Thief in the Night

Just as unprepared men were destroyed by Noah’s Flood, so unrepentant men and apostates will be overwhelmed by destruction when Jesus arrives.

Jesus compared the final years before his return to the days of the Great Flood. “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be.” He also used the analogy of the “thief in the night” to stress our inability to know the timing of “the coming of the Son of Man,” and therefore, our need for constant preparedness and vigilance.

Some interpreters see the comparison with the days of Noah as a prediction of the return of the same conditions that existed in Noah’s day, including the moral anarchy and violence that caused God to send the floodwaters.

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This popular interpretation misses the point. All periods of human history are characterized by immorality. The fuller version of the saying is found in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus compares this final period to the “days of Noah” and to the “days of Lot.” Both analogies make the same point.

• “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 when Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be after the same manner on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” - (Luke 17:28-30).

Moreover, since no one except God alone knows the timing of this final day, we must remain prepared for its sudden arrival, which will be like “a thief in the night.”

• “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched and not have left his house to be broken through. Be you also ready! For in an hour that ye think not the Son of Man is coming” – (Luke 12:39-40).

The comparison of Christ’s arrival with “the days of Noah” illustrates how men will continue in their daily routines until Jesus appears, suddenly and unexpectedly. The analogy of the thief in the night emphasizes our inability to know the timing of that day.

Jesus said nothing about the return of gross sin, violence, or terrestrial upheaval in the days before his return in either of his analogies. His purpose was not to provide another “sign” by which we may calculate the date of his return, but for us to be prepared always for his arrival.

Men will continue in their daily routines - “Eating, drinking, marrying, planting, building, buying and selling.” This describes everyday life, not chaos or egregious sin. They will go about their business each day as if nothing unexpected will ever occur, regardless of the testimony of preachers of righteousness like Noah and Lot, or the lessons of history:

• (2 Peter 2:4-9) - “For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the Pit and committed them to chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment; and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked <…> the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment.”

The problem in Noah’s day was the failure of humanity to respond to the call for repentance, just as men and women today ignore God’s gracious offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. We live as if death and judgment will never come, and we seem determined to continue doing so until the very moment when destruction inevitably comes.

Christ’s analogy pictures our foolish indifference to warnings of inevitable judgment. Only Noah believed God “about things not yet seen” and responded to the word of warning; therefore, Noah prepared the ark and was saved:

• “By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” - (Hebrews 11:7).

NORMALCY RATHER THAN CHAOS

Nevertheless, the Flood arrived for the rest of humanity. Men did not listen to the warnings of Noah or Lot. Instead, they chose to close their ears to the voice of God. So, also, the sudden arrival of “the Son of Man” will take many men, if not most, by surprise. But the conditions described by Jesus portray normalcy, not chaos.

In the account from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus declares that the Kingdom will not come “with narrow observations” (‘paratérésis’). This translates the Greek word used by medical practitioners for diagnosing diseases by observing symptoms, and for making careful observations of the movements of stars and planets:

• “And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God is coming, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with narrow observations” – (Luke 17:20).

We cannot calculate the timing of Christ’s return by watching the movements of stars and planets and other cosmic signs. When Jesus does come, it will be like “lightning flashing out of the one part under heaven and flashing into the other part under heaven” - sudden, unmistakable, and visible to all men.

Jesus included the illustration from the “days of Lot” in his portrayal of the period just before his return. As in the days of Noah, people were conducting their regular affairs; “eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage, buying, selling, planting and building,” until suddenly, fire fell from heaven and destroyed the city of Sodom. So, it will be “on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

We must, therefore, heed Christ’s repeated warning:

• “Lest at any time your hearts are overcharged with drunkenness and the cares of this life, and so that day comes upon (‘ephistémi’) you unexpectedly (‘aiphnidios’). For just as a snare, it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch, therefore, and pray always to be accounted worthy to escape (‘ekpheugō’) all these things” – (Luke 21:34-36).

The Apostle Paul uses this saying of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke in his first letter to the Thessalonians to make the same point, that we must remain prepared for the arrival of the Day of the Lord:

• (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3) - “For yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night. For when they will say, ‘Peace and safety,’ then unexpected (‘aiphnidios’) destruction comes upon (‘ephistémi’) them as travail upon a woman with child, and they will not escape (‘ekpheugō’).”

The Greek term translated as “unexpected” in this passage, of ‘aiphnidios’, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except here and in Luke 21:34 (“unexpectedly”). That great day will arrive when it is least expected by the unprepared, “just like a thief in the night… like labor pains upon a woman with child.” A homeowner does not know when a thief will strike! The Apostle Peter also warns of the coming time when:

• “Scoffers walking after their lusts will scoff; Where is the promise of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation! <…> But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up” - (2 Peter 3:2-10).

During global catastrophes, even atheists believe something apocalyptic is imminent. However, in times of peace and prosperity, we assume life will continue as usual. Whether the final days before Christ’s return will be characterized by chaos is not the point of the comparison with the days of Noah and Lot, or the analogy of the Thief in the Night.

Jesus paints a picture of normalcy for the period leading up to his return. The unprepared will be overtaken by the sudden and unexpected “revelation of the Son of Man.” Therefore, we must be ever vigilant and always prepared for the onset of that day.

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SEE ALSO:

• Knowing Times and Seasons - (Instead of calculating times and seasons, followers of Jesus must always be prepared for his sudden arrival)

• Deceivers and Disasters - (Jesus warned of coming deceivers who will mislead many and spread false information about his return)

• 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)

• The Sign of the End - (According to Jesus, the End will not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed to all nations – Matthew 24:14)