1 Thessalonians 5:2

5:1-5 It is needless or useless to ask about the particular time of Christ's coming. Christ did not reveal this to the apostles. There are times and seasons for us to work in, and these are our duty and interest to know and observe; but as to the time when we must give up our account, we know it not, nor is it needful that we should. The coming of Christ will be a great surprise to men. Our Lord himself said so. As the hour of death is the same to each person that the judgment will be to mankind in general, so the same remarks answer for both. Christ's coming will be terrible to the ungodly. Their destruction will overtake them while they dream of happiness, and please themselves with vain amusements. There will be no means to escape the terror or the punishment of that day. This day will be a happy day to the righteous. They are not in darkness; they are the children of the light. It is the happy condition of all true Christians. But how many are speaking peace and safety to themselves, over whose heads utter destruction is hovering! Let us endeavour to awaken ourselves and each other, and guard against our spiritual enemies.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-3. For yourselves know perfectly — It being a matter plainly revealed both by Christ and his apostles; that the day of the Lord — That great decisive day, to which our eyes and hearts are so much directed; so cometh as a thief in the night — Cometh suddenly and unexpectedly; and will occasion the greatest consternation to the ungodly. This comparison is used by our Lord himself to illustrate the unexpectedness of his coming, Matthew 24:43 . It is used by St. Peter also, 2 Peter 3:10 ; see likewise Revelation 3:3 . The ancients, from this comparison, and from the parable of the virgins, fancying that Christ’s coming to judgment would be in the night, instituted their vigils, in order that at his coming he might find them watching. But the true meaning of the comparison is, that, like the coming of a thief in the night, on those who are asleep and unarmed, the coming of Christ will be unexpected, and full of terror to the wicked; without determining whether it will be in the daytime or in the night.

For when they — The men of the world; shall say — Shall promise to one another; peace and safety — And shall fear no evil of any kind; then sudden destruction cometh upon them — And a destruction of the most terrible kind; as travail upon a woman with child — “Nothing can be conceived more forcible to represent the anguish and torment of the wicked, occasioned by the stinging of their own consciences, and by the horrid fears which shall be excited in them, when they find themselves over-taken by the judgment, than to compare it to the pains of child- bearing.” And they shall not escape — Condemnation and punishment at that terrible day. See 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 .

1 Thessalonians 5:2 . Ὡς κλέπτης , as a thief ) 2 Peter 3:10 . A usual expression with the apostles, agreeing with the parable of the Lord, Matthew 24:43 .— ἐν νυκτὶ , in the night ) Refer those words to a thief , just now mentioned [not, the day of the Lord cometh in the night; but, as a thief cometh in the night ]. The night is there, where there is unconcern and quiet; comp. however, Matthew 25:6 .[25]— οὕτως ) so , as we shall describe in the following verse. Comp. so after[26] for , Matthew 1:18 , [“The birth of Christ was so; for when His mother Mary was espoused,” etc.: οὕτως ἦν . μνηστευθείσης γὰρ , etc.]— ἔρχεται , comes ) The present expressing a sudden event with great emphasis. So 1 Thessalonians 5:3 , Sudden destruction cometh; comp. Luke 21:34 . [25] “At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the Bridegroom cometh;” which seems to imply that it shall not be merely in a figurative, but in a literal sense, that the Lord shall come in the night.—ED. [26] Here, however, γὰρ , for , is thought to be better omitted by the margin of both Ed. The Germ. Vers., for the sake of connection, puts nemlich .—E. B. AG fg , Iren. 329, Cypr. 326, and Syr. Version, omit γὰρ , and so Tisch. Lachm. reads δὲ , with BD( Δ ), Memph. and later Syr. Rec. Text reads γὰρ . with Vulg.—ED.

