Month: December 2024

Introduction 

We live in a day where newspaper Dispensational Zionist eschatology is running our government and foreign policy.  We are assured that we must support modern Israel and the rebuilding of another temple so the “Man of Lawlessness” can set himself up in that temple in order for the church to get “raptured.”  Never mind the New Testament nor the Old Testament predicts a “rebuilt temple” beyond AD 70, these folks are going to insist it does.  Therefore, since ALL these folks can think about is trying to identify the “Antichrist” or “Man of Sin” being in a “rebuilt temple” in our future so we can get “raptured,” and NOT how their eschatology is literally killing Christians RIGHT NOW in the middle east, I felt compelled to write on these two subjects.  Much of this content will be in my book coming out on the “Rapture” within the next couple of months.

I will be giving exegetical reasons as to who the Man of Lawless most likely was and how he was killed in AD 70 at the coming of the Lord (through the Romans).  Then I will explain how the “rapture” and resurrection event of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 was likewise fulfilled at the coming of the Lord in AD 70 and was a spiritual and internal event as Jesus laid out in Luke 17:20-37.

The order of this article starts a bit backwards in identifying the what(?), how(?) and when(?) of the coming of the Lord and the “gathering to Christ” in 2 Thessalonians 1-2 is–so as to help lay the groundwork to the what(?) how(?) and when(?) the coming of the Lord and “catching away” to Christ event would be fulfilled in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.  Since the two passages deal with the eschatological “gathering” at Christ’s second coming, how is it that the Thessalonians could have thought this had “already” been fulfilled?  Answering this question and examining the context of the coming of the Lord in 2 Thessalonians 1-2 will lay the foundation to understanding the timing and nature of the “rapture” coming of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4.  This will be a glorious paradigm shift for you – buckle up buttercup.

2 Thessalonians 1

Before addressing who the restrainer and man of lawlessness was in 2 Thessalonians 2 and how he was “killed” at the coming of the Lord in AD 70, we need to get the context in the previous chapter and identify when Paul said Christ would come here.  Because contextually the coming of Christ in 2 Thessalonians 1-2 are the same event.

The context of 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 couldn’t be clearer in that Christ comes to avenge and to “repay” the first century Jews who were oppressing the first century Thessalonians in AD 70:

All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you (2 Thess. 1:5-10).

Reformed theologian Keith A. Mathison correctly sees the coming of Christ here as referring to AD 70:

“There are several pieces of evidence that indicate a fulfillment [of 2 Thess. 1:5-10] in AD 70:

1. The language of impending judgment and destruction by God links this chapter conceptually to 1 Thess. 5 (cf. 2 Thess. 1:6-9; 1 Thess. 5:3).
2. The text itself speaks of God’s coming judgment upon those who are afflicting them at the time of the writing of the letter (1:6).
3. Those who are in fact afflicting them are the Jews (Acts 17:5-9), whom Jesus explicitly declared would be judged within one generation of his death (Mt. 24:34; Mrk. 13:30; Lk. 21:32).
4. There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thess. 1:7-9 and the prophecies of Dan. 7:9-12 and Joel 2-3, in which a fiery judgment is intimately connected with events that are known now to have occurred in the first century, namely, the rule of the fourth kingdom (the Roman Empire) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.Joel, in fact, refers to this judgment as the day of the Lord (Joel 3:14).
5. There is a distinct parallel between the language of 2 Thess. 1:7-9 and Mt. 16:27-28, which describes a coming of the Son of Man for judgment within the lifetime of the some of the His disciples.

On the basis of this evidence, we conclude that the coming of Christ for judgment in 2 Thess. 1 is the same as the coming of Christ for judgment revealed in the Olivet discourse and elsewhere.”[1]

Mathison makes excellent observations, but he does not illustrate what Old Testament passages Paul is referring to.  However, G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson correctly understand Paul’s statement “to repay” in (verse 6) as a reference back to Deuteronomy 32:35, but believes most of his source material is taken from Isaiah 66:

“In fact, there are two verses from Isaiah 66 that are relevant:  “The voice of the LORD repaying [antapodidontos] retributing to his enemies” (66:6); “For the LORD will come like a fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to repay [apodounai] his punishment with anger, and his rebuke with a flame of fire” (66:15).”[2]

Deuteronomy 32:35-43LXX

In Deuteronomy 31:29-32:43 Moses utters prophetic revelation in which in   Israel’s last days there will arrive a “perverse and crooked generation” that will see Israel’s final “end” (Deut. 31:29; 32:5, 20).  In 32:35LXX Moses says that when this generation arrives the “appointed time” of fulfillment will be “near.”  Jesus, Peter and Paul all identify their generation as being the one prophesied by Moses (Deut. 32:5, 20 = Mt. 17:17/Acts 2:40/Phil. 2:15).  Therefore, the second coming of Christ in vengeance of Deuteronomy 32:35-43 to vindicate the martyrs would take place in AD 70 and the event Paul has in view here.  Since Paul affirms Christ is coming in the lifetime of the Thessalonians to avenge them, this is equivalent to saying the event is now “near” (Deut. 32:35) as Paul says elsewhere (cf. Phil. 4:5).

Isaiah 65-66 

Of course partial preterists admit the coming of the Lord, the de-creation, and the new creation of Isaiah 65-66 is referring to AD 70 (ex. John Owen, John Lightfoot, R.C. Sproul, James Jordan, Gary DeMar, Keith Mathison, Peter Leithart, Kenneth Gentry, etc…), but the problem for partial preterists such as Mathison, arises as this coming of Christ in Isaiah 66 and 2 Thessalonians 1 ends the millennium of Revelation 20 and begins the New Creation of Revelation 21-22.  Keith Mathison and I agree that the Second Coming ends the millennium of Revelation 20, and I also agree with partial preterists and amillennialists that Christ’s return in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 and Isaiah 66:6 is the end of the millennium and the beginning of the new creation.  These Futurist admissions prove the Second Coming brought an end to the millennium and thus the judgment and resurrection of the dead was fulfilled no later than AD 70.

2 Thessalonians 1 contains other Old Testament passages that Paul is referring to.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Beale and Carson point out that Paul is referring to the Day of the Lord described in Isaiah 2:2.

Isaiah 2:10-12, 19, 21

(1)  1 Thessalonians 4:16=Isa. 2:10-12: “because the Lord himself will come down from heaven,” recalls…the prophetic literature of the OT that envisions “the day of the Lord,” when God will come to judge the wicked and save the righteous (Isa. 2:10–12;…).”[3]

(2)  2 Thessalonians 1:7-9=Isa. 2:10, 19, 21: “This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” “…eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” This description clearly echoes the triple refrain of Isa. 2:10, 19, 21, where on the day of the Lord the wicked are commanded to hide themselves behind rocks and in caves “from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might whenever he will rise to terrify the earth / land.”[4]

It would be prudent to ask the exegetical question as to where Jesus and John place the fulfillment of Isaiah 2 in relation to Paul’s argument and eschatology.

(3)  Luke 23:27-30=Isa. 2:19: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.”

According to the commentators, this passage was fulfilled in God’s judgment upon Jerusalem in AD 70.  However, this is a classic case of “proving too much”, since it refers to the “last days” “war” that will take place on the “Day of the Lord.”

(4)  Rev. 6:16=Isa. 2:19, 21: Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.  They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”  

At the “soon” Second Coming of Jesus in AD 70, the events of Revelation would be fulfilled “shortly” (Revelation 1:1 – 22:7, 10, 22).  As far as the immediate context is concerned, the martyrs will be vindicated in just a “little while” when Christ comes to judge their oppressors and vindicate them (Rev. 6:10-17).

Thus, Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 2 Thessalonians 1, views the coming of the Lord in Isaiah 2 as being fulfilled in AD 70, just as Jesus and John do.  The partial preterists such as Keith Mathison do not harmonize Isaiah with 1 Thessalonians 4 and 2 Thessalonians 1. They arbitrarily assert Paul is applying Isaiah 2 to the end of history in 1 Thessalonians 4, whereas Paul elsewhere in his writings with Jesus and John claims it will be fulfilled in AD 70:

Paul – 1 Thess. 4:15-17=Isa. 2:10-12 = Fulfilled at end of world history?!?

Paul – 2 Thess. 1:5-10=Isa. 2:10, 19, 21= Fulfilled in AD 70

Jesus – Lk. 23:27-30=Isa. 2:19 = Fulfilled in AD 70

John – Rev. 6:16=Isa. 2:19-21 = Fulfilled in AD 70

Clearly, Partial Preterists such as Mathison are eisegetically and creedally biased when they isolate and separate Christ’s coming in 1 Thessalonians 4 from 2 Thessalonians 1.  A parallel chart is provided below that compares the “coming” of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 with the “revealing” of Christ in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10:

Paul’s eschatology in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 Fulfilled at the end of world history?!?	Paul’s eschatology in 2 Thess. 1:5-10 Fulfilled in AD 70
(1)  Christ comes (4:15)	(1)  Christ is revealed or comes   (1:7, 10)
(2)  From heaven or clouds of heaven (4:16) Fulfilling Isa. 2:10, 18, 21 per Beale & Carson	(2)  From heaven (1:7) Fulfilling Isa. 2:10, 18, 21 per Beale & Carson
(3)  With angels (4:16)	(3)  With angels (1:7)
(4)  God’s presence or catching away is in or within the “air” of the believer (4:17)	(4)  God is “glorified IN His saints” (1:10)

Again, I must stress, Paul predicted that the first century Jews who were afflicting the Thessalonian Christians would be “rewarded” with the same kind of persecution or “trouble” they were dishing out when Christ came through the Roman armies in AD 66 – 70.  As they traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover in AD 66, Josephus explains that they were deceived into staying in the city to fight the Romans and God sent the Romans to bring them “affliction.”

Another troubling inconsistency with Ken Gentry’s partial preterism is that he wants us to enter into John’s first century audience in Revelation 3 and their persecutions and vindication at the “soon” coming of Christ in AD 70, but then ignores Paul’s first century audience and Christ coming to vindicate them here in 2 Thessalonians 1.  Gentry writes the following in how we should honor audience relevance in Revelation:

“So then:  John is obviously writing to particular historical churches about their current, grave, and worsening circumstances.  We must not overlook the original audience factor; Revelation’s message must be relevant to them.”[5]

“But can these approaches [from Futurist commentators] overthrow our evidence?  John is writing to actual historical churches existing in his own day.  They are already in the earliest stages of “tribulation” (Rev. 1:9a).  He would be cruelly mocking their circumstances by stating that when help comes, it will come with swiftness – even though it may not come until two or three thousand years later.”[6]

Great points Ken, but what about Christ coming to give the first century Thessalonians “relief” at His coming and to repay their first century Jewish persecutors with “trouble” during the events of AD 67 – 70?  Sounds like your eisegesis is “cruelly mocking their circumstances” and Paul’s clear words.  Their circumstances are virtually identical:

Revelation 2-3; 1-19, 21-22 = AD 70	2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 = ?
(1)  First century audience	(1)  First century audience
(2)  Being persecuted by the Jews	(2)  Being persecuted by the Jews
(3)  Christ would come from heaven in vengeance upon their first century Jewish persecutors, giving them relief, and causing the saints to break out in praise with God in Zion.	(3)  Christ would come from heaven in vengeance upon their first century Jewish persecutors, giving them relief, and causing the saints to break out in praise knowing God was glorified in them.
(4) When the Lord comes in flaming fire from heaven with angels in AD 70 he…: (a) gives the first century saints the Kingdom while (b) there is a judgment of eternal punishment for the beast & false prophet.	(4) When the Lord comes in flaming fire from heaven with angels in AD 70 he…: (a) Gives the first century saints the Kingdom while (b) there is a judgment of eternal punishment for those who do not know God [and the Man of Sin 2:8].

Another inconsistency is that Gentry will appeal to the parallels between Matthew 24 to 2 Thessalonians 2 as fulfilled in AD 70, and yet there are plenty of parallels here in chapter one to be made.  As we saw earlier Mathison appealed to a couple of these parallels to make the case that 2 Thessalonians 1 was fulfilled in AD 70:

Matthew 24 / Luke 17 / Luke 21	2 Thessalonians 1
(1)  Persecution to come before Christ and kingdom are inherited     (Lk. 21:12-32; cf. Dan. 7:13-27)	(1)  Persecution and affliction are taking place before the imminent coming and kingdom comes (1:5-8; cf. Dan. 7:13-27)
(2)  Those would be the days of vengeance when Christ comes     (Lk. 21:20-32)	(2)  The Lord will come in vengeance (1:8)
(3)  Christ comes on clouds of heaven with angels (Matt. 16:27-28; 24:30-31; 25:31)	(3)  Christ comes from heaven with angels (1:7)
(4)  Christ comes in glory and sets up His kingdom “within” His people (Matt. 16:27-28; 24:30-31; Lk. 17:20-37)	(4)  Christ comes to be glorified “in” the Thessalonians (1:10, 12)

And since our focus in this article is to demonstrate the relationship between 1 Thessalonians 4 and the rest of 1-2 Thessalonians:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-12	1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
(1)  Christ comes from heaven with angels in glory (1:7, 9)	(1)  Christ comes with the voice of an archangel (4:16)
(2)  At Christ’s coming He would be “glorified” “in” the Thessalonians (1:10, 12)	(2)  Jesus comes to catch Thessalonians in the “air” [within a person – spiritual realm where Satan & demons influenced] (4:17)

However, the same coming of Christ in judgment and vengeance in covenant wrath upon his enemies and to vindicate and save the Thessalonians is described in the following chapter.  It is recorded here that some were teaching that this coming of the Lord had already taken place, and some of the Thessalonians were tempted to believe this.  Paul countered this false teaching by explaining that the apostacy, or the Roman / Jewish “rebellion”, and the “man of lawlessness” must be revealed “first” before the Second Coming can take place.  Therefore, it is important to address this passage as well.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has already come.  Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And you know what is restraining him NOW so that he may be revealed in his time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.  The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess. 2:1-12).

