![]() “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. The apostasy also means the “departure”-as apostasia is translated in the first seven English Bible translations-and may be a reference to the Rapture of the Church, as the context of “our gathering together unto Him” seems to indicate: ![]() ![]() At that time, the Antichrist will also be revealed. However, they were told to watch-more on that later.Īs Paul describes in his second letter to the Thessalonians, without a single member of the true Church left on earth after the Rapture, the greatest apostasy the world has ever committed will take place. The Thessalonian believers also had “no need” to be concerned about “the times and seasons” that take place during the Day of the Lord because they would not be present on earth when they take place. They knew that the exact beginning was unknown and that it would catch the world at large completely by surprise. In addition, the Church will not be affected by the times and the seasons that will take place during the Tribulation as she will be taken to heaven at the Rapture just before the Day of the Lord begins.Īccording to Paul, the Thessalonians already knew about the Day of the Lord. At the time Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians, presentations of the many signs that will precipitate the Day of the Lord were-and still are-found in the Old Testament as well as the teachings of Christ, etc. Instead, Paul instructed the Thessalonians on what to watch for before the Day of the Lord begins.Įssentially, Paul told the Thessalonians that they had no need to be further educated about the times and seasons. e., for the seven plus years after the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Notice that Paul did not educate the Thessalonians on what to watch for during or at the end of the Tribulation- i. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (I Thessalonians 5:1-2).Īlthough Paul begins a new subject-the Day of the Lord-he was likely illustrating to the Thessalonians what to watch for concerning their meeting with the Lord in the air at the Rapture. “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).īased on the verses just written in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Paul was most likely continuing with the theme of the Rapture of the Church still in view where 1 Thessalonians chapter five begins: Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52). “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).Īlthough the Lord Jesus made reference to it in the verse above, the event known as the Rapture of the Church was revealed as a “mystery” solved by the Apostle Paul in his letters written to the churches at Corinth and Thessalonica: He will catch the world completely off guard when He suddenly returns over earth to seize everyone-who truly believes in, repents, and accepts His sacrifice for their sins-up from the ground and into heaven. The Rapture of the Church is often thought of as the Lord Jesus suddenly appearing like a thief in the night to “steal” or “take” His bride home to be with Him in heaven. Rather, a thief is usually associated with committing a theft- i. A thief in the night is not usually associated with making a delivery.
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