Perfectly (ἀκριβῶς) See on Luke 1:3. The day of the Lord (ἡμέρα κυρίου) The day of Christ's second coming. In Paul's Epistles this is expressed by ἡ ἡμέρα the day, absolutely, 1 Thessalonians 5:4; 1 Corinthians 3:13; Romans 13:12 : ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη that day, 2 Thessalonians 1:10 : ἡμέρα χριστοῦ the day of Christ, Philippians 1:10; Philippians 2:16 : ἡμέρα κυρίου or τοῦ κυρίου day of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2 : ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἱησοῦ (Χριστοῦ), 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14. These expressions refer to a definite time when the Lord is expected to appear, and Paul expects this appearance soon. Attempts to evade this by referring such expressions to the day of death, or to the advance toward perfection after death until the final judgment, are forced, and are shaped by dogmatic conceptions of the nature of Biblical inspiration. In the O.T. the phrase day of the Lord denotes a time in which God will conspicuously manifest his power and goodness or his penal justice. See Isaiah 2:12; Ezekiel 13:5; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:11; and comp. Romans 2:5. The whole class of phrases is rare in N.T. outside of Paul's Epistles. As a thief (ὡς κλέπτης) Comp. Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 16:15, and see on Revelation 3:3. In the night (ἐν νυκιτί) The ancient church held that the advent was to be expected at night, on an Easter eve. This gave rise to the custom of vigils.

Jerome, on Matthew 25:6, 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 Pascha, it was not allowed to dismiss the people before midnight, since they expected the advent of Christ." It is noteworthy how many of the gospel lessons on watchfulness are associated with the night and a visit by night. See Matthew 24:43; Matthew 25:1-13; Mark 13:35; Luke 12:35, Luke 12:38; Luke 17:34; Luke 12:20.

Verse 2. - For yourselves know perfectly ; namely, not from Scripture, nor from oral tradition, but from the teaching of the apostle when in Thessalonica. That the day of the Lord . "The day of the Lord" is a common Old Testament expression, denoting the coming of the Divine judgments ( Joel 1:15 ; Joel 2:1 ); and by the phrase here is meant, not the destruction of Jerusalem, nor the day of one's death, but the day of the Lord's advent, when Christ shall descend from heaven in glory for the resurrection of the dead and the judgment of the world. The idea of judgment is contained in the term "day." So cometh as a thief in the night . The same comparison is used by our Lord himself ( Matthew 24:43 ; Luke 12:39 ), and the very words are employed by Peter ( 2 Peter 3:10 ). The point of resemblance is evidently the unexpectedness and suddenness of the coming. The thief comes upon people in the night season, when they are asleep and unprepared; so, in a similar manner, when Christ comes, he will find the world unprepared and not expecting his advent. The ancient Fathers inferred from this passage that Christ would come to judgment in the night season, and hence they instituted vigils, or night watches. Some, still more precisely, fixed the coming on Easter night, from the analogy of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt on the paschal evening. 1 Thessalonians 5:2

(2) Know perfectly. —Or, accurately. There is something of an oxymoron (see Note on 1Thessalonians 4:11 ) here. “I need not tell you about the time, for you know to a nicety—not the hour of Christ’s coming, but—the utter uncertainty respecting it.” The word shows at the same time with what scrupulous care St. Paul had instructed them on this topic. The day of the Lord.—Here “the Lord” (as usual in the New Testament) means Jesus Christ; and this day can mean nothing else than the great day of His return to judgment. The expression is taken from the Old Testament, where, of course, it does not primarily mean what we call “the Day of Judgment,” but the set time which God has fixed for any great visitation. Thus in Joel 2:1, et seq., it means the time appointed for the plague of locusts; in Ezekiel 13:5, generally, any day when God visits His people; in Joel 3:14, the fixed time for vengeance to be taken upon the heathen for persecuting the Church; which, in Isaiah 2:12 (a passage largely influenced by recollections of Joel), seems to widen into a general day of judgment for mankind. Cometh.—Not merely, will come; it is an absolute certainty that the time is on its way to come. (See Note on 1Thessalonians 1:10.) As a thief in the night—i.e. unexpectedly (Matthew 24:43), and under cover of darkness.

2. as a thief in the night—The apostles in this image follow the parable of their Lord, expressing how the Lord's coming shall take men by surprise (Mt 24:43; 2Pe 3:10). "The night is wherever there is quiet unconcern" [Bengel]. "At midnight" (perhaps figurative: to some parts of the earth it will be literal night), Mt 25:6. The thief not only gives no notice of his approach but takes all precaution to prevent the household knowing of it. So the Lord (Re 16:15). Signs will precede the coming, to confirm the patient hope of the watchful believer; but the coming itself shall be sudden at last (Mt 24:32-36; Lu 21:25-32, 35).