While Partial Preterists such as Kenneth Gentry artificially separates the coming of Christ from 2 Thessalonians 1 from chapter 2, it’s clear here in chapter 2 that this is the same coming of Christ in judgment and vengeance upon his enemies and to vindicate and save and give relief to the Thessalonians described in the following chapter.

It is recorded here that some were teaching that this coming of the Lord had already taken place, and some of the Thessalonians were tempted to believe this.  Paul countered this false teaching by explaining that the apostacy, or the Roman / Jewish “rebellion”, and the “man of lawlessness” must be revealed “first” before the Second Coming can take place.  Therefore, it is important to address this passage as well.  As evidence for my claim that this passage was fulfilled in AD 70, I will once again cite one of my Partial Preterist opponents Keith Mathison.  When at all possible it is best to let your Futurist opponents make your arguments for you:

“…the difficulties of interpretation [that 2 Thess. 2 is referring to the end of world history and not to AD 70] become overwhelming.  There are a large number of such difficulties, but we shall mention only three:

As in the case of 1 Thess. 5, no commentator who approaches this text under the assumption that it refers to the events surrounding the Second Coming [an end of world history event] has ever been able to offer an even remotely plausible explanation for the belief of the Thessalonian Christians that the day of the Lord had already come.  If we grant the assumptions of these commentators, then Paul has already told them in his first epistle that this event would involve the bodily resurrection of the dead and the “catching up” in the air of those who would still be alive to be with the Lord forever.  Unless one concludes that the Thessalonian Christians were profoundly oblivious to reality, there is no explanation for why they would have believed that this had already taken place.

Futurist interpreters have also failed to offer a plausible explanation of Paul’s argumentation in 2 Thess. 2.  If the “coming” of Christ, or “gathering” to Him, and the day of the Lord in this chapter refer to the Second Advent [end of world history], the Rapture, and the bodily resurrection of the dead, then it is necessary to explain Paul’s method of proving that these things had not yet occurred.  Why would Paul have tried to convince a group of believers that the Rapture and the bodily resurrection of all believers had not yet occurred by arguing that the apostasy and revelation of the man of lawlessness must come first?  If this chapter is referring to the Second Advent, the Rapture, and the bodily resurrection of the dead, the proof that these things had not yet happened would have been far more simple and obvious.  The entire argument of 2 Thess. 2 could have been reduced to the single question, Are you still here?

The third major difficulty facing futurist interpretations of 2 Thess. 2 is the large number of references within the chapter itself which indicate a first-century fulfillment.  Whoever the man of lawlessness is, Paul refers to him as being restrained “now” (2:6).  In other words, the man of lawlessness was being restrained at the time when Paul wrote this letter.  Again, in verse 7, Paul tells his readers that “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.”  Also in verse 7, the restrainer of the man of lawlessness “now” restrains him.  Finally, the numerous parallels between this chapter and the Olivet discourse, which is clearly tied to a first-century fulfillment, indicate a first-century fulfillment of this chapter, too.  Some of these parallels are:

1. a coming of our Lord (2 Thess. 2:1; cf. Mt. 24:27, 30),
2. a gathering together to Him (2 Thess. 2:1; cf. Mt. 24:31),
3. apostasy (2 Thess. 2:3; cf. Mt. 24:5, 10-12),
4. the mystery of lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:7; Mt. 24:12),
5. satanic signs and wonders (2 Thess. 2:9-10; cf. Mt. 24:24),
6. deluding influence on unbelievers (2 Thess. 2:11; cf. Mt. 24:5, 24).

The evidence that 2 Thess. 2 points to a first-century fulfillment is overwhelming.[7]

What is this “gathering to Christ” event?

I don’t disagree with Mathison that the “gathering” and coming of Christ here in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 is the same event as Matthew 24:30-31.  The problem Mathison has is that the coming of Christ in Matthew 24:3, 30-31 in connection with Matthew 13:39-43 and Daniel 12:2-7, in that this is the resurrection event to take place at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70.  Even Amillennialist G.K. Beale makes the correct connection with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 and 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17:

“That both Christ’s coming and the saints’ resurrection are in mind (and are the content of the day of the Lord in 2:2) is evident in the wording of 1:1:  the coming of our Lord Jesus and our being gathered to him.  These phrases allude to Christ’s coming to gather saints at the final resurrection (1 Thess. 4:14).  The common wording and theme show that this section is a further unpacking of 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 and that the false teaching is an over-realized distortion of that part of Paul’s first letter.”[8]

Beale is 100% correct to connect the coming of Christ and the gathering of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 with that of 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 and even with Matthew 24:30-31 as the second coming and resurrection of the dead event.  So, Beale’s “analogy of faith” exegesis is strong in connecting the dots to all of these passages and identifying what event it is, but of course Beale isn’t able to exegetically address the apocalyptic language in Matthew 24 and the temporal indicators in both Matthew 24 and here in 2 Thessalonians 2 and 1 Thessalonians 4.  I agree with Mathison that Beale (along with other Futurist commentators) is not doing a good job of explaining Paul’s form of argumentation against those that were teaching the Day of the Lord had “already” taken place.

So, what we have is here is once again a classic stalemate between the Partial Preterist view (Keith Mathison) and the Classic Amillennial view (G.K. Beale).  The only way to break this gridlock is to understand that all of these texts are referring to a spiritual coming of the Lord and resurrection “gathering” or “catching away” that Jesus and Paul understood to be imminent and spiritually fulfilled in AD 70 to close out the old covenant age.

Let’s revisit the eschatological coming of Christ and eschatological “gathering” of Isaiah 27 that both Jesus and Paul are drawing upon in Matthew 24:30-31; 25:31ff.; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 but now throw in parallels that correspond to the Man of Lawlessness being judged at the same time Satan or Leviathan/Dragon is judged.  These parallels are especially powerful since Keith Mathison now admits there is no division between Matthew 24-25 and the coming of Christ in Matthew 24:30-31 is the same coming of Christ in Matthew 25:31[9]:

Isaiah 27:1-13	Matt. 24:30-31; 25:31-46	1 Thess. 4 & 2 Thess. 1-2
(1)  “in that day” (v. 1ff.)	(1)  First Century audience – “you” (24:2ff.)	(1)  First Century audience – “you” or “we”
(2)  God would “thresh out the grain” (harvest) when He came to “gather” Israel (again harvest imagery) at the sound of a “trumpet”            (vv. 12-13)	(2)  At the “end of the [old covenant] age,” Christ would come from heaven “with angels” to “gather” (harvest cf. Mt. 13:39-43) at sound of a “trumpet” (24:31)	(2)  Christ comes from heaven, “with angels”  to “gather” at the sound of a “trumpet” the Thessalonians to Himself (1 Thess. 4:16; 2 Thess. 1:7, 2:1-2)
(3)  Leviathan / Dragon and unbelievers are judged at this time (v. 1ff.)	(3)  The Devil and the angelsare judged at this time    (25:31-46; cf. Rms. 16:20)	(3)  Unbelievers & Man of Lawlessness are judged at this time (2 Thess. 1:8-9; 2:8)
(4)  “In that day” the “removal of sin” takes place when God comes (v. 9)	(4)  When Christ comes “Salvation” & “redemption” takes place (Mt. 24:13-31; Lk. 21:27-28)	(4)  The Thessalonians & dead loved one’s experience God’s “presence” when they are “gathered or caught away to Him” and God is “glorified” in them and them in Him (1 Thess. 4-5; 2 Thess. 1:9-12; 2:1)
(5)  All fulfilled whenJerusalem & altars become a “heap” & “crushed” (v. 9)	(5)  All fulfilled whenJerusalem & temple has “abominations” & is “desolated”               (Mt. 24 / Lk.21)	(5)  All fulfilled when Man of Lawlessness commits abominations in the temple (2:1-4)

  How could they believe the coming of the Lord and gathering had “already happened”?

Regarding 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 and some teaching that the Day of the Lord had already occurred — it is quite curious that Mathison does not use this same argument from silence when it comes to Hymenaeus and Philetus, who also taught that the resurrection had already taken place, (which would have included the Day of the Lord) (2 Tim. 2:17-18).  We should keep in mind that in both passages Paul does not say, “How can you believe that the Day of the Lord, our gathering to Him, and the resurrection have already occurred because you are still here, the graveyards are still full, and planet has not been destroyed?”  As per Mathison’s reasoning, Paul’s doctrine of an imminent Day of the Lord and resurrection event was spiritual and anticipated AD 70.  After all his colleague Kenneth Gentry is now affirming a spiritual resurrection would take place in AD 70 just as Mathison is admitting a spiritual Day of the Lord here in 2 Thessalonians 2 was fulfilled in AD 70.  This is why Mathison is correct to not apply the condemnation of H&P to Full Preterism.

The sign of the Jewish “rebellion” must happen first 

An apostacy can be either religious or political in nature, apostasia being the Greek word for apostacy.  An example of a religious apostacy would be the Jews departing from their Old Testament religion and the gospel of Christ.  Or perhaps it is anticipating a time when professing Christians will return to the old covenant system (something the New Testament addresses throughout – ex. Galatians, Colossians, Hebrews, etc.).  In this case, it would imply that the Jews were staging their political “revolt” (cf. Jerusalem Bible Translation) against the Romans in the coming years of AD 66-70.

The most likely candidates for the restrainer and man of lawlessness

The man of lawlessness was probably either a Jewish high priest or a political figure like John Levi of Gischala, both of whom were lawless and committed acts of abomination in the temple during the Great Revolt of AD 66-70.  The following is Gary DeMar’s summary of Bray’s position on John Levi of Gischala:

John Levi of Gischala, Bray writes, “was the key man in the destruction of Jerusalem, the greatest instigator of the tribulation upon the Jews in the city, and an ‘abomination’ himself as he ‘sat’ in power in the Temple itself. And he was the cause of the ceasing of the daily sacrifices three and one half years after Vespasian came against the city. So far as the people were concerned, he had taken the place of God in the Temple!”²⁸ Following Josephus, Bray offers compelling historical evidence for his opinion, everything from murder to defilement of the temple. Mireille Hadas-Lebel recounts John’s lawless deeds:

Crimes against men were accompanied by what Josephus considered crimes against God. John of Gischala was especially guilty of these latter. Early in the siege he had used timber intended for the Temple to construct war machines. Next, he had all the sacred vessels melted down, including precious vases offered by the emperor Augustus and his wife. Then he had dipped into the Temple reserves of oil and wine.²⁹

John Levi of Gischala is a likely candidate since the people living in Jerusalem followed his every move. His occupation of the temple followed the surrounding of Jerusalem by armies. Those who believe that Paul is describing an event that requires a rebuilt temple miss the simple fact that the Thessalonians would have had no such notion in mind as they read Paul’s letter.

Whether the man of lawlessness was Phannias, John of Gischala, or some other first-century personage, we know that he was alive when Paul wrote his epistle because the Thessalonians knew who and what restrained him in their day.[10]

Gary’s position is that the “what” (v. 6) that was restraining the man of sin was the law of the Roman Empire, which shielded much of the Jewish opposition and persecution of Christianity, while the “who” was Herod Agrippa, who attempted to convince the Jews not to revolt against Rome.

Ed Stevens believes the Zealot Eleazar b. Anaias could have been the man of lawlessness: 

Eleazar was the son of Ananias b. Nedebaeus, the former high priest (AD 47- 58) when Second Thessalonians was written (AD 51-52), as well as six years later in AD 58 at the time of Paul’s trial in Jerusalem (Acts 23). It was Ananias who ordered that Paul be struck on the mouth. Upon being struck, Paul predicted, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall” and then called him a law-breaker. As was the father (a lawbreaker), so was the son (an even worse lawbreaker). Eight years after the trial of Paul, in September of AD 66, Ananias was indeed “struck” dead by the Zealot leader Menahem, immediately after which his son Eleazar used his own temple soldiers to avenge his father by killing Menahem and his soldiers in Jerusalem, again in violation of the Law. Thus, Eleazar opposed every other Zealot leader and exalted himself above them all.

At the time of the rebellion, Eleazar was Sagan (captain of the temple guard, “governor of the temple”, Wars 2.409). That was the second highest position in the priesthood (right underneath the High Priest). The Sagan was appointed by the High Priest and approved by the Sanhedrin. At least two of the sons of Ananias (Eleazar and Ananus) had held that office, both of whom were appointed after Ananias had left the High Priesthood. This speaks volumes about how much wealth, power, and influence Ananias must have had, in order to get two of his sons appointed as Sagan after he was no longer High Priest. Josephus verifies just how extremely wealthy and powerful Ananias really was.

As Yosippon indicates (Sefer Yosippon, Chapters 72, 75), Eleazar was the one who literally “sat in the temple” controlling all the affairs of the temple, priesthood, and sacrifices, and used the Temple as his fortress during nearly the entire war, beginning in April AD 66, until just before Titus began the siege in AD 70 (about three and a half years). Eleazar took it upon himself to make changes in the Law and customs that had always been followed since the beginning of their nation. Thus, it appears that Eleazar may have been the Man of Lawlessness that Apostle Paul pointed to in his second letter to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:3-9).[11]

A major problem Ed raises in regard to John Levi of Gischala being the man of lawlessness is that he lived beyond AD 70 and was not “killed” at the coming of the Lord.  In spite of Ed’s admission, Eleazer lived until AD 73 – so neither John nor Eleazer were “killed” by Christ’s coming in AD 70.

