That was fun.

The problem is that the body of elders on the thrones are in heaven but have not yet been resurrected for service back on earth. They are the dead in Christ that will rise first before the rapture, they are not themselves raptured.

Viewing it this way, is consistent with all the verses I posted above, viewing it his way is not. Scripture cannot contradict scripture, so we must choose the interpretation that agrees with ALL scripture.

I'll throw in Jesus' own Olivet Discourse about His coming:

Matthew 24:29
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days" 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

The gathering of His elect to Him is clearly after the tribulation, after the first resurrection, and after all those saints seated around the throne are resurrected in the First Resurrection.

Why bother arguing about this?

This is very important. If the post tribbers are wrong, they are merely plesantly surprised about not having to go through the tribulation at all. No harm no foul.

But if the pre-tribbers are wrong, they will all be shocked about having to go through it and will not be prepared. Many will fall away as a result, just like Peter denied Christ three times because he was not prepared.

If you have any doubt, you should err on the side of being prepared to go through the entire tribulation and be raptured on the Last Day, after the First Resurrection as Jesus himself promised.

"...and I will raise them up on the Last Day."