The Resurrection of the Dead and the Lord’s Descent (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18)

1 Thess. 4:16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

That those who remain alive at the coming of the Lord will not go before the dead, the Apostle demonstrates by presenting the chief moments of that great final event: the Lord will appear, the dead will rise, and they together with those who remain alive shall be caught up on the clouds to meet the Lord. In this, the most precious privilege of believers, the living will be given no particular precedence over the dead.

“The Lord himself.” — The Person in whom all the strivings and hopes of Christians are centred—the beginning and Perfecter of the new creation, the final Arbiter of the lot of all.

“With a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God.” In this, either there are depicted merely aspects and features of the majesty, splendour, and glory of the Lord’s appearing on the last day—in contrast to His humble descent for the Incarnation and in correspondence with God’s appearing at Sinai—or there are depicted the various divine actions in the ordering of all things in a renewed form. “With a shout”—by which God, worshipped in Trinity, will pronounce the decree that time is ended, that the moment has come for the dead to rise and for all to appear in a renewed form. “With the voice of the archangel.” The divine command will be received by the chief Archangel—certainly Michael, the guardian of the people of God, first of Israel, then of Christians (Dan. 9:21; 10:5, 13, 21; 12:1). The received command will be proclaimed by the “voice” of the Archangel to the other heavenly hosts, who through “the trumps of God” will proclaim the command of God to all the ends of the earth. By the trumpet here is meant not one trumpet: “there will be many trumpets; the Lord will descend at the last trumpet” (Chrysostom). It is called “God’s” because it conveys God’s command and acts with God’s power. The trumpet will be the conduit of the power of God, penetrating all things and quickening all things; it will rouse the dead and gather them together with the living into one. The trumpet also in the Old Testament was the instrument for summoning the people of God to hear and fulfil the will of God (Lev. 25:9; Num. 10:2; 31:6).

“And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” The Apostle says the same in another place: “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52). The word “first” does not mean that those who died in Christ—that is, believing Christians—will rise before non-Christians, as though some interval of time would remain between the one resurrection and the other, which some extend even to a thousand years, for there is no hint of that here. The Apostle wishes to say only that first the dead will rise, then will follow their being caught up together with the living on the clouds. Unbelievers are not mentioned here because the discourse was not about them; the Apostle’s word to believers was only concerning the resurrection of believers. But by this the general resurrection of all is not excluded.

Photius, quoted by Oecumenius, says: “The Lord will descend at His own command, the Archangel’s cry, and the trumpet’s blast. The Lord commands; the Archangel proclaims the Lord’s command; all the heavenly orders transmit it as an echo. The Lord gives the command, the Archangel relays it to those below him, and they sound it to the ends of the world. — And the dead will rise and be gathered from throughout the whole universe. He thus depicts the resurrection of the dead in such detail so as to imprint it more deeply in the souls of Christians. The voice of the Archangel will command all the angels to assemble and prepare all things for the reception of the Judge who is about to appear. That the earth should return what it has received, changed into incorruption—this the command of Christ will accomplish; but that the scattered should be gathered from the ends of the earth—this the angels will do, at the voice of the Archangel, by means of the trumpet of God. The foreshadowing of these trumpets were the trumpets of Sinai. And when the King approaches, the trumpets sound.” Holy Chrysostom: “What is the significance of the voice of the Archangel? — The same as what was said of the virgins: arise, the bridegroom comes. ‘Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him’ (Mt. 25:6). Either he is speaking of this here, or of the fact that when the angels minister at the resurrection, something will take place similar to what happens in the presence of a king. Namely, God will say: let the dead rise! And this will be brought to fulfilment not by the power of the angels but by the power of His word—as if a king were to command and say: let the prisoners come out, and let the servants bring them forth; the servants would carry this out not by their own authority but in consequence of the royal command. Of this Christ also speaks in another place: ‘he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’ (Mt. 24:31). — And everywhere you will see angels hastening to fulfil the command of God. To raise is the work of the Almighty God, commanding the earth to return what was entrusted to it, without any assistance from servants—just as it was when the Lord cried to Lazarus: ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ (Jn. 11:43)—but to gather the risen together will be the work of the servants.” Theodoret: “The Lord of all will first of all appear descending from heaven, and will command the Archangel to cry out and raise the dead. And the trumpets will sound everywhere something great and wondrous. — If at the sound that at Sinai was proportioned to the hearing of those who lived then, the people could not endure the excess of fear but said to the great Moses: ‘speak you with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die’ (Ex. 20:19)—who will endure the voice that will sound at that time? — ‘And the dead in Christ shall rise first:’ the Apostle calls the faithful the dead—not only those who believed the Gospel, but also those who shone under the Law and before the Law.”

1 Thess. 4:17. 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 so shall we ever be with the Lord.

“Then we who are alive…” The dead will rise—but what will happen to the living, correspondingly to the resurrection of those, this the Apostle does not say here, hastening to say that both the one and the other will be together. In the Epistle to the Corinthians the Apostle writes that at the time when the dead rise, the living will be changed into the same mode of being that the risen will receive: “Behold, I shew you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51–52). After some have risen and others have been changed and all are gathered into one, the judgment and the separation of the good from the evil will follow. The Apostle does not touch on this, for it was not his aim, and he carries attention as quickly as possible to the last, most consoling for believers, moment of this awesome final event—the meeting of the Lord and the eternal abiding with Him. Having been brought equal in their mode of being to the dead, the living will share equally with them the privilege of meeting the Lord on the clouds.

