Peace in the Rapture || 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 || Manna for the Mind #63

Welcome to Day 63 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, focusing on the second coming and the rapture. Many interpretations exist about how this will happen and how we can interpret the scriptures, but stay with me. We have five passages that I’ll dive into and explore to see what God says.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

16           For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and then with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.

17           Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.

God will return with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call. Imagine the royal entrance when the king or queen comes down to meet with the rest of the world; a horn is sounded to make those around them aware of what is happening. This will happen, but through the voice of the archangel as well. An archangel is an angel with a position of authority and leadership appointed to a particular task. An angel will be ready for a specific task of what the second-coming looks like. Michael is The only angel identified as an archangel in the New Testament.

Michael is mentioned twice explicitly.

Jude 1:9-10

9             But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.)

10           But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.

Revelation 12:7-12

7             Then there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and angels.

8             And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.

9             This great dragon – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

10           Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last – salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth – the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

11           And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

12           Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.

I wonder if verses 10-12 are what the archangel’s voice will shout. It’s time for eternal salvation to come. How will it happen? The believers who’ve died will rise from the grave first. Then, the believers still living will be taken up in the clouds, as we’ve seen some in the Bible go. Let’s dig into all this, starting with Matthew 24:30:

Matthew 24:30

30           And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

The world will mourn because unbelievers will suddenly realize they have chosen the wrong side. Everything they have scoffed at will be happening before their eyes, and they will have missed their opportunity to know the truth and have eternal life. We don’t know when this will happen. None of us do. We have so many people trying to predict and believe that they see the Revelation before their eyes. Still, God is the only one who knows. We tend to focus on being prepared for the second coming, so much so that we forget to focus on God’s moral law. We live in fear of missing out rather than living in the love that God’s called for us. We don’t know, so until then, let’s live in a way that brings the Kingdom of God down to earth.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 talks about what the rapture looks like. We’ll be focusing on verse 52, though.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

51           But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

52           It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.

“We will not all die” means that believers alive on the day of the second coming will not have to die but instead be transformed. This trumpet blast will create a new earth. The Jewish audience would understand this significance because the trumpets they often blow signify the beginning of great festivals and other extraordinary circumstances. That may be a study series to do: the art of trumpets. Let me know what you think.

The trumpet blast will signify the beginning of the rapture when people will be carried to heaven to live in the new Eden created for us.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 talks about the excitement of the second coming.

1 Thessalonians 1:10

10           And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven – Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

As you can see here, Paul consistently talks about Christ’s second coming through the letter of 1 Thessalonians. The Thessalonian church was being persecuted at this time. Paul wanted them to look forward to the deliverance that Jesus would bring. To flip this, Paul wanted them to stay focused on something other than the persecution they were dealing with. Paul wanted them to focus on the victory and freedom resulting from the persecution. Keeping their focus on that allows them to focus on the victory and follow the path that would get them there. It’s how we should live because our perspective on life remains incomplete without this hope.

Paul continues on about this persecution in 2 Thessalonians, focusing on the rest of it in chapter 1, verse 7.

2 Thessalonians 1:7

7             And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels.

The rest that Paul is talking about here has two perspectives: we can rest knowing that our suffering strengthens us, making us ready for the Kingdom of God, and we can rest knowing that one day, everyone will stand before God. At this time, wrongs will be righted, judgments will be made, and evil will be eradicated. These things don’t sound restful, but they can be peaceful. Suffering through life isn’t restful, but the other side of the suffering is peaceful. Our suffering helps us learn the different facets of life, how to battle them, and how to help others battle them. Standing before God is nerve-wracking, but the peace of having evil removed, proper judgments made, and things made right. This is how we should interpret rest. I learned about this in a sermon I made about Jeremiah 29:11.

Jeremiah 29:11

11           I say this because I know what I have planned for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.

This good is often shown as peace. They are plans for peace. They are plans for rest. They aren’t about chaos but to give you rest and hope for a future that honors God. My closing prayer for you is this verse’s MLT (Marc Living Translation) version. May you hold on to this verse tight to your heart:

11           I say this because I know what I have planned for you,” says the Lord. “I have peaceful plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a peaceful future.