The coming of the Lord: hope for the dead and readiness for the day

First Thessalonians is probably the earliest of Paul's letters in the New Testament, written about AD 50 to 51. Paul, Silas and Timothy (1:1) had brought the gospel to Thessalonica on Paul's second journey (Acts 17:1-9). The city was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, a busy port on the Via Egnatia, the main road from east to west. Paul preached in the synagogue for three weeks, some Jews and many devout Greeks believed, and opposition from other Jews forced him to leave. The letter was written from Corinth after Timothy returned with news (3:6; Acts 18:5). The date of Paul's time in Corinth is fixed by an inscription at Delphi that names Gallio as proconsul, about AD 51 to 52 (Acts 18:12).

The church was young, mostly Gentile (1:9), and under pressure from neighbours (2:14; 3:3-4). Timothy brought good news of their faith and love, and also questions. Some members had died, and the survivors feared the dead would miss the Lord's return. Others were unsettled about the timing of the Day of the Lord. Some needed correction on sexual conduct, and some were idle (4:11; 5:14). Paul's authorship of the letter is not disputed.

Chapters 4 and 5 form the second half, which gives instruction. Paul's pattern is to move from what he has done among them to what he asks of them, and the statements on the future are given for a pastoral purpose: to comfort and to prepare.

• First Thessalonians is a pastoral letter, and its teaching on the end of the age is given in answer to questions. That has two consequences.
• First, Paul does not give a full account of the last things; he tells the Thessalonians what they need to know.
• Second, he uses stock language from Jewish writing about the end, such as the trumpet, the archangel, clouds and thief-like arrival, and these images should be read as images and not as a timetable.

The Greek word parousia (4:15; 5:23) means 'arrival' or 'presence'. In the Greek world it was used of the formal visit of a king or emperor. Some scholars note that the word 'meeting' (apantesis) in 4:17 was used when a city sent out a delegation to welcome a visiting official and escort him back into the city, and they suggest that the church goes out to meet the Lord in order to accompany him as he comes. Other scholars think that this background should not be pressed. The wording describes a meeting; where the Lord goes afterwards is not stated.

The chapters also contain instructions that are not about the end: holiness, love, work, respect for leaders and spiritual gifts. In Paul's mind these belong together, because the hope of the Lord's coming shapes the way believers live now. A reader should notice how often the end is followed by an appeal to live in a certain way (4:18; 5:6, 11).

Chapter 4:1–8

Paul asks the Thessalonians to live in a way that pleases God, 'just as you have received from us' and adds that they already do so. God's will is their holiness (sanctification), which includes abstaining from sexual immorality. In verse 4 each is to 'know how to control his own body in holiness and honor', and the Greek word skeuos, literally 'vessel', may mean one's own body or one's wife; translators and commentators divide on this. The contrast is with 'the Gentiles who do not know God'. No one is to wrong or exploit another believer, for the Lord is an avenger in such matters, and God has called them to holiness, not impurity. To reject this is to reject God, who gives his Holy Spirit.

Chapter 4:9–12

Love for the brothers, Paul says, has been taught by God himself, and the Thessalonians already show it to believers all over Macedonia. They are to do so more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, mind their own affairs and work with their hands. The purpose is that they may behave well before outsiders and not be dependent on anyone. The mention of idleness is picked up in 5:14.

Chapter 4:13–18

Paul does not want them to be uninformed about 'those who sleep in death', so that they will not grieve 'like the rest, who are without hope'. Sleep was a common way to speak of death, and for Christians it carries the promise of waking. Grief is not forbidden; hopeless grief is. The ground of hope is the gospel: 'since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.' Paul then says, 'by the word of the Lord', that the living will not precede the dead. The phrase may refer to a saying of Jesus or to a revelation to Paul; it points to authority. The Lord himself will 'descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God'. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then 'we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air'. The Greek verb for 'caught up' is harpazo; the Latin Bible translated it rapiemur, from which comes the English word 'rapture'. 'And so we will always be with the Lord.' The conclusion is a command: encourage one another with these words.

Chapter 5:1–11

'Times and seasons' are not Paul's subject, because the Thessalonians already know the main point: 'the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.' Jesus used the same picture (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39). For those who say 'peace and security', destruction comes suddenly, like labor pains. Some scholars hear in 'peace and security' a slogan of Roman rule, and the case is plausible, though not proven. But believers are 'sons of the light and sons of the day'. Because they belong to the day, they are to stay awake and sober, 'putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation', an image drawn from Isaiah 59:17. The reason for confidence is that God 'has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ', who 'died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him'. Waking and sleeping now means being alive or dead. Either way, believers live with Christ.

Chapter 5:12–22

A series of short instructions follows. The church is to acknowledge and highly regard those who labour and give instruction among them. They are to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak and be patient with all, and never repay evil for evil. The famous commands are 'Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' Paul also says 'Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test all things.' Prophecy is welcomed and also examined.

Chapter 5:23–28

The letter closes with a prayer that 'the God of peace Himself' will sanctify them completely, and that their 'entire spirit, soul, and body' be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord. The three terms describe the whole person and need not be read as a precise division of human nature; traditions differ on this. 'The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.' Paul asks for prayer and instructs that the letter be read to all the brothers.

The central doctrine is the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. Paul teaches that Jesus will come in person, that those who have died in him will be raised, and that all believers will be with him for ever. This hope rests on his death and resurrection (4:14), the same ground as 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

The passage also teaches about judgment and salvation. The Day of the Lord brings wrath on those who live as if all is secure, but God has not destined believers for wrath (5:9). The doctrine of the church appears in the instructions on love, leadership, mutual care and the Spirit. Finally, the passage connects hope and holiness: the one who awaits the Lord is to live in a way pleasing to him, and the God who calls is the God who sanctifies (5:23-24).

Christians have disagreed on how these verses fit into a larger picture of the end. The text itself speaks of the descent of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and a meeting with the living; it does not mention a tribulation, a millennium, or an earthly kingdom. Other passages (Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 20) are brought into the discussion, and Paul himself returns to the topic in his second letter to the Thessalonians.

The passage places Christ at the centre of the future. Jesus is the Lord who will descend from heaven, who has died and risen, and who will gather the dead and the living to be with him always. He is also the one through whom God gives salvation instead of wrath (5:9).

The most striking Christological move is in 5:2. In the Old Testament the Day of the LORD is God's own day, when he judges the nations and rescues his people (Amos 5:18-20; Isaiah 13:6-9; Joel 2:1-2; Zephaniah 1:14-18). Paul speaks of the Day of the Lord (5:2) and ties it to 'our Lord Jesus Christ' (5:9, 23). In his letters 'the Lord' is regularly Jesus, and the title is the one the Greek Old Testament uses for God's name. The New Testament thus presents Jesus as the one in whom God himself comes, to judge and to save.

The imagery of the trumpet and the gathering of the elect also echoes Jesus' own teaching in Matthew 24:30-31, and the image of the soldier's armour echoes Isaiah 59:17, where the LORD himself puts on righteousness and salvation as armour. Paul gives believers the helmet of the hope of salvation, and this salvation is gained for them in Christ.