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

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

“Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren…”

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Concordant Literal New Testament) we read the following:

“Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are reposing, lest you may sorrow according as the rest, also, who have no expectation. For, if we are believing that Jesus died and rose, thus also, those who are put to repose, will God, through Jesus, lead forth together with Him. For this we are saying to you by the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who are surviving to the presence of the Lord, should by no means outstrip those who are put to repose, for the Lord Himself will be descending from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the Chief Messenger, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall be rising first. 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. So that, console one another with these words. ”

The believers to whom Paul wrote the letter in which the above passage is found were members of the ecclesia – i.e., the called-out assembly (or “church”) – that existed in the city of Thessalonica. Like all of the ecclesias to whom Paul wrote, the ecclesia in Thessalonica was comprised primarily of people from among the nations who once belonged to the pagan, idol-worshiping religious system of that day (1 Thess. 1:9). In addition to what we read in 1 Thess. 1:9, the uncircumcised, gentile status of those to whom Paul wrote is also implied in 1 Thess. 4:3-5. What Paul wrote in these verses only makes sense when the recipients of this letter are understood as having consisted primarily of gentiles who were formerly involved in idol-worship and other activities that the “nations also who are not acquainted with God” were involved in at the time.  However, these believers had been called out of their idolatry to the worship of the living God through the heralding of the “evangel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 8; cf. 1 Thess. 1:5; 2:2, 9; 3:2). This evangel is the “testimony” that they’d believed (v. 10), and consists of the truth that “Christ died for our sins” and “was roused from among the dead” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

Having been called by God through this evangel (2 Thess. 2:14), the Thessalonian believers thus became members of that company of believers that Paul referred to elsewhere as “the body of Christ” and “the ecclesia which is [Christ’s] body” (1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27; Eph. 1:22-23). As members of the body of Christ, the Thessalonian believers had been “sealed with the holy spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13), and were thus destined to enter (and enjoy an allotment in) the “kingdom of God” referred to in v. 5. And as I’ve argued elsewhere (see, for example, http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2020/03/clearing-up-some-confusion-concerning_7.html), when Paul referred to the kingdom of God as the expectation of those in the body of Christ, he did not have in mind the kingdom in its future earthly location (which is the location that is in accord with the prophesied and covenant-based expectation of God’s covenant people, Israel). Rather, Paul had in mind the kingdom of God as it will exist in its heavenly location (i.e., what Paul referred to in 2 Tim. 4:18 as the Lord’s “celestial kingdom”).

At the time when Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians, the body of Christ existed alongside both national Israel and the chosen Jewish remnant among God’s covenant people (which Paul referred to in Gal. 6:16 as “the Israel of God,” and in Rom. 9:6 as simply, “Israel”). And during this time, the body of Christ consisted of both uncircumcised, non-proselytized gentiles as well as those who were former proselytes of Israel. Although (as already noted) most of the Thessalonian believers probably belonged to the former category, there were also a minority of believers in the body of Christ who, like Paul and Barnabas, were Jews “according to the flesh,” and former members of God’s covenant people, Israel. However, those who came from this particular ethnic and covenantal background would’ve understood themselves to have joined a body of believers that was (and is) completely distinct from Israel, and which has been called by God to an expectation that is completely distinct from Israel’s covenant-based expectation. Within this body of believers, covenant identity (as well as circumcision, the sign of God’s covenant with Israel) was, and is, completely irrelevant. 

In contrast with what’s been said above, there are some students of Scripture who believe that the Thessalonian believers (and, by implication, the body of Christ as a whole at the time Paul wrote this letter) shared Israel’s earthly, covenant-based expectation, and were basically an extension of the ecclesias to which “the Israel of God” (i.e., the believing Jewish remnant) belonged. In defense of this position, some appeal to the following words of Paul in 1 Thess. 2:14:

“For you became imitators, brethren, of the ecclesias of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you suffered the same, even you by your own fellowtribesmen, according as they also by the Jews…”

The word translated “imitators” in this verse (mimetes) does not mean that those in Thessalonica belonged to the same company of saints as those who comprised “the ecclesias which are in Judea in Christ Jesus.” The very next verse informs us of exactly how the Thessalonian saints had become “imitators of the ecclesias of God which are in Judea.” According to Paul, the saints to whom he wrote had “suffered the same, even you by your own fellowtribesmen, according as they also by the Jews…” In other words, the Thessalonian believers had endured persecution from their own “fellowtribesmen” (or “countrymen”) just as the ecclesias in Judea had suffered persecution from the unbelieving Jews. It is in this way that they had become “imitators” of them. This understanding of 1 Thess. 2:14 is perfectly consistent with the view that Paul had in view two different categories of saints with two distinct expectations. Moreover, the fact that Paul contrasted the “Jews” (as a people group) with the “fellowtribesmen” of the persecuted believers in Thessalonica further confirms the fact that the saints to whom Paul wrote (or at least the majority of the saints within this ecclesia) weren’t Jewish. 

