SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/5/2015
10:02 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Around the
Throne
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation 4:3b-4
Message of the
verses: “and there was a rainbow
around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones;
and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white
garments, and golden crowns on their heads.”
Let us take a look at what I wrote about these verses on
the 11th and 12th of April in 2005, and then we will go
on and add to what we see here: “The
last part of this verse describes a rainbow, resembling and emerald that circle
the throne. The rainbow is first spoken
of in Genesis 9:11-17 and it is what the Lord put into the air after the flood
to show that He would never destroy the world again by a flood. The first rainbow was seen after the judgment
and this one is seen before the judgment.”
“Verse four continues to explain more of the scene in
heaven. The verse tells of twenty-four
thrones that surround the throne of God the Father, and seated on these
twenty-four thrones are twenty-four elders.
The question arises as to who these twenty-four elders are or who do
they represent? It is not likely that
they are angels; for one thing the word “elder” from the Greek does not mean an
angel. Most likely these are men who
represent the Church age, as they are clothed in white and have crowns upon their
heads. Believers are told that they will
be dressed in white garments and also believers can earn crowns for their work
done on earth for the cause of Christ.
It is possible that the number twenty-four means that these could
represent the two groups of those who belong to God, for there were twelve
tribes of Israel, and there were twelve apostles in the New Testament.”
We see that the rainbow is like an emerald in
appearance. As I stated in my SD in 2005
John must had had a hard time describing this rainbow for he uses the simile “like”
to help in his description of it. Green
must have been the dominant color for the emerald is green. MacArthur writes “This again is introduced to
show the many-splendored glory of God (cf. Ezek. 1:28). The rainbow provides a comforting balance to
the fiery flashings of judgment earlier seen emanating from God’s throne. According to Genesis 9:13-17, a rainbow
symbolizes God’s covenant faithfulness, mercy, and grace. God’s attributes always operate in perfect
harmony. His wrath never operates at the
expense of His faithfulness; His judgments never abrogate His promises. God’s power and holiness would cause us to
live in abject terror were it not for His faithfulness and mercy.”
Now we want to address the twenty-four thrones and who it
was sitting on these thrones. There has
been much debate as to who these are who are sitting on these thrones, but it
seems best to see them as representatives of the church something that is seen
above in my Spiritual Diary from April 12, 2005.
We will look at some different reasons that John
MacArthur has in his commentary as to why these represent men from the church
age. We see first of all that these are
reigning with Christ and no where do we find that angels reign with Christ, but
we will, as believers reign with Christ.
“26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give
authority over the nations— 27 ‘He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will
dash them to pieces like pottery’— just as I have received authority from my
Father (Rev. 2:26-27).” And Jesus said
to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the
regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt.
19:28).”
As mentioned in my 2005 Spiritual Diary the word elder is
never used in Scripture to refer to angels.
It can be used of older men as being elderly or leaders in Israel and in
the church.
Angels have been seen in what as in Acts 1:10, but more
commonly this is the dress of believers, and we did go over this when we were
looking at the different churches in chapters 2-3 of Revelation.
Next we see that these elders had golden crowns on their
heads and this provides us with more evidence of them being human as we don’t
see angels with crowns. MacArthur writes
“Stephanos (crowns) is the victory’s
crown, worn by those who successfully endured the train, those who completed
and won the victory. Christ promised
such a crown to the loyal believers at Smyrna:
‘Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life’ (2:10).” There are other references to crowns worn by
believers in the New Testament.
As we look through the Scriptures we see that numbers
mean things and the number 24 according to what John MacArthur represents
completeness, but this still does not tells us who they are. From my first study of the book of Revelation
I have though that these represent men from the church age and nothing has
changed my mind about this, although John MacArthur writes that these come from
the glorified saints that have been raptured and he points to Revelation 5:8-10
“8 When He had taken the book, the four
living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one
holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the
book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with
Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have
made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the
earth."” He writes “They have their
crowns and live in the place prepared for them, where they have gone to be with
Jesus (cf. John 14:1-4).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Looking at this I
can say that when times are not so good on this earth and I read promises like
this one then I can be nothing but encouraged and for that I am thankful.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the love or Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Seven good years would be followed
by seven years of famine” (Genesis 41:25-27).
Today’s Bible
question: “What was the occupation of
the man with whom Peter stayed in Joppa?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/5/2015 10:44 AM
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