The 24 Elders of Revelation: Who (Or What) are They? Part 1

Revelation 4:1 After these things I [John] looked, and behold, a door having been opened in heaven. And I heard the first voice which I [had] heard as of a trumpet speaking with me,* saying, “Come up here, and I will show thee things which must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and there One sitting on the throne. … 4 Around the throne were 24 thrones, and on the thrones I saw 24 Elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had stephanous [victors’ chaplets/‘crowns’] of gold on their heads. *Referring back to Rev. 1:17, “…I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet.”

This series of articles will reveal who (or what) these 24 Elders are, and who (or what) they are not. First, who/what they are not:

They Are Not Representations of the Church

Some teachers of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory claim that these Elders are not individual men, but rather are “representative of the [whole raptured] church.” Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel taught this. The quote is from his Commentaries, ©2000, in Blue Letter Bible.

This theory is belied by the fact that one of these Elders later conversed back and forth with John personally:

Revelation 7:13 And one of the Elders responded, saying to me, “Who are these, the ones having been clothed in white robes? And whence came they?” 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation…”

One of these Elders also spoke personally to John in Revelation 5:5, saying, “Do not weep…” Individual men speak to other men; symbolic representations do not.

… And They Cannot Be Angels

The stephanoi upon the heads of these Elders are victors’ (i.e., overcomers’) chaplets, like as were awarded to winning athletes in Greece’s Olympic Games. Only Jesus Christ, and disciples of His who have overcome the sins of the flesh and of the Devil, are ever described in the New Testament as receiving such heavenly honors. Whereas angels are –

Hebrews 1:14 …all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation.

God’s holy angels need no salvation, and therefore do not receive its rewards: only mortal men do. (Also, only individual men, never angels nor groups of men, are called elders in the Bible.) The following verses tell of stephanoi to be won and worn by Jesus and His saints: 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 2:9; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; Revelation 2:10, 3:11, 14:14.