“Concerning those who are reposing”

In verses 13-15, those who have died (specifically, deceased believers) are figuratively referred to by Paul as if they were asleep or “reposing.” This kind of figurative “sleep” imagery is fairly common among the inspired writers of Scripture (see, for example, Deut. 31:16; 2 Sam 7:12; 1 Kings 2:10; 1 Kings 11:43; 1 Kings 14:31; 1 Kings 15:8; 1Kings 15:24; 2 Chron. 28:27; 2 Chron. 33:20; Job 3:13; 7:21; 14:21; Ps 13:3; 17:15; 76:5; 90:3-6; Jer. 51:39; Isa. 26:14; Dan. 12:2; Matt 9:24-25; Matt. 27:52; John 11:11–14; Acts 7:59–62; Acts 13:36; 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 Cor. 15:6, 16-18, 20, 32, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13–16; 5:10; 2 Pet 3:4). To better understand this figurative language, let’s consider Job 14:10-12. In these verses we read the following:

“But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up, so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.”

Here it is “man” who, in death, is figuratively spoken of by Job as if he were asleep and in need of being “roused.” Similarly, in Daniel 12:2 we read, “From those sleeping in the soil of the ground many shall awake, these to eonian life and these to reproach for eonian repulsion” (CVOT). Here, the “sleep” metaphor obviously applies to that which returns to “the soil of the ground” – i.e., the human body. And since it is human persons who are said to “sleep” after they die, then it can be reasonably inferred that our body is essential to our existence and personal identity. In other words, the human body that returns to the “the soil of the ground” after a human being dies is, in a very real sense, the remains of the person who died. It is not something that humans can exist without. Humans do not survive the death of the body; when our body dies, we die.

In keeping with this fact, read in Acts 7:60 that Luke referred to the death of Stephen as follows: “…he was put to repose” (or “fell asleep”). If the words “he was put to repose” are to be understood as applying to anything other than the human person, Stephen (or that which was essential to Stephen’s “personal identity”), then it would have been inaccurate to say that “he was put to repose.” For the pronoun “he” refers, of course, to Stephen himself (and not to some unessential part of Stephen).

Those whom Paul referred to as “reposing” in v. 13 are later referred to as “the dead in Christ” (v. 16). Death, of course, is the opposite of life, and to be dead is to be lifeless. Those who are dead – whether they died as believers or unbelievers – are not alive in any way. It’s likely that the dead began to be figuratively described as if they were “asleep” (or “reposing”) because of the close resemblance between the appearance of the recently deceased and those who are asleep. Because those who have died appear, to the living, as if they’re sleeping, it was only natural that sleep-related terms begin to be used in reference to death and those who have died. But it must be kept in mind that this figurative language presupposes that what can be observed after a person dies (i.e., the lifeless body) is the remains of the person who once lived. And this means that the person who died cannot be considered any more alive than the person’s lifeless body.

Among those who believe that the dead are not really dead (and that they remain conscious in a “disembodied state”), some have argued that the Greek word translated “reposing” in 1 Thess. 4:13 (koimao) does not necessarily mean that those who have died are unconscious. Rather, it’s argued that the term koimao can simply denote a state of rest from labour and troubles. It’s further suggested that the Greek word “hupnos” would be more appropriate if Paul had wanted to convey the idea that the dead are unconscious. In response to this view, it must be kept in mind that those to whom the term koimao is being figuratively applied by Paul are dead. Thus, however one understands the term koimao when figuratively used in reference to those who have died, the use of the term must be consistent with what Scripture elsewhere reveals concerning the state of the dead. And according to what is revealed elsewhere, those who have died are not engaged in any kind of conscious activity:

“The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing” (Eccl 9:5).

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol [i.e., the domain of the dead], to which you are going” (Eccl 9:10).

“For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?” (Psalm 6:5)

“Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (Psalm 88:11-12)

“The dead do not praise Yahweh, nor do any that go down into silence” (Psalm 115:17).

“His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish” (Psalm 146:4).

“For Sheol cannot thank you, death cannot praise you; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness” (Isaiah 38:18).

