With the voice of an archangel (1 Thessalonians)

Episode 289: With the voice of an archangel

1 Thessalonians 1-5

Greetings and Salutations!

1 ¹ From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church in Thessalonica.

⁴ We know you've been elected by God.

¹⁰ Now you're waiting for Jesus to return from heaven.

God raised him from the dead, and he saved us from the wrath to come.

We were holy, just, and perfect among you (God is a witness)

2 ² We were shamefully treated at Philippi, but we spoke boldly, nonetheless.

³ We didn't deceive anyone with uncleanness.

⁵ We didn't use flattering words. God is our witness.

⁶ We didn't seek glory or make a burden of ourselves.

⁷ But we were gentle among you.

⁹ You remember how hard we worked for you, laboring night and day.

¹⁰ You and God saw how holy, just, and perfect we were.

The Jews killed Jesus (God's wrath is upon them)

^14-15 The Jews killed Jesus and their own prophets, and they persecuted us.

They don't please God and are contrary to everyone.

¹⁶ God's wrath will be especially hard on them.

We would have visited you, but Satan stopped us

¹⁸ We would have come to you, even I Paul, but Satan stopped us.

¹⁹ When Jesus comes, you'll be there to greet him.

You've already endured the tribulation (so Jesus will be coming soon)

3 ⁴ We told you before that you'd have to endure tribulation, and you have.

¹³ When Jesus comes, he'll establish your hearts in holiness before God.

Know how to possess your vessel (in holiness and honor)

4 ² You know the commandments that we gave you from Jesus.

³ This is the will of God: Don't fornicate.

⁴ Every man should know how to possess his vessel in holiness and honor.

⁵ Don't be filled with lust like the Gentiles.

⁶ And don't take something that belongs to someone else.

The rapture (?)

¹³ Don't worry about believers who have died. They're not like dead non-believers who have no hope.

¹⁴ When Jesus returns, he'll bring dead believers with him.

¹⁵ Jesus told me that when he returns, those of us who are alive won't precede the dead.

¹⁶ Jesus will descend with a shout, with the voice of an archangel.

A trumpet will sound, and dead believers will rise first.

¹⁷ Then those of us who are alive will be raised up into the clouds to meet Jesus in the air and be with him forever.

¹⁸ Comfort one another with these words.

When Jesus comes, it'll be like childbirth

5 ¹ But I don't have to tell you about the times and seasons.

² You know the Lord's day will come as a thief in the night.

³ When people are saying, "Everything's fine", the world will be destroyed like a woman in childbirth. And they won't escape.

⁴ But you'll be okay. That day won't surprise you like a thief.

⁵ You're the children of light.

⁶ So don't go to sleep. Watch and be sober. 7 People sleep and get drunk at night.

But we day-people will be sober, wearing the breastplate of faith and love, with salvation as a helmet.

⁹ God won't hurt us with his wrath. He's saved us through Jesus.

¹⁰ He died for us, and dead or alive, we'll live with him.

Prove all things, hold fast that which is good

¹⁴ Help the weak and be patient with everyone.

¹⁵ Don't be evil to those who are evil to you. Do good to everyone.

¹⁶ Be happy.

¹⁷ Pray all the time.

¹⁸ Be thankful.

¹⁹ Don't quench the spirit.

²⁰ Don't despise prophesyings.

²¹ Test every belief to see if it's true or false. Hold on to what is good.

²² Stay away from anything that even appears to be evil.

²³ I pray you'll be blameless on the day Jesus returns.

²⁶ Give everyone a holy kiss.

²⁷ Read this letter to all the holy people.

²⁸ Amen.

A few more words about this episode

From Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church in Thessalonica. (1:1): First Thessalonians is the earliest of the Paul's undisputed epistles. It is thought by many scholars to be the oldest surviving Christian document. It was written to the church in Thessalonica in about 49 CE. Thessalonica was a major port city in Macedonia (modern-day Greece).; Silvanus (aka Silas) and Timothy were companions of Paul on his second missionary journey. They were with Paul when he visited Thessalonica, but they probably were not really co-authors of this epistle.
Every man should know how to possess his vessel in holiness and honor. (4:4)
: The "vessel" that Paul is talking about here is either a man's wife or his penis.
When Jesus returns, he'll bring dead believers with him. (4:14): First Thessalonians was one of the first Christian writings, yet already (ca.50 CE) believers were getting impatient about Jesus' supposed return. Their fellow believers were dying and yet Jesus still hadn't come. What happens to dead believers? Will they get to see Jesus return?
Jesus will descend with a shout, with the voice of an archangel. (4:16): Jehovah's Witnesses: From this verse and Jude 9, the Jehovah's Witnesses figure that Jesus is really the archangel Michael.; In the podcast, Carole asked how many archangels are there in the Bible, and I said two: Gabriel and Michael. And that's true, for Protestants anyway. Another archangel, Raphael, is main character in the book of Tobit, which is in Catholic bibles, but is considered apocryphal to Protestants.
A trumpet will sound. (4:16): Donald Trump is the trump of God -- or so says World Net Daily, anyway. Donald Trump is God's final warning to America.
Then those of us who are alive will be raised up into the clouds to meet Jesus in the air and be with him forever. (4:17): Modern Evangelical Christians get the idea of the rapture from this verse. (Paul thought he'd live to see it.)