Revelation 4:4

² Daniel Dan. 11:3 probably denotes the first half of the 7-year period. The remaining 3.5 years are the time of the beast’s dominion.

³ Albrecht Durer (1471 - 1528). Image courtesy of the Connecticut College Wetmore Print Collection.

⁴ Alan F. Johnson, Revelation: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), Rev. 4:4.

⁵ Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7 (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1992), 344.

⁶ In support of identifying the elders with angels, [Ibid., 345] notes the Septuagint rendering of ‘elders’ in Isa. Isa. 24:23 refers to a heavenly assembly. But the context of the passage is the Messianic Kingdom in which resurrected humans are known to function in leadership roles.

⁷ Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 167.

⁸ MacArthur, Revelation 1-11 : The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Rev. 4:5.

⁹ Donald Grey Barnhouse, Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 91.

¹⁰ “The entire scriptural doctrine concerning the state of the dead, forbids the idea that disembodied souls are already crowned and enthroned, although at rest in the bosom of God. . . . The coronation time, is the resurrection time; and no one can be crowned until he is either resurrected if dead, or translated if living.”—J. A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966), 104. The OT saints are not in Christ in the sense of having been baptized into His body (1Cor. 1Cor. 12:13) and are not part of the Church which was formed on the Day of Pentecost. “Even though Israel is redeemed by the blood of Christ, Israel never experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit which placed them ‘in Christ,’ so this phrase can only describe those saints of the present age who are thus related to Christ.”—J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1958), 407. Therefore the OT saints are not raised at the Rapture of the church when the dead in Christ arise (1Th. 1Th. 4:16), but at a later time—prior to the Millennial Kingdom in which Israel will play a key role (Mtt. Mat. 19:28). “Resurrection is viewed as a terminating event and Israel’s resurrection could not come until her program were terminated.”—Ibid., 410.

¹¹ Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, 167.

¹² MacArthur, Revelation 1-11 : The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Rev. 4:5.

¹³ For the view that they are heavenly beings, see [E. W. Bullinger, Commentary On Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1984, 1935), 217-220] and [Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 344-348]. For an extended discussion of the identity of the elders, see [Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology, 207-208, 253-258].

¹⁴ Robert G. Gromacki, “Twenty Four Elders of Revelation,” in Mal Couch, ed., Dictionary of Premillennial Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1996), 377-378.

¹⁵ Alva J. McClain, The Greatness Of The Kingdom (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1959), 469.

¹⁶ “Identification of the twenty-four elders should not be dogmatically held, but such evidence as there is seems to point to the conclusion that they may represent the church as the Body of Christ.”—John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1966), 107.

¹⁷ Barnhouse, Revelation, 91.

¹⁸ Seiss, The Apocalypse: Lectures on the Book of Revelation, 104.

¹⁹ Fruchtenbaum sees their wearing crowns as an indication that the events of these two chapters follow the bema seat judgment of believers’ works. “The fact that these 24 elders are wearing these stephanos crowns also shows that the events described in chapters four and five occur after the Judgment Seat of Messiah but before the Marriage of the Lamb.”—Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, 167.

²⁰ Barnhouse, Revelation, 92.

²¹ Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 106.