“Together with them”—equally with them; we shall have nothing more than they. “Shall be caught up”—we shall be lifted up to the place befitting those who have risen in their renewed nature. This is said to denote the swiftness of the movement, corresponding to the longing and irresistible desire of those who love the Lord to be with Him. “Caught up in the clouds.” On the clouds the Lord ascended (Acts 1:9), and on the clouds He will come again (Acts 1:11; Mt. 24:30); and on the clouds He will grant believers to meet Him. “As the Lord Himself ascended on a bright cloud, so those who believed in Him—both those raised from the dead and those still living, carried on the clouds—will meet the Judge of the universe and will abide with Him for endless ages” (Theodoret). “To meet the Lord.” The Lord will descend from heaven to take His own; and they will run from the earth to meet Him, as the virgins in the parable (Mt. 25:1–6). The place of meeting can only be “in the air”—on high, in the upper spheres of the atmosphere, at the transition into the heavenly dwelling-places. But here they will only meet, not abide. They will be with the Lord, but not in the air—there where He is. He is at the right hand of the Father, and they are around Him, each in his own order. “And so shall we ever be with the Lord”—as partakers of His glory and blessedness. Having met the Lord, drawn near, face to face, in blessed converse, we shall be separated from Him no more. This is the summit of the hopes that inspire Christians! — Thus the Lord Himself promised: “I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (Jn. 14:3). Of this He prayed to the Father: “Father, I will that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me” (Jn. 17:24). With this the holy Apostle consoled believers in their tribulations for the sake of the holy faith: “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:17–18; similarly Col. 3:3–4; 2 Tim. 2:12). Holy Chrysostom writes: “If the Lord intends to descend, why shall we be caught up? — For the sake of honour. For when a king enters a city, the honourable citizens go out to meet him, while the criminals within await the Judge; and when a loving father returns, the children and those who bear the name of children ride out in a chariot to meet him, to see and greet him, while those of the household who have offended him stay at home. — We shall ride in the Father’s chariot. For as He (the Father) lifted up the Lord Himself on the clouds (Acts 1:9), so we too shall be caught up in the clouds. See what honour awaits us! We shall meet the One who descends, and—what is most joyful—‘so shall we be’ with ‘Him. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew forth all his praise?’ (Ps. 105:2). To what blessings has He counted the human race worthy! First the dead will rise, and thus all together will meet Him. Abel, who died before all, will go forth to meet Him then together with those who remain alive—so that the living will have no advantage over him in this; but the one who has lain mouldering in the earth for so many years will meet Him together with the living, as will all the rest.”

Photius, quoted by Oecumenius, resolves the question that naturally arises here—why the Apostle speaks only of the lot of believers on the last day, making no mention of the lot of unbelievers and the wicked. “Do you notice that in describing the resurrection the Apostle does not mention those who will rise for punishment and torments? He does this, as I think, for three reasons. — First, he writes to the Thessalonians about the resurrection for their consolation. And for one who writes with the aim of consoling, it was inappropriate to make mention of bitter and grievous things. By this he would have increased their grief rather than provided consolation. Second, he was writing about the resurrection to believers—and it was fitting not to mention those who are to be led away to torment. For believers, who live according to the Lord’s commandments, will be subject to no punishment, but will abide in eternal joy and eternal blessedness. Therefore there was no need to mention the torments of extraneous persons when writing to believers about the glory, blessedness, and joys prepared for the faithful. Third, he is here expounding the resurrection itself as it is in itself and for what purpose it is. The resurrection God appointed to be to the salvation of people, that they might partake of eternal blessings in ineffable glory; and hell He prepared for the devil and his angels—as the Gospel says—not for people. If some, by their own iniquities, choose in place of the blessings prepared for them what was prepared for the devil, this comes about against the will of the man-loving Lord. Therefore holy Paul, writing about the very essence of the resurrection and about the purpose for which the Creator of all appointed it, justly makes no mention of those who will go into eternal punishment.”

1 Thess. 4:18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Such is the purpose for which the holy Apostle Paul touched upon the resurrection of believers and their blessed lot after the resurrection! “Comfort one another”—so that you may not grieve over the dead as others do who have no hope. Comfort “one another”—those who are less troubled and more at peace should convey to others the words of faith concerning the resurrection, repeating them before them with heartfelt conviction and so dispersing the darkness of grief in those others. Comfort “with these words”—with these words that I have transmitted to you, with this teaching, with this depiction of the bright lot of the risen faithful, saying to one another: this is what shall be! Is it right for us to grieve? — One may comfort oneself with this not only in grief over the dead, but in every other sorrow as well. For nothing has such power to dissolve the bitterness of sorrows as the certainty that this present life is not the final one, that there will be another in which those who sorrowed here will be recompensed with an ineffable blessedness—so long as those who sorrow are sincere in the true faith and upright in their lives. This is especially comforting to those who suffer unjust wrongs.