1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NKJV) But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 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 by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
V13 “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.” The Thessalonians had some questions. One question concerns what happens to believers who have died? The reason for the question is two-fold: 1) Paul had taught them about the Rapture and 2) false teachers have been circulating among the brethren and a forged letter pretending to have been written by Paul (2 Thessalians 2:2). Fallen asleep is a polite way of saying some of the believers have died. This term is used referring to the appearance of dead person’s body. Knowledge is a wonderful blessing, but we cannot know some things without God revealing it. God knows we sorrow but wants us to be comforted. Those who have no hope are those who are unbelievers. The soul of humans never ceases to exist. Compare James 2:26. Death is a separation. Also, see 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 and Luke 16:19-31. The Lord Jesus is the God-man, fully God and fully human. His soul did not disintegrate or sleep, for He was preaching (1 Peter 3:18-22 and Acts 2:27).
V14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” If indicates a condition. If we believe in Jesus’s resurrection (a true death and a true resurrection). The importance of Jesus’s resurrection is very great. If Jesus rose, then those believers who have died will also be resurrected with the new body like Jesus had at his resurrection (The whole chapter but especially 1 Corinthians 15:35-48 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-10). Note that Jesus will bring with him which reveals two facts: 1) Jesus is coming back, 2) all believers who have died (from creation to the present) are in heaven, because it is written that Jesus will brig with Him, and 3) the living believers will be reunited with those who have died.
V15 “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 by no means precede those who are asleep.” Paul wants to seriously confirm this point so says “by the word of the Lord.” The when the Rapture occurs. Those brought back by Jesus will be changed into their resurrected bodies before the living believers do. The coming of the Lord when referring to believers in the church age is the Rapture, not the coming of the Lord Jesus at the end of the Tribulation. The Tribulation is primarily for Israel but also affects Gentiles.
V16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” The Lord Jesus does not send an angel to bring us home, but He comes Himself as the Bridegroom coming for His bride. He descends because heaven is beyond the universe. There are 3 heavens: earth’s atmosphere, the universe, and outside the universe where God lives. The Lord Jesus shouts (commanding the resurrection of the bodies), then the archangel (Michael–Daniel 10:13, 21, 12:1, Jude 1:9, and Revelation 12:7), then the Trumpet of God (to assemble all the believers to come to Jesus. Trumpets are used for communication. There are a number of trumpets in the Scriptures. Most references to trumpets are are in the Old Testament. Then there is the trumpet for us to gather to Jesus. The last are the Seven Trumpets judgments in the Book of Revelation. This trumpet is not the last of the 7 judgment trumpets, because those trumpets are for judgment, not gathering the believers. “Dead in Christ” refers to believers who have already died. Resurrected bodies do not have the sin nature, are not able to die, do not have any sickness, etc. They will be like Jesus’s resurrected nonmaterial body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49).
V17 “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” The Greek word for “caught up” is (G726) ἁρπάζω harpázō, which means to snatch, seize, etc. It is a sudden and complete removal. Paul uses this word in 2 Corinthians 2:12-14 and also the Lord Jesus in Revelation 12:5. All believers from creation to the Rapture will be resurrected and taken to heaven. We meet in the clouds of the atmosphere. Note the strong comfort, “…we shall always be with the Lord.”
V18 “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” What comfort can there be if we have to go through the 7 year Tribulation? The Tribulation is God’s wrath on Israel (to refine) and the world (for hopes of repentance and faith in Christ or, if they reject, judgment. There is also judgment for destroying the earth (Revelation 11:18). Those believers living at the Rapture time do not face God’s wrath.
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