1Th 4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
All of the Rapture sects rely upon 1 Thes. 4:17 as the base scripture to support their respective religions. Irrespective of whether a particular Rapture sect is of the pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib persuasion, all said sects center their theological theory on the literal meaning of the words 'caught up', 'clouds', and 'air' as commonly understood in English. As the air that we breathe is in the atmosphere, as the clouds above us are in the atmosphere, and as we would have to travel up to be in the clouds, the rapture theory makes a bit of sense if one only considers the English rendering and no other scripture.
However, the original language in which the NT Word of God was transcribed into was Greek -- not English. Hence, before one should run off and start a new Rapture religion, deference should be given to the Greek meanings of these key words and whether they are intended literally or non-literally.
1.
caught up -
In Strong's Concordance, 'caught up' is -
G726
ἁρπάζω
harpazō
har-pad'-zo
From a derivative of G138; to seize (in various applications): - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force).
It means 'to seize' -- not travel up to be in the clouds. So, the common understanding of the English wording 'caught up' is not what is meant in the Word of God.
2.
clouds -
In Strong's, 'clouds' -
G3507
νεφέλη
nephelē
nef-el'-ay
From G3509; properly cloudiness, that is, (concretely) a cloud: - cloud.
It meands cloudiness and is derived from the word G2509, which is -
G3509
νέφος
nephos
nef'-os
Apparently a primary word; a cloud: - cloud.
Clearly, this word
nephos, is a literal 'cloud'. It is used only one time in the NT -
Heb 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
The word 'cloud' is not used literally; but, is used metaphorically to describe a great gathering. In this case, the gathering is of witnesses. Hence, as the primary word is figurative/metaphorical and is from which the word 'clouds' is derived in 1 Thes. 4:17, it is plausible that 'clouds' [cloudiness -- G3507] is also metaphorically/figuratively utilized in the manner of a great gathering.
In fact, we see the metaphorical/figurative use of the Greek
nephele in other NT scriptures -
1Co 10:2
And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
Rev 10:1
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Rev 14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
As a noun, Dr. Strong made the distinction between the cloud [G3509 -
nephos] in Heb. 12:1 and the cloud [G2507 -
nephele] used elsewhere, including 1 Thes. 4:17, by way of describing the latter with the adjective (concretely). 'Concretely' means 'formed by the coalesence of separate particles or parts into one mass' [courtesy of the American Heritage Dictionary]. In other words, the 'clouds' of 1 Thes. 4:17 is the great gathering of them [saints] that return with Christ -- not clouds in the atmosphere.
3.
air -
In Strong's, 'air' -
G109
ἀήρ
aēr
ah-ayr'
From ἄημι aēmi (to breathe unconsciously, that is, respire; by analogy to blow); "air" (as naturally circumambient): - air. Compare G5594.
Certainly, the word is not the atmosphere in which our clouds exist. There is another Greek Word rendered as 'air', which denotes the atmosphere/sky in which literal clouds exist -
G3772
οὐρανός
ouranos
oo-ran-os'
Perhaps from the same as G3735 (through the idea of elevation); the sky; by extension heaven (as the abode of God); by implication happiness, power, eternity; specifically the Gospel (Christianity): - air, heaven ([-ly]), sky.
It is used to denote 'sky' here -
Mat 6:26
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Clearly, if Paul intended to mean literal clouds in the sky, he would have used the Greek
ouranos to indicate 'sky' instead of the Greek
aer, which means 'breath', as in 'breath of life'.
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1 Thes. 4:17 is stating that, upon the Lord's return [v. 16], we [the elect] will be seized to join the Lord and the saints, who, in the past, died in the flesh [v. 13] and are returning with Christ [v. 16], in our breath of life [spiritual] bodies.
As one can see, the actual meaning of this scripture does not support the Rapture religion.
