What does 1 Thessalonians 4:14 mean?

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What does 1 Thessalonians 4:14 mean?

Post #1

Post by Checkpoint »

The immediate context is this passage from 1 Thessalonians 4.

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

15 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
So, how do you read, what do you understand, is the intended meaning of the words in bold above?

To help us along, tell us whether you see them as primarily referring to verses 13 and 14, or to verses 15 to 17.

Please note however, this thread is not about other issues you may view as being related, such as the details of prophecy.

It is about the fact of the second coming and the resurrection that then occurs.

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Re: What does 1 Thessalonians 4:14 mean?

Post #121

Post by JehovahsWitness »

Revelations won wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:18 pmThe scriptures clearly are in opposition to the private JW interpretation quoted above.

We ( Jehovah's Witnesses) do not agree with your private interpretation of either scripture. Properly understood there is absolutely no conflict between 1 Thessalonians 4:14 and 1 Peter 3:18 .





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Last edited by JehovahsWitness on Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What does 1 Thessalonians 4:14 mean?

Post #122

Post by JehovahsWitness »

WERE THE REBELLIOUS SPIRITS OF NOAHS DAY THE GHOSTS OF DEAD PEOPLE DROWNED IN THE FLOOD WATERS?

  • No, Peter identified them as spirits that were disobedient in Noah's day not humans or people that were Disobedient in Noah's day. He at no time identified them as humans or former humans.

1 PETER 3:18-20 - NWT

For Christ ... was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. 19 And in this state he went and preached to the spirits in prison,[Greek: tartarus] 20 who had formerly been disobedient when God was patiently waiting in Noah’s day....


various other translations : https://biblehub.com/1_peter/3-19.htm


WAS CHRIST DEAD OR ALIVE WHEN HE SPOKE TO THESE DISOBEDIENT SPIRITS ?
  • He was alive, Peter is quite clear about this, saying he (Jesus) was {quote} "made alive in the spirit. And in this state he went and preached" . According to the bible accounts, Christ remained dead for parts of 3 days and on the third day was resurrected back to life. It was therefore after he came back to life that he must have interacted with the spirits in "prison"*


WHERE OR WHAT IS THIS "PRISON" PETER REFERRED TO?
  • [ * ][TARTARUS Used exclusively by Peter in his letter this word is used to described the abased condition of the demons rather than a specific location. It should not be translated as hell as it has no relation to either SHEOL or Hades as used elswhere in scripture and is not used as a synonym.

    For more details on the biblical meaning of TARTARUS please see the following LINK:
    https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200004329






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"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" -
Romans 14:8

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Re: What does 1 Thessalonians 4:14 mean?

Post #123

Post by onewithhim »

[Replying to Revelations won in post #120]
You misidentify the spirits who rebelled in the time of Noah. Those spirits were DEMONS---fallen angels---that Jehovah put into spiritual darkness when they left the earth and went back to the heavenly realm to avoid drowning in the Flood. Jesus went to speak to them AFTER he was resurrected (after three days). The Bible calls them "the spirits in prison." A prison of spiritual darkness. The people who died in the Flood had no "spirit" that left their bodies and became imprisoned somewhere. No, they remain in their graves. It was the fallen angels that Jesus spoke to after his resurrection.

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