1 Thessalonians Chapter 5
I Thess 5 begins by talking about when this will occur.
2021-2, This vs:
2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [1Th 5:2 ESV] The verb translated "will come" is Greek "erchomai". It is present tense, middle voice, indicative mood. That's a lot of stuff for one word. Present tense is interesting since in English it is translated as future with "will come". Maybe better to say "arrives". No, can't do that. It is translated "come" over 600 of the 850 or so times it appears. It is just very difficult to think of this in the present tense when it is clearly the future tense in English.
2024 - Maybe it is in present tense so we will think of it as if it happened right now, in the next second or so. Maybe we are to get a sense of immediacy about it. When a thief breaks in, one is certainly in the present. Time sort of dilates into the present, with fear of the outcome, with urgency about what to do. Maybe the writer here is trying to put us "in the moment" by using a present tense for a future event. Yes! That's the way to understand it!!!
2024 - I figured out that I can zero in not just on a specific word, but on that word used grammatically the same way as the incidence in question. So I did that just now, and here are the first three other uses of "erchomai" as present middle indicative:
9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." [Mat 8:9 ESV]
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. [Mat 13:19 ESV]
11 He answered, "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. [Mat 17:11 ESV]
Note that NONE of these resorts to using an English future tense to translate the word. It is inserting that word "will" that makes it English future. What conjugation of "will" would put it in the present tense. How about "is coming". Yes! "...the Day...is coming...like a thief in the night..." But I think that is a participle, which is readily available in Greek, and could have been used if that's what Paul meant. Looked up translations (five of them) of the future middle voice, and four of them translated that form of the verb as "will come". Exactly the same as the present is translated here. That is just wrong. So how should it read? What else is available to say something about the future using a present? How about "...the day of the Lord comes like a thief". What is wrong with that??? Yes. That is better, much better. The KJV and NKJV both get it right. Old KJV says the day "so cometh", and the NKJV stays with this and says "so comes". All of the other translations I looked at translate it as a future tense. That is just wrong.
2024 - But now I can't think why that was so important...
Here's what the middle voice is, though I am not sure how it "adds" to understanding the verse:
"Denotes that the subject is both an agent of an action and somehow concerned with the action." The subject here seems to be "the day of the Lord" in this compound sentence.
Here's the thing about this. It will come like a thief. Does that mean that when it happens, most people won't know about it? It will happen in secret? How can that be with that trumpet blowing as we saw in the last chapter? Or does it mean that the signs that it is imminent will be inconclusive right up until it actually happens? Probably the second one. We are supposed to look for it, but doesn't this verse say that we just really aren't going to be able even to narrow it down? I've heard people saying "It has to be close to time for the rapture" for my whole life. This says we just cannot zero in on it.
So what does that do to my idea of it being at the 6th seal? Can I get that close? Once the Tribulation starts, will each seal be recognized as it opens? If so, we could have a decent idea of when the rapture was coming. Pretty dang decent idea, I think. But Paul says the main thing to remember is that the rapture is entirely unpredictable. This actually lends itself more to a pre-trib rapture. Yet unlike it is with thieves, we do know the rapture is coming!
2022 - This, from my notes on Chapter 9 of "The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church":
Pre-Wrath - the subject of this book, looks this way:
The rapture occurs immediately prior to the "Day of the Lord"
The "Day of the Lord" occurs sometime within the second half of the seventieth week.
The cosmic disturbances of the sixth seal signal the approach of the "Day of the Lord"
Day of the Lord begins with the opening of the seventh seal.
This book uses the Olivet Discourse - Matthew 24,25 as its central text.
These notes continue with a survey of all uses of this term in the Bible. MSB, as noted below in II 2 also talks about a survey of these verses. It helps me, today in 2022's reading, to understand that the rapture and the day of the Lord are very close in chronology, but they are not synonymous. The Day of the Lord is a horrendous time for mankind. It is the day the wrath starts. The rapture is a glorious day for the church - the day we all anticipate.
2021-2, What about this one:
3 While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. [1Th 5:3 ESV]
Does it mean the rapture is going to come when things seem to be going well? Should we "worry" when things are good instead of when they are at peace? Or does "sudden like labor pains" mean that disasters far and wide will spring up, one after the other, building and increasing in frequency, and during these upheavals, the rapture will come? This actually DOES fit will with the rapture occurring during the Sixth seal. Those first five seals cause lots of troubles, they build, they affect more and more of the world system, knocking holes in it, and the whole planet will start to "crash". And then the rapture, leaving only the lost, only the objects of His wrath, to deal with the rest. This fits pretty well with a mid-trib rapture. Vs 2 more with a pre-trib. So there ya go. Like a thief in the night. We just can't say!
