Jesus’ “Parousia” and “Gathering the Elect” (Mt. 24:27-31) and Paul’s “Parousia” and “Catching Away” (1 Thess. 4:15-17) are One and the Same Eschatological Event Fulfilled in AD 70

Introduction:

In this article I will be combining three very popular articles into one.

In Part 1 I will be examining Christ’s parousia as Him coming as the “Sun of Righteousness with healing in His rays” or “Sunshine coming from the East to the West” arising in the hearts of His people. In Luke 17:20-37 Christ again comes as Sunshine (not Lightning) with His Kingdom to be realized “within” the believer and is an unseen event.

In Part 2 I will begin examining how Christ’s parousia and eschatological gathering is Paul’s parousia and catching away event and referring to a spiritual resurrection of the dead event and a spiritual and internal gathering or catching away in God’s Kingdom or in His presence. I will show how the Church has historically not been able to reconcile the coming of Christ in Matthew 24:27-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and how Full Preterism has solved this “thorny problem” (per G.K. Beale).

In Part 3 in order to do the “further study” (that Mr. Beale says these passages need) and thus to solve the “thorny problem” of Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 we must give a consistent exegesis of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 that is consistent with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 24:27-31 / Matthew 13:39-43 and Daniel’s teaching in Daniel 12:1-7, 13. This must also come in line with the spiritual coming of Christ and His Kingdom as found in Luke 17:20-37. This three-part series “connects the dots” exegetically and harmonizes Jewish views of the resurrection with what orthodox Partial Preterist’s teach concerning an imminent spiritual resurrection.

Parts 1-2 are taken from my 14 Part series on the Olivet Discourse. So if there are some questions you may still have I encourage you to read that series as well.

Part #1 - The Parousia of Christ is Him Coming as the “Sun of Righteousness” From the East to the West Arising and Imputing His Righteousness in the Hearts of His People

 “For as the sunshine comes out from the east and is seen even in the west, thus will be the coming of the Son of man” (Matthew 24:27 Aramaic English New Testament)

Matthew 24:27 is usually interpreted by Futurists, Partial Preterists and many Full Preterists to mean Christ’s coming here is as “lightning.”  Preterists who see Christ coming as “lighting” here describe Him coming through the means of the Roman armies to be sudden and quick like lightning, which very well may be true.^[1]  But there are other Partial Preterists and Full Preterists like myself who believe Jesus’ Second Coming (Greek parousia) here is being described as the sun with its great light shining or flashing from east to west.  For this reason, I have chosen the Aramaic English New Testament translation of Matthew 24:27 for its accuracy here.  

I agree with Partial Preterist author Steve Gregg who points out that translators have done us a disservice on this text:

“The word “lightning” is the Greek astrape. This word is in fact, the correct term for lightning, but this is not always its meaning.  When defined in the lexicons, astrape is said to mean either “lightning” or, more generally, “bright shining.”  It is in this latter sense that the word is used in Luke 11:36—“If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining [astrape] of a lamp gives you light.  

Interestingly, the same translators who rendered astrape as “lightning,” in Matthew 24:27, quite reasonably chose to translate the same word as “bright shining,” in Luke 11:36, where it refers to the brightness radiating from a light source.  But what prevented them from translating the word this way in Matthew 24:27?  Would it not present a very different image if Jesus were to have said, “For as the bright shining comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”?  Instead of a lightning bolt, this would clearly be comparing His coming to a glorious sunrise!”

If one should arise before the dawn and watch the eastern horizon, the sky will be observed to change from nearly black to a lighter blue.  On the edge of the horizon a ribbon of red-orange will gradually appear, and the whole sky will become progressively lighter and lighter, nearly like daytime even before the upper rim of the sun is visible.  Within seconds, the sun will fully present itself, and the dawning of the day is complete.”^[2]

“…the Kingdom’s glory will increase more and more until the moment Jesus appears…”^[3]  

Christ’s Parousia (presence) here and the Greek word associated with it, astrape, is making reference to Christ’s presence and kingdom being manifested “within the hearts” of His people in AD 70 using the illustration of the sun’s rays shining “from east and flashing to the west” (see my exegesis of Luke 17:20-37 later on).  

And it seems to me that there may be a contrast being made between the false prophets and Messiah’s hiding in a dark secretive “inner room” of the temple in the previous verse, with Christ being revealed openly and dramatically as the sun and daylight itself is.

Christ’s salvation manifested in both His first and Second Coming events are referred to as Him coming as the “sun,” associated with the “day” bringing “healing,” or as the “morning star dawning” as His Word and presence within the hearts of His people:

•       “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2).

•       And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; or you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Lk. 1:78-79).

•       “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand” (Rms. 13:11-12).

•       “…as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19).

•       “…I will give Him the morning star” (Rev. 2:28). 

•       “I am the bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16). 

Malachi 3:1—4:1-6:

•       “Behold, I send my messenger (John as Elijah), and he will prepare the way before me (Christ). And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple (in judgment – at Christ’s Second Coming); and the messenger of the [New] covenant (Christ) in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire…”

•       “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the SUN of Righteous-ness shall rise with healing in its rays/wings. You shall go out … leaping like calves from the stall… Behold, I will send you Elijah (John) the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

Malachi 3-4 predicts TWO messengers: 1) John being the eschatological Elijah preparing the way for 2) the Second Coming of Jesus as the Messiah fulfilling and bringing to maturity the new covenant promises.

“The day” that is “coming” is the Second Coming which is described here not only as “the great and awesome day of the Lord,” but also as the “Sun of Righteousness” “rising” or manifesting Himself with healing rays for the righteous and yet burning the unrepentant. 

Ellicott’s has some helpful comments:

“The fathers and early commentators have understood Christ by the Sun of Righteousness, and they are so far right that it is the period of His advent that is referred to… As the rising sun diffuses light and heat, so that all that is healthy in nature revives and lifts up its head, while plants that have no depth of root are scorched up and wither away, so the advent of the reign of righteousness, which will reward the good and the wicked, each according to his deserts…”^[4]

John Gill writes,

“…Christ: and thus it is interpreted of him by the ancient Jews, in one of their Midrashes or expositions (a); they say… until the Messiah comes, as it is said, “unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise,” and Philo the Jew (b) not only observes, that God, figuratively speaking, is the sun; but the divine “Logos” or Word of God, the image of the heavenly Being, is called the sun; who, coming to our earthly system, helps the kindred and followers of virtue, and affords ample refuge and salvation to them; referring, as it seems; to this passage: indeed, they generally interpret it of the sun, literally taken, which they suppose, at the end of the world, will have different effects on good and bad men; they say (c), “in the world to come, God will bring the sun out of its sheath, and burn the wicked; they will be judged by it, and the righteous will be healed by it:’’^[5]

John Lightfoot sees the connection with John as the fulfillment of Elijah and the “wrath” of God coming in Matthew 3:7ff. and Malachi 4 as Christ coming spiritually in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70:

“…To fly from the wrath to come.] These words respect the very last words of the Old Testament, “lest I smite the earth with a curse,” Mal. 4:[6]; and denote the most miserable destruction of the nation, and now almost ready to fall upon them.”^[6]

Adam Clarke is most helpful and the clearest that Malachi 4:2 is Christ’s spiritual coming in the events of AD 67 – AD 70:

“Malachi 4:1:  Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven – The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.  And all the proud – This is in reference to Mal 3:15 of the preceding chapter. The day that cometh shall burn them up – Either by famine, by sword, or by captivity. All those rebels shall be destroyed.  It shall leave them neither root nor branch – A proverbial expression for total destruction. Neither man nor child shall escape.

Malachi 4:2:  You that fear my name – The persons mentioned in the sixteenth verse of the preceding chapter, ye that look for redemption through the Messiah.  The Sun of righteousness – The Lord Jesus, the promised Messiah; the Hope of Israel.  With healing in his wings – As the sun, by the rays of light and heat, revives, cheers, and fructifies the whole creation, giving, through God, light and life everywhere; so Jesus Christ, by the influences of his grace and Spirit, shall quicken, awaken, enlighten, warm, invigorate heal, purify, and refine every soul that believes in him, and, by his wings or rays, diffuse these blessings from one end of heaven to another; everywhere invigorating the seeds of righteousness, and withering and drying up the seeds of sin. The rays of this Sun are the truths of his Gospel, and the influences of his Spirit. And at present these are universally diffused.

And ye shall go forth – Ye who believe on his name shall go forth out of Jerusalem when the Romans shall come up against it. After Cestius Gallus had blockaded the city for some days, he suddenly raised the siege. The Christians who were then in it, knowing, by seeing Jerusalem encompassed with armies, that the day of its destruction was come, when their Lord commanded them to flee into the mountains, took this opportunity to escape from Jerusalem, and go to Pella, in Coelesyria; so that no Christian life fell in the siege and destruction of this city.”^[7]

So, we learn from the ancient Jewish commentators and Christian commentators that Christ coming as the “Sun of Righteousness” in Malachi 4:2 is:

1). understood to be Messianic

2). the Second Coming event

3). Christ coming spiritually in salvation for the Christians (an inner spiritual infusion of imputed righteousness) while at the same time a physical salvation or flight to Pella - while being a judgment of fire burning up the wicked and their temple in the events of AD 67 – AD 70.

All three of these the author defends to be true and supporting the premise of this work.       

The other references to Christ being the Morning Star at His Second Coming event, manifesting His inner salvation within the hearts of His people as an “inheritance ready to be revealed,” or to receive His “soon” reward/presence in the New Creation at His “soon” spiritual Second Coming in AD 70, the author also fully agrees with (Rev. 2:16, 28; Rev. 22:7-16).  Again, commentators are divided as to whether the coming of Christ and inheritance of Christ being the “Morning Star” was received at His spiritual “soon” coming in AD 70 or will be fulfilled at a future Second Coming event.  This, of course, is not an “either or” but a “both and” Futurist dilemma which Full Preterism solves.  

And, of course, the “Sun of RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Mal. 4:2) caused us to “inherit” the new covenant “world of RIGHTEOUSNESS” when He fully arose in the hearts of His people – described as the “salvation of the soul” (1 Pet. 1:4-12/4:5-7; 2 Pet. 1:19/2 Pet. 3).  

