February 18, 2007

Thessalonian Nuggets: 1Th 4:17a
The Dead in Christ will Rise First, but will not Meet Christ First

Here is a little exercise. Read the following verse from two different versions and look for a different meaning between the two in the sequence of events:

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1Th 4:17a NIV)

then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air (1Th 4:17a ASV)

We are informed earlier that the dead in Christ are raised first. But in verse 17 do they meet Christ first in the clouds before those who are alive meet Christ?

Notice that in the first version (NIV) it suggests that the dead in Christ are already in the clouds with Christ and those who are alive follow after to meet Christ in the clouds.

The second version (ASV) suggests that the alive and the dead in Christ unite together first, and both at the same time then are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord.

Which rendering is better?

In this text, Paul is more concerned with the sequence of events than he is in other discussions of the Coming (e.g. 1Cor. 15). He states in verse 16 that the dead in Christ will rise "first" (proœton). "First" of what? God's first divine purpose of the Coming (Parousia) will be to resurrect the dead in Christ. This must happen first before the next event.

Paul immediately turns his attention in verse 17 with "then" (epeita) in the next event of the sequence to those believers who are alive and remaining. He joins this group with the group of the dead in Christ who have been raised by using the important phrase, "together with" (hama syn).

I have provided you below the exact order of the Greek to demonstrate that Paul combines the two groups of believers before they are snatched up to meet the Lord:

epeita (Then) heœmeis (we) hoi zoœntes (the living ones) hoi perileipomenoi (the ones remaining) hama syn (together with) autois (them [dead in Christ]) harpageœsometha (will be snatched away) en nephelais (in clouds) eis apanteœsin (to meet) tou kyriou (the Lord) eis aera (in air)

If you can follow the English order I provided in the text, you will see that the term hama syn (together with) joins these two groups, which are then subsequently snatched away. There are no Greek grammar rules that would have us to understand it differently.

Joseph Plevnik sums it up well,

The sequence of the these events is crucial. The first act at the Lord's coming from heaven is that the deceased faithful are brought back to life; then only, once they have been reunited with the living, is everyone taken up by the clouds to meet the Lord. These pointers ["first," "then," "together with"], clearly inserted by Paul himself, insist on this sequence of acts. The surviving faithful have no advantage over the deceased: the latter are brought to life, join the living, and are, together with the living, taken up by the clouds. (Paul and the Parousia: An Exegetical and Theological Investigation, p. 82)

And thus, Paul's teaching that the dead in Christ are not at a disadvantage in the future event of the Parousia of Christ, and this truth should have consoled the grief that the Thessalonians were experiencing.

The rapture does not include only those who are alive at the Parousia, but includes the newly risen "dead in Christ" as well. Once these two groups are united then they will both simultaneously be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Now, what happens afterwards once they meet the Lord in the air? Do they then go straight to heaven with Christ? Do they remain in the air for some indeterminate duration of time? Or do they immediately come back to the earth with Christ?

This is arguably one of the most vexing questions among premillennialists. And in the course of this Thessalonians series I will devote more than average time to answer this pivotal question.