Thief in the Night

We have all heard that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. No man knows the day or the hour of His return. I do agree with this. The Bible says that is the way it will go down. However, I think there is more to it than just that. As with everything I have discovered in reading the good Book, it just isn’t that simple.

-          Matthew 24: 36

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

            As we can see here, the go to verse, nobody knows which day or hour we can expect His return. This day of the rapture does come, but nobody except the Father knows when.  That seems simple enough. What I have heard one author, Rob Skiba, claim was that this phrase, “no man knows the day or the hour,” is referring to the new moon. In ancient Israel men would use this phrase because they had to stay outside and watch for up to three days in order to determine the new moon. This is pretty interesting because it makes me wonder, if once we see the signs of His coming in the sky, is it possible it will be up to three days before He gets here? Or is it possible that this phrase means nothing in our time, and possibly means that those who were waiting, and watching new it was coming within a certain time frame, just not the exact time? This last idea seems the most plausible taking into consideration the parable of the good and evil servants.

-          Matthew 24: 48-50

⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 

            The evil servant was in the mindset that the master was not going to be back anytime soon. This gave him the false security that he could do whatever he chose to do, including beating the workers along with getting drunk and neglecting his own work, presumably. This, to me at least, is saying that Yeshua will return but only those that are NOT waiting patiently, following His rules, will be taken by surprise. Verse 50 says, “The master of THAT servant will come on a day when he does not expect him”. If that is the case then those of us that are watching and waiting may have an idea of when He is to return. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that we do not know the day or the hour, and cannot expect to set any dates. I just think that if we are really paying attention to all the signs that have been told to us through the bible, we should have a good idea about when His appearance should be on its way.

-          1 Thessalonians 5: 2

² for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night

            Again, we see that the rapture day will sneak up on us. But again if we go to the parable the Yeshua gives us following this verse we will see a similarity to that one of the good and evil servant.

-          Matthew 24: 42-44

⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

            Yeshua tells us, “keep watch” and “you also must be ready”. This parable He tells us, or at least leaves the possibility open, that if we are watching and waiting, we may have a good idea about when He will return. Once we start to see all of those prophecies come true, as many are now, we should start to pay close attention to the sky.

-          Luke 21: 28

²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

            Probably the verse that stands out the most to me concerning the coming of our Savior and whether or not we will know about it ahead of time or within a reasonable time is this.

1 Thessalonians 5: 4

⁴ But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

            Yeshua tells us that we will NOT be in darkness and that the day of the Lord, should NOT surprise us like a thief. These are His words, not mine. How are we to not be in darkness? Well, He referred to those He was speaking to as brothers and sisters. This meaning those that know what to look for, those that are followers of Him, and those that are watching and waiting for His return.

            If we keep watch, and stay ready for His return, we should know when it will be coming. Maybe we will not know the hour, or even the day, but I think we will be able to come to a pretty close estimate based on all the prophecies that will need to take place. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think anyone should go about their lives like the wicked servant, thinking that because we still have time it is okay to do whatever you want and clean it up later. NO. I am saying things need to take place before His return, but we need to use our time doing His work, spreading His word, and watching ALL the things going on in this world. Prophecies are coming true. Things ARE happening that are bringing us closer to the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.