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“Caught up together” in 1 Thessalonians 4.17

Um, I think we're in trouble.

I have not used the word “rapture” for some time now when describing the second coming of Christ as it is described in 1 Thess. 4.15-18. In part, I think this has been due to the popular understanding of the word and the subsequent implications. The Left Behind series of fictional novels and other books like The Late, Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey have formulated how the word rapture is understood by the popular imagination. I am not necessarily supporting full abandonment of the word, but it seems damaged enough that it is worth discarding.

This subject was brought up yesterday and I was asked why I didn’t affirm a “rapture” if I did find 1 Thess. 4.17 mentioning us being “caught up together” with the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, as I noted, the popular image of the rapture is escapist. Christians are vacuumed out of the earth into the heavens for a debated period of time. I rejected this.

R.G. Clouse defines the rapture as, “A phrase used by premillennialist to refer to the church being united with Christ at his second coming (from Lat. rapio, “caught up”).” [1] If this all that the doctrine of the rapture entailed then I affirm it, but there are important variants and other assumptions like a defined vision of the “Great Tribulation” that has been further defined than I think Scripture tells us. There are pretribulationist who believe before the time of wrath the church goes into heaven. I don’t see this anywhere to be honest. There are those who think it happens during the time of wrath. Again, I don’t see this anywhere. Then there are those who think the rapture happens at the end of the time of wrath as the saints meet Christ in the air to join him in his final victorious assault upon evil.

As far as that last definition is concerned let me say that (1) I do think the saints meet Christ in the air to welcome him to his rule on earth which includes his victory over evil but (2) I have no opinion of the so-called “time of wrath” so I don’t really feel obligated to speculate in that regard.

Second, it is important to examine the message of 1 Thess. 4.15-18 when pondering this teaching. Let me provide the NASB version  here:

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, 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 and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

As you can see where I made the text bold there are certain elements of this passage that provide some context to what is happening.

“The coming of the Lord” (τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ κυρίου) is an important concept. The παρουσία is a “coming” and/or an “appearing”. Therefore, it is essential that we realize this testifies to Christ’s return here to earth. Another way of saying this would be to note that he is making himself visible to the physical world.

This concept is shared in the canon. In Acts 1.11. as the disciples stare into heaven the angels tell them that Jesus will return the same way that he went. Christ’s coming back from heaven in v. 16 parallels this idea. Also, in 1 Jn. 3.2 we are told we will be like Christ when he “appears” because then we will see him face-to-face. This seems to express the idea that Christ is present, but not visible. He is ruling, but not “physically” (for lack of a better word).

So we must think of Christ’s return as his appearing. This is his descent back to earth. This is the time when he is made visible. Paul himself describes this event further in 1 Cor. 15.23-27 where he sees our resurrection as being like Christ’s resurrection and it occurs “at his coming” (ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ). Again, we have Paul mentioning the παρουσία.

As we ponder this doctrine from these different angles we see (1) Christ’s returns/appears; (2) it will be the opposite of his ascension; (3) we will be like him because we will see him as he is; (4) in Paul’s language this means for the dead there will be a resurrection occuring just like Jesus’ resurrected. In both 1 Jn 3.2 and 1 Thess. 4.15 there is the assumption that there will be believers who have not died. These believers will go instantaneous change just like the dead who receive new bodies. All will be like Christ.

N.T. Wright sees Phil. 3.20-21 as describing this event as well. [2] This passage reads (NASB):

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly bwait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.


Don’t misread the statement that our citizenship is “in heaven”. That doesn’t mean we must “go” there to get it. It is obvious that even in this passage, like the others we have mentioned, resurrection is the focus and if resurrection is the focus then we do not regain our bodies to “go”.

So what do we do with the part in 1 Thess. 4.17 where we are “caught up”. It almost seems like resurrection could be so we “go to heaven” where Christ has been. I think this misses Paul’s point and it ignores the Johannine and Lukan contributions to our eschatology that we noted.

The word ἁρπαγησόμεθα does indicate a future event where we are quickly “seized” into the air (hence, the Vulgate rapio and the English rapture). But this does not mean we stay in the air. Again, this is Christ’s “coming”. This is his “descent” from heaven. This is his “appearing”. If there is something known as a “Great Tribulation” then I am convinced Christ’s return would be afterward because when Christ comes we meet him to welcome him and this signifies Christ’s victory over death and evil. Resurrection has occurred.