But what, then, about the word koimao? The fact is that this word can and does apply just as naturally to a state of unconsciousness as the word hupnos. In the LXX, for example, the word koimao was used to convey the same meaning of “sleep” as hupnos (e.g., Judges 16:14, 19, 20; 1 Kings 19:5; Ps 3:5; 4:8; 13:3; Prov. 4:16). Job 14:12 is especially relevant, for in this verse both koimao and hupnos were used in reference to the “sleep” of the dead. In Psalm 13:3 hupnos is used in the expression “sleep of death,” and in Psalm 76:5 the word appears yet again in reference to death. The same goes for Jer. 51:39 (“sleep a perpetual sleep”). Moreover, in the Greek Scriptures, koimao seems to have been used and understood to convey the same general meaning as hupnos. For example, in Matt. 28:13, we read that the unbelieving chief priests said the following to the Roman soldiers who were guarding Jesus’ tomb: “Say that ‘His disciples, coming by night, steal him as we are reposing’” (cf. Luke 22:45 and Acts 12:6). It would be pretty strange if, in this verse, the term koimao (translated “reposing”) didn't denote an unconscious sleep! Consider also John 11:11-12, where we read the following:

After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep [koimaō], but I go to awaken him [exupnizō, “to awake out of sleep”].” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep [koimaō], he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest [koimēsis] in sleep [hupnos].

Notice that when Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had “fallen asleep” (koimaō) they thought he was talking about literal sleep (hupnos). Jesus then has to tell them plainly that Lazarus was dead (and when he spoke of “Lazarus,” Christ was clearly talking about the dead occupant of the tomb who he was soon to visit, not an “immortal soul” that was relaxing somewhere in a conscious state of existence). So while it’s true that the term hupnos is the more specific word for “sleep,” koimao was often used to communicate the same meaning. And when applied to the dead, it can be understood as carrying the same idea (since those who are dead appear to the living to be “resting” or “reposing” in a state of sleep).

Thus, while the word koimao doesn’t, by itself, necessarily suggest an unconscious state (as does hupnos), it is completely consistent with it. And there is good reason to believe that an unconscious state is implied by this word when used in reference to those who are dead. While in a state of death, the dead are “reposing” in the sense that they are no longer engaged in conscious thought or vital activity, as are the living. Any objection that the scriptural metaphor of sleep refers “only” to our physical bodies presupposes an erroneous (and unscriptural) understanding of human nature. That is, it presupposes that our body isn’t essential to our existence as living, sentient beings, and that our capacity for consciousness can continue after death in a so-called “disembodied state.” But this commonly-held belief (i.e., the belief that our body is not essential to our existence as “living souls” who have a capacity for consciousness) is simply not in accord with what Scripture reveals. Consider the following argument: 

1. When Christ died, his spirit (i.e., the “breath of life,” or life-source) returned to God (Luke 23:46), and his body was entombed (Matt 27:59-60).
2. After his death, Christ was always said to be wherever his body was, and never where his spirit went (Matt 12:40; John 19:33, 40, 42; Acts 2:39, 13:29; 1 Cor. 15:3-5; cf. John 11:17, 43-44).
3. Therefore, it was Christ’s lifeless body that constituted his personal remains while he was dead, and not his spirit (that is, Christ’s body was all that remained of Christ while he was dead for three days and nights).

In 1 Thess. 4:14 Paul went on to say, ”For, if we are believing that Jesus died and rose, thus also, those who are put to repose, will God, through Jesus, lead forth together with Him.” We know from other passages in Paul’s letters – such as 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 – that Christ’s death was “for our sins.” That is, Christ died so that our sins would cease to be a source of condemnation for us (which is what takes place when God justifies sinners and ceases to reckon their sins to them). However, Paul doesn’t mention this particular element of his gospel here. In accord with the subject introduced in verse 13, Paul simply affirmed the fact that “Jesus died and rose.” The fact that Christ died means that, after breathing his last on the cross, our Lord ceased to exist as a living, sentient being capable of thinking, feeling and volitional activity (for more on this important topic, see the following article: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2019/11/pauls-gospel-and-death-denying.html). And in this lifeless state, Christ was completely dependent on his God and Father to restore him to a living existence. But after three days, God did just this when he roused his Son from among the dead and – in the words of Hebrews 7:17 – bestowed on him “the power of an indissoluble life.”

Just as we believe “that Jesus died and rose,” so we can have confidence that, through Jesus, God will do the same for all who die (cf. 2 Cor. 4:13-15). This is the meaning of the words, “…will God, through Jesus, lead forth together with Him.” It is from among the dead that God will, through Jesus, be “leading forth together with [Christ]” those believers who will be dead when the event referred to in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 takes place. The Greek word translated “lead forth” in v. 14 is “ago.” A related Greek word (“anago”) is found in Rom. 10:7 and Heb. 13:20 (where God’s “leading up” Christ “from among the dead” is in view). Just as God “led up” Christ from among the dead when he was resurrected, so God will, through Jesus, “lead forth together with him” the “dead in Christ” when they are roused from among the dead (concerning the meaning of the words “together with [Christ],” see Rom. 6:3-9, Eph. 2:4-6 and Col. 3:1). 

Part two: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-commentary-on-1-thessalonians-413-18_98.html

Clearing Up Some Confusion Concerning the Kingdom of God (Part Two)

The celestial kingdom of God

Remarkably, there are some believers who deny or question the existence of any heavenly realm besides the visible heavens that we see above. For example, one believer stated that he was “pretty sure” that a heavenly realm that is distinct from what can be seen from earth was no more real than the hell in which most Christians believe. When asked to elaborate on his belief, he went on to say that “the Bible never really describes heaven as more than what we see above,” and that “a place where we dwell with God and all these weird religious concepts of heaven are never spoken of in scripture.”

While I would agree with this believer that there are a number of false religious concepts of heaven that are never spoken of in Scripture (such as the idea that heaven is a place where people “go when they die,” and is populated by immaterial, “disembodied souls”), I don’t think Scripture allows us to deny that there is an actual place called “heaven” in which Christ currently dwells and sits enthroned, and which is other than (and beyond) “what we see above.” Following his ascension from earth (Acts 1:9-11; 2:34), our Lord “passed through the heavens” (Heb. 4:14), entered into what the author of Hebrews called “heaven itself” (Heb. 9:24), and came to be “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...” (Heb. 8:1-5). There, Christ purified the “heavenly things” of which the tabernacle and other related man-made structures on earth are said to have been but copies or representations (9:23). To believe that the heavenly place in which we’re told Christ is now sitting enthroned – and from which he must depart (and descend) in order to appear in the earth’s atmosphere (1 Thess. 4:16-17) – is simply “what we see above,” is clearly absurd. Scripture is clear that there exists a transcendent realm that, in relation to the earth and its inhabitants, is both above us and unseen by us.

Consider also Rev. 12:7-12, where we read of a heavenly realm that is inhabited by heavenly beings, and from which Satan and his messengers are going to be banished at some future time. This heavenly realm (which is referred to in this passage as both “heaven” and “the heavens”) is clearly distinguished from the earth. Satan and his angels belong to the heavenly realm at present (cf. Eph. 6:12), although they can apparently travel to and from the earth as they please (cf. Job 1:6-7). However, following the “war” referred to in v. 7, Satan and his angels will be banished from the heavenly realm and “thrown down to the earth” (v. 9). That the heavenly realm in view here is above the earth is further evident from v. 12 (where the devil is said to have “come down” or “descended” to the earth). In response to the expulsion of Satan from heaven, we read that someone in heaven declares that “the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come.” Thus, just as the kingdom of God is going to be present on the earth at a future time (i.e., following Christ’s return to the earth), so there will be a time when the kingdom comes to be present in the heavenly realm, also (evidently, the coming of the kingdom in heaven occurs before the coming of the kingdom on the earth).

Keeping the above points in mind (as well as what was argued in part one of this study concerning those who will be enjoying an allotment in the kingdom of God on earth), let’s now consider the following argument:

1. Mortal, flesh-and-blood humans will be enjoying an allotment in the kingdom of God that’s going to be established on the earth after Christ’s return.

2. However, according to Paul in 1 Cor. 15:50, “flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God.”

3. In 1 Cor. 15:50, Paul was not referring to the kingdom of God on the earth.

If Paul had in mind the kingdom of God as it will exist on the earth when he wrote what he did in 1 Cor. 15:50, then he would’ve been contradicting the scriptural fact that there will, in fact, be mortal, flesh-and-blood humans in this kingdom during the eon to come (as was demonstrated toward the end of part one of this study). But of course, Paul wasn’t contradicting Scripture. He simply didn’t have in mind the kingdom of God as it will exist on the earth. But if the future location of the kingdom of God that Paul had in mind in 1 Cor. 15:50 is not going to be the earth, then what location did Paul have in mind?

Answer: Paul had in mind the heavenly realm, where Christ is presently located. It is in contrast with the conditions that will characterize the kingdom of God on earth during the eons to come that Paul told those in the body of Christ that “flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God.” Rather, what Paul had in mind in 1 Corinthians 15:50 was the kingdom of God into which the saints in the body of Christ will be entering after the snatching away and meeting in the air – i.e., the kingdom of God as it will exist in the heavenly realm (and which he referred to in 2 Tim. 4:18 as the Lord’s “celestial kingdom”). 