Paul likewise taught that Christ’s Second Coming being “at hand” was the “Day” light and life for Christians in the new covenant age looking to AD 70, while the “night” of the old covenant age was passing away had to do with the “salvation” of inner forgiveness and not the transformation of physical bodies at the end of world history (Rom. 11:26-27/13:11-12).           

Here in our text (Mt. 24:27), the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon gives astrape the meaning of a “bright light,” so the question arises as to what great light Jesus is referring to – lightning or the sun?  The Greek word for “shine” is phaino, which according to the Greek English Online Bible Greek Lexicon can mean “of growing vegetation, to come to light.”  Well, is there a “bright light” that causes “vegetation to grow” that shines “from east to west”?  To me the great light being the sun, and shining from the east to the west giving light and life to the Church as His garden in salvation, makes more sense than Him coming as lightning, which is, generally speaking, more north to south.       

Jesus would not be revealing Himself in some dark inner secret room of the temple as the false Messiahs and prophets would shamefully be doing, for they were of the darkness, but on that day “they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none beside me.  I am the LORD, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:6; 19-25; cf. Mal.1:1, 4:1-2, 5-6). 

Perhaps a type of eternal life can be found in Joshuah10:12-14 when God listened to Joshua and the sun stood still.  Every day in the new creation is a day without darkness or bearing the reproach of our sins (Isa. 60:19-20; Rev. 21:23-26).  In Joshua’s day this miracle was a sign to all that Jehovah was fighting for Israel.  When those who are in darkness outside the gates of the city look at your life and see the joy, light, and warmth of God’s presence radiating from your inner being, God uses this to cause His elect to crave this enduring light and righteousness that can only come from your Lord.  This also serves to harden the reprobate, as the sun melts the wax and hardens the clay.  

In Joshua’s day this was a sign that the Lord was fighting for Israel, and today Christ’s presence and eternal Day within His Church demonstrates that nothing will ever be able to withstand her.

Photosynthesis and Plants “look up”

As plants receive life from the sun’s light and energy through photosynthesis, so the Church receives eternal life from Christ alone.  In union with Christ, the Church becomes the leaves on the Tree of Life and the Light of the New Jerusalem/Creation brings healing to the nations of the world.  It is the light and living waters of the gospel preached to sinners that serve as “special revelation” to a thirsty sinner’s soul.  No luminary lights of the physical creation can fully demonstrate the righteous ways of God!  Only Christ and His Church serving as a heavenly kingdom can bring the revelation needed for sinners to be saved.  Without the “Sun of Righteousness,” the light and glory of God’s imputed righteousness beaming in upon the heart and mind of man, all is lost.  The world truly does revolve around the “Sun/Son of Righteousness.”

Another interesting thing is that flowers and plants usually face East and when the sun rises in the East and it’s rays hit the flower/plant it begins lifting it’s head so to speak and follows the sun and it goes West. Then at night it goes back to face East to await the rays of the sun the following day. As we will see in Luke 17:20-37 Christ’s coming is once again described as the sunshine coming from the East to the West and in Luke 21:27 the believer is to “lift up your head for your redemption draws near.” And Paul stated clearly that the “DAY was at hand” (Rms. 13:11-12) and the believers are “children of the DAY” (1 Thess. 5). The Church is the Garden of God and responds to the Light of the Gospel and the presence and voice of the “Sun of Righteousness.” Those who are sovereignly drawn by God hear His voice and still come to the perpetual light/DAY of the Kingdom (Jn. 6; Rev. 22:17).

Luke 17:20-37

Just as Matthew 23-25 is written with a common chiastic structure connecting these chapters, Luke 17:20-37 is also structured with a chiasm. Some may be asking, “What in the world is a chiasm?” So let me briefly point out its basic structure.  Here is a classic example.  

(A)   No one can serve two masters, 

(B)    for either he will hate the one 

(C)    and love the other, 

(C) or he will be devoted to the one      

(B) and despise the other. 

(A) You cannot serve God and money.

Usually in a chiasm, the beginning and end correspond with each other and ram home the point.   The middle parts also correspond with each other, and the beginning and end, and can serve as the main point or the meat in the middle.  In ancient Hebrew and Biblical times, this form of teaching was popular because the parallel structure made it easy to memorize the teaching.

Now notice that the chiasm structure in Luke 17:20-37 begins and ends with two questions, and the point Jesus is addressing is when and how His kingdom will be manifested. It’s at His Second Coming:

(A)   The question by the Pharisees - When will the kingdom come or be realized (17:20-21)?  It will come “within the heart of a person.” 

(B)   When the coming of the Son of Man is revealed as the sun (17:22-25)

(C)   This will be like in the days of Noah (17:26-27)

(C)  This will be like in the days of Lot (17:28-29)

(B)  When the Son of Man is revealed (17:30)

(A) The question by the disciples – Where, Lord? “Where the dead body is.”

Luke 17:20-37 is a chiasm centered around two questions (asked by the Pharisees and then the disciples) addressing the eschatological point as to when, how and where the kingdom will come and be realized.  The answer for the Pharisees is that when the kingdom comes, it will be unseen and realized “within” the hearts of their enemies - when the Son of Man is revealed from heaven (which will be like the days of Noah or Lot).  The answer to the disciple’s question, as to when, how or “where” the kingdom comes, is connected to when their enemies would be “gathered” together in order to be slain like a dead body that the birds of the air would pick apart.  This too would be realized when Christ would be revealed from heaven (which would be like the days of Noah or Lot).  Remember, Jesus taught elsewhere that the kingdom would be “taken” from the Pharisees and “given” to the Church or “nation” bearing the fruits thereof (Mt. 21:43-45). Our text here in Luke 17 DESCRIBES HOW, WHEN and WHERE that transfer would be accomplished in the events of AD 67 – AD 70.

“Within you”

Some modern translators translate entos as “among you” or “in your midst” without any linguistic justification.  They appear to do this for two reasons.  First, they can’t have Jesus’ spiritual “within” kingdom associated with the eschatological “not yet” or with Christ’s Parousia, so translating it as “among you” or currently “in your midst” places the phrase comfortably in the here and now of the “already.”  And, secondly, they think that if you translate the passage as “within you,” this would have Jesus saying that the unbelieving Pharisees had the kingdom within them.

Therefore, let’s consider the linguistic evidence for “within you” or “within your heart,” and also to whom Jesus is referring when He says within “you.”

Strong’s Concordance pretty much nails the definition of entosas as “within you”:

“1787. ἐντός entós; adv. from en(1722), in. Within. Used also as a prep. with the gen. (Luke 17:21, “the kingdom of God is within you,” meaning it is located in your heart and affections, not external). With the neut. def. art., tó entós, the inside (Matt. 23:26; Sept.: Ps. 39:4; 109:22). Zodhiates, S. (2000).”

Consider the following arguments which prove with 100% certainty that entos should be translated as “within you” or, even better, “within the heart of a person”:

1). The context of Luke 17:21 is giving a contrast between something that is outward and physically seen – “lo here or lo there” – as opposed to something that is spiritual and therefore is unseen and “within.”

2). Entos is only used one other time in the NT and it is located in Matthew 23:26, where again there is a contrast being made between what the hypocritical Pharisees did outwardly – sitting in Moses’ seat and doing their deeds to be “SEEN by men,” dressing to be SEEN by men, and loving the best seats so as to be SEEN by men.  But Jesus drives the point home when He teaches that they were overly concerned about outward washings and cleanliness, not realizing that they were unclean and spiritually dead from the “inside” (entos) – (23:25-28).

3). Strong’s also appeals to the LXX which universally translates the OT Hebrew being “within” a building such as the temple, or something taking place “within” a person’s “inward parts” or within the spiritual nature of man as contrasted with the outward. See also the LXX in Psalm 103:1; Psalm 109:22; Isaiah 16:11.

4). Outside the NT, entos never means “among.”

5). In order to express “among, amidst,” or “in the middle of,” the New Testament always uses mesos already employed in the Old Testament 307 times, and in the New Testament there are 27 occurrences with Luke, who uses mesos much more than any of the other gospel writers. This clearly implies that Luke would certainly have used mesos in 17:21 if the meaning were “among you.”

6). Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us that Liddell-Scott (p. 577) gives Luke 17:21 the translation of entosas, to be “in your hearts.”

7). All the early church fathers who were closer to koine Greek than we are, universally understood entosas to be “within you.”

8). It has only been in recent times that some translations have rendered entos as “among you” in the fear that Jesus is teaching the kingdom of God would be “within” the unbelieving Pharisees.  But as William Hendriksen points out, “The pronoun you (whether singular or plural) have more than one meaning such as ‘a person’ or ‘one.’”^[8] Therefore, Jesus is teaching that when the kingdom of God comes (at His Second Coming) you will not be able to physically see it, because it will be realized and fulfilled “within the heart of a person.”

Here’s one last point on Luke 17:20-37.  Luke’s account of Jesus’ teachings often closes a discourse with a parable (6:20-49; 10:1-37; 11:14-36; 11:37-12:21; 12:22-48; 16:9-31; 17:20-18:8).^[9]  Thus the “day(s) of the Son of Man” will include inheritance of the kingdom & Parousia, but also severe persecution requiring vindication, to which Jesus now turns His attention. While the disciples may be tempted to want the kind of kingdom the Pharisees wanted (a violent vindication from their Roman enemies), due to the coming persecutions, Jesus does assure them that His Parousia would include an aspect of physical deliverance and vindication of their enemies. This would occur “quickly” (Lk. 18:8) at His Second Coming and not thousands of years in the future.