Furthermore, Ed claims that a physical “rapture” or “gathering” of the Church occurred in AD 66, which contradicts Jesus’ teaching that His return will occur “immediately after” (Mt. 24:29) the three-and-a-half-year tribulation period (AD 66/67-70).

In the event that Paul was teaching that the church would be physically raptured off the planet, he would simply have to ask the Thessalonians, “How can you believe that Christ has already come and gathered us together to Him? Aren’t we still here?”

Despite the fact that the Greek word parousia does not have to mean a literal day, it refers to Christ’s visitation “immediately after” the events of AD 66-70 and therefore refers to the days, weeks, or months that the Romans laid siege to the temple, burning and desolating it in AD 70.  The parousia and gathering of Christ occur at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70, which is signified by the destruction of the temple.  It is clear that Ed’s idea of a physical “rapture” in AD 66 makes no sense, and we will point out further errors in it when we examine 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

There is just one other place where the term “son of destruction / perdition” appears, which refers to Satan entering Judas and making him the “son of perdition” (Jn. 17:12).  After Satan entered Judas, he went directly to the priesthood to betray Jesus.  Therefore, “son of perdition” is associated with Satan, Judas, and the priesthood.

According to Partial Preterist Doug Wilson and Robert Cruickshank, Revelation 20 displays a three-fold pattern which corresponds to 2 Thessalonians 2:

“The sequence of events in 2 Thessalonians 2 runs a close parallel to Revelation 20.  Paul and John both speak of a restraint and a release of evil connected with “deception.” This three-fold theme of restraint, release, and deception is loud and clear in the words of both passages. In Revelation 20, the restraint, release, and deception are specifically linked to Satan’s ability to gather the nations together for “the war” (Rev. 20:8). In God’s sovereignty, Satan is not allowed to commence this war prematurely.”[12]

I don’t disagree with those connections:

Revelation 20 = ?	2 Thessalonians 2 = AD 70
(1)  Restraint – Satan is “bound” to not deceive the nations	(1)  Restraint – The restrainer is alive in Paul’s day holding back the Man of Sin
(2)  Release – Satan is released for a “little while” [AD 67 – AD 70] to…	(2)  Release – The Man of Lawlessness is revealed to…
(3)  Deceive and gather the nations for “THE war”	(3)  Deceive by the power of Satan
(4)  John and the seven churches were currently in the millennium and it was “about to” come to an end or “shortly” be fulfilled (Rev. 1:1, 19YLT; 22:10)	(4)  Paul and the Thessalonians were currently in the millennium and it would end at the coming of Christ
(5)  Partial Preterists believe the coming of Christ in flaming fire of 2 Thess. 1:7-9 and 2 Thess. 2:8 ends the “THE war” and judges Satan at the end of the millennium.  Most understand the “soon” coming of Christ in Revelation to end the millennium while Partial Preterists tell us it was spiritually fulfilled in AD 70.	(5)  But Partial Preterists such as Mathison believe the coming of Christ in flaming fire to judge in 2 Thess. 1-2 was fulfilled in AD 70

Partial Preterists such as Wilson usually take 2 Thessalonians 2 to be fulfilled in AD 70 – for example Doug’s colleagues and co-authors Ken Gentry and Keith Mathison takes Nero to be the man of lawlessness and the coming of the Lord here to have occurred in AD 70.  However, since Doug sees the connection between the coming of the Lord and the end of the millennium, he must place it in the future.  On the other hand, you have Keith Mathison, their editor, in When Shall These Things Be? who takes the coming of Christ in “fire” and “eternal destruction” of 1 Thessalonians 1:8-9 and with “the breath of his mouth” of 2 Thessalonians 2:8 to be fulfilled in AD 70.  Again, (nothing to see here folks keep walking) this places the end of the millennium at Christ’s coming in AD 70!

In Revelation 20, Satan “deceives the nations” by using false prophets and Zealots to provoke the Romans and eventually pervert the priestly class by installing Phannias Ben Samuel as the High Priest.  In my opinion, Phannias would have been a more appropriate candidate to serve as the man of lawlessness / son of perdition.  With the Zealots and false prophets, he continued to deceive the Jews into fighting the Romans, which resulted in their defeat and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

Is it possible to identify the “restrainer”?  Is it possible that it was Theophilus the former High Priest?  Before Phannias, the priests opposed the Zealots and the people going to war with the Romans.  Due to the removal of the previous priesthood, lawlessness, abominations, and rebellion could continue in the temple under Phannias, who functioned as a puppet of the Zealot leader Eleazar Anaias.  In spite of the fact that both men sat in the temple, the high priest was the authority figure, the representative of the people, and the authority figure.

Furthermore, Phannias was “killed” as a result of Christ’s coming in AD 70 (2 Thess. 2:8) and thus witnessed the Lord appear on the clouds (through the Roman armies to burn their city and temple Mt. 22:7) along with the other priesthood members referred to by Jesus in Matthew 26:62-65.  It is estimated that a significant number of those present to hear Jesus’ words died before AD 70, some at His coming at the fall of the temple in AD 70, and others were enslaved throughout the Roman Empire after AD 70.

Whatever one believes was true about the man of lawlessness or the restrainer, the text makes it abundantly clear that both men were alive at the time Paul wrote because the Thessalonians knew who the “he” (the restrainer) was who was “now” (in Paul’s day) restraining “him” (the man of lawlessness).

The “Beast” and “666” Figure

Because so many have been ensnared in sensationalist newspaper eschatology and are thinking right now, “yeah, but what about the beast and 666 figure(?)” I will touch briefly on this subject:

(1)  666 Cryptogram (Rev. 13):  The Hebrew spelling of Nero Caesar (Nrwn Qsr נרון קסר) “calculates” to (n = 50; r = 200; w = 6; n = 50; q = 100; s = 60; r = 200) = 666.

(2)  Seven Heads/Kings = Seven Mountains/Hills (Rev. 13 & 17):  Rome was symbolized by its seven hills, which were the seven hills of Rome.  According to John, five of the seven kings have fallen or have previously died when he is writing (Julius 49 – 44 BC, Augustus 31 BC – 14 AD, Tiberius 14 – 37 AD, Gaius 37 – 41 AD, and Claudius 41 – 54 AD).  In his view, the present one is now in existence (the sixth being Nero from 54 to 68 AD), and the seventh’s (Galba’s) reign will only last for 8 months (68 – 69 AD).  The Roman Empire appears to have come to an end after Nero’s death – with several civil wars erupting, yet the Empire recovered and was revived (13:3, 7).

(3)  10 horns (Rev. 13): Rome was divided into 10 provinces making up the Empire: Italy, Achaia, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Germany.

(4)  3 ½ Years:  Nero / Rome persecuted the Christians and engaged in a war with the Jews for 42 months or 3 ½ years – from Nov. AD 64 – June AD 68 (13:5).  The official war was also 3 ½ years from AD 67 – AD 70.

(5)  Taking the Mark of the Beast (Rev. 13): If one did not take the mark of the beast (that is acknowledge or engage in Emperor worship) or Nero was the “son of god” (“we have no king but Caesar”), Rome made the buying and the selling of goods difficult and often times put dissenters to death for not making this declaration.   

(6)  The Great City/Babylon = Harlot (Rev. 11; 17-19):  Israel that rejects Her Messiah/Groom is “the Great City” or “Harlot” “where the Lord was crucified” who sits on or rides the Beast/Rome (Rev. 11:8, chapters 17-18).  She is responsible for the murder of the OT Prophets, Christ, and the Apostles.  It was customary to stone or burn an adulterous wife or daughter of a priest.  It is noteworthy that Jerusalem was both stoned (Rome sent boulders weighing 100 pounds over the walls) and burned (cf. Mt. 22:7).

(7)  Battle of Armageddon or Gog & Magog “THE War” (Rev. 16; 19; 20):  During AD 67, the Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem (including men from Italy, Achaia, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Germany).  “The end” of the Old Covenant age (not world history) would occur “when” “the power of the holy people would be shattered” over a period of 3 1/2 years (Daniel 12:7).  When the Roman armies encircled Jerusalem, the Christians fled to Pella, just as Jesus prophesied and instructed (Lk. 21:20-32; Rev. 12).

(8)  Inspired Time Frame:  The book of Revelation was addressing past, present and things that were “about to be” fulfilled “shortly” “soon” and “at hand” with “no more delay” in John’s lifetime and those of his contemporaries (Rev. 1:1—22:20).  Jesus’ teaching and that of the NT likewise predicted the Second Coming and all of these events would be fulfilled in the lifetime and generation of the first century Church (cf. Mt. 10:17-23; Mt. 16:27-28; Mt. 24:34; Mt. 26:62-65; Acts 24:15YLT; Rms. 13:11-12; Rms. 16:20; Jms. 5:7-9; 1 Pet. 4:5-7; Heb. 10:37; 13:14YLT).       

The Anti-Christ

 Many confuse the Man of Lawlessness being in the First Century temple here in 2 Thessalonians 2 with an alleged evil “Anti-Christ” figure.  John in 1 John mentions there were many “antichrists” that were First Century Judaizers and not one specific individual.

The Resurrection & Catching Away of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

After doing all the preliminary background and exegetical work we have arrived at one of the most critical and yet misunderstood passages of our day—the so-called “rapture” passage.  Most Evangelical Zionists believe this passage applies to our generation and teaches Christ going to ride a literal cloud and cause them to fly off the planet earth sometime “really soon” before leaving the world with a Great Tribulation and WWIII to go through.

We have many issues to address in unpacking these three verses.  Is Paul teaching the Thessalonians would be alive to witness Christ’s coming as we saw Jesus teaching the Gospels?  Would it be a spiritual and internal event as we saw in Luke 17:20-37?  Is Paul using common apocalyptic and symbolic language that Jesus uses to describe His coming in the Gospels?  Are there other eschatological motifs connected to Christ’s coming here such as the wedding motif and or type and anti-type references that may also help us identify when and how this passage is to be fulfilled?  Is it possible that the dead here are raised spiritually out of Hades or Abrahams bosom in AD 70 as Partial Preterists James Jordan interprets Daniel 12:2-3, 13 and Matthew 24:30-31 and was a Jewish view of the resurrection?

The Dispensational Zionist view of the “rapture” and resurrection  

Premillennial Zionists claim there are two future physical resurrections, one before the thousand year millennial period and another after that period.  However, Daniel and Jesus teach that there is only one judgment / resurrection / separation for both believers and unbelievers at the end of the old covenant age – in Daniel 12, Matthew 13, Matthew 24, and John 5.

Unfortunately, Pre-tribulation Zionists also believe there are two different comings or two phases of one coming separated by seven years. They give two main arguments for this.

The alleged distinction of Christ coming “for” the Church in a “rapture” v. Him coming “with” the saints at His second coming

The first “argument” is that Christ must come in a secret rapture “for” Christians separated by seven years. After this, the Second Coming is fulfilled when Christ comes “with” the Church.  The “rapture” coming is for the Church while the Second Coming is for Israel to fulfill and bring God’s kingdom and millennial promises for her to earth.

The second “argument” is that the Second Coming is a “sign-less” coming while the “rapture” could happen at any time. Mark Hitchcock presents this “argument”:

“The rapture is an imminent, signless event, which, from the human perspective, could occur at any moment.  But in contrast, the Second Coming will be preceded by many signs (see Matthew 24:1-29).  The same event cannot logically be both signless and yet portended by numerous signs.  This is flatly contradictory.”[13]

And, looking for support, he appeals to John MacArthur:

“Scripture suggests that the Second Coming occurs in two stages—first the Rapture, when He comes for His saints and they are caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17), and second, His return to earth, when He comes with His saints (Jude 14) to execute judgment on His enemies.  Daniel’s seventieth week must fall between those two events.  That is the only scenario that reconciles the immanency of Christ’s coming for His saints with the yet unfulfilled signs that signal His final glorious return with the saints.”[14]

First, let me address the treatment of New Testament “imminency” given by my former pastor and college president, John MacArthur.  Sadly, MacArthur’s attempt at explaining New Testament imminence was not only an embarrassment to the Church on an exegetical level, but it was also an embarrassment in response to liberal skeptics, Muslims and Jewish Zionists.[15]

MacArthur provided no Greek word study on the various words the New Testament uses for Christ’s imminent “rapture” or Second Coming. He admits that Paul taught under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Christ could have come at any time for Paul and his contemporaries, and this is indeed what Paul was expecting for his contemporaries and thus those living in his generation.[16]  Apparently it hasn’t dawned on MacArthur that if Paul was inspired and believed and taught that Christ’s coming would take place within the lifetime of some of his contemporaries, then Paul was a false prophet!  Paul does not give us his opinion on when he thought Christ would return. He gives us divine revelation that Christ would come within some of the lifetimes of his contemporaries – as Jesus did (as we have seen in Mt. 10:22-23; 16:27-28; Mt. 26:62-64).

MacArthur, like many Dispensational Zionists, believes the coming of Christ was just as imminent in the first century as it is today, and oddly concludes his section on an “imminence” in the NT (that isn’t really imminent at all) by writing, “I suppose it is also possible that Christ could delay His coming another 2,000 years or longer.”[17]

Something cannot be truly imminent and “delayed” at the same time.  This of course is the exact opposite of the Greek and English languages and position of the Biblical testimony of Christ coming in “a very little while” and that He “would not delay” (Heb. 10:37).

Premillennial Zionists have a very hard time explaining how the “rapture” or the Second Coming events were truly imminent for the first century Christians since the temple had not been destroyed in AD 70 when Paul was writing, let alone another alleged “re-built” one.  But perhaps we should back up even further. How could they have expected a truly imminent coming of Christ if, in the Zionist view, the gospel had not been preached throughout the entire globe?  Or when Paul was writing, the Jews being scattered throughout the world, let alone being re-gathered in unbelief in 1948, hadn’t even taken place or wasn’t even close to being fulfilled.

Since all of these events are necessary to take place before the “rapture” or Second Coming could be fulfilled, how can MacArthur even pretend to say that the “rapture” was “imminent” and therefore Paul and his contemporaries expected it to happen?   Perhaps MacArthur’s explanation of New Testament imminence should be equivalent to what he has to say about Charismatics speaking in “tongues” today — just plain, unbiblical “gibberish.”

Now let’s address the two arguments concerning signs and no signs and Christ coming for the saints versus His coming with the saints.

First, there is no “contradiction” in Christ coming “with” the dead saints that He just raised out of Hades (and coming with the angels) “for” the living, whereby they would both reside in the kingdom and God’s presence.  The view that there is a seven-year gap between these two comings of Christ is no less heretical and unbiblical than the Partial Preterist view which sees thousands of years between two comings of Christ (one in AD 70 and another at the end of world history), or that of the Jehovah Witnesses for that matter!  The idea that Jesus in the Olivet Discourse, or Paul in 1 and 2 Thessalonians (or the New Testament in general), teaches two different comings of Christ separated by seven or seven thousand years is nothing but pure eisegesis and created out of thin air to uphold their eschatological system.

Secondly, both Dispensational Zionists and Partial Preterists make a distinction in Matthew 24 and Thessalonians that is not present when it comes to a “coming of Christ preceded by signs” versus another one “without signs.”  And to that subject we turn our attention.

Matthew 24:37-51 

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.  But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 24:37-51).

Let’s review the Zionist Pre-tribulationalist and Partial Preterist “arguments” that this section allegedly proves two different comings of Christ.

Early founders of Dispensational Zionist eschatology, such as John Nelson Darby and William E. Blackstone, back as early as 1925 cited Matthew 24:36-42 as arguing for the rapture, so we will add it here for their two-coming theory-

A Dispensational Zionist view:   

Signs mentioned, so this is the        Second Coming	No signs mentioned, so this must be the secret “rapture” 7 years before the Second Coming
(1) Matthew 24:27-31	(1) Matthew 24:36-42
(2) Luke 17:20-37 / Luke 21:25-28	(2) 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Even though these “prophecy experts” tell you the rapture is signless, you will constantly hear them tell you since you are seeing all the signs being fulfilled in the news, the “rapture” is imminent.

It used to be the dominant view that those who were “taken” in Matthew 24:40-41 was referring to the rapture.  Now men like Mark Hitchcock understand the ones that are “taken” are taken for judgment.[18]  Of course many were taken for judgment and made slaves throughout the Roman Empire.

A Partial Preterist view: 

Signs mentioned, Christ’s spiritual coming in AD 70	No signs mentioned, future physical   Second Coming
(1) Matthew 24:3-34	(1) Matthew 24:36ff.
(2) Luke 17:20-37	(2) Luke 17:20-37

It is always humorous to watch these two views attack and debate each other over the Olivet Discourse and Luke 17 and try to explain which verses are referring to AD 70, which verses are Second Coming verses, and which ones could or shouldn’t be “rapture” verses distinct from Second Coming verses.  What a mess!  Some Dispensationalists think Matthew 24:36-42 is the Second Coming while others think it’s the secret rapture.  Some Partial Preterists think Luke 17:20-37 is referring to Christ coming spiritually in AD 70 while others think it’s a future Second Coming event.  It’s like the blind leading the blind.  There is no consistency and thus no real answer to the Bible skeptic, Talmudic skeptic or Muslim.  But that’s all changing!

On the issue of trying to make a distinction in the Matthew 24-25 between two comings of Jesus if signs are mentioned or not is ridiculous!  Is it not possible that Jesus is done emphasizing the sign aspect to the disciple’s question in Matthew 24:36ff.?  And is it even true that the subject is completely gone in this later section?  Jesus tells the disciples to be diligent, to stay awake and be “watchful.”  Watchful for what if not for the signs He mentioned earlier?  And if this period is marked by the example of Noah, then I think building an ark was a sign for Noah’s time was it not?

With this as a confusing background lets now move forward with a very simple and exegetically sound approach to 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

First, Paul is consistently teaching one second coming event in 1-2 Thessalonians just as Jesus taught throughout the Gospels.  We agree with Classic Amillennialist here.

Secondly, like Jesus in the Gospels, Paul uses common Hebraic apocalyptic language to describe Christ’s second coming.  Most Partial Preterists apply this hermeneutic to virtually every coming of the Lord passage in the Gospels and here in 1-2 Thessalonians with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 being the alleged exception to the rule.

Lastly, both Jesus and Paul taught that the resurrection of the dead event was an event whereby souls were raised out of Hades or Abraham’s bosom to be in God’s presence at Christ’s coming to close out the old covenant age.  Likewise, the living would experience a joyful covenantal corporate bodily change whereby they became the sacred space of the new covenant kingdom of God at Christ’s parousia in AD 70.  Partial Preterists see this happening in AD 70 but are afraid to apply that here in 1 Thessalonians 4.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17  

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:15-17).

A day was approaching when Christ would deliver believers from their persecutions and pour out His wrath upon their persecutors (1 Thess. 1:10; cf. 2 Thess. 1:6–7). When that day came, the Lord descended from heaven with a word of command (or “a shout”), with an archangelic voice, and with a trumpet call of God; and the dead in Christ rose.  Then the living in Christ and the dead in Christ were simultaneously “caught up” in “clouds” to “a meeting of the Lord in the air.”

Since the cloud-covered mountain is not literal, but is heavenly, neither then was the meeting that took place in the heavenly mountain (i.e., in the clouds in the air) literal.  Therefore, the shout, voice, trumpet, mountain, cloud, and meeting of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 are all spiritual antitypes of the literal shout, voice, trumpet, mountain, cloud, and meeting of Exodus 19 and 20 (Heb. 12:18–22).

Since Exodus 19-24 serves as a type of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, we notice a number of important points.  According to James Jordan in his book, Through New Eyes, Mount Sinai served as Israel’s tabernacle or temple and served as a model for the structure of the tabernacle and temple.

The Courtyard – In the tabernacle / temple area, the courtyard was where the average Jew could offer sacrifices at the bronze altar and worship.  It corresponds to the area where the Israelites gathered at Mount Sinai’s base.

The Holy Place – The average priest had access not only to the courtyard, but also to the Holy Place.  Despite being able to advance to this area, he was unable to enter the Most Holy Place.  We see the seventy elders of Israel eating and dining with God here, amid the mountain but not at the top.

The Most Holy Place – The Most Holy Place was only accessible to the High Priest once a year.  The glory cloud presence of God rested above the ark of the covenant in this location. When Moses ascended to the top of the mountain to meet with God face to face and receive the revelation of the old covenant law, he was acting as Israel’s High Priest.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and 2 Corinthians 3, Paul is communicating that this was a type.  At the top of the cloud-covered mountain, Moses was able to enter the Most Holy Place, where God was present.  The old covenant system, however, provided him and Israel with a temporary glory. Between AD 30 – 70 there was an “increasing” new covenant age of glory and the old covenant veil of the old covenant age was gradually being lifted away from God’s people.  As a corporate body of new covenant kings and priests, we have ascended into God’s presence and the Most Holy Place on Mount Zion. Christ and His kingdom have manifested themselves on our hearts through the revelation of the new covenant.  The Church has been raised and was feasting with God at His wedding feast at Christ’s parousia in AD 70.

What we have then in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 is the “rapturously” metaphorical language of a prophet who is speaking of antitypical, spiritual realities —the transcendent profundities of Christological glory in and among the saints in the consummation of the ages.  If this sounds like an over-spiritualization, it shouldn’t. The Lord Jesus Himself was opposed to a literal removal of the church out of the world:

“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

The “rapture” passage is no more literal than the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:4–14.  In that passage, God caused a valley full of dry bones to come together.  He attached tendons to them and put skin on them. Then He caused the bodies to breathe and they stood on their feet as a vast army. The bones represented the house of Israel.  They were hopelessly cut off from the land, and were said to be in “graves.” As God had done for the dry bones, He was going to do for the house of Israel.

In the same way, in 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17, God raised up His church —the first fruits of the resurrection harvest— which was anxiously longing for the consummation of redemption and atonement.  As a mighty warrior, the Lord issued forth his shout of command and sounded the trumpet of God. Then His spiritual army arose by His power.  They met Him on His way to His temple to judge the enemies in His kingdom (Mal. 3:1). That is when God afflicted the persecutors of His church, when He gave His people relief and glorified Himself in them (2 Thess. 1:8–10).

Being revealed with Christ in glory (Col. 3:4) and becoming like Him and seeing Him in His Parousia (1 Jn. 3:2) had nothing to do with escaping physical death or with being literally caught up into the literal sky or with being biologically changed.  It had to do with God’s people, living and dead, being “gathered together” to become His eternal tabernacle, His spiritual body, the new man, the heavenly Mount Zion, and the New Jerusalem in the Spirit. “This mystery is great” (Eph. 5:32), and is therefore communicated in the accommodative “sign language” of prophetic metaphor.

Since our Lord came “with His saints” and destroyed the earthly temple in AD 70 (Heb. 9:8), the church of all ages lives and reigns in glory with Him forever (Rom. 6:8; 2 Cor. 13:4; 2 Tim. 2:11–12). Now whether we are alive or asleep, we “live together with Him” (1 Thess. 5:10).  This was not the case in the OT, when to die was to be cut off from the people of God.  As Paul says in Romans 14:8–9, “…whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”  

“According to the Lord’s own word” (4:15)

Reformed theologian G.K. Beale agrees with Full Preterism on two issues here.  First, he agrees that Paul is using recapitulation between 1 Thessalonians 4-5 (or that both chapters describe the same coming of Christ and eschatological event).  Secondly, he agrees with us that Paul is drawing from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24:

“…1 Thess. 4:15-17 describes generally the same end-time scenario as 1 Thess. 5:1-11.  Specifically, Paul narrates the resurrection at the end of the age and then recapitulates in chapter 5 by speaking about the timing of this event and about the judgment on unbelievers, which will also happen at the same time.  That both 4:15-18 and 5:1-11 explain the same events is discernible from observing that both passages actually form one continuous depiction of the same narrative in Matthew 24,…”[19]

As I have previously demonstrated, Jesus used recapitulation in Matthew 24-25.  In Matthew 24:30-31, Jesus’ coming is describing the gathering or resurrection of believers.  In Matthew 25:31-46, His coming includes a judgment (and thus resurrection) for the unbelieving dead as well.  So, it should not surprise us that Paul is using recapitulation here to connect 1 Thessalonians 4-5.  In 4:16-17 the emphasis on His coming is the resurrection of believers.  In chapter 5 His coming includes the judgment for unbelievers.  One has to be blind not to notice what Beale and Full Preterists see:

“…both passages [1 Thess. 4-5] actually form one continuous depiction of the same narrative in Matthew 24…”[20]

And yet one has to be equally blind not to notice that Jesus’ places this coming in His generation, and this is why Paul is teaching that Christ would come in the lifetime of his contemporaries.

Beale goes on to connect 1 Thessalonians 4-5 with Matthew 24:

“Other significant parallels include: the use of the word Parousia for Christ’s coming; reference to Christ’s advent as “that day” (Mt. 24:36) or “the day of the Lord” (1 Thess. 5:2); and a description of someone coming to “meet” another (eis apantesin autou, virgins coming out to “meet” the bridegroom in Mt. 25:6; eis apantesin tou kyriou, believers “meeting” the Lord in 1 Thess. 4:17; see further Waterman 1975).”[21]

Once again, the eschatological time of the wedding creates problems for Pre-tribulational Zionists or Partial Preterists.  How many eschatological weddings are there?

In the Reformed Study Bible edited by Partial Preterists R.C. Sproul and Keith Mathison, we learn this of the connections between Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

“But the language of Matt. 24:31 is parallel to passages like 13:41; 16:27; and 25:31 [passages which Postmillennialists such as Mathison and DeMar say were fulfilled in AD 70], as well as to passages such as 1 Cor. 15:52 and 1 Thess. 4:14-17.  The passage most naturally refers to the Second Coming.”

This is more than a bit odd since R.C. Sproul and Keith Mathison believe and teach that the coming of Christ in Matthew 24:27-30 (and Matthew 25:31) was spiritually fulfilled in AD 70 – and yet we learn in their own Study Bible that these passages “most naturally refer to the Second Coming”!

