When I got to my computer this morning (even before coffee!) I found a question waiting for me in reference to my post regarding a pretribulational rapture.  I thought I would share my answer here on my site, taken from my note to my reader.

~*~

Good morning!

A couple of things about 1 Thessalonians. I see that book as evidence of the man as he wrote what God gave him to write.  Paul believed still, in that letter, that Christ’s return was imminent…as in within his — Paul’s — lifetime or shortly thereafter.  That understanding changed for him by the time he wrote his second letter to the churches of Thessalonika.

Now having said that, lol, let me address your question.

[1 Thessalonians 4] 15 For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord.

Paul says that there will be Christians alive when Jesus returns. Many of those to whom he was writing had expressed concern, scholars infer, that those who had died already would not be resurrected to live in Heaven. That only those who were alive would see the Lord.  Paul is addressing this worry — for it can be a debilitating one!  He is telling the people that those who have died in the Lord will rise FIRST.  So not to worry.  And then those who are alive will join them in the air and be with the Lord forever.  A joyful anticipation!

He is addressing the issue of hope, in this section of his letter.  And there is hope indeed for all who are in the Lord, whether dead or living.

As pertains to any “rapture” event… this passage only describes the great harvest, spoken of in the book of Revelation, in chapter 14:

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!” 14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”  16 So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

This is pretty much exactly what Paul was talking about, don’t you think?  :)  This event in the book of Revelation occurs, in my reading and understanding (see my “Tell Everyone” page at my website if you want the full, 50-part study on Revelation. It’s available for free download in a PDF) in the interlude between the trumpets of the angels during the tribulation and the beginning of God’s outpouring of wrath as depicted by the bowls.

Tags: Jesus, John, Paul, rapture, revelation, Thessalonians