---

Footnotes Part #1:

^[1] Bray, Ibid., pp. 120-128

^[2] Steve Gregg, EMPIRE of the RISEN SON A TREATISE ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD—WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS BOOK ONE:  THERE IS ANOTHER KING, Maitland, FL:  2020), 388-389

^[3] Ibid., 389

^[4] Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers,            https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ebc/ malachi-4.html

^[5] John Gill’s Exposition, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/malachi/4.htm

^[6] Lightfoot, J. (2010). A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, Matthew1 Corinthians, Matthew-Mark (Vol. 2, p. 78). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

^[7] Adam Clark, Commentary on the Bible [1831], free online at: biblehub.com

^[8] William Hendriksen, Gospel of Luke, (Grand Rapids, MI: 1978), 805

^[9] A.J. Mattill, Jr., Luke and the Last Things a perspective for the understanding of Lukan thought, (Dillsboro, NC: Western North Carolina Press), p. 89

Part #2 – An Exegesis of Mt. 24:30-31

Introduction:

To say that the Futurist system of eschatology is conflicted or disagrees over Matthew 24:30-31 is an understatement. Some teach that the coming of Christ and gathering of the elect here was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70 with an ongoing spiritual fulfillment (spiritual resurrection in hearing the gospel post AD 70), while others affirm this is the Second Coming and resurrection event. Others such as G.K. Beale say this is a “thorny problem” for their Futurist creedal system and within his own personal writings because he has affirmed its both the Second Coming event in one work and then in another, it was spiritually fulfilled in AD 70. I will document Beale’s confusion and contradiction in the body of this article. 

And to make it even more interesting and to add to the Futurist confusion, some Partial Preterist’s such as James Jordan and Gary DeMar are now teaching Matthew 24:30-31 and Daniel 12:2 is describing a spiritual resurrection of souls/spirits for the OT and NT dead that were raised spiritually out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades to inherit eternal life in the Father’s presence at Christ’s imminent Parousia in AD 70. Let’s make sense of these positions and interpretations of Matthew 24:30-31 and solve what G.K. Beale calls a “thorny problem.”     

· “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Mt. 24:31).

In the Reformed Study Bible edited by Postmillennial Partial Preterists R.C. Sproul and Keith Mathison, we learn this of Matt. 24:30-31:

“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 judgment of Matthew 24:27-30 (and Mathison on the coming of Christ in Mt. 25:31) was fulfilled somehow in the ascension event and spiritually in AD 70--yet we learn in their own Study Bible that these passages “most naturally refer to the Second Coming”!  These propositions cannot both be true without Full Preterism being true. 

John Murray, appealing to the “analogy of faith” principle of interpretation in examining this passage, also correctly observes,

“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.”[1]

The “parallels” of Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and 1 Corinthians 15

I have put together a chart which shows the “parallels” between Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and 1 Corinthians 15 demonstrating Paul’s eschatology is Jesus’ eschatology and these are the same eschatological events:

And as I pointed out in my introduction G.K. Beale affirms in his commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians,

“That both [1 Thessalonians] 4:15–18 and 5:1–11 explain the same events [in Matthew 24] is discernible from observing that both passages actually form one continuous depiction of the same narrative in Matthew 24…”[2]

He then goes on to make virtually the same parallels between Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4-5 that I have made in the chart above.  But then out of the other side of Beale’s mouth, he now affirms that the coming of Christ in Matthew 24:30 is referring to Christ’s “invisible coming” “fulfilled not at the very end of history but rather in AD 70…”:

“The clearest reference to Jesus as the Son of Man from Daniel 7:13 come in the third category (which he identifies as “those that refer to Jesus’ future coming in glory”), where there are quotations of Dan. 7:13 (Matt. 24:30, Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27).  However, it is likely better to see most of these third-category references 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.”[3]

In a footnote in the above quote, Beale realizing what he wrote in his commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians and what he is now saying about Matthew 24:30 creates a Futurist contradiction or in his words a “thorny problem” “that deserves much more study.”[4] For Beale, his way out of this contradiction is to appeal to the coming of Christ in Matthew 25:31 as the end of world history Second Coming event.  But as we have seen Partial Preterists such as Milton Terry, Gary DeMar, Keith Mathison, Mike Bull, etc.—correctly teach the coming of Christ in glory in BOTH Matthew 24:30 and Matthew 25:31 is referring to the same AD 70 coming of Christ and not an end of world history coming.  And to Beale’s point, Full Preterism has done the “more study” and fixed the “thorny problem” he and Futurism have created for themselves. 

We can readily see how the two main Reformed views have formed the Sovereign Grace Full Preterist view:

Major Premise:  The “parallels” or the analogy of faith principle of interpretation of Matthew 24; 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and 1 Corinthians 15 demonstrate this is the ONE Second Coming event inseparably connected to the ONE end of the age resurrection event – classic Amillennialism.

Minor Premise:  But the coming of Christ and gathering of the elect of Matthew 24:27-31 was fulfilled spiritually at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70 – Partial Preterism. 

Conclusion/Synthesis/Reformed and Always Reforming:  Therefore, the ONE end of the age Second Coming and resurrection event of Matthew 24:30-31=1 Thessalonians 4-5=1 Corinthians 15 was fulfilled spiritually at the end of the old covenant age in AD 70 – Sovereign Grace Full Preterism. 

As I mentioned in the introduction, there is a recent development within the Partial Preterist world when it comes to the “gathering of the elect” from the “four winds of heaven” (Mt. 24:31). Gary DeMar and James Jordan of American Vision are now teaching this is not a mere post AD 70 evangelism, but a resurrection event of OT and NT souls being raised out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades into God’s presence in AD 70. In a recent debate with Michael Brown Gary applied this to the souls of the OT dead being raised into God’s presence in AD 70.[2] James Jordan while teaching Daniel 12:2 is a resurrection of souls for the OT worthies in AD 70, now applies Matthew 24:30-31 to the resurrection of the NT martyrs in AD 70. Jordan writes,

“Further confirmation of this interpretation is to be found, I believe, in the phrases that follow in verse 31. There we see messengers gathering the elect not from their graves (which is how the Last Judgment scenes read), nor from all over the earth (which is how an evangelistic passage would read), but from all over the heavens. They are gathered from the four winds, not from the four corners of the earth. They are gathered from the ends of heaven, not from the ends of the earth (cf. Deut. 4:32; Psa. 19:6; Jer. 49:36).

This language might be taken as a general reference to the whole earthly world, except for the fact that it fits so very well with what we find, again, in Revelation. The dead saints “under the altar” are in “paradise” or “Abraham’s bosom,” a location symbolically equivalent to the firmament heavens that are right below the throne-heavens (Rev. 6:9-11). It is these elect, and their newly-massacred brethren who come out of the Great Tribulation, who are gathered before the Throne in Revelation 15.”[5]

He goes on to summarize,

“Let us summarize Matthew 24:29-31. Immediately after the great affliction, the great persecution and martyrdom of the apostolic church, the world will be changed from the Old to the New Creation. No longer will sun and moon determine liturgy and worship; the former covenant with its lunar liturgy will be broken forever. No longer will angelic stars and heavenly powers govern humanity, for in Jesus, mankind has at last come of age. No longer will angels rule the world. They will vacate their heavenly thrones.

At that time, the promised sign will be given, a sign that shows that Jesus, a man, is truly enthroned in heaven. That sign is the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The Jews will mourn over Jerusalem, and they will realize that the Church, which they had hoped to destroy, has now ascended to the Ancient of Days and has been given the Kingdom promised in Daniel 7. Those saints have been gathered by the angels in connection with the seventh and last trumpet described in the book of Revelation, their souls gathered from all the heavenly places in Paradise where they had been waiting for this day. The saints are gathered before the Throne in the highest heavens, and shortly will sit down on thrones with their Lord and Master. They will be the new stars and moon and will sit where the angels formerly sat in heaven.”[6] 

Some brief thoughts on Jordan’s comments:

1).  Since in his commentary on Daniel 12:2-3, 13 (see his comments later in this article) he includes Daniel's soul being raised from Abraham's bosom in AD 70, there is a larger group of souls raised than just the martyrs.  I would have liked to see him harmonize those two teachings not just going to Revelation and dealing with the martyrs. Yet Gary DeMar in his recent debate with Michael Brown over Matthew 24 taught the gathering of the elect in Matthew 24:31 was the resurrection of the OT dead elect.   

Jordan tries to make a distinction from this spiritual resurrection in AD 70 from an alleged future physical one based on the absence of “graves” which he (without evidence) says must be a future to us “general resurrection.” And although "graves" is not mentioned, from the "dust" (figuratively) is in Dan. 12:2 and here in Mt. 24:31 the description of the same spiritual resurrection is described as from the "four winds" of "heaven."  Jordan has not proven this isn’t a description of the "general resurrection."  Especially if he says the resurrection of Daniel 12 was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70 and yet Daniel 12 IS the resurrection from the “graves” of John 5:19-29! This and a resurrection from the “graves” can be a corporate and spiritual resurrection as described in Ezekiel 37:12. Even Gentry (below in this article) sees the resurrection of Daniel 12:2-3 being a spiritual and corporate resurrection for Israel and the Church in AD 70 and uses the resurrection of Ezekiel 37 as support. So if a spiritual and corporate resurrection can be from “the dust” and or out from “the graves,” then a spiritual and corporate resurrection from the “graves,” the “dust” and from the “four winds of heaven” can refer to the general resurrection in AD 70. Again, a combination of Jordan’s writings have the OT worthies (the dead) and the NT martyrs (those who have died “in Christ”) being spiritually raised together at Christ’s Parousia in AD 70 — that IS the Full Preterist view of the resurrection and that of the NT.

2).  Jordan and DeMar position on a spiritual AD 70 resurrection at the end of the OC age in AD 70 begs the question - If the righteous OT and NT dead were raised together to inherit eternal life in God’s presence, at Christ’s parousia, at the sound of a trumpet (or “the last trumpet”) in AD 70, then why isn’t this the same resurrection, parousia and trumpet discussed by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4-5 and 1 Corinthians 15?!?  Paul doesn’t discuss there was coming TWO different kinds of resurrections for the OT “the dead” and those who had died “in Christ” – 1). “a” spiritual one at Christ’s parousia in AD 70 and then 2). a physical one at the end of world history!

Partial Preterist such as Milton Terry and men like Mike Bull at least have connected Jesus’ imminent eschatology with Paul’s in these texts but they teach some kind of limited physical resurrection and “rapture” in AD 70. Of course none of these texts discuss a limited number being raised or “raptured” but they must have a limited amount to try and get around how historians would miss such an event! 

