1 Thessalonians 5
Bro David Petersen
The Times and Seasons
5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
No one on this earth knows exactly when the Lord will return (Mark 13:22). Whatever you believe regarding the timing of the Lord's return, the course of action is the same: watch and be ready.The phrase "times and seasons" could be translated "times and epochs". The word "times" is broader in scope, whereas the word "seasons" refers to specific episodes or period within the scope of time. The context here is the end times and so the relevant epochs would be the rise of the AntiChrist, the great tribulation, the return of Christ and the rapture of the saints.
Students of the Bible should learn to recognize the "times and seasons" as a means of establishing high-level context for what they are reading. For example, today we are in the New Testament age known as the church age or the age of grace. After Jesus returns and consummates his kingdom on this earth he will reign for a 1000 year period known as the Millennium.
The Bible does not teach dispensationalism in the sense that God has different ways of salvation. There is and has always been only one way of salvation and that is by trusting God. But in God's redemptive calendar there have been several ages where God deals differently with his people and the world based on his covenants.
Like A Thief In The Night
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
A thief does not announce what time he will be coming. He comes by surprise. The Lord will come "as a thief in the night". But to whom will the Lord come by surprise? As the next few verses explain, the Lord does not come as a thief in the night to his churches. It is the world, not the churches that is not watching for his return and is taken by surprise.
When The Say Peace And Safety
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.
As Jesus predicted, one of the prevailing conditions on the earth just before his return will be widespread warfare:
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matthew 24:6-7).
It is in the midst of this global unrest that the AntiChrist rises to power and uses military might to subdue the entire world:
"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" (Rev 13:4).
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations" (Rev 13:7).
We know that the AntiChrist makes a covenant with many:
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Dan 9:27).
It may be this covenant that inspires the proclamation of "peace and safety" in verse 3. Then AntiChrist breaks the covenant with the abomination of desolation. Many people believe that this abomination that causes people to stop worshipping in the coming 3rd temple is when the Antichrist sits in the temple showing that he is God (2 Thess 2:3-4).
The word "safety" in verse 3 means security. Security will be an issue in the end times. It's interesting that we are having world-wide problems with terrorists today. Security has already become an issue throughout the world but today the problem is just beginning to grow compared to what it will be just before the day of the Lord. The AntiChrist will conquer the world and create a false sense of security that the lost world will welcome wholeheartedly.
Of course the kingdom of the AntiChrist will feel very secure once it eliminates all those peksy troublemakers. You know the ones. They are the ones who refuse to take the mark and who refuse to worship his image. They are the so-called "hate mongers" known as Christians.
Sudden destruction comes on an unbelieving world under the domination of the AntiChrist when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
The Church Not In The Dark
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.
"So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors" (Matthew 24:33).
No man knows the day or hour but the church doesn't have to be in the dark about the return of Christ. We can be watching the times and seasons of his return. We can watch for iniquity abounding, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes in divers places, many false Christs showing wonders, the rise of the AntiChrist, the great tribulation, the sun turning black, the moon not giving her light and stars falling from the sky.
When the trees start to put forth their leaves you know that summer is near. Likewise according to Jesus, when we see all these things we can KNOW that his return is near
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
We want to be watching so that we won't miss the signs.
Watching isn't just a general metaphor for living a godly Christian life. When the Lord and Paul say watch, they mean that we should watch for the specific things that must happen in the "season" of the day of the Lord.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
It Will Be No Party
The word "sober" in verse 6, literally means "free from intoxicants". Metaphorically it means "clear minded". We will need clear minds and sound judgment in the end times because there will be a lot there to confuse and deceive us.
The picture here is the whole world just having one big drunken party right up to the last day when Jesus comes. The Lord's servants should not be at that party.
"But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of" (Matthew 24:48-50).
When the disciples came to Jesus and asked him what the sign of his coming would be, the first thing he said was "Take heed that no man deceive you." We need clear, sober minds so that we will not be deceived in the end times.
"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matthew 24:3-4). We need clear minds in order to be able to watch and discern the unfolding of events. We don't want to drink the wine of the fornication of Mystery Babylon the great harlot (Rev. 17:2).
