A Second Look: I Thessalonians 4 & Meeting the Lord in the Air

The Bible tells the story of the restoration of God’s good world, not humanity’s escape from it.
This post is a part of our examination of common passages in scripture that have traditionally been interpreted as communicating the idea that the ultimate goal for humans is to leave the physical world to live in the spiritual location of heaven for all eternity.

.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 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. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 

I Thessalonians 4: 16-17 (NIV)

.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is probably the most-referenced when attempting to support the idea of the faithful ending up in heaven for all eternity after death. But is that really what Paul is communicating to the Thessalonians in this letter?

In this post, we’ll examine the message that Paul is making to determine if he’s pointing to us escaping a doomed planet, or if he’s making a different point entirely.

Confusion About Jesus’ Return

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

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 by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet^(apantēsis) the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)

.

Toward the end of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he took the time to address a topic of apparent confusion among the believers in Thessalonica. It seems that some within the Thessalonian congregation had died (potentially as martyrs for their faith) and apparently, the Thessalonians were under the impression that any that died before Jesus’ second coming would somehow miss out on the experience when Jesus returns. So, Paul took the time to briefly address their concerns in this area.

What he tells them is that they don’t have to worry about those who are dead missing out on anything when Jesus returns, because they will be raised first and then they, with those who are still alive, will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air.

What this has commonly been taken to mean, though, is that believers will be taken up in the air to meet Jesus and be taken away to heaven to live with him forever.

The Meeting

But the key word in the passage is the word translated “to meet” in verse 17 is the Greek word is apantēsis, a noun that means: a meeting or a friendly encounter. Both this word and an almost identical word, hypantēsis (also translated “to meet” elsewhere in scripture), are used three times a piece in the NT. And each time they’re used they’re in the context of a person or people going out of a town or city to to greet someone who is coming to where they are (in almost every case, the meeting is cordial and/or reverential — the lone exception being in Matthew 8 when the townspeople came out to meet Jesus to plead with him to leave their region after he cast out a multitude of demons).

And there’s a key thing to point out: In none of the instances in the NT where these words are used does the person arriving meet the people of the welcoming committee, then redirect and take them somewhere else. In every case, the people that lived at the arriving person’s destination were meeting that person to greet them as they arrived and welcome them in; Which would be consistent with the common practice at that time of people going outside of a town to welcome a ruler or dignitary to the town/city. This practice was a show of honor and loyalty to said person of importance.

Examples of Apantēsis/Hypantēsis in the NT

First, you have the parable of the virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom in Matthew 25:

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet^{(hypantēsis)} the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet^(apantēsis) him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV)

.

Next, you have the record in Acts of Paul on his way to Rome. We’re told that some of the believers in Rome traveled an entire days journey to greet him on his way and welcome him.

From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli, where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome. And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet^(apantēsis) us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

Acts 28:13-16 (NIV)

.

But really, the event that Paul describes to the Thessalonians is most like the “meeting” depicted in John 12. This event that embodied the most common context of the words apantēsis/hypantēsis: that of an arriving dignitary or king — often after returning home victorious after battle.

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet^{(hypantēsis)} Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The King of Israel!”

John 12:12-13

.

If you look carefully at the events of the Bible, what you’ll notice is that many events of the story are circular — past events are repeated in later events and those events, we’re told, will be repeated in the future in one way or another. Past events often are foreshadowing future events.

Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem as the humble Passover lamb (whose blood would cleanse the world) was no different. That event was a foreshadowing of his later arrival as conquering and victorious king — riding this time on a war-horse — as he comes to ransom his people, overthrow all rebellious kingdoms, and take his rightful place as King of his world.

A return that will be cause for much celebration and rejoicing, as he will come to bring much needed justice in this world and make all things right.

Coming vs. Going

Now, there are well-established debates within some circles as to whether the meeting in the sky will result in Jesus immediately coming Jesus to earth, or in Jesus taking believers to heaven for a certain period of time and returning to the earth at some point later to establish his earthly reign.

I’m personally still looking into the reasoning behind both views and cannot take 100% a firm stance for either view (although I will say I lean toward an immediate return to earth).

But regardless of where you or I stand on the particulars of the timing, the Bible is very clear about this…in the end we will ultimately end up, not in heaven, but on a new earth living with God.

Revelation 21:1-4 makes this point plainly:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV) emphasis mine

.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 tells us we will, indeed, be with the Lord forever, but Revelation 21:1-4 also tells us that the city of God will come down and God will dwell among the people (it doesn’t say that we will go to dwell with God, there’s a difference). So, putting both of things things together, we can deduce that we won’t be in heaven forever. For a time? Potentially. Forever? No.

The Bible tells us that in the end we will be earth-bound, not heaven-dwelling. In the end we will be in the good place that God intended for us since the beginning — our promised land: Earth.

A Valuable Lesson

The way 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 has been used over time is a good case study for why we should be careful to allow a passage to speak to what it’s speaking to, and not overstretch it to get what we’re trying to get from it.

In this case, we have to remember that Paul was addressing something the believers in Thessalonica seem to have been struggling with: the fact that some of their number had died and they were feeling like if Christ returned, those who had died would miss out in some way because they were dead. We have to remember that this was the issue that Paul was addressing as he wrote them. And in doing so, he spent a grand total of six sentences on the topic.

His goal was not to giving a fully-detailed picture of what’s going to happen at Christ’s return. Now, can we make some deductions and inferences from what he did mention? Sure. But we have to be careful not to take these handful of sentences where he was addressing Topic A, and try to make it out to be a full treatment on Topic B.

So we must understand that every detail of the Day of the Lord is not spelled out here by Paul. He was simply giving those in the church at Thessalonica a brief response to encourage them in the fact that those who have already passed will not miss out on the glorious return of their Lord.

So, with all this article has said to this point, and taking the broader context of scripture into account (that Jesus will ultimately be taking control over the world — Revelation 11:15, Colossians 1:15-20, Ephesians 1:7-10), it seems as though what Paul is speaking of here is much less a cosmic rendezvous with Jesus before he whisks us off to Heaven, as it is a glorious welcoming committee — ushering in the return of the Good King to take his throne, ushering in an era of peace, love, and power that will never end.

Your fellow member of the welcoming committee,
Alex