Darrell C said:There is no indication that the Tribulation Martyrs are caught up.
Arguments from silence are notoriously unreliable. Don't even go there
It's not my argument...I'm not the one trying to make the First Resurrection the Rapture.
The argument belongs to Post-Trib believers.
Darrell C said:I agree the Tribulation Martyrs go through the Tribulation, as they refuse the Mark of the Beast and subsequently die, which does not impact the Pre-Tribulation Rapture at all.
Revelation ONLY talks of this resurrection and not only that, it calls it FIRST which means it is the first and there is none before it. Care to show me another resurrection?
Already did: the Two Witnesses.
If you want to see this as a bodily resurrection only, okay. Happy for you.
The other resurrection takes place at the passing away of this Universe:
Revelation 20
King James Version (KJV)
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
This demands that the rest of the dead will be resurrected at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, then to stand before the Great White Throne.
Darrell C said:The Rapture of the Two Witnesses establishes a valid precedent. There is a rapture before the First Resurrection ("First" referring to rank, rather than sequence-see the Biblical Usage of protos).
This argument is without any merit.
On the contrary...it is the only position that can be reconciled to the Whole Counsel of God's Word.
And this is why ALL bible translations settle on FIRST.
It is a misleading translation.
Do we see "first" in a context of sequence here...
Mark 12:28
King James Version (KJV)
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
Was He asking which commandment came first? Or which was the greatest?
Continued...