LEE BRAINARD'S THREE QUESTIONABLE ARGUMENTS FOR A PRETRIB RAPTURE

Will Christians See the Seven Seals? | Lee Brainard

In this post I will debunk Lee Brainard’s three proposed reasons for the rapture before the first seal of Revelation. 

Brainard's first reason: 24 elders are the redeemed church in heaven

The twenty‑four elders appear as enthroned figures clothed in white and crowned with gold. (Revelation 4:4). Although pre‑tribulation commentators assert that the elders represent the redeemed community, the claim is exegetically weak. It relies on inference rather than demonstrable textual evidence, and therefore cannot be treated as a provable conclusion. Revelation offers no explicit identification of the elders as the church. Their identity is left undefined, and any assertion equating them with the church is relies on eisegesis. 

Brainard argues that  the elders must be human because the text refers to those purchased by the blood of Christ. (Revelation 5:9). However, the elders do not place themselves within the redeemed group by using any first‑person pronoun. There is no “we” or “us” in their statement, which indicates that they are not identifying themselves as part of those redeemed by the blood of Christ. Brainard misinterprets the verse by rendering it as “you have redeemed us to God by your blood”, a translation unsupported by reliable versions. The Codex Sinaiticus text of Revelation 5:9-10: καὶ ᾄδουσιν ᾠδὴν καινὴν λέγοντες· Ἄξιος εἶ λαβεῖν τὸ βιβλίον καὶ ἀνοῖξαι τὰς σφραγῖδας αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἐσφάγης καὶ ἠγόρασας τῷ θεῷ ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου ἐκ πάσης φυλῆς καὶ γλώσσης καὶ λαοῦ καὶ ἔθνους. καὶ ἐποίησας αὐτοὺς τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν βασιλείαν καὶ ἱερεῖς, καὶ βασιλεύουσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Forensic translation: And they sing a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and you purchased for God with your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And you made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they reign upon the earth.'"

note: αὐτοὺς (them)— third‑person plural, not first‑person (“us”)

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10 ESV).

 This translation is taken from the later Byzantine tradition

Brainard: "Go right to the apparatus in the UBS text. Go right to the apparatus in the Nestle-Aland text and you're going to quickly determine if you know how to use the apparatus that the best attested reading by far is the US reading of the King James Bible and the New King James Bible. It should read, 'For you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood.'" 

For academic study, textual criticism, and reconstruction of earliest attainable readings, the Alexandrian text is preferred. The later Byzantine text is useful for devotional reading and for understanding the history of transmission, but it is not typically used as the primary base for critical reconstruction.

Logos: "The Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed.) and the United Bible Society, Greek New Testament (5th ed.) are often considered the best for scholars due to their comprehensive textual apparatus and editors' confidence in their decisions. For pastors and students, the United Bible Society, Greek New Testament (5th ed.) is recommended for its smaller apparatus and helpful letter grades. The Society of Biblical Literature Greek New Testament is a textbook example of reasoned eclecticism and is edited by Michael W. Holmes. The Theological Greek New Testament (THGNT) is a modern edition that represents a departure from many modern printing conventions and focuses on the textual traditions of the first five centuries.. The editors purposefully limited their manuscript base, leaving the vast majority of what are generally considered later, Byzantine-text manuscripts out of the apparatus."1 

The earliest manuscript evidence keeps the elders distinct from the redeemed. In Revelation 5:9–10 the decisive variant—αὐτούς versus ἡμᾶς—is settled by the oldest witnesses, The textual weight lies entirely with the early Alexandrian manuscripts, not the later Byzantine expansion.

Sinaiticus: them / they reign
Alexandrinus: them / they reign
Vaticanus: does not contain Revelation
Byzantine tradition: us / we shall reign (a later development)
UBS5 / NA28: follow Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus2   

Brainard's second argument about the twenty four elders: "They must be resurrected because they are rewarded". 

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns (στεφάνους) on their heads. (Revelation 4:4).

Brainard’s constricted reading is yet another instance of the same pattern—interpretations shaped less by the text itself than by his own distorted framework.

White is the typical colour associated with angelic beings in scripture and can simply signify purity. The white garments of the twenty‑four elders therefore do not automatically correspond to the white robes given to the saints. In Revelation 6:11 the saints receive white robes yet are instructed to wait; they are not depicted as already enthroned or crowned. The resurrected saints do not appear in their white robes until Revelation 7:9–14, when "the great multitude" is finally seen before the throne.

