\n<\/p>\n
The Bible tells the story of the restoration of God\u2019s good world<\/span><\/a>, not humanity\u2019s escape from it. <\/em> .<\/mark><\/p>\n For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,\u00a0with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel\u00a0and with the trumpet call of God,\u00a0and the dead in Christ will rise first.\u00a0After that, we who are still alive and are left\u00a0will be caught up together with them in the clouds\u00a0to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord\u00a0forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n I Thessalonians 4: 16-17 <\/mark>(NIV)<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n .<\/mark><\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n In this post, we\u2019ll examine the message that Paul is making to determine if he\u2019s pointing to us escaping a doomed planet, or if he\u2019s making a different point entirely.<\/p>\n But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen\u00a0asleep, lest you sorrow\u00a0as others\u00a0who have no hope.\u00a0For\u00a0if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him\u00a0those who\u00a0sleep in Jesus.<\/p>\n For this we say to you\u00a0by the word of the Lord, that\u00a0we who are alive\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are\u00a0asleep.\u00a0For\u00a0the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with\u00a0the trumpet of God.\u00a0And the dead in Christ will rise first.\u00a0Then we who are alive\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0remain shall be caught up together with them\u00a0in the clouds to meet(apant\u0113sis)<\/sup><\/span> the Lord in the air. And thus\u00a0we shall always be with the Lord.\u00a0Therefore comfort one another with these words.<\/p>\n 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n .<\/mark><\/p>\n Toward the end of Paul\u2019s 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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n What he tells them is that they don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But the key word in the passage is the word translated \u201cto meet\u201d in verse 17 is the Greek word is apant\u0113sis<\/em>, a noun that means: a meeting or a friendly encounter. Both this word and an almost identical word, hypant\u0113sis<\/em> (also translated \u201cto meet\u201d elsewhere in scripture), are used three times a piece in the NT. And each time they\u2019re used they\u2019re 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 \u2014 the lone exception being in Matthew 8<\/span><\/mark><\/a> when the townspeople came out to meet Jesus to plead with him to leave their region after he cast out a multitude of demons). <\/p>\n And there\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n First, you have the parable of the virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom in Matthew 25:<\/p>\n \u201cThen the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet(hypant\u0113sis)<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0the bridegroom.\u00a0Now five of them were wise, and five\u00a0were\u00a0foolish.\u00a0Those who\u00a0were\u00a0foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,\u00a0but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.\u00a0But while the bridegroom was delayed,\u00a0they all slumbered and slept.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd at midnight\u00a0a cry was\u00a0heard:\u00a0\u2018Behold, the bridegroom\u00a0is coming; go out to meet(apant\u0113sis)<\/sup><\/span> him!\u2019\u00a0Then all those virgins arose and\u00a0trimmed their lamps.\u00a0And the foolish said to the wise, \u2018Give us\u00a0some\u00a0of your oil, for our lamps are going out.\u2019\u00a0But the wise answered, saying, \u2018No,\u00a0lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.\u2019\u00a0And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and\u00a0the door was shut.<\/p>\n \u201cAfterward the other virgins came also, saying,\u00a0\u2018Lord, Lord, open to us!\u2019\u00a0But he answered and said, \u2018Assuredly, I say to you,\u00a0I do not know you.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWatch therefore, for you\u00a0know neither the day nor the hour\u00a0in which the Son of Man is coming.<\/p>\n Matthew 25:1-13 (NIV)<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n .<\/mark><\/p>\n Next, you have the record in Acts of Paul on his way to Rome. We\u2019re told that some of the believers in Rome traveled an entire days journey to greet him on his way and welcome him.<\/p>\n From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,\u00a0where we found\u00a0brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.\u00a0And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet(apant\u0113sis)<\/sup><\/span> us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.<\/p>\n Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but\u00a0Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.<\/p>\n Acts 28:13-16 (NIV)<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n .<\/mark><\/p>\n But really, the event that Paul describes to the Thessalonians is most like the \u201cmeeting\u201d depicted in John 12. This event that embodied the most common context of the words apant\u0113sis<\/em>\/hypant\u0113sis<\/em>: that of an arriving dignitary or king \u2014 often after returning home victorious after battle. <\/p>\n The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,\u00a0took branches of palm trees and went out to meet(hypant\u0113sis)<\/sup><\/span> Him, and cried out:<\/p>\n \u201cHosanna! John 12:12-13<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n .<\/mark><\/p>\n If you look carefully at the events of the Bible, what you\u2019ll notice is that many events of the story are circular \u2014 past events are repeated in later events and those events, we\u2019re told, will be repeated in the future in one way or another. Past events often are foreshadowing future events. <\/p>\n Jesus\u2019 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 \u2014 riding this time on a war-horse \u2014 as he comes to ransom his people, overthrow all rebellious kingdoms, and take his rightful place as King of his world.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I\u2019m 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).<\/p>\n But regardless of where you or I stand on the particulars of the timing, the Bible is very clear about this\u2026in the end we will ultimately end up, not in heaven, but on a new earth living with God.<\/p>\n Revelation 21:1-4 makes this point plainly:<\/p>\n Then I saw \u201ca new heaven and a new earth,\u201d\u00a0for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,\u00a0and there was no longer any sea.\u00a0I saw the Holy City,\u00a0the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God<\/span>,\u00a0prepared as a bride\u00a0beautifully dressed for her husband.\u00a0And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u201cLook! God\u2019s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them<\/span>.\u00a0They will be his people, and God himself will be with them<\/span> and be their God.\u00a0\u2018He will wipe every tear from their eyes.\u00a0There will be no more death\u2019\u00a0or mourning or crying or pain,\u00a0for the old order of things has passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV) emphasis mine<\/span><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n .<\/mark><\/p>\n 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\u2019t say that we will go to dwell with God, there\u2019s a difference). So, putting both of things things together, we can deduce that we won\u2019t be in heaven forever. For a time? Potentially. Forever? No.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 our promised land: Earth.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s speaking to, and not overstretch it to get what we\u2019re trying to get from it.<\/p>\n 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 <\/em>as he wrote them. And in doing so, he spent a grand total of six sentences on the topic. <\/p>\n His goal was not to giving a fully-detailed picture of what\u2019s going to happen at Christ\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 Revelation 11:15<\/span><\/a>, Colossians 1:15-20<\/span><\/a>, Ephesians 1:7-10<\/span><\/a>), 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 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n Your fellow member of the welcoming committee, The Bible tells the story of the restoration of God\u2019s good world, not humanity\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7053746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132395,122706,132394,106550,111884,109104,113252],"tags":[2236,132396,508,18526,107935],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7053744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth","category-heaven","category-observations-insights","category-renewal","category-restoration","category-resurrection","category-scripture","tag-air","tag-heis","tag-lord","tag-meeting","tag-thessalonians"],"yoast_head":"\n
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.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n\n
Confusion About Jesus\u2019 Return<\/h2>\n
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The Meeting<\/h2>\n
Examples of Apant\u0113sis\/Hypant\u0113sis<\/em> in the NT<\/h2>\n
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\u2018Blessed\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0He who comes in the name of the\u00a0Lord!\u2019
The King of Israel!\u201d<\/p>\nComing vs. Going<\/h2>\n
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A Valuable Lesson<\/h2>\n
Alex<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"