Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Thessalonians 5:4
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief ] Properly, the day the great Day, the “day of the Lord” (1Th 5:2); comp. the other elliptical phrase, “the wrath,” of ch. 1Th 1:10, 1Th 2:16. At the same time, this word, while it looks back to 1Th 5:2-3, suggests the wider, figurative sense of day that comes out in 1Th 5:5. Since the Thessalonians are “not in darkness,” the coming of day will be no terror or surprise to them. The Day of the Lord will not “overtake them as a thief,” stealing on them suddenly and despoiling them of their treasures unawares, but it will come to them as the welcome daybreak, full of light and joy. To the wicked and careless, by a sad contradiction, the Day of the Lord will be night! it is to them “darkness and not light, yea, very dark, and no brightness in it” (Amo 5:20). But for “the sons of light” (1Th 5:5) it is day indeed, and wears its true character.
The margin of the R. V. contains the interesting reading, found “in some ancient authorities,” preferred also by Westcott and Hort: overtake you as thieves! This gives a striking sense. It depicts the guilty as themselves “thieves,” surprised by daylight. But it involves an abrupt change of metaphor, not sustained by the following context; it transforms the “thief” from the cause of the surprise (1Th 5:2) into its object.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief – The allusion here is to the manner in which a thief or robber accomplishes his purpose. He comes in the night, when people are asleep. So, says the apostle, the Lord will come to the wicked. They are like those who are asleep when the thief comes upon them. But it is not so with Christians. They are, in relation to the coming of the day of the Lord, as people are who are awake when the robber comes. They could see his approach, and could prepare for it, so that it would not take them by surprise.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Th 5:4
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness
Responsibility for religious privileges
It is universally admitted that the extent of our responsibility is to be measured by the amount of our privilege.
Hence our Lord said, To whom men have committed much, of him will they ask more. It is in harmony with this that the apostle makes the appeal in our text.
I. Our privileges as a Christian Church. Not in darkness, but in light as regards–
1. A knowledge of the true God. This lies at the foundation of religion. It is only by knowing God that we come to know ourselves. Had we no perfect standard of what is pure and lovely, were we allowed to frame some model of perfection, each would select that character for imitation, which reflected least discredit on his own. But tell us what God is, and you tell us what God loves; and what He loves man should love also. But the Thessalonians not only enjoyed through the gospel light a correct doctrine of God: they, as are all true Christians, were brought into an experimental knowledge through peace with Him.
2. The Word and ordinances of God (1Th 2:13; 1Th 5:12).
(1) By the use of these we foil the craftiness, which would carry us about with every wind of doctrine; we set at nought the schoolmen who would teach for doctrine the commandments of men; whilst we bind and fetter the discursive genius of infidelity, by allowing no objection to be valid unless founded on the Word.
(2) Nor is it of use to vindicate our faith to others only; it serves much to confirm and strengthen it in ourselves. The humblest Christian who loves his Bible because he has felt its power, finds in it many things hard to be understood; but he can repose with child-like confidence in the thought–Hard as these things may seem, the Lord hath spoken them; and He would never have left a mystery where plainness would have made me happy. He has told me all that concerns my comfort here, and will reveal hereafter what I know not now.
3. We can understand now the propriety of this appeal. Once ye had no knowledge of God and Divine flyings. This darkness has passed. Yours must be the fault, therefore, if the day should overtake you as a thief.
II. The motives which should urge us to the right improvement of Christian privileges.
1. Their tendency to promote personal religion.
(1) We are so much the slaves of habit, the mind so easily slides into the ordinary occupations of life, that without some periodical admonition that it has higher objects to seek, its power would be expended in considering What shall we eat. We might know that We have no continuing city and that it is our duty to Seek one to come, but if we were not occasionally reminded, every week would find us less punctual, and at last we should neglect it altogether. But how the hour of prayer, the Sabbath, etc., rouse us to the call of duty.
(2) A disposition to slight these outward means is a concealed aversion to the religion which enjoins them. It is an index of that self-sufficiency which will only accept a blessing if obtained in a way of our own choosing.
(3) Men ask Why cannot I be religious without going to church? I can go forth into the fields and look through nature up to natures God. Possibly you can, but will you?
2. The danger that we may suddenly lose them. The day here is the day of judgment, but practically for us that is the day of death. When that will come we know not; but lest it should find as slumbering, let us be on our guard always, and not flatter ourselves with a false peace. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Two views of death
I am taking a fearful leap in the dark, said the dying infidel, Hobbes. This is heaven begun, I have done with darkness forever, nothing remains but light and joy, said the dying believer, Thomas Scott. (Sunday at Home.)
Ready to die
When Gordon Pasha was taken prisoner by the Abyssinians he completely checkmated King John. The King received his prisoner sitting on his throne, or whatever piece of furniture did duty for that exalted seat, a chair being placed for the prisoner considerably lower than the seat on which the King sat. The first thing the Pasha did was to seize this chair, place it alongside of his Majesty, and sit down on it: the next to inform him that he met him as an equal and would only treat him as such. This somewhat disconcerted his sable majesty, but on recovering himself he said, Do you know, Gordon Pasha, that I could kill you on the spot if I liked? I am perfectly well aware of it, your Majesty, said the Pasha. Do so at once if it is your Royal pleasure. I am ready. This disconcerted the King still mores and he exclaimed, What I ready to be killed? Certainly, replied the Pasha, I am always ready to die, and so far from fearing your putting me to death, you would confer a favour on me by so doing, for you would be doing for me that which I am precluded by my religious scruples from doing for myself–you would relieve me from all the troubles and misfortunes which the future may have in store for me. This completely staggered King John, who gasped out in despair, Then my power has no terrors for you? None whatever, was the Pashas laconic reply. His Majesty, it is needless to add, instantly collapsed.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness] Probably St. Paul refers to a notion that was very prevalent among the Jews, viz.: that God would judge the Gentiles in the night time, when utterly secure and careless; but he would judge the Jews in the day time, when employed in reading and performing the words of the law. The words in Midrash Tehillim, on Psalm ix. 8, are the following: When the holy blessed God shall judge the Gentiles, it shall be in the night season, in which they shall be asleep in their transgressions; but when he shall judge the Israelites, it shall be in the day time, when they are occupied in the study of the law. This maxim the apostle appears to have in view in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th verses. (1Th 5:4-8)
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Lest these believing Thessalonians should be terrified in their minds by this discourse, he adds this by way of comfort to them, that they shall not be surprised as others; though they did not know the particular time of Christs coming, yet it would not find them unprepared for it as the world would be; and the reason he gives is, because they are not in darkness.
Darkness is to be taken metaphorically; and so in Scripture it is taken either for sin, ignorance, or misery. The two former are here meant, especially ignorance. These Thessalonians were brought into the light of the gospel; they had the knowledge of Christ, and the way of salvation by him; particularly they knew of his coming, and the manner and ends of his coming, which the infidel world did not; and though Christs coming would be to others as a thief in the night, yet not to them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. not in darknessnot indarkness of understanding (that is, spiritual ignorance) or of themoral nature (that is, a state of sin), Eph4:18.
thatGreek, “inorder that”; with God results are all purposed.
that dayGreek,“THE day”; theday of the Lord (Heb 10:25,”the day”), in contrast to “darkness.”
overtakeunexpectedly(compare Joh 12:35).
as a thiefThe twooldest manuscripts read, “as (the daylight overtakes) thieves“(Job 24:17). Old manuscriptsand Vulgate read as English Version.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness,…. In a state of unregeneracy, which is a state of darkness, blindness, and ignorance, and which is the condition of all men by nature; they are born in darkness, and are brought up in it, and willingly, walk in it; they are covered with it, as the earth was covered with darkness in its first creation; and dwell in it, as the Egyptians did for some days, in thick darkness, darkness which might be felt; their understandings are darkened with respect to the true knowledge of God, the nature of sin, the way of salvation by Christ, the work of the spirit of God upon the soul, and the necessity of it, the Scriptures of truth, and the mysteries of the Gospel; and which is the case of God’s elect themselves, while unregenerate: but now these persons were called out of darkness, turned from it, and delivered from the power of it; and therefore knew that the day of the Lord comes as above described, by the metaphors of a thief in the night, and a woman with child, and needed not to be informed about that matter: or
that that day should overtake you as a thief; or seize and lay hold upon you as a thief who comes in the dark, and lays hold upon a person suddenly; but these saints were not in the dark, but in the light, and so could see when the day of the Lord came; and would not be surprised with it, as a man is seized with terror and fright, when laid hold on by a thief; since they would be, or at least should be on their watch, and be looking out for, and hasting to the coming of the day of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As a thief ( ). As in verse 2, but A B Bohairic have (thieves), turning the metaphor round.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Overtake [] . See on comprehended, Joh 1:5.
