Many American Christians believe the church will be taken by Christ before the beginning of the Great Tribulation and Millennium, an event known as “the rapture.” The central text used to support this belief is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, where Paul talks about Jesus descending from heaven to meet believers in the air.
But does this text teach what proponents claim? Do the words and context actually describe a rapture? This article will seek to answer this question by evaluating the arguments put forth in a sermon on these verses by John MacArthur, a popular American theologian.
Before discussing those arguments, here is the full text of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:
15, 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.
16, 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.
17, Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18, Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Is the church raptured? MacArthur’s Arguments
In a 2016 sermon called “Rapture and Resurrection,” John MacArthur discusses 1 Thessalonians 4 in reference to the doctrine of the rapture of the church.[1] In that message, he uses the following arguments to support the rapture view:
The Greek word for “caught up” in verse 17 teaches a “violent snatching away” of believers from the earth, an idea consistent with rapture doctrine.
The event described in this text cannot be Christ’s return to the earth because it says Jesus meets his people “in the air.”
The event described in this text cannot be Christ’s return to the earth because it does not say he established a millennial kingdom.
The event described in this text cannot be Christ’s return to the earth because it does not mention the judgment of the world.
The sections that follow will address each of these in turn.
The Word “Caught Up” Indicates Rapture
Regarding the Greek word translated “caught up” in verse 17, MacArthur says:
We call it the rapture, and that’s because of verse 17. The verb “caught up,” harpazó. It means to snatch up, to seize, and carry off by force. It is the sudden swoop of an irresistible force that pulls you away. So, it is a violent snatching away.
The term “rapture” is simply a word to describe the snatching away, and that is exactly what verse 17 is saying. There will be a time when believers are snatched up by a sudden, divine, irresistible force. That’s what this text is about. It is about that event.
To MacArthur, the word translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, harpazó in Greek, indicates that the church will be removed in a “violent snatching away” near the end of time. During this snatching, referred to as the rapture, Jesus will reach down, rip his people out of time and space, and take them back to heaven with him. Paul’s use of harpazó, then, proves the rapture.
There are a couple of problems with this argument.
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1. The word does not prove what it claims to prove.
Even if the word is describing a “violent snatching away,” it only means just that—that believers are suddenly pulled out of their lives and taken up into the clouds with Christ.
It does not address when it happens (relative to the Tribulation and Millennium), if it is or is not visible to unbelievers, its relationship to the final judgment, or its connection to any subsequent return of Christ to the earth.[2]
This argument is an example of the fallacy of proving too little. Harpazó may be evidence of something claimed by rapture proponents (the sudden, violent taking of the church), but even if it is, that fact alone is not substantial enough to prove everything the doctrine of the rapture entails.
2. The word is not always used in the way it is presented by rapture advocates.
The New Testament does not always use harpazó in a way that is consistent with a “violent snatching away.” Revelation 12:5 is a relevant example.[3] It reads, “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up [harpazó] unto God, and to his throne.”
The first part of chapter 12, verses 1-6, provide a symbolic account of Jesus being born, being pursued by Satan, and ascending into heaven after his resurrection. The latter half of verse 5 refers to the ascension as being “caught up unto God.” This phrase uses the same Greek word used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, harpazó.
Though this is the same underlying word, we know it cannot mean a “violent snatching away” because Acts 1:9 tells us exactly how the ascension occurred. There, it says, “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The word “taken up” is not harpazó but epairo, a word meaning “to lift up, raise up, or raise on high.”
Not only does Acts not use the same word, but it also does not describe the event as a violent or sudden snatching. It says Jesus went up into the sky as his disciples watched. There is nothing to watch if he is violently snatched; he would be there one moment and gone the next. The text simply does not describe it that way.
What this means for 1 Thessalonians 4:17
What does this mean for 1 Thessalonians 4:17? It means it does not have to indicate an aggressive, forceful removal of believers from the earth, as proponents of the rapture attest. Using Jesus’ experience in Acts 1 as a guide, it could simply mean believers are lifted off the ground in a non-violent way and taken into the sky where they meet Christ and other believers.
