Thessalonians Audio Teaching Series
Part 5
Estimated reading time: 18 minutes
Thessalonians: Session 5
The first eleven verses in Chapter 5 parallel what we ended with last time regarding the gathering together. Those first eleven verses are about the Day of the Lord.
I Thessalonians 5:1 APNT:
Now concerning the times and the seasons, my brothers, you do not need me to write to you.
Remember in the Book of Acts when the disciples asked Jesus if he would restore the kingdom to Israel now? Remember Jesus’s answer?
Acts 1:7 APNT:
He said to them, “This is not yours to know the time or these times that the Father has placed in his own authority.
What’s the difference between times and seasons? Time (Greek kronos) refers to a period. Seasons are a portion of time within that period. When you say “times and seasons,” you mean all the variations of sections of times. The term a “day of” would be a season, because it’s a specific time period marked by certain criteria.
Although the times are in the Father’s own authority, that doesn’t mean you can’t know anything about them.
I Thessalonians 5:1 APNT:
Now concerning the times and the seasons, my brothers, you do not need me to write to you.
Paul did not need to write to them about what he had already spoken to them about.
I Thessalonians 5:2–3 APNT:
2 For you know truly that the day of our Lord will so come as a thief in the night,
3 when they say, “Peace and harmony.” And then suddenly, destruction will come on them as birth pains on a pregnant woman and they will not escape.
These verses use two illustrations to describe the Day of the Lord:
- Like a thief in the night (unexpected)
- Like birth pains or labor coming on a pregnant woman (unavoidable)
Remember from the earlier session that the “Day of the Lord” is not the gathering together. The Day of the Lord is after the Anti-Christ ushers in what appears to be great prosperity. The persecution starts against Israel, and it looks like the Anti-Christ is winning, and the great signs will usher in the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is when God does the judging. It is when God comes against what the Anti-Christ has set up—the Day of the Lord is always against unbelievers.
Matthew 24:34–44 is a parable about how the Day of the Lord will come in like a thief.
Matthew 24:34 APNT:
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass until all these [things] occur.
“This generation” can be confusing. The whole period of the end times, from the gathering together until the coming of the Lord with the saints (us), will happen within one generation. In other words, within a span of no more than about 50 years.
Matthew 24:35–37 APNT:
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, yet my words will not pass away.
36 But about that day and about that hour, no man knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only.
37 And as the days of Noah, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man.
Like a thief in the night
The arrival or coming “of the Son of Man” is when He comes back in judgment when He comes back to earth with us.
Matthew 24:38–39 APNT:
38 For as they were before the flood, eating and drinking and marrying women and giving [women in marriage] to men, up to the day [in] which Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not know until the flood came and took all of them, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man.
Noah was building the ark for 120 years, and he kept preaching that there would be a flood. People ignored Noah and went on about their lives. That’s exactly what’s going to happen during the end times as well. People will be celebrating peace and safety, and then He will return (with us). And all the tribes of the earth will mourn.
It’s common in sections about the end times to include an exhortation to watch, be aware, don’t forget. Keep in mind that it is referring to them watching for the second coming when Christ comes back to earth with us. It’s not talking about us. We are not watching for the signs that aren’t going to happen until we are out of here at the gathering together; we are waiting for the first part of His return when we will get our new bodies and meet Him in the air. We are also watching so that the thief cannot enter in to harm our families in the meantime.
Like birth pains or labor
You can look up the phrase “Day of the Lord” in the Old Testament and learn much.
Isaiah 13:6 KJV:
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Many people teach that the Day of the Lord is the gathering together and everything will be wonderful. However, every single verse in the Old Testament about the Day of the Lord describes how dark and terrible it will be.
It is important to understand and remember that the Day of the Lord is not directed to believers; it is toward unbelievers.
Isaiah 13:6–9 KJV:
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
It’s toward sinners, not believers. When it happens, men will know what it’s like to go through labor.
Jeremiah 46:10 KJV:
For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
We do not go through the wrath!
The Day of the Lord is a dark time (for unbelievers). Consider the seven trumpets.
The first trumpet (Revelation 8:7): hail and fire with water, and a third of the trees and grass are burnt up.
The second trumpet (Revelation 8:8–9): a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the ships are destroyed.
The third trumpet (Revelation 8:10–11): a star (called Wormwood) falls flaming to the earth, and a third of all the rivers and fountains of water become bitter.
The fourth trumpet (Revelation 8:12–13): the sun, moon, and stars become dark.
The fifth trumpet (Revelation 9:1–12): locusts like scorpions sting people, and they can’t escape the pain of the sting that lasts for five months.
The sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:13–10:6): the four horsemen, and a third of the earth’s remaining population (unbelievers) is slain.