John Murray, appealing to the “analogy of faith” principle of interpretation in examining Matthew 24:30-31, also connects it to the same event as Paul teaches us here:

“There is ample allusion to the sound of the trumpet and to the ministry of angels elsewhere in the New Testament in connection with Christ’s advent (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16).  Hence verse 31 can most readily be taken to refer to the gathering of the elect at the resurrection.”[22]

Let’s once again get the visual of what Beale, Murray and The Reformation Bible are seeing that we do too:

If A (Matthew 24) is	= B (1 Thessalonians 4-5)
Christ returns from heaven (24:30)	Christ returns from heaven (4:16)
With the voice of an archangel (24:31)	With the voice of an archangel (4:16)
With the trumpet of God (24:31)	With the trumpet of God (4:16)
Gathered together with Christ (24:31)	Gathered together with Christ (4:17)

And if B (1 Thessalonians 4) is	= C (1 Corinthians 15)
The dead are raised (4:16)	The dead are raised (15:52)
Living believers are changed (4:17)	Living believers are changed (15:51)
At Christ’s parousia (4:15)	At Christ’s parousia (15:23)
At the trumpet (4:16)	At the trumpet (15:52)

And A (Matthew 24/Parallels) is	= C (1 Corinthians 15)
Christ to come (Greek: parousia) (24:27)	Christ to come (Greek: parousia) (15:23)
His people to be gathered (24:31)	His people to be changed (15:22)
To come with the sound of a trumpet (24:31)	To come with the sound of a trumpet (15:52))
The end” (Greek telos, the goal) (24:3, 14)	The end” (Greek telos, the goal) (15:24)
Kingdom consummation               (Lk. 21:30-32)	Kingdom consummation                  (Lk. 21:30-32)
All prophecy fulfilled at this point   (Lk. 21:22)	All prophecy fulfilled at this point (15:54-55)
Temple the symbol of OC destroyed (24:1)	Victory over “the Law” (15:55-56)
Same contemporary “you” or “we” (24:2ff.)	Same contemporary “you” or “we” (15:51-52)

 

Two or More Things that are Equal to Another Thing are Also Equal to Each Other

A Matthew 24 =	B 1 Thessalonians 4 =	1 Corinthians 15
At His coming (Greek: parousia) (24:27-31)	At His coming (Greek: parousia (4:15-17)	At His coming (Greek:  parousia)  (15:23)
At the trumpet (24:31)	At the trumpet (4:16)	At the trumpet (15:52)
Dead raised, all gathered (24:31)	Dead raised (4:16)	Dead raised (15:35-44)
All living gathered (24:31; cf. 13:39-43)	Living caught together to Him (4:17)	Status of living changed (15:51)

We readily and clearly can see that Paul is following Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse, but we can also see and agree with the partial preterist that the coming of Christ and gathering of the elect are spiritual events fulfilled in Jesus’ contemporary “this generation.”

“…WE who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord…” (v. 16) 

If I were to say, “We who live long enough to see the year 2030,” there is no reason to think that I would be assuming that I myself would be among the living in 2030.  My only assumption would be that some of us today would be alive in 2030.  In the same way, Paul’s words imply only that he knew that some of his contemporaries would still be alive when Christ returned, as Christ Himself promised would be the case in Matthew 16:27–28; 24:34.

According to some partial preterists, all of Paul’s “we,” “you,” and “our” statements in 1 and 2 Thessalonians refer to Paul’s own first-century audience and address Christ’s coming in AD 70—except for the statements in 1 Thessalonians 4 (“the rapture”).  These men magically decide that “we” in 1 Thessalonians 4 means something other than what it means everywhere else in 1 and 2 Thessalonians.  Suddenly in chapter 4, “we” includes Christians who potentially will not be alive for a million years from today.  Now let us move on from arbitrary constructs of partial preterism to a biblical look at “the rapture” passage, 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven…” (v. 16) 

How had God described His “coming down from heaven” to “reveal Himself” (2 Thess. 2:7) and “rescue” (1 Thess. 1:10) His people being persecuted in the past?  Notice how David describes God coming down from heaven to rescue him from his enemies:

“In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.  The earth trembled and quaked (literally?), and the foundations of the mountains shook (literally?); they trembled because he was angry.  Smoke rose from his nostrils (literally?); consuming fire came from his mouth (remember 2 Thess. 1:7 – Jesus is “revealed from heaven in blazing fire…”), burning coals blazed out of it.  He parted the heavens and came down (literally?); dark clouds were under his feet.  He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.  He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.  Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced (literally?), with hailstones and bolts of lightning.  The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded (a literal voice?).  He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.  The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare (literally?) at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.  He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.  He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me” (Ps. 18:6-17).

Christ is coming here in 1 Thessalonains 4:16-17 as God had come from heaven and on the clouds in the Old Testament, as can be seen in an exegesis of the Olivet Discourse. According to some partial preterists, the coming of Christ in Matthew 24-25 was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70 using common apocalyptic language.  Accordingly, if the Church accepts Paul’s teaching that Christ will come here in 1 Thessalonians 4-5 is the same event described by Jesus in Matthew 24-25, it is not difficult to understand that Paul is also referring to the same apocalyptic language of the prophets and that 1 Thessalonians 4-5 will also be fulfilled in AD 70.

In fact, NT Wright comes very close to admitting that all of the language of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is common apocalyptic language:

“Unfortunately it [the language of 1 Thess. 4:16] is also a highly contentious passage, being used with astonishing literalness in popular fundamentalism and critical scholarship alike to suggest that Paul envisaged Christians flying around in mid-air on clouds.  The multiple apocalyptic resonances of the passage on the one hand, and its glorious mixed metaphors on the other, make this interpretation highly unlikely.”[23]

We agree with Mr. Wright that Paul is using common apocalyptic language.  Nonetheless, it is not figurative language of a physical resurrection at the end of history, but rather of a spiritual resurrection through which souls are raised from Hades to God’s presence, and the presence of God “meeting” the living within their hearts on earth (cf. Lk. 17:20-37).  If it is agreed by the partial preterist that the language of Jesus in Matthew 24:30-31 is describing Christ’s non-literal coming, on non-literal clouds, with a non-literal trumpet sound, and that the “gathering” is an inward resurrection of giving eternal life that the gospel produces (no biological change), while others correctly see Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 to be the same event, then we suggest the “catching away” for the living is not into physical clouds (as Wright admits), but is God producing the consummative giving of His presence and of eternal life to His saints while here on earth.

We agree with the scholarship of G.K. Beale who correctly understands the gathering of the elect at the end of the age in Matthew 24:3, 30-31 in his commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians is the resurrection event:

“Paul’s particular combination of references from Matthew 24 shows that he interprets the whole of the Matthean text as referring to woes preceding the final coming of Christ (and though Matthew does not explicitly mention the idea of resurrection, he implies it in the phrase “gather his elect” in 24:31, which implies the gathering of all believers, both living and dead).”[24]

However, this creates a “thorny problem” for Beale when he begins leaning in the direction of a partial preterism in a more recent work where he writes:

“…it is likely better to see [Matt. 24:30]…fulfilled not at the very end of history but rather in AD 70 at the destruction of Jerusalem, in which the Son of Man’s coming would be understood as an invisible coming in judgment, using the Roman armies as his agent.”[25]

According to Beale, taking the coming of Christ as described in Matthew 24:27 or verse 30 creates a “thorny problem” that requires “further study.”  He was given a copy of our second edition of House Divided and was informed that our exegesis of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 resolves the “thorny problem” he has created.  Beale’s “thorny problem” is simply a microcosm of the larger issue facing the Futurist Church.

“Gathered up” (Greek harpazo) (v. 17)

The NCV translates harpazo as “gathered up,” thus giving it a theological and parallel connection to the eschatological gathering of Matthew 13:39-43, Matthew 24:30-31 & 2 Thessalonians 2:1.  Other translations render it “snatched away” or “will be seized.”

Harpazo means to “take one’s plunder openly and violently, catch or snatch away.” Sometimes it is addressing someone being pulled, snatched away or rescued by someone from an enemy.  But is 1 Thessalonians 4:17 discussing an inward spiritual rescuing into Christ’s glory cloud presence and kingdom or an outward and upward catching away into physical clouds in the sky and a biological change?

Here are some very clear uses of harpazo being an inward spiritual event:

(1) Matthew 11:12 – “the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing (Christ casting out demons openly and publicly taking Satan’s plunder), and (in return) the forceful men (believers) lay hold of it” (harpazo – through faith, vigor, power, and determination in light of present persecution – such as in the case of John).  People were violently laying hold of the kingdom through having faith (a spiritual and inward reality).

(2)  Matthew 12:29 – Satan was “bound” and Christ was “carrying away” (harpazo) his plunder, which were people that were rightfully His who were held captive by Satan and demons.  But how was He doing this?  It was by casting out demons (an inward spiritual reality), and in some cases actually giving faith to these individuals to follow him (again an inward spiritual reality).

(3) Matthew 13:19 – In the parable of the sower, the wicked one comes and snatches away (harpazo) what was sown in his heart (again, an inner spiritual reality).

(4) John 10:12 – The wolf (Pharisees, sons of Satan) sought to snatch (harpazo) and scatter the sheep/ people of Israel.  How did the Pharisees seek to “snatch” and “scatter” the Jews from following Jesus?  The first phase involved seeking to deceive them in their hearts and minds (an inward snatching) by convincing them that He was not the Christ by perverting the Scriptures and accusing Him of having a demon, etc.  The second phase was a physical excommunication or scattering of Christians from their synagogues.

(5) John 10:28-29 – Anyone who has faith in Jesus cannot be “snatched” (harpazo) out of the Father’s hand.  That is, he cannot be influenced (snatched inwardly) in his or her mind and heart to leave God.  Like Peter, “Where else can we go, Lord? You alone have the words to eternal life.”  The gift of faith is spiritually preserved in the heart and soul of the believer.  He cannot be deceived to the point of committing the sin unto death (1 Jn. 3:9). Again, this is an inner spiritual reality of the heart/mind/soul of man.

(6) Acts 8:39 – This simply means that the Holy Spirit directed Philip in His heart and mind (inwardly) to go elsewhere and the Eunuch did not see him again.  There’s nothing in the text to support the idea that Philip was “raptured” into the atmosphere and was then instantly dropped off miles and miles away from where he was.

The eschatological “already” of the inward kingdom gathering and catching away was spiritual, and the eschatological “gathering” and “catching away” in the kingdom at Christ’s return would also be a spiritual event in AD 70.  In Luke 17:20-37 and Luke 21:27-32, Jesus said when the kingdom would come at His return as “the day light” “shining from east to west” (to gather all His elect Mt. 24:27-31), it would be an experience to occur “within” an individual and not something that could be seen with the physical eyes.

The inward realm of redemption or catching away is further evident from a study of the next two words, “clouds” and “air.”

“…in the clouds…” (v. 17)

 Many partial preterists are correct to see Christ coming on the clouds in Matthew 24:30-3 and God coming on the clouds in the Old Testament, being common apocalyptic language and not referring to physical clouds we see in the sky.  And again, this being the anti-type to the physical cloud covering type of Exodus 19-24, we can see how this is readily a spiritual fulfillment using apocalyptic language.  Here are a few passages where God comes on or with the clouds:

a).  Ps. 18:6-17:  As we saw earlier, God came in/on “clouds” and “took hold” of David and “drew him out of deep waters.”  God did not come on a physical cloud and thus David was not drawn into God’s literal hand or into a literal cloud that he rode on.

b).  Ezek. 30:3:  God rode on the clouds (through Nebuchadnezzar) to judge Egypt, and this judgment was “near.” God did not come on a literal cloud, but His judgment was literally “near” and commentators disagree about when it would occur (between 1-18 years – but this is still within the lifetime of the prophet and his contemporaries).  As in the New Testament, God coming on clouds is figurative, while “near” is literal and fulfilled within the prophet’s contemporary audience.

c). Zeph. 1:7, 15: In this case, the “day of the Lord is at hand” and was inflicted upon Judah by the Babylonians.  In addition, it was also described as “a day of wrath” and “a day of clouds.” The clouds were symbolic, but God’s coming was literally “at hand.” John Gill places the judgment within three to four years.  Again, this is consistent with NT prophecy, that God appearing on or in clouds is figurative language of a historical judgment that He will come through armies (Assyrians, Babylonians, or Romans) and the time texts are to be taken literally and fulfilled within the prophet’s lifetime.

The clouds are symbolic of God’s judgment, deliverance, power, presence, and where he gives revelation.  Accordingly, as the dead will be raised from Adamic death and will enjoy God’s presence (represented by a cloud), the living will also be delivered and will be able to enjoy eternal life and God’s presence.

As we examine Exodus 19-24 as a type of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, we notice a number of important points.  According to James Jordan in his book, Through New Eyes, Mount Sinai served as Israel’s tabernacle or temple and served as a model for the structure of the tabernacle and temple.

The Courtyard – In the tabernacle / temple area, the courtyard was where the average Jew could offer sacrifices at the bronze altar and worship.  It corresponds to the area where the Israelites gathered at Mount Sinai’s base.

The Holy Place – The average priest had access not only to the courtyard, but also to the Holy Place.  Despite being able to advance to this area, he was unable to enter the Most Holy Place.  We see the seventy elders of Israel eating and dining with God here, amid the mountain but not at the top.

The Most Holy Place – The Most Holy Place was only accessible to the High Priest once a year.  The glory cloud presence of God rested above the ark of the covenant in this location. When Moses ascended to the top of the mountain to meet with God face to face and receive the revelation of the old covenant law, he was acting as Israel’s High Priest.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and 2 Corinthians 3, Paul is communicating that this was a type.  At the top of the cloud-covered mountain, Moses was able to enter the Most Holy Place, where God was present.  The old covenant system, however, provided him and Israel with a temporary glory. Between AD 30 – 70 there was an “increasing” new covenant age of glory and the old covenant veil of the old covenant age was gradually being lifted away from God’s people.  As a corporate body of new covenant kings and priests, we have ascended into God’s presence and the Most Holy Place on Mount Zion. Christ and His kingdom have manifested themselves on our hearts through the revelation of the new covenant.  The Church has been raised and was feasting with God at His wedding feast at Christ’s parousia in AD 70.

