I love the book of Revelation with all its teachings, prophecies and insights into the mind of The Lord, but I also love that it is full of mystery and intrigue. In Revelation chapter four we read in verse four about twenty-four elders sitting round the throne of The Lord. Every time I read this I pause and wonder who the 24 elders are. So to get a hint of who these elders may be, we want to find another reference to the number twenty-four in the bible. In the Old Testament we find references of twenty-four concerning time periods, but when the number relates to people, it is in relation to David dividing the priestly duties by separating and sectioning the time periods of their duties into twenty-four courses.
So now we can ascertain that these elders may have something to do with the priesthood. If this was the only reference to them in Revelation, that would be a very weak link indeed, but the next chapter gives us more insights on who these elders represent. In Revelation chapter five verses nine and ten we find them falling down before the lamb and singing a new song. In this song, they specifically sing to the one that is worthy to open the book, someone who was slain and was resurrected and redeemed them by His blood. By now, the evidence shows us they are singing to Christ. If we look further, in the next verse we see that they sing something specific to Him, they sing their appreciation to Christ for making them kings and priests (ah hah, a clue!). We have already learned that there are only three times in the bible that people are referred to as being a king and a priest in the scriptures; Melchizedek in Genesis, Christ our savior and the body of Christ, the church. Therefore it seems pretty plain to me that the twenty-four elders represent the church in heaven at this time.
Let’s take it a little further, though.
Still looking in Revelation chapter five, we see in the first few verses, that John was shown a scroll written on both sides and sealed and he wept because we read this in Revelation 5:3-4 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. (KJV)
Notice what it said? “and no man in heaven, nor in earth, nor under the earth…” This indicates there are people populating heaven at this time…not just one person, who is Christ, but many people…I find that interesting. Of course Christ is the only man worthy of opening the sealed scroll. OK, who could these people be? I think we are shown additional clues who they may be in the following chapter, for we find as Christ opens each one of the seals, something happens. Let’s look at what happens when he opens the first seal.
Revelation 6:1-2 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. (KJV)
Many commentators as well as many casual readers of Revelation seem to think this appearance of a rider on a white horse is an appearance of Christ and they base it upon the fact the rider is riding a white horse and because he has a crown and a bow. One thing I noticed immediately that they appear to ignore is Christ is the one opening the seal. Could He be opening the seal and also be the rider shown when the seal is opened? Yes, it could be possible, but let’s look at the rider in context. The rider is going forth conquering…that in itself is OK, but let’s look at his buddies. When Christ opens the other seals, the riders that we are shown each have different purposes for the inhabitants of the earth, none of them too pleasant for we have war, destruction, famine and pestilence…which one of these horsemen is Christ suppose to be again?
If it’s not Christ, then who is this first rider? The first thing we find is the rider is riding a white horse, which normally signifies purity. I guess that’s where the mistake comes in misidentifying this horseman. He also has a bow that is an indication of a covenant; similar to the bow (rainbow) that God gave to Noah as a covenant to never destroy the earth again through a flood. We read also that our horseman is wearing a crown, demonstrating prominence and power. So, standing back and looking at the evidence, we find a horseman that initially appears Christ-like with a covenant and a position of power, but a horseman that is part of a quartet of death and destruction. With these identifiers spread before us, I believe that this horseman is most likely the Anti-Christ (Greek meanings include deceiver or ‘in place of’).
OK, if this is the Anti-Christ, then we know that one of the prerequisites of the appearance of the Anti-Christ is the rapture of the church. Therefore, I believe the men mentioned inhabiting heaven by John in Revelation chapter five are saint of the raptured church. This is a Revelation to me (pardon the pun…I couldn’t help it), and I hope you find this link to the raptured church followed by the Anti-Christ wreaking havoc on the earth interesting, also.
Christ does show up in Revelation 19 triumphantly riding a white horse, but when you compare the horses and the riders from Revelation 6 and Revelation 19, the differences between the two are night and day!
Jim Bussell 3-28-21
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