2023 - It is important to remember that the rapture and "the Day of the Lord" are not the same thing. First the rapture, and then the Day of the Lord. If you are pre-trib, you would say the rapture is years before the day. If mid-trib, then closer together. But if you are about a Premillennial rapture, then the day comes first and I think these verses are a very good argument against that being the case. As for the reference to labor pains, what if we understand them as "starting" just before the birth. Everyone knows when they're 9 months pregnant that they are soon going to have a baby. They wait, they grow impatient, they count the minutes, sometimes they even try to initiate labor to get things over with. That is how the day will be. Those first five seals will make it plain as day to the saved still on earth that events are getting very very pregnant and that something is about to happen. Things will be so bad, if I am even close on my interpretations in Revelation 1-10, that many people, and the saved of the last days of the church age especially, will be anxious for the labor to begin and so we can get this over with! The saved will be praying for the rapture, the rest of the world will just want some relief. The saved will have their prayers answered. The lost will get the opposite of what they want. Wrath will start.
2024 - There is a footnote in MSB for vs 2, and "day of the Lord". I have copied that entire note into here, because it has definitions of both "The Day of the Lord" and "A Thief in the Night":
1 Thess. 5:2 day of the Lord. There are 19 indisputable uses of “the day of the Lord” in the OT and four in the NT (cf. Acts 2:20; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10). The OT prophets used “day of the Lord” to describe near historical judgments (see Isa. 13:6–22; Ezek. 30:2–19; Joel 1:15; Amos 5:18–20; Zeph. 1:14–18) or far eschatological divine judgments (see Joel 2:30–32; 3:14; Zech. 14:1; Mal. 4:1; 5). It is also referred to as the “day of vengeance.” The NT calls it a day of “wrath,” day of “visitation,” and “the great day of God the Almighty” (Rev. 16:14). These are terrifying judgments from God (cf. Joel 2:30–31; 2 Thess. 1:7–10) for the overwhelming sinfulness of the world. The future “day of the Lord” that unleashes God’s wrath falls into two parts: 1) the end of the seven-year tribulation period (cf. Rev. 19:11–21), and 2) the end of the Millennium. These two are actually 1,000 years apart and Peter refers to the end of the 1,000-year period in connection with the final “day of the Lord" (cf 2Pe 3:10; Rev 20:7-15). Here, Paul refers to that aspect of the "Day of the Lord," which concludes the tribulation period. "a thief in the night". This phrase is never used to refer to the rapture of the church. It is used of Christ's coming in judgment on the Day of the Lord at the end of the 7-year tribulation which is distinct from the rapture of the church (see note on 4:15) and it is used of the judgment which concludes the Millennium (2Pe 3:10). As a thief comes unexpectedly and without warning, so will the Day of the Lord come in both its final phases.
2021-2, In vss 3-6 he seems to move well away from anything like specifics, and instead encourages them to be vigilant in staying prepared. Don't get caught in sin when the rapture occurs, and like that. He is telling them they don't need to worry about the rapture, because the rapture is only a "bad thing" to those who won't be going when it happens. Don't focus on the rapture, focus on living like children of light in a dark world. That's what Paul says is important.
5:9 says "For God did not appoint us to wrath..." Nowadays, this means that the rapture will occur pre-wrath, or pre-great tribulation, instead of before any tribulation at all. Possible I suppose. But things are going to get pretty bad during the tribulation, too. And Paul may not be describing the chronology of the end times here. He may just be comforting the Thessalonians who have significant worries about those who have gone on before them.
2021-2, ESV renders it "has not destined us for wrath...". Not much difference really. The thing is this is an aorist verb, indicative again, and middle voice. Here is an excerpt of how the BLB Interlinear describes the aorist tense: "There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations." My Zodhiates describes it as continuous ongoing action - no beginning or end. BLB goes on to say that it is an action with a definite beginning or definite end - but possibly ongoing otherwise. It is a tense we just do not have in English. This cannot be precisely translated into English. Here's my try: This is telling us that God, at some time in the past, when he was deciding when to pour out His wrath, decided also that those who were to be raptured would not be present for the wrath. So he decided it in the past and it has existing results. The decision, though made in the past, is not yet consummated.
It is hard though to think that when Paul uses that word wrath, that he is talking about anything but the wrath described here:
16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" [Rev 6:16-17 ESV]
In Revelation, the Greek word for wrath is "orge", a feminine noun. Same word here in 1Thess5.