The Text Says Jesus Stopped in the Air
MacArthur sees the return of Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4 as not being his return to the earth because believers are said to meet him “in the air.” Here’s how he explains this view:
Now let me let you know, this is not when Christ comes back to earth. This is not that event when He comes and His feet touch the Mount of Olives, and He turns the desert into a garden, and He destroys the nations, and He establishes millennial reign.
This is not that. This is not Christ coming to earth, because it clearly says He comes and meets them in the air.
So, does Paul saying he met believers in the air mean he did not come to the earth? No. Not mentioning something is not the same as saying it did not happen. This is a form of the logical fallacy known as the “argument from silence.”
In this error, when a source does not mention a certain fact, it is assumed it did not happen.[4] This is precisely what happens here; since Paul does not mention Jesus stepping foot on the earth, MacArthur concludes it did not happen.
But the text does not say he did not step on the earth; it simply says he met his people in the air. He very well may have come to earth after doing this, but Paul chose not to mention it.
(It is also possible that the Final Judgment will not take place on the earth at all, a discussion of which is beyond the scope of this article.)
When describing an event or making a prophecy, the Bible writers do not always say everything there is to say about something; they say what they need to say to make the point they are making.
In the context of 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul’s goal is to give hope to believers who have lost loved ones (see verses 13 and 18). There is simply no need to mention all the other details that could be mentioned, including Jesus stepping foot on the earth.[5]
This argument can be turned around, as well. It is also true that the text does not mention when this “meeting Jesus in the air” event occurs, if it is visible to unbelievers, its relationship to the final judgment, or its connection to future returns of Christ—all important details of the rapture doctrine.
Are proponents of the rapture saying these did not happen either because they are not specifically mentioned in the text? No, they are not.[6]
The Text Does Not Say Jesus Set Up the Millennial Kingdom
Per MacArthur, the fact that 1 Thessalonians 4 does not mention a millennial kingdom is further evidence that it cannot be talking about Christ’s return to earth.
On this point, he says, “Now let me let you know, this is not when Christ comes back to earth. This is not that event when…He establishes millennial reign.” So, is MacArthur correct in this assertion?
Outside of the fact that this is another example of an argument from silence (see previous section), the primary weakness of this objection is that it assumes the millennial reign is a valid doctrine in and of itself. But if that belief is unfounded, the argument falls apart.
Is there reason to doubt that Christ will reign for a thousand years on the earth? I believe there is.
The primary text used to support the Millennium is Revelation 20:4-6:
4, And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
On its face, it seems clear the Bible is teaching that Jesus will reign for 1000 literal years on the earth before the end of time. But what seems obvious becomes more suspect when the type of literature John used to communicate this event is taken into consideration.
Humans Communicate in Numerous Ways
Humans do not communicate using a single method. They share ideas in many different forms, and we must understand the form they are using to understand the meaning of their words.
Take the article you are reading now. You know implicitly that this is not a poem, a novel, or a parable. It is a direct explanation of one writer’s thoughts on a particular issue. It is intended to be literal, and you know that from the outset without even thinking about it.
The Book of Revelation is not written like this. It falls into a type of literature called “apocalyptic literature,” a common and well-understood type of writing during the first century.
Apocalyptic Literature Defined
Apocalyptic literature uses highly symbolic language and images to communicate deeper ideas, generally about the end of the world. It also commonly includes dreams and visions that depict future events.
Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard describe it as a form of writing that “describes prophecies in which God ‘reveals’ his hidden future plans, usually through dreams or visions with elaborate and at times strange symbolism or numbers.”[7]
As these descriptions imply, symbolism is a central characteristic of apocalyptic literature, without which its true meaning cannot be understood.
The Bible incorporates apocalyptic literature in both the Old and New Testaments. Parts of Daniel, Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah, and Ezekiel are apocalyptic in nature, as well as the full book of Revelation.
