"Comfort one another with these words" by Scott Klaft

Comfort One Another With These Words

By Scott Klaft

It’s simple physics: cause and effect. How we behave (the cause) relates to our relationships whether good or bad (the effect). Christianity is greatly about correcting our habits for the betterment of our relationships – both with God and man. How things become people’s habit of behavior, therefore, holds great interest to me.

I wonder sometimes how certain reading and interpreting habits have developed. How is it we can read over passages of the Bible, know the very simple words and their meanings without any trouble, and yet, completely miss the intended message or how they are affected in the overall context? How did that habit develop? I don’t often have a good answer to that question; but what I do know is that it is our job to help make correction of the bad habits so that our relationships with God and man may be improved.

Take, for example, how often 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 is appealed to without ever considering the stated reason why the apostle was writing on the subjects he discusses in verses 13 through 18. Verse 13 through 15a introduce the apostle’s thought process and provides us his motive for writing what he does.

1 Thessalonians 4:13  “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord...”

First, he recognizes his duty to his Lord and brethren to do what he can to stave off ignorance. As an apostle, Paul had been endowed with immense power and authority, but he saw it as a tool to help others learn. He saw himself as a teacher. In proceeding to write what he does, he is trying to provide for what the Christians may have lacked in their knowledge or memory.

Second, the subject over which some of the Christians in Thessalonica were having trouble was that some of their own number were now “asleep” - i.e. in their graves. They had experienced biological death; and, those still alive, due to some lacking in their knowledge, were sorrowing for them. We’ll need to identify the nature of that sorrow in this passage. More on that in a moment.

Third, Paul did not view their sorrow as something good or natural; it was something they did not need to experience, because knowledge, as opposed to ignorance, would prevent such sorrow. This deserves a bit more discussion.

Is it not natural to have a sense of loss when someone we love is irrevocably missing from our day-to-day lives? Of course it is. Is it wrong to be sad when we experience this sense of loss? Of course it isn’t. Do we have a contradiction in the scripture with something that cannot be avoided in our emotional attachments to one another? Does Christianity teach us to so love one another that our hearts and minds become as one, only to expect us to be unaffected when a part of ourselves is gone? Certainly, no. How do we reconcile it, then? The apostle is clearly writing to Christians, telling them why they should not have sorrow. What may we conclude?

Why did Paul find it necessary to write to them not to sorrow, when sorrow for the departed souls would be the most natural emotion to feel? It is because Paul was not writing to convince them not to feel loss when their loved ones pass from this physical world. He was combating outside influences in how they considered their faithful dead.

He qualifies the type of sorrow he is trying to educate out of the Thessalonian Christian’s heart by saying, “even as others which have no hope” (v. 13). He didn’t want them to feel sorrow as the result of an incorrect idea regarding what the resurrection is. Others who “have no hope” would be unbelievers who had died, forever sealing their fate of separation from God.

The Christians among them had not, and would not, miss the joy of eternal life, even if their physical bodies had expired.

When Paul mentioned their source of confidence, that “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again...” he placed what followed as the logical conclusion of that confidence: “...God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1Thes. 4:14). As sure as their confidence is that Jesus rose from the dead, they may be just as sure that when Jesus returned, those whose bodies had expired while living faithfully “in Jesus” would be brought with Him upon Jesus’ return.

Pause for a moment and reflect. Paul is saying to them, ‘They are not lost. In the day of the Lord, God will bring them with Him.’ Would the knowledge Paul was imparting (or reminding them) be comforting if there was a prevailing thought that the hope was only in this world, if the body lived (see 1Corinthians 15:12 – 34 where the Sadducees doctrine denying resurrection seem to be catching an influence. Is it possible Paul was fighting that here in Thessalonica also?)

