TEACHING 4: 1 Thes. 4:13-18
The following is TEACHING 4 in hour Discipleship Hour. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. The truth of the 2nd coming of Jesus is spoken of throughout the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians to give these Christians hope in the midst of persecution and hardship. Jesus will come back! And those who have already died, as believers, will not miss out on the greatness of this event. These passages in Thessalonians present many with a challenge in interpreting their meaning. Is “the Rapture” a real biblical event that will take place in the future? Will Jesus come back for his people before the Tribulation? Or is this a teaching on the “2nd Coming of Christ” when He returns to put an end to the enemy forever and reign with believers on the New Earth? Of FIRST IMPORTANCE with these doctrines, I would love to advise that we never let this divide us as a church. If people have differening viewpoints on this topic, they still are very much both believers, and this is a doctrine that should not separate us. The goal of Pauls teaching originally isn’t to have people choose sides, but to give hope. WHENEVER CHRIST COMES BACK, and HOWEVER IT HAPPENS, it is something we can look forward to, with full assurance that He will come back for His people. Let’s be encouraged by this truth. Lets also be encouraged knowing that belief in Christ’s return is a sign of true faith, assuring us even more of our salvation.
Ancient iconography of the 2nd Coming of Christ
1 Thessalonians 4:13 -18
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
An important thiing to understand about interpreting this passage and these letters to the Thessalonians is that this is NOT figurative language. This is not apocalyptic literature like Revelation, where there is a lot of symbolism to figure out, to understand its meaning. Here Paul is very specific as to what will happen. These events will take place just like he says. There is a literal meaning.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 tackles a practical question that the people had in Pauls day. The Thessalonian church wondered what happens to those Christians who have died in Christ before Christ's return? They were worried that their loved ones would miss out on being with Jesus forever. Paul corrects their thinking and lets them know that those who have fallen asleep in Christ will actually raise first and return with Christ. This must have been encouraging in a culture where their loved ones were being killed for their faith. The hope and comfort of knowing that they didn’t have to grieve like the world grieved could fuel them up to keep living for Jesus and serving Him.
Lets look at a few key phrases from this passage:
“those who sleep in death” Ancient people called death “sleep” and it was a normal way to describe it. For the 1st Christians death was called sleep because they knew that their loved ones were at rest with Christ. This is not a teaching on soul sleep. Paul is not saying that the soul is asleep until Christs return. In fact he teaches the opposite. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and he gives assurance that when we die we are immediatly with Jesus and that it is better by far. (Phillipians 1:23)
Paul is teaching the Thessalonians that their Christian family members who have been killed for their faith, or died before Christ’s return, will not miss out on life forever with God. They also will not miss the greatest even in the history of the world, as Christ comes back for his people. In fact, they will experience Christs return FIRST!
“those who are still alive” Believers that are still alive when Christs come back will of course get to experience this event. They will be taken 2nd, to meet the Lord in the air. There is hope for those who have died 1st, and those who are alive 2nd. Hope for all.
“a loud command” When Jesus returns there will be a loud command or SHOUT. People will hear the voice of the arch angel. And finally there will be the blast of a trumpet heard. The “loud command” is a phrase that refers to a ships captain, or a general, giving a command to their crew. Its shouted loudly so all can hear it over whatever noise there is. This passage has a theme of the authoriy of Christ in it. He commands, and His people come to him in the air. Maybe He will just say “Come Church” and we will all be with Him in the air?
“caught up together” This greek verb means to be “siezed or carried off by force.” It will be out of our control when Jesus calls us to meet him. He will take us with His power. This phrase “caught up” is where believers get the term “rapture”. In the Latin bible (Vulgate) the word for caught up, “rapturus” is where we get our english word for rapture. Whatever our view on the rapture/2nd Coming, there is coming a literal day where Christ returns and calls us to meet Him. In stregth and in power He will sieze, and carry off His people.
“meet the Lord in the air” There is a play on words here in the original Greek language when we are told those who are alive in Christ will be caught up "in the air". Satan according to Ephesians 2:2 is the "Prince and Power of the Air". For us to be caught up in the air with Jesus could very well be a statement saying that in the end we will occupy Satan’s territory "in the air" in victory with Jesus.
“will be with the Lord forever” Whether you view this passage as the rapture or the 2nd coming of Christ, the hope here is that we will be “with the Lord forever.” Let us not forget that hope.
“encourage one another with these words” Remember that these words are supposed to be encouraging. Jesus return and siezing of His people is something to look forward too. We will be forever rescued from sin, death, hardship, and forever be with our loved ones who know the Lord. We will also forever live with Him on a ressurected earth, in a ressurected body. We should encourage one another with these words.
To teach on the rapture and 2nd coming is a rather large undertaking. Here are a few of Pastor Tony’s thoughts, and a few links for further study.
I grew up with an understanding that the rapture was a doctrine to be believed. Many say it is a doctrine that was first made in the early 1800’s, a rather new belief. When I study the early church fathers, (the first pastors of the first churchs) I think its pretty easy to make a case that the first church’s believed this also.
The rapture has a basis in the bible in the stories of Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus who we could all say were “raptured” in a sense.
A compelling thing for me is also that the word church, ekklesia, does not appear in the book of Revelation between chapters 4 and 21. The thought here is that the church has been raptured and is not on earth during this time. Therefore it is not mentioned in the end times events on earth.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 says that God did not appoint us to “wrath.” This is probably the most compelling statement and truth for me in believeing the rapture. While I do NOT believe Christians are told in the bible they will escape persecution, that is something many will face, I do believe that God’s wrath is NOT for the Christian. Most of the terrible things that happen in the book of Revelation are God’s wrath being poured out on those who have opposed Him. This wrath is not for believers. In the same way that God’s wrath, or judgement was shown to the Egyptians in the 10 plagues, but Isreal was not hurt by them (thinking specifically of the “death of the firstborn son.”) I don’t see a reason that the church would endure God’s wrath, in any situation, ever.
Here is a link from a guy who teaches from the perspective that there is a Rapture and a 2nd Coming of Christ. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-thessalonians-4/
Here is a link of someone who gives the argument for both sides, but believes there is no rapture, only a 2nd Coming of Christ. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-rapture-question/
Be sure to study this out for yourself, and remember the true hope is that He IS COMING AGAIN.
INDUCTIVE STUDY PROMPTS
Read the passage. Let’s get into God’s word! (Acts 17 for extra reading)
Write down how the passage made you feel. How does it apply to your heart and life. One word, like convicted, happy, anxious, melancholy, etc. Let’s make this passage personal!
Write down a word or phrase or idea in the scripture that jumped out at you. Let’s let the Holy Spirit work through His word!
Leader asks some/all to share their feeling and their word/phrase/idea, then asks what from their life does that person associate with that feeling and word/phrase/idea. (example from studying Psalm 23) Might be remembering visiting grandpa’s sheep farm and sadness of loss of him, or pain of strained family relationships, or joy remembering grandma and grandpa’s good Christian marriage. Let’s talk about it from our life experience!
Leader asks if there is anything that he/she/group can pray for that person in relation to all that was shared. Let’s pray!
Leader takes notes and remembers to follow up with that person the following week to see how things are going. Let’s be consistent/remember/challenge each other!