What Concerned the Thessalonians About Their Dead?

We have arrived at a passage—1 Thess 4:13–5:11—that mentions several important prophetic events. In this famous “rapture” passage, Paul discusses the coming (i.e., parousia = presence) of the Lord (1 Thess 4:15), the resurrection (1 Thess 4:16–17), the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2), and sudden destruction that would come like the travail of childbirth when God would pour out his wrath (1 Thess 5:3, 9).

The Apostle, as was his custom in all the churches, taught the Thessalonians that these events were in their near future. He spoke of God’s wrath on the apostate Jews as already present (1 Thess 2:16). The day of the Lord was so near that some were “alleging that the Day of the Lord has come” (2 Thess 2:2 HCSB). Paul told the first-century churches that “the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor 10:11). In our present passage, Paul refers to those who would be “alive and remain unto the coming (Gk. parousia) of the Lord” (1 Thess 4:15).

Paul believed these prophetic events would happen in his generation. As Charles A. Wanamaker says, Paul “believed that he and many of his contemporaries would still be alive at the time of the Lord’s coming.”¹ He based his belief on the clear teaching of Jesus, who had said,

The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. (Matt 16:27–28)

This time perspective presents several challenges to the existing prophetic models.² Inmillennialism, the prophetic model I have documented in this blog and in book form,³ offers a resolution to these difficulties. I will document its proposed solutions (D. V.) in future posts. In this post, I will lay a foundation for those discussions by examining a single question: What problem at Thessalonica was Paul trying to correct in this passage?

Paul does not specify the issue; we have to reason backward from the “answer” he provides in this passage to deduce the question he is addressing. The saints feared for their brothers and sisters who had died before the prophetic events Paul mentions had happened. But what specific concern did they have?

Paul gives us a hint when he says, “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (Gk. phthanō) them which are asleep” (1 Thess 4:15). But, we may ask, how could living saints “prevent” those that had died? Did Paul mean that the living saints might somehow “keep the resurrection of the dead from happening,” as the modern meaning of this word suggests? No, “prevent” had another meaning when the Authorized Version appeared in 1611.

The newer translations take a step in the right direction. The New King James Version, for example, has: “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” (1 Thess 4:15 NKJV). This idea is closer to the meaning of the Greek word Paul used. But this meaning forces us to ask another question: Were the Thessalonians really concerned about the order of the resurrection? Did they care about who would rise first, the living or the dead? In another place, Paul says, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor 15:52). Given this fact, were the Thessalonians concerned one group would “precede” another in the resurrection by a split second? I think not!

The Holman Christian Standard Bible takes another helpful step by translating Paul’s words as follows:

For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over (Gk. phthanō) those who have fallen asleep. (1 Thess 4:15 HCSB)

A broad range of commentators supports this meaning. On an academic level, F. F. Bruce says Paul means the living “shall by no means have any precedence over (emphasis added) those who have fallen asleep.” He explains his reasons as follows:

The verb [phthanein⁴] … means to anticipate someone in doing something. Presumably the Thessalonian Christians had wondered if those of their number who had died would suffer any disadvantage through not being alive to witness the Parousia and participate in its attendant glory.… Hence the readers are assured that their departed friends will suffer no disadvantage when the Lord comes.⁵

On a more popular level, William Hendriksen says,

[1 Thessalonians 4:15] … shows that in no sense whatever will those who are still on earth at the return have any advantage over those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. The inspired writer expresses it this way: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we, those who remain alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall have no advantage at all over those who fall asleep.⁶

Wanamaker concurs: “Paul’s primary concern is not to correct a doctrinal aberration but to provide consolation for his readers regarding the participation of their deceased love ones in the parousia.”⁷ He then answers the question I posed above, that is, What was the problem Paul is addressing?

If Paul’s concern in this paragraph [i.e., 1 Thess 4:13–18] were the resurrection of dead Christians as such, why did he not repeat the verb [anestē] in the future (“will raise”) instead of using [axei] (“will lead”)? While the second part of the sentence, “God will bring with him those who sleep through Jesus,” obviously presupposes the resurrection of those who have died in Christ, Paul directs the focus of attention to the coming of Jesus from heaven, as [1 Thess 4:15–17] demonstrate. This very strongly suggests that the problem addressed by Paul was not about the resurrection as such, but concerned the relationship of dead Christians to the parousia.⁸

This answer allows me to highlight an advantage inmillennialism has over the other prophetic models. Those models view the parousia of which Paul is speaking as an instantaneous point-in-time event—the sudden “coming” of Christ—at the end of the messianic (kingdom) age. If this is so, why would the Thessalonians become unsettled regarding the relationship of dead saints to that instantaneous event? As Wanamaker says, the Thessalonians were not questioning the fact of their resurrection, so why the emphasis on this lightning-quick point in time?

Inmillennialism posits that the parousia of Christ signifies the presence of Christ with his churches during the messianic age.⁹ It is coincident with the messianic (kingdom) age in which we now live. It is the state of being during Christ’s reign in heaven as he defeats all his enemies (cf. Acts 2:29–36; Ps 110:1).

The Scriptures are clear regarding the role of the dead saints during this period. Jesus told the apostles, “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt 19:28). Blomberg says Jesus means “the disciples will reign with Christ and decisively judge the people of Israel.”¹⁰

God has ordained that his other saints reign after death, too. Paul tells Timothy,

I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. (2 Tim 2:10–12)

To the Romans, he says, “they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:17).

The Revelation God gave to John emphasizes this reign of the saints—both living and dead—during the present messianic age. Jesus has “made us kings and priests unto God and his Father” (Rev 1:6). He says, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev 3:21). Later, the Spirit explains the state of the faithful during the parousia (presence) of Christ with his churches: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them … and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev 20:4).

With all this in mind, I propose that the Thessalonians were unaware that their dead friends would live and reign with Christ during his parousia in the messianic (kingdom) age. They may have wondered if those who died before the great prophetic events in their near future would languish in some unconscious state while their Lord transformed the earth from a satanic-controlled mess to a place “full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:9). The Thessalonians were not concerned about their dead taking part in the resurrection; they wanted to know if their dead would take part in the glorious parousia (presence) of Christ with his churches in the messianic age.

In our next few posts, we will see that Paul’s answer was the same as John’s—the dead saints would live and reign with Christ during the entire messianic age. They would then take part in the resurrection, stand before the final judgment, and enter the eternal state. The saints who would live to “see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matt 16:28) in their generation would have no advantage over those who died before that event.

1. Charles A. Wanamaker, The Epistles to the Thessalonians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC, eds. I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 171.
2. I provide a summary of these models here.
3. See Michael A. Rogers, Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days (Tullahoma, TN: McGahan Publishing House, 2020). It is available here. For a summary, see the PDF here.
4. The infinitive form of the verb phthanō.
5. F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, WBC, eds. David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982), 99–100 (emphasis added).
6. William Hendriksen, Exposition of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1955), 114 (emphasis added).
7. Wanamaker, Thessalonians, 62.
8. Wanamaker, Thessalonians, 169 (emphasis added).
9. I provide a defense of parousia as presence here.
10. Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22 of NAC (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1992), 301.