A thief [] . Tischendorf, Weiss, and Rev. T. retain this reading. Westcott and Hort read kleptav thieves, but with klepthv in margin. The weight of textual evidence is in favor of the singular.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness” (humeis de, adelphoi ouk este en skotei) “But, brethren, you all are not in (a state of) darkness”; neither concerning salvation, Christian living, nor the coming of the Lord, Eph 5:8; 1Jn 2:8; 2Pe 3:10-13.
2) “That that day should overtake you as a thief” (hina he hemera humas hos kleptes katalabe) “in order that the day (of the Lord) should overtake you as a thief”; at or in an unexpected moment or attitude, Dan 12:10; 2Th 2:9-12; Luk 21:20; Luk 21:24-36.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4 But ye, brethren. He now admonishes them as to what is the duty of believers, that they look forward in hope to that day, though it be remote. And this is what is intended in the metaphor of day and light. The coming of Christ will take by surprise those that are carelessly giving way to indulgence, because, being enveloped in darkness, they see nothing, for no darkness is more dense than ignorance of God. We, on the other hand, on whom Christ has shone by the faith of his gospel, differ much from them, for that saying of Isaiah is truly accomplished in us, that
while darkness covers the earth, the Lord arises upon us, and his glory is seen in us. (Isa 60:2)
He admonishes us, therefore, that it were an unseemly thing that we should be caught by Christ asleep, as it were, or seeing nothing, while the full blaze of light is shining forth upon us. He calls them children of light, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, as meaning — furnished with light; as also children of the day, meaning — those who enjoy the light of day. (594) And this he again confirms, when he says that we are not of the night nor of darkness, because the Lord has rescued us from it. For it is as though he had said, that we have not been enlightened by the Lord with a view to our walking in darkness.
(594) “It is ‘day’ with them. It is not only ‘day’ round about them, (so it is wherever the gospel is afforded to men,) but God hath made it ‘day’ within. ” — Howe’s Works, (Lond. 1822,) vol. 6, p. 294. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Text (1Th. 5:4)
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief:
Translation and Paraphrase
4.
But you, brothers, are not in (the) darkness (like the Unsaved people in the world who do not watch for the Lords return. For if you were, it would happen) that the day (of the Lord) would come upon you as a thief (just as it is coming upon them).
Notes (1Th. 5:4)
1.
Here is a happy reversal: The day of the Lord is coming like a thief. But that day will NOT Overtake Christians like a thief, because they are always watching for it. The Lord comes as a thief in the night, but we Christians are not in the dark.
2.
What a joy it is not to be in spiritual darkness. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2Co. 4:6. Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. Isa. 60:1-2.
3.
A few ancient manuscripts render this verse, that that day should overtake you as thieves, (Moffatt, Goodspeed, Rotherham, and American Standard Vers, margin give this rendering,) This rendering gives the meaning that if we are living in the spiritual darkness of sin, the day of the Lord will surprise us as thieves are surprised when the police appear unexpectedly. Actually this reading has little support in the ancient texts, and we mention it only in case you see it in some version, and wonder about it.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(4) But ye.Though the world (which lieth in darkness) may be surprised at the coming of the Day, you, members of the Church, living in the light, cannot be surprised. The words in darkness seem to be suggested by the mention of night in 1Th. 5:2; and the chief thought (as the succeeding verses show) is that of supineness, inattention, torpor, not so much either ignorance or sin.
That day.Literally, the day: so that it does not mean the Judgment Day simply as a point of time, but brings out its characteristic of being a day indeed. (Comp. 1Co. 3:13.)
