At the Sound of the Trumpet

The Thessalonians were convinced that eternal life would be granted

exclusively to those who would remain alive until the Second Coming.

“They had carefully guarded the lives of their friends, lest they should die

and lose the blessing which they looked forward to receiving at the com-

ing of their Lord. But one after another their loved ones had been taken

from them, and with anguish the Thessalonians had looked for the last

time upon the faces of their dead, hardly daring to hope to meet them in

a future life.”—Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 258.

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18. How did Paul correct this misconcep-

tion?

There is a historical tendency to read into the expression “bring with

Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14, NKJV) more than the

text is saying. Many who accept the theory of the natural immortality

of the soul suggest that Christ, at His second coming, will bring with

Him from heaven the souls of the righteous dead who are already in

heaven with God. Those souls thus can be reunited with their respective

resurrected bodies. But such an interpretation is not in harmony with

the overall teachings of Paul on the subject.

Read the words of this non-Adventist theologian on the real meaning

of this verse: “The reason why the Thessalonian Christians can have

hope as they grieve for the dead members of their church is that God

‘will bring’ them, that is, he will resurrect these deceased believers and

cause them to be present at Christ’s return, such that they will be ‘with

him.’ The implication is that these deceased believers will not be at some

kind of disadvantage at the parousia of Christ but will be ‘with him’

in such a way that they share equally with living believers in the glory

associated with his return.”—Jeffrey A. D. Weima, 1–2 Thessalonians,

Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids,

MI: Baker Academic, 2014), p. 319.

If the souls of the righteous dead were already with the Lord in

heaven, Paul would not need to mention the final resurrection as the

Christian hope; he could have just mentioned that the righteous were

already with the Lord. But, instead, he says that “those who sleep in

Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14, NKJV) would be resurrected from the dead at

the end of time.

The hope in the final resurrection brought comfort to the grieving

Thessalonians. The same hope can help us face with confidence the pain-

ful moments when the cold grip of death takes our loved ones from us.