But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that ye should be written to,
Paul has just told the Thessalonians something new about the Lord's coming for His own. On the times and seasons, though, he says they need no letter at all — and that leaves us asking why the two subjects stand so differently.
The opening words of chapter 5 are set deliberately against what came just before, where Paul writes so that his readers will not be uninformed.
The first and second verses of chapter 5 stand in very direct contrast to 1 Thess. 4:13, 15. About the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints — what people usually call "the rapture" — they knew nothing. That left them in needless difficulty and sorrow, so the Apostle wrote to them "by the word of the Lord" to teach them. But about "the times and the seasons" they were not ignorant at all, and Paul had no need to write to them on that subject.
The phrase is not a general word for the future. Writers connect it with God's dealings with this world.
The times and seasons have to do with the earth and not heaven, as Genesis 1:14 shows us. In Thessalonians the term does not mean the divisions of earth's history that the sun and stars mark out. It means the larger divisions, each with its own special features, which God's moral government of the earth marks out. In the past, great events have opened a fresh season: the flood, the rescue of Israel from Egypt and the giving of the law, the fall of David's line of kings and the passing of rule into the hands of the nations. Another season is still to come. The Lord Jesus will open it when He takes up His great power to reign. That will be "the day of the Lord."
Paul does not argue the point. He treats the day of the Lord as something his readers already know.
So the apostle, when he speaks of the day of the Lord, refers to it as already too well known to need fresh words about it. The Thessalonians did not need teaching about that. But this makes very plain the difference between how God will deal with the saints and how He will deal with the rest of mankind. When Paul takes up the Lord's coming, they need teaching; when he speaks about the day of the Lord, they do not.
That gap in what they knew leads one writer to a firm conclusion.
The Thessalonians had no difficulty with these times and seasons. They knew all they needed to know about them. Yet no one had taught them properly about what will happen at the resurrection and rapture of the saints. It is obvious then that Paul — and therefore the Spirit — did not count the resurrection and rapture as part of the times and seasons. Those belong to the day of the Lord and the kingdom on earth.
Once Paul reaches this subject, the way he speaks of his readers changes.
In the previous chapters Paul had not pointed out any period of time in connection with the Lord's coming. Here he takes up the question of "times and seasons." But the moment he touches this point, he stops saying "we." He says "they" and "them" — those who are outside. He takes great care to mark the saints off from them. When he speaks to the saints again, he calls them "But you, brothers."
One writer turns to what this means for working out dates.
Times and seasons do not directly concern the Church. They look on to the times and conditions in which God will carry out His ways with the earth, as the prophetic Scriptures foretell. The Lord had said to His disciples, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority" (Acts 1:7). So it is useless to try to work out the date of the Lord's coming from Daniel's prophecies or any other Scripture. It is worse than useless. It tries to find out what the Lord says is not for us to know.
Yet ignorance of dates is not ignorance of sequence:
Scripture has foretold two events, and one must happen before the other: the rapture of the saints comes before the day of the Lord, when He returns with His saints. Christians are expected to know this order... Still, we are not to know when either will happen. We are to be ready for the rapture at all times.
- Contrast. Chapter 4 taught them what they did not know. Chapter 5 builds on what they already knew.
- Scope. "Times and seasons" belong to God's government of the earth, and lead up to the day of the Lord.
- Source. Paul wrote nothing new about the day of the Lord because it was already too well known to need fresh words.
- Proof. They knew the times and seasons well, but knew nothing of the rapture — so the two are not the same event.
- Posture. Believers may know the order of events, but not the dates — so the call is to be ready, not to calculate.
for ye know perfectly well yourselves, that the day of [the] Lord so comes as a thief by night.
In chapter 4 Paul described the Lord coming for His own. Now he turns to an event the world will never see coming: what is "the day of the Lord," and how could Paul say they already knew it perfectly?
The opening phrase of verse 1 sets the frame for verse 2. "Times and seasons" is not a vague expression for the future; it points to God's dealings with this world, and the same words appear elsewhere in Scripture.
