If the 24 elders represent the church, then the church is already in heaven before the opening of the seal judgments. The elders have a prominent part in chapters 4-19. They are mentioned 12 times (4:4,10; 5:5,6,8,11,14; 7:11,13; 11:16; 14:3; 19:4). They are first mentioned as present in heaven around the throne of God the Father "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" (4:4 NKJV).
Who are these elders? Do they represent angels or men? If human, do they symbolize Old Testament believers, New Testament believers, or both?
The numerical adjective "twenty-four" is significant. King David divided the Levitical priesthood into 24 orders (1 Chron. 24). Each order performed priestly functions at the tabernacle and at the temple for eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath. In the distribution of the work load, each order would function two weeks per year. In so doing, each order represented the entire priestly tribe and the nation of Israel before God. Thus, the number "twenty-four" came to be representative of a larger, complete group. Thus, the "twenty-four elders" is a phrase which denotes more than two dozen specific persons; rather, the elders stand in for an entire group of personal beings, either angels or humans.
Three features about their description are striking. First, they are "sitting" on thrones. They are not standing, flying, or hovering. Have angels ever sat in the presence of God? No Scripture verse says that they have ever done so. However, Jesus promised every believer in the church age: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also over came and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21 NKJv). God positionally has made every believer to "sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). The "sitting" feature of the elders better suits men than angels.
Second, the elders were "clothed in white robes" (himatiois leukois). These words were previously used of believers within the churches (3:5,18).
Third, the elders had "crowns" (stephanous) on their heads. These are crowns gained by achievement and victory. Again, believers in the churches were promised crowns (2:10; 3:11; same word). In the epistles, believers in this church age are promised crowns for specific accomplishments: the incorruptible crown for living a spiritually disciplined life (1 Cor. 9:25); the crown of rejoic-ing for impacting lives to receive Jesus Christ as Savior (1 Thess. 2:19); the crown of righteousness for loving the appearing of Christ (2 Tim. 4:8); the crown of life for loving Christ in the endurance of trials (James 1:12; cf. Rev. 2:10: the crown of life given to the believer-overcomer at Smyrna for being faithful unto death); and the crown of glory for faithful pastors (1 Peter 5:4). Holy angels do not wear crowns, but believers can and will wear them.
The triple description of the 24 elders as sitting, clothed, and crowned speaks for an identity of redeemed people, notably the believers of this church age.
A text-translation problem within the context of the praise of the elders must be addressed (5:8-10). The elders sang a new song, saying:
You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth (5:9-10
In this song of redemption, notice the first person plural personal pronouns ("us" and "we"). Both the King James version and the New King James version, based upon the received Greek text (Textus Receptus), indicate that the elders are praising God for their own salvation.
On the other hand, the New International version, based upon the critical Greek text, has this translation:
You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth.
Notice the usage of the third person plural personal pronouns ("them" and "they"). The New American Standard Bible also has the third person pronoun. The Majority Greek Text has the third-person pronouns, and that fact is noted in the margin of the New King James version. With the usage of the third-person pronouns, the elders seem to be praising God for the salvation of another group. Those who believe that the elders are angels are quick to point out that interpretation.
However, can people speak about themselves in the third-person rather than in the first person? The song of Moses and of the children of Israel, expressed after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and their passage through the Red Sea, contains these words: "You in Your mercy have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation" (Exod. 15:13 NKJV). The Israelites are definitely singing about themselves, and yet they sing in the third person. Thus, if the third-person text translation (in Rev. 5:8-10) is accepted as the preferred, original text translation, that fact alone does not preclude the possibility that the elders are singing about their own salvation.
Again, if the third-person text translation is viewed as the original, then the fact that other Greek texts before 1611 (the year that the King James version was published) contained the first person is very significant. It shows that people before 1611 held to the view that the elders were redeemed people. Critics of the pretribulational rapture position, consequently, cannot argue that the proponents of the pretribulational rapture have superimposed their dispensational bias upon the passage.
Angels are set in contrast to the elders: "Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders" (Rev. 5:11 NKJV). They sang praise to Christ without any reference to their redemption or to the salvation of others: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing" (5:12 NKJv). If the elders are angels, then the song would appear to be redundant. The second song and the contrast between the elders and the angels suggest that the elders are humans.
The term "elder" (presbuteros) is never used of angels in the Bible. The word itself denotes maturity and growth. It is contrasted with "younger" (1 Tim. 5:1-2). How could angels be designated as elders when all of the holy angels were created at the same time. In other words, they are of the same age. In contrast, the elders of a local church were to be men of spiritual experience (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9). When Paul called "for the elders of the church" at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, they came as the official leaders and as the representatives of all the believers in Ephesus.
The more plausible explanation of the 24 elders is that they represent a group of redeemed people. Who are these people? Since the believers within the Old Testament period will not be resurrected until the return of Jesus Christ to the earth (Dan. 12:1-3; Rev. 20:4-6), the elders more likely represent the redeemed of the church.
The beast, that great military-political leader of the end time, will open his mouth "in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven" (Rev. 13:6 NKJV). Who are these heaven-dwellers? They are contrasted with earth-dwellers (12:12; 13:8,14). The earth-dwellers are both human and unsaved. Thus, the heaven-dwellers seem to be human and saved. The verb "dwell" (sknšuntas) is the same word used for Jesus Christ's incarnation: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14 NKJV). A similar word (skenšs) is used to describe the believer's present body as a "tent" (2 Cor. 5:1,4). The verb ("to dwell") or the noun ("tent") is never used of angelic activities or bodies.
In the critical Greek text, the phrase "those who dwell in heaven" is in apposition to "His tabernacle" (the connective "and" is omitted). This equation suggests that the heaven-dwellers, as God's tabernacle, is a specific group with none to be added. If that is so, then their description better fits the raptured church, since more people will be saved in the second half of the seven-year period.