As I point out in my exposition of 1 Corinthians 15, the Corinthians had a hard time reconciling how the OT dead would be raised with those who had died "in Christ," since they died before or outside the new covenant or being "in Christ." In a similar way some Jews denied resurrection for those who did not die in or were not buried "in the land."   Dispensationalists likewise have a hard time seeing how the two groups can be raised together.  Paul has to point out that they are all a part of ONE body that was in the process of "being raised" from Adamic "the death" which was in the process of "being destroyed" (1 Cor. 15:26 WUESTNT).  The two groups needed each other and could not be made "perfect" without each other (Heb. 11:40).  I would have loved James to try and harmonize how the OT dead and the NT saints were raised out of Abraham's bosom in AD 70 and yet somehow this wasn't the general resurrection?  Especially since the judgment  and resurrection of the dead of Daniel 12 is the judgment and resurrection of the dead found in Jn. 5 and is the end of the millennium judgment and resurrection of the dead of Rev. 20:5-15.  He still leaves major questions hanging and the exegesis is incomplete.

3). And if the first century Church “judged the angels” (1 Cor. 6:3) or “crushed Satan shortly” “under their feet” (Rms. 16:20/Gen. 3:15) in AD 70 and have taken their place in rulership over the nations with Christ, then the angels and Satan were judged at Christ’s coming in AD 70 per Matthew 25:31-46. 

4). Jordan and DeMar are still teaching that the destruction of Jerusalem was a sign of the ascension, and that Christ was ruling from heaven. This is possible, but I agree more with F.F. Bruce in that John in Revelation 1:7-17 and Matthew in Matthew 24:30 is following the OG LXX which reads the Son of Man comes upon the clouds both as the Son of man AND “…AS the Ancient of Days” and not “up to the Ancient of Days.” After all John describes Jesus coming upon the clouds as both the Son of Man and then immediately describes Him as the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7 (Rev. 1:7-17). And K&D correctly point out Christ is coming downward on the clouds in judging the little horn and the nations. If the point is that Christ is coming “up to the Ancient of Days,” then it would be after he had come down in judgment in His Parousia of AD 70 to deliver the Kingdom (the raised souls of the OT and NT saints - again the resurrection event) to the Father (1 Cor. 15:23-24 / Dan. 7:13-27). Either way, Jesus and the NT authors interpret Daniel 7:13 as the Second Coming event and not the ascension. 

5).  The reformed creeds are at least correct in teaching there is only one end of the age judgment and resurrection for the “quick and the dead,” so the resurrection of dead souls for the OT and NT saints into God’s presence to inherit eternal life at Christ’s Parousia in AD 70 is not “a” resurrection, but “THE” resurrection event.  

The role of angels in gathering or transporting the soul/spirit of man 

In the OT we learn that men such as Abraham were “gathered to his people” at death. More information is given by Jesus in how this process took place. According to Jesus, the angels assist in the gathering or transportation of the soul at death. In Luke 16 (prior to AD 70) we learn the angels “carry” (Lk. 16:22) the souls of the righteous to Abraham’s bosom. Jesus here in Luke 16 is endorsing 1 Enoch 22 in its teaching of:

• a “gulf” or “separation” (1 En. 22:9-10, 12, 22/Lk. 16:26) of the believing dead from the wicked. 

• There is “water” on the righteous side (1 En. 22:10/Lk. 16:24).

• There is “fire” and “torment” for the wicked to experience (1 En. 22:22/Lk. 16:24-25, 28). 

Just as Peter and Jude appeal to 1 Enoch so does Jesus. It doesn’t mean they endorse everything 1 Enoch teaches, just the sections they quote from or refer to. 

Therefore, the believing thief on the cross and his soul/spirit was carried by the angels that very day to be with Christ on the good side of Abraham’s bosom in “Paradise” to hear some good preaching on a an imminent judgment for the dead and the Watchers and salvation for the righteous (Lk. 23:43; 1 Pet. 3:18-20) to be fulfilled by AD 70. 

Therefore, if angels assist the soul/spirit of man from his earthly body to the good side of Abraham’s bosom or “Paradise,” then it is consistent for Jesus to teach their involvement in the “gathering” of these souls out of Abraham’s bosom into God’s presence at His Parousia in AD 70. 

A couple more possible OT echos or sources for the “gathering” of Matthew 24:31 

I would agree that one of Jesus’ main OT sources for the trumpet gathering here in Matthew 24:31 is Isaiah 27:12-13 which within Isaiah’s little apocalypse does address the resurrection (cf. Isa. 25:6-9/1 Cor. 15:54-56 and possibly Isa. 26:19). The trumpet gathering of Isaiah 27:12-13 takes place “when he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstone that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up” (Isa. 27:9). That is, it is at the time of the judgment of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple which is consistent with Daniel 12:1-7 and Jesus’ teaching here in Matthew 24:1-34/Luke 21:20-32. The theological point is that the new covenant trumpet gathering will be “in Christ” and not “in the land” (a NC “better resurrection” as Hebrews puts it) and thus be the fuller or anti-type fulfillment of Isaiah.

But I can’t seem to escape the connection between the “gathering” of Matthew 24:31 and the “taking” of the soul found in the Psalms. In two places in the Psalms God “takes,” “snatches,” or “carries” the soul of the righteous at death to eventually be in His “presence” or to be in His “glory” (Ps. 49:15; Ps. 73:24).

The grave, Sheol, Abraham’s bosom or Hades was never the ultimate resting place for the soul/spirit of the righteous for after Christ’s redemption had been accomplished through the cross and the parousia, Christ and the angels “gathered” “took,” “snatched,” or “carried,” the righteous dead at the end of the old covenant age to be raised out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades to be in His presence. 

Eternal resurrection life in the Proverbs as well

Many scholars think the Jewish concept of “eternal life,” the “afterlife,” or even the resurrection wasn’t developed in the OT until after the Jews came out of the Babylonian captivity. They think the ONLY OT text Jesus draws from which teaches “eternal life” is Daniel 12:2. Yet new scholarship is challenging that. Having looked at a couple of passages in the Psalms, here are just a few passages in Proverbs that teach the concept of either eternal life or immortality for the righteous to experience at some point after death. I agree with Michelle Dahood’s scholarship[7] that “life eternal” or “eternal life” is not only a possible translation but almost a certain one in the following texts:

Prov. 8:35-36:  Indeed, who finds me finds life eternal, and the treading of her path is immortality.

Prov. 12:28:  In the path of virtue is eternal life, And the treading of her way [Christ is “the WAY”] is immortality [Delitzsch, Dahood and others render this “immortality” while the ESV & AVT give a similar concept of “no death”]

Prov. 14:24:  The path of life eternal is upward for the prudent, thus escaping Sheol below. 

Dahood argues that since the time the Psalms and Proverbs were written [which he gives as a very early or ancient date in Israelite history], “eternal life” or “immortality” were concepts already being discussed and written about in other contemporary theological systems such as the Canaaites and Egyptians-- therefore it should not surprise us that these concepts would be found in Israel’s theology at this early period as well. For example, in UT, 2 Aqht:VI: 27-29 we read:  

“Ask for life eternal (hym) and I will give it to you, immortality (btmt) and I will bestow it upon you.”

Reformed scholar Elmer Smick gives Dahood’s research a positive review and writes,

“Though Dan 12:2 is often given in the lexicons as the only place where ḥayyīm means eternal life, Dahood sees it in many other places and more than once refers to the Ugaritic antecedent in 2 Aqht VI 27–29:

Ask for eternal life [ḥym] And I will give it to you, Immortality [bl·mt]
And I will bestow it on you. I will make you number years with Baal, With gods you will number months.

Prov 12:28 uses ʾal-māwet (no death) as the parallel of ḥayyīm (life). The Ugaritic bl·mt translated “immortality” above is an equivalent expression. The Revised Standard Version says the Hebrew is uncertain and proceeds to give a translation based on an emended text. However, Ewald, Bertheau, Franz Delitzsch, and even the Judeo-Arabist Saadia in the Middle Ages said ʾal-māwet means “immortality.” The Authorized Version translated it “no death.” They have all been proved correct by the Ugaritic bl·mt as used in the above citation. Dahood translates the verse:

In the path of virtue is eternal life, And the treading of her way is immortality.

…The point is not what the Ugaritians believed but that they used the word ḥym for eternal life whereas the Hebrew lexicons generally list only Dan 12:2 as using ḥayyīm distinctively to denote eternal life because of its alleged Maccabean origin.”[8]

Dahood, even, 

“…renders Psalm 17:15: At my vindication I will gaze upon your face At the resurrection I will be saturated with your being. "At the resurrection," comments Dahood, " . . . seems to be the plain sense of b'hâqïs [in Psalm 17:15] when one compares it with the eschatological passages Isa xxvi 19, 'But your dead will live, their bodies will rise. Arise (haqïsu) and sing, O you who dwell in the slime !' and Dan xii 2, 'And many of those who sleep in the land of slime will arise' (yâqïsu) . . .." Dahood maintains that "the archaic language throughout the psalm [17]. . . suggests that the Israelite belief in the beatific vision was very ancient indeed"[9]

I agree with this scholarship. Concerning Dahood’s points in Proverbs—in the gospels and Pauline theology we learn that Jesus is the “Wisdom” and the “Way” mentioned and predicted in the Proverbs and those that put their trust in Him and thus travel upon this Way would at His Parousia and resurrection event be called or “gathered” “upward” to receive “eternal life” or “never die” (1 Cor. 1:30; Jn. 14:6; Jn. 11:25-26; Jn. 3:16, 36; Jn. 8:24; Mt. 24:30-31/1 Thess. 4:15-17/Rev. 11:12). The point of Matthew 24:30-31 or 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 is not that the living would physically disappear off the planet and or not see and experience physical death, but rather they would receive “eternal life” and thus “never die” meaning—they would never be separated from God through the spiritual “THE death” that came through Adam the very day he rebelled against God. And the souls of the dead would be raised out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades and gathered or carried away by Christ and His angels into the Father’s presence to also inherit eternal life and “never die” (be subject to the curse and separation of Adamic death again). Both groups are no longer held captive or spiritually separated by “THE sin” and “THE death” that came through Adam - for Christ overcame them for both groups at His Parousia in AD 70. 

