1 Thessalonians 4:13

Paul wrote that to be uninformed about the future as a Christian is not good, even though some in our day say that eschatology is unimportant. Those "asleep" are the dead in Christ (cf. Mark 5:39; John 11:11). "Cemetery" (koimeterion) comes from the word used here (koimao) and means "a place of sleep." The ancients commonly used "sleep" as a euphemism for "death" (e.g., 1 Kings 2:10). [Note: Bruce, p. 95; Martin, p. 143; Wanamaker, p. 167.] Knowing the future of believers who have died gives hope in the midst of grief. Paul did not deny that the death of a believer brings grief to his or her loved ones (cf. John 11:35). Nevertheless he insisted that Christians need not grieve as those who have no hope grieve.

"Aeschylus wrote, ’Once a man dies there is no resurrection.’ Theocritus wrote, ’There is hope for those who are alive, but those who have died are without hope.’ Catullus wrote, ’When once our brief light sets, there is one perpetual night through which we must sleep.’" [Note: Barclay, p. 235.]

"The risen Lord robbed death of its sting and horror for the believer and has transformed it into sleep for those in Christ." [Note: Hiebert, p. 188. Cf. Philippians 1:23.]

Pretribulationists and posttribulationists agree that the Thessalonian believers were grieving for two reasons. They grieved because their loved ones had died and because they thought the resurrection of dead Christians would take place after the Rapture. Pretribulationists believe the Thessalonians erroneously thought this resurrection would follow the Tribulation. Some posttribulationists believe the Thessalonians incorrectly thought that this resurrection would take place at the end of the Millennium. [Note: E.g., Robert Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation, p. 101.] Both of these conclusions rest on the interpretation of other passages that indicate the time of the Rapture. It was not the resurrection as such that disturbed the Thessalonians but the fact that they might not see their departed brethren for a long time that did. Specifically it was the fact that their dead fellow Christians might not participate in the Rapture with them that upset them. They apparently thought that one had to be alive to participate in the Rapture. [Note: Wanamaker, pp. 169, 172. See also Joseph Plevnik, "The Taking Up of the Faithful and the Resurrection of the Dead in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 46 (1984):281.]