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SUBJECT: Rapture
QUESTION: Does 1 Thessalonians 4:17 support the idea of
the rapture?
ANSWER:
Some use 1 Thessalonians 4:17 as proof of rapture:
1Thessalonians 4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
To understand verse 17 we must look at verses 13 through
17. In my Bible this section of scripture has the heading,
"When Jesus Comes Back"
The whole idea of the "doctrine" of the rapture is to
somehow avoid having to go through the Great Tribulation.
This passage of scripture is picturing the very moment when
Christ returns. In verse 17, it states that those that are
alive will go up into the air to meet Him as He comes down.
In verse 13 we begin talking about those that are in the
grave and what is going to happen to them AS CHRIST
RETURNS. The word "asleep" means dead.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them whichare asleep (dead), that ye
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Verse 14:
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep (or are dead) in Jesus will God
bring with him.
This is stating that the dead will rise up to meet Christ in
the air and then come on down with Him.
Verse 15:
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep (or dead).
The meaning here is clear. We know that the dead in Christ
(first resurrection people) will rise up FIRST to
meet Christ. (wait a minute and we will talk about that
verse). This verse is stating that we who are alive
will not be able to prevent this from happening. We won't
even be able to stand in their way or slow them down.
Verse 16:
Here it is. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
The dead in Christ will rise up first to meet Him. Clearly
this verse shows that this portion of scripture is about the
moment of the return of Christ AFTER the terrible Great
Tribulation.
Matthew 24:21-22
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should
no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall
be shortened.
Look a little further down in that chapter...
Matthew 24:29-30
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory.
Clearly we see a sequence of events: First the tribulation
and then Second Christ returning.
Now go to verse 17
Then (after the dead are already
resurrected out of the grave and rising up to meet Christ)
we which are alive and remain (that
is, those with the Spirit of God in them; the called out
ones or firstfruits) shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.
So, the dead in Christ (those that
were called or firstfruits but died before He return)
have been resurrected into spirit form and gone up to meet
Christ. Then we which lived through the Great Tribulation
will be turned into spirit and follow the others up into the
clouds to meet Christ and as the last part of the sentence
states, we will be with Christ forever. Clearly, once we
are spirit we will be with Christ forever.
Remember 1 Corinthians 15:52 that shows this...
1 Corinthians 15:52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Now look at the commentary regarding these verses...
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1. They sleep in Jesus. They are asleep, v. 13. They have
fallen asleep in Christ, <1 Corinthians 15:18>. Death does
not annihilate them. It is but a sleep to them. It is their
rest, and undisturbed rest. They have retired out of this
troublesome world, to rest from all their labours and
sorrows, and they sleep in Jesus, v. 14. Being still in
union with him, they sleep in his arms and are under his
special care and protection. Their souls are in his
presence, and their dust is under his care and power; so
that they are not lost, nor are they losers, but great
gainers by death, and their removal out of this world is
into a better.
2. They shall be raised up from the dead, and awakened out
of their sleep, for God will bring them with him, v. 14.
They then are with God, and are better where they are than
when they were here; and when God comes he will bring them
with him. The doctrine of the resurrection and the second
coming of Christ is a great antidote against the fear of
death and inordinate sorrow for the death of our Christian
friends; and this doctrine we have a full assurance of,
because we believe that Jesus died and rose again, v. 14. It
is taken for granted that as Christians they knew and
believed this. The death and resurrection of Christ are
fundamental articles of the Christian religion, and give us
hope of a joyful resurrection; for Christ, having risen from
the dead, has become the first fruits of those that slept;
and therefore those who have fallen asleep in him have not
perished nor are lost, <1 Corinthians 15:18,20>. His
resurrection is a full confirmation of all that is said in
the gospel, or by the word of the Lord, which has brought
life and immortality to light.
3. Their state and condition shall be glorious and happy at
the second coming of Christ. This the apostle informs the
Thessalonians of by the word of the Lord (v. 15), by divine
revelation from the Lord Jesus; for though the resurrection
of the dead, and a future state of blessedness, were part of
the creed of the Old-Testament saints, yet they are much
more clearly revealed in and by the gospel. By this word of
the Lord we know,
(1.) That the Lord Jesus will come down from heaven in all
the pomp and power of the upper world (v. 16): The Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. He ascended
into heaven after his resurrection, and passed through these
material heavens into the third heaven, which must retain
him till the restitution of all things; and then he will
come again, and appear in his glory. He will descend from
heaven into this our air, v. 17. The appearance will be with
pomp and power, with a shout-- the shout of a king, and the
power and authority of a mighty king and conqueror, with the
voice of the archangel; an innumerable company of angels
will attend him. Perhaps one, as general of those hosts of
the Lord, will give notice of his approach, and the glorious
appearance of this great Redeemer and Judge will be
proclaimed and ushered in by the trump of God. For the
trumpet shall sound, and this will awaken those that sleep
in the dust of the earth, and will summon all the world to
appear. For,
(2.) The dead shall be raised: The dead in Christ shall
rise first (v. 16), before those who are found alive at
Christ's coming shall be changed; and so it appears that
those who shall then be found alive shall not prevent those
that are asleep, v. 15. The first care of the Redeemer in
that day will be about his dead saints; he will raise them
before the great change passes on those that shall be found
alive: so that those who did not sleep in death will have no
greater privilege or joy at that day than those who fell
asleep in Jesus.
(3.) those that shall be found alive will then be changed.
They shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air, v. 17. At, or immediately before,
this rapture into the clouds, those who are alive will
undergo a mighty change, which will be equivalent to dying.
This change is so mysterious that we cannot comprehend it:
we know little or nothing of it, <1 Corinthians 15:51>.
Only, in the general, this mortal must put on immortality,
and these bodies will be made fit to inherit the kingdom of
God, which flesh and blood in its present state are not
capable of. This change will be in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye <1 Corinthians 15:52>, in the very
instant, or not long after the raising up of those that
sleep in Jesus. And those who are raised, and thus changed,
shall meet together in the clouds, and there meet with their
Lord, to congratulate him on his coming, to receive the
crown of glory he will then bestow upon them, and to be
assessors with him in judgment, approving and applauding the
sentence he will then pass upon the prince of the power of
the air, and all the wicked, who shall be doomed to
destruction with the devil and his angels. ~from Matthew
Henry's Commentary
You will read in this commentary the phrase "this rapture
into the clouds" but clearly this phrase does not support
the typical rapture theory or "supposed doctrine". That
doctrine is defined as a group of Christians being raptured
to heaven to avoid the Great Tribulation. By the standards
of that theory, a "rapture into the clouds" at the moment of
Christ's return isn't much of a rapture. In fact, as verse
17 shows us, those still alive are on the earth are then
changed and go up to meet Christ. If the rapture theory was
true, then why weren't these Christians in heaven? Why
weren't they pictured as already being spirit beings and
coming down from heaven with Him? Answer: Because there is
no rapture.
Now having said all this, understand that God will protect
His called out ones (firstfruits) in the Great
Tribulation unless God has chosen them to be martyred for
Christ.
Notice:
Psalm 91:1-7
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress:
my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for
the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for
the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy
right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
AND...
Matthew 24:9-10
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall
kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's
sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one
another, and shall hate one another.
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