'Times and seasons' as relating to the earth are first mentioned in Genesis 1:14. We have the exact words here, and we meet with them again in Acts 1:7 and 1 Thessalonians 5:1. It is clear that this expression refers to God's dispensations and dealings on the earth. In Acts 1, the disciples were not to know the time of God's dealings. Yet the Thessalonians did know the manner of God's predicted dealings, and the order in which they would happen: indeed they knew this perfectly, though they were ignorant of the coming of the Lord for His saints, as revealed in the previous chapter. But then, that coming has to do with a heavenly calling, while 'times and seasons' relate to the earth.
This has a sharp practical edge for anyone tempted to fix a date.
Times and seasons do not refer directly to the Church. They look on to the times and conditions in which God will carry out His ways with the earth, as the prophetic Scriptures foretell. The Lord had said to His disciples, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority" (Acts 1:7). So it is useless to work out and predict the date of the Lord's coming from Daniel's prophecies or other Scriptures. It is worse than useless. It means trying to find out what the Lord plainly says is not for us to know.
"You yourselves are fully aware" — but aware of what, exactly? Their certainty was not about a date.
There was no need to write anything now, for they knew perfectly that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. The apostle may not have gone into details. But they were sure of this great and solemn truth deep inside. What they knew perfectly was not, as some strangely say, that its time is uncertain. They knew that its coming is certain, and as terrible as it is unexpected.
So what does that day actually bring?
The prophets refer to the day of the Lord again and again. It always has in view the day when the Lord steps in to judge the earth. That judgment leads on to the restoration of Israel and the blessing of the nations.
Its force comes out best when set against the present age.
From these and similar passages, we learn that "the day of the Lord" carries a very solemn thought: judgment on the world. Judgment on Israel in its turning away from God, on man and his ways, on everything the human heart prizes and longs after. In short, the day of the Lord stands in striking contrast with man's day. Man has the upper hand now, the Lord will have the upper hand then.
The image says one thing above all: no announcement.
The Lord is not willing that you should perish. But remember this: "The day of the Lord will come like a thief" (2 Peter 3:10). I never heard of a thief blowing a trumpet before he broke into your house. This is how the Son of Man will come to deal with this godless world.
Commentators here draw a firm line between chapter 4 and chapter 5.
So 1 Thessalonians 5 opens by drawing a distinction. Chapter 4 has dealt with the coming of the Lord for His saints. Now comes "the day of the Lord." That comes, not as a bridegroom for his bride, but "like a thief in the night."
"The day of the Lord" is not a day of twenty-four hours, but a stretch of time like "the day of salvation." It is a period in the cycle of "times and seasons," marked out by the complete supremacy and authority of the Lord. It starts when He shows Himself publicly in the clouds of heaven — His appearing with His saints.
The same line runs on into verse 4. There the thief image no longer applies to believers.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:2, about the world it says, "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." But to the saints it says, "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day." And when He comes who brings in the day, the children of the day will come with Him.
The thief language is not confined to open unbelievers.
The judgment of God will suddenly overtake the scoffers of these last days, for "the day of the Lord will come like a thief." In Matthew 24:43 the Lord had shown that He would come as a thief. Paul wrote the same thing to the Thessalonians. Now Peter tells us the same thing. From heaven, the Lord gives a similar warning to the professing church: "If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief" (Rev. 3:3). How very solemn that the same unexpected judgment will catch those who only profess to be Christians, just as it catches the scoffers of the last days.
- Earth, not heaven. "Times and seasons" belong to God's dealings with the world, not to the hope of the Church.
- Certain, not datable. They knew perfectly that the day comes, never when. Date-setting reaches for what the Father has kept in His own hands.
- Man's day ends. The day of the Lord is the day He steps in to judge. Man has the upper hand now; then the Lord will.
- A thief, not a trumpet. No announcement comes first. The day breaks in on the world without warning.
- Night for them, day for you. Believers are children of the day, so the thief image does not apply to them. The warning still stands over anyone who only claims the name.
