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Resurrection of the Saints Alive and
Remain I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven ... saying with a loud voice ... the hour of his judgment is come.—Revelation 14:6,7
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.—1 Thessalonians
4:16,17 A verse-by-verse study of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 The return of Christ means everything to the saints of God. The night before Jesus died, he told his disciples in the upper room, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). Now that Christ has returned, it is the prevailing view of brethren that the saints of God who fell into the sleep of death have been raised from death to life, and as they die now, they are caught up to be with Christ “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” without resting in the sleep of death (1 Corinthians 15:52). Paul treated this subject in 1 Thessalonians, chapter four. Verse 13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Paul’s purpose in this section was to comfort the brethren about some who had
passed away. They should not sorrow as those who are unaware of God’s gracious
purposes. Paul then proceeded to express the hope we have of life again at the
return of Christ. Verse 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. The English rendering of this text is acceptable, but a quick reading may fail to reveal the point Paul intended. When Paul wrote of those who “sleep in Jesus,” he had in mind the saints who had already died and awaited their resurrection to be with Christ, following his return. When he said God will bring them “with him” —with Jesus—he did not mean they come back in company with Jesus, for then they would have to be alive before the return of Christ. The Scriptures are clear that the saints are raised as a consequence of Christ’s return. Paul’s teaching is that God will raise the sleeping saints from the dead, just as he raised Jesus from the dead. In this sense they will be brought from the dead “with” Jesus. They together will share the same kind of resurrection experience, even though that experience is separated in time by something close to nineteen hundred years. That may not accord with the common use of the word “with” as we use it in English, but it is how Paul elsewhere used the word—a common experience, even though separated in time. Here are two examples. 1. “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you” (2 Corinthians 4:14). The word “by” in this text is the key. In the Textus Receptus the Greek word is dia, which is normally rendered “through” and sometimes “by.” But the better Greek manuscripts give a different word: sun, meaning “with.” This is the same word Paul used in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” This is supported by the Nestle Greek text used in the Diaglott prepared by Alfred Marshall. Here are other translations of 2 Corinthinas 4:14: “He that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus” (RVIC version edited by James Parkinson). “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus” (NASB). “The one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus” (NIV). “He who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise up us also together with Jesus” (Rotherham). “He who raised Jesus up will raise us up also together with Jesus” (New World). Paul said we are raised “with Jesus” because we will share the same experience with Jesus, even though we are raised from death many centuries after our Lord Jesus was raised from death. “With” in this case means together in the same experience, but not necessarily at the same time. This observation will be important when we get to 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
2. “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath
he [God] quickened together with him [Jesus], having forgiven you all
trespasses” (Colossians 2:13). The two words “together with” are a rendering of
the same Greek word sun that we are discussing. The preceding verse
closes with the expression “God ... raised him [Jesus] from the dead.” In verse
13 Paul said we are “quickened,” enlivened, “together with” Jesus. Here also the
word “with,” rendered “together with” in this text, refers to an experience we
have that is like an experience Jesus had, but not something that occurs at the
same time. Jesus was quickened at his resurrection in 33
A.D. All
other disciples are quickened, enlivened through faith in the sacrifice of
Christ, at later times. 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. The word “prevent” is an old English word that means precede. The New World translation reads “we the living who survive into the presence [parousia] of the Lord shall in no way precede those who have fallen asleep [in death].” Paul immediately followed this up with his explanation that the reverse is true—that those who die in Christ before the second advent will be raised first, and those who are “alive and remain” will follow “afterward.” Verse 16 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.
This is explicit. This Scripture does not say they who sleep in Jesus will rise
at the same time as those who live to the second advent. It says they will rise
first. Verse 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. The word “then” is not a precise rendering of the Greek word epeita. The word means “afterward.” The New World translation reads: “Afterward we the living ...” Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott, in the word-for-word rendering, says “afterwards.” Rotherham reads “After that we, the living who are left ...” The NIV translation is, “After that, we who are still alive and are left ...” Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says epeita “is used only of sequence, thereupon, thereafter.” Paul’s statement is clear that there is a sequence. First the sleeping saints [saints sleeping in death] are raised, and subsequently those who are alive and remain receive their part in the first resurrection. What troubles some is the balance of verse 17. Notwithstanding the clear sequence of “first” and “afterward,” the expression which follows says, “shall be caught up together with them.” This seems to imply, in the English, that those who died long ago, and those who are alive and remain at the Lord’s return, are collectively caught up at the same time in one grand and simultaneous event. It is helpful to recall the manner in which Paul used the concept of “with” that we observed in verse 14: a common experience, even though it is separated in time by many years. Although Christ was raised two thousand years ago, we are said to be raised “together with” Christ. The word “with” in verse 17 is the same Greek word, sun, that we examined earlier. All the saints will be caught up to be with Christ in glory, at the time of their resurrection from the dead. It is this common experience that we share with those who died during the age. But we do not experience this change at the same moment as they did. During the same period of time, the harvest of the Gospel age, Yes. But at the same moment, No. Those who died before are raised first. We who linger into the parousia of Christ are raised when our course this side the vail comes to a close in death, and we are raised to life again. Then we are “caught up” into the glory of the heavenly resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:51,52, explains that our being glorified after the return of Christ, during his parousia or presence, occurs as each one falls asleep in death. Here is the passage, from the better manuscripts, as reflected in the RVIC version: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall all fall asleep, but we shall not all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” The expression “we shall all fall asleep” comes from a single Greek word, koimethesometha, which the Kingdom Interlinear renders “we shall be laid to sleep.” Marshall’s Diaglott says “fall asleep.” To “sleep” in death may give the impression of a duration passing during the time of sleep. But the word properly refers to the act of falling into death, not the act of “sleeping” in death. It is the same concept as applied to Stephen when he died, “He fell asleep” (Acts 7:60, Marshall’s Diaglott). In other words, as Paul said in Corinthians, we must all die, we must all “fall asleep” in death. Those who died long ago continue in the sleep of death until the end of the age, and then are “raised incorruptible.” But those who “fall asleep” during the presence of Christ will be “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” without the need to remain dead for weeks, months, or years waiting for the resurrection.
The saints, holy ones who constitute God’s elect “bride” class, are raised to
heavenly glory and given celestial, heavenly, spiritual bodies: “Flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom” of heaven, which is the reward for this precious
class (1 Corinthians 15:50). Thus it is needful for each member of the elect to
die as fleshly beings, and be raised to life as spiritual beings. It was so with
our Lord Jesus, and it is so with us who follow him. Verse 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Paul returned to his point, which was a message of comfort and consolation about those saints who had fallen into the sleep of death awaiting their resurrection. They were gone, but they would be seen again in the first resurrection. They would be raised first, and subsequently we would join them. |