It is the kingdom of God in heaven – not the kingdom of God on earth – in which “flesh and blood is not able to enjoy an allotment.” It is because the location of the kingdom for which those in the body of Christ are destined is celestial in location that we (who are presently “soilish” in nature) must come to wear “the image…of the Celestial,” and thereby become “celestials” (1 Cor. 15:48-49). Our mortal, “terrestrial” body must be transformed into a body that is fit for the realm where Christ, the Celestial One, resides and inherently belongs – i.e., the heavens (1 Cor. 15:47). In 2 Cor. 5:2, our glorified body is described as “our habitation which is out of heaven.” As in 1 Cor. 15:47 (where Christ is referred to as “the Lord out of heaven”), the term translated “out of” in this verse (ek) expresses the idea that the heavens (and not the earth) will be the source of our glorified body (and thus of we ourselves, since our body is the quantity of matter that composes us). It is because the heavens will be the source of our immortal, spiritual body that we’ll be suited for eonian life “in the heavens.”[1]

In Ephesians 1:20 Christ’s heavenly location is described by Paul as being “among the celestials” (cf. Heb. 8:1; 9:24). This heavenly realm “among the celestials” is also where the wicked spiritual beings with whom we “wrestle” are said to belong as well (Eph. 6:12). And it is also “among the celestials” that those in the body of Christ will be seated together with Christ “in the oncoming eons” (Eph. 2:6-8; cf. 1:3). Moreover, since it was in the heavens that Christ was located when Paul wrote to the saints in Corinth, we can conclude that it is also in the heavens – and not on the earth – that those to whom Paul wrote will be “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6-9), and where each member of the body of Christ will be “manifested in front of the dais of Christ” (v. 10). Hence, the future, vivified body that we in the body of Christ will possess after “the mortal may be swallowed up by life” is described as being “eonian, in the heavens.” (2 Cor. 5:1). In accord with this fact, we’re told by Paul that “our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a Savior also” (Phil. 3:20), and that we have an “expectation reserved for [us] in the heavens” (Col. 1:5). 

Based on these and other related verses, we can reasonable conclude that the location of the kingdom of God in which the saints in the body of Christ will be enjoying their eonian allotment is not going to be on the earth. It’s going to be the heavenly realm in which, according to Rev. 12:7-12, the kingdom of God is going to be established after Satan is cast out of it.

“Troublesome” verses concerning the kingdom of God

As noted at the beginning of part one of this study, Don Bast asks the reader five questions in the introduction of his book The Secrets of the Kingdom. These questions are based on certain verses he found particularly “troublesome” back when he believed what he used to believe and teach in his fellowship group (and which he had difficulty reconciling with what he used to believe).

Mr. Bast’s first question is based on 1 Cor. 6:2-3: “How is the body of Christ going to judge the world and life’s affairs if it is caught away to the far-off place in the sky, called the celestials?”

In one my earlier blog articles, I argued that the “world” (kosmos) which we’ll be judging is the heavenly/celestial part of the kosmos. However, I’ve since come to believe that we who are members of the body of Christ will be no less involved in the affairs of earth during the eons to come than Satan and his messengers are presently involved during this wicked eon (which is the position I defended in part four of my study on Revelation 12 (see the last section of this article). Although Satan and the rest of the beings Paul referred to as “the spiritual forces of wickedness among the celestials” (Eph. 6:12) aren’t terrestrial beings who reside on (or naturally belong to) the earth, they are, nevertheless, very much involved in what takes place on the earth. In fact, in Psalm 82, we find God rebuking this class of beings (who are referred to as “the gods” and as “sons of the Most High”) for judging unjustly among the nations of the earth, and showing partiality to the wicked (v. 2). In verses 3-4, God makes it clear how these heavenly beings ought to have been using their authority:

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

 In accord with this understanding of Psalm 82, A.E. Knoch commented on Christ’s words in John 10:34-36 (where Christ quoted from this Psalm) as follows:

“The term "gods" is translated "judges" in Ex.21:6, 22:8-9, where it refers to men. But our Lord does not appeal to this, but to Psalm 82:6 where the context clearly excludes men. The mighty spiritual powers of the past who overrule the affairs of mankind are called sons by God Himself. Even Satan is called a son of God (Job1:6). He is called the god of this eon (2Co.4:4). Now if God said to these subjectors, "Gods are you," notwithstanding the fact that they failed to right the wrongs of earth, how much rather shall He have called Him God Who shall dispossess them?”

Since the body of Christ is going to be displacing the wicked celestial beings who are in view in Psalm 82 and Eph. 6:12, it’s reasonable to believe that we will be just as actively involved in the affairs of mankind as these beings have been since the beginning of human history (even if our influence – like the influence of the celestial beings we’ll be displacing – goes largely unnoticed and unrecognized by those over whom we’ll be exercising our authority). And as I noted in my Rev. 12 article, the authority and influence that these celestial beings have over the gentile kingdoms of which they are “chiefs” or “princes” (Dan. 10:13-21) is consistent with there being human kings (as well as other religious and political leaders) exercising their own authority on the earth. From this it follows that our authority and influence over the nations during the eons to come will not be in conflict with Israel’s role as the dominant earthly power, or with the exercise of her political and religious authority during the eon to come. Rather, it will complement and supplement it (for no Israelite during the eon to come – including those among the 144,000 – is going to be spending the majority of his time outside the land of Israel, where the nations will be dwelling).

