Revelation 19:11-21

The order of the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

(This post will be a chapter in my upcoming book, “The Resurrection: when the church is glorified,” which will be published in 3Q 2024.)

THE RESURRECTION SO FAR IN 1 THESSALONIANS

Before we dig into our focus passage, which is explicitly about the resurrection of the saints, we will briefly review what Paul has already said implicitly about the resurrection earlier in the letter.

2:19. “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming (παρουσία)?” Paul and the Thessalonians will both be “in the presence of the Lord Jesus at His coming” (παρουσία). “In the presence of the Lord Jesus” must be with the Lord Jesus.

This agrees with 4:16-17, where the dead in Christ and those who are alive and remain will be “caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.” This also agrees with 3:13 (below).

3:13. “He (the Lord) may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming (παρουσία) of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”

The first key word here is with (μετὰ followed by genitive). Jesus will be coming “with all His saints.” It is important to note that the coming of our Lord Jesus will not be for His saints, which would mean that His saints are still on earth, but His coming will be with His saints, which means that His saints are already in the air (4:17). Since “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven” (4:16), we conclude that the resurrection of the saints occurs immediately before “the coming (παρουσία) of our Lord Jesus,” and then Jesus returns with all His saints.  

The second key word is all (πάντων). Jesus will be coming “with all His saints.” This means that none of the elect will be missing. All the dead in Christ plus all those who are “alive and remain” will be with Jesus at His coming (παρουσία).

KEY POINT: The resurrection of the saints must occur immediately before Jesus’ coming (παρουσία). And this is exactly what we see in Paul’s teaching in 4:13-17.

THE ORDER OF THE RESURRECTION IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-17

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

4:13. Paul is prompted to tell about the resurrection (of the saints) because the Thessalonians are unclear about the events of the last day. Thus Paul begins by talking about “those who are asleep” (i.e., those believers who have already physically died), but he quickly moves to teach about the resurrection of all believers, whether asleep or living.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming (παρουσία) of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

4:14. The first phrase of this verse bears on the fact of Jesus’ bodily resurrection. A paraphrase might be, “Since Jesus was resurrected . . .”

In 1 Cor. 15:1-23, Paul makes a more detailed case for the certainty of Christ’s resurrection from the dead and for how Christ’s resurrection guarantees the resurrection of all those in Christ, but here the apostle makes clear that, as Christ died and rose again, “even so (οὕτως) God will bring with Him (i.e., with Christ; see 3:13) those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”

Paul’s message to the Thessalonians in this verse is, “Do not be worried or anxious about those who have fallen asleep (i.e., physically died). Know for certain that these will be with the Lord Jesus when He returns.”

Now the apostle will go on to describe the events of the resurrection of the saints and how the resurrection relates to the coming (παρουσία) of the Lord Jesus.

4:15. Paul’s first phrase communicates the idea that what follows is God-breathed doctrine and is, therefore, trustworthy and true (“the word of the Lord”). Then the apostle tells us that, at the coming of the Lord, the saints who are alive and remain will be resurrected after those saints who have fallen asleep (i.e., died). Even at this point in the passage, we can begin to discern the order of the resurrection, but with 4:16-17, Paul will remove all ambiguity.

4:16-17. In these two verses, Paul gives us the most explicit teaching found in Scripture about the order of the resurrection.

The events begin with the announcement of the coming of the King when we will hear a shout (of command), the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God sounding together (4:16), declaring to the entire world that, “NOW Jesus is coming! The King of kings is coming to judge the earth” (Psalm 96:13; 98:9; 2 Tim. 4:1).

After the announcement of Jesus’ coming, we discover that “the dead in Christ will rise first.” All those in Christ who have physically died will be resurrected first. Immediately after this comes the resurrection of the living, whom Paul describes as those “who are alive and remain.” Finally, as “the Lord Himself descends from heaven,” all the resurrected saints rise up together “to meet the Lord in the air.”

This passage in 1 Thess. 4 answers many questions about the resurrection of the saints, but it also leaves a few questions unanswered.

