2 Thessalonians 2:1
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and by our gathering together unto him,
1. Matt 24:29 tells us that the coming of the Lord will be after the great tribulation. And in connection with this coming will be the sound of a trumpet and the gathering together of Israel. Of course, there is a widespread tradition that the Lord will come 3½ years before the end of the tribulation. In fact, they say that He will come at the beginning of it. But we are inclined to believe what God says about it rather than men.
2. John 11:24-26 tells us that He will come on the last day. He said that on that last day, He would be The Resurrection and The Life. He said that He would be The Resurrection for those believers who were dead at that time, that they would live. And He would be The Life for living believers at that time, in that they would live and never die. Later Paul explains that as a change from mortal to immortal.
3. Rev. 11:15-18 tells of the same event. It is at the 7th or last trumpet sounding. It is at this time that the Lord takes over the nations of the earth that the kingdoms of this world become His. Nations will be judged (as in Matt 25:32-45), and there is a resurrection and judgment of believers in which rewards will be given. So this passage agrees with the above two mentioned in that there is a trumpet and that there is a resurrection. Note that we are putting these revelations of the coming in the chronological order of their proclaiming. Matt 24 gives an account of what the Lord was saying not long before the end of His earthly ministry. And John 11 tells of events that happened very shortly before His death on Calvary. Revelation tells about the same event and that it happens at the sounding of the last or 7th trumpet.
4. 1 Thess. 4:15-17 again tells of the same event, making mention of the trump of God and the resurrection of the believers. But there is added the fact that both the believers that had been dead and those that were alive would be caught up in the air to meet the Lord as He comes to earth to set up His Kingdom and rule the nations. Again man's tradition has upset the truth and caused many to err in the way. For many teach that these saints are going to heaven and that the Lord meets them on the way. These folks that meet Him in the air have no hope of going to heaven, but their hope is The Kingdom on earth.
5. 1 Cor. 15:51-52 tells us that the same event will be at the last Trump (the 7th) and that both living and dead will be changed as they are made alive. This change is explained by the putting on of incorruption and immortality. Man can never have immortality till The Resurrection. But that is again contrary to the traditions of men. Religious teachers claim that man is like God and already has immortality, teaching Satan's lie.
The reader is urged to look up all other references (See margins of the Bible) and note the context in each case. Is the second advent for Israel or The Church? Is it before or after the tribulation? Is it a Mystery that was hidden, or is it a subject of prophecy? You be the judge.
