Examining the Scriptures Let us be as
the Bereans in Acts 17:11 -- So shouldn't we also examine the Scriptures to see if what we are being told is true or false? If you agree, then continue on and for we will look at an issue of vital importance during these Perilous Times: "The Rapture". The verses that we will examine are found in Paul's 1st Letter to the Church at Thessalonica Chapter 4: 15-18 in seven translations. The purpose of looking at seven different translations and then examining the Greek word (perileivpomai -- [perileipo /per·ee·li·po/) -- perileipo /per·ee·li·po/) v. #4035 in Strong's) is to determine which translation is most
accurate AND to examine weather we can determine when the church will be taken out of the
world. So -- The
Translations Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we
who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede
those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the
voice of archangel and with the trumpet of God,
will come down from heaven,and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who
are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console
one another with these words. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. The Holy Bible : New
Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989 (1 Th 4:15-18). For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. The Revised Standard
Version. 1971 (1 Th 4:15-18). 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Th
4:15-5:1). 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words. The New King
James Version. 1996, c1982 (1 Th 4:15-18). For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. The Holy Bible :
King James Version. 1995 (1 Th 4:15-18). For this we declare to you by the
Lord’s [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over
those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death]. For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with
the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise
first. Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall
simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with
the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with
these words. The Word 4035. perileivpomai, perileipo, per-ee-li´-po; from 4012 and 3007; to leave all around, i.e. (pass.) survive:— remain.Strong, J. 1997, c1996. The new Strong's dictionary of
Hebrew and Greek words. perileipo (perileivpomai, 4035), “to leave over,” is used in the passive voice in 1 Thess. 4:15, 17, rv, “that are left” (kjv, “that remain”), lit., “left over,” i.e., the living believers at the Lord’s return. Vine, W. E. 1996. Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words. T. Nelson: Nashville Number 4035 perileipo [perileipo /per·ee·li·po/] v. From 4012* and 3007**; Strong, J. 1996. Enhanced Strong's Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship: Ontario *4012 periper·ee prep. From the base of 4008; TDNT 6:53; TDNTA 827; GK 4309 and together with Strong's 2087 as GK 4304; 331 occurrences; AV translates as “of” 148 times, “for” 61 times, “concerning” 40 times, “about” 31 times, “as touching” eight times, “touching” three times, “whereof + 3739” three times, not translated four times, and translated miscellaneously 33 times. 1 about, concerning, on account of, because of, around, near. Strong, J. 1996. Enhanced Strong's Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship: Ontario 3007 leipolipo v. A root word; GK 3309; Six occurrences; AV translates as “lack” twice, “be wanting” twice, “want + 1722” once, and “be destitute” once. 1 to leave, leave behind, forsake, to be left behind. 1a to lag, be inferior. 1b to be destitute of, to lack. 2 to be wanting, to fail. Strong, J. 1996. Enhanced Strong's Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship: Ontario Commentaries (Verse 15), by divine revelation from the Lord Jesus; for though the resurrection of the dead, and a future state of blessedness, were part of the creed of the Old-Testament saints, yet they are much more clearly revealed in and by the gospel. By this word of the Lord we know, (1.) That the Lord Jesus will come down from heaven in all the pomp and power of the upper world (v. 16): The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. He ascended into heaven after his resurrection, and passed through these material heavens into the third heaven, which must retain him till the restitution of all things; and then he will come again, and appear in his glory. He will descend from heaven into this our air, v. 17. The appearance will be with pomp and power, with a shout—the shout of a king, and the power and authority of a mighty king and conqueror, with the voice of the archangel; an innumerable company of angels will attend him. Perhaps one, as general of those hosts of the Lord, will give notice of his approach, and the glorious appearance of this great Redeemer and Judge will be proclaimed and ushered in by the trump of God. For the trumpet shall sound, and this will awaken those that sleep in the dust of the earth, and will summon all the world to appear. For, (2.) The dead shall be raised: The dead in Christ shall rise first (v. 16), before those who are found alive at Christ’s coming shall be changed; and so it appears that those who shall then be found alive shall not prevent those that are asleep, v. 15. The first care of the Redeemer in that day will be about his dead saints; he will raise them before the great change passes on those that shall be found alive: so that those who did not sleep in death will have no greater privilege or joy at that day than those who fell asleep in Jesus. (3.) Those that shall be found alive will then be changed. They shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, v. 17. At, or immediately before, this rapture into the clouds, those who are alive