Page 250 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Rapture in the Book of Revelation

by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:
and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:9-10). If the text of
the King Janies Version is correct, and the twenty-four elders
are those who have been saved from every nation of the world,
they obviously are representatives of the redeemed by the
blood of Christ, and in this case they would have to be men
and not angels. The fact that they arc in heaven would sup­
port a pretribulational Rapture.
Most of the revisions of the English Bible, however, fol­
low other readings that change the wording of this passage
and put those saved in the third person: “You are worthy to
take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God from every
tribe and language and people and nation. You have made
them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they
will reign on the earth.” Because the twenty-four elders here
are describing the redeemed rather than claiming to be re­
deemed themselves, many scholars have concluded that this is
an angelic group and therefore not redeemed men from the
earth.
Inasmuch as there is division among scholars as to which
version is correct, the matter remains debatable. Even if the
revised text is used, however, it does not prove that the
twenty-four elders are angels but rather leaves the matter
open for further discussion. One of the reasons the twenty-four
elders are considered to be men redeemed and rewarded is
that they are pictured as having golden crowns and clothed in
white clothing (Rev. 4:4). This would imply that they have
already been judged and rewarded, as would be the case if
there had been a pretribulational Rapture and a judgment
seat of Christ following in heaven.
The evidence is somewhat weighted in favor of consider­
ing the twenty-four elders as representative of the church, and
if so, it would be an indication of a pretribulational Rapture as
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