The first thing that happens when Christ returns to the earth is that he will resurrect those known as the responsible dead.  This will take place before he gathers together the responsible living. 

We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

So those believers who had died would be the first to know that the Lord had returned to the earth. After this the believers who are alive will become aware that he has returned.

...all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth...        John 5:28

When Christ returns he will call out a loud command or shout to summon and assemble all at once. But this shout will probably not be heard by everyone but rather only the responsible dead. In other words, non-believers will probably not hear the shout.

Not only will there be a loud shout, there will also be a trumpet call of God. The trumpet to be used is the silver trumpet used to assemble Israel before Gods presence (Numbers 10:2-10). Like the “shout”, the sound of the trumpet will not be heard by all people but rather the responsible dead. 

When Christ returns there will be many responsible believers who will be raised but by comparison there will be relatively few who will be living at Christ’s return. The dead will represent the responsible believers who have lived throughout the ages from creation right through to those who have died in the present day. As you would imagine, over such a long time period there will be many! Those alive represent those believers born in the past seventy or so years.

...we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them [resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Click here to find out who will be

regarded as a responsible believer.

The raised dead believers and current living believers will be caught up together in the clouds. The word “caught” was translated from the Greek word [1] HARPAZO. This Greek word means to snatch or seize something – like a wild beast would forcibly take hold of it’s prey. So all the believers will be seized in the clouds – they will be then taken away to the judgement by an irresistible divine force. This type of travel may have been similar to what happened to Philip (see side box “Miraculous travel”). 

Many translations say they will be caught in the clouds. However, the Diaglott translates this phrase to be “be caught away in clouds”. These clouds are

symbolic of a multitude called out of the surrounding nations (represented by the sea). For more on this click here.

Through this miraculous travel the saints (responsible believers) will be taken to Mt. Sinai where they will stand as a vast multitude before the judge. The Judge will then separate “the sheep from the goats”.

In the first century, leading citizens of a city would go out and escort a dignitary on the last stages of his journey as a mark of respect and in an effort to gain his approval. This will also happen at Christ’s return – the purpose of gathering into the Lord’s presence will be pay respect to the great Judge of the whole earth and to obtain his approval. 

The last part of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 17 says that the believers will meet the Lord in the air. Will they literally meet him in the air?

They may meet him in the air as the verse says but there is a symbolic meaning behind this.

The word “air” is symbolic of a ruling power [2].  It is the aerial or governing region and refers to the government of Christ and his saints in the age to come. The government will be formed at Sinai, from which it will proceed to take dominion over the whole world.

It is the hope of the saints (responsible believers) to be associated with the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom. This would be not just as joint-heirs but as “kings and priests” who would rule over the earth in righteousness

The last part of verse 17 also says “so we will be with the Lord forever”. All true saints would find this a magnificent scene. In this time there will be joy and happiness for all who participate and the best thing is that this will last forever!