“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 NASB2020

This passage perhaps gives us a curious glimpse into the afterlife. Note that Paul describes the dead as asleep and also that during or after the trumpets blowing, the dead will rise first. Also note that Christ has yet to descend from heaven with a shout. None of these events have occurred. The question then becomes where are the dead? Do we sleep after we die until this moment described and not just immediately go to Heaven like most people believe? Either way, God’s intent wasn’t for us to know all of these things for if it was then we’d have more information on it. Our focus should mostly be on the things of the now; on the people of now. But one can wonder as I always have.