By way of an explanation that God would bring the faithful-dead with Jesus upon His return, Paul reminds them of something he had probably already taught them: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord...” (1Thes. 4:15a). He tells them what Jesus had already said on the matter. In Matthew 24:31, the Lord speaks of how, in His coming in His Kingdom, the angels would be sent to “gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

It is not an inappropriate connection to make in these thoughts to remember the Lord’s words that address the living and the dead:

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

And this is a clear reference to the prophesy of Daniel 12:2; a reference that Jesus Himself also made in the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24:15, citing Daniel 12:11. There is no avoiding these obvious references and allusions. Paul was describing to the Thessalonians the events of the resurrection that Jesus had discussed and Daniel (and others) had prophesied. Paul was telling the church in Thessalonica, they need not be concerned about their faithful dead because they were about to experience the fulfillment of those prophesies and promise of the Lord in being resurrected to life.

Just here, a quick correction of a popular notion would be appropriate. The realm where disembodied spirits would go, known in scripture as Sheol –

the place of the grave, in Hebrew; and Hades – the place of departed spirits, in Greek, was the holding place for the dead, and it is commonly understood to have contained two regions. There was the place of torment, where the wicked and unforgiven souls resided in conscious awareness of their eternal doom; and paradise, illustrated by being called the place of being comforted in Abraham’s bosom, which is the place where Jesus promised the repentant thief on the cross, He would be with him on that day. This is where all the saints of all the ages leading up to the resurrection would be. But, in the resurrection, Hades would be emptied, and each soul would receive what was due. This is how Paul sought to comfort the Thessalonians who feared for the fate of their lost brethren.

But just as reminder, let me ask, how could this be of any comfort if it were not to occur in their own lifetimes? The judgment of the wicked Jewish nation was under consideration in Jesus’ words from Matthew 24, and He did tell them this “gathering together” was to occur within their generation (see Matt. 24:34). Daniel, too, indicated that the resurrection (Dan. 12:2) would occur in connection to the Judgment of Israel, in a “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (Dan. 12:1 cf. Matt. 24:21, 22) and “when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered” (Dan. 12:7 - NKJV).

Now, if we can easily see that the shattering of Judah was in the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem, we cannot draw any other conclusion than that the resurrection – of which all of these inspired men spoke of so similarly – occurred also within the lifetimes of the first generation of Christians.

That being so, Paul’s words to the Christians in Thessalonica would be comforting indeed. He would even remind them that the coming of the Lord to accomplish all these events would surprise the wicked, but not they who believed (see 1Thess. 5:1-5 – notice the pronouns being very specific to the Christians in Thessalonica).

As he continues to cite “the word of the Lord,” in 1Thess. 4:16, Paul reminds them of the Lord’s decent from the heavens with a shout, in the voice of the “archangel” (which is an interesting study by itself). These are the very sentiments of the Lord from Matthew 24:31.

The gathering entailed that the dead would be spiritually raised to their immortal body (1Cor. 15:35 – 57; 2Cor. 4:18ff; Phil. 3:21; 1Jn. 3:2). They rise “first” in the order of events. That the living would not precede them being an emphasis in Paul’s discourse gives further evidence that the living Christians were concerned about those who had passed.

But at this point in our main text is where people get, honestly, but very, confused. Let’s look at it carefully: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Thess. 4:17).

We have no trouble determining who the “we who are alive and remain” are as long as we recall that this letter had to have a specific meaning to those of the first generation of Christians to whom Paul wrote. Without that perspective, we can go off into any number of possibilities, and many, many have. The “we” (with whom Paul interestingly includes himself) are those Christians who would live to see the AD 70 coming of the Lord to punish His enemies and reward His saints with rest.

We may spend a little time studying the Greek words represented in English by the expression, “caught up together with them,” and it would probably be time well spent; but, we would likely remain just as confused regarding what happened to those Christians who remained to witness the Day of the Lord. It is the Greek words translated “to meet” that will give us clarity. It’s a rather unusual term.

It comes from, eis apantesin, which holds a bit more in concept that the word “meet” lets on in our casual English use. The preposition, eis is relatively familiar: “into, unto, to, towards, for, among” are the most common translations, but

it is always forward looking in purpose or direction. The noun, apantesin, however, is not very popular with commentators and it is briefly handled by major lexicographers. When used in attachment with the “coming of the Lord”, the word caries the idea, not just of a random encounter, but a purposeful going, meeting, and accompanying back in a gesture of hospitality to one deemed deserving of honor.

