1Thessalonians 4:15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, cannot precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend 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. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Exodus 19:1-16 in the Old Testament is an allegorical parallel to 1Thessalonians 4:15-18. The passage in Exodus contains chronological information about the second coming. The people were given two days to wash and sanctify themselves before the Lord descended in the clouds on the third day.
Exodus 19:16 “And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceedingly loud; so that all the people that were in the camp trembled.”
In both 1Thessalonians 4:15-18 and Exodus 19:1-16, the Lord is depicted as descending in the clouds in unison with the sounding of a loud trumpet. The two days in Exodus chapter 19 represent two thousand years for the human race to be baptized and sanctified before the Lord returns in the clouds. The earliest date for the ascension of Jesus is typically given as AD 31. Using Exodus 19:1-16 as an allegory, the Lord will return after 2031 and before 3031. While a thousand years is a large time interval, the allegory depicts the Lord descending in the morning of the third day indicating the expected return is much closer to 2031.
Hoping to meet you in the clouds,
Dr. J. Clontz – Finding Jesus in the Old Testament: Proving the God Exists
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