EVIDENCE #4 - WHO ARE THE 24 ELDERS?
From: http://www.geocities.com/stat23mj/prophecy/pretrib.html
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. (REVELATION 4:4)
Who are these 24 elders? Surely in scripture no one has ever seen them before in the Old Testament when prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel had visions of God's Throne and the Cherubim and Seraphim, those 4 angelic creatures (LIVING CREATURES as John calls them). I don't think Isaiah or Ezekiel saw them. John was the first one to see them. It is important to note that Revelation 1 took place in John's time - A.D. 95 and Revelation 2 - 3 takes pllace NOW because we are living in the CHURCH AGE. Revelation 4 - 22 are future. So in summary (Look at REVELATION 1:19):
Revelation 1 ---> PAST ---> "What you have seen"
Revelation 2 - 3 ---> PRESENT ---> "What is now"
Revelation 4 - 22 ---> FUTURE ---> "What will take place later"
So the 24 elders are future when taken in context to the flow of Revelation. If I was to see a vision of heaven, I probably wouldn't see the 24 elders. The 24 elders are literal 24 elders in heaven that are representing a larger body up in heaven. In 1 CHRONICLES 24, twenty-four priests were appointed by King David to represent the entire Levitical priesthood. So when the 24 priests met together in the temple of the Lord, the entire priestly house was represented. That was in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, elders were appointed "overseers" of churches started by the apostles and were "shepherds of the church of God. (ACTS 20:28)" So the 24 elders have a nice CHRISTIAN ring to it since an elder was a position in the church. Therefore the 24 elders are representing the glorified Raptured church. Now the term - elder though is a word affiliated with the church - is not significant enough evidence to prove a PRE-TRIB RAPTURE, the next few points will. Now we know that the 24 elders is the church but lets look at how John describes them. THEY WERE DRESSED IN WHITE AND HAD CROWNS OF GOLD ON THEIR HEADS. Look at REVELATION 3:5, those in the Church at Sardis (Reformers church) will be dressed in white. The Bible talks about the JUDGMENT SEAT (BEMA SEAT) OF CHRIST (2 CORINTHIANS 5:10; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:11-15). This JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST is when Christ opens the books (DANIEL 7:9-10) and judges Christians by the works they did for the Lord. Each deed and motive for them will be judged and tested by fire. If their deeds and motives survive by the fire then they will be rewarded but if it isn't then the believer will be as one SAVED BUT ESCAPING THROUGH THE FLAMES (1 CORINTHIANS 3:15). Believers will receive crowns in heaven as evident in 1 CORINTHIANS 9:25-27, REVELATION 2:10, 1 PETER 5:2-4, 2 TIMOTHY 4:8, 1 THESSALONIANS 2:19-20.
Since the 24 elders are dressed in white and have crowns of gold, which were the result of promises made by Christ to the Church for their rewards for their deeds for him, then the 24 elders are a literal 24 elders that represent the larger body of Raptured believers. Since the 24 elders are seen with their awards in Revelation 4:4, we can conclude that the church as a whole received their award and that the JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST is after the Rapture. Since the 24 elders arrive on the scene before the Tribulation starts (Revelation 6), we can conclude that the Rapture is before the Tribulation and therefore is PRE-TRIBULATION!
IF YOU ARE STILL NOT CONVINCED, HERE ARE SOME MORE EVIDENCES!!!
To be continued...
Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. (REVELATION 4:4)
Who are these 24 elders? Surely in scripture no one has ever seen them before in the Old Testament when prophets like Isaiah and Ezekiel had visions of God's Throne and the Cherubim and Seraphim, those 4 angelic creatures (LIVING CREATURES as John calls them). I don't think Isaiah or Ezekiel saw them. John was the first one to see them. It is important to note that Revelation 1 took place in John's time - A.D. 95 and Revelation 2 - 3 takes pllace NOW because we are living in the CHURCH AGE. Revelation 4 - 22 are future. So in summary (Look at REVELATION 1:19):
Revelation 1 ---> PAST ---> "What you have seen"
Revelation 2 - 3 ---> PRESENT ---> "What is now"
Revelation 4 - 22 ---> FUTURE ---> "What will take place later"
So the 24 elders are future when taken in context to the flow of Revelation. If I was to see a vision of heaven, I probably wouldn't see the 24 elders. The 24 elders are literal 24 elders in heaven that are representing a larger body up in heaven. In 1 CHRONICLES 24, twenty-four priests were appointed by King David to represent the entire Levitical priesthood. So when the 24 priests met together in the temple of the Lord, the entire priestly house was represented. That was in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, elders were appointed "overseers" of churches started by the apostles and were "shepherds of the church of God. (ACTS 20:28)" So the 24 elders have a nice CHRISTIAN ring to it since an elder was a position in the church. Therefore the 24 elders are representing the glorified Raptured church. Now the term - elder though is a word affiliated with the church - is not significant enough evidence to prove a PRE-TRIB RAPTURE, the next few points will. Now we know that the 24 elders is the church but lets look at how John describes them. THEY WERE DRESSED IN WHITE AND HAD CROWNS OF GOLD ON THEIR HEADS. Look at REVELATION 3:5, those in the Church at Sardis (Reformers church) will be dressed in white. The Bible talks about the JUDGMENT SEAT (BEMA SEAT) OF CHRIST (2 CORINTHIANS 5:10; 1 CORINTHIANS 3:11-15). This JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST is when Christ opens the books (DANIEL 7:9-10) and judges Christians by the works they did for the Lord. Each deed and motive for them will be judged and tested by fire. If their deeds and motives survive by the fire then they will be rewarded but if it isn't then the believer will be as one SAVED BUT ESCAPING THROUGH THE FLAMES (1 CORINTHIANS 3:15). Believers will receive crowns in heaven as evident in 1 CORINTHIANS 9:25-27, REVELATION 2:10, 1 PETER 5:2-4, 2 TIMOTHY 4:8, 1 THESSALONIANS 2:19-20.
Since the 24 elders are dressed in white and have crowns of gold, which were the result of promises made by Christ to the Church for their rewards for their deeds for him, then the 24 elders are a literal 24 elders that represent the larger body of Raptured believers. Since the 24 elders are seen with their awards in Revelation 4:4, we can conclude that the church as a whole received their award and that the JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST is after the Rapture. Since the 24 elders arrive on the scene before the Tribulation starts (Revelation 6), we can conclude that the Rapture is before the Tribulation and therefore is PRE-TRIBULATION!
IF YOU ARE STILL NOT CONVINCED, HERE ARE SOME MORE EVIDENCES!!!
To be continued...
posted by Sinner saved by grace at 3:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home