Quote:
Originally Posted by countmeworthy
I am not so sure Jesus is coming “FOR” us since it does not say He will touch the ground and pick us up. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says we will meet the LORD in the air. The dead in Christ will rise first then we who are alive AND REMAIN (hmm ��) will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Interesting that it says “we who are alive AND REMAIN”. I do have some thoughts on why it says “and remain”. But that’s for another day.
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I am curious to hear what you have to say... after all, it is now "another day".
A lot rides on this phrase "alive AND remain" if it is being used to support a rapture before the second coming.
Young's translation reads this way:
17 then we who are living, who are remaining over, together with them shall be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so always with the Lord we shall be; (1Th*4:17*YLT)
Note the missing word "and", which the more honest translations will put in italics, indicating that it is not in the Greek.
Young's uses a comma, not a conjunction. This changes the meaning of the verse significantly, and Young's translation is more consistent with the context. As I stated before, Paul is trying to assure the Thessalonians that those who died will see Christ first, at the resurrection. Period. If he believed in a pre-resurrection rapture, this passage would have read differently.