The “parallels” between Daniel 12:1-7; Matthew 13:39-43 and Matthew 24

It is not difficult to see that the eschatological “gathering” Jesus has in mind at “the end of the age” (Mt. 24:3, 31) is the resurrection event when He has already stated in Matthew 13:39-43 that this “gathering” at “the end of the age” is the resurrection of Daniel 12:2-3 of which the righteous would shine like the sun in the Kingdom.   

Partial Preterism has gotten closer and closer to Full Preterism over the last 15 years or so.  It was once defended that the resurrection of Daniel 12:2-3 was only ONE resurrection to take place at the end of the age or world history as described by Jesus in Matthew 13:39-43.  But now it is admitted that the “end of the age” of Matthew 13:39-43 was the old covenant age (not the end of world history) and that Daniel 12 does indeed connect the resurrection of verses 2-3 with the time of the tribulation in the “3 ½ years” events of AD 67 – AD 70.  Let’s examine these admissions.

Partial Preterist James Jordan now understands the resurrection of Daniel 12:2-3 (and Daniel’s personal resurrection [his soul] in verse 13) as being a spiritual and corporate resurrection that took place from Jesus’ earthly ministry to AD 70.  Jordan even believes that Daniel’s soul was raised (or gathered) out of Abraham’s bosom into God’s presence according to Revelation 20 in AD 70.  Here are some selected quotes from his commentary on Daniel:

·      “The resurrection of [Dan. 12:2] seems to connect to the evangelistic and teaching ministry spoken of in verse 3; thus, it is some kind of historical resurrection that is spoke of, a resurrectional event in this world, in our history.”[10]

·      “…Daniel 12:2 tells us that in the days of Jesus the nation will undergo a last spiritual resurrection, but some will not persevere and their resurrection will only be unto destruction.  The Parable of the soils fits here (Mt. 13:3-23):  three different kinds of people come to life, but only one of the three different kinds of people come to like, but only one of the three kinds is awakened to persevering, everlasting life.

During His ministry, Jesus raised the nation back to life.  He healed the sick, cleansed the unclean, brought dead people back to life, restored the Law, entered the Temple as King, etc.  Then, as always, the restored people fell into sin and crucified Him.

Thus, a resurrection of Israel is in view.  The wicked are raised, but do not profit from it, and are destroyed.  The saints experience a great distress, and live with God forever and ever.”[11]

·      “The death of the Church in the Great Tribulation, and her resurrection after that event, were the great proof that Jesus had accomplished the work He came to do.  The fact that the Church exists today, nearly 2000 years after her death in the Great Tribulation, is the ongoing vindication of Jesus work.”[12]

·      “Revelation takes up where Daniel leaves off, and deals mostly with the Apostolic Age and the death and resurrection of the Church.”[13]

·      “What Daniel is promised is that after his rest in Abraham’s bosom, he will stand up with all God’s saintsand join Michael on a throne in heaven, as described in Revelation 20, an event that came after the Great Tribulation and in the year AD 70.”[14]

After challenging Kenneth Gentry for many years on the timing of the resurrection of Daniel 12, he too has had a recent epiphany recognizing that there had to have been some kind of spiritual resurrection of Daniel 12 fulfilled in AD 70:

·      “In Daniel 12:1-2 we find a passage that clearly speaks of the great tribulation in AD 70.”[15]

·      “…But it also seems to speak of the resurrection occurring at that time…”[16]

·      “Daniel appears to be presenting Israel as a grave site under God’s curse: Israel as a corporate body is in the “dust”(Da 12:2; cp. Ge 3:14, 19).  In this he follows Ezekiel’s pattern in his vision of the dry bones, which represent Israel’s “death” in the Babylonian dispersion (Eze 37). In Daniel’s prophecy many will awaken, as it were, during the great tribulation to suffer the full fury of the divine wrath, while others will enjoy God’s grace in receiving everlasting life. Luke presents similar imagery in Luke 2:34 in a prophecy about the results of Jesus’s birth for Israel: “And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed.’”

Christ Himself points out that some from Israel will believe and be saved, while others will not (e.g., Mt. 10:34-36; 13:11-15), that in the removing of the kingdom from Israel many will be crushed and scattered like dust (Mt. 21:43-45).  He even speaks of the saved Jews as arising from the “shadow of death” (Mt. 4:16).  Though in AD 70 elect Jews will flee Israel and will live (Mt. 24:22), the rest of the nation will be a corpse:  “wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (Mt. 24:28).  Indeed, in AD 70 we see in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem (Mt. 22:7) that “many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 22:14).  Elsewhere he employs the imagery of “regeneration” to the arising of the new Israel from out of the dead, old covenant Israel in AD 70:  “You who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mt. 19:28).”[17]

·      “…it appears that Daniel is drawing from the hope of a future, literal resurrection and applying it symbolically to the first century leading up the tribulation in AD 70.  That is, he is portraying God’s separating believing Jews out of Israel through the winnowing of Israel in AD 70.”[18]

·      “Daniel only picks up on resurrection imagery and, like Ezekiel, applies that to corporate Israel.  He is teaching that in the events of AD 70, the true Israel will arise from old Israel’s carcass, as in a resurrection.”[19]

Let’s summarize the position of Jordan and Gentry here on what the resurrection of Daniel 12 entails:

1). It is Israel’s last spiritual and corporate resurrection.

2). Both Israel and the Church participate in this spiritual, covenantal and corporate resurrection whereby the new covenant Church or new Israel of God is raised out of the corpse of old covenant Israel in AD 70.

3). There was an “already and not yet” type evangelism taking place between Christ’s earthly ministry and His coming in AD 70 which brought about the consummative resurrection or “end” of Israel during the events of AD 67 - AD 70.  

4). This resurrection resulted in Daniel’s soul being raised out of Abraham’s bosom to be seated on a throne to reign with Christ and inherit eternal life. 

Partial Preterist Joel McDurmon, commenting on the end of the age harvest judgment of Matthew 13:39-43, concedes it is the end of the old covenant age that is in view and not the end of world history:

“It is clear that Jesus did not have in mind the end of the world, nor did He mean the final judgment. Rather, Matthew 13:2430, 36-43 describe the judgment that would come upon unbelieving Jerusalem. During this time, the angels would “gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity” (13:41) and these would be judged with fire.  Many of them literally were burned in fire during the destruction of Jerusalem.  During this same time, however, the elect of Christ— “the children of the kingdom” (v. 38)—will be harvested.  While the explanation of the parable does not tell us their final end, the parable itself has the householder instructing the harvesters to “gather the wheat into my barn.”  In other words, they are protected and saved by God.

This, of course, is exactly what happened to the Christians.  Not only were they saved in soul, but they mostly fled Jerusalem before the Roman siege.  This was consequent to Jesus’ advice to flee and not look back once the signs arose (Matt. 24:16-22); indeed, this would correspond with the angels’ work of harvesting the elect (24:30).”[20]

McDurmon even develops Jesus’ two age model (“this age” = old covenant age) and “age to come” or “age about to come” (the new covenant age) in Pauline eschatology to be one and the same.  After making his case in Ephesians 1:21; 2:1-7; 3:8-11; Colossians 1:26; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 9:26, he concludes:

“So, from the teaching of Jesus, Paul and the author of Hebrews, we get a very clear picture of the two primary ages:  one that endured up until the time of Christ, and another that began around that same period.  I believe these two periods, being hinged upon the coming and work of Christ, pertain obviously to the Old and New Covenant administrations.”[21]

Once again, we can see how the two main orthodox Reformed positions on the end of the age resurrection of Matthew 13:39-43; Matthew 24:3, 31; and Daniel 12:1-7 has formed the Sovereign Grace Full Preterist position:

Major Premise:  The “end of the age” “gathering” of Matthew 13:39-43 and Matthew 24:3, 31 as predicted in Daniel 12:2-3 is the ONE resurrection event inseparably connected to the ONE Second Coming event of Matthew 24:27, 30 – classic Amillennialism. 

Minor Premise:  But the “end of the age” “gathering” of Matthew 13:39-43 and Matthew 24:3, 31 was fulfilled spiritually at Christ’s spiritual coming in Matthew 24:27-30 to close the old covenant age in AD 70.  In AD 70 God raised and gathered the souls/spirits of men such as Daniel out of Hades or Abraham’s bosom into God’s presence to inherit eternal life – Partial Preterism.   

Conclusion/Synthesis/Reformed and Always Reforming:  Therefore, the ONE Second Coming and “end of the age” “gathering” resurrection event of Matthew 13:39-43 and Matthew 24:3, 27-31 and Daniel 12:1-7 was fulfilled during the 3 ½ years of AD 67 – AD 70 to close the old covenant age in AD 70 – Sovereign Grace Full Preterism.

Jewish views of a spiritual resurrection

The fact of the matter that both the Partial Preterist and the Full Preterist are following a historical hermeneutic in that before Jesus and Paul and in their day there was a Jewish expectation of a spiritual resurrection. I like how Lester L. Grabbe points out that, during the Second Temple period, the interpretations of the resurrection in the OT were not all necessarily understood to refer exclusively to the physical body. They included the view that the resurrection involved only the souls/spirits of individuals being fit for God’s presence either at death, or only their souls were raised at a general judgment of the dead event.  He points out that there is no evidence that the physical view was any more dominant than the spiritual view.  While lengthy, I think his historical comments will be helpful before we begin an exegesis of the OT and NT resurrection texts and simply assume they are addressing a biological resurrection at the end of time when Jesus or Messiah comes:

“It is sometimes asserted that the resurrection of the body was the characteristic Jewish belief. This is not borne out by the data. A variety of beliefs seem to be attested about the same time in Israelite history. One of these was the resurrection of the body, but there is little reason to think that it was earlier or more characteristic of Jewish thinking than the immortality of the soul or resurrection of the spirit. And it is clear that some Jews still maintained the older belief in no afterlife. The Sadducees (see section 2.7) are one group who thought so; so did Ben Sira. Writing about 190 bce Ben Sira does not seem to think of any life beyond death, as interpreted by the vast majority of scholars. Therefore, it would be quite wrong to refer to any of these beliefs as ‘characteristically’ Jewish or the Jewish belief on the subject.”[22]

“The exact form of the resurrection is not always specified, but we should not expect it always to entail resurrection of the body. Sometimes only the resurrection of the spirit is in mind, as in Jubilees 23:20–22:

And at that time the Lord will heal his servants, and they shall be exalted and prosper greatly; and they shall drive out their adversaries. And the righteous shall see it and be thankful, and rejoice with joy for ever and ever; and they shall see all the punishments and curses that had been their lot falling on their enemies. And their bones shall rest in the earth, and their spirits shall have much joy; and they shall know that the Lord is one who executes judgement, and shows mercy to hundreds, and to tens of thousands, and to all that love him.

