Apocalyptic Expectations

Apocalyptic Expectations: The Afterlife, Labor Pain and New Birth (1 Thessalonians 4: 13- 5: 28)

The recent death of believers in the community prompts Paul to expound on the afterlife. Again he employs the issue of suffering as a marker to distinguish between the Thessalonian converts and their non-Christian neighbors, for whom the afterlife was often understood negatively. Grief at a loved one’s death is normal, but it must not lead to a paralyzing despair or a denial of hope in the divinely assured future, even after death, which affects one’s present belief and actions. The community is not to worry about their loved ones who have “fallen asleep,” for they too will experience the returning glory of the Lord Jesus. Paul compares the coming divine judgment to the suddenness of labor pains that come upon a woman (5:3). ?din (“labor/birth pain”) is often used in biblical and extra-biblical literature to connote anxiety and distress associated with a divine situation. Here it references a sign of the inescapable destruction that will befall those who are not in Christ and therefore live in a false security and self-deception. But birth pain also signifies the possibility of new life. The Thessalonians are reminded and encouraged to remind one another that they are not destined for death and destruction but for new life “through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:9)…