For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
Truth to Learn
The Day of the Lord will come quietly, the rapture noisily.
Behind the Words
“Know” is translated from the verb eidō, which refers to “seeing with perception and comprehension.” Thus, it takes on the meaning of “knowing” or “understanding.” In English someone might explain something and then say, “Do you see what I’m saying?” In such a case, they are not asking about vision but about understanding. This is the sense that eidō has in today’s verse.
The word translated “perfectly” is akribōs, which means “accurately” or “exactly.” It is not an expression about perfection, but of accuracy.
Hēmera is the word translated “day.” It can refer to a complete twenty-four hour period or, as in today’s verse, it can refer to the timeframe of a specific event.
The word “like” is from the Greek word houtō, meaning “in this way” or “in this manner.”
The word “thief” is from kleptēs. This is derived from the verb kleptō (from which we get our English word kleptomaniac, meaning someone who has an obsession with stealing things). Kleptē refers to someone who steals things, that is, “a thief.”
“Night” is translated from nux, which refers to the time period from sundown to sunrise.
Meaning Explained
In today’s verse we see a couple more reasons why the rapture (the Day of Jesus Christ) and the Day of the Lord are two distinctly different events. When Paul introduced the topic of the rapture back in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, he said “I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers,” meaning that they were ignorant of the facts surrounding the rapture. In yesterday’s verse he said, “you have no need that I should write to you,” and in today’s verse he completes that thought. The reason that they didn’t need additional information is because, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.”
Apparently, Paul had previously taught the Christians in Thessalonica the facts about the Day of the Lord. Since they had accurate knowledge about the Day of the Lord and were ignorant concerning the rapture, they must be two different things. One of the possible reasons for this is that the Old Testament has numerous references to the Day of the Lord, but there are no references to the rapture. Since the Old Testament is the only Scripture the Thessalonians had, they could only have learned about the Day of the Lord from it.
The other thing to note is how these two events occur. The rapture occurs with a loud proclamation and a trumpet blast. The Day of the Lord, on the other hand, comes like a thief in the night. A thief doesn’t announce himself and he doesn’t make a lot of noise; he comes quietly and secretly. In other words, the rapture will come with lots of noise, but the Day of the Lord will come quietly, like a thief.
Application
Christians, keep your ears open, listening for the shout and the trumpet blast. You’ll be gone when the Day of the Lord comes.
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved