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 (Rev 4:4)
And when he had taken the book, the four
beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one
of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of
saints. (Rev 5:8)
Commenting
on the nature as well as the priestly and sacrificial role, and function of the
twenty-four elders in the book of Revelation, J. Dwight Pentecost wrote:
What is said of the twenty-four elders could
not be true of angelic beings, for angels are not crowned with victory crowns (stephanos) received as rewards, nor are
they seated on thrones (thronos),
which throne speaks of royal dignity and prerogative, nor are angels robed in
white as a result of judgment . . . Since, according to Revelation 5:8, these
twenty-four are associated in a priestly
act, which is never said of angels, they
must be believer-priests associated with the Great High Priest. Inasmuch as
Israel is not resurrected until the end of the seventieth week, nor judged nor
rewarded until the coming of the Lord according to Isaiah 26:19-21 and Daniel
12:1-2, these must be representatives of
the saints in this present age. (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology [Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964], 208, 209, emphasis in bold added)
Note that
these elders are engaged in a priestly, sacrificial act associated with (or “participating
in”) the priesthood of Jesus Christ, something that is odd if one does not hold
to an ordained, ministerial priesthood in the New Covenant. Furthermore, this
is not said of all believers “in this
present age” but a select group, contra the Protestant understanding of the “Priesthood
of All Believers.” This is further borne out by Pentecost’s discussion of the
eschatological temple in Ezekiel 40-48 and how “the prince” is another priest
similar to that of Jesus:
One of the greatest changes to be observed in
the coming millennial order is the person and ministry of “the prince” who not
only has royal prerogatives but priestly ones as well. Ezekiel describes one
who is a king-priest in the office of high priest. Concerning this one Grant
writes:
. . . we have “the Prince,” who has a unique
and highly favored position. It is his privilege to occupy the eastern gate at
which the glory of Jehovah entered. To him the offerings of the people are
given, and by him administered in providing for the ritual of sacrifice. It
does not appear that the people bring sacrifices of themselves, but that it is
the Prince who gives all for the prescribed ritual, including the daily burnt
offering (xlv. 17). The people are spoken of as simply worshipping at the times
of offering by the Prince, but the act of offering is his, the priests and
Levites acting in their respective capacities. He thus fills a representative
position on behalf of the people in the matter of specific offerings, while in
all of these the people may be considered as having their part, since in the
first instance, they present their offerings to the Prince (xlv. 13-17), and
join in worship when he offers. It would seem also that he occupies a
representative position for God toward the people since he is privileged to
commune with Jehovah at the East Gate. (F.W. Grant, The Numerical Bible, IV, 239)
Concerning the person and the work of this
prince the same author writes in another place:
This important personage, the Prince, is apparently
one of the nation, not Christ Himself; his sons are spoken of (xlvi. 16) and he
offers a sin-offering for himself (xlv. 22). It seems clear that he occupies a
representative position, yet neither the same as that of the high priest, of whom
Ezekiel does not speak, nor that of the king as formerly known in Israel. He is
not accorded the privileges nor the power of either. He seems to occupy an
intermediary place between the people and the priesthood, since he is found
among the former in their seasons of worship (xlvi. 10), not among the priests,
nor privileged to enter the inner court, yet drawing nearer than the people
themselves, since he may worship in the inner east gate which opens upon the
inner court, while the people worship in the outer court as gathered at the
door of this gate (xlvi. 2). But he is responsible to supply the various
offerings at the feasts, the new moons, the Sabbaths, in all the solemnities of
the house of Israel, and he is therefore the recipient and holder of what the
people offer for those occasions; and thus too the priesthood would look to him
for the provision needed to carry on the national worship (xlv. 13-22). Then he
is given his own special portion in the land, and he is enjoined not to take
any of the people’s inheritance . . . (Ibid., IV., 273)
It must be obvious that such a person, with
such an important ministry, is unique to the millennial age and has no
counter-part in the Levitical order and thus represents a major change in that
coming age. In all probability this
personage will be an earthly representative of the king-priest ministry of
Christ after the order of Melchizedek . . . (Ibid., 522-24, emphasis in
bold added)
Note how
Pentecost has another priest participating
in the king-priest ministry of Christ “after the order of Melchizedek,” i.e.,
Jesus, at least when “The Prince” comes on the scene, will not be the only one
who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood, contra
the common eisegesis of Heb 7:24. Indeed, such a theology of the Priesthood
is very “Mormon," and further strengthened by the heavenly elders in Rev 4 and 5 as discussed above. For more, see my book: