Revelation speaks several times of the “synagogue of Satan,” which is the Jewish synagogue in opposition to Jesus. Is there a corresponding synagogue of God?
Austin Farrer thinks so: “heaven is the synagogue of God, where the Almighty sits at the head of the elders, and where the great act is the taking and ‘opening’ of the divine Law.”
A Well, duh! moment, for Farrer explains at a stroke why the angelic figures in heaven are “elders,” links the opening of seals with the synagogue service, and also sets up the contrast between the closed door of the earthly synagogue that excludes Christians and the open door of the heavenly synagogue.
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