10/9/18
Tom Lowe
Lesson 17: For the Day of the Lord Will Come as a Thief in the Night (1Th 5:1-4)
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 (NIV)
1 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Introduction:
The first four verses of chapter 5 are among the most distinctive and weighty verses in the epistle, and they contain the heart of Paul’s message to believers wherever he preached. They contain words of exhortation and cautions concerning the ideal walk of believers on earth as they anxiously anticipate the return of Jesus. All believers should be prepared, waiting and watching, because His coming to earth is imminent; but we are not to be idle. We are to be “models” of what we will become when He comes for us and meets us in the air!
Verses 1 and 2 indicate that in the church at Thessalonica Paul had often taught the doctrine of the second coming. He taught that the believer will not enter into that awful night of the Great Tribulation Period, which has been labeled the DAY OF THE LORD. That Day of the Lord begins with night because that is God’s way of marking time. He begins that way in Genesis where it says that the evening and the morning were the first day. God begins at night and then moves to light. So the Great Tribulation leads into the glorious millennial reign of Christ when the Sun of Righteous will arise with healing in His wings.
The Day of the Lord is an expression we need to examine and that is today’s lesson.
Lesson 17
(5:1) Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
The Greek word for “times” denotes stretches of time, a period of time, or that particular time. In other words, “Brethren, it is not necessary that I write to you concerning the times and dates of the Lord’s return. When I was with you I fully instructed you concerning the Lord’s return for His own, and you already know as much as can be known.” Perhaps Paul wondered with a tinge of impatience, “How many times do I have to tell you?” Besides, when he says, “about times and dates we do not need to write to you,” he already knew that Christians would have nothing to do with it?believers will be gone at that time.
Today we might call Paul a “Second Coming” preacher.” He followed the same line of teaching that Jesus followed when He was on earth. Jesus told His disciples, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority” (Acts 1:7). In Mark 13:32 Jesus said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” According to these clear, understandable statements from the Word of God, such knowledge is not for us?and certainly we are not to indulge in idle speculation concerning the precise time when the Lord will come. Date-setters are false prophets, and we should pay no attention to any man who sets a date when the Lord will return for His own. When you consider these verses, it seems to be disobedient to Jesus to set dates and construct timetables for the Second Coming.
I was told about a cartoon showing a scraggly man holding a sign that says, “The World is about to end.” Onlookers hear him as he looks at his wristwatch, saying, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six . . .” The message of Scripture is to always be ready, and then the date of His coming won’t matter very much.
(5:2) for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Paul believed in thoroughly instilling the fundamentals of the faith into the hearts and minds of those to whom he preached. The word “very well” in the statement “for you know very well” can be translated “precisely,” or “accurately.” It could be that the Thessalonian believers had sent Paul a message saying, “We would like to know more precisely, we would like to be taught more accurately, concerning the “times and dates” when the day of the Lord will be.”
“The Day of the Lord” is a very ancient expression, for it was already known in the time of Amos, who mentioned it for the express purpose of refuting erroneous ideas about it which were current at that time (Amos 5:18-20). The idea was therefore older than his day, and perhaps considerably older. The point that Amos made was that the day would be one of “judgment” on all people. The Israelites could expect to be punished then for their sins, just as they expected that other people would be punished. This is one of a number of places where concepts used of Yahweh in the Old Testament were applied to Christ in the New, a revealing insight into the ways the first Christians viewed their Savior. The thought of final judgment carries over into the New Testament understanding of the Day, and one way of referring to it is to call it “the day of judgment” (2 peter 2:9). In line with this is its designation as “the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed (Romans 2:5). By contrast it may be thought of as “the Day of Redemption” (Eph. 4:30). Thus we find “the day of God” (2 Peter 3:12), “the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6), “the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5), and “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8). It may be simply “that day” (2 Thess. 1:10), or “the last day” (John 6:39-40), or “the great Day” (Jude 6).
Notice what he said in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3: “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.” In essence, Paul answered, “You already know that nothing precise can be known concerning the Rapture, for this glorious event will come upon the world as a thief in the night. Precise dates and precise events cannot be known. We dare not speculate concerning this glorious day.”
“The Lord will come like a thief in the night.” What Paul is saying here is, “There is coming a day such a what I spoke of when I was with you in person?a day when Jesus will come for His jewels, when the dead in Christ will be raised, the living will be changed, and together we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the clouds in the air. Such a day is coming?yes, it is on the way! And it will certainly happen; but no man can know WHEN this day will arrive. No man can be exact or precise, and there should be no speculation concerning those things that God has not seen fit to reveal unto His own.
