Christians have an exalted position

First Point Christians reigning with Christ will wear crowns

(1:6),
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to
be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for
ever and ever! Amen.

2:10
10 
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some
of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful,
even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

3:11

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown
11 

and that they are seated with Christ on His Throne

(3:21).

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just
21 

as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne

Now, in chapter 4, we see elders seated on thrones;

Rev 4:1-5

1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first Voice
which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said: Come up here, and I will
show you what must take place after these things.

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a Throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting

3 like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the Throne,
like an emerald in appearance.

4 And around the Throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four
elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

5 And from the Throne proceed flashes of lightning and voices and peals of thunder. And there
were seven lamps of fire burning before His Throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

Secondt Point Priestly aspect of the elders

In the worship of the Old Covenant there were twenty four divisions of priests Chron.
24) and twenty-four divisions of singers in the Temple Chron. 25).

John has brought together two images.

 (I) The elders sit on thrones - they are kings;
(II) The elders are twenty-four in number - they are priests.
What John sees is simply the representative assembly of saints.

That these elders are both priests and kings shows that the Aaronic priesthood of the
Old Covenant has been superseded and transcended; the New Covenant priesthood,
with Jesus Christ as High Priest, is a Melchizedekal priesthood.

John describes the heavenly court in terms of the familiar acoustic and visual effects
which accompany the Glory Cloud, as at Sinai (Ex. 19:16-19):

From the Throne proceed flashes of lightning and voices and peals of thunder. Again, as
in 1:4-5, the imagery is shown to be the heavenly original of the Tabernacle structure
(Heb. 8:1-5

Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who
sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in
the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 
Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was
necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would
not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law.
5 
They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.

Like the Lampstand with its seven lamps burning within the Holy Place, there are seven
lamps of fire burning before His Throne, the seven lamps imaging the seven Spirits of
God, the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold fulness of activity.

The sealing of the servants of God (Revelation 7:3) was seen to be an idea drawn
from Ezekiel. It is actually only one of a series of allusions.

HW p72

Ezekiel Revelation
7:2. 7:1. “Four angels standing on the four corners of the
“The end is come upon the four earth.”
corners of the land.”
9: 4. 7:3, 4. The faithful sealed in their foreheads.
The faithful sealed in their
foreheads
9:8. 8:3. “the prayers of the saints offered before God.”
Ezekiel’s prayer for mercy.
10:2. 8:5. Fire scattered on the earth.
Fire scattered over the city.
10:4,18,19. 8:5,6. “voices, thunderings, lightnings,an earthquake”
The “glory” departs from Israel
(accompanied by“voices,
thunderings, lightnings”; 1:13, 14,
24).
A correspondence such as this is no accident, and can point to only one conclusion:

The Trumpets represent divine judgements on Israel, just as did the prophecies of
Ezekiel.
. (Ezek. 1:26-28)
... there was something resembling a Throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which
resembled a Throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the
appearance of His loins and upward something
like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and
from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something
like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance
of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD