Revelation: Chapter 4, Verses 6b to 11
Who or what are the elders, and what do 24 of them represent? I'm skeptical of N.T. Wright's assumptive patriarchal interpretation.
I’ve been following N.T. Wright’s study guide fairly faithfully, but his argument that verses 6b to 11 in chapter 4 are about how humans differ from animals, seems a little…off point.
Note: I’m following N.T. Wright’s Revelation: 22 Studies for Individuals and Groups and his newest book 20th Anniversary Edition with Study Guide, Revelation for Everyone. See my post Prepare for Revelation for suggested materials.
Genesis 1 and Revelation 4
From New Revised Standard Version, Harper Collins Study Bible, Genesis 1, excerpted:
“And God said, ‘…and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky…And God saw that it was good.”
“And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and…wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind…And God saw that it was good.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over…the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth…”
Revelation 4: 6b to 11:
“Around the throne, and on each side of the throne are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.’
“And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
N.T. Wright in Revelation for Everyone, page 35:
“The song of these living creatures is simply an act of adoring praise. We are meant…to see…that all creation is dependent on God and worships him in its own way.…But the contrast with the twenty-four elders is then made all the more striking. Creation as a whole simply worships God; the humans who represent God’s people understand why they do so. ‘You deserve,’ they say, ‘to receive glory and honour and power, because you created all things.’…the ‘because’ that distinguishes humans from other animals, however noble those animals may be in their own way. Humans are given the capacity to reflect, to understand what’s going on. And, in particular, to express that understanding in worship.”
Bollocks.
Picking It Apart
The living creatures around the throne reflect the fourth, fifth, and sixth days in which God created flying things, wild things, cattle, and humans. Revelation calls to mind these higher orders in God’s created universe. These higher orders sing praise to God. You may have heard that Creation sings God’s praises; that saying may be from this passage in Revelation. Or perhaps this passage reflects that condition. I haven’t memorized the Bible and don’t know for sure. But…
…Any time we walk through a forest, gaze at a blue sky dotted with puffy clouds, watch an eagle soar higher and higher, hear a lion’s terrifying roar, or lean against a fence to moo at the cattle, we feel a deep sense of connection and admiration and love at and for these created things. Our witnessing is praise. We are part of and yet witness to God’s created universe. Interesting that the higher orders of God’s Creation also praises as if, like us, they’re both part of and witnessing Creation.
Earlier in Wright’s study guide, he wrote:
“…so here John sees God’s council: twenty-four elders, sitting on separate thrones. They represent, almost certainly, the combination of the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. They are, as it were, the embodied perfection of the people of God, sharing now in the rule of God over the world. Their white robes indicate purity and victory; their crowns reveal them as the representatives of the ‘royal priesthood.’”
When God created humankind, God gave them the authority to rule over the fish, the birds, cattle, wild animals, and every creeping thing; but not the plants (which God offered as food to humans and the animals represented by the living creatures), planet, and the cosmos, despite the deeply held belief we humans get to rule everything. (Gen 1:26-30)
The Elders
In Revelation, twenty-four elders provide a supporting council to God. I’m not sure, at this point in the book, whether this vision shows what is current or what is to come. But it seems, I think, the current situation — at least until the Resurrection. The imagery doesn’t convey the idea that these twenty-four elders share God’s authority; they surround the throne, like how a council sits around an elected or appointed leader, which looks more like a support structure than an equal-authority structure. Besides which, didn’t Jesus tell the church in Thyatira about their reward to come in the Resurrection, which is about ruling the nations not the entire universe?
As God’s created things — notably the ones that God gave to humankind to rule or have dominion over and humankind itself — praises God’s eternal nature, the elders praise God’s creative force and creation. The created living creatures don’t bow to God but are part of God’s throne; whereas the elders bow to God, the one-and-they who created them, the one who holds ultimate authority as the eternal, everliving Creator.