A COUPLE OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Question: When do these events of the resurrection occur? Even though Paul’s teaching explicitly connects the return of Jesus Christ, which occurs on the last day, with the resurrection of the saints, it is possible that some may still be unclear on when the resurrection occurs.

Answer: According to Jesus in John 6:39, 40, 44 and 54, and according to John 11:24, the resurrection occurs on the last day. Since this is explicitly stated five times in John’s gospel, this answer is unambiguous. THE RESURRECTION OCCURS ON THE LAST DAY.

Question: In this passage (1 Thess. 4:13-17), we have seen that, on the last day, all the dead in Christ are resurrected, then all those believers who were still living (“alive and remain”) are resurrected, then they both rise together to meet the descending Lord Jesus in the air. But Paul does not disclose what happens next other than to say that “so we shall always be with the Lord.” The question that follows is, “What happens after the resurrected saints meet the descending Lord Jesus in the air on the last day?”

Answer: Jesus continues to descend to earth with His saints to destroy all the unrighteous. Explanation: Perhaps the best cross-reference for this is Rev. 19:11-21. This passage is the climax of the book of Revelation and pictures the Lord Jesus riding on a white horse as He comes (or “descends”) to judge the nations. “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations; He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty” (19:15). The awesome scene has an overwhelming sense of finality and concludes in 19:21 with the Lord killing all the unrighteous of the earth. And in the midst of this passage, in Rev. 19:14, we read of “armies clothed in fine linen, white and clean, following Him (Jesus) on white horses.” These armies are all the resurrected saints who have risen “to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17) and who are now “following Him on white horses” as He descends in judgment. (See also 1 Thess. 3:13; 4:14.)

Restating the answer, then, AFTER THE SAINTS MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR, THE LORD AND HIS ARMIES OF RESURRECTED SAINTS CONTINUE TO EARTH TO RENDER FINAL JUDGMENT ON ALL THE UNRIGHTEOUS.

Other passages that confirm this interpretation about what happens when Jesus comes from heaven are Jer. 25:30-38, Rev. 6:12-17 and any Old Testament passage that talks about “the day of the Lord.” Another consideration is Psalm 110:5-6, a powerful psalm about Jesus’ return in judgment. When the Lord (Adonai) comes “in the day of His wrath” (110:5), “He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country” (110:6). The point is that, when the Lord Jesus comes in His παρουσία (1 Thess. 4:15), He is coming to judge the earth (Ps. 96:13; 98:9).

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/6/2024                     #700

Psalm 110: The Lord (Adonai) rules in the midst of His enemies

POST OVERVIEW. A second post on Psalm 110, this time considering verses 2-7 where we see the Lord bringing His judgment on the unrighteous on the last day.

REVIEW OF PSALM 110:1

In a previous post (#629, 3/4/2023), we began our study of the eschatology of Psalm 110 by carefully examining just the first verse of the psalm. There we had discovered that, as the psalm opens, the Lord (Adonai) is welcomed back into heaven by the LORD (Yahweh). We saw that this first scene of the psalm took place when Jesus returned to heaven as the victorious Lamb after accomplishing His work of redemption on the cross. This first verse of Psalm 110 is therefore approximately parallel with Acts 2:33-36, with Revelation 5:6ff, and with Revelation 12:5b.

But we also saw that the focus of this psalm is not on the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross but is instead anticipating a future work that He will do when “His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.” Therefore, our orientation for reading the rest of the psalm is one of anticipation, asking the question, “What work will the Lord Jesus perform when He comes again?” That will be our question as we read the rest of the psalm.

I will again be using the New American Standard Bible (1995) for the text.

CONSIDERING THE ESCHATOLOGY OF PSALM 110:2-7

PSALM 110:2. Once again, it is important to see who is acting in this verse. In verse 1 the LORD (Yahweh) had said to the Lord (Adonai) that He should sit at His right hand UNTIL His enemies are made a footstool. Now in verse 2, the time anticipated by verse 1 has arrived and we now see that it is Adonai who is going to “rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

INTERPRETATION. God the Father speaks to God the Son, saying, “Jesus, now is the appointed time. The end of the age has come. There will be no more delay and no more suspension of judgment. Rise from Your seat at My right hand and take up Your double-edged sword. Take Your seat upon the white horse (Rev. 19:11-21) and begin Your awesome work of final judgment.”

