1 Thessalonians 4:1
Λοιπὸν οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ἐρωτῶμεν ὑμᾶς καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ ἵνα, καθὼς παρελάβετε παρ’ ἡμῶν τὸ πῶς δεῖ ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν καὶ ἀρέσκειν Θεῷ, καθὼς καὶ περιπατεῖτε, ἵνα περισσεύητε μᾶλλον.
1 Thessalonians 4:2
οἴδατε γὰρ τίνας παραγγελίας ἐδώκαμεν ὑμῖν, διὰ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ ἁγιασμὸς ὑμῶν· ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς πορνείας·
1 Thessalonians 4:4
εἰδέναι ἕκαστον ὑμῶν τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ τιμῇ,
1 Thessalonians 4:5
μὴ ἐν πάθει ἐπιθυμίας, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη, τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν Θεόν·
1 Thessalonians 4:6
τὸ μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν καὶ πλεονεκτεῖν ἐν τῷ πράγματι, τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, διότι ἔκδικος Κύριος περὶ πάντων τούτων, καθὼς καὶ προείπαμεν ὑμῖν, καὶ διεμαρτυράμεθα.
1 Thessalonians 4:7
οὐ γὰρ ἐκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς ἐπὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ, ἀλλ’ ἐν ἁγιασμῷ.
1 Thessalonians 4:8
τοιγαροῦν, ὁ ἀθετῶν, οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἀθετεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν καὶ διδόντα τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ ἅγιον εἰς ὑμᾶς.
1 Thessalonians 4:9
Περὶ δὲ τῆς φιλαδελφίας, οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε γράφειν ὑμῖν, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ὑμεῖς θεοδίδακτοί ἐστε, εἰς τὸ ἀγαπᾶν ἀλλήλους.
1 Thessalonians 4:10
καὶ γὰρ ποιεῖτε αὐτὸ εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ‹τοὺς› ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Μακεδονίᾳ. Παρακαλοῦμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, περισσεύειν μᾶλλον,
1 Thessalonians 4:11
καὶ φιλοτιμεῖσθαι ἡσυχάζειν καὶ πράσσειν τὰ ἴδια, καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι ταῖς [ἰδίαις] χερσὶν ὑμῶν, καθὼς ὑμῖν παρηγγείλαμεν,
1 Thessalonians 4:12
ἵνα περιπατῆτε εὐσχημόνως πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω, καὶ μηδενὸς χρείαν ἔχητε.
1 Thessalonians 4:13
Οὐ θέλομεν δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε, καθὼς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ, οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα.
Now we not desire you to be ignorant, brothers concerning the sleepers in order that you might not grieve even as the rest those not having hope.
Paraphrase: Some of you are worried about your loved ones who have already died. Now I want you to be well informed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died and fallen asleep in Jesus. I don’t want you to mourn their loss like the pagans around us mourn the loss of their loved ones. You know how often they write on their tombstones, “I was not, I was, I am not, I do not care.” Well, that is all their worldview can give them; God has given us something far better.
Comments:
Some pagans did believe in an afterlife. Others saw life as the bitter end. Ascough gives as examples the following tomb inscriptions:
- “If you want to know who I am, the answer is ash and burnt embers.”
- “We are nothing. See, reader, how quickly we mortals return from nothing to nothing.”
- The expression non fui, fui, non sum, non curo “I was not, I was, I am not, I do not care” is quite common. “A Question of Death: Paul’s Community-Building Language in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18,” Journal of Biblical Literature 123 (2004): 522.
1 Thessalonians 4:14
εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ Θεὸς, τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, in this manner even God, those sleeping through Jesus, He will lead forth with Him.
Paraphrase: First, we believe that Jesus died on the cross and was raised again to life after He had been buried. Now if this is true, then we believe that those who have died will, like Jesus, be raised again and will live and reign with Christ in glory. (Revelation 20:4) When Christ returns, He will bring these souls back to earth in triumphal procession. This is why we mourn the loss of our loved ones with hope. We have hope because we know that we will see them again.