Mr. Bast’s second question is based on what Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 2:11-12: “Why does Paul say only those who endure will reign with Christ when all the body of Christ was chosen for a place of a son, to reign in the celestials, before the foundation of the world?”

The reason Paul wrote that only those who endure will reign with Christ is because only those who endure will reign with Christ. We know that all in the body of Christ are going to be “manifested in front of the dais of Christ” to be “requited for that which he puts into practice through the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). And we know from 1 Cor. 3:12-15 that this event will involve some saints receiving (and others forfeiting) “wages.” We also know that, by virtue of “suffering together [with Christ]” and “enduring,” some saints will be “glorified together” with Christ and will “reign together” with him (Rom. 8:17; 2 Tim. 2:12). Thus, in addition to having eonian life (which will be the “common” blessing of everyone in the body of Christ, and will involve living with Christ for the eons and enjoying “every spiritual blessing among the celestials”), some saints in the body of Christ will – by virtue of having endured and suffered together with Christ – have a role in reigning with Christ as well.

Mr. Bast’s third question is based on 1 Thess. 4:16-17: ”How can the body of Christ ever be with the Lord in the celestials when he is on earth sitting on a throne?”

This question correctly presupposes that Christ is, in fact, going to be “on earth sitting on a throne” at some point following his return to earth at the end of this eon (and, as demonstrated in part one of this study, this throne is going to be located in Jerusalem during the eon to come). However, the question also seems to be presupposing that Christ will be continuously present on the earth for the entire duration of the eon(s) to come. But is this assumption warranted?

I think every believer would agree that Jesus Christ will be on the earth during the eons to come for as long as he needs to be, and that – beyond this – he’ll be free to come and go as he pleases. But will Christ have to be on earth for the entire duration (or even most of the duration) of his reign during these eons? One prophecy which implies that Christ is not going to be continuously present on the earth during the eon to come is found in Ezekiel 37:21-22 and 24-26 (cf. 34:23-24):

“Behold, I shall take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will convene them from all around and bring them to their own ground. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king for them all. They shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any longer.”

“My servant David will be king over them, and there shall come to be one shepherd for them all. They shall walk in My ordinances and observe My statutes, and they will do them. Thus they will dwell in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers dwelt; they will dwell on it, they and their sons and their sons’ sons throughout the eon, and David My servant will be their prince for the eon.”

According to this prophecy, David – in addition to being among the Jewish saints who will be restored to life in the “former resurrection” to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God – is going to be reigning as king over the kingdom during this time as well. But why would David be reigning as king over this future kingdom if Jesus Christ himself is going to be permanently present and reigning on the earth for the entire time as well? We know that Christ will be “the King of kings” during the eons to come. However, Christ is apparently going to delegate authority to David to reign as king in the kingdom that he (Christ) is going to restore to Israel after he returns to earth. The fact that David will also be reigning as a king in the kingdom that will be established on the earth by Christ suggests that Christ is not going to be present on earth for the entire duration of (or even the majority of the time during) the eon that is being referred to in the above prophecy.   

                                                                                     

That Christ isn’t going to be permanently present on the earth during the eon to come shouldn’t be surprising when we keep in mind that the kingdom of God is going to be present in two different locations/realms (i.e., on the earth and in the heavens). Whenever Christ is not personally present on the earth, David will function as the highest authority on the earth, in his stead. Thus, even if those in the body of Christ were to be continually in Christ’s presence whenever he is present on the earth (although I don’t think Paul’s words in 1 Thess. 4:17 necessitate this view), it’s likely that Christ will not actually be on the earth for the majority of the time during the eon to come. Although we can’t do much more than speculate, it’s possible that much of what Christ will be doing on the earth after his return will be occurring near the beginning of the eon, and will involve the setting up/establishing of the kingdom of God on the earth, and the making of decisions that will determine how things will be for the remainder of the eon (for example, the judgment that we find described in Matthew 25:31-36 will clearly be a judgment that takes place near the beginning of the eon to come, and will determine the circumstances in which people will be living for the majority of the duration of this eon).

Mr. Bast’s fourth question is based on Rom. 4:13: “How can the law, and temple worship, along with animal sacrifices be reinstated for Israel in the kingdom age when they are the ruling nation on earth, if the promise to Abraham to be heir of the world, is not through law?”

In Rom. 4:13 we read, “For not through law is the promise to Abraham, or to his Seed, for him to be enjoyer of the allotment of the world, but through faith’s righteousness.”

