1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
On American military facilities around the world, a bugle fanfare sounds at 6:55 am. This is the “first call,” a warning that in five minutes, reveille will sound and the soldiers or sailors’ workday is beginning. When the bugle sounds, the service member is to stop what they’re doing, stand at parade rest, and look at our flag as it is being raised. It is a moment of respect for all that our flag represents. The title of the piece is based on the French word “reveille,” which means, “wake up.”
The sounding of reveille or something like it is an important part of our passage for this morning. Paul envisioned the Second Coming of Jesus being announced by the blowing of a horn heard around the world. Although in his day, Jews blew on a ram’s horn called the shofar and not a bugle, the calls serve similar functions. While a bugle awakens those who merely sleep, the shofar sounded on that day will awaken the dead in their graves. They will be called out of slumber to rise to eternal life with God.
At the opposite end of the day, the voice of the bugle is heard once again, but this time to call the service people to rest. General Daniel Butterfield served in the Union Army during the Civil War and he was fond of bugle calls as a means of communicating with his men. He composed calls that were unique to his regiment. In 1862 he took a French bugle call that had fallen out of use, rearranged some of the notes and repurposed it to signal “lights out” at the end of the day. Very soon, the call, that has only 24 notes, was picked up and used by the entire Union Army at the close of each day.
It came to be known as “Taps.” This bugle call has also found use as a fitting memorial to people who have served our nation in her armed forces.
At Jesus’ Second Coming, our honored dead will meet Him first.
The church in Thessalonica had been lied to, told that somehow their hope for eternal life didn’t include folks who’d already died. As you can imagine, this upset them unnecessarily. Paul wrote to correct the falsehood and ease their minds. Good thing, as we also need to have our minds set at ease.
1. Our hope is centered on Jesus. (4:13-14)
Be encouraged, our future is a hopeful one (13).
Because Paul loved the believers in this church he wrote, DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE BELIEVERS WHO HAVE DIED… is something we have noted repeatedly and it appears again here. Paul did not want them to be ignorant of the truth and suffer grief because of it. SO - he’s going to tell them the truth.
The truth is this: people of faith have a HOPE in Jesus Christ. Death is not the final word, the last chapter in our story. Our future is a glorious union with Jesus Christ that will last for all eternity and a joyous reunion with our beloved dead. We still have grief and sorrow, but they are mitigated by our hope for eternal life with Christ and our loved ones.
To have no hope, no confident expectation about the future is to expose ourselves to unnecessary grief. To mourn the departed without any hope of seeing them again is to have the sorrows of the ignorant and unbelieving. The first thing Paul wants is for them to know they have reason to hope. This is what we’re to take away from this passage.
YOU WILL NOT GRIEVE LIKE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO HOPE may be the unbelievers mentioned in v. 12. Since they do not believe in Jesus Christ, they have no hope. Even if they do believe in life after death, it is a false hope, because it is based on something other than Jesus Christ. The reason for this is established in the next verse.
Jesus rose from the dead and so will those who have died in Him (14). Though hope looks ahead to the future, it is grounded in the past. In this case, our hope was forged in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND WAS RAISED TO LIFE AGAIN… Your hope is not based on speculation or imagination, but on real, historical events: the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Be assured the Second Coming will happen: WE ALSO BELIEVE THAT WHEN JESUS RETURNS, GOD WILL BRING BACK WITH HIM THOSE THE BELIEVERS WHO HAVE DIED.
2. The dead will rise first (15-17).
The NLT has chosen to translate a figure of speech in the original language FALLEN ASLEEP (14+15) more literally, using the word DEAD. Like our modern phrases, “passed away” or “departed,” this ancient figure of speech was a polite euphemism for death. You can understand this comparison as a deceased person can look like they’re asleep.
We believe the dead will be raised to new life, just as Jesus was raised. Paul went one step further teaching that the dead have the honor of going to Jesus first. The Thessalonian believers must’ve had some concern that their dead were going to miss out on the Second Coming. Paul assures them that the opposite is true; not only will the deceased participate in the Second Coming, but they will also be honored over the living.
