"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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Part 3
Yesterday:
Verses 14-15:
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again.”
This is the heart of the gospel, and of vital importance!
“Even so them also which sleep in Jesus.”
All those who are dead in Christ.
“Will God bring with Him.”
Jesus returns with all the souls of his dead saints.
“For this, we say unto you by the word of the Lord.”
Take note: this is not just Paul’s idea; this is the inspired Word of God.
“Then we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.”
Those believers who are here on the earth when Jesus returns will see Him come back.
“Shall not prevent them which are asleep.”
The dead in Christ will be raised first!
Today:
Please take a moment and read the paragraph, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
“For the Lord, himself shall descend from heaven.”
The Lord himself, in person, will return. He descends from heaven, where He has been with the Father. This is what the Angels promised His disciples when He left.
“And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10-11).
The Lord always keeps His word!
“With a shout.”
“It properly means a ‘cry’ of excitement,…an outcry, clamor, or shout, as of sailors at the oar,…of soldiers rushing to battle,… of a multitude of people,… of a huntsman to his dogs,….”[1] (Barnes).
“Strictly, word of command, or signal,—the shout with which the general gives the order to his troops, or the captain to his crew.”[2]
“shout — Greek, ‘signal shout,’ ‘war shout.’ Jesus is represented as a victorious King, giving the word of command to the hosts of heaven in His train for the last onslaught, at His final triumph over sin, death, and Satan (Revelation 19:11-21)”[3] (JFB).
“Apparently, there will be some audible signal that prompts this remarkable event. It may be all three descriptions (shout, voice, and trumpet) refer to the same sound, or there may be three distinct sounds. The rapture will not be silent or secret, though the vast majority of people may not understand the sound or its meaning” (Guzik).
“With the voice of the archangel.”
In the Bible, the only Angel described as an archangel is Michael. It could be that there are others that we do not know of. We do know that at the Lord’s coming, there will be an archangel’s voice heard.
“And with the trump of God.”
The New Testament speaks of several trumpets that are associated with the end times.[4]
The last trumpet.
“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” (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The seven trumpets of Revelation.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
The trumpet calling for all the saints to be gathered out of the world.
“And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31).
“And the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
These believers who have died in Christ will be resurrected out of their graves. They will meet Christ in the air first before those who are alive are joined with Him.
“… ‘first,’ i.e., before the living saints: ‘we shall not take precedence of them, but rather they of us.’”[5]
The Scriptures make it understandable that this is a very brief span of time. The dead are raised, and those who are alive are changed very quickly.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
What happens to the believers who are still alive on the earth? Come back tomorrow, and let’s talk about it.
[1] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] Cambridge Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Jamison, Fausset, and Brown. Jamison-Fausset-Brown’s Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] Let me encourage you to do a study of these end-time trumpets. It will take some time, effort, and study, but you can begin to see that the events of these trumpets are different.
[5] Cambridge Bible, ibid.