In previous articles we have shown that the bride is the male child and that the catching up of the male child more than likely refers to the bride being martyred at, or just before, the beginning of the great tribulation. Quite possibly it is related to the abomination of desolation that is going to occur at the same time. But if the bride is God’s elect (which she is) and the bride is not going to be here for the great tribulation, who are the elect during the great tribulation in the following verses:

There are three plausible possibilities. One is that the bride won’t be martyred but that she will be protected during the great tribulation. We mentioned this possibility briefly at the end of the previous article. Although it is not strongly supported by the available evidence, it cannot be ruled out. However, as we believe the bride will actually be martyred, this option does not help support our position. There needs to be another explanation for who the elect are in those verses if our theory is going to hold. As it turns out, there are at least two other possibilities.

The second possibility is that the elect in the description of the great tribulation is referring to the bride, even though she will have already been martyred. In the fifth seal we see the souls of the martyrs and they are crying out for vengeance and are told to wait a little while longer. It could be that the days being shortened are for their sake, so they will not have to wait as long. Additionally, in Matthew 24:24 it says there will be “great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” This too could be referring to the fact that the elect will have been martyred previously and therefore won’t be subject to the deception, which is why it will not be possible for them to be deceived by it.

A third possibility is that the elect are referring to the wise virgins—those who had not made themselves ready before the great tribulation began and thus are destined to be tested during it. Many of these will be killed, as evidenced by the great multitude of martyrs who are said to have come out of the great tribulation in Revelation 7:9–17. Matthew 24:22 states that if the days weren’t cut short none would be saved. This does not mean none would survive, but what it literally says, that none would be saved; or in other words, no “saved” people would be left if those days were not shortened. It suggests that the number who are “alive and remain until the coming of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15) will be very few indeed.

It is this third possibility that we think is the most likely one as it has the greatest scriptural support. While the bride is chosen (elect), the virgins—her helpers—who remain faithful during the great tribulation are also chosen and will also go in with her to the marriage (Matthew 25:10). They are among the ones who are “blessed [to be] called to the marriage supper of the Lamb” in Revelation 19:9.

We discuss the elect in more detail in Delivered From Delusion where we also show that despite Israel being God’s elect under the old covenant that is no longer the case, for the church is His chosen now. But that is a big topic that we won’t address further here, other than to say that God does still have a plan for Israel. The curious reader can get that book where all is explained.

The main purpose of this article has not been to delve too deeply into who the elect are but to explain how the elect could be present during the great tribulation yet also be spared from it. Any of the three explanations presented above are possible, and while we don’t know which (if any!) of them is correct, the fact that there are reasonable explanations means our previous suggestion that the bride could well be martyred prior to the great tribulation is not contradicted by the elect also being present during it.