Getting Ready For the Big Fight
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.
It's interesting to me that Paul uses his spiritual warfare metaphors to describe how the church should get ready for the the day of the Lord. Another reason we need to be sober or clear minded in the end times is that we have to be ready for a fight. You put on a breastplate and helmet when you are getting ready for a battle. That's what the end times will be like for the saints.
Of course this will be a spiritual fight. We are going to need our spiritual defenses: the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation. Faith, hope and love are the big 3 spiritual gifts that abide today (1 Cor 13:13), and we we need plenty of all 3 in the day of the Lord. The breastplate and helmet are two of the most important personal defenses in warfare. It's interesting that today soldiers still wear helmets and bullet proof vests.
There are spiritual victories to be gotten in the end times. For example, you can get victory over the Beast:
"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" (Rev 15:2).
How do you get victory over the Beast? Certainly it's not by carnal warfare because "who is able to make war with the Beast?" No, this is a spiritual warfare and you get victory over the Beast by refusing to worship his image, by not taking his mark and by not loving your life unto death.
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Rev 12:11
Wrath Is For Unbelievers, Tribulation Is For Believers
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Sometimes people try to use verse 9 to argue that the church will be raptured prior to the great tribulation. But that argument does not work here because we distinguish between wrath and tribulation. God does not pour out his wrath on his own people, but they are subject to tribulation:
"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt 24:21-22).
It is important to define the word "tribulation" and how it is distinguished from God's wrath (anger and judgment). There are two Greek words most often used to describe tribulation events, and in many instances, they are used together in the same verse. The first word is diwgmos, which occurs 10 times in the New Testament and is translated "persecution(s)" in all major English translations. This word always refers to the persecution of believers by non-believers.
The second word is thlipsis which occurs 45 times in the New Testament and is translated "tribulation(s)," "affliction(s)," "anguish," "distress," "persecution," or "trouble." This is the word used here in Matthew.
In 42 of these 45 occurrences, the word refers to the suffering believers received at the hands of non-believers. One of the other 3 refer to the sufferings of Joseph when he was sold into slavery at the hands of his brothers, another to the sufferings of people during the famine of that time, and only one refers to the suffering of those who commit evil. On this basis alone, one would seem to be on shaky ground in assuming that the great tribulation is reserved only for non-believers; since the word tribulation only refers to non-believers in only 2% of all verses.
In contrast, two different Greek words are used to describe the suffering of non-believers at the hand of God. The first word is thumos (Strong's #G2372), which occurs in 18 verses in the New Testament and is translated "angry tempers," "fierce," "indignation," "outbursts of anger," "passion," "rage," and "wrath." In nine of those 18 verses, the term specifically refers to the anger and judgment of God against the unrighteous 6 (the other 9 refer to the anger of people against each other. The second word is orge (Strong's #G3709), which occurs in 34 verses in the New Testament and is translated "anger" or "wrath." Orge is the word used here in 1 Thess 5:9. Twenty-eight of those verses refer to the wrath of God (or Jesus against the unrighteous, one refers to the persecution of believers, and five refer to anger of people against each other.
Therefore, whereas tribulation almost always refers to the persecution of believers, wrath almost always refers to the anger of God against the unrighteous that results in punishment. So God's people are not appointed to wrath (orge), but they will suffer tribulation (thlipsis). God will not pour out his hot anger on his people because they are justified by faith and have the righteousness of Christ.
The context in these verses is the day of the Lord. On the day of the Lord, God's hot anger (wrath) will be poured out on an unbelieving and rebellious world. God's people will not be placed under his wrath.
"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth" (Rev 16:1).
The Lord Paid For His Church And Intends To Collect
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.
Paul is pointing out the fact that a transaction took place in behalf of those who trust in Jesus as their Lord and savior. Jesus paid a price for his church and perilous end times won't change that. God will honor that transaction even when he pours out his hot anger on an unbelieving world in the day of the Lord. Jesus will collect his church. Those who are of the day will live with him eternally no matter if they are alive or dead at his coming.
12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesyings.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
25 Brethren, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
1 Thessalonians
Chapter 1 |
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5