will undergo a mighty change, which will be equivalent to dying. This change is so mysterious that we cannot comprehend it: we know little or nothing of it, 1 Co. 15:51. Only, in the general, this mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies will be made fit to inherit the kingdom of God, which flesh and blood in its present state are not capable of. This change will be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Co. 15:52), in the very instant, or not long after the raising up of those that sleep in Jesus. And those who are raised, and thus changed, shall meet together in the clouds, and there meet with their Lord, to congratulate him on his coming, to receive the crown of glory he will then bestow upon them, and to be assessors with him in judgment, approving and applauding the sentence he will then pass upon the prince of the power of the air, and all the wicked, who shall be doomed to destruction with the devil and his angels. (4.) Here is the bliss of the saints at that day: they shall be ever with the Lord, v. 17. It will be some part of their felicity that all the saints shall meet together, and remain together for ever; but the principal happiness of heaven is this, to be with the Lord, to see him, live with him, and enjoy him, for ever. This should comfort the saints upon the death of their friends, that, although death has made a separation, yet their souls and bodies will meet again; we and they shall meet together again: we and they shall meet together again: we and they with all the saints shall meet our Lord, and be with him for ever, no more to be separated wither from him or from one another for ever. And the apostle would have us comfort one another with these words, v. 18. We should endeavor to support one another in times of sorrow, not deaden one another’s spirits, nor weaken one another’s hands, but should comfort one another; and this may be done by serious consideration and discourse on the many good lessons to be learned from the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and the glory of the saints in that day. Henry, M. 1996, c1991. Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (1 Th 4:13). Hendrickson: Peabody For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep [1 Thess. 4:15]. “By the word of the Lord” is Paul’s assurance that he is giving God’s answer to their question. Paul knows that they had been worrying about those who had died before the Rapture and wants them to know that the dead in Christ will have part in the Rapture. “We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.” The word prevent is an old English word meaning “precede.” Those who are alive at the time of the Rapture will not be going ahead of them—in fact, the dead in Christ will be going first. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first [1 Thess. 4:16]. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven” I love that—He won’t be sending angels. When He comes to the earth to establish His kingdom, He will send His angels to the four corners of the earth to gather the elect, who will be both Israelites and Gentiles who enter the kingdom. However, there is no angel ministry connected with the Rapture of the church. Angels announced the birth of Christ, but how was He announced? As the Son of David, the newborn King. He was announced as a King. The wise men wanted to know where they could find Him who was born King of the Jews. In contrast to this, at the establishment of the church on the Day of Pentecost, there, were no angels. The Holy Spirit Himself came down. When the Lord takes His church out of the world, the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. There will be no angels. Angels are connected with Israel but not with the church at all. He will descend from heaven “with a shout.” That is the voice of command. It is the same voice which He used when He stood at the tomb of Lazarus and said, “Lazarus, come forth” (see John 11:43). “The voice of the archangel.” Now wait, isn’t that an angel connected with the Rapture? No, it is His voice that will be like the voice of an archangel. It is the quality of His voice, the majesty and the authority of it. “The trump of God.” Will there be trumpets there? No, it is His voice that will be like a trumpet. Can we be sure of this? In Revelation 1:10, John, who was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, wrote, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” He turned to see who it was, and he saw the glorified Christ. It is the voice of the glorified Christ that is like the sound of a trumpet. That ought to get rid of all this foolishness about Gabriel blowing his horn or blowing a trumpet. I don’t think Gabriel even owns a trumpet, but if he has one, he won’t need to blow it. The Lord Jesus is not going to need the help of Gabriel. Do you think the Lord Jesus needed Gabriel to come and help Him raise Lazarus from the dead? Can you imagine the Lord Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus saying, “Gabriel, won’t you come over here and help Me get this man out of the grave?” How absolutely foolish! The Lord Jesus will not need anyone to help Him. When He calls His church, their bodies will come up out of the graves. 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 [1 Thess. 4:17]. Again, “caught up” is the Greek harpazoŻ, meaning “to grasp hastily, snatch up, to lift, transport, or rapture.” It is going to be a very orderly procedure. The dead will rise first. Here comes Stephen out of the grave. It may be that he will lead the procession since he was the first martyr. Then there will be the apostles and all those millions who have laid down their lives for Jesus. They will just keep coming from right down through the centuries. Finally, if we are alive at that time, we will bring up the rear of the parade. We will be way down at the tail end of it. Most of the church has already gone in through the doorway of death. Wherefore comfort one another with these words [1 Thess. 