When they may say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon her that is with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
The verse pictures the world at its most confident: a cry of peace and safety, and then a blow that no one can dodge. Paul writes it to mark the line between what waits for the world and what waits for believers.
Watch the pronouns. Paul does not slide from one audience to another by accident.
That is exactly where many make such utter confusion; they do not distinguish between the hope of the Christian and "the day" for the world... he says, "When they say, 'Peace and safety,' then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman." He does not say "you," but "they." Why the difference? When he speaks about the presence of the Lord, he says "you," "we"; but when he treats of the day of Jehovah, he says "they."
A note on wording: the ESV reads, "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security.'" Kelly quotes an older translation that keeps the pronoun "they," and his point turns on that word.
"Peace and safety" is not the same unbelief as open mockery. It is the settled calm of people who trust the world's arrangements — and even that calm is not quite steady.
Here it is more a matter of inward quiet and outward freedom from danger. It comes from confidence in the social and political state of mankind. Yet it is not without uneasy qualms. These betray the real unrest and the hidden dread of those who do not know God and His Christ. So it was with men when the flood came and swept away all who despised God's warning through Noah. So it was in the days of Lot: after a weaker and shorter warning, judgment fell on the corrupt cities of the plain. So it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Sudden destruction hangs over those who trust themselves and their own thoughts, rejecting the testimony of God. This is the judgment of the living... It is the end of the age, but not the end of the world materially... It is unspiritual ignorance, even folly, to apply this to the destruction of Jerusalem or to death, as some have done and do. It is the day of the Lord, still to fall on the world.
What will produce such confidence? One writer ties it to a coming world ruler, the figure called the beast.
The beast is the dragon's chief political agent. He will be a very powerful and impressive figure. Men will even worship him and see his power as unstoppable. Men will feel that here at last is the superman and the super-kingdom, which can impose its will and put down all opposition. This, we judge, is what will lead men to say, "Peace and safety," as foretold in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, but which leads to "sudden destruction."
Nothing builds up in view. The cry of safety is the last thing heard before the blow.
"Sudden destruction" will come. Swift will be the blow — a bolt out of the blue. How vivid is the picture of the old book — "as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman."
Commentators read the comparison in two ways. Some stress the speed of the pangs. Others look at what the pangs produce.
The comparison "labor pains come upon a pregnant woman" is meant to teach us this: out of all this anguish God will see fit to bring fruit for His own glory. During the tribulation crowds of people will turn in faith to the living God, people who never knew the gospel before. This will glorify God, as will His holy triumph over evil. Indeed, for Israel the tribulation will be the labor pains of a nation born all at once (Isaiah 66:8).
The last clause shuts every door. Yet the same verse that leaves the world no escape gives the believer certainty.
Things may look golden and peaceful, and so deceive. But the children of light have the privilege of knowing that there is no escape for the world. So, just as Daniel made known the rise and course of the world's power, the believer can declare its end. The One who executes judgment on the world is the same One who died for the believer. He removed all wrath and judgment, and He is risen for ever out of it.
Paul immediately turns from "they" to "you," and he does it deliberately.
He is not afraid that it would endanger the young believers in Thessalonica, or any others, to know how grace had marked them off from the rest of mankind. His very aim here, as elsewhere, is to press this distinction on them so it can never be erased. He says, first, that they were not in darkness, so that the day should surprise them like a thief; second, that they all were sons of light and sons of day.
- They, not you. The pronoun does the teaching: the day of the Lord falls on "them," while the Lord's coming for His own is always "you" and "we."
- The cry. "Peace and safety" is confidence in the state of society and politics — calm on the surface, uneasy underneath.
- The trigger. One reading links the cry to a coming ruler, the beast, whose power looks unstoppable. Men think peace has come at last.
- The blow. Destruction falls at once, as in the days of Noah and Lot. It is the day of the Lord on a living world, and the labor-pains figure points both to its speed and to the fruit God brings out of the anguish.
- The escape. There is none for the world. The believer needs none: he is a child of light, secured by the very One who will execute the judgment.