This word, apantesin, only occurs in the scripture three other times. Two times it is right within the context of the Lord’s Olivet Discourse describing the events of His coming by way of the parable of the ten virgins. In verse 1 of that context, the expression is, “...went forth to meet the bridegroom.” In verse 6, the word is found in the expression, “...go ye out to meet him.” In both cases, the virgins were intentionally going out to honor the Bridegroom (Christ), to meet Him, and accompany Him to His destination. (More on that destination in a moment.)

The only other time the word is used in this form is in Acts 28:14 – 16. Paul and company were headed to Rome. Some heard of their coming, departed from Rome to meet them, and accompany them back to Rome.

This was a fairly common practice in the ancient world. While the Greek word may not be used in these following examples, the concept of the practice is clear:

·    Genesis 14:17 Where “the king of Sodom went out to meet [Abram] after his return” from rescuing Lot.

·    Genesis 18:1ff Abraham runs from the gate of his tent to meet the Lord and his angels to ask that they stay long enough for him to provide a meal.

·    Genesis 19:1ff Lot rises up to meet the two oncoming angels to the city of Sodom and requests that they stay at his home.

·   Genesis 32:6  Esau goes out from his home to meet Jacob coming back from his time with Laban.

·    Matthew 21:7 – 11 the multitudes go out from Jerusalem to greet, honor, and accompany Jesus as he rides the donkey into Jerusalem.

The concept Paul was communicating by his word choice was that the living Christians would go, meet the Lord in the air where the resurrected saints were, and accompany them back here, to the world of men. There can be no mistaking the unambiguous words of the declaration made by the great voice in Heaven heard by John, as he records:

Revelation 21:2 “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

The location of God’s dwelling is now among men. The Heaven itself has come down to men. And Paul was telling the Christians, in his day, that they would witness and even participate in the event.

Was it a physical structure, a city made of literal stone and mortar? Obviously not. The kingdom was not to come with observation (cf. Lk. 17:20). Therefore, the coming of the Lord in His kingdom was also an event that could not be observed with the eye of flesh. All of what Paul was describing was spiritual, and unobservable by the carnal senses.

What message did the church in Thessalonica take away from Paul’s addressing their concerns about those of their number who had “fallen asleep”? They were comforted with the words of the apostle’s affirmation that they were not gone, permanently imprisoned in the grave, but they would indeed be resurrected. And in fact would precede those who still lived during the events surrounding the coming of the Lord.

What comfort is there for us? If you are not asking that question, you might be getting caught up into the academic and historical study and failing to make application to what may be profited by the study. There are many, many lessons for us in the principles we learn as we study what happened to the church in the early stages.

·    God keeps His promises, no matter how displeasing they might be, and certainly for those glorious promises He always wanted for mankind.

·    God’s disposition is to reward the humble and obedient (See Matthew 5:3 – 10).

·   God’s kingdom, being an eternal kingdom (Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 9:7; et. al.), it is still present today; and, therefore, God desires to give mankind the blessings of His presence and eternal life with Him (See Revelation 22:17).

·    The conditions of entrance exemplified by the church (Acts 2:38; 8:37, 38; 17:30; et. al.) as it was being built have not changed; and, therefore, all spiritual blessings are available “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), just as it was then. This makes man’s first and highest priority (cf. Matthew 6:33) getting into that relationship with Christ (cf. Galatians 3:24-29).

·    One of those terms of entrance into Christ is that we share in His death, burial, and resurrection with Him in a spiritual way – not symbolically, but the sincere, full-hearted belief in God’s promises that our hearts, our minds, our consciences are being made free from sin (See all of Romans 6; 10:9, 10; Colossians 2:12).

·    The resurrection that we have by coming to be “in Christ” is the new beginning, the new birth (Jn 3:3, 5) the new life (Rom. 6:4), the eternal life (Jn. 11:25, 26), the entrance into Christ’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 12:28). While living, and passed the stage of bodily death, we have the promise of God for life eternal, if we will remain faithful (cf. 1Jn 1:3 – 2:5).

Shall we not Comfort One Another With These Words?