Symbolism and the Book of Revelation
The book of Revelation is almost completely symbolic, particularly in chapters 4-22.[8] John himself reveals this when, on at least six occasions, he explains the symbols he is using.[9] These include the seven stars and lampstands (1:20), the balls of incense (5:8), the dragon (12:9), the ten horns (17:12), and the great prostitute (17:18).[10]
Because of its symbolic nature, the imagery of Revelation cannot be taken literally; it was never intended to be.
On this point, Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, in their excellent volume on biblical interpretation, observe, “Most importantly, we must recognize that Revelation employs highly symbolic and figurative imagery that we dare not interpret too literally [emphasis added].”[11]
Why do they warn against interpreting the symbology of Revelation literally? Because a thing cannot be both symbolic and literal at the same time. If it is symbolic, we must look for a literal meaning that is not equal to the symbol itself.
For example, the 144,000 in Revelation are either actually and truly 144,000 or they are not actually and truly 144,000. They cannot be both. To make the real thing the exact equivalent of the symbol is to misunderstand symbolism altogether.
Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard go on to lament that Bible students often discard this obvious point when interpreting Revelation:
But it is amazing how often those same readers do not recognize that they should interpret the other images in the book as equally symbolic. Instead, many insist that the references to a temple (e.g., 11:1) must refer to a literal, rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, that the battle of Armageddon (16:16) must occur at that specific geographical site in northern Israel, or that the mark of the beast (13:16-17) has to be some actual visible sign that distinguishes unbelievers from believers.
Numbers in the Book of Revelation
The symbolism of Revelation includes its use of numbers. Revelation demonstrates an obvious and ongoing pattern of utilizing numbers to represent other things.
Fee and Stuart could not state it more strongly when they say, “John’s apocalypse…is a carefully constructed piece of literature, using cryptic language and rich symbolism of fantasy and numbers” [emphasis added].[12]
Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard call the study of John’s use of numbers a “complex topic of numerical symbolism” which plays a “prominent role in the book.”[13]
They go on to provide examples of the possible meaning of numbers in Revelation.[14] These include the following:[15]
“The 144,000 (7:4 and 14:1) is 12 times 12 times one thousand—the number of the tribes of Israel raised to the second power (or times the number of apostles) and multiplied by a large round number. So, this great company of the redeemed may in fact picture the church as the fulfillment of the promises to Israel in a grand and glorious way.”
“The number of the beast, 666, (13:18)—may be significant because each digit is one less than seven. Seven hundred seventy-seven would be a perfect number fit for Christ, which 666 tries hard to imitate but falls notably short at every point.”
“The armies of 200 million (literally two myriads of myriads, with a myriad as 10,000 equaling the largest named number in the Greek language) comprised the largest conceivable gathering of people in John’s day (9:16).”
The Number 1000 in Revelation
It should be noted that the number “1000” is used 19 times in Revelation (counts of angels, people, years), making it one of John’s most significant numerical symbols. Chilioi, the Greek word translated 1000, is known to be symbolic in apocalyptic books like Revelation.
White points out that the phrase “1000 years” is “purely symbolic”: “The only purely symbolic number is the 1000 applied to lengths of time in the apocalyptic passages.” He goes on to state that it is “frequently used for a great period or epoch of time.”[16]
Commenting on its possible meaning in Revelation 20, Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard note how “numbers [can] function merely to indicate short or long units of measurements” and, in this specific text, could simply describe “a long and wonderful ‘golden age.’”[17]
Other uses of the term “thousand years” in the Bible tend to confirm this:
In 2 Peter 3:8, Peter said, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand [chilioi] years, and a thousand [chilioi] years as one day.” Here, the phrase is clearly intended to be symbolic, not literal. The “thousand years” means “a very long time,” but it does not mean one thousand literal trips around the sun.
Psalm 90:4, though written in Hebrew, strikes a similar tone: “For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.” The “thousand years” is no more literal than the “yesterday” or “watch in the night.” They are symbols intended to make a broader point.