Comments:
1 Thessalonians 4:15
Τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν λέγομεν ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι, εἰς τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Κυρίου οὐ μὴ φθάσωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας,
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living and remaining at the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede the sleepers.
Paraphrase: Please listen to what I’m going to teach you; I can assure you that what I am about to say, I say on the authority of Jesus Himself. The great day is coming when Jesus will return to earth in power and great glory. Now I know that some of you are worried that those who have already died; won’t they miss seeing this glorious day? Since they have died and are in heaven, won’t they fail to see the glory of Christ’s second coming? and won’t they fail to enter with us into the glory of the new heaven and new earth? Not at all; you can lay aside these fears. Let me explain to you what will happen on that great day.
Comments:
We do not find this in any of Jesus’ recorded teachings in the gospels. Either this was an unrecorded saying passed down or it was directly revealed to Paul himself.
1 Thessalonians 4:16
ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου, καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι Θεοῦ, καταβήσεται ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐν Χριστῷ ἀναστήσονται πρῶτον.
Because the Lord, Himself, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven and the dead in Christ will first first.
Paraphrase: First, our Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a mighty shout. By this shout, He will gather up all His people, both those in heaven and those on earth and organize them for His return. Along with this shout, there will be the call of the archangel as he gathers up the people of God and prepares them for Jesus’ triumphal return. Then, the trumpet of God will give a mighty blast. Believe me when I say that it will be an event of unparalleled glory and spectacle; no one will miss it. Now here’s the truth which I really want you to hear. Before we are ushered into the glory and beauty of what God has prepared for us, the dead in Christ will be raised! Yes, I mean to say they will receive their physical bodies back again.
Comments:
The word κέλευσμα is an interesting word. It is only found here in the New Testament. Thayer says that this shout was an organizing shout used to urge on hounds, or horses. the same word is used when soldiers are summoned to action and the rowers of a ship are called on to row in sync. See Eadie p161.
Surely this text must lay to rest the idea of a secret rapture.
Paul is not interested in explaining all the mechanics of how this works. We wonder, is it at this point, that the souls in heaven returning with Jesus are reunited with their bodies which have just been raised and then they rise to meet him in the air? Or are the souls and bodies reunited in the air?
1 Thessalonians 4:17
ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι, ἅμα σὺν αὐτοῖς, ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα.
Then, we who are living, who are remaining, simultaneously with them, will be carried off into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and in this manner, always with the Lord we will be.
Paraphrase: Then, together with our loved ones, God will take hold of us (Acts 8:39, 2 Corinthians 12:2, 12:4, Revelation 12:5) ; and by His marvelous power, will carry us through the air to meet the returning Jesus. How our hearts will rejoice when we see our Lord and Savior coming to us on the clouds of heaven! This is the glorious rapture; do you remember me teaching you about this? Once we have greeter each other, then we will return to this earth which, by then, will have been purged with fire (2 Peter 3:7, 10–13 ) and made into a dwelling place (John 14:2) fit for our holy Savior and His holy people. That is why it is called the holy city, the new Jerusalem. (Revelation 21:2) There will be nothing in it that defiles. (Revelation 21:27) This is the celebrated new heavens and new earth about which I taught you. Here God will wipe away every tear from every eye, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4) Then, time will cease, and we will live in this new paradise for a never ending eternity.
Comments:
The dispensationalist teaches that the saints will be raptured and then brought to heaven where they will be until the close of the seven year tribulation. Paul says that we will be wit the Lord, not seven years, but always πάντοτε.
The word ἀπάντησις is against the dispensational idea as well. In this context, the word is referring to the meeting of an important individual and conducting him back to the city, not returning to the individual’s place. Keener has an excursus on this extremely common practice in his Acts commentary. (4.3709) The Thessalonians, living in a military city, would have had a good understanding of this practice.
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Ὥστε παρακαλεῖτε ἀλλήλους ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις.
Therefore, exhort one another with these words.
Paraphrase: And so, dear brothers and sisters, lay aside any anxiety you might have about your departed loved ones. They are in God’s hands, and you will surely see them again at God’s time. Let these doctrines console you even as you feel the pain of the separation and the temporary loss of their company.
Comments: