1 Thessalonians– Chapter Four XVIII

by Ed Urzi

“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” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 ESV).

One of the more challenging aspects of this passage involves the language used by Paul the Apostle in describing the events surrounding Jesus’ return. For instance, “…we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord” seems to imply that Paul expected Jesus to return within his lifetime. Since that was not the case, what are we to make of this statement?

We can address this question three ways. First, we might say that Paul was using this term in an editorial manner, much as we have already done several times within this very study. One commentator captures this idea with the following explanation: “When I say `we,’ I mean those who are living, those who survive to that day.” (1)

Another source compares the Biblical letters to the Corinthian church to make an important point: “In this verse Paul speaks of himself as one who would be alive at Christ’s coming (see also 1Co_15:51-52). However, in 2Co_4:14 and 2Co_5:1, he speaks of the possibility of his being among those who will be raised. The obvious conclusion is that we should look for the Lord to come at any moment, yet realize that we may be called to reach heaven by way of death.” (2)

Finally, one scholar offers a third option…

“…Paul may simply be expressing his own hope here, without affirming that he would in actual fact be alive when Christ returns. After all, Christ’s return is the blessed hope (cf. Titus 2:13) of all believers. Had Paul wanted to affirm that he would be alive when Christ came back, he could have said very clearly, ‘I will be alive and remain until the coming of the Lord.’ But he did not say this. The ‘we’ could have implied a hope he had without making any affirmation about whether he would or would not remain alive until the rapture.” (3)

(1) Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956) pg.87 quoted in Coffman, James Burton. “Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:11”. “Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/1-thessalonians-4.html. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.

(2) William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary (1 Thessalonians 4:15), pg.2037

(3) Geisler, N. L., & Howe, T. A. (1992). When critics ask : a popular handbook on Bible difficulties (p. 492). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.