"THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME!"
By Dr. Mal Couch
Background:
The "Day of the Lord" is not describing the rapture of the church. It is a common expression of the Day of Tribulation, the Day of God's Wrath that will last for seven years. Some mistakenly have called this the rapture, and as well, the expression "a Thief in the Night" (v. 2). A thief in the night is not the blessed hope! It is the terror of the tribulation that will soon come upon the earth. The same is true of the day of the Lord. In the Old Testament, the day of the Lord is used some twenty or more times with all of the references referring to that terrible period of God's wrath tumbling upon planet earth!
In the context of these verses the rapture of the church is specifically mentioned in verses 9-10.
1 Thessalonians 5:1
BUT CONCERNING THE TIMES AND THE SEASONS, BROTHERS. (kronos, kairos) kronos has to do with a specific time period while kairos would refer to the season. In other words, the day of the Lord will come at the right time and suitable period of history, moment. Both the extent and character of events are to be noted. (Lightfoot) Both times and seasons are plural denoting a time frame that will run over seven years—these years will be like seasons that God will be using to bring wrath and judgment to the earth. (Vincent) Paul identifies himself with his readers by calling them "brothers."
YOU HAVE NO NEED TO BE WRITTEN TO. The apostle Paul had already explained thoroughly the prophetic plan of the end times. He did not need to repeat his teachings on the subject. The apostle gave to his audiences the full panoramic scope of things to come! He held back nothing. Prophecy seems to be at the center of his exegesis. This is in contrast to many pastors today in Bible churches who say they will not teach prophecy because it is too divisive!
1 Thessalonians 5:2
FOR THESE THINGS ACCURATELY YOU KNOW. Accurately (akribos) shows that Paul taught this church prophecy with a lot of details. He did not generalize the subject but focused on specificity. He wanted to make sure they were informed believers about future events. What a contrast to teachers who say "Well, we can't be sure about the events of Bible prophecy!" And they add, "I'm a pan-millennialist. It'll all just pan out in the end!" How foolish!
THE DAY OF THE LORD AS A THIEF AT NIGHT WILL LIKEWISE COME. Paul quotes Amos 5:18-on to show that the day of the Lord is God's judgment upon all men. (Morris) Paul quotes this passage to show that he is not simply revealing something new. (Ibid) Like a thief in the night; suddenly, unexpectedly will the Lord come, taking unbelievers by surprise as a thief does on those who are asleep. (Calvin) It comes expresses the absolute truth and certainty of that which is being predicted. (Alford) Concerning at night Vincent says:
It is a tradition of the Jews that Messiah will come at midnight after the likeness of that season in Egypt when the Passover was celebrated, and the Destroyer came, and the Lord passed over the dwellings. I think that this idea was perpetuated in the apostolic custom, that, on the day of vigils, at the Paschal, it was not allowed to dismiss the people before midnight, since they expected the advent of the Christ. (Word Studies)
1 Thessalonians 5:3
WHEN THEY SHOULD BE SAYING … The focus shifts now to the period of the start of the tribulation. He shifts from the believer to the unbeliever, they, them. This is happening just before or right at the time of the rapture of the church. Paul uses the third person form of the verb to identify "them" making a strict division between believer and unbeliever, the us and them.
PEACE AND SECURITY. The unbeliever's spiritual blindness is complete; they are talking as if all is well and they have nothing to worry about.
THEN SUDDENLY TO THEM PLACED UPON DESTRUCTION. Suddenly, in the midst of their reverie, destruction is placed upon them. Note the word order in the Greek text: "suddenly to them, place upon, destruction." Suddenly, without warning, catching them by surprise, destruction will be placed upon them.
They will not walk into it nor will it be a natural act. Rather destruction, disaster, ruin of such magnitude and completeness as to be incomprehensible, will descend with purpose and control by someone outside of the unbeliever's realm of existence. The unbelievers are taken by surprise as if they were asleep and this sleep most assuredly comes from a deep contempt of God. (Calvin)
JUST AS THE PAIN IN THE STOMACH THE WOMAN IS HAVING. The word stomach (gastri) is used to describe the location of the child within the womb. "She is having it in the gastri." This is a technical phrase for a pregnant woman. Alford says this expression is used because a pregnant woman, though she doesn't know the day or the hour (the times) of her delivery, she is fully aware of her condition (the season). So the destruction of the tribulation will happen suddenly. This will take place at the beginning of the tribulation when the church is gone in the rapture. The church is removed to get out of the way of this coming terror; the world however thinks possibly that they had escaped its coming.
THEY IN NO WAY SHOULD FIND SAFETY. The use of the double negative ou/me (in no way) makes it clear that there will be no escape from the Lord's wrath. "Should find safety" (Aorist Active Subjunctive). An absolute fact that shows and emphasizes that they will not experience any form of delivery. Regardless of what they do, there will be no deliverance from God's judgment.