4:18]. Does he say, “Wherefore terrify one another with these words”? Of course not. My Bible says, “Wherefore comfort one another.” It not only means to comfort in the usual sense of the word, but also to instruct and to exhort one another and to talk about these things. My friend, Jesus is going to take His own out of this world someday! What a glorious, wonderful comfort this is! The bodies of the dead will be lifted out. Then whoever is alive at that time will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. In fact, we shall come back with Him to the earth to reign with Him at the time He sets up His kingdom. McGee, J. V. 1997, c1981. Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson: Nashville 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord. By this Paul intends to make an authoritative announcement (cf. I Cor 7:10). Shall not prevent them which are asleep. The word prevent (Gr phthanoŻ) has the meaning “precede.” A better translation would be, “we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.” The construction in the original language (the subjunctive of emphatic future negation) emphasizes the fact that the living have no advantage over the dead at the coming of the Lord. This is clearly demonstrated in the next two verses, where Paul gives the order of events step by step. 16–18. First, the Lord himself shall descend. This is qualified by three attendant circumstances each introduced with the same preposition in the original: a command, an archangel’s voice, and a trumpet blast. Second, the dead in Christ shall rise first. The word rise denotes the resurrection of the body, and not “rising” into the air. Likewise first, means that this resurrection occurs before the Rapture. Verse 17 indicates the third item in order; “then” means the next thing in order after their resurrection. We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. It is important to note that the whole church, including those who have died prior to this event, as well as those who are still alive, is caught up together. There is no advantage either way. It is from the word caught up (Gr harpazoŻ) in the Latin translation we get our word “rapture.” The word in the original means “snatch,” or “seize,” and denotes a sudden violent taking away. The word pictures being “swept off” into the air as by a tornado. The result of this sweeping away, of course, is that we meet the Lord. Paul points out that these words are to be used by the Thessalonians to comfort one another concerning the welfare of their loved ones who have passed on. They will be reunited at His Coming! KJV Bible commentary. 1997, c1994 (1 Th 4:15-5:1). One Last bit of information before the Conclusion On Page 1146-1147, in The Complete Word Study Dictionary by Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., Published by AMG International, Inc. 1992, Revised Edition 1993. ISBN # 0-89957-663-X, you will find the following information about the Greek word (perileivpomai -- [perileipo /per·ee·li·po/) -- which we have seen translated into various words - phrases. perileipo -- To leave over. In Classical Greek the passive form those who survived and therefore remained or were left behind. In 1Thess. 4: 15, 17, the present passive particle occurs as a substitute with the definite article in the plural. Paul, in 1Thess. 4:13, contrasts the attitude of believers with "the rest" in regard to death and speaks of Christians as those who should not sorrow because death (which he calls sleep). "The rest" are the unbelievers who have no hope. In 4:14, he speaks about those who slept or died, whom the Lord is going to bring with Him when He returns for His Church. Here he is referring exclusively to the believers who had already died or who will have died when the parousia (3952), the coming of the Lord for His saints, is realized. In verse fifteen, the distinction is made between those believers who will have died and the believers who will still be alive, who, ironically, are referred to by the same participle phrase, Hoi perileipomenoi, which was used previously of unbelievers. Here the meaning is exactly in accord with the Classical Greek meaning of the word. In verse seventeen, this subst. Part. again refers to the believers who will have escaped death and who will be caught up with the dead in Christ who will already have been raised from death. Hoi perileipomenoi, the surviving ones (v.17), refers only to those who are in Christ and stands in contrast to "the dead in Christ" of 4:16 CONCLUSION hoi perileipomenoi, the "surviving ones" seems to indicate that something has happened to create a set of circumstances in which people are "having to survive". Does this indicate that the Rapture takes place during the "time before the Tribulation Period" or at a "time during the Tribulation Period or at a "time after the Tribulation Period -- when Christ returns to set up His 1000 year reign"? For further insight be sure to look at these verses in context: Revelation 10:7 and Revelation 8:1. If you need assistance in understanding the science of interpreting the Bible, you might consider purchasing a book: Principles of Biblical Hermeneutics by j. Edwin Hartill, published by Zondervan Publishing House, Copyright 1947, ISBN # 0-310-25900-2. Let me know if you would like to purchase this book by sending me an email. My conclusion is still under review and consideration. The real question is: Are your ready to "survive" these Perilous Times? To do so, you need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. To receive the Free Gift of Eternal Life, read John 3:3-21 and John 14:6 then click below. Click
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