With regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus, there is much emphasis upon the Greek words parousia, apokalupsis, and epiphaneia. As demonstrated in the first part of this article, those words do not catalog one single event; rather, these words are used throughout the New Testament to characterize both the rapture and the second coming. Since it is the biblical context that determines which coming is referenced, we will how show the context of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 demonstrates that the comfort of this passage is the reunion of the deceased and living saints in Christ at the pretribulational rapture.

Grief and Hope in 1 Thessalonians 4
Pretribulationism and posttribulationism are the two primary premillennial views with regard to the rapture of the church; therefore, this article will consider only those two doctrines.1 When examining 1 Thessalonians 4, both pretribulationists and posttribulationists agree that there truly was a grieving of the church at Thessalonica, but believe that they were grieving for different reasons. Verse 13 reads, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”

Pretribulationists understand the grief of 1 Thessalonians 4:13 as a consequence of believing that the rapture of the church would culminate with all the church receiving glorified bodies, and that this coming of the Lord could occur in their own lifetimes. It was possible that the early church would not experience death but would be raptured as those who were alive and remained until the coming of the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul even included himself as one who could have experienced the rapture in his own lifetime (cf. his usage of the inclusive first person plural “we”). Following the initial teaching with regard to the rapture, some Christians had died, and the Thessalonian church had become intensely concerned because they were inquiring what would occur to the dead in Christ at the rapture. The question it seems was whether the dead in Christ would participate in the rapture, or would they have to wait until the end of the seven-year tribulation.

Some posttribulationists understand the grief of 1 Thessalonians 4:13 as a consequence of believing that the resurrection of the dead in Christ would occur at the end of the millennium.2 According to such an interpretation, the Thessalonian believers understood the rapture as granting new, glorified bodies to those living, but then having to wait until the end of the millennium for the dead in Christ to receive their glorified bodies. Therefore, the concern was regarding a long separation between those believers alive at the time of the rapture, from those who had already died and would have to wait for receiving their new bodies.

It seems that the primary focus of the Thessalonian believers was the thought that to experience the rapture, one had to be alive. Therefore, the grief was the consequence of believing (incorrectly) that the dead in Christ would not participate in the rapture.3 If one considers the posttribulational view, it would seem that the focus of the posttribulationist should be upon the tribulation. If the church was taught that they would experience the seven years of tribulation, it would not be logical for them to be concerned about those who had died in Christ. It is extremely doubtful that the church would be grieving about those who were dead in Christ, but would rather be happy for them. For example, when my uncle died recently, the memorial card stated how he was now experiencing peace and rest. My uncle was experiencing difficult medical conditions, and the card was focused upon the fact that his suffering had ended. His earthly pain had ceased, and my family was focused upon the end of painful medical conditions. (Of course, only those in Christ will experience peace and rest upon death.) Consider this example with regard to 1 Thessalonians 4.

If the Thessalonian believers thought the church was going to experience the tribulation, they should be relieved that those who had died in Christ would not experience any of those seven years. The emphasis would be upon persevering through the tribulation, and not focused upon the dead in Christ. The focus of the believers was upon those who were not living, because they imagined one had to be alive at the time of the rapture to experience it, which is consistent with a pretribulational perspective. The concern of the Thessalonian believers simply does not coalesce with non-pretribulational views. Verse 14 reads, “For if we believe [or literally, “since we believe”] that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [died 4] in Jesus.” The reality of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 is related to the historicity of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The reality of Christ’s death and resurrection is evidence that the rapture will occur; the focus of verse 14 is upon the assurance that those in Christ will experience the rapture, and references with emphasis “those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (i.e. those who have died in Christ).