As a thief.There is another reading which has two of the best MSS. and he Coptic version in its favour, and the judgment of Lachmann and Dr. Lightfoot, As thieves. But not only is the evidence from the MSS. strongly in favour of the Received text, but the whole context shows that St. Paul was not thinking of the day as catching them at evil practices, but as catching them in inadvertence.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. From the physical darkness of the advent night St. Paul passes allusively to the deeper mental darkness wrapping the souls of the careless in regard to that event. Ye are not in that deeper darkness of spirit, and so, however dark the physical night of the advent, it is all clear to your mind’s eye.
That Greek, in order that; for infidel unbelief is by God’s purpose predestined to this sudden destruction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.’
The day overtakes these people because they are in darkness. They are asleep in the wrong sense. But Christians, who are no longer under the power of darkness (Col 1:13), nor walking in darkness (Joh 8:12; 1Jn 1:6) should be watching, that is living their lives in the light of His coming, and therefore will not be caught out.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The alertness and vigilance of the Christians:
v. 4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.
v. 5. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness.
v. 6. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober.
v. 7. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
v. 8. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation.
v. 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
v. 10. who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
v. 11. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. The Day of Judgment will come suddenly to Christians and unbelievers alike; but the contrast which the apostle brings out is this, that only the latter will be surprised by it. Christians are watchful, open-eyed, alert; they do not know when the last day is to come, but they are wide awake to any signs of its coming. This fact is brought out by the apostle in describing the state of the Christians: But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day should surprise you like a thief; for you all are children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness. The unbelievers, the scoffers, are in darkness; moral corruption and want of intellectual insight renders them unable to read the signs of the times. With this condition the believers have nothing in common; their spiritual and intellectual condition is not such as to give them a false security and to make them blind to the signs of the times. They cannot be surprised by the coming of the last day, as a person would be when sleeping soundly in the darkness. The apostle rather makes a broad and sweeping statement concerning all Christians, namely, that they are children of light and of the day. As converted saints the believers are partakers of the salvation in Christ; they are now a light in the Lord; they know Jesus, their Savior. And they have put on the armor of light; their reason, enlightened by the understanding of God’s will, chooses those things which will bear the inspection of all men in the sight of God; they walk honestly, as in the day, Rom 13:12-13. With pointed emphasis the apostle makes the personal application: Not are we (Christians) of the night nor of the darkness. We have nothing in common with the unfruitful works of darkness; we refuse to have our minds influenced by the judgment of unbelievers in spiritual matters.
With this thought the apostle now connects his admonition: Now, then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us be vigilant and alertly sober. For the sleepers sleep by night, and the drunkards are drunken in the night; we, however, being of the day, let us be in our alert senses, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as our helmet the hope of salvation. It will not do for Christians to yield to drowsiness, to fall into spiritual sleep, in these last days of the world, which is the condition of the rest, of the great majority of the people in the world, of all the unbelievers. The Christians’ constant attitude is that of vigilance, of watchfulness, of alert soberness, 1Pe 5:8. For the sake of comparison the apostle refers to the example of the spiritual sleepers, of those that are of the night and the darkness. Their habitual condition is the very opposite of sober alertness: they are asleep in the night of sins, they are like people under the influence of strong drink, drowsy, stupefied, unable to understand the dangers of these latter days. The unbelievers, in their carelessness and profligacy, indulge in the lusts of the flesh, avoid all means of instruction, are unable to discern the signs of the times, preferring their ignorance to the light of God’s Word in faith and life. We Christians, on the other hand, belong to the day, where the light of the Word of God rules. Therefore it behooves us at all times to make use of sober vigilance; for if the saying is true anywhere, it is true in spiritual matters, that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. To that end we should put on the armor of God, which enables us to guard both body and soul against attacks from all sides. There is the breastplate of faith and love, of a faith which rests upon the merits of Christ and therefore manifests itself in a life of love; there is the helmet, namely, the hope of salvation, the certain trust and confidence that God, who has made us sure of the redemption in Christ Jesus, will confirm us in this faith to the end, finally taking us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven, where we shall enjoy complete salvation and deliverance from sin and death, world without end. Eph 6:13-17.
