Observe carefully that Paul says nothing at all about the Lord removing his Church to Heaven. The apostle leaves her—and us—in the air. What, then, will take place after this happy reunion? Here, Paul does not say. However, what he does say suggests an interpretation far richer than that of the dispensationalists. Paul writes, “And as a result of these things, we shall always be with the Lord.” Note the finality—the ultimacy—of that phrase. When the Lord returns, we shall always be together: together with him and together with one other. Thus, Paul’s exact wording strongly suggests that he has in mind the ultimate goal of Salvation History: life together with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth. Admittedly, he makes no explicit mention of where the saints will be with the Lord. But that is simply because his present focus is elsewhere: the reunion of separated loved ones at the Parousia. We have already seen, however, that in his other eschatological writings Paul uniformly associates the Resurrection with the final renewal of all creation (Rom. 8:18-25; 1 Cor. 15:20-28, 50-57; Phil. 3:20-21).

The Apostle Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonian Christians contain some of the Bible’s richest veins of eschatological gold. Written from Corinth around AD 50-51, they reveal that the apostle’s early ministry to the European Gentiles was charged with a lively expectation of the Lord’s soon return (1 Thess. 1:10; 2:19; 3:11-13; 2 Thess. 1-2; cf. Acts 17:16-21; 1 Cor. 15:1-58). However, they also reveal a problem: Paul’s Jewish opponents had forced him to flee the city quickly, with the result that some of his converts were left confused (or ignorant) about his teaching on the afterlife and the Consummation (Acts 17:1-9). These two letters give us his efforts to clear up the misunderstanding. Not surprisingly, they speak often and in great detail about the last things: the signs of Christ’s Parousia, the nature and purpose of the Parousia, the Resurrection, the Judgment, and the World to Come. Notably, they never speak of a future millennium (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 5:1-10; 2 Thess. 1:3-12; 2:1-12).
Let’s take a close look at two major (and very closely related) texts found in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Of the three NT passages cited by dispensationalists in support of a pre-tribulation rapture, this is by far the most important (cf. John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52). Accordingly, I will first offer an amillennial exegesis of the text itself, and then carefully consider both the dispensational interpretation and the case made for it.
Our text begins in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, where Paul states his purpose for the remarks to follow. His goal is to give hope to Christians whose (believing) loved ones have recently “fallen asleep” (i.e., died in the Lord). He knows that some of the brethren are troubled about this. Perhaps they fear that their departed loved ones will not be included in Christ’s Kingdom when he comes again. Certainly they fear they will never see them again. Therefore, Paul takes up this subject once again, so that they will no longer grieve as unbelievers do, but instead enjoy a lively hope of being reunited with their Christian family and friends—soon.
In verse 14 he succinctly states the healing truth; in the verses that follow he carefully explains. It is this: “When Jesus comes again he will bring your departed loved one(s) with him and back to you.” Observe how Paul, in declaring this truth, builds on the Thessalonians’ pre-existing faith. They already believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead. But if they can believe that, surely they can also believe that he will raise their loved one(s). And, says Paul, that’s exactly what he will do: At the Parousia God will bring with Jesus the souls of all who have fallen asleep in him, so that they, just like their Lord, may rise from the dead and be reunited with the saints who are living on the earth at that time.
Importantly, Paul has already touched on this subject in 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13, where he prayed that God would establish their hearts “ . . . blameless in holiness in the presence of our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones.” Note the comprehensiveness of that final phrase. When Christ returns he will empty Heaven, bringing with him all the holy angels and the spirits of all the departed saints whom he has redemptively separated to himself. Thus will he set the stage for the Momentous Event: the Consummation of all things and the recreation of the world.
In verses 15-17 the apostle delves into the aspect of the Consummation that lies uppermost in the minds of his flock: the reunion of the departed saints with the living saints. In verse 15 he declares that the instruction he is about give is “the word of the Lord.” That is, it comes, at least in part, from the earthly teaching of Christ himself (Matt. 13:37-43; 24:29-31). Possibly, it also includes further revelation specially vouchsafed to the apostle (1 Cor. 15:51-52). In any case, the Thessalonians can trust what he has to say, for it is the very Word of God.
Next, he affirms that “ . . . we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep.” He means that the living saints will not receive their glorified bodies before those who have died in the Lord. There is, then, a definite chronological sequence in the glorification of the Church: First, Christ will join the souls of the departed saints to their new resurrected and glorified bodies; then—and only then—he will transform and glorify the bodies of the living saints. In days ahead, Paul will say much the same thing to the Corinthians: “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we [who are alive and remain] will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:50-53).