WE TELL YOU THIS DIRECTLY FROM THE LORD is Paul emphasizing the instruction by establishing its authority. Paul’s saying something like this, “Listen up, this is what Jesus specifically said.
And here’s the point: WE WHO ARE STILL LIVING WHEN THE LORD RETURNS, WILL NOT MEET HIM AHEAD OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED (15). And, stated from another angle, FIRST, THE BELIEVERS WHO HAVE DIED WILL RISE FIRST FROM THEIR GRAVES (16). If we’re all going to end up in heaven, what difference does it make who goes first? The only difference I can see is one of honor.
The word COMING is translated from Greek word, parousia. As we see in 2:19, this refers to a presence or appearance, especially of royalty.
Let’s note something important about the occasion of the Second Coming: it will be glorious. FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, WITH A LOUD COMMANDING SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL AND WITH THE TRUMPET CALL OF GOD (16). After the Ascension, Jesus is depicted as being seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Placing Him in heaven enthroned means He is in a position to intercede with God the Father on our behalf. The COMMANDING SHOUT will be given by Jesus and His command will be to the dead, “Arise!” In John 5:28-29 Jesus promised that the dead in their graves would hear His voice and rise to face Judgment Day.
These facts are meant to be inspiring. When Jesus appears the second time, He will bring heaven’s glory with Him and meet us half-way. There will be no need to soil his nail-scarred feet with the dust of the earth again.
Verse seventeen tells us the living will rise after the dead. How could Paul be any more obvious than this, THEN, TOGETHER WITH THEM, WE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND REMAIN ON THE EARTH WILL BE CAUGHT UP WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS. Be assured, our beloved dead in the faith will go to Jesus, then we will join them in His presence.
WILL BE CAUGHT UP WITH THEM - the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will be the occasion of the greatest family reunion ever: all of our family members who died in Christ will be rejoined for all eternity. In the original language, the word translated as AUGHT UP refers to someone suddenly disappearing. This is part of the GLORY of that day. This is where the term Rapture comes in. The Latin word for CAUGHT UP is raptus.
…TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. THEN WE WILL BE WITH THE LORD FOREVER. Once again, this is all about Jesus and centers on Him. The family reunion part will be nice, but that’s not what it’s about. That Day is about Jesus Christ. He is our HOPE, not our ancestors or great people of faith. Being in the presence of God is what gives us eternal life; it is what makes heaven “heavenly.” In 1 Corinthians 15:52 Paul says all this will happen in the blinking of an eye.
3. We need to know why we’ve been given this hope. (4:18+5:11)
This hope is for encouragement (4:18). This is Paul’s pastoral purpose: to ENCOURAGE the Thessalonian believers with the truth that Heaven is theirs in Christ and will include their loved ones who died in faith. Notice how this purpose “bookends” our passage; it is at the beginning and repeated at the end. Paul is writing plainly, trying to make his point obvious.
This hope is for our edification (5:11). In 5:11 Paul commanded them to ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER AND BUILD EACH OTHER UP. Paul acknowledged the Thessalonicans were already do in the work of edifying each other by writing at the end, JUST AS YOU ARE ALREADY DOING.
At Jesus’ Second Coming, our honored dead will meet Him first.
The great British statesman Winston Churchill planned his funeral long before he died. His wishes included having a bugler positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul’s Church. He was to play the Taps after the priest gave the benediction. Taps represented the fact that his physical life was over.
But that was not the last word. The service would take a dramatic turn as soon as Taps was finished. At that moment another bugler, placed on the other side of the dome, played the notes of reveille—It’s time to get up. When Jesus reappears at the end of history, the last note will not be taps; it will be reveille.
The call will go out from Gabriel’s trumpet, calling the dead to awaken and arise from their graves. Likewise, we who are living will awake from our spiritual stupor – a drowsiness brought on by too much involvement with the world - and truly open our eyes to see Jesus.
RESOURCES:
Lori Hatcher, Refresh Your Faith, 2020, pp. 259-260.
Philip W. Comfort, Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol. 16, 1 Thessalonians, 2008, pp. 360-373.
Churchill anecdote from https://ministry127.com/resources/illustrations/rapture, retrieved on 1 November 2024.
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