Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Aug. 7, 1999
Update	: Jul. 9, 2025
Parts	: 02

Synopsis:



Within the Christian body today, there is a sharp division between those persons who believe that Christ will return unexpectedly at any moment, and those Christians who are convinced that before Jesus can return for His elect bride, certain events must transpire; events which said Christians believe have not happened yet; at least not according to their understanding of the Holy Scriptures.

These various events include the expected signing of some type of seven-year "Holy Covenant", the presumed construction of a final Jewish temple on Mount Moriah in East Jerusalem -- and thus the re-institution of the daily sacrifice, also known as the morning and the evening oblation -- the breaking of the aforementioned Holy Covenant, the invasion of Jerusalem by the armies of the Beast and the setting up of the "Abomination of Desolation", followed by the Mark of the Beast and the Great Tribulation, the plagues of the Two Sackcloth Witnesses, and finally, the Rapture of the Saints. All of these events form a part of a particular interpretation of Bible prophecy which is known as Futurism.

Of course, the precise order in which these various events are expected to occur is a considerable subject of debate amongst those Christians who embrace the Futurist point of view. In short, there is really no consensus. Thus, if you talk to ten different Christians who lean towards a Futurist perspective, you will hear quite a variety of opinions. But regardless of whether or not Jesus is expected to return at any moment, or after the aforementioned events occur, all of these Christians embrace the same general Futurist theological perspective. In other words, they are convinced that Christ's Return, and all of these other events, are yet to occur. They did not happen in the distant past, as Preterists believe.

As I explain in other BBB articles, when I wrote the original version of this article back in August of 1999, I myself was a very solid Futurist. If you were to have asked me back then if I thought that Jesus Christ would be returning soon, I would have rattled off the very same aforementioned list of expected events with full confidence, without any degree of hesitation whatsoever. That is how sure I was of my personal beliefs at the time. No one would have been able to persuade me to think otherwise.

The key question at that time in 1999 was whether or not God's children were really meant to understand the timing of Jesus' Second Coming. In order to properly answer this question, as is my custom, I believe that the best approach to take, is to actually examine some of the verses which are commonly used to support the idea of Christ's unexpected arrival. Let us begin by reading what the Apostle Paul wrote in his first Epistle to the Thessalonian brethren:

"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 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."


On the surface, these verses appear to support the idea of the Lord returning as a thief in the night for the entire world. However, is that what they are actually saying? The main clue in solving this mystery, is found in Paul's usage of the word "they". It is obvious that Paul was writing this Epistle to the Christian brethren in Thessalonica. But who were the "they" to whom he was referring? Were the Christian brethren the ones who would be saying "Peace and safety"? I don't believe so. At least not if they knew the Scriptures. Are the Christians the ones upon whom would come the sudden destruction so that they would not escape? Again, I really doubt it.

It seems obvious to me then, that the Apostle Paul must have therefore been referring to someone else. In fact, I remain convinced that, in a very general sense, he was referring to the people who had rejected the truth of God's Word. These are the ones who would walk in spiritual darkness. That is to say, they would lack understanding concerning Jesus' Second Coming; but not those Christians who discerned the signs of the times. They would be expecting His eminent Return. Consider what the Lord said to the unbelieving Jews in the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew:

"The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"


The previous verses clearly reveal that even in Jesus' day, the hardhearted Jewish religionists simply did not possess the spiritual discernment to recognize Him as the Messiah. They were so earthly and carnal in their thinking, that they were totally blind to the truth. Jesus' message seemed like utter foolishness, and in fact total blasphemy to them. It is for this reason, that they demanded signs of Him, because they didn't have any real faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."


"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."


Exactly who was it who had blinded them in this way? If we consider what Jesus said regarding who was the master of the unbelieving Jewish religionists, and then look to several of the Apostle Paul's Epistles, we can gain a very clear answer, as we see by the following group of Bible verses:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."


"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"


"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."


Obviously then, it is Satan the adversary himself, the false god of this world, who since ages past, blinds the hearts, and dulls the minds of those who receive not the message of the Gospel, beginning with the Jews thousands of years ago. With this understanding, let us take another look now at what Paul wrote to the brethren at Thessalonica. If I may paraphrase here for just a moment, what Paul is telling the brethren is "Look; I know I don't really need to be writing to you about these things, because I know that you already understand them."

It is right after this, that Paul then employs the use of that word "they". He is using it in order to show a sharp contrast between those Christians who understand the events surrounding the Lord's Second Coming, and those people who do not. That is to say, the non-believers, the people of the world, those individuals who would be living during the time of the Apostasy. That is to say, during the "falling away". That is exactly what the Koine Greek word "apostasia" means.