Observe that all of this happens at “the Parousia of the Lord” (v. 15). There is only one of them. And according to every other Pauline text touching on this event, it has nothing to do with Christ secretly removing his Church to Heaven for seven years. Rather, it has everything to do with his raising (all) the dead, judging the world in righteousness, and bringing in the completed Kingdom of God.
In verses 16-17, which closely parallel Jesus’ own descriptions of the Consummation, Paul elaborates on what he has just said about the events surrounding the Parousia (Matt. 13:37-43; 24:29-31). He begins with this: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven.” This is Christ’s definitive descent to the earth, the descent that results in the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, where he will live forever with his beloved Bride. In this descent the Lord is not leaving Heaven behind; rather, he is bringing it with him. In this descent he and the holy angels are coming home once and for all (Rev. 21:1-4)!
The cosmic homecoming will be accompanied by three great sounds: A shout (or “cry of command”), the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. I take it that the shout emanates from the lips of Christ himself. If this is indeed a shout, then it is a shout of (final) victory (Num. 23:21; Josh. 6:5; Ps. 47:5; Is. 42:13; Jer. 25:30; 1 Cor. 15:54). If, as seems more likely, it is a cry of command, it is the voice of Christ summoning the dead from their graves (John 5:25; 11:43) and/or sending the holy angels to their appointed tasks (Mark 13:27). Perhaps it is both.
Concerning the archangel, he is almost certainly Michael (Dan. 12:1; Jude v. 9) or Gabriel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26). In either case, this angel, by definition, is a ruler over all the rest. His presence on the scene therefore implies what the NT explicitly unveils elsewhere: the presence of all the holy angels (Matt. 25:31). When the archangel raises his voice, it will likely be for the purpose of sending all the angels to their work of judicial and redemptive ingathering (Matt. 13:41; 24:31; Rev. 14:18).
Finally, there is the trumpet of God. Its blast signals not only the final destruction of the evil world-system (Josh. 6:15-21; Rev. 18:2), but also the summoning of God’s people to their full inheritance: to the enjoyment of eternal life upon the glorious “holy mountain” that is the new heavens and the new earth (Ex. 19:16-17; Is. 11:9; Matt. 24:31; Rev. 14:1). This interpretation accords well with the teaching of 1 Cor. 15:52: The trumpet that raises the dead will be the last trumpet, the trumpet that signals the consummation of the purposes of God and the advent of the World to Come.
Considering the character of these two verses, it is marvelous indeed that anyone could find here a “secret” eschatological event devolving exclusively upon a small band of saints who alone can see and hear it. Quite to the contrary, the actual data cry out, over and again, that this is a hugely public event, precisely because it devolves, not simply upon the Church, but also upon the entire created universe. Just as every eye will see, so too every ear will hear: whether Christ’s shout, the archangel’s voice, or the final blast of the trumpet of God (Matt. 26:64; John 5:28; Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 1:7).
In verse 16b Paul reiterates the basic message of verse 15: When the Lord returns, the dead in Christ will rise first. In verse 17 he explains what will happen afterwards, such that separated loved ones are reunited once and for all. To understand his thought here we must keep 1 Cor. 15:50-58 in mind. When we do, a clear picture emerges: Immediately following the Resurrection of the Dead, the living saints (i.e., “we who are alive and remain”) will be changed—glorified (1 Cor. 15:51-52). Then the entire company of the saints “. . . will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The Greek word for “caught up” (arpazo) denotes taking (or being taken) suddenly and with great force, whether urgently to obtain (Matt. 11:12), maliciously to abduct (Matt. 13:19; John 6:15; 10:12), or benevolently to help or rescue (Acts 8:39; 2 Cor. 12:2; Jude v. 23). Here it is used in the latter sense, since at his return the Lord Jesus—with great zeal and power to match—will swiftly gather his Bride to himself, even as he rescues her from her human enemies and the fiery judgment that will consume the earth below (2 Peter 3:8-13; Rev. 11:11-13).
How exactly will Christ catch up his Church? As we have seen, it will be at the hands of the holy angels (Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:27; Rev. 14:14-16). Carrying the saints into (and perhaps through) the spiritual “clouds” by which God and Christ are visibly manifesting their divine presence, power, and glory, the angels will bring them to meet the Lord in the air (Luke 9:34; Acts 1:9). This detail is important, signaling that when Christ comes again he will draw very near to the earth, which, according to Scripture, is the center of the physical universe, the apple of God’s eye, and the future home of Christ and his Bride (Matt. 17:5; 24:30; Luke 9:34-35; 21:27; Rev. 21:1-4).