BUT YOU, BROTHERS, ARE NOT IN DARKNESS. To be in darkness in this context means to be part of the lost world. And this is not the case of believers. It is the dark, unbelieving world that will be caught in the coming tribulation. This will not happen to "those in Christ."
IN ORDER THAT THE DAY JUST AS A THIEF SHOULD OVERTAKE YOU. Hina/in order that shows the divine arrangement: with God all results are purposed. (Alford) When "in order that" (Subjunctive) is used it expresses results. There is no way the Day of the Lord (the Wrath, the Tribulation) will in any form or fashion overcome the believer. It will not fall upon him. The verb overtake is in the Aorist Active Subjunctive grammatical form. It means to seize with a hostile intent. It is a very strong verb expressing aggressive force. Because the believers are not in darkness, the day of the Lord's wrath will not seize them. They will not be on the earth when that day comes!
1 Thessalonians 5:5
FOR ALL YOU SONS OF LIGHT, ARE THE SONS OF DAY. Believers are "owned" by the light just as unbelievers are "owned" by the night and darkness. No believer needs to fear that he will be surprised by the Day of the Lord. He will not go under the wrath of that tribulation period!
"Sons" identifies a family relationship. This terrible Day of the Lord will not fall on the family of Christ!
WE ARE NOT OF NIGHT OR OF DARKNESS. It is noteworthy how Paul tactfully shifts from the second person "you" to the first person "we." Believers will not go under any form of or even part of the seven year tribulation wrath. But the lost ("they") will face that terrible period. The Present Tense Active Voice of this verb "we are not…" brings a sense of distinction and enthusiasm to the meaning of "we are right now not of darkness", in anyway at this time, etc. All believers are of the day and the light, even the ones not currently living an acceptable Christian lifestyle. Those of the day will not face the Day of the Lord!
1 Thessalonians 5:6-8
Though the child of God is not of the night or of the darkness, he can still be asleep in failing to understand the times he is living in. But Paul makes it clear he will still not go under the terrible wrath that is on its way!
BUT HE HIMSELF DID NOT APPOINT US TO WRATH. Because the believer will go home in the rapture before the Wrath, he will not see the Day of the Lord, the tribulation. "To appoint" is the Greek verb tithimi. It means "to place" and is in the Aorist Tense. The Aorist probably indicates that the appointment to escape the Wrath was made previously by the Lord.
BUT UNTO POSSESSION OF SALVATION. Salvation ("sozo") here should be translated deliverance. The whole point as seen in the context is that the child of God will be delivered from this terrible Day of Wrath coming. We are already spiritually saved; the issue here is discussing our being rescued/saved from the tribulation period.
1 Thessalonians 5:10
WHETHER WE SHOULD BE AWAKE, WHETHER WE SHOULD SLEEP, WE MAY LIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM. Does the apostle have in mind "whether we are alive or dead," or "whether we are spiritually alert or lethargic"? (BKC) It appears likely that he means the latter because he uses the words for "awake" (gregoreomen) and asleep (katheudomen) the same way he used them in verse 6. Paul had in mind the necessity of being spiritually awake.
God's promise here is made to the believers whether they are mature or spiritually carnal, whether spiritually watchful or not. All those in Christ will escape the wrath, whether walking in maturity or out of fellowship with the Lord (1:10). Paul is not, however, arguing for one to live one's life in carnality, nor is the promise an argument for taking the easy road as a believer, or saying that children of the Lord are free to live however they wish—just the opposite. Instead, the promise is a confirmation of the doctrine of justification by faith. All of our sins have been purged at the cross; our position in Jesus is based on His complete work of redemption. Thus, the promise says that, although our experience in Christ may be weak and may need strengthening, all believers should be longing for the return of their Savior. And if the trumpet should sound tomorrow, all who are physically alive, who belong to Him, will join the resurrected in meeting Him in the air—the rapture! (Mal Couch, Thessalonians Greek Commentary)
1 Thessalonians 5:11
THEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER AND BUILD UP (EDIFY) ONE ANOTHER. The comforting has to do with two things: the encouraging of the weaker brother spiritually, and the reminder of the rapture and the fact that they will see their loved ones who have gone before. This was a great concern of the Thessalonians as indicated in 4:13. The wording of 5:11 is similar to 4:13. In 4:13, believers are to comfort each other in regard to the truth of the rapture, that is, that the dead in Christ will suddenly go first and then we who are alive will join them. But here in 5:11 we are to comfort one another in reference to the fact that we will not experience the Day of the Lord, and whether asleep or awake we will be with Him: Christ "who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him."
