An Argument for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture – The 24 Elders of Revelation
by MW Rivers 8/2010
In I Thess. 4:13-18 Paul tells us about the catching away of the believers or rather our
gathering together unto Christ (aka-The Rapture). In verse 14 he says that God will bring
the dead in Christ with Him and in verse 16 he states that they (their dead bodies) will be
raised first and in verse 17 that we which are alive and have remained unto His coming
shall be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. – This I call the one two punch of the gathering as it is like a simultaneous event that
happens in two steps. It is the order of this one event.-- But let’s not get all excited about
the word “remain” there in verse 17 as if there will be a mass slaughter of the believers
prior to our gathering for as I understand it, the early Christians all believed that Christ
would come in their lifetimes. And because of what they were seeing in their day which was
a severe persecution of the church, I do believe they might have most assuredly wondered if
any of them would remain alive to even make it to the gathering together event. So I tend to
believe that what Paul meant was pertaining to the believers that would be alive at the time
of this event and not necessarily a mass slaughter prior to it. The main thing to see here,
as for the sake of this argument, is that it is the gathering to Himself of both the dead and
the living who have been in Christ (aka-ALL believers) in one event.
In II Thess.-Chapter 2 Paul is going to address our gathering together unto the Lord again
(first talked about in I Thess.), BUT FIRST he seems to address their (the believers)
concerns that the Day of The Lord was at hand which begins in verse 3 and continues to
verse12. In these verses we get some of the ugly details of the Anti-Christ, the man of Sin.
Then we have the BUT in verse 13 where Paul seems to finally get to the gathering
together point where he says he must give thanks to GOD always because GOD hath from
the beginning chosen us (the believers) to receive salvation through sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the TRUTH! This word “salvation” means to save, to rescue, or to
deliver. So to me, this means that GOD has from the beginning chosen US believers to
save, to rescue, or to deliver from this horrible time that is coming on the earth to deceive
those who are perishing because they received not the love of the truth that they too might
be saved (II Thess. 2:10-12).
In Rev. 4:4 we are told by John that he saw 24 elders sitting in seats around the throne
there in heaven and that they are clothed in white raiment and have crowns of gold on their
heads. So here we apparently have persons with bodies! Think about it, they are sitting,
clothed, and have crowns on their heads. Now that sure sounds like persons with bodies to
me. How else can you sit, be clothed, and have a head to put a crown on? Also in Rev. 4:
10 they are casting their crowns at the feet of Jesus and you certainly have to have hands
to do that. Now where or when do you suppose that they got those crowns? Could the
Judgment seat of Christ have already occurred that Paul talks about in Rom. 14:10 and II
Cor. 5:10 where he states that every man (believer) will stand before the Judgment Seat of
Christ? Could the crowns be a reward of that Judgment? This is definitely something to
think about, wouldn’t you think? But look also at what they are wearing, none other than
white raiment. In Rev. 19:8 we are told that fine linen, clean and white, is the righteousness
of the saints. And in Rev. 19:4, here we see again those 24 elders mentioned in Rev. 4:4,
so they too are present when this fine linen, clean and white, is given to the saints. I would
have to wonder if this is also when they received their white raiment as well.
In Rev. 5:8-9 we are told that these elders have harps, and golden vials full of odours which
are the prayers of the saints and that they sing a new song saying, “Thou art worthy to take
the book and open the seals for thou wast slain and has REDEEMED US to GOD by thy
blood out of EVERY kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; and made us kings and
priests and we shall reign on the earth.” And so here we see that these elders have harps
and vials and again, you would need hands to hold them. Also they are singing and I would
also tend to think that you would need a mouth to do that with as well. But look at “what”
they are singing here; that they have been REDEEMED to GOD by the blood of Christ out
of EVERY kindred, and tongue and people and nation! Some believe that these elders are
maybe the 12 sons of Jacob and Leah and Jacob and Rebecca and the 12 apostles of the
New Testament and they may indeed be right. And if so, then it would seem that they are
speaking of a collective body of persons who have been redeemed of which THEY are a
part because if the aforementioned persons are indeed these 24 elders then that would
make them very Jewish and therefore they could not have been redeemed out of EVERY
kindred, tongue, people and nation. They also are singing that they have been made kings
and priests and will reign on the earth. Well, according to Rev. 1:6, we see that John states
that the only persons that can make that claim are the believers, right? And so, let’s say
that they are indeed Jewish and that they are indeed the original 12 sons of Jacob and Leah
and Jacob and Rebecca and the 12 Apostles, then that would mean that they have been
dead many, many, many years and would have had to be raised from the grave and given a
new body which has been promised to believers in I Cor. 15:53-54. Well, since the
gathering together is a simultaneous one-two event with the dead in Christ being raised first
and then the believers that are caught up alive at the time of that event, then that must
mean that the dead in Christ have already been raised as well as the living being caught up
with them by this time; wouldn’t you think…according to GOD’s word here? I mean it
appears obvious that these elders are in bodies and are no longer spirits right from the
giddy-up here.
But some amazing things to point out here is one, that these elders are present in Rev. 5:3
where we are told that there was no man in all of heaven or earth found worthy to take the 7
sealed scroll (or book) out of the hand of HIM that sat on the throne (Rev. 5:1), or to open it
except Jesus the Christ (Rev. 5:5-7). Here you would have to wonder if there are no men
yet raised from the dead or living in heaven, then why even be looking for them there; now
the earth, sure, but heaven? And then two, in Rev. 6:1 Christ then begins to open the
seals of this scroll that was in the hand of HIM that sat on the throne; for He alone was found
worthy to do so, thus the Tribulation, Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7) begins. But remember
the 24 elders were present when Christ first took the scroll thus we come to the end of my
argument which is summarized as follows: Redeemed men, in bodies, are present in the
throne room of GOD, clothed, singing, and having crowns on their heads prior to the
opening of any of the seals on the scroll that begins the time we know as the 7 year
Tribulation Period. If the gathering together of the believers, both the dead and the living,
has not occurred prior to the opening of the first seal, then who are these men that
seemingly represent a collective body of persons who have been redeemed out of EVERY
kindred, tongue, people, and nation, who have also been made kings and priests that will
rule on the earth and when or how did they get there? The only answer to this question is
that they can be no other than a minute fraction of those who have been raised from the
dead, thus the gathering together (aka-the Rapture) must have already happened and quite
possibly the Judgment seat of Christ as well before the 1st seal was ever broken. And
according to II Thess. 2:19 Paul tells us that we, the believers, will be in Christ’s presence
at His coming which is also confirmed in Rev. 19:14 where we are told that the armies of
heaven follow Him from heaven. And yes, you can be most assured it is us because they
are clothed in fine linen, white and clean; remember we have already been told that the fine
linen, white and clean is the righteousness of the saints in Rev. 19:8. And so in closing, let
me use the words of Paul in I Thess. 4:18 if I may, “Wherefore comfort one another
with these words!” -- And share them too!
