Hope Is Not Wishful Thinking

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17a

This section focuses on one of the most discussed and debated passages in the Bible. The focus of this debate is centered on Paul's reference to the snatching away or rapture of the church (4:17). Admittedly, the word "rapture" does not appear in the passage. The word comes from the Latin translation of the Greek word that Paul used to describe the church as being "caught up" in the clouds. The word means "to seize or snatch away." It implies a sudden, violent event. While the exact term 117rapture is not used in this passage, one must not miss the unmistakable fact that the promise of Jesus' sudden return for His church is presented here. Throughout history there have been many ways that interpreters have sought to understand this text.12 Before exploring the text more carefully, we must note again that the meaning of the text is not in question. The passage portrays one of the most significant events in the history of God's church: the "Day" when Jesus gathers His church to be with Him. Regardless of where commentators land in their various interpretations of this text, the hope and comfort offered by it must not be missed. If the element of encouragement is in any way removed, the entire text loses its meaning. There is no element of encouragement in this passage if the promise of the rapture is not central.

The debate surrounding this passage is focused on many different issues that spill over into other passages of Scripture. Paul did not write this text with the purpose of providing his readers with a comprehensive eschatological overview of the Bible. So we cannot walk away from this passage expecting to have answers for every question about the end times. We can identify, however, several truths that this passage emphatically teaches:

Having put forth what we do know from this text, there are also several questions that this text raises:

118Clearly, the most effective way to answer these questions is to start with what is known and then allow the context to lead you to the answers. Note facts that we can glean from this passage.

Without question the Bible teaches that Jesus is coming again. For instance, 23 of the 27 books in the New Testament state that He is coming. One out of every 30 verses in the New Testament either speaks directly of His coming or of the end times surrounding His coming. For every biblical reference to Jesus' first coming there are eight that point to His return. Clearly the biblical writers did not want their readers to miss this truth. From the perspective of the biblical authors, Jesus' coming was never intended to be a subject for speculation; it was always intended to be a reason for anticipation and motivation. Such an awareness of Christ's imminent return is vividly portrayed in the Thessalonian letters. In the Greek of this passage, he refers to Christ's return as the parousia (4:15). The word points to the arrival of an important person or dignitary. The Thessalonians were to be watching, waiting, and expecting the day when Christ Himself would come for them.

Paul introduces the subject of the Lord's return with these simple words: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God." No advance warning, no heads-up, and no notice given. With a shout, a voice, and a trumpet, the Lord will come. Paul makes this same point to the Corinthians when he writes,

We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. (1 Cor 15:51-52; emphasis added)

Scriptural support for the imminent return of Christ is not lacking (Phil 3:20; Col 3:4; Jas 5:8; Rev 3:3). The resounding message of the New Testament is that Christ could come at any moment. Consider Paul's words to Titus: "We wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).

The promise of Christ's coming is to be a source of encouragement for God's people. In this passage Paul reveals two reasons why Christians 119should be hopeful as they anticipate this event: Christ's return will bring a reunion, and Christ's return will bring relief. Let's examine each of these more closely.

Christ's return will bring a reunion. When Jesus comes for His church, at least three reunions will occur. First, the bodies of the dead in Christ will be reunited with their spirits (1 Cor 15:23, 52-54). We know that when believers die, their bodies go in the grave but their spirits go to be with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23). When Christ comes, He will gloriously reunite body with spirit. Second, those who are alive when Christ returns will be united with Him (1 John 3:2). Finally, in one magnificent gathering, both those who were alive at Christ's coming and those who were dead will be reunited in the presence of the Lord. Paul is saying that grief over the loss of loved ones need not lead to hopelessness. The grave is not the end. Death is not final. Just as you have the absolute assurance that you will see Jesus one day, so too you have the same assurance that you will see your loved ones again. This promise of a coming reunion should give every believer a present hope.

Christ's return will bring relief. The truth of Christ's coming brings more than just the hope of a reunion; it also brings the promise of deliverance. Life was difficult for the Christians in Thessalonica. Their faith in Christ resulted in severe persecution and intense hardship (1:6; 2:14-15; 3:3-4; 2 Thess 1:4-6). Christ's return would bring them the relief they longed for. Even the presence of severe hardship and intense suffering could not steal their joy or diminish their hope. They could live with the anticipation of that day when Christ would judge their enemies and deliver them from their suffering (2 Thess 2:6-8).

