“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2.
Those who watch have no need to be told when the end times are approaching. It’s just as Jesus told us.
“It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” Mark 13:34-37.
Again, the day of the Lord, refers to the tribulation period, a time of great trouble which the Christian will not have to endure, yet one should have a working knowledge of prophecy so they can warn others and anticipate the rapture themselves.
That the Lord comes like a thief in the night is also spoken of by Jesus in another illustration.
“Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Matthew 24:42-44.
“For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains on a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3.
Permit me if you will to lay out a little scenario, and bear in mind that it is only a theory and not something anyone should go out on a limb for.
But first here are a few facts from Scripture that are without dispute. The tribulation does not begin with the rapture; in fact there could be a number of years between the removal of all Christians from the earth and the start of the tribulation.
The seven year period known as the tribulation begins with the signing of a treaty between Israel and the Antichrist.
“Then he [Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with many [unbelieving Jews] for one week [seven years]; but in the middle of the week [after 3 ½ years] he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering [break the covenant]. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” Daniel 9:27.
The Russian army and many allies will invade Israel and be annihilated by God. For the complete picture of this invasion see the post, “Flash: Russia Invades Israel”, posted on 8/7/13 and “An Evil Plan”, posted on 8/14/13.
There will be a super-church in existence for the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation, see Revelation chapter 17. This church will be apostate embrace all religions, and have nothing to do with Christ as Savior, if it has anything to do with Him at all.
Apostate means, a desertion of or departure from, ones religion, principles, or cause.
With these in mind, along with the fact that the world already wants to come together under a one world government, Globalism, which is prophesied, again in the book of Daniel as consisting of ten parts.
It is possible to put together a credible theory as to what will occur before and during the tribulation.
Upon the removal of all Christians from the earth, the last remaining roadblock to a one world government will have been removed.
This will likely come together out of the chaos created by about one billion people, including children, being removed from the earth and with men scrambling to bring order again.
Bringing order is already being made easier with the Covid-19 flu. People are even now trained to sequester themselves in their homes when government tells them to.
The pandemic of Covid-19 has been fortuitous in that a flu which has a 99.98% survival rate has caused mass panic and was used for this training.
In the vacuum created by the removal of the real Christian church (the body of Christ), the super-church will form, probably from the shell of the Catholic Church after it has been gutted of its true Christian members. This new church will at some time begin to persecute anyone who accepts Christ as their savior.
“And I saw the woman [the super-church], drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.” Revelation 17:6.
This super-church will also accrue great power among the people, so much so, that she will actually have kings, including the Antichrist, kowtowing to her. But she will be dispatched with extreme prejudice in the middle of the tribulation, again, see chapter 17.
In the chaos and vacuum of power after the rapture, Russia will start to get ideas. Already rich, her desire is for more, and so she will look southward to rich, and unpopular Israel.
Having gathered a frighteningly huge army which very likely includes most or all Muslims, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah along with other factions and able bodied individuals who all jump at the opportunity to rape, plunder, and kill innocent Jews.
This juggernaut will roll on to Israel where it will be destroyed supernaturally by God on the mountains of Israel.
This massive army will so frighten the other so-called superpowers that they will not interfere, but it will be a lesson the world will not forget.
Notice too that every government in the world today is ruled by gutless men and women who have absolutely no concept of reality.
Unless God moves, America is about to join those nations taken over by greedy insipid politicians.
This has only happened because men who could have stopped it were spineless cowards who valued their positions more than their children’s futures.
With the exception of one nation, Russia, now ruled by Vladimir Putin, a ruthless man who, at least has a vision of the real world.
This does not make him a good man, but it makes him a strong leader with a goal and courage, whether from patriotism or self interests, to move toward that goal; even if it means killing anyone who gets in his way.
Whether it is he or another man, it will take someone with his kind of focus on the end game to invade Israel. This is the same kind of focus that the Antichrist will have.
When this mammoth army is destroyed on the mountains of Israel, the world will breathe a sigh of relief and say, “Peace and safety!”
Why? Because with the Russians decimated both on the field and at home, they will no longer be a world power or a threat to world peace; bringing peace!
And with Islam battered back into the seventh century, it will no longer have the heart to continue their program of world domination through terrorist activities, bringing safety!
I had often marveled at the statement that it was granted to the second of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6:3-4 to take peace from the earth.
Peace! Look around you; does it look like the world is at peace?
But, maybe after the destruction of the Russian army and its allies there will be an interlude of peace, until the tribulation begins: “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them…”
“When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, ‘Come and see.’ And another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” Revelation 6:3-4.
The rider on the first of these four horses represents the antichrist who will be released to do his will after the signing of the treaty with Israel, and the second rider represents the results of antichrist’s actions along with total lawlessness.
As to the last couple of phrases in the verse above about people killing one another; people are killing one another now!
It will get much worse after the rapture, and after the beginning of the tribulation, it will become pandemic.
Make sure you understand this; the rider on the red horse will not be released until after the rapture!
After the destruction of Russia and her Islamic allies many Jews will become believers either in Christ or in God the Father whom they know as Yahweh (see, Exodus 3:14), which would be a step toward accepting Jesus as their Messiah.
This may be what influences the Jews who turn to Christ (and are filled with the Holy Spirit) to become part of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists called out by God in Revelation 7:1-8.
Continue to read Revelation 7:9-17 for the results of the work of these evangelists.
The leadership of Israel and most of the Jewish population however, will not, for some reason, be moved to trust God in spite of this miraculous rescue.
Perhaps it is this lack of trust and fear of another invasion in the future, by another country that entices Israel to sign the seven year treaty with Antichrist; putting their faith in a man rather than God.
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5.
Paul confirms that he is addressing Christians by calling them brethren and sons of light.
The darkness here is the spiritual darkness of the unbeliever, and the darkness that envelopes the world, even today.
People who dwell in darkness will stumble into the tribulation completely ignorant of the horrors that await them.
“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6.
Again, the Christian is warned not to sleep as those in the world do, we are to remain vigilant and watchful of both our own walk in this world and watchful of the times as they grow near so that the rapture itself will not catch us acting in a wanton or dissolute manner as those in the world do.
Those who remain aware of the imminent return of the Lord for His own are much more careful of their conduct here on the earth. The word sober in this verse means self-controlled.
“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:7.
The night is wherever there is quiet unconcern about the things of God. Those who sleep are representative of worldly apathy to spiritual things.
The drunkenness is not only literal, but it speaks of a reckless uncaring attitude toward the things beyond this life. While Christians are often lulled to sleep by the enticements of this world, they are not dead toward Christ.
“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10.
The Christian is of the day, so they must maintain a sober view of life. Toward that end we must put on the breastplate of faith and love because the breastplate covers the heart, protecting us from sin which faith in God’s word guards us from, along with love which prevents us from sinning against others.
The helmet covers the head which needs to be kept from error. The hope of salvation is not the hope that we are actually saved from hell, but rather it is the looking forward to realizing the rewards of that salvation.
One of those rewards is salvation from the tribulation which is to come upon the whole world; the other reward is salvation to heaven, which is where those who are raptured will go to.
Again, it is repeated, “God did not appoint us to wrath…” this is now the second time we have been told that Christians will not face the wrath poured out upon the whole world during the tribulation period.
How often does this have to be repeated before men realize that those in Christ will not go into the tribulation, a time of wrath?
Believers should be comforted and encouraged by such knowledge.
“Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11.
Comfort One Another, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-18-13, updated on 1-18-21.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.