A Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Part Two)

The Word of the Lord

The word translated “word” here (logos) denotes “the complete expression of a thought, not a grammatical but a logical word, referring to a whole account” (see, for example, John 4:39, where we read of “the word of the woman” who testified concerning Christ; see also v. 41, where we read that “many more believe because of [Christ’s] word”). The very first piece of information that Paul wrote as being “by the word of the Lord” – and which is, arguably, the main truth that Paul was intending to convey to the Thessalonians in this passage, in order to console them (v. 18) – is that “we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose...” Now let’s consider the following three options for what, exactly, Paul had in mind when he referred to “the word of the Lord”:

(1) Paul was referring to something written in the Hebrew Scriptures (i.e., Genesis through Malachi).

(2) Paul was referring to something that Christ is recorded as having said in the Greek Scriptures (e.g., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

(3) Paul was referring to something that Christ told him directly (i.e., at some point subsequent to his initial encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus).

We can rule out option one, since there’s no place in the Hebrew Scriptures in which the information found in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 was previously revealed. But what about the second option? It can be dismissed for the same reason as the first. There is absolutely nothing said by Christ in the four Gospel Accounts that contains the specific information that Paul made known to the Thessalonians in the above three verses. The closest possible thing to what Paul wrote that can be found in any of the Gospel Accounts is in Matthew 24:30-31 (which is part of Christ’s “Olivet Discourse”). However, the differences between these verses and 1 Thess. 4:15-17 should be evident from even a superficial reading, and cannot simply be ignored or dismissed just because one’s doctrinal theory demands that the same event be in view in both passages. The information revealed in each passage is in no way the same, and Paul is clearly not quoting the words of Christ in Matthew 24:30-31 (or elsewhere).

Paul wasn’t merely talking about some vague future event that will involve (in some vague, unspecified way) a “trumpet, angels, shout and voices.” No; he’s providing us with specific chronological information that is revealed nowhere else in Scripture. Where, outside of this passage, are we told that, “Thereupon we, the living who are surviving, shall at the same time be snatched away together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be together with the Lord”? Nowhere. We can therefore conclude with certainty that option (3) is correct. When Paul wrote “by the word of the Lord,” he was, without question, referring to something that the Lord (Christ Jesus) told him directly, at some point subsequent to his initial encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus (notice also that, after Paul referred to the “word of the Lord” in v. 15, he referred to Christ Jesus as “the Lord” four more times in this same passage).

The Lord himself shall be descending from heaven

Concerning the “heaven” from which Paul said Christ will be descending at the time of the snatching away, we read the following in Hebrews 8:1-5 and 9:23-24:

“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man…Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”

This realm is not to be equated with either earth’s atmosphere or “outer space.” However, there are other places in Scripture where “heaven” does refer to (or at least includes) earth’s atmosphere. For example, in Acts 3:20-21 we read that Peter declared the following to a gathering of Israelites:

“Repent, then, and turn about for the erasure of your sins, so that seasons of refreshing should be coming from the face of the Lord, and He should dispatch the One fixed upon before you, Christ Jesus, Whom heaven must indeed receive until the times of restoration of all which God speaks through the mouth of his holy prophets who are from the eon.”

Based on the words, “heaven must indeed receive him until,” some have erroneously assumed that this coming of Christ refers to the same event as that prophesied by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. However, as in Acts 1:9-11 (where we read that Christ was seen “going into heaven” by the disciples), the “heaven” referred to by Peter in v. 21 should be understood as including the atmosphere above the earth that is visible to humans (cf. Acts 2:2, 5, 19; 4:24; 7:55; 9:3; 10:12; 11:6; 22:6; etc.). Thus, in Acts 3:21, “heaven” should be understood as including the relatively large expanse above the earth. Understood in this way, the coming of Christ which Peter had in mind here will not be fulfilled until after Christ has returned to earth (in accord with what we find prophesied in Zechariah 14:4).

In contrast with this fact, the “heaven” to which Paul was referring in 1 Thess. 4:16 is the location from which Christ will be descending, and is thus to be understood as distinct from the cloud-filled, atmospheric location to which we’re told Christ will be descending (and where all in the body of Christ will be meeting him after we’ve being snatched away from the earth). The location from which Christ will be descending prior to the “meeting in the air” should, therefore, be understood as the realm in which Christ is presently located (i.e., the “highest heaven,” where Christ is seated at the right hand of God). 