The Church Will Be Raptured
The language used in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 indicates that the prophecy of the rapture is with regard to Christians—the church—as opposed to the saved of all the ages. For example, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He did not merely say, “Come forth”; rather, He said, “Lazarus, Come forth,” because if He said, “Come forth” only, then all the dead would rise. Jesus spoke specifically, and said only, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11). The rapture of the church will occur similarly because it is only the dead “in Christ” that will be resurrected. If the saints of all the ages who have died are resurrected at the time specified in 1 Thessalonians 4, it would conflict with other Scriptural passages that place the resurrection of Old Testament saints after the tribulation, and therefore receiving their glorified bodies in preparation for the millennium (Dan 12:2). The resurrection (rapture) of 1 Thessalonians 4 is prophesied for the church. It is important to understand that there are multiple times of resurrection that constitute the first resurrection of Revelation 20:1-6, which in context is referring to details following the second coming of Christ. Thereafter, verses 11-15 refer to the second death, or resurrection of the wicked. The first resurrection involves multiple times. “First” does not mean only one resurrection, but refers to a certain kind of resurrection (i.e. “blessed and holy”).

Continuing in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 15 reads, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.” When Paul wrote, “we say to you by the word of the Lord,” apparently he was indicating that he received this teaching directly from the Lord. The prophesy of the rapture was a doctrine previously unrevealed, which is why he emphasized that the teaching was by the authority of the Lord. The emphasis of thought upon the dead in Christ continues in this verse. Apparently, the believers thought that only the living would experience the rapture. First Thessalonians 4:13-18 addresses this concern. The teaching of Scripture is that neither the dead in Christ nor those “who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord” will be in better position than the other, because all will be raised together with the Lord in the air. The dead in Christ and those who are “alive and remain” will be translated at the same coming of the Lord, so there will not be any advantage in that sense. Every regenerate member of the church—whether deceased or living—will receive their new resurrection bodies at that rapture.

Verses 16-18 state clearly, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” The teaching of these verses is the exact opposite if one was taught that he would experience any of the seven-year tribulation. As many believers will be martyred in the tribulation, it would not be a comforting thought. The promise of the church’s exemption from the tribulation is not a reward for the church, but it is simply something that God in His purposes has not destined to occur. The reason is that God has a specific purpose for the tribulation. He is focusing His attention primarily on Israel in preparation for the millennial kingdom. Therefore, another name for the tribulation is the “seventieth week” of Daniel (Dan 9:24-27). Sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy have already been fulfilled with the nation of Israel, and it was a prophecy dealing with events that occurred to them historically. The remaining seventieth week of that prophecy is focused upon Israel, and it is therefore incongruent contextually to relate the church to those prophecies.

The Tribulation with Regard to Israel
The focus of the tribulation—the seventieth week of Daniel—is upon God purging the rebel from among Israel. God will purge the rebels exactly as the prophet Zechariah indicated; namely that two-thirds of the Jewish people will perish in the tribulation, and only a third will persevere in faith to the end (Zech 13:8-9). This will be a fulfillment of Romans 11:25-27, which states that “all Israel will be saved” at the time of the second coming. At the end of the tribulation, all living Jews will be saved and will enter into the millennial kingdom on the basis of faith in King Jesus. The focus of the tribulation is preparing Israel to receive the Messiah, in fulfillment of the unconditional covenants that God made with the nation. God will also use the tribulation to judge the wicked among the Gentiles, the world. The latter purpose is interesting currently, because when one considers the world of Christendom today, there are tremendous biblical failures. The extent of apostates and heresies that are tolerated today would have exasperated the early church, which was entirely dedicated to the preservation and promotion of sound doctrine (Jude 3).

It is interesting that among the Jewish people the Messianic movement continues to grow, which seems to indicate that God is removing their blindness to the Gospel. He blinded Israel to bring many Gentiles into salvation, and blinded His own people for the benefit of the nations (Rom 11:7-11). It seems today that God is returning the blindness to the Gentiles; that is, the nations are returning to their paganism, while something distinctive is occurring with the Jewish people as they search the prophecies in understanding (cf. Dan 12:4). The Jewish people are witnessing enormous activity in their homeland with discussion regarding the Temple Mount, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and alleged peace agreements. Whereas the Jewish people are asking questions about these things, many of the Gentiles are oblivious with regard to God’s eternal purposes for Israel.