This point the apostle now drives home with the comforting assurance: Because God did not appoint us to wrath, but for the acquisition of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. God did not ordain us, set us forth, for the purpose of enduring His wrath; for it is not His will that any man should perish; He brought no man into being only to elect him to everlasting perdition. Of this fact the believers are so sure that no consideration of human logic can shake their position in the matter. We Christians know that we have been appointed by God for the obtaining or acquisition of eternal salvation, not by our own works or merits, but through our Lord Jesus Christ. How this salvation was gained and its possession by us made possible, St. Paul writes: Who died for us, in our behalf. By giving Himself into death in our stead, for our benefit, Christ gained a complete redemption for us. But this fact puts us under the obligation: So that, whether we are awake or asleep, we should live together with Him. Under all circumstances and conditions we Christians belong to the Lord, being in the most intimate fellowship with Him, partaking of His life, whether we are carrying out the obligation of alert watchfulness in this life, or whether our body is peacefully sleeping in the grave. On the great day of His coming, therefore, we shall appear as living with him, no matter whether this coming finds us watching in life or sleeping in death. In any event, to be with Him will be the true life out of death. Well may the apostle therefore add: Wherefore encourage one another, and let each one edify the other, even as you also do. While Paul’s fine courtesy and tact acknowledge the progress which has been made by the Thessalonian Christians in this respect, he does not hesitate for a moment to urge them forward toward further comfort and edification. Exuberant energy, joyful hopefulness, willing steadfastness must characterize the Christians at all times.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
1Th 5:4 . ] but ye , in contrast to the unbelieving and worldly-minded described in 1Th 5:3 .
] indicative, not imperative; for otherwise would require to be written instead of (see Schmalfeld, Syntax des Griech. Verb. p. 143), not to mention that, according to the Pauline view, Christians as such, i.e. in their ideas and principles , are no more , but ; comp. Eph 5:8 ; 2Co 6:14 ; Col 1:12 . The expression , darkness , here occasioned by the comparison , 1Th 5:2 , is a designation of the ruined condition of the sinful and unredeemed world, which in its estrangement from God is neither enlightened concerning the divine will, nor possesses power to fulfil it.
. . .] By placed first the readers are fittingly and emphatically brought forward in opposition to those described in 1Th 5:3 .
is not in the sense of so that (Flatt, Pelt, Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bisping, and others), but : that , or in order that . But the design contained in is to be referred to God . Paul intends to say: Ye are not among the unbelieving world alienated from God, and thus the design which God has in view in reference to that unbelieving and alienated world, namely, to surprise them by the day of the Lord, can have no application to you . Why this design of God can have no application to the readers, the apostle accordingly states
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(4) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. (5) Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (6) Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (7) For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. (8) But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (9) For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (10) Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. (11) Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
How very gracious was it in the Lord the Spirit, while describing the awful events of this great day of God, as they will overtake the wicked; to comfort the Lord’s people, with the assurance of their safety, when surrounded with such tremendous judgments, in their view, before them? And, I beg the Reader to be careful with me to observe, from whence, and in what, their safety is found. Not in themselves, or their own attainments. For wherein do they differ from others? and what have they which they did not receive? Not from birth, or descendants in nature. For all are alike born in the same Adam-stock, of whom Scripture bears testimony, there is none good, no not one. Rom 3:12 . Not in works of righteousness which they have done; for they were by nature children of wrath, even as others. Eph 2:3 . But Paul blessedly shows the cause; because by the water of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Ghost, shed upon them abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Tit 3:3-7 , And here again, the Apostle sums up all in one, the sole cause, of their safety, and their everlasting blessedness in Christ Jesus; because God (saith he) hath not appointed them to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And hence, the Apostle adds, He died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Son 5:2 ; Mat 25:5 . Here is the sole cause of mercy. This the glorious security of the Church. Hence no day can overtake them, no surprise of the midnight hour alarm. Sleeping, or waking, they are the LORD’S.
I cannot suffer myself, neither the Reader, to pass away from these most blessed, and precious assurances, of God the Spirit, without first desiring to pause over them, and ponder well their deep importance, on that great subject contained in them. And I desire to do this the rather, because they come in with a strength of argument, at once perfectly irresistible, and unanswerable, to silence the presumptuous reasoning of men untaught by the Holy Ghost, who venture, in direct defiance to all the glorious promises of God, to call the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, unscriptural, and highly dangerous. These men are so full in their apprehensions, of human worth, and human works, that they cannot ascribe the whole salvation to the finished redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ; but will make the purposes of God’s grace, still to be depending upon the will of man. Alas! what is not the unhumbled pride of our fallen nature capable of bringing forth, where men are not taught of God, and remain unacquainted with the plague a their own heart? I very earnestly beg the Reader, to ponder well this precious scripture, looking up to God the Holy Ghost to be his Teacher; and then, to his cool, and serious judgment, under the Lord I will leave the subject.