Stephanos (στέφανος) has a broader semantic range than simply denoting a crown of reward. It can denote any wreath‑type crown, including one used for honour, festivity, suffering, or mock coronation, depending on context:

Bible Hub: "a. properly, as a mark of royal or (in general) exalted rank (such passages in the Sept. as 2 Samuel 12:30; 1 Chronicles 20:2; Psalm 20:4 (); Ezekiel 21:26; Zechariah 6:11, 14 (yet cf. 2 Samuel 1:10 Complutensian, Lagarde LXX), perhaps justify the doubt whether the distinction between στέφανος and διάδημα (which see) was strictly observed in Hellenistic Greek): Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2, 5; Revelation 4:4, 10; Revelation 6:2; Revelation 9:7; Revelation 14:14; with a genitive of the material, ἀστέρων δώδεκα, Revelation 12:1; the wreath or garland which was given as a prize to victors in the public games (cf. BB. DD. under the word ): 1 Corinthians 9:25, cf. 2 Timothy 2:5.
b. metaphorically, α. the eternal blessedness which will be given as a prize to the genuine servants of God and Christ: ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος, the crown (wreath) which is the reward of righteousness, 2 Timothy 4:8;"3

At best, this reflects sloppy research on Brainard’s part; at worst, it is another instance of disingenuous handling of the text. In reality, the identity of the twenty‑four elders is not disclosed, and any attempt to specify who they are rests on speculation rather than evidence.

Brainard’s interpretation provides no account of “the great multitude” (Revelation 7:9-17), yet Revelation presents a multitude that appears abruptly after the sixth seal is broken. John had not observed them earlier; they emerge suddenly, and the angel identifies them as those who have come out of the great tribulation. By contrast, the twenty‑four elders remain a distinct group positioned around the throne, aligned with the angelic host and the four living creatures. This structural separation carries far greater exegetical weight and yields a more defensible interpretation than collapsing the elders into the multitude.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs 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, “Amen! 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 addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 7:9-17).

Brainard's second reason: The Antichrist is the preeminent sign that the world has entered the Day of the Lord.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed. He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

Brainard fails to acknowledge that "the Day of the Lord " is the day of God’s wrath, not the tribulation. I have addressed this distinction extensively in earlier posts. When scripture differentiates between thlipsis (tribulation) and orgē (wrath), responsible research should preserve that distinction.

Brainard's third reason: The great delusion of the Antichrist is sent by God as a judgement.

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

Brainard removes these verses from their context in an effort to argue that the rapture occurs before the Antichrist’s persecution. The fact that the great delusion is a judgement against unbelief does nothing to exclude the presence of believers during the Antichrist’s period; the text simply does not support his conclusion. The New Testament maintains a rigid distinction between satanic tribulation and divine wrath, consistently placing the Antichrist’s persecution before the Day of the Lord. Jesus and Paul frame the final crisis as a period of human and demonic hostility against the saints. Believers are promised exemption from wrath but never from tribulation; 1 Thessalonians 5:9 guarantees deliverance from divine wrath, while the broader New Testament witness affirms the church’s experience of tribulation (John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Revelation 7:14). The recurring call for believers to “overcome” in Revelation presupposes endurance through the tribulation associated with the Antichrist. The Day of the Lord begins only after the cosmic disturbances that signal the arrival of divine wrath. (Revelation 6:12–17; Matthew 24:29). The sequence is clear: Antichrist’s oppression comes first, followed by the Day of the Lord’s judgment.

Matthew 24:15–18 presupposes that believers are still present on earth when the abomination of desolation occurs. This directly excludes any model that places the rapture before that event.

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (Matthew 24:15-28).

Brainard claims that his aim is “truth”, but that claim is open to serious challenge. His pretribulational readings repeatedly compromise the integrity of the text through eisegetical manoeuvres that cannot be sustained by the Greek or by responsible exegesis. His selective interpretation of Revelation 5:10 shows us that he is desperate to define the twenty-four elders as the church. One wonders whether he has considered the consequences scripture assigns to those who alter the book of Revelation. (Revelation 22:18–19). Mistranslating scripture—and also misrepresenting the writings of the church fathers—is a dangerous pattern in his work. It reflects a consistent willingness to distort sources rather than submit to them. 

1. The Greek New Testament: 3 Most Common Editions & Which You Should Use
2. Revelation 5:10 Greek Text Analysis
3. Strong's Greek: 4735. στέφανος (stephanos) -- Crown

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