Continuing with this wedding motif, we now turn our attention to the Greek word “meet” (apantesin).

To “meet” the Lord… (v. 17) 

The word “meet” (Greek apantesin) refers to wedding terminology and in eschatological contexts, it is only found twice in the New Testament, here and in Matthew 25:1-13 (which some Partial Preterists believe was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70).  All of these elements, together with the sound of a “trumpet”, at an “hour and day” that is only known to the Father, are emblematic of Jewish and the Messianic wedding.

At Jewish betrothals and weddings, only the father knew the exact time and date of the wedding.  When the virgin and her bridesmaids were not expecting it, he would have the groomsmen blow a trumpet ahead of the groom.  It was customary for the groom to consummate his marriage sexually at the virgin’s father’s house before taking her to his father’s house, where they would continue consummating the union for seven days and have the wedding feast.  The following are parallels with the Messianic wedding motif:

Matthew 24:36, 25:1-13	1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
(1) Christ comes as the Groom at the sound of a “trumpet” (24:30-31)	(1) Christ comes as the Groom at the sound of a “trumpet” (4:16)
(2) Christ comes to “meet” (Greek apantesin) the bride during a “day and hour” “only known by the Father” (24:30-31; 36; 25:6, 13)	(2) Christ comes to “meet” (Greek apantesin) His bride (4:17)

In the previous chapter, Paul had already introduced to the Thessalonians the Messianic wedding motif:

“May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes [as the Groom] with all his holy ones” (1 Thess. 3:13).

“Blameless” or “spotless”

The Thessalonians would be blameless (or “spotless”) and holy at Christ’s parousia.  Paul is using the eschatological marriage motif here of blameless / holy – without spot.  Keith Mathison writes of this passage in connection with the resurrection:

“Paul teaches that all believers will be resurrected at Christ’s second coming (1 Cor. 15:23).  He teaches that all believers will be presented as a spotless bride at that time (Eph. 5:25-27; cf. 1 Thess. 3:13).”[26]

Just as the coming of Christ from heaven to “snatch” or rescue the Thessalonians to Christ of 1 Thessalonians 1:10 was parallel to the coming of Christ upon the clouds to “catch” away the Thessalonians to Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, so are the wedding parallels in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

1 Thessalonians 3:13	1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
(1)  Christ would “come” (Greek parousia) from heaven for His “spotless,” “blameless,”and “holy” bride (1 Thess. 3:13)	(1)  Christ would “come” (Greek parousia) for His bride and to“meet” her at the“sound of a trumpet” (1 Thess. 4:15-17)

However, as usual, partial preterists have a hard time agreeing on what passages are about the coming of the Lord in AD 70 and which ones are allegedly going to be fulfilled at the end of world history.  For example, unlike Mathison, Gary DeMar admits that 1 Thessalonians 3:13 was fulfilled in AD 70.  So, if 1 Thessalonians 3:13 is a wedding parousia / resurrection text inseparably connected to Isaiah 25:6-9 and 1 Corinthians 15:23 per Mathison, and yet 1 Thessalonians 3:13 was fulfilled in AD 70, then the parousia and resurrection of 1 Corinthians 15:23 was also fulfilled in AD 70 (A=B).

A contradiction within Mathison’s own writings and that of the partial preterist system continues to reach the heavens in that they elsewhere teach the Messiah’s coming and the Messianic wedding as described in Matthew 8:10-12, Matthew 22:2-7, Matthew 25:1-13, and Revelation 19-21, which were fulfilled in AD 70.  What are the number of eschatological weddings and wedding feasts according to “orthodox” partial preterism?  They are unavailable for comment or debate on this issue, as well as many others.

During the first exodus when the covenant was made at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19-24), the Jews understood that God had married them for the first time.  We noted at the beginning of this section that Exodus 19-24 is a physical type of the spiritual anti-type found in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

Jesus & Paul’s OT Second Exodus, Messianic Wedding & Resurrection Texts in Isaiah

Since we have established that Paul develops Jesus’ eschatology in Matthew 24-25, as well as the anti-type Messianic second exodus and resurrection themes, we can examine some passages in Isaiah which Jesus and Paul draw from.  

Isaiah 4

“Then Yahweh will create over all of Mount Zion and over every gathering a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night. And all this manifestation of dazzling glory will spread over them like a wedding canopy.” (Isaiah 4:5TPT)

It is prophesied in Isaiah 4:2-5 that there would be a second exodus at the time of the new covenant marriage in which Jerusalem would be declared “holy.”

I agree with Old Testament scholars that the Hebrew word in Isaiah 4:5 chuppah refers to a wedding canopy:

“Chuppâh would not be the word used to denote covering for the sake of protection; it signifies rather covering for the sake of beautifying and honouring that which is covered. Chuppâh is the name still given by the Jews to the wedding canopy, i.e., a canopy supported on four poles and carried by four boys, under which the bride and bridegroom receive the nuptial blessing – a meaning which is apparently more appropriate, even in Psalm 19:6 and Joel 2:16, than the ordinary explanation thalamus to torus.”[27]

Few commentators or pastors realize that Isaiah here in chapter 4 is describing the eschatological wedding between Christ (the Branch) and the Church – Zion / Jerusalem.  But reformed Presbyterian Pastor D. Marion Clark correctly points out:

“The phrase – over all the glory will be a canopy – speaks of the special relationship he will have with them. A canopy projects an image of a bridegroom and his bride standing under a wedding canopy. Jewish couples still stand under a canopy in a wedding service. Isaiah is indicating that a marriage is taking place. Listen again to the vision in Revelation 21:1-4:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”[28]

Due to the fact that Isaiah 4:5-6 uses the second exodus and wedding motif with God’s glory cloud representing the wedding canopy over Zion, this is in harmony with how the Jews saw Exodus 19-24 as the time when God married Israel for the first time following the first exodus.  As Isaiah prophesies of the second exodus under Messiah the Branch, another eschatological wedding will take place during which God will establish a new covenant for “Jerusalem” to be called holy (Isa. 4:2-5).

It is important to note that the wedding motif and the second exodus motif are picked up by Isaiah and are inseparably linked to the resurrection and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (Isa. 11; Isa. 25:2, 6-9; Isa. 52:1-2; Isa. 62-66).

Having examined the Messianic second exodus and wedding motif of Isaiah 4:2-5, we should pay close attention to the wedding and resurrection motif of Isaiah 25 as well as the eschatological gathering of the harvest trumpet in Isaiah 27 in order to grasp the OT passages and eschatological motifs that Jesus and Paul draw upon in Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

Isaiah 25

For you have made the city [Jerusalem] a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.  On this mountain [new covenant Mount Zion] the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a [wedding] feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.  And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.  He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.  It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isa. 25:2, 6-9).

Isaiah connects the judgement against Jerusalem in AD 70, when it became a “heap” and a “ruin,” with the Messianic wedding and resurrection, when “death is swallowed up.”

In addition, Jesus connects Gentile nations coming from “east to west” to Zion for the Messianic wedding to be saved and raised with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob during the time of His judgment upon Jerusalem in AD 70 when He “casts out” unbelieving Jews from the kingdom.  The “casting out of the sons” of the old covenant “kingdom” in this passage in AD 70 harmonizes with Isaiah’s vision that the time of the Messianic wedding and wedding feast would also mark the time at which the old covenant Jerusalem will become a “heap” and a “ruin.” It is a Messianic wedding passage Kenneth Gentry and many Partial Preterists see as fulfilled in AD 70, yet its cross-reference fulfillment is the wedding feast of Isaiah 25 that is inseparable from the resurrection.

The eschatological wedding and the wedding feast in Matthew 22:1-13 are once again associated with the time when God would send his armies (the Romans) to burn the city in AD 70.  According to Isaiah 25, the burning of Jerusalem corresponds to the time when old covenant Jerusalem will become a “heap” and a “ruin” when new covenant Jerusalem is wed.

In Matthew 24-25, Jesus again associates the judgement and desolation of the second temple with the resurrection and marriage, just as Isaiah does.  Except for the events that would occur in Israel’s last days or “in that day,” Jesus predicted that these events would occur in His contemporary generation (Matt. 24:27-34, 36; 25:1-13).

Isaiah 26 

“Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind.  We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.  Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.  You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!  For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead” (Isa. 26:17-19).

While discussing “Isaiah’s little apocalypse,” we must not overlook the Messianic resurrection text in Isaiah 26.  There will come a day when old covenant unbelieving Israel will experience eschatological “birth pains” and all they will be able to show for it is a miscarriage or giving birth to the wind (Isa. 26:17-18).  Due to her unbelief in Messiah, she was unable to give birth to or provide salvation for the land or for the Gentile nations.  According to Isaiah 66:7-10, however, the believing remnant in Messiah is able to provide salvation to the Gentiles by giving birth to a “nation” in one day without experiencing labor pains.

There is, however, a primary contrast between the failure of old covenant Israel to provide eschatological birth/resurrection or salvation to the Gentiles in Isaiah 26:17-18 and the faithfulness and power of the “Your” [YAHWEH] and the “My” [of Messiah] in raising the dead and bringing salvation to the Gentiles in verse 19:

“Your dead shall live; together with my dead body [a corporate singular] they shall arise…”   (Isa. 26:19)

According to Romans 6, Paul provides an accurate description of this resurrection.  Jews and Gentiles were spiritually baptized / united / planted in Christ’s death and resurrection through faith [not water].  According to Paul:

“For if we have been united with him in a death LIKE his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection LIKE his” (Rms. 6:5).

“For in that he [Christ] died, to THE sin [of Adam] he died once, and in that he liveth, He lives to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]” (Rms. 6:8).

And if we died [once through faith] with Christ [to THE sin of Adam], we believe that we also shall LIVE with him [in unbroken fellowship with the Father at Christ’s “at hand” coming in AD 70 – Rms. 13:11-12]” (Rms. 6:10).

Since the “likeness” of entering the “death” and “burial” of Jesus/Messiah is not biological, neither would the imminent future “likeness” of being in His “resurrection” be biological.  The emphasis here on Jesus’ resurrection and the Church’s union with it has to do with one’s sins coming through Adam being forgiven and an unbroken fellowship with God in the new covenant.

Isaiah 27

“In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit.  …Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:  …For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces,… When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them.  For this is a people without discernment; therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them; he who formed them will show them no favor.  In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will thresh out the grain, and you will be gathered one by one, O people of Israel.  And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem” (Isa. 27:6, 9-13).

Once the old covenant Jerusalem had been judged and abandoned and the altars had been made like “chalkstone,” the remnant or new covenant Jerusalem would be “atoned for” and have her “sin” removed as a result. Isaiah 4:2-5 and Isaiah 25:2, 6-9 have already indicated that He will “gather” His people at the sound of a trumpet to bring them to Mount Zion / Jerusalem for the wedding feast. This is the second exodus of the Messiah when He will gather His people at the sound of a trumpet, no doubt, for the wedding feast.  This trumpet gathering in Isaiah 27:12-13 is understood by Jews to be a Messianic resurrection text, and this is why both Jesus and Paul refer to it in Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

Jesus is the faithful Vine/Israel/Son and the new covenant Church bears much fruit when it abides in Him (Jn. 15:1-8).  Indeed, Paul had preached the gospel throughout the “world” of the Roman Empire, and the Church was “bearing fruit” (Isa. 27:6 / Col. 1:5-6, 23).

Jesus, Paul and Isaiah 25-27

Isaiah 25	Matthew 24-25	1-2 Thessalonians
(1)  When old covenant Jerusalem becomes a “heap” and “ruin” is also when God draws the nations to the eschatological wedding to Zion where He “swallows up death” (Isa. 24:10-12; 25:2)	(1)  When God would send His “armies” to “burn” or “desolate” Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, would be the time of the eschatological wedding / resurrection “trumpet” “gathering” when Jesus would “meet” His bride         (Matt. 22:7; 24:3-31)	(1)  Christ would come from heaven upon the clouds to give “trouble” and covenantal “wrath” to the Jewish persecutors of the Thessalonians while at the same time at the sound of a “trumpet,” He would “gather” and “meet” His bride (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 2 Thess. 1:5-10; 2:1).
Isaiah 26-27	Matthew 24-25	1-2 Thessalonians
(2)  There are eschatological birth pains (Isa. 26:17-18)	(2)  There are eschatological birth pains (Matt. 24:8)	(2)  There are eschatological birth pains (1 Thess. 5:3)
(3)  New covenant Israel would be a vine or branch that would “fill the world with fruit” before the eschatological “trumpet” “gathering” resurrection would take place                   (Isa. 27:6, 12-13)	(3)  Jesus and His followers are a Vine that bears forth fruit (Jn. 15).  The gospel would be preached in the “world” “bearing fruit” before the end of the old covenant age & resurrection would take place (Mt. 13:1-43).  The gospel would be preached in “all the world” and Gentiles would come “from east to west” before the “trumpet” “gathering” “meeting” – wedding / resurrection would be fulfilled (Mt. 8:10-12; 22:1-14; 24:14, 31, 36; 25:1-13)	(3)  Paul confirmed that His gospel had been preached throughout the Roman Empire and the faith which was bringing forth fruit was seen throughout the world (1 Thess. 1:2-10; Cols. 1:5-6, 23).  This would take place before Christ’s eschatological wedding / resurrection “trumpet”“gathering” “meeting” would be fulfilled (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 2 Thess. 2:1).