The seventh trumpet (Revelation 10:7 and following) fills up the wrath of God, the sea becomes blood and every living thing in the sea dies, the rivers and fountains become blood, the sun scorches with great heat and fire, the Babylon kingdom becomes pitch dark, the Euphrates river dries up, and Babylon (the center of the Anti-Christ’s power) is destroyed by earthquake and hail.
Joel 2:1–2 KJV:
1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
Amos 5:18–20 KJV:
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Those are just some of the references to the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament.
The question the Thessalonians had
This is discussed in 1 Thessalonians because people had questions. Some people thought the Day of the Lord was the gathering together, exactly what many people still believe today. Their question was, “Don’t we have to go through the Day of the Lord?” And Paul’s answer is, “No!”
There are two phrases that help us to understand the time of the bema.
The first phrase is “the time of the Gentiles.” Look at Luke 21, which parallels Matthew 24.
Luke 21:24 KJV:
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
That phrase, “times of the Gentiles,” is a description of what is going to happen to Jerusalem. There was a partial fulfillment of this in A.D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans an the temple was cast down. From that time on, Daniel’s vision showed who would be in control until the times of the Gentiles would end.
The “times of the Gentiles” will end when Christ comes back with us. Although Israel has been a nation again since 1948, we are still in “the times of the Gentiles.” In fact, Jerusalem is still controlled by Gentiles.
The mystery of the blindness of Israel
Romans 11:25 KJV:
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
This is not the mystery of the body of Christ, this is another mystery.
To understand the times of the Gentiles, it helps to remember what we discussed earlier about how God, in His patience, wants every single person possible to be saved. He made it possible for the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles as well as to Israel.
From the time of A.D. 70 on, there came a blindness about who the true Israel is. The people of Israel were scattered all over the world. Some that believe they are of Israel are not. Some who believe they are not of Israel, are. Today, only God knows who the true Israel is—and that’s why it’s a mystery.
Who the true Israel is, will start to become apparent after the gathering together.
The “times of the Gentiles” will be fulfilled, completed, and ended when Christ comes back for us at the gathering together.
I Thessalonians 5:4 APNT:
But you, my brothers, are not in darkness so that day should overtake you as a thief.
It won’t overtake us, because we won’t be here. We will have already been gathered together.
I Thessalonians 5:5–7 APNT:
5 For all of you are sons of light and sons of the day. And you are not sons of the night, nor sons of darkness.
6 We should not sleep, therefore, as others, but we should be watchful and be wise,
7 for those who are asleep are asleep in the night and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.
Comparison in verse 5:
A sons of light
B sons of the day
B sons of the night
A sons of darkness
It’s a comparison of how all those descriptions of the Day of the Lord are about darkness. But we’re not darkness; we’re children of the day, children of light. So we don’t need to be fearful of all those terrible things happening to us.
You can learn more about the figure of speech, allegory, in this section in the hardcover APNT.
I Thessalonians 5:8 APNT:
But we who are sons of the day should be watchful in our mind and be clothed with the breastplate of faith and of love and should put on the helmet of the hope of life,
This reminds us of the armor of God in Ephesians. Thessalonians was written before Ephesians, but already God is showing people the image, the concept, that would later be more fully described in Ephesians.
In Thessalonians, the breastplate (that protects your heart) is described as the breastplate of faith and love. Later, in Ephesians, the breastplate is described as the breastplate of righteousness or justification. In Thessalonians, it’s the helmet of the hope of life, while in Ephesians it’s the helmet of redemption. Those are actually very similar!
The whole concept of the armor of God is about who Christ is in you. You put on the new man, you put on Christ, you put on the armor of light. You put on everything that Christ is.
Ephesians 3:16–19 APNT:
16 that he would allow you, according to the wealth of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit, that in your inner man17 Christ would dwell in faith and in your hearts in love, as your root and your foundation becomes strong,
18 that you would be able to understand with all the holy [ones] what is the height and depth and length and breadth
19 and would know the greatness of the knowledge of the love of Christ and would be filled with all the fullness of God.
1 Timothy 1:14 APNT:
Now the grace of our Lord and the faith and love that are in Jesus Christ abounded in me.
That’s exactly how it works. It’s in Christ, and Christ is in you, and you can put it on in your mind and heart and walk out in it.
Let’s consider another aspect of the breastplate: the high priest’s breastplate, which represented all the tribes of Israel.
Exodus 28:15 KJV:
And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
It was called “the breastplate of judgment.” When the high priest went into the holy of holies (once a year), he wore the breastplate of judgment, the representation of every tribe of Israel. He was going into the holy of holies to make atonement for them. That’s exactly what Jesus Christ did as our High Priest! But instead of entering the representation (holy of holies) in the temple, He went straight into the throne room of God!