Why did the Holy Spirit compare the Rapture to a thief coming in the dark of night? The answer is clear: Even a child knows what a thief is, what he does and how he does it. When Jesus comes in the Rapture it will be at a time the world does not expect. Believers are looking for Him, waiting for Him and praying for His soon return; but, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. In Noah’s day the people ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, and they married wives?and “KNEW NOT UNTIL THE FLOOD CAME AND TOOK THEM ALL AWAY.
The days of Noah were marked by extreme wisdom and knowledge on one hand, and by extreme ignorance on the other. The forth chapter of Genesis reveals that they were business men?they were building cities, they were in the iron and brass business, the music-making business . . . and took part in wholesale killing! Genesis 6:4 tells us that “there were giants in the earth in those days.” This does not necessarily mean physical giants, even though there might have been some of those too; but it refers primarily to men who were giants mentally. The Scripture says, “They became mighty men . . . men of renown.” The days before the flood were marked by unusual wisdom and knowledge on the part of man. The same is true today. We are seeing all around us a repetition of Noah-days. When we see these things happening all around us, we do not react by setting a date for the Lord’s return, we do not set the time for His return, we do not name the hour that He will appear?but we know that the time of His coming is fast approaching.
A thief usually comes at night and when it is the darkest, and he does not announce His arrival. He comes quietly into the house and grabs all the diamonds, rubies, pearls, and silver he can find?whatever is of value?and leaves immediately. He takes with him the precious stones and jewels, but leaves the dishes, pots and pans, and the brooms and mops. A thief wants everything of value, and when he gets what he came for, he disappears?and in the majority of cases he is not seen by anyone.
When Jesus comes in the Rapture, He will take the jewels (the born again ones), but those who are not born again will not see Him. They may hear the shout; they may even hear the blast of the trumpet?but they will not see Jesus. Neither will we see Him until we are with Him in the clouds in the air. And it will all happen in the twinkling of an eye!
Let me again point out that there are no signs (as such) pointing to the Rapture only. By that I mean, the signs in the New Testament?things that must and will occur before the Day of the Lord?do not point to the Rapture (the thief-coming of Jesus for His saints), but to the revelation spoken of by Jude, John and Zechariah?the time when Jesus will come with tens of thousands of his saints: “Look, he is coming with the clouds," and "every eye will see him, even those who pierced him"; and all peoples on earth "will mourn because of him." So shall it be! Amen” (Rev. 1:7). That could not be the coming Paul speaks of when he says to Titus, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:11-14).
The Lord Jesus does NOT come to the church “like a thief in the night”. The church is looking for and waiting for the Lord to come. The Rapture is a blessed day, but “the Day of the Lord” is a day of darkness, as we will see when we study the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians. However, THE LORD JESUS DOES COME LIKE A THIEF TO THE WORLD after the church has been raptured. As I have said, the Day of the Lord will come suddenly to the earth, and it will begin with the night of the Great Tribulation Period; then finally Christ will come personally to this earth.
The Day of the Lord will come “suddenly.”
(5:3) While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction{a] will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
The first three and one-half years after the Rapture will be years of peace?false security. On the surface there will be peace, but underneath will be turmoil eating away like cancer to destroy the Human body. In the middle of Daniel’s second week of prophesy, after three and one-half years of peace, the Antichrist will break every covenant, every promise?and all hell will break out. The nation of Israel, back in her own land at that time, will suffer a deluge of blood such as she has never known before.
When the world is talking peace, declaring that at last man has done away with war and bloodshed and brought in Utopia, thus making earth a paradise, at that very moment “SUDDENLY OVER THEM STANDS DESTRUCTION!” The Greek reads, “Without one second of warning, all hell will break out; and such torment, persecution, bloodshed, misery and woe, will be upon this earth as man has never known before. Unlike the Christians, the unredeemed world will have no thought of a cataclysmic end to the universe, and it will be rejoicing in an imaginary security right up to the very moment of the disaster.