PSALM 110:3. Before Adonai comes to reap the earth, He gathers His army around Him. These are His adoring subjects, and so “Your people will volunteer freely in holy array” as they prepare to follow their King into the battle.

INTERPRETATION. The Lord Jesus, the victorious Lamb, will gather His resurrected and glorified saints to Himself (this gathering of saints is pictured in Ezek. 37:1-14, in 1 Thess. 4:15-17, in Rev. 11:11-12 and in Rev. 14:1-5), and then these will immediately return with Him as His army (1 Thess. 3:13; 4:14; Rev. 19:14). In this context, “Your people” is all the elect of all time.

PSALM 110:4. This statement was made in eternity past from Yahweh to Adonai. In it, Yahweh established the eternal divine priesthood of the Lord Jesus, the priesthood of Melchizedek. The author of Hebrews teaches about this priesthood of Melchizedek and about Jesus’ place in it in Hebrews 7. Refer to this passage in Hebrews for an understanding of this verse. (I have written about Hebrews 7 and Melchizedek in a separate series of blogs.)

ADONAI COMES IN TERRIFYING JUDGMENT

The final three verses describe the work of judgment on the last day. This is THAT day, the day of the Lord, the day of the wrath of God. This portion of the psalm reveals why the unregenerate are terrified when the Lord returns (see Rev. 6:12-17).

PSALM 110:5. Now, as the war of the last day begins and the final rendering of judgment is poured out on the reprobate, we see that it is Adonai (Jesus) who is still at the right hand of Yahweh (God the Father). “He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.”

INTERPRETATION. We have already made clear that these verses in Psalm 110 are describing the same events that take place in Rev. 19:11-21. Jesus Christ, accompanied by all His glorified saints, is coming to judge the earth and to tread the wine press of the wrath of God the Almighty. Here “kings” are mentioned specifically (“shatter kings”) to direct us to the passages in Revelation 16:13-16 and 19:17-19 (see obvious allusions in Rev. 20:8-9) that tell of Armageddon and the kings who gather their armies together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty (16:14). Jesus will “shatter” all opposing kings. All worldly authority will crumble before Him.

PSALM 110:6. Adonai (Jesus) “will judge among the nations and fill them with corpses. He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.”

INTERPRETATION. The verse’s meaning could not be clearer. In the day of His wrath, Jesus will come upon all the unrighteous with absolute justice and will slaughter all the unregenerate such that the earth will be filled with corpses. This same scene appears in Rev. 14:20 when blood flows from the wine press of God’s wrath up to a horse’s bridle for two hundred miles and in Rev. 19:21 where the Rider on the white horse (Jesus Christ) kills all the armies who had gathered against Him. The carnage will be unimaginable and none will escape.

PSALM 110:7. In a peaceful scene we see Adonai drinking from a brook.

INTERPRETATION. After the violence and destruction of the previous two verses in which the Lord judges all the inhabitants of the earth, the picture turns to a peaceful scene of the Lord drinking beside a brook. The message is so obvious that it can easily be missed: the Lord drinks from the brook just like a Man! To the Hebrew mind, both in David’s time and in Christ’s day a thousand years later, there was never any question that Adonai, the Lord, was God. But now in this verse we find a mystery, because here we find the Lord drinking from a brook. This means that Adonai, the one who comes to judge the earth, the one who shatters kings and who by Himself fills the nations with corpses, is also a Man. The psalm is teaching that the Lord is both God and Man. But how can this be?

Of course, we now know that the Lord Jesus, the one who will fulfill this psalm and the one who will render recompense to the nations, is both God and Man. He is the one who will fill the nations with corpses and He is the one who will drink from the brook when He is thirsty, just like any other man. This psalm is definitely prophetic and Messianic.

SUMMARY

What we see in Psalm 110 is a picture of the end of the age when the Lord Jesus will gather all His elect to Himself via the Resurrection and then will render recompense to all the unrighteous in the Judgment at the last day.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 3/9/2023                     #631