Not only that, but if you read the second chapter of Paul's second Epistle to the Thessalonians, in conjunction with my article "Who Hindered the Antichrist?", you will quickly understand that Paul is primarily directing his words to the unbelieving Jews who would fall under the strong delusion of their false messiah, Moshiach ben David. This phrase simply means Messiah, son of David. I discuss this individual in my eleven-part series entitled "Who Is Moshiach ben David?", which you will find listed at the end of this same article.

It is because of their hardhearted unbelief, and because of their falling away from the truth, that sudden destruction was indeed destined to come upon those mockers and deceivers who would be eating and drinking, and marrying, just as it was in Noah's day before the Flood. Isn't this precisely what Jesus Himself, as well as the Apostles Peter and Paul, prophesied would happen as one of the signs of the end of the age? Consider the following verses:

"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."


"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."


"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation . . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."


Please notice that in both cases, Peter and Paul make a very clear link between the unbelievers and the mockers, and Jesus returning as a thief in the night. Both Apostles are telling their readers the very same thing. They are both saying that it is upon them -- that is to say, upon the unbelievers -- that the destruction would come. It is also upon them that the Day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night when they least expected it. Once again I am reminded of the prophetic Psalm Two. Consider the following group of verses:

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."


Returning to Paul's first Epistle to the Thessalonians, in his letter, Paul is obviously writing about two different groups of people. That is to say, the Christian Believers, and the reprobates. Paul is addressing his Epistle to the believing Church at Thessalonica, in order to tell them what will happen to the unbelievers, and NOT to the God-fearing, Bible-believing Christian brethren. In fact, if we read the very next verse -- that is to say, verse four -- Paul again makes a clear, unmistakable contrast between the believing brethren, and the unbelievers of the world when he states the following:

"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."


It truly amazes me how some Christians are so quick to quote the first three verses from this chapter regarding the Day of the Lord arriving as a thief in the night, but then they completely ignore or disregard verse four, which totally contradicts what they are saying. Either they do it out of ignorance, not even knowing that the verse exists, because they depend upon some man to teach them God's Word, or else they do know of its existence, and they purposely choose to ignore it, because it totally exposes the lie behind their belief and false doctrine.

My friends, there is simply no way around this. The Apostle Paul is clearly saying that the Christian Believers were not in darkness! They already knew, or at least they would know in the Lord's chosen time, when Christ would be returning. So then, it is clear that verses one through three of this chapter are actually talking about the unbelievers who would be caught by surprise, while verse four is referring to the Christian Believers. That is to say, to those Christians who would be watching and waiting patiently for Jesus' Return, while they faithfully continued to do their work for the Lord. As a matter of fact, please notice what the next few verses say after that. Paul is showing a further comparison between Believers and non-believers, as we see here:

"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 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."


There is no need to try to interpret these verses, as their meaning is quite obvious. Christian Believers, whether they lived two thousand years ago or today, are in the Light. We are the Children of Light. We know the truth of God's Word. Back in 1997 I authored an inspiring two-part article about this very subject entitled "The Children of Light: Are You One of Us?". I hope that you will find the time to read it. So the point is, they are the ones who would be in spiritual darkness. They are the ones who would be surprised. Why so? Because they were the children of darkness who had fully rejected the spiritual light of the Scriptures, and in so doing, rejected Christ Himself. As Jesus said in John chapter three:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."


The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness are as different as night and day, as water and oil, as bitter and sweet. This is why the Apostle Paul was inspired to write the following verse:

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"


So the Christians would be patiently waiting for the Lord's Return, even as they were already doing at the time that Paul wrote the previous verses. Once some of the signs which Jesus had warned them about actually began to happen, they would be able to begin to mark off the days, exactly as I demonstrate in the three-part series entitled "Last Seven Years Chart", and also in the six-part series called "The Great Tribulation and the Rapture". The unbelieving people of the world would indeed be completely caught by surprise by the Second Coming of Christ.

But not those Christians who understood the prophetic events of the times. They would not be so foolish. They would watch and pray, exactly as the Lord had advised them to do. As I point out in the aforementioned articles, God wanted them to understand. It is for this reason, that Jesus gave them many signs to watch for. It is likewise why He mentioned to them the prophecies which are found in the Book of Daniel. As Daniel wrote:

"And they that understand among the people shall instruct many . . ."


