4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal…
There are two primary details placed before us in these verses. The first is in verse 4:
…round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting.
Commentators differ as to who these elders actually are, or whom they represent. For me, the comment of Walvoord is enough.
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.[1]
These elders are seated upon thrones,[2] not merely “seats.” They are represented as having authority and appropriate dignity, being clothed in white apparel. Their crowns are not crowns of absolute authority and supremacy, but victor’s crowns,[3] as that which might be placed upon the head of the winner of an athletic competition. They are seen here as having victoriously[4] navigated their sojourn among men on earth. That their crowns are of gold signifies permanence.
As with John, the attention of these elders is taken up with the far more imposing throne previously described by John. This is the second detail of our passage. Consider verse 5.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
There were “lightnings and thunderings and voices.” The Divinely-intended visual and auditory impact is too significant to see it without really seeing it, or hear it without really hearing it. As is true regarding so much of what will be placed before us as we continue to consider this entire Revelation of the Glorified Lord, we must exercise caution that we do not just move through these considerations in a kind of detached, impersonal sense, as though we have “heard it all before.”
We must do our best, with the Lord’s help, to approach all that we are encountering here as though we have never heard of any of this previously…as though we did not have any preconceived ideas about who Jesus of Nazareth actually is. These sensory impressions repeatedly recorded by John are intended to rouse us from our complacent slumber, even as those given by God through Ezekiel were intended to do among the Hebrew people centuries prior to John’s day.
John also repeats something He had previously identified: “and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” What is being placed before us is on the basis of the deepest kind of genuine “spirituality.” All so-called spirituality among men must be seen in such terms as I have previously suggested:
"John is speaking here in The Revelation of the utter fullness of the Spirit of God in the sense of His perfect spirituality, something that fallen man cannot fathom. When we think of spirituality, we think of an acceptable set of behavior patterns. If the Spirit of God (the only entirely spiritual One) were to manifest Himself fully in any one place among fallen men, those present could not comprehend it."[5]
In our passage we are simply being reminded that all that is being placed before us is spiritual Truth on the Highest levels. The Spirits of God are another manifestation of true Deity. In this setting we dare not take any of what we are encountering lightly.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal…
Once we have our attention focused more entirely upon the Lamb in chapter 5, the Lamb will begin to open the seals of the sealed book[6] and there will be overwhelming upheaval and turmoil upon the earth. However, the beginning of verse 6 makes it quite clear that whatever may be transpiring in the turbulent “heavens” or upon the dark earth, there is a glassy sea surrounding God’s throne in heaven. Throughout the remainder of these staggering revelations of the Lamb’s sovereign superintendence of all things, we do well to hold fast to this Truth: Nothing disturbs the Lamb on His throne, nothing.
[1] Walvoord, p. 107. [2] Their “seats” translates the exact same Greek word (thronos) as that referring to the throne of God. [3] Greek transliterated is stephanos. [4] In the sense of rightly aligning with God’s eternal redemptive purposes in Christ. [5] From our previous discussion of Revelation 1:4-6. [6] Chapter 6 and following.