This Greek term for “meet” was often used by kings or dignitaries establishing homes in cities that their empires or kingdoms had conquered or were en route to conquer.  In the event of the imminent arrival of a king or dignitary, the citizens would go out of the city and “meet” him and escort him back to their home/town at the sound of a trumpet.  A king’s presence was established WHERE the people already lived. I would like to emphasize again that the imagery does not support the literal “rapture” of people from planet earth, but rather the coming of God to rule and reign in the hearts of His people where they are now – on planet earth.

Daniel and 1-2 Thessalonians 

Despite space limitations, I will do my best to briefly describe how Daniel 2; 7; 9 and 12 demonstrate a first century fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.  According to most conservative theologians, the recapitulation between Daniel 2, 7, 9 and 12 is part of the same eschatological last days end time scene.  In Daniel 7:13 we find the Second Coming event, while in Daniel 12:2 we find the resurrection, which forms the basis of Paul’s discourse in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.  Nevertheless, many do not recognize that Daniel 2, 7, 9, and 12 all point to the fulfillment of those events during the first century Roman Empire, which is why Paul places the fulfillment of 1 Thessalonians 4 during the lifetime of the Thessalonians, who lived during that time.

Additionally, “orthodox partial preterism” is continuing to move closer and closer to full preterism and even their best theologians (James Jordan, Kenneth Gentry, Gary DeMar, etc.) have admitted that the resurrection of Daniel 12:2 was spiritually fulfilled in AD 70 when the Great Tribulation occurred (Dan. 12:1-2, 7).  As 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 refers to the resurrection of Daniel 12:2, and that resurrection would occur at the end of the old covenant era when the power of the holy people would be completely destroyed for three and a half years [AD 67 – 70], then 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 was also fulfilled at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70.

Dan. 2 / 7 / 9:24-27 / 12:1-13	1-2 Thessalonians
1).  Messiah would come from heaven upon the clouds in judgment during the time of the Roman Empire (7:13).	1).  Christ came upon the clouds or was revealed from heaven in the lifetime of the Thessalonians the “we” “you” “us” & “our” living during the Roman Empire (1 Thess. 1:9-10; 3:13; 4:15-17; 5:1-23; 2 Thess. 1-2)
2).  Before Messiah would come in judgment, the Jews would “cut [him] off” and would continue to “fill up the measure of their sins” and be judged with wrath in the war that would desolate their city and temple during the “end” of the old covenant age (9:24-27).	2).  The Jewish countrymen who killed Jesus and were persecuting and killing the Thessalonians were “filling up the measure of their sins” and would experience “wrath” unto “the end” of the old covenant age          (1 Thess. 1:14-16/2 Thess. 1:5-10).
3).  The Jewish “little horn” [Herod dynasty / Zealots / apostate Priesthood] persecuted and waged war against the saints and performed “abominations” in the land and temple but would be “killed” with fire (7:11).	3).  The “Man of Lawlessness” [the Zealots installed a pro “rebellion” apostate High Priest] was alive when Paul wrote and would performed “abominations” in the land and temple promote the “rebellion” and was “killed” at Christ’s coming when He burned the second temple                                   (2 Thess. 1:7—2:8 / see also Mal. 3-4).
4).  Messiah would usher in forgiveness of sins and everlasting righteousness when He established and “anointed” a new covenant “Most Holy Place” (temple dwelling – 9:24) when the old covenant city and temple would be desolated (9:24-27).  When a trumpet was blown, and old covenant Israel was gathered at Mount Sinai engulfing Moses in a cloud – this is when God married Israel (Ex. 19-24).  God’s presence dwelled in the Most Holy Place section of the temple.	4).  When Christ came upon the clouds at the sound of a “trumpet” to “meet” (both wedding terms) and to “gather” or “catch away” [Grk. harpazo – inner spiritual event cf. Mt. 11:12; 12:29; 13:19] the Thessalonians in the “air” [within the believer in the spiritual realm where Satan and demons dwelled within people – Ephs. 2:2] and “clouds” is when Christ as the Groom consummated His marriage with His new covenant bride and made her “blameless” and “spotless” (1 Thess. 3:13; 4:16-17, 2 Thess. 2:1).  At the sound of the seventh trumpet (same trumpet) in Revelation God judged and divorced old covenant Jerusalem/wife and consummated His marriage with the new covenant New Jerusalem/wife – a perfect cubed Most Holy Place dwelling of God       (Rev. 10-11; 17-19; 21:1—22:16).

“…in the air” (v. 17)

 But what of this meeting the Lord in the “air” (Greek eros)?  The Strong’s Greek Dictionary defines it as: “From ‘aemi,” to breath unconsciously, to respire.  By analogy, to blow.  The air, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air.”  So the point is that this is the air “in” or “within” us.

The Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains lists Eph 2:2, 1 Thess. 4:17, and Rev 16:17 in its definition of eros as meaning “the space inhabited and controlled by [spiritual] powers.”  The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament says of the “air” in Ephesians 2:2 – “…Jewish conceptions, according to which, among other things, the air is the abode of demons.”

Ephesians 2 refers to Satan as the “prince and power of the AER.”  He dwelt in the spiritual realm which extended to the souls of men.  The war we see Christ and Satan fighting in the NT is for the spiritual condition of men – within their hearts and minds.  Paul goes on to say that Satan “now works in the children of disobedience.”  And consistently Jesus defines His kingdom as something that He is setting up “in” and “within” men, and transforming them into His image spiritually.

Prior to AD 70, Satan used his demonic legions to “possess” individuals within the realm of their minds and the spiritual realm of their being.  Satan used the old covenant Mosaic law to blind their spiritual eyes, hearts and minds in the realm of the “air” – within their souls, hearts, and minds to produce an arrogant and zealous self-righteousness which apart from Christ could only lead to utter despair (cf. 2 Cor. 3; Gal. 4:17-18; Rom. 7).  Christ “bound the strong man” and was raising and delivering Christians from the darkness and death of this spiritual kingdom realm into His own realm (cf. Eph. 2:1-10).  Christ snatched away His beloved and spoke peace and joy into the “air” of her heart, soul, and mind when He said, “It is finished” (Rev. 16:17/Heb. 9-10/1 Cor. 15)!

The powers of Satan, demons, the condemnation of the law, and the spiritual death Adam brought upon men were all conquered by Christ at His Parousia in AD 70 for those who put their faith in Him.

Had Paul meant to clearly communicate that believers would physically fly off the planet into the sky and atmosphere above, he would have used the Greek word “ouranos,” which clearly states this as its meaning.

In the “rapture”, Christ descends from heaven on a cloud to earth where He gathers the living into His presence, “within” us where we serve as His most holy dwelling and throne.  We also see this in Revelation where the New Jerusalem descends from heaven to earth as God’s glorious bride and establishes His presence within His Church.  This can also be seen in John 14 and 2 Corinthians 3 and 5.  In John 14, Christ prepares dwelling places (side rooms) in the Father’s “house/temple” for believers to dwell in. During the period of AD 30 – 70, the Church was being “transformed” into Christ’s “image” and needed to be clothed from Her new covenant “house/temple” from heaven (2 Cor. 3; 5).  During the Church’s time on earth, the new covenant Most Holy Place of Revelation 21:16 was “coming down” (Rev. 3:11-12NIV) and thus preparing to further clothe for the Church.  As God destroyed the old covenant “house/temple” or Jerusalem, followers of Messiah would not be left homeless or naked.  The kingdom of Christ has been gathered within us and He and His kingdom are within us (Lk. 17:20-37; Jn. 14:2-3, 23, 29). We are in Him and He is in us.

Let me give further evidence not only that there will not be an end-of-world-history physical rapture of Christians off the planet, but likewise there was not a biological rapture or change of the living in AD 70.

(1) As we looked at before, Paul could have easily rebuked the false teachers and Christians that were tempted to believe the Lord had “already come” (2 Thess. 2:2) by simply saying, “Aren’t you still here and the dead still in their graves? Obviously, He has not come!”  But since Paul did not hold to the physical rapture view or a literal resurrection attended by Christ’s Parousia, he did not argue this way.  Obviously, Paul understood the Lord’s coming to be a spiritual and unseen event as our Lord taught (Lk. 17:20-37/21:27-32), which was consistent with the “Day of the Lord” language of the prophets in the OT.

(2) The coming of Christ in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 is the coming of the Lord in Isaiah 66:5, 15, where Isaiah describes Christian survivors (66:19) who are found alive on planet earth continuing to preach the gospel in the new creation / new covenant age.

(3) In Mark 8:38-9:1, the Greek is different than Matthew 16:27-28 and actually teaches that those who were alive to witness Christ’s coming would be able to look back (while still alive on earth) on the historical events of Him coming in power and great glory in the destruction of Jerusalem and thus know that He and His kingdom had “already come.”

(4) After Christ and the Father come and make their home (dwelling – mone – John 14:2, 23) within the believer, they were told, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe” (14:29).  If they were literally raptured, I don’t think they would need to be reminded or exhorted to believe that it had been fulfilled!  These words make more sense if it was a spiritual fulfillment that could not be seen with the physical eyes, and therefore it would take faith to believe that the Father and the Son had set up their presence within them.

(5) Jesus of course directly promised to not remove the Church off of planet earth (John 17:15).  Church history tells us that Christians were not raptured, but that they instead fled to Pella (in modern day Jordan).  Historically, Pella is one of the first known Christian churches.  Church history tells us that the Apostle John was still alive during Domitian’s reign in the mid-AD 90’s and that Timothy, Titus, and Luke lived beyond AD 70.

There is simply no exegetical evidence of a physical rapture at Christ’s coming in AD 70 or some imagined one at the end of world history.  The physical rapture view is probably one of the greatest scams perpetrated upon the Church.  It makes the sleeping giant of the Evangelical Church numb to getting involved in our culture and politics because they expect things to simply get worse so that they can get “raptured” just before it gets really bad.  After all, “you don’t polish brass on a sinking ship.”  We MUST get involved in our politics and be the salt and light of this great country and that of the world!

Having given a robust exegesis of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, I would like to show how the other chapters of 1-2 Thessalonians actually form the imminent eschatology of this passage.

1 Thessalonians 1, 2, 3, & 5	1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
(1)  First century audience “you” “us” “we” “our” to experience the eschatological event                       (1:10; 2:14-20; 3:13; 5:1-11)	(1)  First century audience “you” “we” to experience the eschatological event (vss. 15-17)
(2)  Imminence – waiting with eager expectation & confidence (1:10)	(2)  Paul is confident that the Thessalonians “we who are still alive…” will experience the coming of the Lord and catching away        (v. 17)
(3)  Christ comes from heaven or in His parousia (1:10; 3:13; 5:2, 23)	(3)  Christ comes from heaven in His parousia(v. 15)
(4)  Eschatological Wedding – Christ comes as the Groom to establish the hearts of the Thessalonians to be His “spotless” bride or make them “blameless” (3:13)	(4)  Eschatological Wedding – Christ comes as the Groom at the sound of a “trumpet” to “meet” the Thessalonians as His bride           (vss. 16-17)
(5)  Christ comes to “snatch up” and deliver the Thessalonians to himself and in His parousia, He causes the dead and the living to live together with Him forever to “encourage one another”              (1:10; 5:10-11, 23)	(5)  Christ comes in His parousia to “catch away” the Thessalonians to be in His presence with their dead loved ones He raised to “encourage one another” (vss. 14-17)
2 Thessalonians 1-2	1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
(1)  First century audience “you” “us” “our” to experience these events (1:5-10; 2:1-6ff.)	(1)  First century audience “you” “we” to experience these events (vss. 15-17)
(2)  Jesus is “revealed from heaven” (1:7-9) a fulfillment of Isa. 2:10, 18, 21 – this is the last days day of the Lord of Isa. 2 in which there are “survivors” (cf. Beale & Carson, COMMENTARY on the NEW TESTAMENT Use of the OLD TESTAMENT, p. 885)	(2)  Jesus “descends from heaven” (v. 16) a fulfillment of Isa. 2:10-12 – this is the last days day of the Lord of Isa. 2 in which there are “survivors” (cf. Beale & Carson, COMMENTARY on the NEW TESTAMENT Use of the OLD TESTAMENT, p. 885)
(3)  Jesus comes “with angels” (1:7)	(3)  Jesus comes “with the voice of the archangel” (v. 16)
(4)  Jesus comes to be “glorified in His saints” (1:10) and by implication of (1:9) will be “in His presence.”  Greek en the locative–agrees with Ps. 88:8LXX, and the context–Christ will be “marveled at in all who believe” (1:12).	(4)  Jesus will “catch away” the Thessalonians to “always be with the Lord” in the “clouds” (symbol of glory) and “air” (the air within a person and spiritual realm where Satan and demons influenced people on earth) (v. 17)
(5)  The parousia of Christ (2:1, 8)	(5)  The parousia of Christ (v. 15)
(6)  Jesus would “gather” the Thessalonians “to Him” (2:1)	(6)  Jesus to “catch away” Thessalonians to “always be with the Lord” (v. 17)
Mt. 16:27-28, Mt. 24-25 / Luke 17:20-37	1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
(1)  Jesus is about to come & some in the crowd would live to see it (Mt. 16:27-28YLT)	(1)  Some Thessalonians would be “alive”  to experience Christ come (v. 17)
(2)  Jesus comes from heaven or on clouds of heaven (Mt. 16:27; 24:27-30; 25:31; Lk. 17:24-30AFV)	(2)  Jesus comes “from heaven” and meets the Thessalonians in “clouds” (vss. 16-17)
(3)  Jesus comes “with angels” at the sound of a “trumpet” (Mt. 16:27; 24:31; 25:31)	(3)  Jesus comes “with the voice of the archangel” and sound of a “trumpet” (v. 16)
(4)  Jesus comes & Kingdom is set up “within” the heart (Lk. 17:20-37/21:27-32)	(4)  Jesus comes to catch Thessalonians in the “air” (within a person – spiritual realm where Satan & demons influenced) (v. 17)

As we allow “Scripture to interpret Scripture,” we can see how the coming of Christ and the “rapture” and “catching away” of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 was imminently and spiritually fulfilled within the first century church in AD 70.  To accomplish this, we compared Paul with Paul, Paul with Jesus, and Paul with Isaiah, and then Paul with Daniel.

