Songs Of Praise

How do those others before Jehovah's throne react? "And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls that were full of the holy ones." (Revelation 5:8) Like the four cherubic living creatures before God's throne, the 24 elders bow to Jesus in acknowledgment of his authority. But these elders are alone in having harps and bowls of incense. And they alone now sing a new song. (Revelation 5:9) Thus they resemble the 144,000 of the holy "Israel of God," who also carry harps and sing a new song. (Galatians 6:16; Colossians 1:12; Revelation 7:3-8; 14:1-4) Further, the 24 elders are shown to fulfill a heavenly, priestly function, pictured by that of the priests in ancient Israel who burned incense to Jehovah in the tabernacle-a function that ended on earth when God took the Mosaic Law out of the way, nailing it to Jesus' torture stake. (Colossians 2:14) What conclusion do we draw from all of this? That here the anointed over comers are seen in their ultimate assignment as 'priests of God and of the Christ, ruling as kings with him for the thousand years.' -Revelation 20:6.

In ancient Israel, entry into the Most Holy before the symbolic presence of Jehovah was limited to the high priest. For him, carrying incense was life-or-death matter. Jehovah's law said: "[Aaron] must take the fire holder full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before Jehovah, and the hollows of both his hands full of fine perfumed incense, and he must bring them inside that curtain. he must also put the incense upon the fire before Jehovah, and the cloud of the incense must overspread the Ark cover, which is upon the Testimony, that he may not die." (Leviticus 16:12, 13) It was impossible for the high priest to penetrate successfully into the Most Holy unless he burned incense..

In the Christian system of things now only the antitypical High Priest, Jesus Christ, but also each of the 144,000 under priests eventually gets to enter the antitypical Most Holy, the place of Jehovah's presence in heaven. (Hebrews 10:19-23) Entry into the Most Holy is impossible for these priests, as represented here by the 24 elders, unless they 'burn incense,' that is, constantly offer up prayers and supplications to Jehovah. -Hebrews 5:7; Jude 20, 21; compare Psalm 141:2.

Next time: A New Song