Smoodock's Blog

For over two months, now, I’ve been considering the eschatology of Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians, with a special interest in chapter four of what we call Paul’s first epistle. Paul wrote: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1Thessalonians 4:17). Many Christians presume that with this Scripture we have evidence for the doctrine of the Rapture. Indeed, that doctrine would have no real foundation without this verse, i.e. how it is interpreted. That said, is Paul speaking of the atmosphere? If he isn’t, there goes the foundational text for most of futurists’ eschatology. If Christ doesn’t return to the atmosphere and the faithful are not caught up into the atmosphere, where is the evidence of futurism, as that pertains to the so-called end-time?

We need to understand that often Scripture uses the word air (aer – G109) to show something other than the atmosphere, and so do we. For example, Webster’s Dictionary, besides the normal physical meaning of the word air, defines it as:

outward appearance of a thing – the air of luxury; a surrounding or pervading influence –an air of mystery; the look, appearance, or bearing of a person – air of dignity; an artificial manner – put on airs

So, the question is: how is Paul using the word in 1Thessalonians 4:17? If, for example, Christ returns to the air of violence and persecution to save the elect, how does this support the doctrine of the Rapture or that he returns physically at all e.g. to destroy the universe? Hadn’t the Lord in the past (under the Old Covenant) come in judgment of one nation by making war upon it with the armies of another nation? Under the Old Covenant, the Lord had come on a cloud to judge Egypt (Isaiah 19:1), but no one saw the Lord come. It wasn’t a physical coming, but Egypt was judged and conquered by Assyria. So, how does the Lord come according to Paul (1Thessalonians 4:17)?

What happens when one speaks into the air (1Corinthians 14:9)? According to the text, it has the sense of speaking to the deaf, i.e. in vain. It couldn’t mean speaking into the atmosphere, because Paul preached the Gospel in the atmosphere, and it was believed, so air (aer – G109) does have the sense of something other than the atmosphere. Another example would be the fact that the air is the place where judgment takes place (1Chronicles 21:16; cp. Revelation 16:17) and where power and influence is felt (Ephesians 2:2). Notice what Paul says:

Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2).

Paul is saying believers once walked according to the course of this world, which was according to the prince (i.e. the Jewish authorities) of the power of the air (a metaphor the evil bias against the Gospel) that now works (i.e. exerts influence upon) the children of disobedience (like Paul / Saul acted in Acts 8:1; 9:1-3). In other words, the course of this world was violently opposed to the way of Christ, the Gospel, and the Jewish authorities were responsible for that air of wickedness.

History mentions that Christians in the first century were persecuted, because they were considered evil and wicked, the scum of the earth (cp. 1Corinthians 4:9-13), see the Roman historian, Tacitus, concerning Nero blaming Christians for the fire of Rome in 65 AD:

But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called “Chrestians” by the populace.

Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.

Why did the world hate Christians, believing them to be abominable, evil, mischievous, hideous and shameful? Especially, why is this so, considering gentiles didn’t persecute Christians to the death prior to Nero, and even then that persecution was limited to Rome? I submit that gentiles were prejudiced against Christians prior to the Nero persecution, because of the influence of the Jewish authorities, who initiated three persecutions of Jesus’ disciples prior to 70 AD,[1] and each one was violent and led to the deaths of many. The air was poisoned against Jesus’ disciples, and many, who had little experience with Christians simply complied (e.g. Acts 13:45; 14:2, 5-6; 17:5-9). It was to this air of violence that Jesus returned, and it was in this air of violence that the righteous dead were raised and the faithful living met Jesus to be established in the New Covenant, as he with violence judged the perpetrators (cp. Matthew 23:31-35, 37-38) of the violence committed against his disciples. All this, of course, was done by 70 AD, leaving nothing to be fulfilled in the future.

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[1] The first persecution leading to death began with the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7-9). The second persecution leading to death began with the killing of James, the brother of John and the expulsion of the Apostles from Jerusalem (Acts 12). The third persecution leading to death began with the killing of James the brother of Jesus and many were slain with him (Josephus 20.9.1 [197-203]).