I Thessalonians 5:8 APNT:
But we who are sons of the day should be watchful in our mind and be clothed with the breastplate of faith and of love and should put on the helmet of the hope of life,
David said that he set the Lord always before his face (Acts 2:25 and Psalm 16:8). Thessalonians describes the hope as a helmet. In Ephesians, you set the helmet of salvation on your head. In the Aramaic, it means wrapped around your head like a turban. Wherever you look, you see hope and salvation.
The hope is real, and it will happen.
I Thessalonians 5:9–11 APNT:
9 because God has not appointed us to wrath, but to the possession of life in our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with him.
11 Because of this, comfort one another and build one another up, as also you have done.
“Comfort” includes the idea of exhortation and encouragement. Let’s not look at that; let’s look at this.
Thessalonians then goes into more practical instruction, especially about how to live in the fellowship of believers.
I Thessalonians 5:12–15 APNT:
12 And we beg you, my brothers, recognize those who toil among you and stand before you in our Lord and teach you,
13 that they may be regarded by you with abundant love. And because of their work, come to agreement [peace, harmony] with them.
14 Now we beg you, my brothers, instruct the wrong-doers and encourage the faint-hearted [ones] and bear the burden of weak [ones] and be long-suffering to everyone.
15 And beware that none of you should repay evil for evil, but always pursue good [things] to one another and to everyone.
The word “and” connects four things in verse 14. Those four things, separated by “and,” summarize what it means to encourage or comfort one another.
1. Instruct [warn or remind] the wrong-doers (“unruly” in King James). The Greek word is used for soldiers who break ranks or have careless habits. When you continue to do things contrary to the Word of God, you are breaking ranks.
2. Encourage (“comfort” in King James) the faint-hearted. The Aramaic for “faint-hearted” means small souls. The old Webster’s dictionary had these definitions for “encourage” and “discourage.”
Encourage: The act of giving courage or confidence of success. An incitement to action or to practice. An incentive.
Discourage: To attempt to repress or prevent, dissuade from, or deprive of confidence.
What gives us comfort or encouragement?
Hebrews 6:17–18 APNT:
17 Because of this, God especially wanted to show to the heirs of the promise that his promise would not change, so he bound it with oaths,
18 that by two things that are unchangeable in which God is not able to lie, we who have sought refuge in him may have great comfort [encouragement] and may hold fast to the hope that was promised to us,
Romans 15:4 APNT:
For everything that was previously written is for our instruction. It was written so that by the patience and by the comfort [encouragement] of the scriptures we would have hope.
Acts 11:23 APNT:
And when he came there and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and begged [“exhorted” in King James] them that with all their heart[s], they should follow our Lord,
2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 APNT:
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and gave us everlasting comfort and good hope by his grace,
17 comfort your hearts and establish [you] [give strength]in every word and in every good work.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 APNT:
Because of this, comfort one another and build one another up, as also you have done.
3. Bear the burden of the weak ones. That’s like a support or a crutch. It’s shared burdens.
4. Be long-suffering to everyone. Have patience. You don’t give up on people, the Word, or what’s true; you just stand.
I Thessalonians 5:15–22 APNT:
And beware that none of you should repay evil for evil, but always pursue [run after] good [things] to one another and to everyone.
16 Rejoice at all times
17 and pray unceasingly.
18 And in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.
19 Do not extinguish the Spirit.
20 Do not reject prophecies.
21 Search everything and hold that which is good
22 and flee from every evil affair.
In verse 20, when I read don’t extinguish or “quench not” the Spirit, I think of a fire extinguisher. We want to stoke the fire, not put it out. We want more spiritual things, more prophecy, more signs, miracles and wonders, more healing, more deliverance, and more manifestations or operations of the Spirit.
I Thessalonians 5:23 APNT:
Now may the God of peace make all of you holy [set apart] completely and may he keep your whole spirit and your life and your body without blame until the coming [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That coming refers to the parousia, the gathering together, the first part of His return when we meet Him in the air.
I Thessalonians 5:24–28 APNT:
24 Faithful is he who called you who will do [this].
25 My brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all our brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I charge you by our Lord that this letter should be read to all the holy brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.
Deuteronomy 7:9 KJV:
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Remember in the armor of God, gird up your loins with truth? Gird up your loins with God’s faithfulness to His promises; He never backs down on His promises.
1 Corinthians 1:7–9 KJV:
7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Thessalonians 3:3:
KJV: But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
APNT: But the lord is faithful, who will keep you and rescue you from the Evil [one].
At the end of 2 Thessalonians, many King James Bibles say it was written from Athens That’s incorrect. It was written from Corinth (see the first session for details).
1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 APNT:
9 For they report what kind of entrance we had to you and how you turned to God from reverence of idols to serve the living and true God,
10 while you wait for his Son from heaven, Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, who has delivered us from the wrath that is coming.
They turned from idols to serve the living and true God. That’s love.
They wait for his Son from heaven. That’s the hope.
He delivered us from the wrath that is coming. That’s faith or believing.
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