unveiling the Rapture (part 2)

In the closing sentence in part 1 of this series, I (prematurely) indicated that I would next discuss the meaning of the first seal.  (This is a blog, and not a book.)  In fact, I first need to very briefly address the structure of the book of the Revelation.


In chapters 1 thru 3, John describes his vision of Christ, as well as John there records a message which Christ spoke to him and instructed him to write it down and send it to the "seven churches which are in Asia".  The material of the first three chapters of the Revelation, therefore, pertains to the churches on earth, throughout the Church Age.

In chapter 4, John is given a vision of God and his throne in heaven.  Not only is this one of the least well understood chapters in the Revelation; but it is vitally important, for the purpose of understanding the actual time of the Rapture of the Church.  A large majority, perhaps, of mainstream Bible prophecy teachers insist that Revelation 4:1 symbolizes the Rapture: for, in verse 1, John heard a voice which said to him, "Come up hither, and I will shew thee  things which must be hereafter".  But there is no reason whatsoever to suppose that the Rapture is indicated in those few words ~ which, in fact, was a directive given only to John himself.  They are neither careful, nor are they deep, thinkers, who build their prophetic schema ~ a mere house of cards ~ upon such weak-minded exegesis as that.  The Rapture of the Church is by far the most glorious, the most longed for Event in the history of the Church!  Yet, so many so-called Bible prophecy teachers are willing to believe that the Rapture itself is revealed in a single verse of Scripture (Rev. 4:1), with so few words and with absolutely no "glory" at all!  Unbelievable!  Those same "teachers" (some of whom are internationally renowned), attempt to justify their supposition (as just stated), by insisting that the Church is not seen again, in the Revelation, until near unto the end of that book.  But that claim, too, is utterly wrong; as you shall soon see.

John's description (through the Holy Ghost) of what he saw in heaven, is very detailed.  (I leave you to read that chapter, and to observe how meticulously John describes everything he saw.)  There are two things I want to focus on, concerning John's description of the scene in heaven.  First, there are the twenty-four (24) "elders".  The most common interpretation, concerning who those "elders" are or who they are supposed to represent, is, that they represent the "twelve patriarchs" of the Old Testament (whoever those may be?) together with the "twelve Apostles" (there were actually more than 12) of the New Testament.  BY EXTENSION, those twenty-four elders are furthermore supposed, then, to represent ALL of the then-Raptured saints!

Yet, at the time when John was then having his Vision, he himself was still alive on earth.  Was John, then, seeing himself as one of those twenty-four "elders"?  The whole idea is nonsense.  Those twenty-four elders appear at numerous times, in the Revelation.  And whereas those elders are thus often seen worshiping God, yet, AT NO TIME are they seen to be praising God for their OWN salvation.  What we do see, however, is that those twenty-four elders are intimately involved in both preserving, as well as in presenting unto God, the prayers of the saints.  Does it then make any sense that some or other "twelve patriarchs" and some "twelve" of the (more numerous) Apostles should be responsible to preserve and to personally present their OWN prayers in the Presence of God ~ together with all the prayers of all the saints?

But if the twenty-four elders do not in some way symbolically represent (what is supposed by many to be) the then-Raptured saints, what or whom do they represent?  In fact, they do not "represent" anyone but their own selves.  For, they are among the chiefest dignitaries of God's ETERNAL government.  Those twenty-four "elders" have been a part of God's eternal Kingdom for a very, very, very long time (they are termed "elders" for good reason).  Importantly, by misidentifying who those elders are, mainstream teaching not only misses, but it furthermore obscures, the truth of the revelation involving who those elders are, and what is the glorious nature of their heavenly ministry (see my book for a discussion of that).

Now that I have very briefly explained who those twenty-four elders are, I can now assert that John did not record seeing any HUMAN BEINGS, in his vision of heaven (in chapter 4).  It should now be apparent why it is that John's meticulous record-keeping is a matter of great importance to us: for, we are thereby assured that John did not merely overlook some fabulous number of (Raptured) saints then in heaven!  Thus we have further proof that the Rapture of the Church is not indicated in chapter 4.  Which is an important fact to note ~ because, the next three chapters in the Revelation all pertain to the seven seals.  Therefore, we should understand that the Rapture has not yet occurred (in the Revelation), prior to opening the seals.

I demonstrated, in part 1 of this series, that all seven seals indicate events which must occur BEFORE the Tribulation.  Above, I demonstrated that the Rapture is nowhere indicated to occur, in the Revelation, prior to opening of the seals.  What does that all mean?  Simply this: the Rapture is revealed BY (one of ) the seals ~ all seven of which must occur before the Tribulation.

The Rapture is pre-Tribulation.

The seven seals are pre-Tribulation.