Don’t walk in sleep, but be watchful and excel: (Chap.5)
Two-problems always perplex the people during the days of Paul and also now.
- What happens after death and where are our loved ones?
- What will be at the end of the world?
The Thessalonians were apprehensive of both of them. They were worried about their friends who had died and whether they would suffer any disadvantages at the Parousia (the final judgement): and they were worried about themselves that whether they were ready to stand before Christ at His coming. These are two problems even our present church too is worried about.
Thief in the night and the day of the Lord: (5:1-3):
This period will come as a surprise to those on the earth at the time, like the visit of a thief to a sleeping homeowner (Matt 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40).
Here there are 2-affirmations about the judgement.
- The day of the Lord will come like a thief.
- Destruction will come like labour pains.
Both illustrations teach that Christ’s coming will be sudden and unexpectedly,
not necessarily that it will take place at night. Obviously it will be night in some parts of the world and daytime in other parts. No one in this world can escape the coming wrath of God, when it breaks out on the day of the Lord, just as the pregnant woman cannot escape labour pains.
The wrath of God that will have been building up over some time will suddenly break forth. The signs of its coming are discernible, though the moment of its arrival is unpredictable.
The Lord will work in world affairs more directly and dramatically during this period than He has been since the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time referred to by many Old Testament prophets (e.g., Isa.13:9-11; Joel 2:28-32; Zeph. 1:14-18; 3:14-15). That day begins immediately after the Rapture of the church and ends with the conclusion of the Millennium. This is very well explained in (Rev. 6-19).
This day will begin when world conditions appear calm and everyone talking about peace and safety. This peace will come with the signing of the seven-year covenant, predicted in (Dan 9:27) . This terrible day of the Lord and the subsequent events would be for those left behind at the Rapture which include nominal Christians and all other faith people, while they were expecting peace and safety, the destruction would overtake them suddenly.
Be watchful (5:4-9):
Paul knew that Thessalonians were not in such group who would be surprised by this day for that matter no believer should be surprised by this day. (1 Thess. 4:13-18).
Because believers live in a different sphere from others; it is the difference between the day and night. We are the children of light which is characterized by light, warmth and growth. Paul further says: “let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled” (5:6). In other words, if we belong to the day, our behaviour must be daytime behaviour. Let’s stay awake and alert. We must live appropriately beyond watchfulness and self-control and properly armed for the Christian warfare. Unbelievers are neither awake nor alert to these spiritual realities. Rather they are asleep and controlled by forces outside themselves, like those who are drunk, which render them unable to respond as they should. These are the normal characteristics of those who live in the sphere of night.
Further we must put faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. Paul writes this several times that we must be like Christian soldiers putting upon necessary armour and equipment. In other words we must be ready and watchful that Christ’s coming should not surprise us.