Observe carefully that Paul says nothing at all about the Lord removing his Church to Heaven. The apostle leaves her—and us—in the air. What, then, will take place after this happy reunion? Here, Paul does not say. However, what he does say suggests an interpretation far richer than that of the dispensationalists.
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Written by T. M. Suffield |
Monday, August 5, 2024
It doesn’t really matter whether you think the day starts as your head hits the pillow or when you wake but recognising that we start with sleep and that joy comes in the morning can profoundly reshape the way you visualise your weeks and years. This is the view of life of the Bible: hope comes after and far more can be mended than you know. What does matter is that we start to see the world with open eyes. Everything teaches you the way of the Lord, or the way of death.

Have you ever noticed that in Genesis chapter one, the days are the wrong way around?
When I say the wrong way around, I mean backwards to what we expect, and before you rush off to compare the order of creation and question whether it means anything meaningful that the sun and moon come so late (it does, but that’s not our topic today), look at each day.
They’re backwards.
“And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” and each day thereafter. Evening, then morning. That’s backwards. We all know that days start in the morning, unless we’re pedantic enough to insist that they start in the middle of night. If we are that pedant, we are a prime example of what happens when you give a scientist a writer’s job, or when we let people learn the natural sciences before they’re thoroughly grounded in real subjects, like poetry.
But the destructive results of carving the day into twenty-four sections and thinking we’ve done something clever aside, the days in the Old Testament seem to be backwards.
Of course, I’m sure we can all grasp that they count time differently, so it’s not wrong but different. Except, I would like to contend that the Old Testament’s way of counting days is instructive to us. Honestly, it’s also better.
The day starts in the evening as the Sun sets and then continues into the daytime after the night, ending at sunset the subsequent evening. Think, perhaps, of the Jewish observation of the Sabbath to see this in practice: beginning on Friday evening and following through to Saturday evening.
Ok, they count days differently, so what?
Little things like this shape the way we see the world. They subconsciously tell us stories. Day, followed by night tells us a story: we have limited time to work, then our death will come. Make the most of your days in the sun while you can, for they are brief. The best comes at the beginning, the worst at the end: or in other words, youth is better than old age.
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One guy, who played football for Miami High, was a bad guy. Well, one day, Jack the bad guy, walked up the main entrance to West End Park with a Bible in his hand. We couldn’t figure out what Jack was doing with a Bible much less bringing it to the park. We quickly found out that Jack had become a Christian. I didn’t really know what that meant, but I knew Jack had changed.
Before you join a Presbyterian Church in America you’re asked to give your testimony of your salvation through God’s grace. Each testimony is as different as is our DNA. God irresistibly drawing me to Himself started a long time ago. It was a puzzle being put together one piece at a time until God placed the last piece into my life to complete His calling of me.
The Puzzle Piece shaped like a cross – Norfolk, Virginia 1943One Easter Sunday morning my mother decided that we should go to church and she and Daddy stayed home with my little brothers. My older siblings: Catherine, Tony, Richard, and Jimmy had been to Holy Trinity Catholic Church before. However, it was the first time for my younger brother, Jonny, and me. I was very excited but I didn’t know church behavior so I watched the older kids and copied them. They walked down the center aisle looking up at the big cross with Jesus on it and before they turned to take a seat, one by one they each kneeled on one leg, looked up at Jesus, and made the sign of the cross. It was my turn to take a seat in the pew and not only did I follow what they did but I couldn’t wait to kneel and make the sign of the cross. It was awesome to me to kneel at the cross of Jesus.
The Puzzle Piece shaped like a billboard – Somewhere in South Carolina 1945World War II was over and our family was moving to Miami, Florida. My father was driving our new station wagon to Miami with Tony, Richard, Jimmy, Jonny and me. My mother, Catherine, and my youngest brothers, Charlie and Mike, were taking the train to Miami. All of us in the car loved seeing the small towns and big bridges and people as we traveled. We read all the “Burma Shave” signs and almost every billboard we saw. Mostly we laughed at the signs but there was one I didn’t laugh at. I read aloud a sign that said, “Jesus Saves.” Then Jimmy said in a smart-alecky voice, “Saves What?” and he laughed. I didn’t know what he saved either but there was something in my eight year-old heart that didn’t like Jimmy making fun of Jesus.
The Puzzle Piece shaped like a Bible character – Miami, Florida 1950Once a week, in our classroom at Fairlawn Elementary School, a woman came and told us Bible stories. She used flannel Bible characters to tell the story. She would set up an easel and put the large flannel board on the easel. I watched with fascination as she moved Bible people around while telling the story. She would add animals and trees and scenery as the story unfolded. I looked forward to “Bible Story” days.
