The Meaning of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: Caught Up Together in the Clouds?

The apostle Paul exhorts us in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 to “comfort one another with these words.” Yet many people try to find comfort—either for themselves or for others—using a misunderstanding of the verses that come immediately before this passage. 

In verses 16-17, Paul wrote: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

What did Paul actually mean in 1 Thessalonians when he described Christ descending with a shout and the dead rising?

How are we to find comfort in these words?

The context of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

An important strategy for correctly understanding a scripture is to establish its context by examining the surrounding verses. To understand Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, we must read the entire passage of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

As he does in many of his letters, Paul uses the epistle of 1 Thessalonians to address several concerns and questions that he had received from the congregation.

In verse 13, he reveals one of the concerns that was brought to him: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.”

Some of the Thessalonian members were troubled. They had expected Jesus Christ to return in their lifetimes, so it didn’t make sense to them that their brethren were dying. The Bible frequently uses terms such as fallen asleep as euphemisms for death. 

Paul’s purpose in writing this section of Scripture was to offer hope, reassuring the Thessalonians so that they wouldn’t be distressed about Christians dying before Christ’s return.

The power of the resurrection

In verse 14, Paul continues, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” One of the core tenets of Christianity is that God the Father resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead. 

Jesus Christ’s resurrection assures us that we, too, will be resurrected by the same power that raised Him from the dead. 

To learn more about the significance of His resurrection, read “The Power of His Resurrection.” 

“We who are alive and remain”

verse 15 sets the stage: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.”

Even if we die before Christ returns, we can take great comfort in the fact that God won’t forget us. Paul, like many early Christians, believed Jesus Christ would return in his lifetime. That’s a belief that many of God’s people still have—we genuinely hope to be alive to see Jesus Christ’s majestic coming. 

But even if we, like the apostle Paul, die before Christ returns, we can take great comfort in the fact that God won’t forget us.

We will not miss out on anything!

In fact, the next step in God’s plan will involve first those who have died after living Christ’s way, quickly followed by those who are still alive who are living the same way.

“Descend from heaven with a shout”

Then verse 16 says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.”

When Jesus Christ returns, He will descend from the third heaven to the earth for a second time. The shout that accompanies His return—voiced by a powerful archangel—is not a random cry. 

According to Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, the Greek word used here is the same that would describe a captain calling out orders or encouragement to his soldiers in the midst of battle, or a ship’s officer giving commands to his crew as they set sail. Accompanying this commanding shout will be a loud trumpet blast that will echo across the entire world.

We don’t know the exact words of the shout, but its result will be that the dead in Christ—those who have lived and died according to His way of life, from Abel to the time of the Great Tribulation—will be resurrected.

“And the dead in Christ will rise first”

Paul continues the thought in verse 16 by declaring that “the dead in Christ will rise first.” 

“The dead in Christ” refers to those who died as faithful believers and followers of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

From the ground and from the waters, the faithful will rise, transformed into glorious, immortal beings.  The first thing the returning Jesus Christ will do is rouse God’s faithful from the slumber of death. 

All over the world, wherever God’s people have been laid to rest—whether in quiet graves, deep oceans or forgotten places—an astonishing sight will unfold. From the ground and from the waters, the faithful will rise, transformed into glorious, immortal beings. 

These resurrected dead won’t be walking around outside of their graves like zombies. Nor will they disappear into the heavens. Instead, they will be resurrected and immediately brought up into the clouds—or the earth’s atmosphere—to meet their Savior and King, the One for whom they lived and died. 

To explore this future resurrection even further, read “The Trumpet Shall Sound, and the Dead Shall Be Raised.” 

“Then we who are alive and remain” 

verse 17 reveals what will happen to those still living when this occurs: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

This was written to assure us, His faithful believers, that whatever state we’re in when Jesus returns—whether living or long dead—we will not be left out or forgotten. Though the dead will rise first, those who are alive will also rise and be glorified—transformed to spirit. 

Some interpret this verse, which speaks of saints being caught up “in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,” as supporting the idea of a secret rapture, in which Christ quietly gathers His followers from around the world and takes them to heaven.

However, what Paul describes here is anything but secret. The commanding shout of the archangel and the resounding trumpet blast will be heard throughout the entire world. (To examine the errors of the rapture doctrine further, read “Will There Be a Secret Rapture?”)

This moment will not be a hidden or secret rapture, but a magnificent, world-shaking event—a public gathering of God’s people.

This isn’t describing a gathering in the third heaven. They aren’t going to heaven to sit on clouds for eternity—they will be gathered in the clouds of the earth’s atmosphere. It will be like an emotional family reunion. 

Paul’s point was to encourage the Thessalonian brethren, and us today, not to fret about dying before that moment arrives. Whether God’s people are alive or asleep in death at Christ’s return, none will miss out on the incredible fulfillment of this promise.

The rest of the story

Paul reveals in other places that our physical bodies will be transformed into spiritual bodies during this ascension (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

Paul doesn’t elaborate further in this chapter, but the Bible clearly reveals that Christ and the saints won’t hover indefinitely in the clouds above the earth or ascend to the third heaven. 

Shortly after this relatively brief family reunion in the clouds, Jesus Christ will lead the glorified saints and an army of angels into a decisive battle against the beast and his assembled armies. 

Zechariah 14 provides more details of what will occur: 

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south” (verse 4). 

The returning Christ will decisively defeat the armies of the earth and finally bring an end to the reign of man, ushering in the reign of the Kingdom of God (Revelation 19; Zechariah 14:9).

There’s no retreating or hiding for seven years (as the rapture theory suggests); this will be the triumphant return of the King to reign in power and glory.

“Comfort one another”

Like the first-century Christians in Thessalonica, we can take deep comfort in Paul’s words. 

What he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and its surrounding verses shows us a fantastic future—a time when God will resurrect the faithful who have died, transforming them into a new, spiritual existence beyond what we can comprehend.

If we are called and remain faithful, whether alive or asleep in death, we will stand together with Jesus Christ at His return.

As Paul said in verse 18, “Comfort one another with these words.”

Date Posted: December 1, 2025