By way of conclusion and review let’s get a visual in which we can see that Paul’s eschatology in 1-2 Thessalonians is Jesus’ eschatology in the gospels and they both point to an imminent and spiritual fulfillment within the believer by AD 70.

Mt. 23-26 / Lk. 21 / Lk. 17	1 Thessalonians
1.  First century audience “you” to experience Christ’s coming (Mt. 23-26 / Lk. 21)	1.  First century audience “you” “us” to experience Christ’s coming (1:9-10)
2.  Persecution, suffering, & death     (23:34; 24:9)	2.  Present persecution & death           (1:6; 2:14; 4:14-17)
3. Imminence – “raise your heads” “all” fulfilled “near” in their “this generation”  (Lk. 21:27-32)	3. Imminence – “eagerly wait” (1:9-10)
4. Christ’s parousia (Mt. 24:27)	4. Christ’s parousia (2:19)
5. Christ comes on clouds of heaven (24:30)	5. Christ comes from heaven (2:19)
6. To “gather” to Christ (24:31)	6. To “snatch” believers from wrath TO Christ (1:10)
7. Exhorted to flee from the Roman armies and the coming “wrath” upon the Jews (Lk. 21:20-23)	7. Delivers believers from “wrath” but 1stcentury Jewish persecutors experience “wrath” (1:10; 2:16)
8. Jews killed the OT prophets and would kill NT prophets sent to her in that generation (Mt. 23)	8. Jews killed the prophets, Jesus & persecuting the Thessalonians            (2:14-15 / Acts 17)
9. Jews were to “fill up” the sin of blood guilt in their generation     (Mt. 23)	9. The Jews were in the process of “filling up” the sin of blood guilt (2:14-15)
10. The coming of the Lord and wrath would be poured out by the “end” (Grk. telos) of the old covenant age (Mt. 24:3-30/Lk. 21:20-23)	10. The coming of the Lord and wrath would be poured out to the “end” (Grk. telos) (2:16)
11. Wedding terminology – “Only Father knows the time of wedding” / “shout of a trumpet.” Exhorted to be “wise” and “watch” (Mt. 24:30-31, 36; 25:1-13)	11. Wedding terminology – Thessalonians exhorted to be “spotless” and “blameless” [bride] as Christ [Groom] comes for her (3:13)
12. Christ comes (Grk. parousia) (24:27)	12. Christ comes (Grk. parousia) (4:15-17)
13. Comes “upon the clouds of heaven” (24:30)	13. “Descends from heaven” (4:16)
14.  Comes with “angels” (24:31)	14.  Comes with “Archangel”  (4:15-17)
15.  At the sound of a “trumpet” (24:31)	15.  At the sound of a “trumpet” (4:16)
16. Believers “gathered” to Christ (24:31)	16. Believers “caught,”  “snatched,” or “gathered,” to Christ (1:10; 4:17).
17. Wedding terminology – “only the Father knows the time” & Groom “MEETS” the bride at the sound of “trumpet”                          (Mt. 24:30-31, 36; 25:1-13)	17. Wedding terminology – “MEET” the Lord at His coming with the sound of a “trumpet” (4:16-17)
18.  Inward fulfillment – When Christ would be revealed from heaven the “Kingdom” would be “within” the heart of the believer (Lk. 17:20-37)	18.  Inward fulfillment – “caught” [Grk. harpazo] in the “air” [Grk. aer] (used of inward spiritual influence cf. Mt. 12:29 / 13:19; Ephs. 2:2)
19.  Exact time unknown (24:36)	19.  Exact time unknown (5:1-2)
20.  Christ comes as a thief (Mt. 24:43)	20.  Christ comes as a thief (5:2- 4)
21. Unbelievers caught off guard (24:37-39)	21.  Unbelievers caught off guard (5:3)
22. The time of the eschatological or Messianic “birth pains” (24:8)	22.  The time of the eschatological or Messianic “birth pains” (5:3)
23. Believers not deceived (24:43)	23. Believers not deceived (5:4-5)
24. Unbelievers deceived (24:43)	24. Unbelievers deceived (5:4-5)
25. Believers “watchful” (24:42)	25. Believers “watchful” (5:6)
26. Warning of drunkenness (24:49)	26. Warning of drunkenness (5:7)
27. Christ comes as the “light of day” “shinning from E. to W.”             (24:27 / Lk. 17:24 Aramaic NT / AFV)	27. Called “Sons of the DAY” and “belong to the DAY” at Christ’s “DAY of the Lord” (5:5, 8)
Mt. 23-26 / Lk. 21 / Lk. 17	2 Thessalonians
28.  Jesus predicts false prophets would predict the end had come before it was time (24:24-27)	28.  False teachers were teaching the Day of the Lord had “already” come (2:2; cf. 2 Tim. 2:17-18).  If Paul was teaching a physical “rapture” & res., why didn’t he just say, “how can you believe this, we are all still here & bodies are still in the grave – right?!?”
29.  The sign of Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem & the Jewish rebellion/apostacy had to take place first before Christ would come to “gather” His people                    (24:12, 15, 30-31; Lk. 21:20-27)	29.  The sign of the Man of Lawlessness being revealed and the Jewish rebellion hand to take place first before Christ would come to “gather” His people (2:3-4ff.)
30. At Christ’s coming there would be everlasting punishment, and the priesthood would see Christ coming upon the clouds to judge them (25:31-46; cf. 26:62-65).  They “saw” [perceived / understood] He had come by seeing the Romans destroy Jerusalem & the temple as Jesus promised!	30.  At Christ’s coming there would be everlasting destruction and punishment with the Man of Lawlessness (restrainer = former High Priest Theophilus opposed rebellion / Man of Lawlessness = High Priest Phannias installed by Zealots for the rebellion) being “killed” in AD 70 (1:9; 2:8)

The purpose of this article is to encourage believers engrossed in Premillennial Dispensational newspaper Zionist eschatology to stop searching for an evil “antichrist” or “man of lawlessness” and instead focus on their position in Christ in the new covenant.  The result will not only help one grow and mature in Christ, but it will also help further a Biblical and godly foreign policy which does not include accepting the ungodly eschatology of Rothschild Talmudic Zionism, which calls for endless wars and the death of Christians.

The modern State of Israel is the creation of the Rothschild family and has no prophetic significance whatsoever.  The main purpose if its establishment other than securing Rothschild interest in their oil investments at the time, is to create WWIII and usher in a one world Talmudic Zionist government in which central banks continue to rob countries around the world.  It is apparent that some Christians are becoming aware of the globalist agenda, but they seem to be unaware of the fact that their Premillennial Futurist eschatology FORCES them to need a modern Israel or rebuilt temple.  While this ungodly and unbiblical eschatology remains dominant among a vast majority of Christians in the West and throughout the world, Christians will continue to fund the death of other Christians in the East to support Israel’s “Greater Israel Project” and to diminish our Constitutional freedoms.

Clearly, Talmudic Rothschild Zionism is at the top of the food chain of the “Globalist Cabal,” and they want you to continue supporting “Israel” to self-fulfill WWIII or “Armageddon” so you can be “raptured.”  I hope that Christian Zionists in the United States will not attempt to continue to try and self-fulfill the war that took place between AD 67 – 70.  However, if this does happen, preterism will be here to provide the proper Christian worldview instead of the one world government and one world religion (Humanistic Technocracy / Trans-humanism) “solution” they have planned for you – a government based on tyranny!

The solution to this exegetical and political problem when in comes to exegeting the second coming and “gathering” or “catching away” of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 1-2 and Matthew 24:30-31 is to understand the truth lies between two reformed views of the Church that have finally harmonized or formed a synthesis in Full Preterism:

Major Premise:  The coming of the Lord and gathering or catching away of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 1-2 and Matthew 24:30-31 is the one second coming and resurrection of the dead event to occur at the end of the age (Classic Amillennial View).

Minor Premise:  The coming of the Lord and gathering of 2 Thessalonians 1-2 and Matthew 24:30-31 was a spiritual coming of Christ to raise the dead from Hades and change the living from old covenant glory to new covenant kingdom glory internally and spiritually at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70 (Partial Preterism, ex. James Jordan).

Conclusion “Reformed and always reforming”: The coming of the Lord and gathering or catching away of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 1-2 and Matthew 24:30-31 is the one second coming and resurrection of the dead event that was imminent fulfilled at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70.  This is when the dead were raised out of Hades and the living were covenantally changed and inherited the new covenant kingdom “within” them (Full Preterism).

Full Preterism is the theological / eschatological position that will defeat (in this information warfare) Talmudic Rothschild Zealot Zionism and their unsuspecting and well funded “useful idiots”– Evangelical Zealot Zionism in the coming years.   You heard it here first 🙂

[1] Keith A. Mathison, Postmillennialism An Eschatology of Hope, (Phillipsburg:  NJ, 1999), pp. 227-228

[2] G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, COMMENTARY on the NEW TESTAMENT Use of the OLD TESTAMENT, (Grand Rapids, MI:  2007), p. 883

[3] G.K. Beale & D.A. Carson, 1-2 Thessalonians. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos), 880, emphasis MJS Ibid., emphasis MJS Ibid., 885, emphasis MJS.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Kenneth Gentry, He Shall Have Dominion, (Draper, VA:  Apologetics Group, 2009), p. 397

[6] Ibid. p. 398

[7] Keith A. Mathison, Postmillennialism An Eschatology of Hope, (Phillipsburg:  NJ, 1999), pp. 229-230, emphasis mine

[8] G.K. Beale, 1-2 Thessalonians, Ibid., p. 200

[9] Notice the change in Mathison’s exegesis of Matthew 24-25 in these two books:  (1) Keith A. Mathison, DISPENSATIONALISM Rightly Dividing the People of God? (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1995), pp. 138-144 where he specifically sees Matthew 25:31-46 as the “second coming” and judgment Satan event whereas in (2) Keith A. Mathison, FROM AGE TO AGE THE UNFOLDING OF BIBLICAL ESCHATOLOGY, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), p. 380 Mathison tries to argue that Matthew 25:31-46 is not the second coming and consummative judgment event but allegedly Christ’s “coming” in His ascension (and possibly in AD 70).  Mathison is going against the creeds and reformed traditions (something he condemns Full Preterism for), when he claims Matthew 25:31-46 is now “not the second coming event.” In this volume Mathison tries to argue, “Jesus himself may have said very little about the second coming,…[with] the bulk of the New Testament’s teaching on the second coming [being] found after the resurrection and ascension…e.g.,…1 Thess. 4:16-17…” pp. 365-366 fn. #92.  Partial Preterism ends up destroying the beautiful harmony between Jesus’ eschatology in Matthew 24-25 with 1-2 Thessalonians!

[10] Gary DeMar, LAST DAYS MADNESS Obsession of the Modern Church, (Powder Springs:  GA, 2024 – unreleased electronic version), p. 304

[11] Eleazar Blew the Horn (AD 66) War Chronology – Part 1 By Ed Stevens — Then and Now Podcast — Mar 30, 2014)

[12] Robert Cruickshank, Unraveling the Mystery of the Lawless One Part One https://burrosofberea.com/unraveling-the-mystery-of-the-lawless-one-part-one/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGEu5RleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYtZnxd1z-aMEGxKX3RDKb5mlhGBlhW0QoN0fN3UAyaQt3plY9XpuoTaXg_aem_oXWGayghO5usRn0yLPveCw

[13] Mark Hitchcock, COULD THE RAPTURE HAPPEN TODAY?, (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2005) 80-81

[14] Ibid., 81

[15] John MacArthur, THE SECOND COMING, pp. 51-68

[16] Ibid., 52

[17] Ibid, 57

[18] Mark Hitchcock, COULD THE RAPTURE HHAPPEN TODAY?, (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishing, 2005),  p. 80

[19] G.K. Beale, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series 1–2 Thessalonians (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2003), 136, emphasis added

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid, 136–137

[22] John Murray, Ibid., 391, emphasis MJS

[23] N.T. Wright, THE RESURRECTION OF THE SON OF GOD Christian Origins and the Question of God, vol. 3 (Minneapolis, MN: 2003), 215, emphasis MJS

[24] Beale, Ibid., 1-2 Thessalonians, 138, emphasis MJS

[25] Beale, Ibid., A New Testament Biblical Theology the Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New, 369

[26] Mathison, Postmillennialism, Ibid., 177

[27] Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

[28] D Marion Clark, The Canopy of Glory, May 9, 2016, https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-canopy-of-glory-d-marion-clark-sermon-on-glory-201810?page=3&fbclid=IwY2xjawHCxLVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHR6Wya1Qtf-2iRK5UR-8yHb9lAnc-gp8BweH8hSHZd8bE5khG9JJ5qV2Sg_aem_epercpRci333ff9dRmLsJQ