Wright sees three images behind Paul’s words:

(1) Moses coming down from Sinai where we have a trumpet and a loud voice.

(2) “Daniel 7, in which the persecuted people of God are vindicated over their pagan enemy by being raised up on the clouds to sit with God in glory.”

(3) When emperors visit colonies within the empire and “the citizens of the country would go to meet him at some distance from the city” in order to welcome him as ruler. [3]

We have two intertextual echoes and one historical antecedent that give context to 1 Thess. 4.17. So our being “caught up” to meet Christ has more to do with Dan. 7 imagery of the saints victoriously joining Christ in his descent upon evil as well as the parousia concept in the ancient world of the people of a colony welcoming their ruling emperor. While much more has been written on this subject, and I know this blog post cannot cover it, this provides a bit of a glimpse into why I don’t like “rapture” language (even if postribulationist see my views sympathetically).

My take on the passage is that it refers to our meeting Christ in the air to welcome him to his earthly rule. If this is a “rapture”, fine, as long as it is not confused with the popular idea.

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[1] R.G. Clouse, “Rapture of the Church” in Walter A. Elwell, ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed. 983.

[2] N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, 131.

[3] Ibid. 132.

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Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world

"Every generation thinks it's the worst/thinks it's the end of the world" saith Wilco

Come on, children/
You’re acting like children/
Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world/
It’s the end of the world

All you fat followers/
Get fit fast/
Every generation thinks it’s the last/
Thinks it the end of the world

- from Wilco, “You Never Know“

This week I was having coffee with someone who asked me if I have any friends or family who always seem to be consumed with the second coming of Christ. I couldn’t think of anyone in particular so this person told me about an acquaintance who mentions it almost every conversation. This person comes across as a bit depressed and defeatist. There is no hope for this world. It is corrupt beyond worth. Jesus must be readying his return right now!

There is a tension here. At one angle we want to join with the end of the Book of Revelation (22.20) saying, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”. It seems to me that the apostolic church lived in the expectancy that Christ could return today. If we are watching and waiting as people of the day we will not fall into the evil of the night.

Oh, then there is that other angle: it’s 2011.

Jesus has been gone for a very, very, very long time now. In one sense this can be disturbing. Of course, there is an irony. If Christ would have returned in 557, 791, 1211, 1784, or any of the hundreds of years between the ascension and now there is a likelihood that we would not be experiencing the inaugurated Kingdom and we would not be one of the many in history awaiting the Parousia and the resurrection where the Kingdom is finally and fully established.

So who are we to be? Are we to be like the person who thinks every day about the Second Coming? Are we to be more realistic than that? How to we avoid being just another generation with apocalyptic hopes that go unfulfilled (unless, of course, Christ returns)?

How do you live with this tension of anticipating Christ’s return while acknowledging he may not come back in your life time?


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People Get Ready

The date has been determined for sure.

Gawker.com has the scoop (here)

UPDATE: WeCanKnow.com (here) has two dates set: the Return of Christ (Rapture) and the End of the World.

WE CAN KNOW from the Bible alone that the date of the rapture of believers will take place on May 21, 2011 and that God will destroy this world on October 21, 2011.


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One or Two Benefits to a Delayed Parousia

The other day I was thinking about the apologetical difficulties of a delayed parousia of Christ. It bothered me that Jesus’ promise to return has taken more than two millennia. It seems kind of ridiculous to believe this event is going to happen when it seems many thought it would take place nineteen hundred years ago.

Then it came to me: I am thankful for the delay in the Second Coming. Of course, if it happened tomorrow, I would welcome it. I echo the author of the Book of Revelation (22.20) who responded to Christ’s promise to return with the words, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”. On the other hand, as someone reading Scripture in 2010, the words of 2 Pet. 3.9 obtain additional meaning when the author writes, ” The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” May we add to this that God not only wants to give as many people alive today an opportunity at mercy, but God wants to bring mercy to as many people in history as possible as well.

So what is one of the greatest benefits of a delayed parousia? My life! God’s patience, God’s sovereignty that does not act in response to finite human criticisms, outlasts all those who mock year after year after year the hope of the Christian faith that Christ will return. God knows the time and He will not forfeit His plans for humanity. I am thankful for the patience of God who has brought history this far in order that even more of us may find the Kingdom.


