V. 4. Here are twenty-four seats and twenty-four elders in white garments and wearing crowns of gold. Who are they? Well, we see that they offer intelligent worship, they explain certain things to John, they are personal beings, but not angels. Since they sing: "Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood," we conclude they are saints, or representatives of those saved by Christ's blood. This is a vision to comfort those who might find themselves faced with sudden prospective sainthood. We think these visions had a definite reference to the people to whom they were addressed and to the conditions in which they lived and especially in view of the circumstances they were soon to face.