In my Theology Professor’s lecture notes, he stated that 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 “summarizes the Rapture.” Let us take a look at what this passage has to say:
What did Jesus teach us in Matthew 24:36-51? “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. … Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
I do not know about you, brothers and sisters, but this is crystal clear to me.
What about verse 9? I am glad you asked. Scripture repeatedly teaches us that the Day of the Lord will consist of both blessings (Isa. 4:2-6; 30:26; Hos. 2:18-23; Joel 3:9-21; Amos 9:11-15; Mic. 4:6-8; Zeph. 2:7; Zech. 14:6-9) and curses (Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Zech. 1:14-15). That this is so can be seen from Matthew 25:31-46. We do not need to invent a secret “Rapture” in order to face the facts and deal with the truths that Scripture presents us. It is from a wrong reading of Scripture that Dispensationalists come up with the idea that God’s wrath is going to be poured out upon everyone. But what does Scripture say? Revelation 16:2 declares that these will come “…upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.” Just as Israel was not harmed when the plagues affected Egypt, so Christians will not be harmed when the wrath affects the world because “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). But this is speaking of His second coming, where those who have stored up wrath against themselves will finally receive it. We shall not. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be?
Paul Benware insists, “Paul emphatically assures believers that they will not experience the ‘day of the Lord.’”2 John MacArthur writes, “Believers have no part in the day of the Lord, because they have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light (Col. 1:13).”3 Then we have a severe problem on our hands, if that is the case. Scripture declares that the resurrection occurs on the day of the Lord and that we are to be transformed and receive our blessings and rewards. If we do not participate in the day of the Lord, how is any of that to take place? Contrary to what the Dispensationalists want to tell you, brothers and sisters, we will participate on that great day. Jesus Christ our Lord shall stand before us and separate us, separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the bad fish, the good soil from the bad soils, and He will say to us, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). The day of the Lord has nothing to do with the “Tribulation,” as Mr. Benware tries to intimate. Lastly, our being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light has to do with our salvation—nothing to do with the concept of the Rapture, as Mr. MacArthur erroneously implies. We are no longer in darkness, but in the light. That day shall not overtake us because we know of its coming and are warned repeatedly to watch for it (v.6; cf. Matt. 24:42, 44; Mark 13:33, 35, 37; Luke 21:36).
Dispensationalists claim that “The Day of the Lord may be defined as an extended period of time beginning with the Rapture of the church (as a thief in the night) and continuing until the Great White Throne Judgment after Christ’s millennial reign.”4 Since the Bible defines the day of the Lord as coming like “a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10), it is rather impossible to refer to it as an extended period of time—especially 1,007 years! The day of the Lord is the “last day;” the day when Jesus Christ returns, the dead are resurrected, death is defeated, the nations are judged, the heavens and Earth destroyed, and we, Beloved, enter the kingdom “prepared for [us] from the foundation of the world.”
Some Dispensationalists will claim that the phrase “a thief in the night” refers to the Rapture. In truth, they must and have created two “thief in the night” events in order to hold onto their system of belief. One for the Rapture, and one for the Second Coming. But Peter makes it quite clear when this period is and what takes place with it: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Pet. 3:10). If the coming as “a thief in the night” refers to the Rapture, guess what? When the Rapture takes place, the heavens and the Earth are going to be burned up. So what happens to all of their theories after this event? And these people boast “a consistent, literal, and normal system of hermeneutics”?
1 Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 706.
2 Paul N. Benware, Survey of the New Testament, 168.
3 John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1801.
4 David Doherty, Introduction to Eschatology, 10.
Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.This passage is speaking of “the day of the Lord.” “The day of the Lord” has nothing to do with the so-called Rapture. They were not worried that they had missed the Rapture, as we are often told. Dispensationalists tend to isolate specific verses from this passage, such as verse 9, in order to try and support their concept of the Rapture. But look at what Paul tells them: “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief” (emphasis supplied).
What did Jesus teach us in Matthew 24:36-51? “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. … Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
I do not know about you, brothers and sisters, but this is crystal clear to me.
- “They are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly.”
- “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”
What about verse 9? I am glad you asked. Scripture repeatedly teaches us that the Day of the Lord will consist of both blessings (Isa. 4:2-6; 30:26; Hos. 2:18-23; Joel 3:9-21; Amos 9:11-15; Mic. 4:6-8; Zeph. 2:7; Zech. 14:6-9) and curses (Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Zech. 1:14-15). That this is so can be seen from Matthew 25:31-46. We do not need to invent a secret “Rapture” in order to face the facts and deal with the truths that Scripture presents us. It is from a wrong reading of Scripture that Dispensationalists come up with the idea that God’s wrath is going to be poured out upon everyone. But what does Scripture say? Revelation 16:2 declares that these will come “…upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.” Just as Israel was not harmed when the plagues affected Egypt, so Christians will not be harmed when the wrath affects the world because “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). But this is speaking of His second coming, where those who have stored up wrath against themselves will finally receive it. We shall not. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be?
Paul Benware insists, “Paul emphatically assures believers that they will not experience the ‘day of the Lord.’”2 John MacArthur writes, “Believers have no part in the day of the Lord, because they have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light (Col. 1:13).”3 Then we have a severe problem on our hands, if that is the case. Scripture declares that the resurrection occurs on the day of the Lord and that we are to be transformed and receive our blessings and rewards. If we do not participate in the day of the Lord, how is any of that to take place? Contrary to what the Dispensationalists want to tell you, brothers and sisters, we will participate on that great day. Jesus Christ our Lord shall stand before us and separate us, separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the bad fish, the good soil from the bad soils, and He will say to us, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). The day of the Lord has nothing to do with the “Tribulation,” as Mr. Benware tries to intimate. Lastly, our being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light has to do with our salvation—nothing to do with the concept of the Rapture, as Mr. MacArthur erroneously implies. We are no longer in darkness, but in the light. That day shall not overtake us because we know of its coming and are warned repeatedly to watch for it (v.6; cf. Matt. 24:42, 44; Mark 13:33, 35, 37; Luke 21:36).
Dispensationalists claim that “The Day of the Lord may be defined as an extended period of time beginning with the Rapture of the church (as a thief in the night) and continuing until the Great White Throne Judgment after Christ’s millennial reign.”4 Since the Bible defines the day of the Lord as coming like “a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10), it is rather impossible to refer to it as an extended period of time—especially 1,007 years! The day of the Lord is the “last day;” the day when Jesus Christ returns, the dead are resurrected, death is defeated, the nations are judged, the heavens and Earth destroyed, and we, Beloved, enter the kingdom “prepared for [us] from the foundation of the world.”
Some Dispensationalists will claim that the phrase “a thief in the night” refers to the Rapture. In truth, they must and have created two “thief in the night” events in order to hold onto their system of belief. One for the Rapture, and one for the Second Coming. But Peter makes it quite clear when this period is and what takes place with it: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Pet. 3:10). If the coming as “a thief in the night” refers to the Rapture, guess what? When the Rapture takes place, the heavens and the Earth are going to be burned up. So what happens to all of their theories after this event? And these people boast “a consistent, literal, and normal system of hermeneutics”?
1 Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 706.
2 Paul N. Benware, Survey of the New Testament, 168.
3 John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1801.
4 David Doherty, Introduction to Eschatology, 10.