Differences Between Mt.24:29-31 and 1 Thess.4:13-17

First of all the verses in Matthew address “time or when,” something happens while the verses in Thessalonians address “who” things happens to.

Mt.24:29 tells us what is going to take place immediately after the tribulation of the Day of the LORD, the day for the vengeance of our God:

  1. The sun shall be darkened
  2. The moon shall not give her light
  3. The stars fall from heaven
  4. The powers of the heavens shall be shaken (all 3 I suppose)

On the other hand 1 Thess. 4:13-15 tell a different set of events.

  • Vs. 13 is speaking about dead Christians who are asleep
  • Vs. 14 tells us that those who are asleep “in Jesus” will God bring with him (bring where, when)
  • Vs. 15 tells us that we who are alive and remain shall not precede those who are dead.

In Mt. 24:30 3 things happen:

  • Then (after there is no light on the earth because the sun and moon aren’t shining and stars have all disappeared), a sign of the son of man appears in heaven.
  • Then shall all the nations of earth mourn, (beat and strike their breasts in grief or lament)
  • And they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory

Now in 1 Thess.4:16 we see 2 things:

  • Jesus himself descends from heaven with a stimulating cry of incitement, with the voice or tone of the archangel Michael, that reverberates like God!
  • Next we see the dead in Christ rising up from the dead, first.

Back in Mt. 24:31 we see 1 maybe 2 things happen;

  • He, Jesus, shall send his angels with great reverberation and
  • They shall gather together his elect from the 4 quarters of heaven, not earth, from one extremity to the other. Who are these elect? I don’t know specifically, but I do know they weren’t Christians, because Jesus nor any other Hebrew Prophets knew there would be a group called such. These elect, because they are gathered from the 4 quarters of heaven, could be angels, since they are the only other ones in heaven, besides God and Jesus. 1 Tim. 5:21 calls the angels elect. Maybe they are Israelites. One thing we do know, they aren’t Christians.

For our final verse of 1 Thess. 4:17 we have 3 things happen:

  • Then we who are alive and remain (on the earth) shall be caught up, snatched, together with them (the dead in Jesus) in the clouds.
  • To meet the Lord in the air
  • So shall we ever be with the Lord (we go wherever he goes).

SUMMARY

  • WE CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT THE 2ND COMING JESUS SPOKE ABOUT WILL BE AFTER THE TRIBULATION, THE DAYS OF GOD’S WRATH.
  • WE KNOW THAT CHRISTIANS ARE LITERALLY RESCUED FROM GOD’S WRATH ACCORDING TO 1 THESS. 1:10, 5:9; THEREFORE THE RAPTURE IS BEFORE THE TRIBULATION.
  • NOTHING HAPPENS TO THE SUN, MOON AND STARS AT THE RAPTURE
  • NO SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN APPEARS BEFORE JESUS DESCENDS FROM THE CLOUDS TO MEET US IN THE AIR.
  • JESUS DOESN’T SEND HIS ANGELS TO GATHER US TOGETHER FROM HEAVEN, THE LORD HIMSELF MEETS US.
  • THERE IS NO ONE BEATING THEIR BREASTS IN GRIEF OR DREAD AT HIS APPEARANCE
  • NO ONE ON THE EARTH SEES HIM DESCENDING AT THE RAPTURE
  • THERE IS NO MENTION OF ANY DEAD BEING GATHERED TOGETHER AT THE 2ND COMING
  • THE ONLY ONES I CAN SEE BEING GATHERED TOGETHER AT THE 2ND COMING ARE ANGELS PREPARING FOR THE BATTLE OF HAR-MO’ED, TO QUASH THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET AND THEIR ENTOURAGE.
  • NO ONE, LIVING OR DEAD, IS BEING RAISED FROM THE EARTH MEETING JESUS IN THE AIR AT THE 21ND COMING.
  • THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT THESE ARE 2 SEPARATE EVENTS WITH HARDLY ANYTHING IN COMMON

Post Script

Concerning the supposed trumpet(s), Mt. 24:31 says And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect KJV

“Sound” is not in the texts; neither is “a.” Trumpet is translated from NT:4536 salpigx (sal’-pinx); perhaps from NT:4535 (through the idea of quavering or reverberation): 4535 is salos, a vibration, a billow.

(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

Think of Jimi Hendrix playing the guitar to picture a great reverberation! IMO, trumpet is a supplied analogy. Could just as easily been a bugle, but I don’t think it was either.

The etymology of the ancient Greek word salpinx (σάλπιγξ) is somewhat obscure but is widely believed to be onomatopoeic or descriptive of its sound. onomatopoeic: ɒnəmatəˈpiːɪk/adjective

  1. (of words) formed in imitation of a natural sound “it was independently developed in more than one place as an onomatopoetic term”
  2. of or relating to or characterized by onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests a sound that it refers to.

Primary Theories of Origin

  • “Thunderer”: Many scholars and historical sources suggest the word implies “thunderer” or is linked to the sound of thunder.  This connects the instrument’s piercing, loud blast to the roar of Zeus or natural storms, reflecting its use to instill awe or terror in battle.

In 1 Thess. 4:16 it was Jesus himself, not his angels, with a very descriptive battle or victory cry that raised the dead in Christ:1 Thess 4:16

16 for the Lord himself, with an assembling shout, with archangel’s voice and with trump of God, shall descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
Darby

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About Mystery Consultant

I was born in 1949 and raised in Paris, Illinois. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1967 and received an assignment to serve aboard the U.S.S. Mauna Loa, AE-8 off the coast of Vietnam. During my three years and nine months of active duty, I toured the Mediterranean Sea twice and the Caribbean Sea once. What an experience to look back on! I was separated from the Navy three months early to attend College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California. Near the end of my first term as Student Body President, I received Jesus Christ and became born again in 1974. I have been studying the Bible, The Word of God and teaching others ever since. I have been married for 43 years to my wife Joanne, from Whitestone, New York. We are the proud parents of two grown sons, three granddaughters and three grandsons. We have lived in Illinois, Indiana, New York, Arizona and California, where we now make our home in San Pedro.

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