The Implication for the Rapture
The inherent symbolism of the Book of Revelation means that, while John is certainly indicating some type of reign for Christ in chapter 20, he cannot mean it will be a literal 1000-year reign. Why? Because, as stated earlier, a thing cannot be both symbolic and literal at the same time.
Furthermore, because his entire account of this is symbolic (mentioning a “dragon,” “beast,” “bottomless pit,” and “seals,” in addition to “1000 years”), Christ’s reign here may not be physically located on the earth at all. From the text of Revelation 20 alone, there is no way to prove a physical reign on the earth.
Because of this, the assertion that 1 Thessalonians 4 is not describing Christ’s return to earth because it does not mention a millennial reign is invalid.
The Text Does Not Describe Judgment
A final argument MacArthur makes is that, because 1 Thessalonians 4 does not mention Christ bringing judgment, it cannot refer to his final return to the earth. He says, “Again, there’s no judgment here. Christ doesn’t even come all the way to earth. He doesn’t split the Mount of Olives. He doesn’t come to Armageddon. He doesn’t defeat His enemies.”
But he is wrong here. Both the book overall and chapter 4 in particular address Christ coming to bring judgment.
Judgment in 1 Thessalonians Overall
Consider three places where the theme of Christ’s judgment appears in the broader context of the book.
Chapter 1
In chapter 1, Paul notes how the believers there had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (9b) and now were “wait[ing] for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (10). Notice that Jesus’ coming is equated with the wrath to come, a clear reference to the Final Judgment (see Rev. 6:17, for an example).
Chapter 2
Paul again mentions God’s wrath in chapter 2 when referring to the Jews who were persecuting him and other believers. He said they were “forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost” (16). Three verses later, he mentions the coming of the Lord Jesus: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” (19). Paul sees the wrath of God falling at the appearing of Christ.
Chapter 3
In chapter 3, Paul issues a blessing upon the obedient believers there, praying that “[God] may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (13). Here we have another reference to the coming of Jesus with his saints, and we also have an allusion to the judgment that will accompany that appearance. He also prays “their hearts [will be] blameless in holiness before our God and Father.” Why would he pray this if he did not expect they would face judgment at that time? (See 1 Thess. 5:23, 1 Cor. 1:7-8, Col. 1:22, and Jude 1:14 and 24 for additional examples of this phrase used in the context of the Final Judgment.)
Judgment in the Context of 1 Thessalonians 4
First Thessalonians 4 is bookended with the judgment of Christ. As indicated in the previous paragraph, 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (the last verse of chapter 3) strongly alludes to the Final Judgment. Chapter 5 then picks up the theme of judgment and discusses it in detail. Here are verses 1-11:
1, But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2, For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
3, For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
4, But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5, You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
6, Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7, For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8, But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
9, For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
11, Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
The text clearly speaks of judgment. Verse 2 mentions the “day of the Lord,” verse 3 refers to “sudden destruction” from which the wicked “shall not escape,” and verse 9 uses the terms “wrath” and “salvation.”
MacArthur acknowledges that chapter 5 speaks of Christ’s return to judge the world. However, he distinguishes it from chapter 4, which he says is the rapture.
The problem is that the text itself does not support such a separation.
No chapter separators existed in the original. First, the chapter numbers did not exist in the original writing.[18] Our minds tend to think of chapters as definite divisions in thought, but Bible chapters cannot be viewed this way. When Paul penned this letter, he went straight from talking about being blameless in holiness at the coming of Jesus in 3:13, to the discussion of Jesus’ coming in chapter 4, to the details of the Day of the Lord in chapter 5. There is no break in these thoughts in the text itself.
Chapters 4 and 5 are tied together by Paul’s language.
Furthermore, chapters 4 and 5, which MacArthur says speak of two different events, use similar language and ideas when describing those events.
Chapter 4 talks about Jesus bringing those who have fallen asleep (13), and chapter 5 mentions them as well, saying “whether we wake or sleep” (10). Why say Jesus is bringing dead believers with him on both occasions? It makes much more sense that the repetition occurs because he is still talking about the same event in chapter 5 that he started talking about in chapter 4.
