But I would not have you ignorant, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and arose again, so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus1.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14

Yes, this will be yet another post on what the rapture is and what it is not. To begin, take a look at how Paul introduces the concept. First, this is for those who hope in the goodness of the Lord. It is not hope like one thinks contemporarily, that is that all things will work out. The hope here is that confident expectation that God will do what He promises to do. It is the same confidence the believers who have already passed held. And they will see the real promises of God come to be. The certainty of the Christian’s resurrection rests on Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

Contrast that to those who have no hope. People will perish and their bodies will rot in the grave. Perhaps that is the idea that is being considered, as it is probably the case that these Thessalonians knew that the dead bodies of people rotted away. With that knowledge, would come the expectation that these would miss out on the Jesus coming for them and instantly changing their bodies into incorruptible ones. The believers’ dead bodies would have become altogether corrupt. Paul explains that the dead in Jesus have the same sure end… Incorruptibility.

He also connects this hope to resurrection. The text is clearly saying that God will lead away with Jesus Christ those who sleep in Jesus. This tracks in a similar explanation of what the promise of resurrection is in the first part of 1 Corinthians 15. Thought scholars believe this epistle predates the ones to the Corinthians. Where it differs though, is the promise of the sudden change and relocation of the living Holy Ones when Jesus comes to lead them away. That is, this is primarily a relocation event commensurate with Jesus’ promise.

“Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also. You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

John 14:1–4

This is all commensurate on that promise Jesus would come and take believers with Him. I know many believe this to be a rapture text. I think it is far more than just that. Jesus promises to receive any believer to Himself. Not only to receive, but to come get them. What I mean is that when someone is dying, Jesus is there to receive that person. The unspoken part between Jesus’ words and what Paul writes in one of his first epistles is the idea that living holy ones would see the coming of Jesus. The other unspoken part is that they would be taken away with Him.

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 are asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:15

I will again make the case that this is not a resurrection event. Even though predeceased believers are given incorruptible bodies to go with Jesus, it is not the resurrection at the end of the age. Those passed on before have the privilege of being first. There are precise distinctions between what is promised to Israel and church- age holy ones. (That is explored in this post: The Surprising Way that Resurrection Proves Futurism and the Rapture Before the Hour of Testing)

If the resurrection is at the end of the age, those alive in the nations at His second advent enter the millennium. They will be the population of Earth dwellers that Jesus will reign over. They will be believers in human bodies like we have now. They will not be incorruptible. They will be primarily Israelis. Yet believers nonetheless.

Those will not be led away with Jesus, to be with Him. And the world will be ruled from Jerusalem with a rightful King until His enemies have been vanquished. Again, these are two distinct programs. One is for the body of Christ. The other is for Israel.

No Bible passage says there is only one second coming. Likewise, no Bible passage calls Jesus’ return the second coming. The term is coined, and it comes loaded with some baggage. The baggage leads some to ridicule the relocation of the body of church-age holy ones as if it were some secret. Though Paul called it a mystery, it is no secret. The meaning of the Greek word translated as mystery in 1 Corinthians 15:51 is Paul overtly and publicly explaining something that is henceforth no longer hidden. It’s no secret. When someone calls it a secret event, it is for ridicule. It is also to sow seeds of doubt in the mind. It is being dismissive to the text, it is okay to dismiss what they say and correct them.

A real conundrum exists if the rapture occurs at the second advent. The enemies of Jesus consisting of principalities and powers are sequestered away. The living human servants of those powers on earth are summarily vanquished and their souls sequestered away. If believers are glorified, pulled up to meet Jesus and return with Him then… Who populates the millennial kingdom?

To consider the two events as the same one is going to result in some form of replacement theology. Replacement theology teaches that the universal church has replaced Israel. All of the promises of Israel belong to the church. Most use a passage in Romans 9 as the basis of the error. Rest assured, the universal church has not replaced Israel. And praise the Lord for that!

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

The shout and the voice of the archangel is the command to assemble. It is signified by the trumpet call. It is not helpful to examine the usual apocalyptic literature in the Bible to understand this. Perhaps it has more to do with the first mention of trumpet in the Bible. It is in Exodus. It is connected with Israel at Mount Sinai.

When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

Exodus 19:13b

The trumpet blast is a call to assembly. This pattern was established then. It is also iterated again… This time with a shout!

So on the third day, in the morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet. All the people who were in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice.

Exodus 19:16–19

Note how Moses, typifying Jesus, led the people out to meet God where He is. This idea tracks with exactly what Paul is saying.

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 so we shall be forever with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Believers are called out to a meeting with the Lord in the air.

At this point, I have to say that there is an external context applied here by some scholars. It has to do with the Greek word translated into English meeting. The Greek word is apantēsis. It is said it could be used to describe the arrival of a visiting dignitary and the custom of the citizens of a city to go outside and meet them.

According to the ancient customs, citizens left the city to meet the honored one and escort him back to their city amidst great celebration. It is said that Paul may have used this image because it would be familiar to his audience. The custom is then used to imply that believers escort Jesus back to earth. In the text, there is no explicit description of either a procession to earth or to heaven. Just the promise that holy ones will be forever with the Lord.

Paul says believers will meet the Lord in the clouds, that space immediately above the earth. To further help this imagery is the implication that Jesus is arriving in the ancient style of god warriors. That is, He is coming in or on the clouds as if believers were meeting Him in His battle space.

While fancy, that cannot be the case. First, Jesus is not mentioned as coming in the clouds in 1 Thessalonians 4. We meet Him in the clouds. Second, Jesus’ battle space is clearly on the Earth.

I saw heaven opened. And there was a white horse. He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written, that no one knows but He Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called The Word of God. The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, with which He may strike the nations. “He shall rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather for the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of strong men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great!”
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to wage war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. But the beast was captured and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. The remnant were slain with the sword which proceeded out of the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh.

Revelation 19:11–21

Third, if all believers are glorified and all unbelievers vanquished… Who populates the Millennial Kingdom?

Taking an external context and imposing it onto the Bible can be troublesome. And in these days when the rapture is mocked and scorn, it is imperative to study the entirety of the text of the Bible. It is going to require comprehensive diligence, but remember the Bible provides the best explanation and context for Itself.

It is easy to learn to parrot a line because it sounds like a plausible way to explain away the pre-trib rapture. In this case, the pre-tribulatioin rapture is introduced amidst some form of ridicule. It’s secret, or it has only been taught for 150 years in the church. As shown, both of those ideas are really lies. Speculation is then added to the Bible to make it say something it does not. This is long before someone produces a Bible text or two.

Often, it is the usual proof texts… Like in Matthew 25 when the bridegroom comes. The bridegroom comes to take those ready away, not to bring them back with him. Or in Acts 28 when Paul is greeted on his way to Rome to be executed. What the text does not say is that the people who met him were taken anywhere else by anyone, let alone with Paul who was in custody.

The rapture is not about us meeting Jesus Christ in the air to escort Him back to earth. It is for the church-age holy one to be forever with Jesus Christ where He is. As demonstrated, the timing necessary to the post-trib rapture does not work. That makes it heterodoxy in nature.

This event outlined by Paul in 1 Thessalonians is not the second advent of Jesus to the nation of Israel. It is the second advent of Jesus to church-age saints. And it is well before He comes at the end of the age..