1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 16For 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 rise first, 17then we who are alive who remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds for a meeting of the Lord in the air; and so, we will always be with the Lord. 18Therefore, comfort one another with these words.
The resurrection of the dead in Christ will be announced in three audible ways. A shout gets people’s attention. The echo will reverberate around the world as the Son of Man comes on the clouds. The order of the Greek makes its possible that the Lord is the one who shouts. The other possibility is that shout may be the same as the voice of the archangel. Archangel comes directly from the Greek and refers to the highest angel.
The third sound is the blowing of the trumpet of God. Trumpets were used in the ancient world to make announcements, especially of the arrival of dignitaries. This trumpet will be God’s own, which emphasizes more the importance of this announcement. The blowing of a trumpet is connected with the Day of the Lord in Isaiah 27:13, Joel 2:1, and Zechariah 9:14. It is possible to combine all three of these as being done by the archangel at the same moment and combine these into two sounds: the chief angel shouting and blowing a trumpet to announce the arrival of Jesus coming down from heaven.
The dead will meet the coming Jesus before the living. The amount of time between these does not matter because it will be awesome and the fulfillment of God’s plan. The belief in resurrection was important in Paul’s theology (1 Corinthian 15:13-18) and is fundamental to Christian doctrine.
The living will join the dead to meet the Lord Jesus in the clouds. Daniel’s vision prophesied the coming of “one like a son of man” on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13). Jesus predicted his second coming in fulfillment of this prophecy in Matthew 26:64. The challenge for interpreters has been the meaning of the word caught up. The English word “rapture” comes from the Latin word in the Vulgate rapio translated from the Greek harpozō. The Greek word means to snatch away, as in forcefully stealing someone’s property. Many prophecy preachers, books, and movies have glamorized the idea of a secret rapture at the end times, with many theories about this related to a time of trouble (pre-tribulation—the most popular, mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation). This text says nothing about any of that, with much of these theories only speculation based on questionable exegesis and proof texting.
Rather than get caught up in vain speculations and unprovable theories, we should heed Paul’s exhortation and find comfort in the hope of Jesus’ return. These words should bring comfort and assurance to those who believe. The world may laugh and mock Christian claims of Jesus’ imminent return. The hope of those who love the Triune God has always been to be with the Lord. Knowing that our Lord will come again should give us comfort about those who died before us. They are not lost to death or the unknown but will rise and meet us with the Lord. Hearing this must have brought relief to the Thessalonians. The powerful word in verse 17 is always. This is a forever statement and echoes Paul’s praise in Romans 8:38 that nothing, not even death, can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54). We do not need to let our hearts be troubled.
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