Despite Paul's assurances, the Thessalonians were still concerned about their future. Their desire to know more details about the coming "Day of the Lord" (5:1-2) gives some insight into their concerns. Apparently, false teachers were claiming that the Day of the Lord had already arrived (2 Thess 2:1-3). We can imagine how unsettling this news must have been. After all, they were anticipating that Jesus would come in their lifetime to deliver them from wrath and judgment. Yet, from their limited perspective, their present circumstances were painting a very different picture. With their loved ones dying and the presence of persecution and trials increasing, some in the fellowship had become convinced that they somehow missed Jesus' return. This led them to the 120conclusion that perhaps the false teachers were correct and the Day of the Lord had already arrived.13

The reasons for Paul's mention at the beginning of this passage of their ignorance now becomes more clear (v. 13). For whatever reason, the Thessalonians had chosen to interpret their circumstances and to build their future on false teaching and speculation rather than on the truth. Yet Paul had taught them much more about Christ's return than you and I have available to us (2 Thess 1:5). Perhaps this gives us a better idea as to why Paul expressed concern over their ignorance. The Thessalonians should have known better than to worry about their deceased loved ones or the coming Day of the Lord.

As you look carefully at the context of Paul's instruction here and also in the larger context of the Thessalonian letters, seemingly he taught them to anticipate Christ's return (the rapture) before the Day of the Lord.14 There is little doubt that the Thessalonians were eagerly looking for Christ's return. However, there is little indication that they ever expected to experience the Day of the Lord. In fact, given the Thessalonians' concern about being caught in the Day of the Lord, you may safely conclude that they were fully anticipating not being around for it. There is no doubt that Paul taught them about the Day of the Lord. Yet there is no suggestion that he ever sought to prepare them to be in it. Rather, his intention was to give them sufficient truth to clarify their confusion about it. The implication is Paul knew that the church would be gone because Jesus was coming to rapture the church out of the world before this day would come (John 14:1-3). The focus of the passage is encouragement. Just as Paul sought to comfort the Thessalonians about their departed loved ones, so also he attempted to reassure them about their future. If he knew that believers would be 121alive at the time of the Day of the Lord, he would have most certainly sought to prepare them for such a time.

To be sure, although their persecutions were real, they were not indisputable signs of God's wrath. As Paul told them, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (5:9). In His letters to the seven churches, Jesus makes a similar promise to the church of Philadelphia: "I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world" (Rev 3:10). The Thessalonians could anticipate Christ's coming because He would remove His church from the terrible judgment that was to come. They were eagerly waiting for Jesus who would "rescue" them from the "coming wrath" (1 Thess 1:10). What an encouraging promise for the church—a reunion with the ones we love and a rescue from the wrath to come.

Whenever the subject of Christ's return is discussed, the conversation invariably turns to signs and dates. The Thessalonians were not unlike you and me in many ways. They, too, wanted to know when Christ would come. After all, if they somehow missed His return, as the false teachers purported, then they needed to know all they could about the "times and the seasons" (5:1). Paul reminded them that they had all the information they needed. Their concern should not be the date when Jesus will come. Their concern should be how faithfully they are living until He comes. The emphasis is not on the when of His coming, but on the how of His coming. Stated another way, since we know that He is coming, how are we living in light of His coming (Rev 22:8-12)?

While Paul did not give them specific insight into the date of His return, he did provide them with a specific sequence of events that will occur when Christ returns. First, he says, "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven" (4:16). What stronger word of encouragement could be offered to a Christian? Paul says that the "Lord Himself" will come to gather His people. He left heaven the first time to come to earth for us, but He will leave heaven again to take believers from earth to be with Him. Jesus offered these words of hope and comfort to His disciples:

Could you think of a better antidote for a troubled heart than to know that Jesus Himself will come and take you to be with Him? Jesus will fulfill this promise when He comes for His church.

Second, Christ's return will be initiated by three specific calls: "a shout," "the archangel's voice," and "the trumpet of God" (4:16). To know why Paul chooses each of these terms is difficult. However, the thought that Paul wishes to communicate by using them is not difficult to discern. The shout, the voice, and the trumpet will be God's inescapable call to His people that Jesus is coming. This call will be loud enough to reach both those who are alive and those whose bodies are in the grave (John 11:43).

