Paul does not attempt to take his readers further than the ecstatic moment of meeting. Disciples of all ages are at last united with the Master, the future is assured. There is no need at this juncture to delve into what lies beyond. But we know from other scriptures that after the union the redeemed continue the journey they have begun and go with Christ to His heavenly home (see on John 14:2, 3). Thus shall they “ever be with the Lord.”

 That is, as a result of Christ’s coming and the consequent events described in vs. 16, 17, all believers are united with their Lord.

The saints have ascended from the earth, the Lord and His accompanying hosts have descended from heaven; they meet in the air, between earth and heaven.

 Literally, “unto a meeting of the Lord,” expressing the fulfillment of the purpose for which the righteous have been caught up from the earth, that is, that they might meet their Lord. At the moment of meeting, the Christian’s dearest desire is fulfilled—he is united to the One whom he loves above all others (cf. on Phil. 1:23).

 Compare Matt. 24:30; Acts 1:9; Rev. 1:7.

 Gr. hama sun. The adverb hama signifies “at the same time,” while the preposition sun here means “together with.” A literal translation of this portion of v. 17 thus reads, “at the same time together with them we shall be snatched away.” Such an assurance would set the Thessalonians at rest by explaining to them that the Christians who were then dead and those who remained alive would be simultaneously united with their Lord.

 Gr. harpazō, “to snatch away” (see on Acts 8:39; Phil. 2:6; Rev. 12:5).

From harpazō, by way of the Latin verb rapiō, is derived the English word “rapture,” a term that some use in a technical theological sense to describe the catching up, or carrying away, of the saints, of which Paul here writes. Those who thus use the word “rapture” teach that Christ’s visible, audible appearance with power and great glory will be preceded some years earlier by His coming secretly and invisibly to the air of this planet to catch away His saints, while the rest of earth’s population lives on through a period marked by a tribulation under the rule of Antichrist.

 But the present passage, which they declare describes this secret coming, speaks of Christ’s coming with a “shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God”—hardly a secret event. Furthermore, this is obviously “our gathering together unto him,” concerning which the Thessalonians were troubled, but which is after the revelation of Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:1-3), not before, as set forth in the “pretribulation rapture” view (see Additional Notes on Rev. 20, Note 2). The trumpet is mentioned also in Matt. 24:30, 31 in a context that clearly describes a visible coming: “All the tribes of the earth ... shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” There is nothing in the phrasing of these scriptures that even remotely suggests that the coming described in Matt. 24 is different from that described in 1 Thess. 4. Hence both passages describe one event happening at one point of time. This is the uniform teaching of all the Scriptures. For a discussion of certain false concepts on which the belief in a secret rapture is based see Additional Notes on Rev. 20, Note 2.

 See on v. 15.

That is, after the righteous dead have been resurrected.