In the last part of the verse Paul describes this day of terror in another way: “. . . as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape{b].” The Greek reads, “As the birth-pain upon her that is with child.” This illustration signifies suddenness, terrible agony, intense pain; and the event is inevitable?no one can escape it. Once the birth pang has been felt, the baby must be delivered. When the appointed hour (known only to Jehovah God) arrives, judgment must fall; there is no stopping the hand of justice and righteousness: “and they will not escape{b].” If the destruction[a] in question is to be sudden, it is also inevitable. This is the point of the last words of the verse?“and they will not escape{b].” I suggest you read 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and Revelation 6:15-17.
Again let me repeat that the Day of the Lord is a period of time which begins with the Great Tribulation and goes through the millennial reign of Christ here upon the earth. There are many passages of Scripture that speak of this such as Isaiah chapters 12-13, Isaiah 13:9, Isaiah 13:10; Joel 1:15, Joel 2:2. Now the event described in chapter 4?the coming of Christ to take His church out of the world?is not mentioned in the Old Testament. But this is a glorious, wonderful truth which was revealed first in the Upper Room when the Lord Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3). As far as I know, that is the first time this truth is revealed in the Bible. And Paul developed it in 1 Thessalonians 4.
However, in the 5th chapter he is speaking of something which was well known in the Old Testament.
“While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction{a] will come on them suddenly.” It is going to be a big surprise to the world. They are not going to expect it. I believe that the “big lie,” which we shall see in the second chapter of 2nd Thessalonians, is the promise of peace and safety. The Lord Jesus warned of that: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” The world expects to enter a great era of peace, the Millennium, but they will find themselves plunged into the Great Tribulation, which will include the greatest war the world has ever seen. It will come upon them suddenly like a thief in the night.
When this terrible Day of the Lord comes, Jesus will be revealed from heaven with multiplied millions of His mighty angels. With His angels He will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that do not know God and who do not obey the Gospel. These unbelievers, wicked men, will be punished with everlasting destruction{a] from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power. This will take place when Jesus comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all of them that believe. This day will be the day when Jesus returns with his bride, after the marriage supper in the sky and the rewarding of believers for their stewardship.
(5:4) But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
Paul is reminding the believers at Thessalonica that when they turned to God from idols, to serve the true and living God, they began at that moment to wait and look for His Son from heaven. The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:11-13). All born again people believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. The grace of God that saves us also teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live righteously; and that same grace teaches us to look for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you are not looking for that glorious day, according to the Word of God you are not saved by grace.
We do not all agree on all the details of the second coming, but all believers do agree that He is coming?because He said, “I go . . . I will come again” . . . and Jesus cannot lie (Heb. 6:18; Titus 1:2). Paul had carefully instructed the Christians in Thessalonica concerning the Rapture of the Church, and therefore THEY WERE NOT IN DARKNESS. They were in the light because he had carefully taught them the true doctrine of the Lord’s return. Since the Thessalonians are “not in darkness,” the coming of day will hold no terror or surprise for them. The Day of the Lord will not “overtake them as a thief,” sneaking up on them suddenly and robbing them of their treasures, but it will come to them as the welcome daybreak, full of light and joy. To the wicked and careless, by a sad contradiction, the Day of the Lord will be night! It is to them “darkness” and not light, ?very dark, and having no brightness in it (Amos 5:20). But for “the sons of light (v. 5) it is day indeed, and wears its true character.”
The Rapture of the church actually does two things: (1) it ends this day of grace in which we are today, this calling out a people for His name and bringing many sons home for His glory. This is what God is doing today. The Rapture not only ends that, but (2) it begins the DAY OF THE LORD. The Great Tribulation will get underway the moment the church leaves the earth. But you brethren are not in darkness; that day will not overtake you as a thief. Why won’t it? Well, because we won’t be here. We found in chapter 4 that “the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout” and take His church out of this world.
When the Day of the Lord comes, we are going to be with the Lord. We are not in darkness. That day will not overtake us like a thief in the night. He doesn’t come as a thief to take His church. The church is looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior.
Special notes and Scripture
[a} The word “destruction” as it is used here doesn’t mean annihilation; it is eternal destruction from the face of the Lord (2 Thess. 1:9). The thought conveyed by the word is therefore that of utter and hopeless ruin, the loss of all that gives worth to existence.
[b} Just as the anguish of a woman’s birth-pangs is inevitable (Isaiah 13:6), so the impenitent shall in no wise escape this destruction{a]. ‘It still needs emphasis that there are no other alternatives than life with the Lord or eternal loss. One or the other is inevitable.’
