Second Coming and Times and Seasons
For the introduction to this series click here
Paul has painted a beautiful portrait of the second coming of Christ, filled with comfort, consolation, and encouragement. But this renewed emphasis on the soon coming of Christ, then as well as now, naturally raises the question, “When? When will all this take place?” Paul writing by the Holy Spirit, anticipates this inquiry and answers it.
1 Thessalonians 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you – I don’t mean to be flippant, but apparently we do. Paul must have taught these things to the Thessalonians when he was with them, yet he felt the need to repeat it.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night
you know perfectly - he had obviously taught them this.
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night – He is referring to the teaching of Jesus, But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Paul is saying, “We don’t know when he is coming.” His coming as a thief in the night does not mean he is coming to steal something, it refers to the unexpectedness of his coming, But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
they shall say - This is an important key to understanding this passage, for he begins a strong distinction between they and ye/we and paying attention to this will help us understand what he is saying. Who is they? Unbelievers. The day of the Lord will come upon unbelievers suddenly and unexpectedly, as a thief in the night.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief
That day should not overtake us, believers, as a thief. The unsaved will be caught thoroughly off guard. The saved need not be caught unawares.
An interesting thought:
“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness - Probably St. Paul refers to a notion that was very prevalent among the Jews, viz.: that God would judge the Gentiles in the night time, when utterly secure and careless; but he would judge the Jews in the day time, when employed in reading and performing the words of the law. The words in Midrash Tehillim, on Psa 9:8, are the following: When the holy blessed God shall judge the Gentiles, it shall be in the night season, in which they shall be asleep in their transgressions; but when he shall judge the Israelites, it shall be in the day time, when they are occupied in the study of the law. This maxim the apostle appears to have in view in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th verses.” (Adam Clarke)
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness
We are not in darkness because we are children of light, children of the day. The dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. Jesus is the light, and he has shined the life of life and truth on us. This means we can see the hand of God at work and recognize the times.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober
This is fun: watch literally means to stay awake, so he is saying, “let us not sleep but stay awake.” Obviously, he is not speaking literally, you cannot stay awake all the time. And as we know, when you stay awake too long you can be “asleep with your eyes open.” He means, just as a person is unaware of things around him when he is asleep, so we can become spiritually asleep and thus unaware of what is happening around us. Let us instead watch and be sober.
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” We are here reminded that the saints of Christ shall know enough of the time of His coming to be ready. The world will be surprised, but the Bride of the Lamb will know early enough to be in the attitude for translation. At the same time, there must be no carelessness, but a spirit of vigilance and a habit of constant preparedness. ~Simpson
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
Being of the day means we are awake and alert. We are also to be sober - clear headed, clear minded. How? Putting on the breastplate of faith to protect our hearts and the helmet of the hope of salvation to protect our minds.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
This is what the parousia, the second coming, will bring to us – salvation. And how can we sum up that salvation? That we should live together with him. The parousia is not merely a spectacle, the show of shows, no, this is to bring us salvation, that we might ever be with him. Amen!
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do
There is comfort in his coming and the resurrection, there is much comfort in the hope of salvation, there is great comfort in our ever being with him!
Yes, come, Lord Jesus!
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