1 Thessalonians 4:16

Text (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;

Translation and Paraphrase

16.

Because the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with the awakening cry, (and) with the voice of (Michael) the archangel, and with the trumpet of God (sounding forth), and (then) the dead (which are) in Christ (the Christians) will rise first.

Notes (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

1.

Jesus is not going to send any substitute or assistants back to the earth for Him. The Lord HIMSELF shall descend from heaven.

Revelation 1:7: Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

(The fact that those who pierced, or crucified, him will see him, indicates that they too will be resurrected.)

2.

Three sounds are to accompany the Lord's coming:

(1)

A shout. We think that this shout will be the Lord's own cry. For John 5:28 says that all that are in the graves shall hear his voice. This word shout (Gr., keleusma) means an order, or command, specifically a stimulating cry such as is given to rouse animals or horses by charioteers, or as a signal to men.

When our Lord was on earth, he did not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. Isaiah 42:2. But when He returns, Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence, Psalms 50:3-4

(2)

The voice of the Archangel, Michael (not Gabriel) is the archangel. Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7. (Where did people ever get the idea that Gabriel will blow the trumpet?) Rotherham translates the word archangel as chief-messenger, and that is literally correct.

(3)

The trump of God. The trumpet of God was heard at Mt. Sinai, when God gave the law to Moses. It blew exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. See Exodus 19:16; Hebrews 12:19. This trumpet will be equally frightening when it is heard again.

1 Corinthians 15:52: At the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.

Matthew 24:31: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.

3.

When the Lord comes and the dead are raised, the dead shall be raised INCORRUPTIBLE, and we shall be CHANGED. 1 Corinthians 15:52. Christ is going to change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, Philippians 3:21.

4.

Personally, we believe this verse about the Lord's coming, and the trumpet, etc., literally. However, one author says in reference to this verse: We must not look for literal exactness where things are depicted beyond the reach of sense. Such an attitude as this is often only a pious way of explaining away what the Scriptures say.

5.

Sometimes people connect this verse with Revelation 20:5 :

The dead in Christ shall rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. Revelation 20:5.

This is a good example of grasshopper exegesis, that is, the practice of jumping around in the Scriptures, combining pieces of verses here and pieces of verses there, and producing conclusions not actually taught by any of the Scriptures.

We cannot connect 1 Thessalonians 4:16 with Revelation 20:5, because the word first in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 has no reference at all to what is to happen to the rest of the dead, such as are mentioned in Revelation 20:5.

6.

With what, then, is the word first in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 contrasted?

It is contrasted with the catching up of the living Christians.
The dead in Christ shall rise first.

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

To place any other significance upon the expression that the dead in Christ shall rise first can only be speculation.

Actually the Scriptures indicate rather plainly that there is only going to be ONE resurrection of all the dead. John 5:28-29: The hour (singular) is coming in the which ALL that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good

and they that have done evil. Acts 24:15: There shall be a resurrection (singular, not plural), both of the just and unjust.

The first resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20:4-5 is a resurrection of the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus. Nothing is said about any bodily resurrection there. It is a resurrection of souls, whatever that may signify. The bodily resurrection is mentioned later in Revelation 20:13.

7.

To gain a true picture of the events connected with the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead, we should by all means notice Matthew 24:29-31 :

Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Notice that this Scripture destroys the idea that Christ will come secretly and take the church out of the earth leaving sinners behind. (See Special Study II page 242, A Secret Rapture Considered.) For Christ's elect are to be gathered at the same time that all the tribes of the earth shall mourn.

It also rules out the idea that there will be a tribulation period AFTER Christ returns. For notice that the elect will still be here after the tribulation, and that then Christ will come and send his angels to gather them. (See Special Study IV page 247, The Coming of the Lord With All His Saints.)

8.

Besides this Scripture in Matthew 24:29-31, we ought also to consider Matthew 13:40-42. It tells what is going to happen to the wicked when Christ comes:

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire: so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.