In their comment on the pronoun “them” used in verse 10, the translators of the NET Bible writes: “The vast majority of witnesses have autous (“them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads Jhmas (“us”) with insignificant support… There is no question that the original text read autous here.” This translation of the NET Bible is the same found in many English versions like the ASV, RSV, NRSV, NIV, NASB, NLT, ESV, BSB, BLB, CSB, HCSB, ISV, ABPE, GNT, NAB, NHEB, LSV, AMP, Weymouth, et al.
3. The 24 elders are said to be dressed in white clothing (Rev. 4:4). White clothing have been the characteristic dress of angels. See Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5; John 20:12; Acts 1:10.
4. The 24 elders are frequently grouped with the four living creatures and they always worship God and the Lamb together. See Rev. 4:9,10; 5:8,11,14; 7:11; 14:3; 19:4. Prophet Ezekiel had informed us that the four living creatures are angelic beings, of the class known as cherubim (Ezek. 10:20). This makes it difficult to understand the 24 elders who were always serving alongside the living creatures as humans.
5.  “In the council of the holy ones [angelic beings, cf. Dan. 4:13], God is greatly feared, and awesome above all who surround Him. (Psa. 89:7 BSB, words in square brackets added by me). The 24 elders are likely to be among the holy ones who are regularly pictured as being in the council of God in heaven. Compare 1 King 22:19; Job 15:8; Isa. 24:23; Jer. 23:18.
6. Angels are spirit beings. Some of them have been created as angels of his presence – to run errands between heaven and earth (Tobit 12:15; Matt. 18:10; Rev. 4:5; 5:6). Nowhere has the Bible revealed that humankind who belong to the earth will sit on God’s throne room in heaven. Jesus said no man has ascended to heaven except Himself who came down from there (John 3:13). Paul said, “He [God] alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honour and power to him forever! Amen. (1 Tim. 6:16 NLT, word in square bracket and underscore emphasis added by me). To say that the 24 elders are humans worshipping God before His throne in heaven contradicts these verses.

They Are Human Beings

1. The 24 elders were seen by John “sitting on 24 thrones and wearing golden crowns on their heads.” (Rev. 4:4). There is nowhere any angel is seen wearing a crown and none of them is given the promise of sitting on thrones.
2. Believers who endure to the end, who are victorious have been promised to be dressed in white (Rev. 3:4,5). And while the tribulation lasted, the souls of those who have been martyred for the word of God and the testimony of faith they had maintained called for vengeance on those who killed them; they were told to exercise patience until the tribulation will be over. In the interim, they were clothed in white (Rev. 6:9-11). John saw them still clothed in white after their resurrection to life at the end of the tribulation (Rev. 7:9). In all these verses the white clothing seem to be rather symbolic than literal. White symbolise purity and worthiness in the sight of God (Rev. 3:4).
3. The 24 elders were seen wearing crowns (Rev. 4:4,10). A crown (Greek: stephanos) is sometimes used figuratively of rewards for faithful endurance or service e.g. crown of rejoicing (1 Thes. 2:19), crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8), crown of life (Jam. 1:12; Rev. 2:10). None of these is a literal crown worn physically on the head. It is distinguished from a literal crown (Greek: diadema) which is worn by a king as an emblem of royalty or authority. But whether it is a stephanos or a diadema, angels are not known in the Bible to wear any.
4. The word “elder” (Greek: presbuteros) is used of only humans in scripture (cf. Luke 7:3; Jam. 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1). It refers especially of leaders of the churches (Acts 14:23; 20:17; 1 Tim. 5:17; Tit. 1:5). These identifying marks suggest that the 24 elders are more likely to be humans than a class of angelic beings.

Can Anyone Identify Them?

The truth is that no one knows exactly who the 24 elders are. If they are angelic beings, they are called “elders” or “the old ones” because they have existed from the beginning of creation and the crowns they are said to wear could symbolise their authorities in the heavenly realm. But if they are human beings, which I suppose is the better interpretation, all that is written of them by John does not necessarily mean they were already in heaven as at the time John was given the revelation.

The promise of sitting on thrones was given to the apostles by Jesus Christ (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30). This promise was later shown to John as the vision of the final judgment (Rev. 20:4). According to Daniel, this will take place when the people of God possess the kingdom (Dan. 7:21,22). All these scriptures point to the time when the kingdom of God would have come down to the earth. So if the 24 elders are human beings, their sitting on thrones will be a reality here on earth, not in heaven where the throne of God is. This picture of the future event was shown to John in heaven while John himself was here on the earth. Only his spirit was taken to heaven to enable him see the things which will take place later (Rev. 4:1,2). We should therefore understand that what he was seeing were not actually taking place in heaven; they are yet to take place. They are things that must soon take place (Rev. 1:1; 4:1).

It should be noted that all who are accounted worthy of entry into the kingdom of God will wear a crown of life. This crown is symbolic of eternal life which all the citizens of the kingdom will receive as a gift and as reward for faithfulness to God. But it is not all the citizens that will be kings and priests (Rev. 5:10). It is childish to imagine God’s kingdom as one in which everyone will be a king. If everyone is king, who will be the subjects? There is no such kingdom among men. Paul said we should not reason  as infants (1 Cor. 14:20; Eph. 4:14). It is infantile to think that everyone will be a king and priest in God’s Kingdom. Only a select few will be given that privileged position when Christ returns to rule here on earth. This select group of men are perhaps the ones shown to John as sitting on thrones as kings and presenting the prayers of God’s people as subordinate priests to Christ, the King cum Priest. Their service as Christ’s assistants will be here on earth, after the return of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30). Before that time comes, their exalted position in Christ’s kingdom was shown to John as the 24 elders. It cannot be overemphasized that what John saw about the 24 elders, and many other things in Revelation, were not literally taking place in heaven where God’s throne is. God was revealing what He has approved to take place in the future (Rev. 4-22). These visions recorded in Revelation were given to John circa 95 CE. This was about forty years after Paul had quoted from Isaiah 64:4, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (I Cor. 2:9 NKJV). The vision was given to John more than 700 years after that inspired writing was made in Isaiah 64:4. This vision of the 24 elders was shown to John to see what the exalted position of some people will be when Christ returns to establish His kingdom here on earth. Whether the number is literal, representing 12 Jewish and 12 Centile kings/priests cannot be authenticated beyond our sheer conjectures. But the number 24 cannot be 12 apostles plus 12 tribes of Israel because the 12 apostles, who were Jews, will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. The most plausible interpretation is that the 24 elders represent the few  worthy ones who will serve as kings and priests in the kingdom of God here on earth. The worship they were seen rendering to God will be from the New Jerusalem here on earth (Heb. 12:22-24). But as said earlier, this is a conjecture. Now, we have an imperfect understanding of some of these apocalyptic symbols. But when Christ returns, we who wait for Him in faith and obedience will see and know the stark reality of these things (1 Cor. 13:9-12).

Related Materials

The following articles give further details on the subject of heaven. They are all available on Jude1v3.com:

• Are we going to be changed to spirits after we die?
• Do Christians go to heaven immediately they die?
• Do we go to heaven to spend eternity?
• Some misconceptions about heaven.
• Is paradise the same place as heaven?
• Were Enoch and Elijah taken alive to heaven?
• Will any human being go to heaven?