After a couple
of decades of beginning my days pondering the word of God, I know that God’s
word will yield its treasures to anyone who seeks God with all our heart, soul
and mind. The question was, would the book of Revelation be any different? With
all its strange pictures and descriptions, would it open up the treasure chest
of God’s wisdom and knowledge simply by prayerful meditation?
After
six-months into the journey, my answer is a resounding: YES! Praying through
Revelation is proving to be no different than praying through any other book of
Scripture. This Scripture is just as breathed-out by God, and just as useful
for teaching, reproving, correcting, and training in righteousness.[1]
The same Holy Spirit will teach and remind[2]
through this book as well as he does with any other book of the Bible.
All that to
say that, this morning, I was very blessed with some more wonderful connections
between the book of Revelation and the rest of Scripture. This week I am
considering this verse: “Around the
throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four
elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.”[3]
One of the things we learn about
these elders is what John writes of them a bit further along in Revelation 4:
9 And
whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is
seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the
twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship
him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne,
saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory
and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed
and were created.”
What blessed
me so much today was connecting this description of the elders to the first
time a gathering of elders is mentioned in Scripture. In Exodus 3, God appeared
to Moses in the burning bush and told him about his plans to deliver Israel out
of their Egyptian slavery. This revelation included the instruction of
gathering the elders of Israel together so Moses and Aaron could prepare them
to join this work of God. Scripture describes that gathering like this:
29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together
all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.
31 And the people believed;
and when they heard that the Lord had visited
the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their
heads and worshiped.[4]
A
long time ago, God had used this Scripture to assure me that he would fulfill
covenant promises in my life regarding a painful journey my family was going
through. Today he gave me a clearer picture of the elders bowing before God in
worship. In Revelation 4, we see the elders bowing in worship because they are
so conscious of the holiness and glory of their God. In Exodus 4, we see the
elders bowing in worship because they had heard that their God had visited
them, that he had seen their affliction, and was ready to fulfill the promises
of his covenant.
It
seems to me that we must keep these two pictures together. The vision of the
elders in Revelation 4 is for us, Jesus’ servants who are living out our
earthly life. When we see the elders before God’s throne, bowing before him in worship,
we see a continuation of the elders of God’s people gathering around God and
his work, and worshiping him for remembering his covenant.
All
of this is to assure us that God will most certainly carry out the remaining
promises of the New Covenant as surely as he delivered Israel out of Egypt and
led them into the Promised Land. Jesus is preparing a place for us[5] in a new heavens and new earth.[6] The elders know it. They bow down in worship because they see that God’s
holiness guarantees his willingness, his power, and his authority to do all
that he has promised. We are given the vision so we will worship instead of
worry. Our God is on his throne. This is why Paul could say: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a
good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”[7]
From
my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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