As John MacArthur says, Paul didn't give them a bunch of signs that would appear in heaven (moon turns to blood, stars fall to earth) and on earth (the anti-Christ, the rebuilding of the temple) to look for. The one thing they were to watch for, and which is entirely and completely predictable, was the rapture. It is the next big thing. We work as best we can right up until then.
2022 - If I take some liberty, and "fit" Paul's words in 1-11 into my understanding - current understanding - of the end, I would say that Paul is telling the church they won't see the "day of the Lord", because we will "obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ". Note also his use of "them" in vs 3. Them and not us. The thief comes at night, but we are children of the day, children of the light. We won't be here on "the day of the Lord". I think it is a day. A precise and immediate commencing of wrath. The church will be raptured out, and this will be followed by the signs in heaven, the earthquakes, and a panic worldwide because so many are missing. But the MoS's will get them all settled down. He will show them there is plenty of food, water, essentials, even luxuries, and that there is peace in the world. He will assure people that this is some kind of conspiracy and that he will get to the bottom of it - or better yet he will say that all the missing were killed in the catastrophes. He will settle everyone down, convince them that "There is peace and security". While he is calming everyone down, the 144.000 will be sealed on earth and the bema judgment will take place in heaven. Rev 7. The world will likely think they are some kind of religious fanatics as they begin their ministry to the Jews. Rev 7:14 tells us that the church was raptured out of Great Tribulation - which occurs BEFORE the wrath of God - and all these are now in heaven, around the throne. The seventh seal is open, bringing only silence. The calm before the storm. The MoS's has still more time to convince those remaining on earth that all will be well. Then we have the first four trumpets occurring rapidly, like labor pains, in just 6 verses. (Hmm...the first four seals only lasted 7 verses.) Perhaps these first four trumpets are the birth pangs. The planet will be devastated. Very little plant life survives - food supply cut by a third, 1/3 of the fish from the ocean gone, further reducing the food supply, and then the fresh water goes bad. Nothing to drink. People die in great numbers. And then it gets bad. The three woes - the last three trumpets are announced.
I think this little paragraph fits pretty well.
Verses 14-22 are some of my favorites. I need to get them re-memorized. They are a good guide for everyday living.
2021-2, These verses are instructions to the church. To "church people" about how they are to treat each other. Some of them may extend outside the church also, such as "don't repay evil for evil". That certainly applies inside the church, but I think we refrain from this even when the neighbor deliberately does us harm. Don't "give it right back to him". And if it is a church member who does it....forgive forgive forgive!
2023 - This verse, in the ESV:
22 Abstain from every form of evil. [1Th 5:22 ESV], and then the KJV:
22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. [1Th 5:22 KJV].
In English, I think we would get a different idea of what is really meant, depending on whether form or appearance is chosen to translate the Greek word "eidos". This word is only used 5 times in the NT, and those into four different English words in the KJV - shape, fashion, sight, and appearance. Here is the BLB definition:
the external or outward appearance, form figure, shape
form, kind
ESV seems to be trying to make this about us not doing evil in any form or fashion or shape. If there is anything at all evil about it - if it resembles evil, if it is questionable at all as evil - then just don't do it. That makes it about making sure that as Christians, WE OURSELVES avoid evil. In the KJV, though, we would see the injunction as saying don't do anything that "appears" to be evil. Appears to whom? I think the emphasis in KJV is on others. Don't do anything that other people might see you doing and say "He is doing evil". This displaces our goal from making sure we give evil a very wide berth with making sure no one ELSE thinks we're doing evil. I think that if you read this whole passage - get the context - it is obvious that Paul is speaking to each of these Christians individually about what THEY ought to do in their own lives. It is about their own behavior, it is not about the perspective of those who SEE their behavior. So I think ESV has it right. And imagine how many arguments and problems go away if we don't interpret this as not doing what appears to be evil! There are people out there who think we are evil if we drive an eight cylinder diesel for crying out loud! They think we're evil if we say homosexuality is sin. So no. What other people think of our actions is NOT what Paul is going on about here.
2022 - One more verse - an old argument:
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. [1Th 5:26 ESV]. The word here translated brothers, with NO FOOTNOTE AT ALL, is the same root word used in 2:1, where the footnote says it could mean brothers and sisters. Why is that footnote missing here? Men greet each other with a kiss, but the sisters don't meet the sisters with a kiss? Why wouldn't everybody just kiss everybody when they meet together? Are women excluded from this command? What is the contextual indication that this use of adelpho is restricted to the males in that church? This is the kind of ridicule to which you open yourself when you start trying to accommodate current culture with 2000 year old common speech. You just end up looking like a fool, and you spend your apologetics time arguing THIS instead of Christ crucified! This is always a mistake.