Revelation 4:1, 2: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
Heaven is not space where the astronauts make their flights. Even if man should reach some of the other planets in our solar system, he would not see the heaven that John saw in vision. "God is Spirit: and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Heaven is the place of God's throne; but sinful mortals cannot reach it by physical means.
But we are given this opportunity to look by faith into the open door in heaven. What we shall see is more real than any physical object man can see in space with telescopes.
Revelation 4:3, 4: And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
A rainbow is the union of the sunlight and the rain in the cloud. The rainbow about the throne of God represents the union of His mercy (the sunshine), and His justice (the rainstorm). This mingling of justice and mercy is seen in the cross of Christ, the glory of heaven.
Who are the "twenty-four elders"? They are not angels, for the word "elder" in the Bible never refers to them, but always to human beings of experience and honor. An elder is one who holds a position of responsibility because of his or her spiritual maturity.
The twenty-four elders have crowns of gold on their heads, from which we conclude that they are overcomers (see Revelation 2:10; 3:11; 2 Timothy 4:8). Further, they feel themselves unworthy to wear these crowns in the presence of Jesus (Revelation 4:10, 11), from which we conclude that they are people who were redeemed from the earth by His blood.
Since the Bible teaches clearly that the dead in Christ are still sleeping in their graves awaiting the resurrection at the coming of Christ (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17), how do these twenty-four elders come to be in heaven already? The only answer we can find in the Bible is that they are "the saints" who, "coming out of the graves" after Christ's resurrection, "went into the holy city, and appeared to many" (see Matthew 27:50-53). Paul says that when Christ ascended to heaven, He "led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8).
Why are there twenty-four elders, not more nor less? The priests who served as assistants in the ancient temple ministry were divided into twenty-four groups (see 1 Chronicles 24:1-18). Their duties were to assist the high priest. These twenty-four elders have the honor of assisting Christ in His work in the heavenly sanctuary. They know how to help because they were once weak sinners like we are.
Revelation 4:5-11: And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
"Holy, holy, holy,Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 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:
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is to come!"
"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."
Who are these four "living creatures"? There are beings in heaven which human language finds difficult to describe. Spacecraft send pictures from Mars or Saturn that modern astronomers cannot describe. If our own planets present such sights, how much more could John see sights in heaven that he could not describe?
These living creatures are very likely the same groups of angels which prophets of God saw in vision in the Old Testament. Isaiah saw seraphims who "each one had six wings," and who cried one to another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3). Ezekiel saw the "cherubims," which were four in number (Ezekiel 10:1, 8-22). They also "were full of eyes all around" and had "four faces." Zechariah also saw "four chariots" which "are the four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth" (Zechariah 6:1-5). Always the prophet finds it hard to describe what he saw in vision.
These four living creatures stand closer to the throne of God than do the twenty-four elders. All that the throne of God represents, they also represent. They see everything, and are able to report and direct with perfect knowledge and wisdom. It is they who lead in the worship before God's throne, because when they give glory and honor and thanks to God, the four and twenty elders follow.
There seem to be four aspects of their work and character. They show the reason, intelligence, and love that people have. They also show the majesty, courage, and boldness of a lion. They have the submissive, patient strength of an ox. And they have the vision, keenness of sight, and the swiftness of an eagle. In the sanctuary of Israel they were represented by the cherubim around the mercy seat in the second apartment of the sanctuary. The living creatures are marvelous orders of heavenly beings who do God's will in carrying out the plan of salvation. The organization of God's heavenly government is far more complex than anything in our computer-technology-dominated world.
"In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will. . . . This lesson is taught in a wonderful symbolic representation given to the prophet Ezekiel. . . . The symbols presented to him revealed a power above that of earthly rulers."