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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Two Israels? Two Kingdoms? Two Second Comings?, #10
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (I Thessalonians 4:16-5:3)
The description given of the Lord's return in the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians fits perfectly the scriptural (Old Testament and New Testament) prophecies of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His Kingdom. Christ will sit on the throne of David, His physical ancestor, in the city of Jerusalem.
Look carefully at these verses in First Thessalonians and you will see there is no suggestion that the saints on earth will disappear and return to Heaven with Christ at that time. There is no support for such an interpretation in the writings of the Hebrew Prophets or the new-covenant Apostles.
In this passage there is no indication that the purpose of the resurrection and ascension is to remove the saints from the deceptions of Antichrist or the dangers of the great tribulation.
The purpose of the words of Paul is to comfort the bereaved saints who believed that their deceased loved ones would not be present when the Kingdom of God came from Heaven. It is totally indefensible to use Paul's "funeral sermon" as a basis for a special unscriptural disappearing of a Gentile segment of the Christian Church!
Revelation 3:10 often is used to teach that the saints will be withdrawn from the earth in order to escape tribulation:
Because thou hast kept [observed; guarded] the word of my patience, I also will keep [observe; guard] thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
The Greek language employed in Revelation 3:10 does not speak of a removal from the earth or even of a tribulation.
If we will guard the Word of Christ's patience Christ will guard us from the hour of temptation (not tribulation)—a time when sin will be so widespread it will be nearly impossible to resist its enticing attraction.
John 17:15, written by the same author, uses the same Greek verb for "keep" (observe; guard ). In this passage Jesus indicates that the Divine provision for keeping (guarding) us is not removal from the earth:
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep [guard] them from the evil. (John 17:15)
To be continued.