If, as God the Holy Ghost by Paul, here taught the Church, that God hath not appointed the Church to wrath, but hath appointed them to obtain salvation, by Our Lord Jesus Christ; can God’s appointments be frustrated of their end? And if not, can that be unscriptural, or dangerous which inculcates, under divine teaching, such blessed truths? If God, who appoints these blessed things, to save from wrath, and to obtain salvation, hath in confirmation also, secured the means for the accomplishment of his purposes; is it possible to suppose, that any peradventure shall arise, which God did not foresee; and for which God made no provision? If, as a blessed security to the Church, God the Father, who hath not appointed to wrath, but hath appointed unto salvation; hath made the whole everlastingly secure; having chosen the Church in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that it should be holy, and without blame before him in love; and hath predestinated the Church unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself; accepting the Church in the Beloved: if; on the part of God the Father, in the high Covenant offices of his everlasting love, he hath mercifully made such ample provisions of security, for the sure accomplishment of his purposes; can either men, or devils, frustrate his designs? Moreover, the Holy Ghost hath added in this very scripture, another blessed cause of assurance. He that appointed us to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, hath confirmed it in Christ; for, we are here told, Christ died for us, that whether we wake, or sleep, we should live together with him. Hence, here is also, the Pillar, and ground of the truth. Neither doth the subject stop here. For God the Spirit hath engaged, to regenerate those, whom God hath chosen, and for whom Christ died; and, in confirmation that he hath done it, in this very chapter, the Lord declares, that they are not in darkness, as are the ungodly, whom the day of God will overtake as a thief in the night; but that they are children of the light, and the children of the day. Now then, in the face of these, and numberless other scriptures to the same purport, shall we be told, that God’s purposes are doubtful? That the final perseverance of the elect, is unscriptural, and dangerous? Are such men indeed so desperately blind, as to suppose, God hath appointed the means, but is uncertain of the end? Oh what a leanness, and poverty of soul, must there he in congregations under such teaching? Surely it may be said of all such men, as Job did to his Pharisaical instructors: miserable comforters are ye all, physicians of no value?
Reader! I pray you for the Lord’s glory, and your own personal happiness, look up to God for his instruction on this momentous point. Hear what the Lord saith to confirm his word unto his people. Wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Heb 6:17-18 . Here observe the several gracious expressions. God’s immutable purpose, formed wholly in himself, without any regard to the mutability of his chosen people. That purpose confirmed by two immutable things, God’s word, and God’s oath. And confirmed with this express design, that the heirs of promise, (mark the expression, heirs of promise, not workers of the law, see Gal 3:15 to the end,) might have a strong consolation. And all this because God was willing that those heirs of promise should have his gracious purpose more abundantly shown unto them, to confirm all his promises; yea, and Amen in CHRIST JESUS. Now then put the whole together. Here is the immutable purpose, will, and Pleasure of Him, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. Jas 1:17-18 . And, hence, Christ in allusion to it, saith, that in order for the sure accomplishment of it, the Lord will cut short the times of persecution in his Church. For speaking of those exercises, Jesus saith, that except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved. But for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And the Lord further confirms the everlasting safety of his people, in that he shows the impossibility of deceiving the elect, Mar 13:19-22 . So that God’s purpose is founded in himself, and established in the covenant, ordered in all things and sure. 2Sa 23:5 . It is confirmed in the blood and righteousness of Christ. Eph 1:7 . And the people which are the heirs of promise, are made willing, by the regenerating work of God the Spirit, according to covenant engagements in the day of his power. Psa 110:3 . And what crowns the whole, as this immutability of God’s will was not founded in any expectation from man, or liable to change from the mutability of man, neither depended upon anything good or bad in the objects of this distinguishing mercy , so the ultimate blessings given to those heirs of promise, were not given them for their merit, or to be kept back for their undeservings. Among the very first clauses in the charter of grace, we find the merciful design expressed in these words: For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; it was said the elder shall serve the younger. Rom 9:11 . And, hence, the Almighty Founder, which in his own immutability formed the counsel of his will, formed, no less, all suitable provision to make the heirs of promise everlastingly blessed, and happy in their heritage. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and, whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Rom 8:29-30 . And what shall we then say to these things? Not, surely, as those say who call the consolations arising from those doctrines wrong, yea, and the doctrines themselves unscriptural and dangerous, but rather to hear what the Lord Jesus himself said, in comforting his people, with the full assurance of faith. Fear not little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom! Luk 12:32 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Ver. 4. Should overtake you as a thief ] Though it come upon you as a thief in a time uncertain. Free you are from the destruction of that day, though not altogether free from the distraction of it, till somewhat recollected you remember that now your redemption draweth nigh. Hence the saints love Christ’s appearing, 2Ti 4:8 ; look for it with outstretched necks, and long after it, Rev 22:20 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4, 5 .] But the Thessalonians, and Christians in general, are not to be thus overtaken by it.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
