THIEF IN THE NIGHT

Could Jesus come tonight?? No, not according to the Bible.

According to pre-trib theory, the phrase, "as a thief in the night," means that the next appearance of Jesus will be a surprise, and will be sneaky, silent, invisible (to the world), and supposedly could happen any day, perhaps tomorrow.

The pre-trib theory, sometimes called "imminency", and a companion theory called "dispensationalism" weave a massive web of speculative confusion and self-contradiction, shamefully akin even to Mormonism. Pre-trib teachers are famous for reading fables printed with invisible ink between the lines of Scripture. It is common for pre-tribbers to rally around loosely-interpreted fragments of scriptures; often these scriptures are generally not associated with the study of the end-times, unless a person is predisposed toward the pre-trib viewpoint.

For example, let's look at the Bible verse, I Thessalonians 5:9

"For God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

Pre-tribbers of their own accord, conveniently have dubbed the seven-year-tribulation period with the label "Wrath". They say we won't be on earth during the tribulation period, since we're not appointed to wrath. Such a mode of thinking raises some pertinent questions:

1. Where does the above verse say anything about the return of Jesus?

2. Where does that verse say we're going anywhere?

3. Is the seven-year tribulation synonymous with the word, "wrath"?

4. Did Jesus ever say He would bodily leave his seat in Heaven before the Battle of Armageddon? (Hebrews 10:12,13) (Acts 3:20,21).

5. When the disciples asked Jesus, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming?..." (Matt. 24:3) why didn't Jesus ask them, "Are you talking about the rapture, or are you talking about the Grand Finale?" Is there a difference? (No!)

6. Why should little children who reach the age of accountability during the tribulation period, and who repent, have to suffer the "wrath," if the Church does not have to?

Here are some facts:

1. Pure "wrath" begins on Judgment Day. (Job 21:30)

2. "Wrath" is already upon the unbeliever. (Jn. 3:36)

3. "Wrath" is according to the fear of God (Ps. 90:11)

The fear of God is "eternal." (Ps. 19:9);

God's "Wrath" is everlasting, not just seven years.

4. Romans 5:9 says, "Being justified by His blood, we

shall be saved from wrath through Him."

1 Thessalonians 5:9-- "God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ," then, in view of the context of Romans chapter five,

salvation is contrasted with damnation; neither verse was intended to be a treatise

on eschatology.

5. The "lake of fire would be more aptly titled, "wrath."

The phrase "wrath of God" has been twisted to meet the whims of the pre-tribulationists.

Likewise, the expression, "as a thief in the night," is confused by pre-tribbers.

The above term is called in literature, a "simile". Similes have the characteristic of analogies; they perfectly illustrate a particular trait of the main subject, but similes and analogies are never intended or expected to describe all the aspects of the main subject. So the words, "as a thief in the night", tell about just one facet of Jesus' coming.

Let's compare thieves to Jesus Christ:

1. a. Thieves are dishonest.

b. Jesus is not.

2. a. Thieves are sneaky.

b. Jesus is not.

3. a. Thieves are night creatures, and work secretly.

b. Jesus is the Light, and works openly.

4. a. Thieves want you to be unprepared.

b. Jesus wants you to be prepared.

5. a. Skilled thieves give no sign of their future plans.

b. Jesus said, "Watch" for the signs.

6. a. Robberies can be prevented.

b. The return of Jesus cannot be prevented.

7. a. Robberies are usually done very quickly.

b. Jesus will come quickly.

First Corinthians chapter fifteen, verse fifty-two says that Jesus will come quickly "in the twinkling of a eye," in other words, as fast as the speed of light. When? --At the last trump of the tribulation. (also verse 52) Therefore, the expression, "as a thief in the night", must be referring to the quickness of the second coming; in other words, when Jesus begins to return, then He will return as fast as a brilliant lightening bolt from the east intensely illuminating all the sky, east and west. When Jesus begins His descent from Heaven, there will not be so much as a trillionth of a second to repent. His speed will be greater than your ability to react.

