The Day of the Lord
Chapter 5:1-3—In closing the parenthesis, Paul returns to his remarks concerning the Revelation, or the Appearing of Christ, which he had been speaking of in chapter 4:14.
He mentions “the times and the seasons” which have to do with God’s dealings with the earth, and thus, this brings us into the realm of prophetic events that will occur after the Church has been called away to heaven. Paul is now going to speak of the judgment that will fall on unbelievers who will be left behind after the Rapture. This is indicated by a marked change in his use of pronouns—from “we” (Christians), in chapter 4:15-18, to “they” and “them” (unbelievers), in chapter 5:1-3. It is clear from this change that he is now referring to a different group of persons.
Paul says that there was “no need” of him writing to the Thessalonians in any great detail about that time to come because he had instructed them about it when he was with them (2 Thess. 2:5). Timothy may also have touched on those things when he visited them (1 Thess. 3:1-2). Hence, they knew “perfectly well” that “the day of the Lord” would come as “a thief in the night” on the unbelieving world.
“The day of the Lord” is a term used in both the New and the Old Testaments to indicate the time when the Lord will intervene upon the world in judgment, whereupon His Lordship authority will be publicly asserted on earth (1 Thess. 5:2, 4; 2 Thess. 2:2-3 – J. N. Darby Trans.; Luke 21:34). (“The day of the Lord” is not “the Lord’s day,” the first day of the week – Rev. 1:10). It will begin at the Appearing of Christ and will continue throughout the Millennium (2 Peter 3:8-10), and thus, it will last 1000 years. God has “appointed” this “day” when Christ will “judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31).
“The day of the Lord” should not be confused with “the day of Christ.” These terms both refer to the same period of time (the Millennium), but in different ways:
• “The day of the Lord” has to do with the exercise of Christ’s judgment on earth, whereby the world will be subjugated under His Lordship authority (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
• “The day of Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8; 3:13; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6, 10; 2:16, etc.) has to do with the heavenly display of Christ’s glory through the Church (2 Thess. 1:10).
Paul says that the day of the Lord will take the men of the world off guard. It will come upon them when they think that they have “peace and safety.” This false sense of security that people in the West will have will result from the military presence of the ten-nation federation in western Europe (the beast) under its political leader (“the little horn” Dan. 7:9, 20-21, 24-25). “Sudden destruction” will break in upon them at the Appearing of Christ “as travail upon a woman with child.” Those on earth at that time “shall not escape” the judgment (2 Thess. 1:7-9).
Those in the coming Tribulation period who are instructed in the Word of God may understand that the day of the Lord will be signaled in by four things, and thus, they will know that that day is near “at hand.” These are:
• The “falling away [apostasy]” of Christendom to worship the Beast and its image (2 Thess. 2:3).
• The revelation of “the man of sin” (the Antichrist) (2 Thess. 2:3).
• The removal of the restraint on lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:6-7).
• The attack of the King of the North (the Assyrian) on the Jews who will be gathered back in their homeland at the end of the Great Tribulation (Joel 1:15; 2:1-11).