Posted by Stuart Gilman (67.70.52.222) on September 25, 2003 at 06:52:13:

In Reply to: Question about "Twenty and Four Elders" and Apostles of Baha'u'llah posted by Misagh on September 24, 2003 at 22:13:13:

THE FOUR AND TWENTY ELDERS

Bro. Michael Jacob

(1) Since they sit on thrones and wear crowns of Gold they must be kings.

(2) They wear white garments which are the garments of the priests (Exod 28; Lev 6 : 1 0 & 16 :4). They have harps, sing songs, and hold golden bowls of incense - all these are evidences of their priesthood.

(3) They are the elders of the Universe. They are the oldest (so they are called "elders") among created things. They are the angelic leaders of the heavenly worship. (24 = 2 x 12, it is the number associated with heavenly Government and Worship).

(4) God had originally appointed angels to govern the Universe. But one fell and turned into Satan. As to those angels who had not followed Satan in rebellion, God still assigns them the rule over the Universe. As Michael is the chief prince over the nation of Israel (Dan 10 :13), even so, all of us who are redeemed have our guardian angels (Acts 12 :15, Math 18 :10; Heb 1 : 14).

The 24 Elders sit while the 7 angels who blow the trumpets stand before God (Rev 8 :2). The 24 Elders are now in charge of the Universe. When they see people getting saved they are not jealous at all; rather, they praise God for it. They will govern the Universe until the kingdom shall come (Millennium); and then they will resign their appointments and there will be the transfer of the Government of the Universe to men (Rev. 11 : 16-18, Heb. 2:5-8). This is why they are not mentioned after Rev 19 :4.

(many more references by entering "twenty four elders" in askjeeves.com)

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