Rapture: Greeting Or Going?

1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 is often used to teach a ‘pre-tribulation rapture’ ¹.

Does the Bible really teach that Christians will be magically zapped out of the world right before it passes the point of no return? The more I read and the more I learn, the more I think not…

Overall, I believe, 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 is meant to be one of encouragement by entry, not encouragement by exit. Could people be encouraged by the fact that they will avoid the tribulation? Sure, yes. But there is more going on here. The truth of the return of Jesus for His people (v.16), and the eternal union of Jesus with His people (v.16b-17) is surely a stronger source of encouragement (v.18).

In 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 (bigger picture) Paul is teaching the Thessalonians, and us who read it now, to not grieve a death like everyone else (v.13) because you know that those who die as believers will be raised to be with the Lord forever (vv.14-15), and, if you don’t die before He comes back, you will be with Him, and them, forever (v.17).

However, almost every time this passage is taught it’s from a “See, pre-trib. rapture…right there…” perspective. Honestly, after reading and praying and studying this text, I just don’t believe that’s what Paul is saying. His word choice certainly doesn’t convey that.

Rather than writing of an evacuation, 1 Thessalonians 4 describes a welcome party:

“…the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.’

(vv.16-18)

There is no case, given the language Paul uses, for a mass evacuation. There is no suggestion of Jesus zapping all of His people out of the world: planes falling out of the sky, piles of clothes littering the street, cars careening off roads.

Where did this idea come from, then?

In 4.17 we read that believers alive when Jesus returns will be suddenly caught up. The ‘caught up‘ comes from the Greek ἁρπάζω (harpazo). It means to be seized or carried away, to be plucked or pulled pretty dramatically from place to place. On its own, then, 4.17 clearly teaches that alive believers will be dramatically taken, along with deceased believers, to the clouds. On its own, 4.17 clearly teaches a rapture with no return. Does this mean that Christians are all magically moved away? No. 

Lets keep reading:

“Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.'”

(vv.16-18, emphasis added)

Much focus (too much) is given to the ‘caught up‘ of v.17 and not the explanatory 

‘to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord‘. 

Paul uses a word in there to describe the meet and greet of an arrival (ἀπάντησιν) ³. This is how those living under Roman rule – his readers, the Thessalonians – would describe the arrival of one in power: this is how their ruler would come to take up reign. This is also how Paul himself was met by the believers in Rome (Acts 28.15). A delegation is sent out to meet the arriving dignitary.

For Paul, then, the second coming of Jesus was no great mystery: there is a sudden rapture, yes (suddenly caught up together…in the clouds), at which time the Lord Jesus is to be met in the air by His people. Then, rather than escaping forever, He is escorted into His Kingdom (meet the Lord in the air) wherein He will take up rule and reign (always be with the Lord). Encouragement by entry, not encouragement by exit.

What does this passage mean for believers today?

We could spend weeks and weeks talking about this passage, but, at the core, these few verses (1 Thessalonians 4.13-18) are a message of hope. They are a message of living hope in Jesus; 

They give us the comfort of eternity when facing the death of a loved one (v.13),

They teach us that Jesus died, physically and bodily (v.14),

They teach us that He rose again (v.14),

They give us the assurance of our own resurrection (v.14),

They teach us that, ultimately, there is no benefit to either being dead or alive when Jesus returns (v.15),

They make clear to us that Jesus will return again and that the dead in Christ will rise (v.16, cf. Revelation 20),

They describe a spectacular, miraculous, Divine meeting of the Saviour and the saved (v.17),

They show that the saved will then escort the Saviour to Earth to take up rule and reign in His eternal Kingdom (v.17),

and, ultimately, this passage and its transcendent truths are to be a source of encouragement for those that have put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour (v.18).

 

---

¹ – https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-tribulation.html

² – https://www.icr.org/books/defenders/7987

³ – https://biblehub.com/greek/529.htm

Further Reading

https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=pretrib_arch

David J. Williams, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 85.

Ben Witherington III, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006), 141.