Wright translates “around the throne” as “in the middle of the throne” and “on each side” as “all around.” In other words, the language confers the idea that these living creatures are close to God, closer than the elders, and are so close that though they sing, they don’t need to bow as they’re part of God.
It’s an interesting concept: are my creations part of me or separate from me?
Where do my stories come from? Where did God’s idea of Creation come from?
These are imponderables, but I, and other writers, wonder about them from time to time because the characters that inhabit our stories arise from our imagination yet live separately from us. They may tell us their names; they may assert characteristics or reject descriptions about them when we begin to write and have to erase under their opprobrium; they may direct events. Always, we must follow them while guiding our story to our planned endings (unless you’re a discovery writer, in which case, the ending will surprise you as much as the reader…hopefully).
Imagery Both Reveals and Obscures
Sometimes, I think we read too much into complex imagery.
Sometimes, complex imagery conveys a simple truth.
Creation, which includes humankind, sings God’s eternal nature; the representatives of the last ones to be created (humans) bow to their creator.
I think these living creatures tell us that the created things, including us, are intrinsic to God. But the elders tell us that humankind became separated from God while the rest of Creation remained in harmonious belonging.
I don’t think this conveys the idea that humans, unlike animals, can reflect and have understanding. As I wrote last time, we cannot know what actually goes on in animal minds. The more we learn, the more astonished we are at the internal world of animals humans had heretofore believed were dumb and only good for hunting, obeying us, and eating.
Are the Elders Really the Patriarchs?
I’m miffed at the all-male imagery. I get that patriarchal societies, then and now, meant seeing that only men can lead or be elders, but Jesus acknowledged Mary as equal to men and the first witnesses to Jesus’s resurrection were women. Clearly, God sees men and women as equal in authority (believable witnesses) and having equal ability to learn (Mary sitting with the men to listen to Jesus).
The word for elders used in the original is presbyteros. The root word is presbus, meaning elderly. According to Marg Mowczko, who has degrees in theology and early Christian and Jewish studies, this word is grammatically masculine (scroll down to first comment): “but the masculine gender is used in Greek for groups of all men as well as for groups containing both men and women.” The writer goes on to say that Revelation is a very Jewish book and that elders back then in Judaism were typically men.
Yet Revelation doesn’t highlight these elders as men.
Mowczko presents compelling alternative concepts of the elders, her own and Ian Paul’s (who trained for ordination in the Church of England). She presents different theories for the reasoning behind the number 24, which tells us that, though Wright may write in a positive tone that these elders represent the 12 tribes and 12 apostles, we don’t actually know.
Just Another Theory
My theory is 24 represents the number of hours in a day. Creation praises non-stop, and so the elders must bow non-stop day and night — that is, 24 hours. The number 24 doubles down on the idea of unceasing. But perhaps that’s too reductive an idea?
In short, Revelation 4, to me, represents God at the centre of it all, all of Creation including humankind attached to God, humans separated from God bowing down to God’s authority 24/7, and the seven churches lit by God to be lighting the way. I just realized: seven churches, seven days.
24/7 acceding authority to God.
Do the Elders Represent All Humanity When Bowing to God?
Eight billion and counting humans inhabit the Earth while a relative few are busily trying to destroy it with their unquestioning followers endorsing their perverted rule. How then can Revelation show all of humanity, represented by the elders, bowing down to God’s authority as the one who created us and without God no created thing would exist?
Perhaps, whether or not every single human being acknowledges God as the Creator and the one who has the final say over their Creation, God remains the sole ruler over the plants, the planet, and the universe and the central authority over the higher order animals including us. We may, through arrogance and lack of critical thinking, destroy every higher order created thing and ourselves, but plants, the planet, and the universe will remain. And for that reason, the elders have no choice but to bow.
Elders connote the idea of wisdom, of long experience leading to understanding the truth. They bow to God because they know God created us, we exist because of God, and God is eternal. We can’t erase God. Bowing is a sign of respect and submission. Perhaps these wise representatives in understanding that reality are asking God to keep us existing.