Moreover, if the “heaven” referred to by Peter in Acts 3:21 is to be understood as referring exclusively to the transcendent realm in which Christ is presently located at God’s right hand, then it would mean that Peter’s prophecy concerning the “times of restoration” was fulfilled when Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6; 22:6-10; cf. 1 Cor. 15:8). But that’s clearly not the case. And given this fact, what we read in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 is perfectly consistent with the view that the coming of Christ for his body (which I believe to be imminent) is distinct from Christ’s eon-consummating return to earth, and will not involve the commencement of the “times of restoration of all which God speaks through the mouth of His holy prophets who are from the eon.” For at the time of the snatching away, there is no indication that Christ will descend any further than the highest point in which clouds may be found. Thus, there’s no good reason to equate the coming of Christ to which Peter was referring in Acts 3:20-21 with that which was being prophesied by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

Now, it’s already been argued that the event prophesied by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 had not been previously revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Still, it’s a commonly-held view among Christians that the descent of Christ from heaven being referred to in v. 16 should be understood as the same coming of Christ referred to outside of Paul’s letters. For example, in Matthew 24:30-31 we read that Christ declared the following to his disciples:

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Mankind in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land shall grieve, and they shall see the Son of Mankind coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. And He shall be dispatching His messengers with a loud sounding trumpet, and they shall be assembling His chosen from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities.”

As most students of Scripture would agree, the event in view in Matthew 24:30-31 is Christ’s coming with his messengers at the end of the eon, when he returns to earth (cf. Matt. 16:27-28, Matt. 25:31, Rev. 1:7 and Rev. 19:11-21). And in contrast with what we find described by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and 1 Cor. 15:51-55 (which includes a resurrection of dead believers, as well as a “change” from mortality to immortality being undergone by those believers who will be alive at the time), absolutely nothing is said by Christ about anyone’s being resurrected (or changed from mortal to immortal) at the time of his “coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory.”

Some have argued that, because a “loud sounding trumpet” is referred to in this passage, the event that is in view must be the same as that described by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:16. However, this simply does not follow. Although it’s true that, in both passages, a trumpet is being blown by Christ, the blast of the “loud sounding trumpet” in Matthew 24:31 is said to be for the purpose of “dispatching His messengers,” whereas the “trumpet of God” referred to in 1 Thess. 4:16 has the distinct purpose of rousing the dead to a state of incorruption and changing the living into immortal beings (1 Cor. 15:51-55). There is also no mention of Christ’s messengers being present or in any way involved in the event that will involve those to whom Paul wrote. 

Later, I’ll provide some reasons for why the sounding of the “trumpet of God” referred to in 1 Thess. 4:16 should be understood as distinct from the sounding of the trumpet referred to in Rev. 11:15. For now, it need only be pointed out that those who equate the trumpet-related events prophesied in 1 Thess. 4:16 and Matt. 24:31 cannot (if they’re being consistent) also equate these events with the event referred to in Rev. 11:15. For – in contrast with the events prophesied in Matt. 24:31 and 1 Thess. 4:16 – it is not Christ but rather one of seven angels (who are referred to throughout Rev. 8-11) who will be sounding the trumpet that will result in the last of the seven prophesied trumpet-related calamities. Thus, the sounding of the trumpet by the “seventh messenger” in Rev. 11:15 is an event that is distinct from BOTH the sounding of the “trumpet of God” referred to in 1 Thess. 4:16 (and 1 Cor. 15:52) as well as the sounding of the trumpet referred to in Matt. 24:31.

Some see the words, “they [Christ’s messengers] shall be assembling His chosen from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities” (Matt. 24:31), as indicating that the “assembling” in view will not be taking place on the earth. It is then argued that this assembling must refer to the meeting in the air, as described by Paul in 1 Thess. 4:15-17. However, Christ’s words have nothing at all to do with the people in view being in the air at the time of their “assembling,” or afterwards. Christ was simply saying that those being assembled by his messengers at this time (“his chosen”) would be coming from all over the world. The expressions he used were simply a way of speaking of (1) the four directions of the world (i.e., the four cardinal points) and (2) the visible horizon, where the sun was seen to rise and set. For example, Deut. 4:32 reads,

“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.”