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The Second Coming Should Be Hopeful

 

The Resurrection

A few days ago a young lady that my wife knew from her childhood in Texas was killed in a car wreck. It has shocked many who now must wrestle with the emotions connected to the death of someone who only reached the age of eighteen. Death is usually devastating; it is harder to swallow when it comes so early.

Today my wife shared a song with me sung by Brooke Fraser/Hillsong United. It is a song titled “Soon” about the coming/appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is very hopeful presenting this event as our great hope. I can’t help but think that the authors of Scripture felt the same way whenever they wrote about the parousia of Christ.

Sure, for those who rebel against God there is an element of fear. I do not intend on minimizing that. Nevertheless, it seems to me that many preachers have a good grasp of how to preach the fearful element of the Second Coming. Some misguided eschatologies (esp. some so-called “rapture” eschatology) act as if God will suck all the good out of creation before unleashing devestating wrath. I do not deny wrath; I do deny the picture presented.

The wrath of God is a purifying wrath. It removes evil. For all followers of Christ this should be promising. We should want our righteous God to make the world right again. One of those evils is death itself. At the Second Coming all of creation will be restored (Rom. 8-18-23). We will be raised from the dead or transformed (as it says in Rom. 8.11 and 1 Jn 3.2). God will reign.

Preachers, tell people about our hope–one of restoration, renewal, resurrection, and righteousness. If this scares them at least it is not a scare tactic–it is likely the Holy Spirit. What we must avoid is sermon after sermon that cause the faithful to fear his coming. We must avoid anything that will distory the hope that my wife has today of seeing her friend one fine day. Rather, our churches should experience the joy of the author of Revelation who cried out, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!” at his promise to return (22.20). The second coming is hopeful, let us present it that way.


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Celebrating Advent 2008: First Saturday

Readings Adapted from the Book of Common Prayer

AM Psalms: 20 and 21
PM Psalms: 110, 116, and 117

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 4:2-6
Gospel Reading: Luke 21:5-19
Epistolatory Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Thessalonica,

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,  that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, 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.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

It appears from the context that there was a great misunderstanding regarding the doctrine of the Second Coming. The saints in Thessalonica had wrongly assumed that when Jesus returned those who were dead would have served him in vain. This makes for an interesting observation, namely it must be assumed that the Pauline teaching regarding the Second Advent was very ‘this wordly’. In other words, the Apostle emphasized that Jesus would return to this world to set up his reign to the extent that he did not appear to have spend enough time teaching on matters regarding death and the afterlife.

This is the exact opposite emphasis of many Christian teachers today. Today the emphasis is on an Platonic, ethareal heaven where we go when we die. While it may be true that our spirits will see Christ in the heavens when we die it is not true that this is the final state of our being. Nor is it true that this is the most important aspect of the teaching regarding the Second Coming. That teaching that should be emphasized is first and foremost the real, here and now Second Coming of our Lord.

The Thessalonians had no misunderstandings regarding the actual appearance of Jesus in this world. The mistake that was made was that it was assumed that when Jesus appeared here on earth that those who had died had missed their opportunity to meet him. It was as if they served the cause of a King and Kingdom that they would never meet. This is the assumption that the Apostle corrects.

We must take note that the Apostle does not correct this by saying, “listen, we will all be sent into the heavens once we die” or “listen, we will all experience a day when Jesus will rescue us from this earth and we will be with him in heaven forever”. Rather, the Apostle emphasizes the παρουσία, or coming, or the Lord once again (v. 15). The solution that he gives for those who die before this coming is not the idea of an after-life as we often depict it, but resurrection! Those who have died will see the King in this world when he comes to set up his reign (e.g. Psalm 2) because God will resurrect them from the dead just as He did for Jesus!

This section is followed by a brief teaching on the ‘Day of the Lord’. That Day is the day where God will judge the world through Christ. Therefore this whole event is a description of the day that we greet our triumphant King Jesus. When this event occurs and we all ‘caught up’ (Gk. ἁρπαγησόμεθα) into the cloud to meet Jesus we do not remain in the clouds. We simply meet Jesus and we will never depart from his presence. Jesus does not take us away from earth; Jesus returns to earth with us.

This is the teaching of the Second Advent as found in this passage: (1) Jesus will return, (2) Jesus will set up his reign, (3) Jesus will resurrect the dead, (4) Jesus will greet all his saints, and (5) Jesus will be with us forevermore.