4 .] refers back to above in the ignorance and moral slumber of the world which knows not God. , . , , Thdrt. . , Chrys. Both combined give the right meaning.
] not ‘ so that ,’ here or any where else: but that, in order that : it gives the purpose in the divine arrangement: for with God all results are purposed.
] not, ‘ that day,’ but the DAY the meaning of as distinguished from being brought out, and being put in the place of emphasis accordingly. This not having been seen, its situation was altered, to throw the first stress on , which properly has the second . That this is so, is plain from what follows, 1Th 5:5 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Th 5:4 . From the sudden and unexpected nature of the Last Day, Paul passes, by a characteristic inversion of metaphor in , to a play of thought upon the day as light. A double symbolism of , as of , thus pervades 4 8. Lightfoot cites a very striking parallel from Eur., Iph. Taur. , 1025 1026.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
that = in order that. Greek. hina.
overtake. Greek. katalambano. See Joh 1:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4, 5.] But the Thessalonians, and Christians in general, are not to be thus overtaken by it.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Th 5:4
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief:-This does not mean that they will know when the Lord will come, but is an exhortation to be always prepared, always looking, always ready that they may not be taken by surprise, no matter when he comes.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
are: Rom 13:11-13, Col 1:13, 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10, 1Jo 2:8
overtake: Deu 19:6, Deu 28:15, Deu 28:45, Jer 42:16, Hos 10:9, Zec 1:6
Reciprocal: 2Ki 3:24 – smote the Mat 7:22 – to me Luk 1:79 – give Luk 12:38 – General Joh 1:9 – every Act 26:18 – and to 2Co 6:14 – and what Eph 5:8 – but 2Ti 1:12 – against 2Ti 4:8 – at that Rev 3:3 – I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Th 5:4. Not in darkness. The brethren had been warned of the surety of the coming of Christ, although the time was not known. They had manifested confidence in the apostolic teaching by accepting it and living according to its precepts; in this sense they were not in the dark to be surprised as by a thief.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Th 5:4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. There is nothing appalling to the Christian, in the suddenness of the Lords coming, for to those who are waiting and longing for Him, He cannot come as a thief and find them unprepared. The full light of day is no surprise to those who have been eagerly watching for the morning. It is anticipated, longed for, welcome. Those are in darkness who have not accepted what Christ, the Light of the world, taught; who do not accept His life as their example, nor believe in those principles which it exemplifies; who do not think of God as holy, loving, and near; but who have desires to fulfil, which for their fulfilment require that the knowledge of God and of ourselves which Christ brought into the world be held in abeyance. He who feels he can get on better without those ideas and principles and that connection with God which Christ has brought to light, he who feels that all he is most concerned about would thrive much better in a world that shut out Christ, this man is in darkness. And as be needs and counts on this darkness for the fulfilment of all his schemes and hopes, the return of Christ to enforce the principles He revealed in His first coming is distasteful, unreckoned on, destructive. With Christians it is not so, because they are not in darkness; what they are, Paul proceeds to state.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Note here, the wisdom and holy caution of our apostle in his application to the Thessalonians; he had in the foregoing verses asserted the certainty and suddenness of Christ’s coming, namely, to destroy Jerusalem, and to judge the world. Now, lest these Christians should be terrified in their minds, and shaken with apprehensions of fear from that sudden destruction he had mentioned, he casts in a seasonable word of comfort here in the words before us, assuring them that were sincere Christians amongst them, that how sudden soever the coming and appearance of Christ might be, yet it should not find them unready and unprepared for it, because they were not in darkness, but in the light, and were not children of the night, but of the day; that is, they were not now in a state of heathenism, but Christianity; they were not any longer in their gross and natural ignorance of God, as they were before conversion, but they were the children of the light and of the day; living and walking in the light of the gospel, and in all holiness of conversation.