Belief in the immortality of the soul is known at least as early as the Book of Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36). The souls of the various sorts of people are preserved in hollow places after death (1 Enoch 22):

And from there I went to another place, and he showed me in the west a large and high mountain, and a hard rock and four beautiful places, and inside it was deep and wide and very smooth . . . Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me and said to me, These beautiful places are intended for this, that the spirits, the souls of the dead, might be gathered into them; for them they were created, that here they might gather all the souls of the sons of men. And these places they made where they will keep them until the day of their judgement and until their appointed time – and that appointed time will be long – until the great judgement comes upon them.

As the rest of the passage indicates, the souls of the dead are already experiencing reward and punishment in their intermediate state. In this case, the existence of the soul after death seems to be combined with the idea of a final judgement. This may imply a general resurrection, though this is not stated explicitly. In other sections of 1 Enoch, a resurrection is mentioned (46:6; 51:1; 90:33; 91:10; 92:3–4).

Other sources give no indication of a resurrection at all, only the immortal soul. A good example is Wisdom of Solomon which speaks of the soul (e.g., 3:1–9) but does not mention the resurrection. Whether Wisdom thinks the souls of all are immortal, or only those of the righteous, is debated. Many feel that immortality is not inherent in the soul itself but is a gift given only to the righteous.

The Testament of Abraham gives the clearest picture of how the souls are judged after death (Version A 11–14; Version B 9–11). The souls are brought before a throne on which Abel sits as judge. The one who presents the souls for judgement is Enoch, the scribe of righteousness (Version B only). The judged souls go either through the strait gate which leads to life (for the righteous) or the broad gate to destruction (for the sinners). Although there is a brief indication of belief in a general resurrection in the Testament of Abraham (Version B 7:16), judgement of each individual seems to take place immediately after death, and the emphasis is on this immediate judgement of the soul while the body rests in the grave.

On the other hand, the immortal souls and the resurrection may be combined, as in 2 Baruch 29–30:

[30:2] And it shall come to pass at that time that the treasuries will be opened in which is preserved the number of the souls of the righteous, and they will come out, and the multitude of souls will appear together in one single assembly; and those who are first will rejoice, and those who are last will not be cast down. For each one of them will know that the predetermined end of the times has come. But the souls of the wicked, when they see all this, will be the more discomforted. For they will know that their torment is upon them and that their perdition has arrived.”[23]

Murray J. Harris after examining the intertestamental period of Judaism agrees:

“And there is the concept of the immortality of the soul or spirit that is gained at death or at the End [of the Mosaic age], with or without a resurrection of the [physical] body.”[24]

In Jewish tradition and exegesis there is also the view that the resurrection takes place 40 years after Messiah,

“Jewish writings stipulate that forty years after the coming of the Messiah there will be a resurrection of the dead, and all who are lying in dust will rise to new life.” (The 13 Principles and the Resurrection of the Dead)

The Rabbi often quotes the Zohar to the effect that the Resurrection will take place 40 years after the advent of Mashiach. (See Igros Kodesh, Vol. II, p. 75; Sefer HaSichos 5752, Vol. I, p. 274. However, there are also other references in the sichos (e.g., Likkutei  Sichos, Vol. XXVII, p. 206; Sefer HaSichos 5733, Shabbos Parshas Balak, footnote 3).”[25] 

The fact that the resurrection could be a resurrection of spirits out of Hades in the coming judgment and that it would be fulfilled 40 years after Messiah was cut-off (AD 30 - AD 70) or during His transitionary reign between their old covenant “this age” and the new covenant “age about to come” fits perfectly with the teachings of Jesus and the NT authors.  

If the resurrection and Parousia event of Daniel 12 and that of Matthew 24:30-31/Luke 21 was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70, then so was the resurrection and Parousia event of 1 Corinthians 15. The resurrection body of 1 Corinthians 15 is a “spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44):

Part #3 – An Exegesis of 1 Thess. 4:15-17

Before giving an exegesis of 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and showing how it was fulfilled by AD 70, it is important to lay the eschatological context leading up to our text. 

1 Thessalonians 1:10

“…for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thess. 1:9-10).

“Wait” with eager expectation 

The Thessalonians were to eagerly wait for Christ.  The definition of “wait” (Greek anaménō) has to do with an eager anxiousness coupled with a confident trust to complete a process.  In this case it involves confidence in trusting Christ’s promise to come and vindicate and rescue the first century Thessalonians.     

Dispensational Zionist pastor, John MacArthur, writes of this passage: 

“…the immanency of the deliverance was something Paul felt could happen in their lifetimes.”[1]  

Did Paul just “feel” that it could happen or did he write it as an inspired and authoritative apostle being ‘led into all truth,” trusting in the very words of Jesus Himself that He would return at the end of the old covenant age, in their generation, and in some of their lifetimes (Matt. 10:22-23; 16:27-28; 24:27-34)?!?

“From heaven”  

The definition of “heaven” here can mean the literal sky and clouds where the birds fly, but in Pauline eschatology the term “from heaven” is primarily dealing with God’s heavenly dwelling where His presence is along with the angelic hosts.

To “rescue” the Thessalonians to Himself

The definition of rescue here is “rhýomai (from eryō, “draw to oneself“) – properly, draw or (pull) to oneself; to rescue (“snatch up”); to draw or rescue a person to and for the deliverer.  To draw or snatch from danger, rescue, deliver.” This is more with the meaning of drawing to one’s self rather than merely rescuing from someone or something.[2] 

From the “coming wrath”

God laid a trap for the Jews who were persecuting the Thessalonians in that they went to Jerusalem for the feast days in and around AD 66/67 in order to experience His wrath.  Christians that did go to Jerusalem to fellowship with the Jerusalem Church in AD 66/67 fled the city and were rescued from this wrath.

Jews who especially sympathized with the Jewish revolt were persecuted throughout Rome during this period – 50,000 died in Egypt alone.  Christians were known for being peaceful law-abiding citizens contrary to their Zealot counterparts.  

Paul’s doctrine on an imminent first century coming of Christ and wrath to be poured out upon their persecuting enemies is in line with Jesus’ teaching in Luke 21:20-23 and Matthew 23.  This is also the same “wrath” that was “about to come” upon the Pharisees, according to John the Baptist’s eschatology (Mt. 3:7-12 GNT).   

Partial Preterists, concede that the coming of Christ here in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 was fulfilled in AD 70.  But some of them fail to do any exegetical work to harmonize their Preterist interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 1:10 with their futurist creedal view of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.  In both passages, Christ comes “from heaven” to “snatch” or “catch” away His people to Himself.  On what exegetical grounds is the first passage apocalyptic while the latter passage is supposed to be a physical biological transformation?!?  Why would the Thessalonians think that these are two different comings of Christ “from heaven” to “snatch” or “catch” His people to Himself?   

1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17

1). First century audience – “you”, “us”

1). First century audience – “we.”

2). Eager expectation – imminence

2). “We who are still alive…” – imminent expectation

3). Christ comes “from heaven.”  

3). Christ comes “from heaven”

4). Jesus’ resurrection is mentioned as a sign or event guaranteeing that the living would be rescued

4). Jesus’ resurrection is mentioned as a sign or event guaranteeing the dead in Christ would be raised and the living would be brought into God’s presence

5). “Snatches” from wrath but to Christ.

5). “Catches/snatches away” to Christ

1 Thessalonians 2:14-20 

“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, but the anger did come (past tense) upon them – [even] to the end!  “…For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.  For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy” (1 Thess. 2:14-16, 19-20).

We learn several things about this passage in connection with chapter 1.

The “waiting process” of 1:10 is further clarified in chapter two as waiting for their Jewish persecutors to “fill up the measure of their sins” before Christ comes to execute this wrath.

The YLT and JFB catch something interesting about this wrath, in that it had already begun and is actually in the past tense – “forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, but the anger did come (past tense)upon them – [even] to the end! (1 Thess. 2:16).

Speaking about the past tense here, JFB says:

“[This is] not merely partial wrath, but wrath to its full extent, “even to the finishing stroke” [Edmunds]. The past tense implies that the fullest visitation of wrath was already begun. Already in A.D. 48, a tumult had occurred at the Passover in Jerusalem, when about thirty thousand (according to some) were slain; a foretaste of the whole vengeance which speedily followed (Lu 19:43, 44; 21:24).”[3]

*Was this the event or perceived “Day of the Lord” judgment that the false teachers and prophets were saying had “already” been fulfilled in 2 Thessalonians 2?  1 & 2 Thessalonians were written between AD 50-52.  The Judaizers wanted a “Christianity” with the Mosaic Law to continue.  So they needed a “Day of the Lord” that did not involve doing away with the temple system.  