The Heralding of the Lord’s Return
It does not appear with clarity in the biblical text whether the “shout,” “the voice of the archangel,” and “the trumpet of God” are one event or three events. They are obviously literal, and what they accomplish is to herald the Lord’s return from heaven, and to focus attention upon the fact that God will raise the dead and translate the living to receive glorified bodies. Beginning with Revelation 8, there is much focus upon the seven trumpets, and some attempt to relate “the trumpet of God” in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 with those trumpets of Revelation. However, there is no indication in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that the Lord Himself will be descending in any manner after the seal and trumpet judgments of the tribulation.

The emphasis of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is that the rapture of the church is imminent; that is, it could occur at any moment without any events preceding it. Certainly, in the ancient world, trumpets were used to herald many things. There is a problem with saying that every trumpet has to be the same. For instance, the trumpet in 1 Thessalonians 4 heralds the rapture of the church, whereas the trumpets of Revelation herald the bowl judgments and that Christ will be returning to earth. There is not any reason to prevent one from concluding that 1 Thessalonians 4 and the Book of Revelation refer to multiple soundings of trumpets; it is similar to how the Greek words parousia, apokalupsis, and epiphaneia do not refer to one event but characterize two separate events.

Rapturing the Church to Meet the Lord
In verse 17, the Greek word translated “caught up” is $arpazw, which in the Latin Vulgate was translated by Jerome as rapiemur, from which the term “rapture” is derived. Rapture is a biblical term for the event when God resurrects and translates the church to meet the Lord in the air. The reason for this event is so that the church may go with Christ to heaven, where she will abide with Him in the place that Christ has prepared in fulfillment of John 14:1-3. The language of both these passages is remarkably similar.

Other passages will focus upon receiving rewards at the judgment seat of Christ, and the need to await return with the Lord Jesus at the second coming to earth to rule and reign. Nevertheless, the teaching of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is that the entire seven-year tribulation for the church will be in heaven, not on the earth, which is a tremendous comfort, and certainly even more so because it could happen at any moment. The doctrine of the rapture places a tremendous emphasis upon living one’s life in holy and diligent expectation of the Lord’s return.

At any moment, the church could be in the presence of our God and Savior, which should motivate believers to live holy and pure lives, because that is always the emphasis of the doctrine of the rapture in Scripture. The doctrine is always used with the sense of living a holy and a godly life, because at any moment the church could appear in the Lord’s presence; believers, therefore, are to maintain an active ministry for the Lord’s glory and honor, not wasting time and opportunity. At any moment, the church could be in the Lord’s presence and each will need to give an account of one’s life. How did we use the gifts the Holy Spirit gave us? How did we serve the Lord as His bondslaves? Were we just merely attending worship on a weekly basis, and satisfied with “warming a pew,” as opposed to being active in serving the Lord? The doctrine of the rapture gives great importance to how believers live their lives and how the church proclaims the Gospel. It is also a tremendous comfort, as verse 18 states—“comfort one another with these words”—because at any moment we could be with the Lord and in His presence. Therefore, do not waste time and opportunity, but live holy and diligently unto the Lord.

Conclusion
The teaching of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a comfort to believers. Scripture teaches that the dead in Christ will not be excluded from participation in the rapture with those who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 15:50-58). “The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them” to meet the Lord in the air. The rapture is indeed imminent (preceding the seven-year tribulation), which is a great comfort to believers. Therefore, as 1 Thessalonians 4:13—5:11 teaches, the church is to be ready always to meet the Lord and to be with Him forever. (382)

ENDNOTES
1      For those readers who desire interaction with the other premillennial views of the rapture, please see the previous articles by this author: “Pre-wrath Rapturism,” Midnight Call (December 2008): 17-25; and, “Midtribulationism,” Midnight Call (November 2008): 19-28.
2       Robert H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973) 101.
3      Charles A. Wanamaker, The Epistle to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990) 169, 172.
4      The Old French word cimetiere (“graveyard”) is derived from the Late Latin coemeterium, which is derived from the Greek word here, koimaw, which means “to sleep in death.” The Greek word, koimeterion (“cemetery”), is derived from koimaw, and designated a place of burial (sleep). Ancient writers used “sleep” as a common euphemism for “death” (e.g. 1 Kgs 2:10).