Thief In The Night

 

"Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed" (Rev 16:15).

Why in the world would Jesus liken himself to a thief when He speaks about His second coming? Six different times in the New Testament this analogy is used. What are the important concepts that Jesus was saying in this strategic word picture?

First of all, the coming of a thief is always unexpected. Those who do not believe are totally unexpectant and unprepared. They will be caught naked and shamefully exposed. Heedless to God’s coming judgment, they think all is “peace and safety” (I Thes 2:2-3). As in the days of Noah they will be eating and drinking, business as usual, clueless that God’s judgment is coming soon (Mt 24:38-39).

Christians are different. We are expectantly ready (Mt 24:33). We will not be caught by surprise when the thief comes. We know that his coming is right at the door. Paul wrote: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief” (I Thes 5:4).  Christians are not the primary focus of this readiness alert. Jesus was not saying that the faithful should be vigilant every moment of every day, so that they do not get caught being naughty at the moment Jesus returns. I think that is what far too many Christians take this warning to mean.

Secondly, a thief wreaks destruction. If Jesus had only wanted to emphasize the unexpectedness of His second coming, He could have likened himself to a health inspector, or a tax auditor. But, no, a thief brings destruction. Paul picked up on this important concept of the analogy. He wrote that when the thief comes, that is Jesus, he will bring destruction (I Thes 5:3). I can remember, all too well, the time that I was burglarized by a thief. We came home to find our house totally ransacked. Every drawer, every cupboard, every closet was strewn all over the floor.

This part of the word picture is important to understand. It is not just the moment of Jesus’ arrival, or the rapture, that we are told to be ready for. It is the full aspect of the Day of the Lord which Jesus is warning about – the extreme turmoil and destruction, the sword, famine, and plague which will precede and accompany the second coming. Unbelieving mankind is certainly not anticipating judgment and destruction. But many Christians are also not ready for destruction.

Lastly, don’t miss the strategic location where this statement appears in the vision of the seven bowl judgments. It occurs between the sixth bowl and the seventh bowl (Rev 16:15). The second coming of Jesus, like a thief in the night, is clearly pinpointed as to when it will occur. Since the seven bowl judgments mirror the seven trumpet warnings, we would expect to find the second coming of Jesus pinpointed at the same time in each series of events. And that is exactly what we find. The second coming of Jesus occurs at the last trumpet, when the saints are harvested and caught up to be with Jesus, followed by a second harvest (Rev 14:14-20), the harvest of the grapes, which mankind is unprepared for.

Blessed are those who are awake and ready for the thief to come, for they will be caught up in the first harvest. Cursed are those who are found naked and exposed, for they will be harvested and judged by the wine press of God’s wrath.

The Day of The Lord

 

The Day of the Lord is a common theme in the Old Testament, particularly in the writings of the prophets. It refers to a coming day of reckoning, when God’s wrath will be meted out in judgement and destruction. The prophets warned, though, that not only the nations would be judged, but Jerusalem also. The city would be ransacked, the nations would invade, and then Messiah would come and rescue the remnant who survive (Zech 14). The Lord’s army will be innumerable, and the bloodshed will be extreme in the “valley of decision” (Joel 2). “That day” correlates to the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Christ (2 Thes 2:3-12; Rev 9:13-19; 16:12-16; 17:12-14).

The Day of the Lord also anticipates God’s blessing, restoration, and glory for the remnant of Israel (Jer 31-33; Zeph 3). And that is the ingredient of the Day of the Lord that the Jews focused on. They looked forward to the day when they would have their enemies defeated, when they would be vindicated, and the glory of their nation and their Messiah would be renown in all the world. They must have focused so much on the restoration and glory that they overlooked the judgment and destruction that preceded it. Amos warned them, “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light” (Amos 5:20).

The Day of the Lord is still in the future, so it also appears in the New Testament. For the most part, though, the terminology changes to the second coming of Christ. But all the same features still pertain – judgment, destruction, wrath, then restoration and the glory of Christ’s earthly kingdom. Christians have adopted a view of that day similar to the Jews of old. They want to avoid the tribulation, turmoil, and destruction, so they look forward to the rapture rescuing them from that awful tribulation. But when Jesus and Paul said that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, they were not referring to a rapture, like we have contorted it to mean. They meant the whole shebang – cataclysms, war and destruction, judgment and wrath, then the return of Jesus to defeat the nations, rapture the Church (the remnant who are left), and establish His kingdom.

And there you have it. The Day of the Lord is near -- very, very near. And that does not mean blissful escape before the wars and destruction begin, like so many have been led to believe. We need to consider the words of Amos, “Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord”, who think that the rapture is the only thing you need to anticipate on the near horizon.