The Day of the Lord
By Peter Amsterdam
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In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul raised the topic of Christians who had passed away when he wrote: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Paul used the metaphor asleep here for those who had died, but a few verses later he speaks of those who have passed on as the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The reason Paul didn’t want the believers to be uninformed about the Christians who had died was so they wouldn’t “grieve as others do who have no hope.” Paul wasn’t saying that believers couldn’t grieve when their loved ones passed on; rather, as one author wrote: “Their grief should be tempered and informed by the hope they held, based on the resurrection of Christ and the promise of his coming.”1
Paul goes on to say: “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). One of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity is that Jesus died and rose again. Paul was probably quoting from a creed which was in circulation among believers and was used in the Thessalonian church at that time. The death and resurrection of Jesus was put forward as the guarantee of the resurrection of believers (Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 4:14).
“For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). For some reason, it was important for the Thessalonians to know that when Jesus returns, the believers who were alive would not have precedence over those who had already died.
The passage goes on to say, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
In this verse, where Paul referred to Jesus’ coming, the Greek word for such a coming was parousia. This term generally meant the glorious “coming” of a sovereign or ruler visiting a city. Such visits were cause for great celebrations, including banquets, speeches praising the visitors, and dedications of statues, as well as the construction of arches and new buildings. The city officials and the local people would wear special clothing and would head out of the city to meet the sovereign and to escort him into the city.
Paul used this concept of parousia to describe Jesus’ coming and the glory and ceremony which will accompany His return, as well as to reassure the Thessalonians that all Christians, both those living and those who have died, would take part in this wonderful event. Jesus’ return will not be a secret. First, there will be a cry of command. We’re not told who issues the cry of command, but it may refer to God the Father, who issues the order for the dead in Christ to rise.
Jesus’ return is accompanied by the voice of an archangel and the sound of the trumpet of God. Trumpets in Paul’s time were used in military exercises and events such as funeral processions. In this case, the dead will hear the great sound of the trumpet call of God, and they will respond to the command to rise. Both here and in 1 Corinthians 15:52, the trumpet of God is the call for the resurrection of the dead.
When the sound of the trumpet of God is heard, the dead in Christ will rise first. Not all the dead are raised at this time, but only those who received salvation through Christ before they died. Paul wanted to make it clear to the Thessalonians that the believers who had died will be present when Jesus returns.
Paul goes on to say, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). After the dead have risen, then the living Christians will be joined together with those who are raised, and together they all will go out to meet the Lord, at the time of His parousia, often referred to as the “rapture.” When the two groups are joined together, they all will be caught up together.
In writing about meeting the Lord in the air, Paul makes the point that it is the bodies of the resurrected believers and the living believers, and not just their souls, who will meet the Lord in the air. He doesn’t explain how this will happen, but from this and his other writings he makes it clear that he expects a transformation of the human body to a state of immortality. Elsewhere he wrote that Jesus “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:20–21).
The end of this process, the resurrection, is stated in the final sentence, and so we will always be with the Lord. At Christ’s return, all believers, whether dead or alive, will be united with Jesus, our King and Savior, where we will always be with the Lord.
In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul then responds to the Thessalonian believers’ question: When would the day of the Lord arrive? He writes, “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–2).
It’s not surprising that Paul addressed the question of the timing of the day of the Lord. Throughout Jewish literature as well as in Scripture, there was much focus on this topic. In the book of Daniel the question is asked: “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” (Daniel 12:6). On the Mount of Olives, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Jesus made it clear to His disciples that only His Father knew the time of the day of the Lord (Matthew 24:36; Acts 1:6–7).
Within Scripture, the day of the Lord often refers to when the Lord comes to judge the people of the earth and pours out His wrath because of sin.2 However, for the people of God, the day of the Lord will be a day of salvation (Zechariah 14:1–21). In the letters of Paul, this event is referred to as “the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:8; Philippians 1:6, 9–10).
Since it was not possible for the believers to know when this day would come, they were called to be ready at all times. This applies to all Christians—past, present, and future. “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:39–40). The day of the Lord will come suddenly at an unexpected moment, like when a thief breaks into a home in the middle of the night. Paul didn’t say there would be no signs before the end, but he wanted to emphasize that since it is impossible to know the exact time of Christ’s return, they should always be prepared.
Having stated that His coming will be unexpected, Paul went on to explain that unbelievers would not be able to find refuge from the judgment to come: “While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).
Paul then contrasts the Thessalonian believers with the unbelievers in the city: “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4). Paul isn’t saying that the church will know when that day will come, rather he’s making the point that Christians are prepared for the final event and therefore they are not in darkness.
The New Testament authors describe salvation as passing from darkness to light. “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). The Thessalonian believers (as well as Christians in general) are prepared because they are believers, and so they can look forward to that day.
Paul then says, “You are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Those who are “children of light” are those who have been saved from darkness and now belong to the realm of “light.” As the apostle Peter wrote: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
At this point the apostle Paul switches to speaking about what we, as Christians, should do. “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6). They are now called to act in accordance with what they have become as children of light. As one author put it: “The Christians’ conduct should be distinct from that of ‘the others,’ the unbelievers whose lives are marked by the ‘sleep’ of moral indifference and sin.”3
Rather than being “asleep” in sin, Paul tells the Thessalonian believers to be awake and sober or alert and self-controlled (NIV). The call is to be alert and vigilant both spiritually and morally, and to exercise self-control. The passage goes on to say, “Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Along with being sober and ready for the day of the Lord, the believers must also be armed with Christian virtues—faith, love, and hope.
Paul then moves on to the difference in the destiny of Christians and the unbelievers: “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10). Upon the Lord’s return, Christians will obtain salvation—not through any merit on their part, but because of God’s love and grace through Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection. This final salvation is described as living together with our Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful!
Paul closes this chapter by saying, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). The Thessalonian believers had been concerned about the day of the Lord, which was linked to their question about the dead in Christ. He instructs them to encourage and comfort one another and remind each other that God has brought them, both those living and those who had already passed on, to salvation. May this be an encouragement to us as well.
Originally published March 2023. Adapted and republished March 2025. Read by Jon Marc.
1 Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 219.
3 Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians, 238.