If what Paul wrote in Romans 4:13 means (or implies) that the law, temple worship and animal sacrifices cannot “be reinstated for Israel in the kingdom age when they are the ruling nation of earth,” then Paul would’ve been implying that the divine promises to Israel we find in Ezekiel 36-48 (for example) will never be fulfilled, and that God’s covenant-based faithfulness to Israel has essentially been nullified. But is that what Paul’s words in Romans 4:13 mean, or imply? In the words of Paul (which I believe he likely would’ve said in response to such an idea), “May it not be coming to that! Now let God be true, yet every man a liar.”

The “promise” that Paul had in view in Rom. 4:13 is, I believe, God’s promise to Abraham that he would be “a father of many nations, according to that which has been declared, ‘Thus shall be your seed’” (Rom. 4:17-18).[2] When Paul affirmed that “the promise” in view in Rom. 4:16 was “not through law,” he simply meant that this promise (which came to Abraham before the law was given) was not dependent on the law for its fulfillment, and could not be invalidated by the law. God’s covenant with Abraham was made hundreds of year before the law was given, and thus did not contain any law-based conditions that could nullify it. As Paul stated in Gal. 3:17, “a covenant, having been ratified before by God, the law, having come four hundred and thirty years afterward, does not invalidate, so as to nullify the promise.” The promises Abraham received from God (including the promise that Paul had in mind in Rom. 4:16) were given without any reference to the law, and were never dependent on any legal observance for their fulfillment or confirmation. The promises depended solely on God’s own faithfulness.

This lack of dependence on the law for the fulfillment and confirmation of the promise that Paul had in view in Rom. 4:13 was Paul’s only point in saying that the promise is “not through law” (even the NIV Study Bible – which is in no way a “pro-dispensationalist” commentary – explains the expression “not through law” as meaning, “not on the condition that the promise be merited by works of the law”). There is, therefore, no conflict between what Paul wrote in Rom. 4:13 and Israel’s covenant-based expectation. Regardless of how Mr. Bast (or anyone else) may or may not interpret Paul’s words in this verse, we need not doubt that God’s promises to Israel concerning “the law, and temple worship, along with animal sacrifices” being “reinstated for Israel in the kingdom age” (as prophesied in Ezekiel 36-48 and elsewhere) will, in fact, be fulfilled.

Mr. Bast’s fifth and final question is based on Gal. 3:16: “How can the promise made to Abraham, and to his seed, to be heir of the world, be only for Israel if the seed is Christ?”

In Gal. 3:16 we read, “Now to Abraham the promises were declared, and to his Seed. He is not saying “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of One: And to “your Seed,” which is Christ.”

I agree completely that God’s covenant people, Israel, are not (and will not be) the only beneficiaries of the blessings that are available in and through Christ (who Paul referred to as the “Seed” of Abraham in Gal. 3:16). The believers to whom Paul wrote this letter (most of whom were likely gentiles and former idol-worshipers) were members of the body of Christ, and – as members of this particular company of saints – did not belong to God’s covenant people. However, these believers had clearly come to be “of Abraham’s seed” (in the sense referred to by Paul in Gal. 3:29), and had received what Paul referred in Gal. 3:14 as “the blessing of Abraham” (i.e., justification by faith; cf. vv. 5-9). But does this mean that the Galatian believers to whom Paul wrote belonged to the same company of believers as those who belonged to God’s covenant people, Israel? No. In fact, later on in his letter to the Galatians, Paul actually referred to this second company of believers (to which God’s covenant people belonged) as follows:

”And whoever shall observe the elements of this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, also on the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:15). 

Notice how Paul referred to the “Israel of God” as a distinct category of people on whom he desired God’s mercy in connection with what he’d just said concerning the observance of “the elements of this rule” (the “rule” being that which was expressed in v. 15). Who is it that constituted the “Israel of God” referred to here, and why would Paul specify “mercy” as being that which he desired would be “on” this distinct category of people (instead of simply “peace,” as he desired would be on everyone else referred to)? Although many Christians (and even some believers in the body of Christ) want to understand the “Israel of God” as just another reference to the body of Christ, this interpretation is simply not tenable. In order to understand the “Israel of God” as another reference to the body of Christ, one must not only understand the word “Israel” in a way that Paul never used the word elsewhere in his letters (see, for example, Romans 11), but they must ignore or “explain away” Paul’s use of the word “also” (which indicates that Paul is now referring to a category of people distinct from those whom he had in view previously).

When we understand the expression “Israel of God” in a literal and straight-forward way, it becomes clear that Paul was simply referring to the believing remnant among God’s covenant people, Israel. That is, it refers to those believing and faithful Israelites who, having been called by God through what Paul referred to as the “evangel of the Circumcision” (Gal. 2:7), share in Israel’s covenant-based expectation, and will be among the “all Israel” that will be saved when Christ returns (Rom. 11:26-27). It is these who will receive an allotment in the kingdom of God on earth (i.e., the kingdom that’s going to be restored to Israel). And while some within this category of believing Israelites correctly acknowledged and respected the fact that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mattered for those belonging to the company of believers that constitutes the body of Christ, not all did. In fact, some within this company of believers were very much opposed to what Paul called the “elements of this rule.” Hence – for the sake of those who did “observe the elements of this rule” – Paul expressed his desire for God’s mercy on the entire category of Jewish believers constituting the “Israel of God.”

