@Red Sky at Morning...
I went and got all the verses pertaining to the elders. I don’t believe that the elders are part of the ones that are raptured, because they have been and are in the presence of God worshipping Him. The first time we see the elders they are worshipping God with the 4 living creatures but there wasn’t anyone else around.
Revelation 4:2-4, 10-11
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.
Revelation 5:6-14
And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before th Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
In Revelation 6 we hear about the seals and the 5th seal is an interesting seal in which it talks about Christian martyrs...
Revelation 6:9-11
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
Being that this is in Revelation and Revelation are all about the end times, I believe that these martyrs are the ones in the tribulation, because we have to be here as a testimony to people, they don’t just keep on with the lawlessness without God keeping people here to tell them about sin and about salvation.
Matthew 24:14
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
And again..
Mark 13:9-13,
for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name,
Jesus says that unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the elect, He shortened the days.
Mark 13:20
Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no live would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
If we aren’t still on the earth for the tribulation, then why shorten the days? That would make no sense..then you have this verse that tells us we are not destined for wrath, which is why I believe that we will be on the earth until the wrath of God where we will be giving our testimonies and being martyred for the cause of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I also want to mention about enduring to the end to be saved..and I think that has everything to do with the end times and we will have to endure to our ends at least, who knows how far we will make it individually, but we will have to endure to be raptured. Because we are already saved by grace through faith, so this could only mean that we will be physically saved if we endure to the end. We also read in Revelation when John is being told about the church that the saint are often told to persevere and endure..and I believe that its also a warning to us that we will be in for some hardship, if not death for the cause of Christ.
Matthew 24:13
But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
Mark 13:27
You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
I think of Moses who had to endure ridicule from the peoples around him while he built the ark and that God only closed the door on the ark when the rain’s came, His wrath and I think that is a similarity that we should consider that we will be here until God’s wrath begins.
Matthew 24:37-40
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Then we see in Revelation 7, that after the seals were opened and an interval in heaven then there is a great multitude of people standing there. That’s when John ask who are all these people and the elders then tell him that they came out of the great tribulation.
Revelation 7:9-16
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “ Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “ A men, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “
These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. .
In 1 Thessalonians we see that people who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord..also backs up people enduring to the end..but they aren’t being picked up until the Lord returns and Jesus only returns once...
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
And Jesus confirms this.
Matthew 24:30-31
And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
In the end, I think that one must be mindful that God doesn’t always take His people out of hard times, but leaves them there to test us and for His glory. And I think that when you read through the Bible you can see that and not that He removes people before the going gets tough. Even these three men knew that....
Daniel 3:16-18
“Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
Edit: Sorry for the length, it could not be helped.