A third event that will occur at Jesus' return concerns the order in which the church will be caught up to be with Him. Paul says, "The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them" (4:16-17). This passage underscores the purpose for which Paul writes. He is reassuring the church that those who die will not miss Christ's return. To drive this point home, he says that they will in fact, "rise first." Death did not separate them from the Lord, and it will not separate them from the Lord's return (Rom 8:38).

The final event that Paul mentions is when the church is "caught up together" to be with Christ (4:17). Those "dead in Christ" and those alive in Christ will be gathered together to be with Him. It will be the most impressive family reunion in history. Paul adds some detail by stating where this reunion will take place—"in the clouds." His reference to the clouds is another way to emphasize that this majestic gathering will take place in Christ's presence (Exod 16:10; Ps 104:3; Dan 7:13; Acts 1:9). But the cloud reference also points to his statement that we will "meet the Lord in the air" (4:17). No specific indication is given as to where God's people go following this reunion. However, the logical reading of the passage suggests that they go to be with the Lord in heaven (John 14:1-3). There is no reason to believe that Paul has in mind a return to the earth. Why would He gather His people "in the air" only to bring them back to earth? He will return to earth one day. When He does return, He will not be coming for His church; He will be coming with His church (Rev 21:1-4).

What an amazing picture Paul paints in this text! With an economy of words, he provides a description of one of the most significant events 123in human history—an event reserved only for those who have put their hope in Christ alone. Jesus Himself will come to gather His church (past and present) together, and the church will assemble in the clouds to "meet the Lord in the air."

1 Thessalonians 4:17b-18

As noted above, Paul's description of Jesus' coming is brief, leaving us with many questions—perhaps even more questions than the text answers. In working through this text, we must be careful not to miss the point of the passage. Paul's concern here is pastoral and not eschatological. we may wish that he had divulged more details, but that was clearly never his intention. Fortunately, however, by a "revelation from the Lord" (v. 15) he does open our eyes to some transforming truths. These truths are meant to encourage and not to confuse. Paul's aim was to provide answers and not to create more questions. To make this clear, he ends his discussion with two promises.

We live in a world where there are few guarantees. Most of us would admit that the only certainty about life is its uncertainty. John Lennon even wrote a song about life's uncertainties. In a memorable line from that song he says, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" ("Beautiful Boy [Darling Boy]," 1981). James said it much better when he wrote,

The Thessalonians' uncertainty about their future and the fate of their dead friends had undermined the Thessalonians' hope and robbed them of joy. They needed assurance and they needed it quickly. What greater assurance could Paul have given them about their future than to assert, "and so we will always be with the Lord" (4:17b)? Their questions and uncertainties about the future are swallowed up in that word, always. Those who die in Christ are with Him now, they will be with Him when He comes, and they will be 124with Him always. The same guarantee is offered to those who are alive. One can find no greater assurance than to hear that the Lord Himself wants nothing more than for His children to always be with Him.

Verse 18 presents a striking contrast with where the passage began. What begins with ignorance, grief, and hopelessness ends with comfort. Only God could take the deepest of human sorrows and in only six verses transform them into hope. That is exactly what this passage is about—hope. Death does not have the final word. The false teachers do not have the final word. Human speculation does not have the final word. Into the darkness of our confusion, God shines the light of His truth. God's truth can transform ignorance into understanding, grief into joy, and hopelessness into assurance.

A few years ago while visiting a small Argentinian town in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, I was awestruck by the surrounding beauty of the landscape. From nearly every vantage point in town I could see the towering peaks off in the distance. Curious, I asked a local shop owner if he ever tired of seeing the majestic mountains in the distance. I will never forget his reply: "I hardly even notice them." How could it be possible for one to be surrounded by the majesty of the Andes Mountains and yet miss their beauty? I suppose it's not difficult for someone who sees it every day.

Jesus made a promise to you and me. He told us that he would come back one day and take us to be with Him. This promise towers over us from every conceivable vantage point of our lives. If we look up and see it, we will find hope. It will always be there. We cannot forget Jesus' words, "If not, I would have told you" (John 14:2). He did tell us. Yet I wonder how often we fail to look up and see what He said. It's no wonder that we struggle to find peace today and we worry about life tomorrow. When we ignore His promises, that's exactly what we should expect, but if we truly want comfort, then we have to look up. We have to see His truth towering over us. Jesus is coming. He is coming soon. He is coming for His church. We as believers will always be with the Lord.