This “wrath” would be fully realized at “the end” [or the wrath that would be poured out at “the time of the end” or end of the old covenant age (cf. Dan. 12:4; Mt. 13:3943; Mt. 24:3ff.)].  Paul is in perfect harmony with Jesus’ teaching:

Matthew 23-24 and 1 Thessalonians 1-2

1). Prediction of persecution, suffering & death

1). Present persecution & suffering

2). The Jews killed the prophets, Jesus predicts His death (cf. Lk. 17:25), and that of the deaths of the NT prophets He would send in that generation

2). The Jews killed Jesus & the prophets

3). Jesus pronounces seven “woes” upon the Jews

3). Paul says the Jewish persecutors are not pleasing to God

4). Jews sought to hinder Christ from “gathering” and preaching the gospel to Jerusalem’s “children” so that they could be saved

4). Jews sought to hinder Paul from preaching the gospel so that others might be saved

5). The Jews were “filling up the measure of their sin”

5) Paul says the Jews were “filling up the measure of their sins”

6). Christ was going to come (Gk. Parousia – implied from heaven) to deliver Christians and render wrath and judgment upon that first century Jewish audience and upon their temple – in their “this generation”

6). Christ was going to come (Gk. Parousia – from heaven) to deliver Christians and render wrath and judgment upon that first century Jewish audience

7) The coming of Christ in salvation and wrath takes place at “the end (Greek Telos) of the age” (of the old covenant age)

7). The coming of Christ in salvation and wrath upon persecutors takes place at “the end” (Greek Telos)

8) Judgment of living (those Pharisees) and dead (judging Cain for Abel’s blood) & gathering of all the elect at the trumpet call – in their “this generation”

8) Judgment of the living

1 Thessalonians 3:13 

“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 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 terminology 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).”[4] 

However, as usual, Partial Preterists have a hard time agreeing what passages about the coming of the Lord were fulfilled 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 3:10 was fulfilled in AD 70.  So, if 1 Thessalonians 3:10 is a wedding Parousia/resurrection text inseparably connected to 1 Corinthians 15:23, and yet 1 Thessalonians 3:10 was fulfilled in AD 70, then the Parousia of 1 Corinthians 15:23 was also fulfilled in AD 70 (A=B).  

And as we saw earlier, if men like Mathison believe the coming of Christ and wedding or wedding feast of Matthew 8:10-12; 22:2-7; 25:1-13; Revelation 19-21 was fulfilled in AD 70, how does this coming of Christ and wedding motif get magically pushed thousands of years away into another wedding and coming of Christ?  Partial Preterists simply offer no explanation.    

Christ comes “with all his holy ones” (angels, people, or both)?

First view – Angels: The argument that Christ is coming with angels as His “holy ones” is in how the LXX of Zech. 14:5 is understood (from which this passage and Mt. 25:31are derived).  Angelic beings is how the term is understood in the OT (ex. Job 5:1; 15:15; Ps. 89:5, 7; Dan. 8:13) and in the texts of the intertestamental period (e.g. 1 Enoch 1:9) depicting God’s angels as being present on the last day of judgment.

Although the key word “holy ones” is not used in 2 Thessalonians 1:7, but rather the noun form is used to say that Christ comes with His “powerful angels,” the concept is the same.

Second view – Saints/people: In 2 Thessalonians 1:10, Christ comes to be glorified “in” His “holy ones,” which are people “who have believed,” the passage states.

Third view – “all” here refers to both people & angels: Some commentators suggest that both are in view.  This is my view after looking at what the OT says, what the intertestamental period teaches, and finally what the NT teaches on the subject.

Let’s once again get the contextual flow of Paul’s teaching on the coming of the Lord in the previous chapters leading into 1 Thessalonians 4, which demonstrates that Paul only has one coming of the Lord in view here.  And if some Partial Preterists are willing to admit that the coming of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 1-3, and even in chapter 5, was fulfilled in AD 70, there is no exegetical evidence to support the idea that the coming of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4 is a different coming.  

1 Thessalonians 1:10—3:13 and 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17

1). First century audience – “you”, “us”

1). First century audience – “we”

2). Eager expectation – imminence  

2). “We who are still alive…” – imminent expectation

3). Christ comes “from heaven”

3). Christ comes “from heaven”

4). Jesus’ resurrection is mentioned as a sign or event guaranteeing that the living would be rescued

4). Jesus’ resurrection is mentioned as a sign or event guaranteeing the dead in Christ would be raised and the living would be “caught” away into God’s presence

5). To be “snatched” away from wrath but to Christ

5). To be “caught” away to Christ

6). Christ comes (Greek Parousia)  

6). Christ comes (Greek Parousia).

7). “The end” (Greek Telos) here is Daniel’s “time of the end,” or at the “end of the age” when the judgment and resurrection takes place (cf. Dan. 12:113; Mt. 13:39-43; Mt. 24:30-31; and 1 Cor. 15:24)

7). No one disputes that the resurrection here is the resurrection to take place at “the end” in Daniel 12:1-7 or “the end” (Greek Telos) in 1 Corinthians 15:24

8). Christ’s coming is described with wedding terminology; they were to be “spotless” or “blameless” and “holy” in coming into the presence of their coming Groom

8). Paul uses a well-known wedding term in which a bride would “meet” her groom

9). Christ comes with all His “holy ones” – that is, angels and the dead he raises in chapter 4 which constitute the rest of the bride

9). Christ comes with those dead saintsthat He raised out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades to go “meet” them so that they all could be “with the Lord forever  

And since so many agree with us that Paul is simply following Jesus’ eschatology in Matthew 23-24 or Luke 21, let’s get a visual of these parallels:  

1 Thessalonians 1:10—3:13 and Matthew 23-24/Luke 21

1). First century audience “you”, “us”

1). First century audience “you”

2). Eagerly wait – imminence

2). “This generation” “near” “at the door”

3). Christ comes (Greek Parousia)

3). Christ comes (Greek Parousia).

4). Christ comes from heaven.

4). Christ comes on clouds.

5). To “snatch” from wrath to Christ

5). To “gather” to Christ

6). Delivers from wrath

6). Saves from wrath

7). Jews killed prophets and Jesus & currently persecuting Thessalonians

7). Jews killed prophets & will kill NT prophets Jesus sends (e.g. to Thessalonica) 

8). Jews filling up the measure of their sin of blood guilt

8). Jews filling up the measure of their sin of blood guilt

9). Wrath poured out at “the end” (Greek Telos)

9). Wrath poured out at “the end” or “end of the age” (Greek Telos)

10). Christ comes with all His holy ones(including angels and the dead per chapter 4) – which constitute the rest of the bride

10). Christ comes and sends his angels to gather all the elect (dead and living)

11). Christ’s coming is described with wedding terminology – they were to be “spotless,” “blameless” and “holy” in order to come into the presence of their coming Groom

11). Christ’s coming is described with wedding terminology – “Here’s the bridegroom!  Come out and meet Him.”

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).

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 recapitulatesin 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,…”[5] 

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…”[6] 

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).”[7]

Once again, the eschatological time of the wedding creates problems for Pretribulational 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.”[8]

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

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 Partial Preterists such as Gary DeMar, 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 OT, as we discussed in our exegesis of the Olivet Discourse.  If the Church is willing to admit that the coming of Christ in Matthew 24-25 was fulfilled spiritually with Jesus, describing His coming using common apocalyptic language of the prophets, and the Church is willing to admit that Paul’s teaching of Christ’s coming here in 1 Thessalonians 4-5 is the same event as described by Jesus in Matthew 24-25, THEN it is no stretch to understand that Paul likewise is using common apocalyptic language of the prophets and that 1 Thessalonians 4-5 was also fulfilled in AD 70 just as Matthew 24-25 was.  

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.”[9]

We couldn’t agree more with Mr. Wright in that Paul is using common apocalyptic language.  Yet it is not figurative language of a physical resurrection at the end of world history, but rather figurative language of a spiritual resurrection by which souls are raised out of Hades into God’s presence, and of God’s presence “meeting” the living within their hearts while 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.   

OT Echo to 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Other than the trumpet gathering and resurrection of Isaiah 27:12-13 (which I have addressed already), G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson connect this coming of the Lord “from heaven” with Isaiah 2:10-12’s “in that day”, “Day of the Lord” judgment:

“The main clause of 1 Thess. 4:16, “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;…).”[10] 

But they also connect 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 with Isaiah 2, which reads: 

“This (in context – giving the Thessalonians relief from their Jewish persecutors) 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 (excommunicated [from the heavenly temple] as they had done to the Christians) from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”[11]

On this passage, Beale and Carson write,

“…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.”[12]

So, since both 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 fulfill the coming of the Lord “from heaven” in the judgment found in Isaiah 2, let me remind the reader that Jesus appeals to this same OT passage and understands it to be fulfilled by AD 70: 

“And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.  But turning to them Jesus said, “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” (from Isa. 2:19 and Hos. 10:8) (Lk. 23:27-30).

There’s a consensus among the commentators that this passage was fulfilled in God’s judgment upon Jerusalem in AD 70.  We have found plenty of exegetical evidence that Paul too identifies the Lord coming in the judgment of Isaiah 2 to be fulfilled by AD 70.  As we saw earlier, even John in Revelation 6:15-17 appeals to the coming of the Lord in His wrath in Isaiah 2 to be fulfilled “in a very little while” to avenge the first century martyrs in AD 70 (cf. Rev. 6:11-17).

· “…with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (v. 16)

There is definitely a chronological order, with the dead rising first and then the gathering, catching away or change for the living taking place second.  Even Jesus addresses the dead first in John 11: 

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die [OT worthies like Abraham or Daniel, along with those who recently died prior to AD 70], yet shall he live [be raised out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades to inherit God’s presence and eternal life], and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die [that is not that they would never see biological death, but rather inherit God’s “within” kingdom and presence of eternal life]. Do you believe this (John 11:25-26)?”

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 as 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).”[13]

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.”[14] 

Beale admits, at least indirectly, that holding to both of these views he has defended creates a “thorny problem” for him that deserves “further study” to resolve.  I gave him a copy of our second edition of HD and told him we did the “further study” and our exegesis of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 solves the “thorny problem” that he has created for himself.  But Beale’s “thorny problem” is simply a microcosm of the problem that the Futurist Church has as a whole.  

·      Then we who are alive… (v. 17)

Some have thought that the “then” here justifies a “catching away” of the soul or spirit at the death of the New Covenant believer way after the parousia in AD 70.  But this is not a solid Greek argument and most importantly it does not follow the “gathering” or “change” for the dead and living at the parousia event in Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Corinthians 15.  Pastor Curtis discusses his reasons for changing his view here:

“Looking at this passage in the Greek can quickly dispel many false notions. Let's start with the first word in the verse—the word "then." This is the Greek word epeita.  Normally, when a sequence of events is described, the simple word eita (then) is used. Eita is best translated as "at that time" or "next." Eita is used to indicate an immediate sequence. We see this in John 19.