If they were truly wise, if they really knew the Word, then they would understand and be prepared, and not be taken by surprise like the rest of the unbelieving world. Not only would they understand, but as Daniel writes, they would be instructing others, and letting them know exactly what was happening. In fact, that is what some of them were already doing, and by God's grace, they continued to do it for as long as possible.

Furthermore, that is why Satan was out to get them. That is, because they were telling the world that his days were truly numbered. The False Messiah's days were also numbered. The Beast's days were surely numbered. The False Prophet's days were numbered. And Babylon the Great's days were numbered as well. Divine judgment was coming for them all. Thus, not long after Jesus returned to Heaven, Satan began doing his very best to try to slow them down, and to stop their mouths through his human puppets -- such as the unbelieving Jews, and later the Romans as well -- but his and their ultimate destruction, was already assured.

Returning to our main discussion, there exists Scriptural evidence which adds even more weight to the idea that the thief in the night scenario was a conditional possibility which was clearly, and directly, related to the degree of belief -- or unbelief -- on the part of the participants. Please consider also what the Spirit said to the Church at Sardis in the Book of Revelation:

"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."


Allow me to ask you an easy question. Is the Lord definitely saying that they would not know when He would be coming? No! He very explicitly says "If therefore thou shalt not watch". In other words, the Lord is saying "If you are watching, you will know when I am about to come. However, if you are not watching, if you are not keeping an eye on the signs of the times as I warned you to do, then I will surprise you like a thief in the night, just as will also occur with all of the unbelievers and mockers of the world." This same thought is repeated thirteen chapters later where we also read the following:

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."


Again it becomes very apparent, that if they were watching and waiting soberly, watching for the final events to be fulfilled, and counting off the days, then they wouldn't be caught naked or ashamed. They would not be like the foolish virgins who let their oil run out. The Lord's mention of "keepeth his garments" is something I have spoken about in a few other articles, such as in the series "Once Upon a Time: A True Story". It is the same wedding garment which Jesus was referring to in His Parable of the Marriage Feast. It is the Garment of Righteousness which we all receive when we accept and believe in Christ, and allow Him to wash us clean with His Sacrificial Blood. This is the only way in which we can truly be made righteous before the Father, have all of our sins blotted out, and have our relationship with Him restored. Consider the following Bible verses which mention the Garment of Salvation and the Robe of Righteousness:

"I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment ‭was‭ as a robe and a diadem."


"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."


"Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."


"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels . . . I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."


"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."


"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands . . . And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?‭ And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."


"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."


While I have now clearly demonstrated how some people have erroneously misinterpreted the "thief in the night" verses, there are other popular verses which are often used by those Christians who insist that Christians would not know when Jesus would arrive. These verses include the following:

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only . . . Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come . . . Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh . . . Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."


At the beginning of Matthew chapter twenty-four, the Lord's Disciples asked Him regarding what signs would precede the end of the age -- meaning the Prophetic Age which had been described to Daniel in the Seventy Weeks Prophecy by the Angel Gabriel -- and His Coming. Thus, upon reading that entire chapter, we know that in the previous verses, Jesus is referring to the actual generation which would both see and experience all of the signs which He describes for His Disciples in that chapter. These signs and markers include such things as severe earthquakes, widespread famine, wars and rumors of war, family betrayal, persecution against the Lord's followers, the preaching of the Gospel in the whole world, etc.

It is after the Lord has described these various signs to the Disciples, which He clearly links to the prophecies of Daniel concerning the Abomination of Desolation, that the Lord makes the above remarks. Now, let me ask you something. Why would Jesus describe all of these very specific signs to the Disciples, and then turn around and say that no one will know when He will return, except for His Father in Heaven? Does that make any sense to you? Doesn't it seem somewhat contradictory to say, "Now, fellows, all of these things are going to happen, but you still are not going to know"? What then is the purpose of even giving the signs to them? Why even tell them to watch and pray, if they still would not know when He would be returning?

Obviously, there must be some misunderstanding with regard to how the previous verses have been interpreted by certain modern Christians. It would be as if I were to prophesy and say "There is going to be a terrible two-car accident just twenty miles ahead of you, at the intersection of routes five and ten, at exactly 5:00 P.M., between a red pick-up truck and a blue convertible". But then I tell you "But you are not going to know when or where it is going to happen, so watch out!" Now doesn't that sound silly? Didn't I just provide you with all of the important details so that you can make sure that you will avoid the accident by watching for the signs I just gave to you?

Please go to part two for the conclusion of this article.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.