V: Kingdom, Zion and Temple

Twenty-Four Elders

a standing priestly council of the Court

Root
1 Chr 24:1-19
Old Testament chain
  1. Exod 19:6
  2. Exod 24:9-11
  3. 1 Chr 24:1-19
  4. 1 Chr 25:9-31
  5. Isa 24:23
  6. Rev 4:4
New Testament
Rev 4:4, 10-11; Rev 5:8-10; Rev 7:11; Rev 11:16; Rev 19:4

Israel was called "a kingdom of priests" (Exod 19:6), and the elders went up with Moses and saw the Elohim of Israel (Exod 24:9-11). David divided the sons of Aaron into twenty-four courses to serve in turn (1 Chr 24:1-19). Isaiah sees Yahuah reign in Zion "before his ancients gloriously" (Isa 24:23). The book reads the elders as that order in heaven: a representative priestly order, a standing council and assessors of the Court. Their falling down is formal priestly acknowledgment, not anticipation but recognition. They are no proof of a raptured church; their number comes from David's courses, not an escape.

From The Courtroom of Heaven, pp. 59, 63, 66–68, 163, 321