When Yeshua saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then [eita] he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26-27 ESV

This is a series of events—one immediately after the other. But in our text, the Greek word is not eita; it is epeita. This is essentially the same Greek word with an "epi" prefix. This has the effect of affixing the word "after" to the word "then," so the best translation becomes "after then," "after that," or "after that time." Thereby, it doesn't necessarily mean "right after," but it could. Some say that epeita means that the living would be caught up to meet the Lord at a later time, maybe referring to their death. Epeita is used of an interval of 3 years and 13 years in Scripture. In other words, when you die you go to be with the Lord in the air. I used to hold this view, but I have changed my mind for two reasons. First of all, Epeita does not always mean "after that time." Epeita is used 16 times in the New Testament and 12 of them have the idea of "after that time," indicating sometime later. But 4 of the New Testament uses of epeita do indicate right after. For example:

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. James 3:17 ESV

Here, however, epeita doesn't mean "after that time."

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Hebrews 7:27 ESV

Here epeita doesn't mean "after that time." If it did, it would alter the fact that the high priest offered sacrifices for the sins of the people shortly after he offered them for himself. Notice the sequence here.

"Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. "Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Leviticus 16:11-15 ESV

So, he offers for himself and then for the people.

So, I changed my mind. First of all, because epeita does not always mean "after that time." And secondly, because the parallel texts don't indicate a delay for the living. We don't see a delay in Matthew 24 between His coming in the clouds and the gathering of the elect. And we don't see a delay in the following:

Behold! I tell 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 will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 ESV

Here the dead are raised and the living are changed, not caught up. 

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:53 ESV

The living put on immortality, which is to be in the presence of the Lord.” (Pastor David Curtis, The Rapture: Up, Up, and Away?

(1 Thess. 4:16-18) Delivered 08/21/22 https://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/1thessalonians/1_thessalonians-04_16-18_the-rapture.htm?fbclid=IwAR31QDG73IqOcaSTcjWyVvnf0ynWFJkmXw9VR0c-y7CeKNfTxJOub4FbDoU)

· “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, 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 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).

2). 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).  

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.  As we noted in our exegesis of Luke 17:20-37/Lk. 21:27-32, Jesus said when that the kingdom would come at His return (to gather all His elect Mt. 24:31), 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)

As I have demonstrated thus far in our study of Christ coming on the clouds in the Olivet Discourse and God coming on the clouds in the OT, this is common apocalyptic language and not referring to physical clouds we see in the sky.

In Revelation 11:12 the two witnesses who represent the Church’s testimony against Jerusalem are “called up” to heaven in a “cloud.” The singular here represents God’s glory cloud. So the living are caught up in God’s presence pictured by His glory cloud. 

Since 1 Thessalonians 4:17 mentions “clouds” (plural), what is probably meant is that the living are gathered into the Kingdom when the OT worthies (“clouds of witnesses”) were brought into God’s presence and thus both are joined together and made perfect together (cf. Heb. 11—12:1). 

•       To “meet” the Lord… (v. 17)

This Greek word, to “meet,” is wedding language and is only used twice in the NT – here and also in the wedding motif that Jesus develops in Matthew 25:1-13 (which Partial Preterists correctly teach was fulfilled spiritually in AD 70).  

In Jewish betrothals and weddings, the groomsmen would go ahead of the groom and blow a trumpet at a time the virgin and her bridesmaids were not expecting.  Once at the virgin’s father’s house, it was customary for the groom to consummate his marriage sexually there before taking her to his father’s house where they would continue consummating the union for seven days and having the wedding feast.  

This Greek word for “meet” was also often used of a king or dignitary coming to make his home in a city which his empire or kingdom had conquered or was about to conquer.  On the news of the imminent coming of the king or dignitary, at the sound of a trumpet the members of the city would go out of the city and “meet” him and escort him back to their home/town.  The king’s presence was established WHERE the people already lived. Again, the imagery does not support a literal “rapture” of people off of planet earth, but rather of God coming to rule and reign in the hearts of His people where they are – living on planet earth.

•       “…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 selfrighteousness 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.

The picture of the “rapture” is that Christ came down from heaven in / on a cloud to earth where He gathered the living into His presence, “within” us where we function as His Most Holy Place dwelling and throne through which He rules the nations.  This is what we also see in Revelation where the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven to earth and God establishes His presence within His Church here.

Summarizing the Analogy of Faith Matthew 23-24 = 1 Thessalonians

It is more than ironic that Partial Preterists like Kenneth Gentry concede that one of Paul’s main sources in 1 Thessalonians is Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse and some of the sources he cites for this agree with us that the coming of Christ and “gathering” or “catching away” event (Mt. 24:30-31 = 1 Thess. 4:15-17).  Let’s get a final view of the perfect harmony between Jesus’ eschatology and that of Paul’s being one and the same:

Other Arguments for a Non-Physical “Rapture” in AD 70 or in the Future

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). 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). As we have seen in our exegesis of 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!

Conclusion:

When we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture (Mt. 24/1 Thess. 4-5; Mt. 13:39-43/Mt. 24:3, 31; and Dan. 12:1-7), we can clearly see that the coming of Christ and “gathering” or “catching away” of God’s people into His Kingdom was an event to be fulfilled at the end of the old covenant age and thus in the lifetime and generation of the first century Church.  

While we applaud the new developments within Partial Preterism to see a spiritual resurrection of souls out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades at Christ’s Parousia in AD 70 to be found in Matthew 24:30-31 and Daniel 12:2-3, 13 and Revelation 20, the position remains inconsistent and violating the analogy of faith principle of interpretation and the historical creeds. The resurrection “gathering” at the “end of the age” in Matthew 13:39-43 / Matthew 24:3, 30-31 is the ONE “end” of the age resurrection of Daniel 12:1-13; which is the “about to be” resurrection of Acts 24:15 YLT; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 1 Corinthians 15; and end of the millennium resurrection of Revelation 20:5-15. This and the creeds and the classic Amillennial position are correct to connect these as all being inseparably linked together in one unbreakable chain—the ONE Second Coming event ushers in the ONE end of the age judgment and resurrection of the dead event.   

Since it was a Jewish view in the times of Jesus and Paul that the resurrection of Daniel 12 would be a spiritual resurrection of souls out of Abraham’s bosom or Hades to inherit eternal life or condemnation, and that it would take place 40 years after Messiah would be “cut off” (AD 30 - AD 70), Full Preterism is justified both exegetically and historically in its view of an imminent and spiritual resurrection by AD 70. Especially since the reformed community can’t make up its mind if this imminent spiritual resurrection was “a” resurrection or “the” resurrection event. Our position makes sense of the conflicting views within Futurist eschatology and fixes their “thorny problem” (G.K. Beale’s phrase) on many texts but specifically in harmonizing Matthew 24:30-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 as fulfilled in the lifetime and generation of the first century church. 

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Footnotes for Part #2:

[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 1843

[2] (Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers).

[3] Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary, free online, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ 1_thessalonians/2-16.htm

[4] Mathison, Postmillennialism, Ibid., 177

[5] G.K. Beale, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series 1–2 Thessalonians (Downers Grove, IL:

Inter Varsity Press, 2003), 136, emphasis added

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid, 136–137 

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

[9] 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

[10] Weima, J. A. D. (2007). 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

[11] Ibid., emphasis MJS

[12] Ibid., 885, emphasis MJS

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

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

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 Footnotes for Part #3:

[1] John Murray, COLLECTED WRITINGS OF JOHN MURRAY 2 Systematic Theology, (Carlisle, PA:  THE BANNER OF TRUTH TRUST, 1977), 391

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

[3] G.K. Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology the Unfolding of the Olde Testament in the New, (Grand Rapids, MI:  Baker Academic, 2011), 396 n.27—397. Emphasis MJS.

[4] Ibid., footnote 27.

[5] James B. Jordan MATTHEW 23-25 A LITERARY, HISTORICAL, AND THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY, (Powder Springs, GA: The American Vision Inc., - this book is currently at the printer to be published), p. 180.  Please properly ask Gary and AV for permission to quote this as I have – especially since it is an unpublished work.   

[6] Ibid., p. 181

[7] which is picked up in the Anchor Bible, Vol. 16. See, Michelle Dahood, Psalms. III (101-150), NY: Doubleday, 1970, XLVI-XLVII.

[8] Elmer Smick, THE BEARING OF NEW PHILOLOGICAL DATA ON THE SUBJECTS OF RESURRECTION AND IMMORTALITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, Westminster Theological Journal 31 (1968).

[9] Ibid.

[10] James B. Jordan, THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, (Powder Springs, GA:  American Vision, 2007), 618

[11] Ibid., 618-619

[12] Ibid., 620

[13] Ibid. 621

[14] Ibid., 628

[15] Kenneth L. Gentry, JR., HE SHALL HAVE DOMINION A POSTMILLENNIAL ESCHATOLOGY THIRD EDITION REVISED AND EXPANDED, (Draper, VA:  Apologetics Group Media, 2009), 538

[16] Ibid., 538 emphasis MJS

[17] Ibid., 538-539 emphasis MJS

[18] Ibid., 539 emphasis MJS

[19] Ibid., 540 emphasis MJS

[20] Joel McDurmon, Jesus v. Jerusalem: A Commentary on Luke 9:51 – 20:26, Jesus’ Lawsuit Against Israel (Powder Springs, GA: The American Vision, Inc., 2011), 48-49; see entire section 43-51.

[21] Ibid., 539 emphasis MJS

[22] Lester L. Grabbe, An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus, (T&T Clark Publishing, 2010), see pages 9396

[23] Ibid.

[24] Murray J. Harris, FROM GRAVE to GLORY RESURRECTION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Including a Response to Norman L. Geisler, (Grand Rapids, MI:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1990), 70

[25] Historical Jewish Sources, https://preteristarchives.org/historical-jewish-sources/?fbclid=IwAR2OszDkXKqp8Z-qv0RFId1hjS6_tDT7hoysllAAjdGQpUOTi03OmHx67Nc