Both sections end with a similar exhortation. In 4:18, Paul says, “Therefore comfort one another with these words,” and in 5:11, he says, “Therefore comfort each other….” This is another evidence that these two chapters do not reference different things; they reference the same thing, the coming of Christ at the end of time to judge the world. And if they both refer to the Final Judgment, chapter 4 cannot be speaking of a rapture.
The claim that Paul’s description of Jesus’ return in 1 Thessalonians does not mention judgment is simply not true.
What should we conclude about 1 Thessalonians 4 and the rapture?
The evidence reviewed in this article casts serious doubt on the claim that 1 Thessalonians 4 teaches a rapture of the church.
The word translated “caught away” does not prove enough to justify this conclusion, and it is not always used in the sensational way rapture proponents claim. Omitting Jesus coming to the earth may not mean anything, as biblical writers often did not mention every detail of the narratives or prophecies they documented.
Furthermore, Paul’s failure to mention the Millennium is as an insufficient basis for concluding rapture because the doctrine of the Millennium itself is highly suspect.
And, finally, both the book of 1 Thessalonians in general and the comments immediately preceding and following chapter 4 strongly indicate Paul is talking about Christ’s return to judge the world in both chapters.
We conclude, therefore, that, while many Christians see the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, the text, in and of itself, simply does not teach it.
Notes:
[1] John MacArthur, Sermon: “Rapture and Resurrection,” November 13, 2016, available at https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-498/rapture-and-resurrection.
[2] The claim that 1 Thessalonians 5 deals with the “day of the Lord” as a separate appearance of Christ from the rapture appearance will be addressed later in this article.
[3] Another example is Acts 8:39 where Philip is “caught away” by the Spirit after the eunuch’s baptism. Does this verse mean Luke was “violently” pulled off the ground and placed in Azotus, where verse 40 says he preached next? This is difficult to conclude, primarily because the eunuch went his way “rejoicing.” If Philip was taken in a sudden, violent way consistent with harpazó’s use in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the eunuch is much more likely to have gone his way shocked or confused rather than rejoicing.
[4] Most often, this error is associated with the omission of a certain fact or event from historical records. Let’s say the Bible mentions a certain city in the ancient Middle East, but no secular historical documents reference that city. Because the other documents do not mention it, unbelievers conclude the Bible is wrong. This is the error of the argument from silence. But there are legitimate reasons these sources may not have mentioned it. For example, it may not have been known to them at the time, or it may not have been important to the account they were trying to preserve. The lack of mentioning something cannot be taken as evidence the thing did not exist or occur.
[5] Although, I will argue later that he does mention judgment specifically as he moves into chapter 5.
[6] This is also an example of the “proving too much” fallacy. If the argument is true, it defeats the overall point the person is making. You can see this by taking the proposition to its logical conclusion. If not stating something means it did not happen, then the doctrine of the rapture did not happen, because many of its most important facets are not mentioned.
[7] William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1993, p. 385.
[8] Although, symbolic imagery is used in chapters 1-3, as well.
[9] Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003, p. 255.
[10] Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, 445.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Fee and Stuart, 253.
[13] Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, 447.
[14] Ibid.
[15] The authors do not present these as absolute, final interpretations. In this same section, they note the difficulty of coming to an exact meaning for each: “Even given all these guidelines interpreters will still no doubt diverge greatly. So, the most crucial axiom is this: determine the major theological principles of revelation and avoid getting bogged down in the details.”
[16] W. White, Jr., “Numbers,” in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 4, edited by Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976, p. 461.
[17] Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, 447.
[18] Most scholars credit Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207-1228, for creating chapter divisions. His chapter designations were first used in the Wycliffe Bible in 1382 and are now used in every Bible. Verse numbers are credited to Robert Estienne in his Greek New Testament, published in 1551. Source: Alyssa Roat, “Why Was the Bible Divided into Chapters and Verses?” January 26, 2021, available at https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/why-was-the-bible-divided-into-chapters-and-verses.html.