Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Tucker S. Ferda on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Paul's Theology of the Parousia

  

The content Paul relates about the coming of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead needs to be considered in more detail. Despite the fact that recipients of this letter were mostly if not exclusively gentile, it is evident that the description in 4:13-18 presupposes and recycles Jewish eschatological tradition. It may be that παρουσια in 4:15 adopts typical language in the Greco-Roman world for a leader or dignitary’s approach to a city (though this has been disputed). But the bulk of the imagery stems from Jewish eschatological thought. Paul writes that Christ will descend from heaven “at the cry of command [εκ κελευσματι], at the archangel’s call [εν φωνη αρχαγγελου], and at the trumpet of God [εν σαλπιγγι θεου]” (v. 16). The militaristic imagery of “the cry of command” and “the archangel’s call” both assumes a company of angels; the angels themselves are not mentioned explicitly in vv. 13-18, but they are earlier in the epistle (3:13): Paul prays that God might “strengthen your heart to be blameless in holiness . . . at the parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his holy ones” (3:13). The parallel here to Zachariah’s description of the advent of God on the day of the Lord is patent:

 

Zech 14:5:

ηξει κυριος ο θεος μου και

παντες οι αγιοι μετ’ αυτου

 

the Lord my God will come and

all the holy ones with him

1 Thess 3:13:

εν τη παρουσια του κυριου ημων ‘Ιησου

μετα παντων των αγιων αυτου

 

at the appearance of our Lord Jesus

with all his holy ones

 

Zechariah’s language itself was inspired by the description of the Sinai theophany, where according to Deut 33:1-2, God “came from Sinai . . . with myriads of holy ones; at his right, a host of his own” (LXX: ηκει . . . εκ δεξιων αυτου αγγελοι μεταυτου). The angelic imagery inspired a number of other texts in their descriptions of the last days (cf. 1 En. 1.4-9; Ascen. Isa. 4.14; Apoc. El. 3.4), and appears again in the opening of 2 Thess 1:7-8: “when the Lord Jesus is revealed [εν τη αποκαλυψει] from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire [μεταγγελων δυναμεως αυτου εν πυρι φλογος], inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel.” The appearance of “the trumpet of God” in 4:16 is an eschatological trope, emerging also in the final chapters of Zechariah (9:14). Blowing trumpets can be found in other Jewish end-time speculation (cf., e.g., 1QM II.16-III. 12; Gen. Rab. 56.9), not least in the New Testament itself (Matt 24:31; 1 Cor 15:52; Rev 10:7; 11:15).

 

It is clear, then, that Paul’s description of the parousia of Christ in 1 Thessalonians is informed by Jewish tradition about “the day of the Lord” as anticipated in Israel’s Scripture. The association is even made explicit in the verses that follow 4:13-18, as Paul addresses questions about “the times and the seasons [περι . . . των χρονων και των καιρων] [5:1])” by saying “you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord [η ημερα κυριου] will come like a thief in the night (5:2). The common view that the day of the Lord would bring about both salvation and judgment makes sense of other details in 1 Thessalonians, such as the cryptic claim in 1:10 that the returning Jesus “rescues us from the wrath that is coming” (απο της αργης της ερχομενης) (and again in 5:9): “God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation”), as well as warnings and admonitions throughout (3:13; 5:23). (Tucker S. Ferda, Jesus and His Promised Second Coming: Jewish Eschatology and Christian Origins [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2024], 138-40)

 

 

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