Bible TimeThose days will come like a Thief in the night
Objections are often raised that this period in history will suprise everyone like a thief in the night. This theif motif occurs often in scripture. It applies to non-believers. The Bible passages that use the thief motif teach that followers of Jesus, paying attention to him, will know the timing of his return.
Background
Probably more frequently asked than any other question... Doesn’t the Bible say this is going to be a surprise? Like a thief in the night? That no one can anticipate? NO The Thief motif shows up in the Bible in several places. Each adds details to a pretty clear story. Let’s look at each in turn.
The Thief in Revelation
Many Christians believe that the return of Jesus is going to be like a thief in the night. This belief is not wrong. Jesus is going to return like a thief. The problem: this belief is incomplete. The Bible teaches that some will not be surprised by the date of his return. The thief motif applies to those not paying attention to Jesus and his ongoing affairs.
The distinction is not Christian vs. Non-Christian. Subtle and important, the distinction is those who are paying close attention to Jesus and those who are not. The best place to see this is in a passage in Revelation that we look at next.
66 Revelation 3:1-6
1And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.
2Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine perfected before my God.
3Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4But thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy.
5He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
The Church at Sardis is asleep. Resting on its reputation for doing good deeds, it is not doing the deeds that remain for it to complete. Jesus says that it is in danger of dying. He says in this letter that if it does not wake up, Jesus will come to it like a thief and that this church will not know at what time it will be visited.
This letter follows a pattern found in many other places where God speaks an opposite. In Isaiah he talks about what idols and false gods are incapable of doing. By inference, God is really telling us what He is capable of doing. Similarly, the letter to this church is following a pattern of opposites. If it does not wake up, it will be surprised. Jesus wants an opposite behavior out of the Christians at Sardis. He wants them awake. He wants them alive. He wants them not surprised like a thief.
Christians who are not asleep will not be surprised at the timing of Jesus’ at his return. Those who are awake will know.
The Thief in Luke
The thief theme occurs Luke. In the middle of this account Peter askes a very important question. Is this for Christians, or for everyone? (Or is it for someone else? Translations differ in their rendering at this key point.)
43 Luke 12:35-48
35Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;
36and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him.
37Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.
38And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so blessed are those servants.
39But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be broken through.
40Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
41And Peter said, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even unto all?
42And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
43Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
44Of a truth I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
45But if that servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the unfaithful.
47And that servant, who knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes;
48but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom they commit much, of him will they ask the more.
Jesus does not give Peter a simple answer to his question. He gives Peter a prolonged discourse. Jesus breaks the world into two categories: a manager and a servant. These two words carry some of the feel for his answer.
The manager, the one given responsibility in Jesus’ enterprise, will be found busy and not surprised at Jesus’ return. The servant, or slave, will not know. Jesus intends to share what he is doing with his friends. Like the letter in Revelation, there is an under riding tone in this passage that there will be many within the Church who should know but who are either asleep or irresponsible and who will therefore not be aware of his exact time of return.
Those who are managing the affairs assigned to them by Jesus himself will understand the timing of Jesus’ at his return. Those who don’t understand Jesus will beat those servants of Jesus who do.
The Thief in Thessalonians
Paul uses the thief motif. Reiterating that thieves come at night, Paul says that those surprised by thieves live in darkness, while Christians are children of the light, able to see what is coming.
46 First Thessalonians 5:1-11
1But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you.
2For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief:
5for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;
6so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober.
7For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.
8But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
9For God appointed us not into wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.
Paul also says Christians are not children of darkness that this day should surprise us. Paul is teaching that the world is generally not going to know the hour of his return, but that Christians should know, will know, but there are going to be those who should know but don’t and are surprised by the sudden arrival of the Lord Jesus.
He also seems to suggest that avoiding a certain amount of wrath depends on being awake. Christians who remain asleep are in various dangers, not only of being surprised, but of other problems such as drunkeness. Drunkeness and disipation is a warning even Jesus used for this same time. Recall Noah, who built a vineyard and got drunk. This is a risk of all those who live through this sort of event.
Christians do not live in darkness that this day should surprise us like it will those who live in darkness.
The Thief in 2 Peter
Peter picks up on the thief theme too. In 2 Peter 3 he dwells on how we should live because the world is coming to an end. He reiterates we should be looking forward to a new heaven and new earth. Peter does not define "thief" for us, presuming we already know what it means.
63 Second Peter 3:1-14
1This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance;
2that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:
3knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts,
4and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God;
6by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness,
12looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.
Interestingly, Peter also gives some important clues as to exactly when Jesus will return. To crack his clues requires an accurate chronology and an understanding of where we are on that chronology.
We are not in darkness, nor are we asleep, that this day should surprise us like a thief. We are told in these passages that we are to keep busy, doing the various jobs that Jesus has assigned each one of us. If we do this, keeping our eyes and ears open to his leading we will not be surprised by this event.
Those who think the Thief stories prevent understanding of the times and dates of the Bible usually hold this belief so they are not asked the real question: When are the times and dates given in the Bible? This is the question this web site answers in intricate detail.
Christians who know the timing of Jesus’ return will keep busy doing the tasks Jesus has assigned.
Conclusions
Just because the timing of Jesus’ return has been so horribly mis-understood across the past 2 millennia, we should not think that it cannot be know. The problem is figuring out how the Bible deals with this subject, a solution far different than assumed by most Christians over the age.