And in Psalm 19:4-6 we read,

“Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.”

In light of what Christ said about the “chosen” being gathered “from the four winds,” it is significant that, in Ezekiel, we read that it was “into all the winds” and “toward all winds” – i.e., all over the world – that God was going to scatter the Jewish people (Ezek. 5:10, 12; 17:21). And in Zechariah 2:6 we read that God scattered the Jews abroad “as the four winds of the heavens.” But after this scattering, we read that God will gather his “sons” and “daughters” among the scattered nation “from the end of the earth” (Isa. 43:5-7). These are referred to as his “chosen” in the same context (vv. 10, 20). Similarly, in Isaiah 11:12 we read that the “banished of Israel” and “dispersed of Judah” will be assembled “from the four corners of the earth.”

The larger context of Matthew 24 also indicates that Christ’s “chosen” being assembled at his coming with his holy messengers are most likely the remnant of believing Israelites who will have survived the time of “great affliction” and lived to see the return of Christ. It is these believing Israelites whom Christ said would be saved if they endured to the consummation (Mt. 24:13), whom Christ said the great signs and miracles being performed by false prophets during the great affliction could deceive, if possible (v. 24), and for whose sake these perilous days would be “discounted” (v. 22). That the chosen here are Israelites is further confirmed by those verses in which Israel and the Jewish people in general are referred to as the “chosen” or “elect” (Deut. 7:6; 1 Chron. 16:13; Isaiah 45:4; Rom. 11:28), and especially those in which the believing, faithful remnant within the nation are referred to as such (Isaiah 65:7-16). 

In the last passage referenced, we find God drawing a contrast between the unbelievers within the nation and the believing remnant, whom God refers to as “my chosen” (v. 9). He goes on to speak of how his chosen among the nation will be tremendously blessed on the earth in the future, using language that clearly refers to life during the eon to come (vv. 17-25). Remarkably, we also read in Isaiah 27:13 that the scattered children of Israel will be gathered to their homeland to “worship Yahweh on the holy mountain at Jerusalem” in conjunction with the blowing of “a great trumpet” (which is the only specific reference in the Old Testament to a “great” trumpet). 

Further evidence that the assembling of Christ’s “chosen” described in Matt. 24:31 involves the remnant of Jewish believers alive on earth at the time of his coming is the fact that the eonian destiny of the Gentiles (non-Israelites) who will be alive at the time of Christ’s coming with his messengers is later described as taking place at a different gathering (Matt. 25:31-46). Unlike the gathering of Christ’s chosen in Matt. 24:31, the gathering of “all the nations” before Christ (which we’re told will be when Christ is “seated on the throne of his glory”) will consist of a mixed company of both “just” and “unjust” Gentiles (whose eonian destiny is determined by their treatment – or mistreatment - of “the least of [Christ’s] brethren”). 

In view of the above facts, we can reasonably conclude that the assembling of Christ’s “chosen” by his messengers at the sound of a “loud sounding trumpet” refers to the remnant of believing, faithful Israelites who will survive the 3½ years of great affliction (having “endured to the consummation”) being gathered from all over the world by Christ’s messengers to “the holy mountain at Jerusalem.” In contrast with this gathering of Christ’s “chosen” when he comes with his holy messengers, we know that the saints who will be present for the meeting in the air as described in 1 Thess. 4:15-18 will consist primarily of those who are not ethnically Jewish. The apostle who wrote concerning the snatching away and the meeting in the air was, of course, Paul, the “apostle of the nations” who proclaimed the “evangel of the uncircumcision” (it is even implied in 1 Thess. 1:9 that the Thessalonians to whom Paul wrote were primarily Gentile in background). And in contrast with the gathering of the Gentiles described in Matt. 25:31-32, the eonian destiny of those who are to be snatched away to meet Christ in the air will be the same for all: eonian life “in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1; Phil. 3:20-21) and “among the celestials” (Eph. 2:6-7).

Part three: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-commentary-on-1-thessalonians-413-18_57.html