whoooaaaa there. Who is offering the prayers? Let's look.
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.
It's the four beasts and the 24 elders who have the bowls full of incense being offered to God. The incense are the prayers of the people. Those are NOT your so called saints offering those prayers. Nor are they the prayers of your so called saints. The Greek word used there is hagios which means "set apart for God" which every believer is.
Now there is much speculation about who those 24 elders are. Not ONE of them is that they are a group of some dedicated "saints" decided on by the Catholic Church. The best I have seen is to look at the "elders" of the chosen people of God. Let's look at that list of "elders".
1. Adam
2. Abel - though killed he was the chosen one.
3. Seth
4. Enosh
5. Cainan
6. Mahalalel
7. Jared
8. Enoch
9. Methuselah
10. Lamech
11. Noah
12. Shem
13. Arphaxad
14. Cainan
15. Shelah
16. Eber
17. Peleg
18. Reu
19. Serug
20. Nahor
21. Terah
22. Abraham
23. Isaac
24. Jacob
We find that List in Luke 3:
34 Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Stop with Jacob because he is the elder of all of the twelve tribes of Israel. All believers are grafted into that "vine" whose root is in God.
But the 4 Creatures are not the 4 Beasts....
At least there is a logical path to that theory.
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Never seen that speculation before, it would be pretty cool. But as with all things not manifest, we’ll have to wait and see. It will be an awesome sight.
CB in your opinion are these elders in their glorified bodies or souls? Of course you know what I am asking.