The Puzzle Piece shaped like a musical note – Miami, Florida 1950During the same year as the flannel board stories my youngest brother, Mike, came home from kindergarten singing, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” I listened to Mike sing it twice and then I joined him and enjoyed singing that Jesus loves me.
The Puzzle Piece shaped like a radio – Miami, Florida 1950During the same time period there was a program on the radio called, “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” It was all about Jesus and God. It was a Sunday show and I listened to it every Sunday. I especially liked when God talked from Heaven. The music introducing God’s voice was beautiful and I could picture heaven opening up for God to speak. God was working in my heart and I didn’t know it.
The Puzzle Piece shaped like a church – Miami, Florida 1951Two of my girl friends in Junior High invited me to go to their church on Easter Sunday. I really wanted to go and my mother gave me permission to take the city bus to the church. We three girls sat in the front row. I don’t remember what the preacher said that morning but I do remember that I liked being in church.
The final Piece of the Puzzle is shaped like a volleyball – Miami, Florida 1952When the Summer of ‘52 began, the Summer before I started high school, my friend, Sandy, called me and told me to meet her at West End Park to play some volleyball with the kids there. We met at the park and yes, there were a lot of high school kids there. There were good kids and not so good kids playing volleyball.
One guy, who played football for Miami High, was a bad guy. Well, one day, Jack the bad guy, walked up the main entrance to West End Park with a Bible in his hand. We couldn’t figure out what Jack was doing with a Bible much less bringing it to the park. We quickly found out that Jack had become a Christian. I didn’t really know what that meant, but I knew Jack had changed.
He was pulling people aside and opening his Bible and talking to them. This was scary to me because I knew very little about the Bible. But, Jack got me! We were sitting in the Park Director’s office after a volleyball game when Jack walked in, sat down beside me and pulled out his Bible. I was cornered. There was no escape route. I had to sit and listen while Jack pointed to words in the Bible and asked me questions. I didn’t think he’d ever be finished. Finally, finally, finally he said, “Miriam, do you believe this?” To get rid of him I said, “Yes.” “Well then, Miriam you’re SAVED!” That made no sense to me but I didn’t care, I just wanted out of that office and away from Jack and his Bible.
Well the news got around the park that I was saved. One of the park girls invited me to a revival at her Baptist church. I had no clue what a revival was but I wanted to go. This was God turning my heart and mind towards Him. When I got to the church my friend said, “We’re going to sing in the youth choir would you like to join us?” I love to sing so I immediately said, “Yes.”
Little did I know that saying “Yes” would turn out to be the longest, strangest, evening of my life. I was up in the choir loft with the youth choir and a hymn book in my hand and I was happily singing away. Then we sat down for the young man to preach the revival message. When he finished his Bible message he asked if anyone wanted to rededicate their life to the Lord. Not knowing what “rededicate your life” meant, I just sat there feeling very safe surrounded by a whole group of choir kids. Then the bottom dropped out….the choir kids left their seats to “rededicate” their lives. They all stood in a row in front of the preacher. I was the only one left in the youth choir.
After about five minutes of me standing alone looking out at all the people sitting in the church seats, a member of the youth group walked up the choir loft steps. I knew he was coming to talk to me because I was the only one left in the choir. He opened his mouth and asked me, “Are you saved?” I thought, Jack said I was saved, so I answered, “Yes!” Evidently it was a good answer because his next question was, “Would you like to go down with the others and join the church.” All I could think of was that I’d say anything to get out of being the youth choir soloist, so I said, “Yes.”
He then led me to this long line of people in the front of the church. We were looking out at the people sitting in their pew looking at us. Talk about frying pan into the fire. The line in front of the church, of which I am now a member, was a receiving line. All the people in the pews came up one by one and shook my hand. People were shaking my hand and saying “God bless you” and things like that. Now I’m still not sure why I was there and what I had done. One lady came up to me and said, “Read your Bible every day.” God Struck….That Stuck!
The next day I asked my mother for a Bible. First of all you have to know that we had no money, so for me to ask my mother for anything that cost money was highly unusual. My mother didn’t say anything and you never nagged her so that was that. When I got home from the park the next day I found a Bible on my bed. I read it every day. God at work.
I started going to West Flagler Park Baptist every Sunday by myself. This was the summer that God had planned for me before the foundation of the world. His timing was perfect for me and for my future. A year later I lost my earthly father to an auto accident….but I now knew that I would never lose my Heavenly Father.
“The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building” (I Corinthians 3: 8-9).
“For He choose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1: 4-8)
Miriam Gautier was a member of Treasure Coast Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Stuart, Fla; she was called home to glory on January 29, 2023.
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