Learn hence, that as sincere Christians are freed from the gross darkness of their natural state, from the darkness and ignorance of sin, and do walk in the light of a holy conversation, so their knowledge and practical holiness will be a good security against the terror of surprising afflictions, and particularly against the dread and terror of the day of judgment: Ye are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
True Believers Are Prepared
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Th 5:4-6. But ye, brethren, are not As formerly; in darkness In a state of gross ignorance respecting these and all other divine things; that that awful day Or the day of death, introductory thereto; should overtake you as a thief Should surprise you in an unprepared state. Ye are all children of the light and of the day Ye are blest with the bright day of the gospel, which gives you full information respecting these and all other matters that concern your salvation; and he that commanded light to shine out of darkness hath shined into your hearts; enduing you with divine knowledge, and the light of living, saving faith. We are not of the night Of heathenism or of Judaism, destitute of gospel light, and of the information which the gospel gives, particularly respecting a future and eternal state; and neither are we, though surrounded with the light of a gospel-day, in darkness Through unbelief and blindness of mind, God having inspired us with the faith of his operation, and opened the eyes of our understanding. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others Who are not favoured with our advantages: let us not continue in a state of insensibility and carnal security respecting these things, as if we neither looked for death, the resurrection of the dead, nor a future judgment: having all our spiritual senses closed, and carelessly resting in lukewarmness, sloth, and indolence: but let us watch and be sober Or, let us awake and be watchful, as some render . Let us awake to a deep sense of the absolute certainty and infinite importance of these awful discoveries, and by continual sobriety, and a temperate use of Gods creatures, of all earthly things, and especially by walking continually in the light of truth and grace, and therefore in universal holiness and righteousness, let us stand constantly prepared for the awful scenes which await us, and which we must assuredly pass through.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake [surprise] you as a thief:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
5:4 {2} But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
(2) Returning to exhortations, he warns us who are enlightened with the knowledge of God, that it is our duty not to live securely in pleasures, lest we be suddenly taken in a dead sleep in pleasures. But contrary to this we are to have an eye to the Lord, and not allow ourselves to be oppressed with the cares of this world, for pleasures are fitting for the darkness of the night, and having an eye to the Lord is fitting for the light.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Thessalonians were not ignorant of these events since Jesus and Paul had revealed them (cf. 1Th 4:13-17). In both Semitic and Greek thought, to be described as a "son" of something was to be characterized by that thing. [Note: Morris, The First . . ., p. 156.] In this case what characterized the Thessalonians was the light (in contrast to darkness) and day (in contrast to night). They were not walking in wickedness either. God had removed the Thessalonians from Satan’s kingdom of darkness and placed them into God’s kingdom of light (cf. Col 1:13). "Darkness" was a common negative figure in antiquity. In the Old and New Testaments it describes those who are ignorant of or opposed to the Lord (cf. Job 22:9-11; Psa 82:5; Pro 4:19; Isa 60:1-3; Rom 13:12; 1Co 4:5; 2Co 4:4-6; 2Co 6:14; Col 1:13; 1Pe 2:9). Paul exhorted the Thessalonians therefore to remain alert (watchful) and sober (self-possessed), not asleep (insensible) to things that God has revealed.
If the church must pass through the Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week) before the Rapture, it is useless to watch for Christ daily. [Note: See James H. Brookes, "Kept Out of the Hour," Our Hope 6 (November 1899):154; Brindle, pp. 144-46.] Rather believers should be looking for Antichrist.