Caught up to meet the Lord: 1 Thess.4:17
When Paul wrote the words that form the title of this article he had been explaining that the faithful who were living when Jesus returns from heaven would not receive their rewards before those who had died. The dead in Christ would rise before the living received their rewards so that both classes of believers would be rewarded together. It follows also that both classes will have appeared before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor.5:10).
Because the judgment seat is located in one place, those to be judged will have to be transported to it however far this may be. For example those from Australia and New Zealand will have a long way to go. Jesus was aware of this when describing what follows his second coming. In Matthew’s gospel he said, “And he (Jesus) shall send his angels with a great sound of trumpet and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt.24:31).
An illustration from vultures
On an earlier occasion when Jesus was describing the conditions in the world when he would be returning, he spoke of individuals being taken for judgment and rewards. His words were, “I tell you in that night there shall be two men in one bed, and one shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together, the one shall be taken and the other left.” And the disciples answered and said unto him, “Where Lord?” And he said unto them, “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles (vultures) be gathered together.” (Luke 17:34-37).
It is natural for the disciples to ask “Where Lord?” The reply of Jesus was, “Where the (dead) body is.” In other words the location for the judgment does not matter because the angels will bring us to that place. The point about the characteristic of vultures is that they become aware of dead bodies from great distances and fly from all directions to feed on them. This example served to illustrate what Jesus had already said about the angels gathering the elect from the ‘four winds’.
Caught up
In his letter Paul continues to write in verse 17, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (those who had been raised from the dead) in clouds to meet the Lord in the air’.
It is inevitable that wherever we happen to be that being gathered together would involve transport through the air, the natural air, but the angelic method would be miraculous. This is what Paul means by his expression ‘caught up together’. Nothing is impossible for the angels.
In clouds
In the quotation of verse 17 above, the definite article ‘the’ has been omitted. Although the A.V. Translation has ‘in the clouds’, the Greek has ‘in clouds’. It is better to follow the Greek because the phrase ‘in the clouds’ tends to give the impression Paul is referring to literal clouds whereas in reality he is meaning large groups of the elect gathered from each city by the angels for transportation.
This use of the term ‘clouds’ in the figurative sense was used again by Paul when he wrote about so many faithful saints in Hebrews chapter 11. In chapter 12 v. l he calls them ‘a cloud’, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight”…
In the air
Paul’s closing phrases, “To meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord”, uses the phrase ‘in the air’ in a figurative and not a literal sense. There would be no pleasure in being suspended in the literal air for ever. We must be guided here by our knowledge of the prolific teaching of scripture regarding the Gospel. It has to do with the Kingdom of God on earth.
The main feature of this is that Jesus will be king of the whole earth and the immortal saints will be co-rulers with him. Because they will be exalted in this way the use of the term ‘air’ can be used in a metaphorical sense to mean the sphere of ruler-ship. To emphasize this point in Revelation, Jesus is said to have on his vesture a name written ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS’. (Rev.19:16).
As for the saints, a glimpse of the 24 elders is given in Rev.5:9 that reads, ‘They sung a new song, saying. “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.”
Conclusion
From the fore-going testimonies it is clear that the reward of the righteous is not in the literal air nor in heaven but with the glorified Lord Jesus in Jerusalem as King of the whole world (Psalm 2:8-9).
Bro. Ralph Green (Torquay. U.K.)
