THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

The Hope of Israel: What Is It? 171
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:9. The first part of this well
known passage speaks of the descending of the Lord
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and the trump of God, whereupon "the dead in
Christ shall rise first." "Then we, which are alive
and remain, shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." This is the
only sort of salvation that the apostle here (or elsewhere)
describes as taking place at the coming of the
Lord; and it is expressly limited to those who are
already "in Christ." Moreover, the apostle goes on to
speak of "the times and seasons" of these great events
saying that "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night." And how will it then fare with those
who are not found "in Christ?" He tells us they will
be assuring themselves of good things ahead by saying,
"Peace and Safety" (just as were those who lived and
despised God's warnings in the days of Noah, and in
the days of Lot), but that "sudden destruction" shall
fall upon them, "and they shall not escape." Verse 9
declares that the alternatives presented to all men are
"salvation" and "wrath." And so say all the Scriptures.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10. We have already pointed
out the close agreement (extending even to similarity
of words) between this passage and that in Matthew
XXV, in which our Lord Himself declares what will
happen at His coming again. It describes the day that
was foreseen by Daniel when "the kingdom and dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints
of the Most High" (Dan. 7:27) ;
the day "when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His
that He
mighty angels"; and the plain declaration is