For almost two years now I have been looking for a way to document that the word “air” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is not the atmosphere. As you know, the Strong’s concordance defines air as:

NT:109 Aer, ah-ayr'; from aemi (to breathe unconsciously, i.e. respire; by analogy, to blow); "air" (as naturally circumambient): KJV - air. Compare NT:5594.

I never could find any reasonable way to prove this until today (I guess I am pretty dense).

Well just tonight, while working with Strong’s numbers and my copy of the text Bible, in the book of Acts I came across this verse:

Acts 5:10 10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

The word “ghost” in this verse (and 3 other verses in Acts), is defined by Strong’s number 1634 while all the other uses of Ghost are the Holy Ghost (Spirit).

Anyway back to Acts 5:10, ghost here is Strong’s #1634 Greek:

NT:1634 ekpsucho (ek-psoo'-kho); from NT:1537 and NT:5594; to expire: KJV - give (yield) up the ghost.

To keep this short I will skip 1537 and go right to 5594 which states:

NT:5594 psucho (psoo'-kho); a primary verb; to breathe (voluntarily but gently, thus differing on the one hand from NT:4154, which denotes properly a forcible respiration; and on the other from the base of NT:109, which refers properly to an inanimate breeze), i.e. (by implication of reduction of temperature by evaporation) to chill (figuratively): KJV - wax cold.

Notice this "inanimate breeze" isn't a breeze mean moving air?

OK, now we have a connection between 109 Greek and 5594. Since we are working with the context of “give up the ghost” here and it is not the Holy Ghost perhaps this “reduction of temperature by evaporation” & “to chill” is the temperature loss when the spirit leaves the body of one that just passed away and the body wax cold (becomes cold).

How, about clouds I don’t know how well Paul knew Greek, but anyone can get a word wrong or can use a metaphor. In Hebrews 12:1 Paul uses the term “clouds” to reference a crowd of people like we might say a cloud of locusts:

Hebrews 12:1 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Of course, the Bible is a book of faith, not a book on Chemistry or Physics and it is designed to test our loyalty to God, proof for the believers and garbage to those inclined to not believe (in my opinion). Be that as it may, here is another way to understand 1 Thessalonians 4:17 while keeping in mind that Christ is coming here to earth to rule:

1 Thessalonians 4:17 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds (crowds), to meet the Lord in the air (spirit): and so shall we ever be with the Lord.