THE UNEXPECTED DAY OF THE LORD

The "thief in the night" imagery introduced by Christ in reference to His Second Coming in Matthew 24:43 is used by Paul in reference to the coming Day of the Lord in 1 Thess. 5:2. I take it that the first phase of Christ's coming (the Rapture) comes as a thief in the night and ushers in the Day of the Lord judgment. Thus, BOTH come UNEXPECTED as a thief in the night.

Paul makes a clear DISTINCTION between the RAPTURE of the Church dealt with in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and the DAY OF THE LORD dealt with in 1 Thess. 5:1-4. These are two different things.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–2 (NKJV)
1 But concerning [Gk. peri de] the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

1 Thess. 5:1 begins with “But concerning…”. This phrase in the Greek is “peri de”. This is a transitional expression. Whenever Paul uses it, he consistently transitions from one subject to another subject (cf. 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 Cor. 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1, 12). He has just dealt with the subject of the rapture of the Church in 1 Thess. 4:13-18, now he is transitioning to a different subject - namely, the Day of the Lord.

In 1 Thess. 5:1-2 Paul wrote there was no need for him to write to them about the “times and seasons” because they already “know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” It was a mute point in that they understood perfectly that the day of the Lord had no observable signs but rather would come unexpectedly. If something is coming unexpectedly then how do you instruct someone to look for it? The point is you are to “live ready”.

They had accurate knowledge about HOW the day of the Lord comes (i.e. UNEXPECTEDLY), but they were ignorant about aspects of the Rapture as seen in 1 Thess. 4. This shows a clear DISTINCTION between the Rapture dealt with in chapter 4 and the Day of the Lord dealt with in chapter 5. The language here indicates that the Rapture is distinct and separate from the future Day of the Lord.

Furthermore, Old Testament texts like Zechariah 14:1-6 clearly show that Day of the Lord includes the Second Coming of Christ following the Tribulation Period. So, the future Day of the Lord includes this aspect of the Second Coming, but the Rapture is not part of the Day of the Lord. The Rapture is a completely different event distinct from the Day of the Lord.

Paul is clear that the day of the Lord comes “as a thief in the night” (see 1 Thess. 5:2; also Mt. 24:36-43; Lk. 12:35-40; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 16:15). That is, it comes with no forewarning. It comes as a total surprise for the world. It comes suddenly and unexpectedly. There are NO precursors at all! No forewarning means that none of the seal or bowl judgments in the book of Revelation will serve as a forewarning to the world that the Day of the Lord is about to begin. There is no forewarning such as the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39. I therefore argue that ALL of these things take place WITHIN the Day of the Lord and not before.

Paul’s change in pronouns shows believers WILL NOT experience the Day of the Lord judgment while unbelievers WILL.

1 Thessalonians 5:3–4 (NKJV)
3 For when THEY say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon THEM, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And THEY shall not escape.
4 But YOU, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake YOU as a thief. [Caps = MY emphasis]

In addressing the unbelievers Paul uses the third person plural “they”, but then he switches to the second person plural “you” in speaking to believers. In doing so Paul makes a clear distinction between believers and unbelievers showing ONLY “they” (the unbelievers) will be overtaken by the Day of the Lord as a thief in the night. This shows us that the sudden and unexpected destruction that comes upon the unbelieving world does not apply to believers.

The judgments of Revelation begin with the seal judgments in Revelation 6. These judgments come ultimately from the hand of Christ as it is HE who breaks these seals. The first seal broken reveals one sitting on a white horse indicating “peace” (cf. Rev. 6:1-2). This is representative of HOW the Antichrist initially comes. We know from Daniel 9:27 that “he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week” with one week signifying 7 years. So, Antichrist initially comes in “peace” and the whole world will rejoice in this development saying, “Peace and safety!” (1 Thess. 5:2).

But this “peace” is short-lived. Immediately Rev. 6:3-4 indicates the breaking of the second seal in which one is “granted to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” When Jesus opens the second seal peace is removed from the earth. From the second seal on until the Second Coming there is no peace or security in the world for the unsaved. The breaking of this second seal ushers in a time of “no peace” that continues on until the time of the Second Coming in Revelation 19. The Day of the Lord begins with an emphasis on “Peace and safety” but that is SUDDENLY shattered with the opening of the second seal! Thus, the Day of the Lord’s initial “Peace and safety” is followed by “sudden destruction" as seen in 1 Thess. 5:3 which parallels perfectly the breaking of the first two seals in Rev. 6:1-4.

This “sudden destruction” that comes upon the unbelievers in 1 Thess. 5:3 at the beginning of the Day of the Lord is described as “birth pangs” that come upon a pregnant woman. But it should be noted that “birth pangs” is not plural in the Greek, but rather singular. It is referring to ONE birth pang. And it has the definite article so very literally this is to be rendered, “the birth pang” referring to the very FIRST birth pang. The FIRST birth pang catches the woman off guard, but once that FIRST one is experienced it tells her that there are more to come.

The future Day of the Lord begins with a singular birth pang that comes unexpectedly. In Matthew 24:8 we have the very same language, but there it speaks of “the beginning of birth pangs” in the plural. The very first birth pang is the beginning of a whole series of birth pangs that increase in rate and intensity until delivery. Paul’s mention of “birth pang” (singular) in 1 Thess. 5:3 is the starting point of what Jesus called “the beginning of birth pangs” in Matt. 24:8.

This beginning of birth pangs relates to the first half of the 70th week of Daniel as the context of Matthew 24 clearly goes on to show as seen in Matt. 24:15 which speaks of the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by Daniel in Daniel 9:27. Paul connects the first birth pang to the Day of the Lord in 1 Thess. 5:3. Jesus connects the “beginning of birth pangs” to the first half of the 70th week of Daniel as seen in Matthew 24:8 and 15. The conclusion is that the Day of the Lord judgment begins the period known as the 70th week of Daniel as seen in Dan. 9:27.

Christ is coming UNEXPECTEDLY as a thief in the night - so is the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord comes UNEXPECTEDLY as labor pains upon a woman. The operative word is UNEXPECTED! "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief." As believers we know what is coming! We are not in darkness! And furthermore, as believers who are of the light this DARK Day of Judgment will not overtake us. We will escape it by way of the RAPTURE! "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

Luke 21:34–36 (NKJV)
34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”