Signs and Seasons

Paul does not provide detailed information about the times and seasons since the Lord will arrive like a thief in the night – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3.

Paul continues discussing the “arrival” or ‘Parousia’ of Jesus Christ in Chapter 5 of First Thessalonians, where he addresses the question of its timing and how it will affect the prepared and the unprepared. Rather than signs and timetables, the Apostle reminds his readers that “the Day of the LORD” will come like a “thief in the night.”

God alone knows that Day’s timing, therefore, believers must remain prepared for its sudden arrival (“Take heed! Watch and pray! For you do not know when the season is!” - Mark 13:33).

[Lunar Eclipse - Photo by Claudio Testa (Germany) on Unsplash]

What Paul does not do in 1 Thessalonians is provide a list of definitive “signs” that will mark that Day’s imminence, nor does he give chronological keys by which we can calculate that day’s timing. His emphasis is on the unexpectedness of the event.

• (1 Thessalonians 5:1-3) – “But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need for anything to be written to you, for you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night. As soon as they begin to say, Peace and Security, then, suddenly, destruction comes upon them just as the birth-throes to her that is with child, and in no way will they escape.”

The phrase “now concerning” marks the beginning of this literary section, but that does not mean the new subject matter is unrelated to what preceded it.  Paul has been dealing with anxieties about the participation of dead believers in the “arrival” of Jesus from Heaven. He now continues with further but related information about the return of Christ.

Verse 2 begins with the Greek conjunction “for” or ‘gar’ (γαρ), which links Paul’s statement logically to the preceding verse.  Paul does not need to write about the “times and seasons” because the Thessalonian believers “themselves know accurately” that the Day is “coming like a thief in the night.” Not because they understand the specific signs that will precede the arrival of the ‘Parousia’ (παρουσια).

Paul uses the emphatic Greek pronoun, or “you yourselves,” to stress what his readers already know. He describes their knowledge as “accurate” (‘akribōs’). They understand that Jesus will come just “like a thief in the night.”

The point of the analogy is that Christ will arrive unexpectedly, like a thief, at a time the householder could not possibly know. Paul’s words echo the saying of Jesus:

• “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore, be you also ready; for in an hour that you think not the Son of man is coming” – (Matthew 24:42-45).

TIMES AND SEASONS

Both “times” and “seasons” are plural in Paul’s Greek sentence. Together, they cover any possible delimitation of time. The answer to the question of ‘when’, is the same answer provided by Jesus himself – “No one knows except his Father.” Paul’s description, “times and seasons,” may allude to Christ’s warning to his disciples before his Ascension:

• “And he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority” - (Acts 1:7).

The comparison to a “thief in the night” stresses the unknowability of that Day’s timing. Paul concludes that we must remain prepared for its sudden arrival precisely because we do not know when the Day of the Lord will arrive.

Paul used the term ‘Parousia’ or “arrival” in Chapter 4 when describing the coming of Jesus from Heaven. Now, he applies the label “Day of the Lord” to the same event:

• “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, that are left to the arrival [‘Parousia’] of the Lord, will in no way precede those who are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, that are left, will together with them be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord” – (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

The Day of the Lord will arrive “like birth pains.” Paul uses the analogy of a pregnant woman in labor. No one is surprised when a pregnant woman goes into labor, and no one doubts the outcome. Labor pains point to the inevitable, and in the present passage, to the coming destruction of the unprepared when Jesus arrives.

The picture of the thief emphasizes the unexpectedness of the day. The woman in labor points to the inevitability of destruction for those who are unprepared. “Unexpected destruction” will overtake the latter group.

Paul is describing complacency on the part of the unprepared, and this is confirmed by his use of the Greek conjunction ‘hotan’ (“whenever they are saying”). We prefer to live as if all things will continue as they always have, despite the testimony of History and Scripture. The Apostle’s warning reflects the warning of Jesus to his disciples:

• “Likewise, even as it came to pass in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. After the same manner will it be on the day that the Son of man is revealed” – (Luke 17:28-30).

We can prepare for the eventuality of a home invasion, but we cannot predict when the thief will strike.  For the unprepared, the ‘Parousia’ or arrival of Jesus on the Day of the Lord will be an unexpected event with dire consequences. For those who do prepare, it will bring rewards and glory.

• “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. <…> For God appointed us not for wrath, but for the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” – (1 Thessalonians 5:4-9).

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SEE ALSO:

• The Day of the Lord - (Jesus will arrive to gather his people on the Day of the Lord, and in the New Testament, this event becomes the Day of Christ)

• The Just Judgment of God - (The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication and rest for the righteous, but everlasting loss for the wicked - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)

• Coming on the Clouds - (The whole earth will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of Heaven, and he will send his angels to gather his elect –Mark 13:21-27)

• Vindication or Condemnation - (The arrival of Jesus will mean vindication for the righteous, but judgment and punishment for the wicked)