In Revelation 5:8, the 24 elders themselves sing a song that only they can understand. In verses 9 and 10, they give thanks to God, saying, “ He purchased us for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and made us a kingdom and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” Then in chapter 14, verse 3, the 144,000 sing a song before the 24 elders on Mount Zion, a song of mystery understood only by them.
The Seven Lampstands and the Twenty-Four Elders
In Revelation 1:20 (NKJV), it is stated that the "seven stars" are the angels, and the "seven lampstands" are the seven churches. In Revelation 1:12 (NKJV), it is written, "Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands," and in Revelation 2:1 (NKJV), it says, "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.’" From these verses, it can be understood that the seven lampstands surround Jesus, the Son of Man, who is in their midst.
Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Then, in chapter 3 verse 1, it is stated that Jesus possesses the seven spirits and the seven stars. In chapter 4 verses 4 and 5, it is written that around Jesus, twenty-four elders are seated, just as in chapter 1 the seven lampstands surrounded Him who is the Son of Man. The seven lamps in verse 5 are described as the seven spirits, that is, the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they are the Holy Spirit sent to the seven lampstands, which represent the congregations, and each is a distinct entity. As described in 5:6, “the Lamb standing among the elders,” this overlaps with the description in 1:12 and 2:1 of “Jesus, the Son of Man, surrounded by the lampstands, walking among them.”
The “seven horns” of the slaughtered lamb represent complete redemption, as horns were attached to the altar of sacrifice in Exodus 27:2 and 30:10. Alternatively, horns often symbolize power or authority, and the number seven suggests completeness, thus symbolizing the full authority of the sacrificial lamb. (Compare 1 Samuel 2:1, 10; Psalm 112:9; 148:14.) The seven horns likely signify complete redemption and full authority, while the twenty-four elders represent true Christians redeemed from the seven congregations who remained faithful unto death. Furthermore, since the “seven spirits with seven eyes,” that is, the Holy Spirit, is depicted as the fire lighting the lampstand, the twenty-four elders symbolize being granted a throne in heaven because they never let the oil run out, ensuring the lamp never went out.
The apostle John saw a vision concerning God's heavenly throne. This throne was surrounded by twenty-four thrones, and seated upon them were twenty-four elders, clothed in white robes and wearing golden crowns upon their heads. (Rev. 4:1-4) As the vision continued, John saw not only the twenty-four elders repeatedly bowing down and worshiping before God's throne, but also their participation in various distinctive scenes as the vision progressed. (Rev. 4:9-11; 5:4-14; 7:9-17; 14:3; 19:4) In particular, he saw them participating in proclamations concerning the Kingdom, declaring that Yahuwah had taken great power and begun to reign as King. —Rev. 11:15-18.
In ancient Israel, the “elders of Israel” represented the entire nation and spoke on its behalf. (Ex 3:16,18; 19:7) Today, the entire congregation of anointed Christians forms the “holy nation” of spiritual Israel. And Christian “elders” represent or symbolize that entire “nation.” (1 Pet. 2:9, NIV) Similarly, the “elders” likely represent or symbolize the entire congregation of spiritual Israel. Therefore, the 24 elders seated around God's throne likely represent the entire group of anointed Christians who proved faithful unto death and received the promised reward of sharing in the heavenly resurrection to sit on thrones near God's throne. (Rev 3:21) The number 24 also holds significant meaning. The number 24 would have reminded John of the 24 groups of priests King David established for temple service. (1 Chron. 24:4)―1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Chron. 24:1-19; Luke 1:5-23, 57-66; Rev. 20:6. See “Overseers.”
Quoting questions from readers
Comparison of Two Greek Manuscripts
Revelation 4:10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us (In the TR, “Hemas’’ is inserted, translated as “ us ’’) to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us (autos in the SBL Sinai manuscript, Hemas in the TR manuscript) kings and priests to our (Ego in the Sinai manuscript, Hemas in the TR) God; And we (Continuing the subject from the preceding clause; in the Sinai manuscript, “they”; in the TR, “we”) shall reign on the earth."
Revelation 14:3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.
“He purchased us for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and made us a priesthood for God, and rulers on earth for God.“ While many English and Japanese Bibles translate this as the third-person pronoun ”them,“ the Greek text in the SBL manuscript reads ‘autous’ and is also used to express ”ourselves.“ Therefore, contextually, it is accurate to conclude that the twenty-four elders are stating, ”We ourselves have become royal priests." It can be interpreted that the elders wearing crowns are expressing gratitude for having been redeemed from the earth and becoming royal priests. In verse 10, the first-person pronoun “ego,” meaning “I,” is used. When positioned before or after “ autos,” the meaning of “autos” takes on the nuance of “myself,” emphasizing “I.” The meaning of the Greek word changes depending on the context and the selection of words. (Luke 22:71, John 4:42, Romans 7:25; 9:3; 15:14, 2 Corinthians 10:1)
Alternatively, even if translated in the third person, considering that the twenty-four elders are actually seated on the heavenly throne, they themselves are objectively describing and portraying themselves when they say, “We thank you for buying people from many nations and making them kings.” Rather than blatantly praising themselves as royal priests, they refer to themselves in the third person as “the people” or “they,” creating an impression of humility and modesty. In Exodus 15:13-17, the singing Israelites sometimes refer to themselves as the “redeemed people” in the third person. This is Moses' song quoted in Revelation 15, which appears in Deuteronomy 32. There, Moses stipulates that Israel must sing and prophesy while referring to themselves in the third person as “they.”
In the KJV, NKJV, and TR manuscripts, the original word “hemas” meaning “us” is used in all relevant passages. Furthermore, the Book of Revelation contains no depiction of Jesus and Michael facing each other, as they are the same. The fact that the 24 elders and the 144,000 face each other on Mount Zion in Revelation 14:3 demonstrates they are distinct entities. The depiction of them casting the crowns they wear upon the Lamb and the 144,000 implies that, although they belong to the heavenly class, they are in a position to entrust the execution of judgment to others.
The two witnesses
The number 24 appears repeatedly, serving as a lucky number for selecting priestly classes in 1 Chronicles 24 and 25. Furthermore, Revelation 11:4 states, “They (the two witnesses) are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord of the whole earth.” In the Book of Revelation, Christians who received the Holy Spirit are divided into two groups: The 144,000 and the 24 elders. Therefore, these can be interpreted as signifying the two witnesses.
Furthermore, the seven lampstands in Revelation represent the churches throughout the world, right? The two witnesses—the 24 elders and the 144,000—are not literally composed of just two individuals. It is understood that the former, in particular, symbolically signifies true Christians who make up the unspecified multitude of churches and congregations chosen from among them.
Zechariah 4:11 Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees--at the right of the lampstand and at its left?" 12 And I further answered and said to him, "What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?" 13 Then he answered me and said, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." 14 So he said, "These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth."
The same applies to the relatively small number 24. They are redeemed and purchased from nations worldwide, not selected from just 24 nations. This is not literally 24 elders, nor is it limited to 144,000 people from all over the world. There are Christians who are an unspecified multitude called the 24 elders, and Christians who are spiritual Israel, represented by the finite number 144,000, existing simultaneously.
In the Book of Revelation, the 24 elders, though not explicitly described as the "firstfruits," are sealed and can be considered as having received the Holy Spirit, given their role as priests seated on thrones in heaven. ➡The descriptions of the 144,000 may suggest they belong to a distinct class of resurrection.
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