4:15 will not precede. According to 2 Esdras, a Jewish work of the second century a.d., those who survive until the coming of the glorious Messiah are more blessed than those who have died before (2 Esdras 13:14–24). Some of the Thessalonians may have caught wind of a similar misconception. Paul to the contrary assures the Thessalonians that both groups will be on equal footing (1 Cor. 15:52), that both will enter the fullness of the kingdom together.