Paul’s intention is to give the new believers a basic concept of the hope of our Christian life. He wants to impress them with the fact that the Christian life, which is a holy life for the church life, has a hope. Therefore, this life is absolutely different from the hopeless life of fallen mankind. The hope of the Christian life is the Lord’s coming back, and this hope includes resurrection and rapture.

In verse 13 Paul says, “But we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are sleeping, that you may not sorrow even as also the rest who have no hope.” The words “those who are sleeping” refer to the dead (v. 16; John 11:11-14; 1 Cor. 11:30). The death of believers is considered by both the Lord and the apostle as sleep. Perhaps by the time Paul wrote this Epistle some of the believers in Thessalonica had died. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for Paul to write about this matter.

In verse 14 Paul continues, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also those who are asleep will God, through Jesus, bring together with Him.” To believe in the hope described here includes believing in the Lord’s resurrection. Anyone who does not believe in Christ’s resurrection will not believe in this hope. But if we believe in this hope, this indicates that we have already believed in Christ’s resurrection.

Some may refer to verse 14 and say, “When the saints die, they go to heaven, and when the Lord Jesus comes back, He will bring them from heaven with Him.” To interpret the verse in this way is to neglect the first half of the verse, where we are told that Jesus died and rose. This, of course, refers to His resurrection. If the dead saints are already in heaven, and if the Lord will bring them with Him from heaven when He comes, then the dead saints do not need resurrection.

Verses 15 and 16 will help you to understand what I mean: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall by no means precede those who have slept; because the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Please pay careful attention to the word “rise” in verse 16. If the dead are already in heaven, what need is there for them to rise? If they are truly in heaven, they do not need to rise. Furthermore, they do not need to be raptured or to be caught up to the Lord. Their only need would be to descend from heaven with the Lord Jesus. The fact that verse 16 says that the dead in Christ shall rise indicates that they must be in some place other than heaven.

In verse 15 the Greek word translated “coming” is parousia, presence. In verse 16 the Greek words rendered “cry of command” may also be translated shout of command, as a signal for assembling. The trumpet of God is the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52), a trumpet for assembling God’s redeemed people (see Num. 10:2).

In verse 17 Paul goes on to say, “Then we who are living, who remain, shall be caught up at the same time together with them in clouds into a meeting of the Lord in the air; and so we shall be always together with the Lord.” According to this verse, both the dead and the living believers will be caught up to the Lord. First the dead will be raised, and then together we shall be caught up to a meeting of the Lord in the air.

The manchild in Revelation 12, the overcomers, will be caught up, raptured, to the throne of God in the third heaven before the last three and a half years of the great tribulation (Rev. 12:5-6, 14). Here, the majority of believers will be raptured to the air at the time of the Lord’s coming.
Home | First | Prev | Next