Pre-tribulationists are careful not to mention Revelation chapter 16, verses 14 to 16, where a "thief" scripture is sandwiched between two "Armageddon" scriptures. Jesus will return with His sharp sword quickly at Armageddon. (Rev. 19:21)

In similar fashion, Peter writes, "... The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise ..." (2 Pet. 3:10)

You might be wondering, "Where does the 1000-year-reign fit in this verse?" --The Lord's "day" is a thousand years (verse 8). "And God blessed the day, and sanctified it" because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." (Gen. 2:3); "... Ye are there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." (1 Pet 3:9); "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (Heb. 4:1,9) "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God." (2 Thess. 1:7 & 8) There is no rest for us , (which includes the writer, Paul, because he said "us") until Jesus takes vengeance on His enemies. When is that? It will happen at Armageddon . When the last millennium, the "day" of God's rest, is about to begin, first, the Church will have to go through the seven-year-tribulation.

To harmonize 2 Peter 3, verse l0 with the 1000-year-reign we can say this:

Jesus will return at the beginning of the final 1000-year "day". He will burn up the heavens and earth at the end of that final 1000-year "day". It is all just one day to Him.

Lastly, let's go to the Book of Revelation.

Jesus says to the reader that the "time is at hand". In the rest of the chapters of Revelation He lists the signs that will fortell of His return. He tells the churches to straighten out, if need be, and to hold on for a rough ride. So "at hand" does not mean, "maybe tonight". Certainly, as each day passes, the time is ever so much more "at hand"; and each person that reads the book today is ever so much more likely to be a real-life actor in the drama of the book. Did you ever want to be a Bible character? Guess what? You are! Although the seven churches in chapters one through three have a relationship with past history, they also apply especially to us today. Notice that Jesus says to the Church of Pergamos, "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth." (2:10) In other words, "Repent; or you will be a victim at Armageddon." The Pergamos Christians of old represent a type of some modern day Christians.

It is crucial to notice that He doesn"t say, "Repent; or else you will go through the tribulation. "He says instead, "Repent; or else ... I will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. "Therefore it is already understood that the Church will go through the tribulation. The apostle John mailed these letters to the seven churches all at the same time; the Lord told five of the churches to repent; likewise, together, each of these five exhortations to repent apply to the church today. Five penalties are listed that tell what will happen if the church does not repent:

1. I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick ... (2:5)

2. I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. ( 2:16)

3. I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation ... and I will kill her children with death ... (2:22,23)

4. 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. (3:3)

5. I will spue thee out of My mouth. (3:16)

To the penitent, some of the things Jesus says are:

1. Ye shall have tribulatian ten days: be thou faithful unto death ... he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (2:10,11).

2. I also will *keep (Greek: guard, preserve, protect) thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them which dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly ... (3:10,11) *NOTE: It doesn't say "remove". If a person needs to be guarded, preserved, and protected, that person must be in a potentially hostile environment.

Notice that those that are penitent also go through limited tribulation, but God does not punish them with death; those Christians that die, are martyred , not punished. This does not mean that the "beast" will not kill Christians that they might glorify God by the manner of their death. Also notice that Jesus comes quickly both in the case of the penitent and in the case of the unpenitent. It is the same event. Jesus comes "quickly", "with the sword", coming upon "as a thief".

Jesus will rapture His Church at the time of the Battle of Armageddon and at no time before that. When is that? Ye know not the hour. But watch and pray. Surely the Lord God will do nothing but, He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets. At this point in history, we don't know upon what date Armageddon and the post-trib rapture simultaneously occur. Although we don't know the date of His return, we can know when the timing is NOTright. God has revealed to His prophets that the church must be united without spot, wrinkle,or blemish, not only in the Spirit, but in the faith i.e. doctrine, that we might not be tossed about by winds of doctrine. At present, the universal church is divided in regard to (or I could say "disregard" toward) many doctrinal topics. The church is divided over the "tongues" issue. The Church is divided on the issue of modern-day apostles: this is of tantamount importance, because the apostles are being restored to the Church expressly to unify It. There is a major schism concerning the topic at hand, that is, the timing of the rapture. Ironically, the erroneous view clung to by pre-tribulationists demonstrates that we all need to enter into the seven years of tribulation, thereby eradicating that particular false teaching from our midst, when the truth retrospectively dawns on the pre-tribulationists by the benefit of hindsight; it will then of course be clear that the doctrine is a fallacious whim. Other rapture articles: click here.

web site manager

HOME