Sleep of the Believer

Dr. Couch, it is interesting what Paul is saying about "sleep" in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. I take it this is the sleep of the believer, correct?

ANSWER:  The context is about the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. They will be resurrected, and then, immediately "those who are alive" will be changed and caught up with them (the resurrected) in the "clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (v. 17).

   Can you believe the amill and covenant guys don't know the difference between "up and down." The church resurrected, that is "those who are asleep" and "those who are alive" (could be us) are caught up (harpazo, snatched suddenly away) into the heavens to always be with the Lord, whereby when He comes to reign, "He comes down and His feet touch the Mount of Olives" (Zach. 14:4). They glibly say, "these two comings are the same."

   They fail to notice too that the coming Zachariah speaks of has to do with His reign in Israel, in Jerusalem, over the Jews and over the world, whereas the rapture coming has to do only with the church, "those in Jesus," "those in Christ" (1 Thess. 4:14, 16).

   Can you believe Ellicott says something absolutely dumb about 1 Thessalonians 4:17. He writes, "here [the catching away] is only used in contrast with the 'ground' and means 'on the way from Heaven whence He comes,' of course not to 'dwell' there, but to accompany Him to His Judgment-seat on the earth." Talking about being mixed up and messed up! What does Ellicott do with "we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together WITH THEM (the church resurrected) in the clouds to meet the Lord IN THE AIR …"?

   I write in my Thessalonian Greek commentary The Hope of Christ's Return (AMG) on verse 17:

    Going up into the sky, into the air (aera), is an unmistakable description. Jesus  is not coming down to establish His kingdom nor to judge men on earth. The  Church saints are going upward. The reason seems to be clearly stated in 5:9—to escape the coming wrath or Tribulation that falls upon the earth. To meet is actually a prepositional phrase—"into [eis] a meeting with the Lord.

   Guess what! Even amill A.T. Robertson gets the point. He writes "This (church) rapture of the saints (both risen and changed) is a glorious climax to Paul's argument of consolation. … This is the outcome, to be forever with the Lord."

   Ellicott along with so many deniers of the rapture doctrine really work hard to escape the obvious!

   Thanks for asking.
   Dr. Mal Couch

Soul Sleep

Dr. Couch, I just saw your new study on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. You rightly point out that Paul uses the expression of "sleep" to describe the death of the believer. Is this "soul sleep"?

ANSWER: Oh, heavens no! The Bible makes it clear there is consciousness after death, both for the lost and the saved. The story of the death of the rich man and the beggar in Luke 16:19-31 is a case in point. The rich man is in Hades in torment but the poor believing beggar is at peace in Abraham's bosom. Both are fully aware of their surroundings and conscious of what is happening to them.

"Sleep" is a metaphor for death for the believer. From the human perspective the physical body looks as if it is simply asleep. However, the soul and spirit of the saint is with the Lord while the lost is conscious and existing in torment, waiting for the final judgment.

Other passages verify the conscious state of the believer after death. Paul writes "while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:6b), and that in either state, before or after death, we are "to be pleasing to Him" (v. 9). Paul was also transported to glory, to Paradise, and saw in a vision revelations, and "heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak" (12:1-4). While the apostle did not die, he was in glory and seeing things that were beyond the normal physical realm.

When the church is raptured Paul makes it clear he will present us to the Lord Jesus Christ, in His presence, at His coming (1 Thess. 2:19), and that we may be established before we die, or before the rapture takes place, so that we will be unblamable when we come "before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints" (3:13). All of these verses make it clear there is life after death and we are not simply in a soul sleep state!

And of course there are many, many passages in Revelation that show the saints in glory worshiping before the throne of God and before Christ the Lamb! So the idea of "soul sleep" will just not fly!

Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch