4:171 Thessalonians 4:17

The verse was written to comfort grieving believers about loved ones who died hoping to live to the Lord's coming, assuring them the dead in Christ will rise first and then the living who remain will be taken up together with them at the same moment in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and ever remain with Him.WLF 4.2–4+4 His coming is still future, personal, literal and visible to every eye in the same manner He ascended, with power and great glory as King and Deliverer, descending Himself with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, accompanied by all the holy angels.ApY 11.1–12.1+4 The dead sleep unconscious in the grave knowing nothing until that trumpet awakens them, when they are raised incorruptible and glorified to eternal life and the living righteous are changed in a moment from mortal to immortal and translated without seeing death.ApY 11.1–12.1+4 Those words comfort as those with hope, for friends long separated by death are reunited nevermore to part amid shouts of victory, and the redeemed go with Him to heaven to live forever with Him beholding Him as He is, where death and parting end.ApY 11.1–12.1+4 The nearness of that meeting calls for readiness now in vigilant waiting, Enoch-like holiness, obedience to His law, inward purity and Christ's righteousness, for bodies are changed at His coming but characters are not, and only those already fitted on earth are prepared to inherit the kingdom.GC 321.1–323.1+4

Paul wrote to comfort believers in Thessalonica who were filled with grief as they buried loved ones who had hoped to live to witness the coming of the Lord, pointing them to the resurrection to take place at the advent when the dead in Christ rise and together with living believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so ever be with the Lord.GC88 301.3–4+2 The comfort given is to wait and watch for that second coming and revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, when the trump sounds for judgment and blessedness, and not to think the dead are already passed into glory at death or have received blessed immortality apart from it.GC88 301.3–4+2 What Paul taught about it was in full agreement with what he had taught that church before.SLP 116.2

Its teaching about the soon coming is very old doctrine dwelt upon by Jesus and His apostles with joy and triumph, not a new and strange heresy, and it is high authority for faith in the Lord's soon coming.1T 40.3–42.1 It has been in all ages the hope of true followers, the appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ as the blessed hope, lighting up the future with joy and hope that sorrow cannot quench nor trials dim amid suffering and persecution.GC88 301.3–4+1 It was the hope of the apostolic church, of the church in the wilderness, and of the reformers, who believed the world draws to an end and the great day is drawing near in which the kingdom of abominations shall be overthrown, crying Come, Lord Jesus, come, being assured of Christ's personal resurrection and consequently of their own resurrection at His coming so that they despised death and were willing to go down to the grave that they might rise free to meet Him.GC88 302.2–303.4 It is most sweet and joyful, the most auspicious event, the day that all believers should love, long, hope, wait and ardently pray for, hungering after, seeking and contemplating Christ till the dawning of that great day when He will fully manifest the glory of His kingdom from heaven in the clouds with the glory of His Father, bringing to the just the times of the kingdom, the accomplishment of all the work of their redemption and all the desires and endeavors of their souls, when death the last enemy is destroyed and the full and final conquest is made.GC88 302.2–303.4 Good and enlightened people in every past age held this near coming in prospect as truth applicable in the last days, a solemn truth connected with Christ's soon coming.LS 187.2–188.1+1 Many professed Christians treated the promise of being caught up to meet the Lord in the air as having only a vague, distant meaning, and rejected the hope of His soon return, scorned or failed to grasp it.LS 187.2–188.1+1 Some Thessalonian believers took the statement about living until the Saviour's advent to mean Paul hoped he himself would live to witness Christ's coming, and that idea increased their enthusiasm and excitement, while those who had already been neglecting their cares and duties felt upheld by the apostle and became more persistent in urging their mistaken views.SLP 116.2

"We which are alive and remain" means Christians still living on earth at Christ's second coming, who will be translated to heaven without experiencing death rather than die, distinguished from those who die and from those who suffer the seven last plagues.SG3 17.2–18.2+4 The event did not happen in Paul's day, for Paul and the Thessalonian Christians died rather than being taken to heaven without seeing death, while others may die before that day.SG3 17.2–18.2+1 The verse therefore applies especially to Christians alive when Christ returns, and some people will still be alive on earth when Jesus comes, as Enoch's translation without death demonstrates that people can be taken to heaven without dying.SG3 17.2–18.2+3 The dead rest in the grave until the sleeping saints awaken to immortality.SG2 208.2–209.1

The living do not meet Christ before those who have died in Christ, for the dead in Christ rise first and then the living faithful are caught up in the clouds with the risen dead to meet the Lord in the air.AA 257.3–258.2+3 When Christ raises the dead, at that same time — not weeks, months, or years later — the living believers who remain are caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with Him forever in immortal life.Lt 2, 1874, par. 25–28+1 The meeting brings the faithful together with the Lord forever and comforts those grieving believers who have died.AA 257.3–258.2 The event is still future, public and glorious, accompanying Christ's descent from heaven with power and great glory, witnessed by every eye and accompanied by all the holy angels and songs of triumph, and it does not describe the dead as already raised and gone up.Ms 28, 1886, par. 9–10+2 The trumpet has not yet sounded, and the righteous dead are still in the grave and have not yet been caught up with the living saints nor cried triumph over death and the grave.Ms 28, 1886, par. 9–10+1

"Caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" means that after Jesus descends from heaven the living believers are gathered with the resurrected saints and caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air, entering the cloud together, where they will remain with Him and from then on always be with Him.WLF 4.2–4+2 The voice that calls the saints to meet Him in the air is distinct from the voice of God that shakes the heavens and earth, for that voice is heard before Jesus descends, while Jesus' voice calls the saints to meet Him in the air.WLF 4.2–4 "And so shall we ever be with the Lord" means that being received to Christ and being ever with Him begins only at His future coming when the fetters of the tomb are broken and the dead in Christ are raised to eternal life, fulfilling His promise to come again and receive His own to Himself, and they so enter eternal life together.GC88 548.1+2 Comfort in bereavement is therefore that future coming of the Lord, not going to Him at death nor being received among the angels as soon as they die.GC88 548.1+1 Entry into the heavenly mansions follows the investigation and judgment of each person, rather than occurring at death.ST Apr 16, 1885

The Lord Himself comes down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ rise first before the living who remain are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and ever be with Him, a great and glorious redemption from the grave given to comfort one another.ApY 11.1–12.1+4 That descent is accompanied by all the holy angels and ten thousand angels, with songs of triumph and music, with a mighty earthquake shaking the heavens and the earth, and with clouds rolling back like a scroll.Ms 28, 1886, par. 9–10+3 The voice that calls the saints to meet Him in the air is distinct from the voice of God that shakes the heavens and earth, for that shaking voice is heard before He descends while His own voice calls the saints to the meeting in the air.WLF 4.2–4 The gathering is public and glorious at the same moment, not weeks or months or years after the resurrection, and it does not describe the dead as already raised and gone up.Lt 2, 1874, par. 25–28+1

His coming is personal, literal and visible in the same manner as He ascended, in the clouds with power and great glory as King and Deliverer to take to Himself those who have patiently waited for His return after His work in the Most Holy Place is finished.Ms 11, 1886, par. 11+2 Every eye beholds Him, glorified not humiliated, no longer with crown of thorns and mocking robe and cries of crucifixion but as divine conqueror with crown of glory and robe whiter than white, bruised hands shining like gold and eyes like flame of fire, amid the shout of the angelic host and waiting saints.Ms 28, 1886, par. 9–10+1 It is not a secret appearance on earth in the desert or in hidden rooms but a public event universally known and witnessed by the whole world, so its manner cannot be counterfeited by Satan's secret or localized appearance.GC 624.2–625.2+1 Nor is it His coming to each individual at death, for teaching that the advent is death diverts minds from the true personal coming and is a device by which many souls are lost, and it is not to be spiritualized away.Ms 11, 1886, par. 11+1

The event is still future and near, for the trumpet has not yet sounded and the righteous dead are still in the grave and have not yet been caught up with the living saints to meet the Lord in the air nor cried triumph over death and the grave.Ms 28, 1886, par. 9–10+1 They sleep in the grave rather than receiving final reward or punishment at death, resting there until He comes to raise them and gather the resurrected saints into God's kingdom.LSEGW 49.5–50.1+3 Likewise the scenes of judgment, gathering into the kingdom, and establishment of the saints on the new earth have not yet taken place.Ms 4, 1883, par. 35

The dead in Christ lie asleep in the grave in unconscious rest, knowing nothing, with thought perished and free from earthly cares until awakened by the trump of God.ApY 11.1–12.1+3 To them time, whether long or short, is but a moment, a blessed rest for the weary, and they begin to think just where they ceased, the pang of death and sinking beneath the power of the grave being the last sensation before the first glad thought of triumph.4SP 369.1+1 They do not go to their reward or to glory at death and do not receive blessed immortality apart from the second coming, for the meeting with the Lord in the clouds takes place only at His coming when the dead are called from their graves.4SP 369.1+4 Mary herself has not yet been raised but waits for that trumpet with the saints, so prayers offered to her and to the saints cannot be heard or reach them.Ms 163, 1897, par. 21–23+1

When the fetters of the tomb are broken the dead in Christ are raised first to eternal life, incorruptible, glorified and clothed with immortality, crying victory over death and the grave.GC 321.1–323.1+3 The living righteous are then changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from mortal to immortal and from glory to glory, glorified at the voice of God and made immortal.GC 321.1–323.1+2 Together in the same event the resurrected and the changed living are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and to remain with Him forever, which prepares them to receive the kingdom that mortal corruptible flesh cannot inherit.GC 321.1–323.1+3

The living faithful are thus translated to heaven without experiencing death, removed from a sinful and corrupt world to heaven's pure joys.Ms 4, 1868, par. 9–11+2 Christ comes with the angelic host as Life-Giver, gives life to the righteous dead and ransoms them from their graves.SG3 55.2–3+2 This proves the righteous do not end in the dust with the wicked but live beyond the grave, crowned then with glory and honor to remain with Him forever while the wicked are separated from the presence of the Lord and consumed with fire.1SP 61.3 Enoch's translation for faithful obedience before the Flood represents this translation of the living before the earth is destroyed by fire, when the world is in a corrupt state with a boastful, presumptuous, self-willed generation in rebellion against God's law, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ and trampling His blood and despising His atonement.Ms 4, 1868, par. 9–11+3

The risen retain individual identity and recognize one another as the disciples recognized the risen Jesus, with loved ones knowing one another and families knowing one another again in glorious life with the angels.ST Sep 26, 1878+4 Though in mortal life deformed, diseased, disfigured, or ruined in body and mind, they come forth to perfect health, symmetry, beauty and glorious immortality, with faces radiant with the light of Jesus.ST Sep 26, 1878+2 Christlikeness transforms them into His glorious image without erasing identity, removing the separation between mortal and immortal life, including little children borne by angels to their mothers' arms and God's innocent lambs restored whole.Lt 382, 1904, par. 2–3+2

The change at His coming transforms corruptible bodies, not characters, for the character possessed going down into the grave is the character possessed coming up, with only the mortal body changed.3SP 40.2–41.1+2 Characters must already have been fitted and refined on earth, for Christ will not then purify or prepare for heaven, and each person fitted for the change will take a proper place in God's temple.3SP 40.2–41.1+1 Character defects and sins will not be removed at His coming, when the faithful and just receive the finishing touch of immortality, so sanctification must be completed during probation, bodies and spirits made ready now for immortality, with those holy then remaining holy and the unjust remaining unjust.CH 43.4–44.1+1 Those whose life is hid with Christ in God through faith in Him as personal Saviour who made infinite sacrifice for everlasting life will not remain in the grave but come forth to glorious immortality at the Lifegiver's trumpet, calling for reckoning now upon that coming life and examining whether hope is grounded upon Jesus as the center of life and affections, unto reunion in the heavenly kingdom where God's children belong to the royal family and sing heaven's songs.Ms 20, 1894, par. 6–10+1

Jesus' own resurrection is the pattern, sample, pledge and assurance of that final resurrection.ST Sep 26, 1878+3 He broke death's hold, led captivity captive, and brought captives out of the grave, meeting Satan on death's own territory and deciding the conflict.ST Sep 23, 1889+1 The captives brought up from the graves at His own resurrection were His trophies as conquering Prince and a pledge and earnest of the resurrection of all the righteous dead, just as the voice that cried It is finished pierced the sepulchers and summoned the sleepers to arise and appear unto many in the city.3SP 223.1+1 That final calling to immortal life to meet Him is preceded by God's voice shaking the heavens and the earth, penetrating the graves and unbarring the tombs, with a mighty earthquake causing the world to reel to and fro like a drunkard, then the trumpet sounding and Christ the King of Glory appearing attended by all the heavenly angels as Life-Giver to call forth the righteous dead to immortal life to ascend to God's city and see the King in His beauty.3SP 223.1+2

Paul's closing charge to comfort one another with these words makes the verse itself God's appointed consolation in bereavement about the dead, mingling joy with sorrowful reflection.ApY 11.1–12.1+4 Sorrow for those asleep is not as those who have no hope, because the grave is a place of unconscious rest but not the final abode of the saints.ApY 11.1–12.1+1 Comfort is the future coming of the Lord and the resurrection to take place at the advent, not going to Him at death, nor the dead already passed into glory or received among angels.AA 257.3–258.2+2 At the Lord's own descent from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, the dead in Christ rise first, then those alive and remaining are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ever be with the Lord, a great and glorious redemption from the grave.ApY 11.1–12.1+2 Being received to Christ and being ever with Him begins only when the fetters of the tomb are broken and the dead in Christ are raised to eternal life at His coming, fulfilling His promise to come again and receive His own to Himself.GC88 548.1

At that morning friends long separated by death are reunited nevermore to part, remaining together with the Lord.RH Jun 10, 1852+2 Families and the broken links of the family chain come up together — parents and children, mothers and infants, husbands and wives, and loved ones laid side by side in the grave — knowing one another and meeting Jesus the center of hope with joy never before known.PK 239.3–240.1+3 Little children are borne by holy angels to their mothers' arms, and Christ restores children taken by death to their parents.PK 239.3–240.1+1 The changed living saints are caught up together with the resurrected saints to meet the Lord in the air at His return, united with friends whom death had separated, and they will never again be separated from Him.RH Jun 10, 1852+2 The wait is comparatively only a moment, and sharing in that future reunion by virtue of Christ's resurrection calls for sanctifying the Lord God in the heart and being sanctified by virtue of Christ's blood.ApY 90.1

The meeting is amid rich, musical shouts of glory and victory from every immortal tongue, Hallelujah and Glory Alleluia.1T 184.1+2 Graves are opened and the saints come forth clothed with immortality crying victory over death and the grave, a triumph shared by living and risen when the living faithful are changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye from glory to glory.1T 184.1+2 The living recognize the risen with shouts of Hallelujah, enter the cloud together, and ascend with songs of gladness toward the city of God while angels gather the elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.RH Jul 21, 1851+1 Visions of trumpet sound, heavenly brightness, shaking temple and sudden disappearance represent this joyful expected deliverance, while those left behind remain in darkness.1T 184.1+1 After distress and bondage a glorious light shines upon the tried company removing all weariness and marks of care and giving health and beauty to every countenance, as their enemies fall like dead men unable to endure the light.1T 184.1

This coming it promises has been in all ages the hope of true followers, the appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ as the blessed hope, lighting up the future with joy and hope that sorrow cannot quench nor trials dim amid suffering and persecution.GC88 301.3–4+1 It is most sweet and joyful, looked for with solemn joy, calm solemnity, sweet communion and glad expectation, a very old doctrine dwelt upon by Jesus and His apostles with joy and triumph, not a new and strange heresy.GC88 301.3–4+4 The verse supported the expectation that Jesus would raise the dead, change the living saints, and take them to possess His kingdom; when the expected time passed without this deliverance, those who had believed were disappointed.SG1 143.1 Yet the hope draws the soul heavenward, exalts God's mercy, makes trials seem as nothing, and brings consolation amid earthly trials, sickness and death.GC88 301.3–4+2

And so shall we ever be with the Lord: the redeemed go with Him to heaven to live forever with Him in His kingdom.COS 86.2–87.2+2 Those who have loved and waited for Christ will hear His welcome into the kingdom and receive glory, honor, and immortality, beholding Him in beauty, seeing Him as He is and being made like Him, sharing His glorious immortality.AA 33.3–34.2+1 The dead in Christ do not come down from heaven with Christ; as God raised Christ, He will call the sleeping saints from their graves and take them with Him to eternal life in God's kingdom.AA 259.1–3 There partings, death, trial, sorrow and conflict end, with no more parting, in presence with angels where lives run parallel with the life of Jehovah.COS 86.2–87.2+2 This hope gives reason not to live mourning or depressed, even through grief and suffering.Ms 20, 1888, par. 60–63

Carried by angels away from the earth, the living changed in a moment and the righteous dead raised are caught up together to meet the Lord in the air and enter the cloud together with Him.WLF 14.3–16.1+4 They rise in the cloudy chariot with wings and wheels toward the Holy City, ascending seven days to the sea of glass.WLF 19.2+2 The gates swing back for those who kept the truth and kept God's commandments, who are welcomed because they have right to the tree of life and eat from it.RH Jul 21, 1851+1 There Jesus places crowns on their heads with His own hand and gives harps of gold and palms of victory, with robes and mantles, and greets them with the benediction Welcome blessed of the Father, while friends long separated by death are reunited never to part and ascend together toward the New Jerusalem.GC 645.1–2+1

After being caught up they receive harps and crowns and enter the city, and then Jesus and the saints sit in judgment together through the 1,000 years before the city descends to earth.12MR 248.2–3+3 The book of life and the book of death are opened and compared with the Bible, and the records of the wicked dead are reviewed and each assigned the judgment due according to deeds.12MR 248.2–3+2 This change and catching up introduces the thousand-year judgment day, taking place after Jesus leaves the sanctuary, after the plagues are poured out, and after the voice of God, when the saints are mighty and terrible as an army with banners but do not then execute the judgment written.12MR 248.2–3+1 When Christ comes in the clouds the living and those raised will stand before His judgment seat, where deeds done in secret are revealed because God has seen and recorded them.Ms 6a, 1886, par. 9

At that same visible coming after the mighty earthquake and the voice of God, amid despair and darkness and clashing clouds, the clouds roll back like a scroll to reveal the bright sign of the Son of Man recognized by God's children, with music drawing near, graves opened, and thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand angels encircling Him.Ms 81, 1886, par. 3–5+1 Then the saints are changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and caught up together with the risen to meet the Lord in the air.Ms 81, 1886, par. 3–5+2 At that same time those who took the most prominent part in rejecting and crucifying Christ, who put on the purple robe and crown of thorns and drove the nails through His hands and feet, are raised to see Him as He is in glory and to see the saints glorified, and with all who rejected Him they bewail.Ms 81, 1886, par. 3–5+2 While Christ raises all His sleeping saints, clothes them with glorified immortal bodies, and opens to them the gates of the city of God to live with Him ever after, others come forth to final destruction.Ms 69, 1912, par. 66+1

Enoch's translation for faithful obedience before the Flood represents the translation of the living righteous before the earth's destruction by fire, removed from a sinful corrupt world to heaven's pure joys.Ms 4, 1868, par. 9–11+4 Elijah's translation without death represents the living righteous while Moses represents those raised from the dead, and their presence with Christ in glory made the transfiguration the kingdom of Christ in miniature.1SP 64.3–65.1 The saints will be glorified in the presence of those who hated them for obeying God's commandments, as God's loyal people separate from unrighteous practices, seek purity and obedience, remain faithful while warning the world, and show that people can remain pure amid the corruption of the last days.1SP 64.3–65.1+3

By this great change the living and dead are prepared to receive the kingdom, which mortal corruptible flesh and blood cannot inherit.GC 321.1–323.1+2 Until the personal advent they are only heirs, then when Jesus comes He confers immortality upon His people, raises the dead incorruptible, changes the living, and calls them to inherit the kingdom, crowning them with glory and honor to remain with Him forever.GC 321.1–323.1+3 At that coming in the clouds with the angelic host He gives life to the righteous dead and ransoms them from their graves, proving the righteous do not end in dust with the wicked but live beyond the grave, while the wicked are separated from the presence of the Lord, banished and consumed with fire, yet the faithful united with the Lord are safe from the fire and disasters of that day and escape unharmed.1SP 61.3+2

The gathering is a deliverance of God's faithful people from the wicked rather than allowing them to be killed in the final struggle.EW 244.2–3+2 Those who warned the world of coming wrath and refuse to worship the beast or receive its mark, who are waiting to go up to meet the Lord and remain with Him amid signs in heaven and on earth, will be kept safe as Noah and his family were preserved in the ark when the Flood came.EW 244.2–3+2 Those who mocked the promise of the saints going up will witness God's care for them and their glorious deliverance, when faithful Sabbathkeepers who died under the third angel's message rise glorified and God's people receive His covenant and victory.EW 244.2–3+2

The nearness of that meeting calls for readiness now, for the event is near and belongs to the promise of the first resurrection, the resurrection to life, when graves are opened, the dead are raised and the living are changed to meet Him in immortal life.5T 14.3–15.1+2 That readiness is vigilant waiting and earnest looking, daily securing acceptance, prayerful meditation and living connection with God, faith working by love, overcoming dispositions and cherished sins, enduring every test, heeding the True Witness and receiving the latter rain, keeping the lamps of the soul filled and burning, with character without spot or wrinkle, for no idle earthly thing can be taken into it and nothing defiled can enter heaven.12MR 213.2–214.1+2 It should fill the mind and crowd out everything else, requiring special care over thoughts and the fullest use of present privileges and opportunities to get ready, to rejoice, to make God's will one's own and to be sanctified in body, soul and spirit, seeing Him as He is and being made like Him.Ms 188, 1903, par. 9–10+2 Those redeemed from among humanity at that time must have holiness of character like Enoch's and live in communion with God, for Christ appears to those who wait for Him in hope and faith.5T 14.3–15.1+1

Readiness means Enoch-like holiness, walking with God in God's way amid perils and corruption even in an age no more favorable to purity than the present, with mind stayed upon God in a crooked and perverse generation as wicked as the days of Noah and as the present age.12MR 213.2–214.1+2 Enoch's translation without death represents the translation of the living righteous, and his close connection with God shows a life anyone may live, turning away from the pleasures and diversions of the world, constantly seeking God for strength to stand against the wiles of the enemy, and washing robes and making them clean in the blood of the Lamb in readiness for the appearing of Christ.GW92 383.1+2 It is not waiting and contemplation alone but blending personal piety with most earnest and energetic warnings and appeals about what is and what is fast following after, earnest effort to clear the King's highway and prepare a people, fervent spirit in service, living in continual communion, obeying His law in daily life, keeping the commandments, partaking of the divine nature and escaping worldly lust, helping neighbors and uplifting brethren in unity.12MR 213.2–214.1+2 Those taking part in this work are to stand as sentinels for God and work in unity, not deceiving themselves with self-deception.12MR 213.2–214.1+1

It requires practical godliness and inward purity rather than special clothes or reliance on outward appearance, a character cleansed from sin through the Saviour's atoning blood and clothed with Christ's righteousness, for those who put self first and are unprepared will be left behind while those who have loved and served Him will be taken to be with Him forever in His kingdom.1T 51.1–2+1 Those to be translated must be clean and pure and by grace become what heaven's citizens must be: clean in body and clothing and pure in mind, thoughts and words, with decisive change of character including freedom from self-exaltation and from tobacco defilement, obedience to Christ and wholehearted sanctification.RH Apr 9, 1914+2 Preparation for translation includes reform in the way people live and simple diet, with grains and fruits prepared without grease and kept as natural as possible, and meat not served to children because it strengthens lower passions and deadens moral powers, while parents train children and teachers stand as sentinels.STBk 141.2+2

The only robe needed to meet the Lord in the air is the righteousness of Christ, not a garment people can make, and no robes made by human hands are needed for ascending.GC 688.3+2 The story that those who loved His appearing made such ascension robes was invented for reproach and proved false by careful inquiry, with a large reward long offered for proof of a single case never claimed.4SP 497.1 Future happiness will not consist in moving about in the air, and to teach so swerves from the plain sense of Scripture into a phantomizing system that replaces literal Jews with Gentiles, literal Jerusalem with the church, literal earth with sky, the literal coming of the Lord with the progress of missionary societies, and going up to the mountain of the Lord's house with a Methodist class-meeting.GC88 360.1

One reported view associates the verse with Christ secretly taking the saints without others knowing, and after a time coming down through the air to old Jerusalem where the Jews will have returned and people will have another opportunity to repent and be saved.HSFM 93.5–6 The question is also raised whether saints caught up to heaven after Christ comes could have been caught up by mistake and then cast back down to earth.LS 120.4–121.3

The full greatness of the incarnation, the human nature of the Son of Mary blended with the divine nature with all fullness of the Godhead bodily, His human nature dying while Deity did not sink, will only be fully understood at translation.SCEV 28.1–29.2+1 Then garments are changed and faces shine with light from Jesus showing redemption through His blood, the dead are raised with glorious immortality by the last trumpet and the living saints are changed, ascending together with the resurrected righteous to the city of God and to the mansions Christ has prepared, rejoicing together.SCEV 28.1–29.2+2 The same hope of rising to meet Him in the clouds is held out to sinners of every race on the same terms, the risen enter the kingdom to continue work in Christ's service, and fellowship in sweet union lasts until He comes, with the trumpet awakening the dead from death's sleep to face judgment and receive according to deeds.ST Mar 7, 1878+2

Religion does not degrade those who receive it but prepares them to be caught up to meet the Lord and remain with Him, calling its hearers to use present privilege and opportunity to become more and more like Jesus in character, more refined and ennobled by the sanctifying power of the truth.Ms 62, 1886, par. 9–12+1 Spoken to the few who keep the commandments of God, it brings comfort and blessing with the presence of Jesus into their meeting, softens and subdues the heart, and shows the warmth of His love and the certainty and value of His pardon for sin, in contrast to cold formal religion of forms and ceremonies and image worship in grand temples.Ms 62, 1886, par. 9–12 At His glorious return the tomb's bonds are broken, death and mortality end, those who were last are brought into first place, the righteous dead are raised and God's people are gathered to glorious immortality to be with Him forever.COL 424.3+2