At this point, it would be worth responding to a commonly-held belief among Christians that, in passages such as Romans 2:28-29 and 9:6-8, Paul was broadening the meaning of the terms “Jew” and “Israel” to include all believing gentiles, and that the body of Christ can thus be considered “spiritual Israel.” The reality, however, is that Paul was actually narrowing the meaning of the terms “Jew” and “Israel” in these verses. That is, he was making the meaning of these terms more exclusive. The category of Jews/Israelites who can be understood as constituting true Israel (i.e., the “Israel” referred to in Rom. 9:6 that is comprised of “the children of God,” and which Paul referred to in Gal. 6:16 as “the Israel of God”) is a subcategory of “Israel according to the flesh.” When, in Rom. 9:8, Paul distinguished between “the children of the flesh” and “the children of the promise,” the distinction is not between ethnic Israelites and Gentiles, but rather between (1) descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who are fleshly descendants only and (2) descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who are also chosen and called by God. Similarly, when Paul referred to “the Jew” in Rom. 2:28, he was referring to a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose circumcision is not just of the flesh but – more importantly – of the heart. Thus, the “Israel” to whom the kingdom is going to be restored after Christ’s return is not merely “physical Israel” (i.e., those who are Jews/Israelites according to the flesh only); rather, it will be comprised of Jews/Israelites whose circumcision is also “of the heart” and “in spirit.”

In Romans 4:16, Paul actually presupposed the existence of two separate categories of believers who could both be considered as being “of the seed of Abraham.” In this verse we read, 

“Therefore it is of faith that it may accord with grace, for the promise to be confirmed to the entire seed, not to those of the law only, but to those also of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all...’”

Notice how Paul had two categories of Abraham’s “seed” in view to which the “promise” to Abraham would be confirmed: (1) those he referred to as “those of the law” and (2) those referred to as “those also of the faith of Abraham.” Who did Paul have in view as “those of the law?” It couldn’t have been unbelieving Jews, for the “promise” of which Paul wrote is only being confirmed to believers, and not to unbelievers (Rom. 9:6-8). But nor could Paul have been referring to believers in the body of Christ. Being “of the law” identifies one as a member of God’s covenant people, Israel. However, as I’ve argued elsewhere (http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2018/09/gods-covenant-people-why-most-believing_95.html), no one in the body of Christ – whether uncircumcised or circumcised – can be considered as being “of the law” (for those in the body of Christ have no covenantal status or covenant-based relationship with God). Rather, when Paul referred to certain believers as “those of the law” he was referring to those who comprised the believing Jewish remnant (the “Israel of God”), among whom are included the “tens of thousands” of believing, law-keeping Jews referred to in Acts 21:20. It is these believers among God’s covenant people who are the true Israel (as referred to in Romans 9:6-8), and who are being reckoned by God as Abraham’s seed. Members of the body of Christ are referred to as Abraham’s seed as well (since we are “in Christ”). However, we in the body of Christ are not the seed of Abraham that is “of the law” (i.e., the “Israel of God”).

Note: For those interested in reading more about how the calling and expectation belonging to the saints in the body of Christ is distinct from that which belongs to the “Israel of God,” see my three-part series, “Revisiting the Two Evangels Controversy” (http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2019/10/revisiting-two-evangels-controversy.html). In part one of this series, the reader will find a number of links to other articles I’ve written in defense of this important scriptural truth.

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[1] The term translated “out of” in these verses is ek. This same term was used by Paul in 1 Cor. 11:8 (where we read that “man is not out of woman, but woman out of man”) and 1 Cor. 15:47 (where we read that “the first man was out of the earth, soilish”). In these verses, the term ek denotes the source from which something is made. In 1 Cor. 11:8, the idea being expressed is that Adam was the source of that which God used to form Eve (see Gen. 2:21-23), while in 1 Cor. 15:47 the idea being expressed is that the earth is the source of that which God used to form Adam (see Gen. 2:7; 3:19). In the same way, the idea being expressed in 2 Cor. 5:2 is that the heavens will be the source of our glorified body (and thus of we ourselves, since our body is the quantity of matter that composes us). 

[2] It is this worldwide group of descendants (which makes Abraham “the father of many nations”) that I believe constitutes the “world” in view in Rom. 4:13. Just as the term “world” can refer to a multitude of people (rather than to a location), so an “allotment” or “inheritance” need not refer to land (see, for example, Heb. 11:7; Titus 3:7; Ps. 2:8; Isa. 19:25).