1Thess 5:6-7 sleepen & drunken

Gleanings in First Thessalonians

Chapter 5

1Thess 5:6
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

The first word in the verse, “Therefore” – what you always have to ask when you see a “therefore” is: what is it there for?
THEREFORE: For that; for that or this reason, referring to something previously stated.
‘And what was previously stated’, we ask ourselves?
“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” (1Thess 5:4-5)
That we are not of the night, nor of darkness; that we are children of the day, and children of the light; that we are not in darkness; that that day will not overtake us as a thief.
For that reason, don’t “sleep”. Other people are and will sleep, but don’t you.
Now in chapter 4 I went to some effort to show that “sleep” was referring to “dead in Christ”, believers who had died.
I will not make that case here, nor will I make the case for regular physical sleeping for the tired physical body. I will make the case that these are people who are spiritually asleep, in darkness – they have no light. Look at the descriptors surrounding and contrasting:
“watch”, “be sober”, “darkness”, and in the next verse, “drunken in the night”:

1Thess 5:7
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

Someone is NOT PAYING ATTENTION nor possibly are capable of. They are oblivious, they choose to be oblivious, they just want peace and safety and are not concerned how it comes.

Here is a section of verses in Ephesians covering the same idea – pay attention to the contrasting words to the ‘sleeping’:
Eph 5:13-21
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Being awake, not asleep, means you have light, you are careful watching where and how you walk, wise and not a fool, not gluttonous or drunk, understanding God’s will, absorbing and exuding his word, giving thanks, submissive to one another, having the fear of the Lord. The opposite is true for those that are asleep.
“they that be drunken are drunken in the night”, they have every wrong thing going for them, adding insult to injury by suppressing their darkened circumstance by numbing themselves to it.
Much like the warning given to the twelve tribes before they went into the promised land:
Deut 29:18-20
Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

This is serious stuff and these people are in a bad way. Someone is going to be on the short end of the wrong stick, and it will be too late, and there will be no escape.

So I say that these people in darkness, of the night, drunken in the night, sleeping, saying ‘peace and safety’ and will get caught unexpectedly are not the believing Thessalonians, is not you and me, is not the body of Christ; I believe these are the unbelieving Jews and false Christianity who will choose the wrong ‘messiah’ after the body of Christ is off of the earth “…a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2Th 2:3-4) They will be thinking they are doing the will of God much like they did in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and Acts, holding on to their religion and temple service, and twisting of the scripture, “For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men,…” Mark 7:8.
But remember, Paul said earlier: (1Thess 5:1) “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.”

Time to do something I think. And what we do, do for the Lord. 

Grace and Peace James.

1Thess 5:3-5 destuctravail@night

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 5

1Thess 5:3
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

So what is with these birthing women?
It’s not really about the woman, it is about using the metaphor of child birth and the pain and work that persists for a time until delivery.
One might call it “travail”:
1. To labor with pain; to toil.
2. To suffer the pangs of childbirth; to be in labor.
Remember Paul said he experienced this toil: “For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.” (1Thess 2:9).
But this “travail” he is talking about in Chapter 5 is a bit different, measured on a different scale I believe.
And these people to whom it shall come “shall not escape.” Something bad is going to be coming upon them…“sudden destruction”. The man of sin, the son of perdition, i.e. the antichrist, i.e the beast, will betray them and subject them to persecution and great tribulation; then the day of the Lord will come down from heaven to the earth and more destruction will follow. It will not be pretty; it will not be a good time.

What was said in Jeremiah, in this same vein?
Jer 30:5-7
For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

As a woman in travail….the time of Jacob’s trouble… and who is Jacob? Jacob is Israel and Judah. And a “time of” …“trouble”…Who is this written for?
Jer 30:4 

And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

You will run across these references throughout the Bible about travail as a woman with child and there like, and a lot of these passages are in reference to this time that is coming upon the nation and the remnant of Israel.
And not the “church, the body of Christ”, the “church his body” was a mystery not revealed until Paul.
Judgment will come on the world, and all the nations that will deal horribly with Israel at that time…
Isa 13:6-13
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

The next verse in Thessalonians…

1Thess 5:4
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

Back to the “ye” and “you” and away from the “they” and “them”.
Paul had no need to write to them about this; they were going to be ok; this is not applying to them (the Thessalonians).

1Thess 5:5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

“Ye” and then Paul includes himself with them with a “we”.
The Ye, You, We are brethren; Ye, You, We brethren are not in darkness, nor of darkness, not of the night; however Ye, You, We brethren are children of light, children of the day.
Now this darkness/light and day/night seem to be a positional thing. And Paul is making the case that our position is somewhere else where it is light; not “night” but “day”.

I will pause here for now. Please push back on anything.

Grace and Peace James.

1Thess 5:1-3 a thief cometh and where did thy safety go?

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 5

1Thess 5:1-2
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Now we have looked at the phrase “times and seasons” and its connection to the establishment of kingdoms on this earth that eventually culminated in the final eternal kingdom to be set up, the kingdom of Heaven, here on earth with Christ sitting on David’s throne in Jerusalem/Zion.
Then we painstakingly went through a long study of the places where “the day of the Lord” appeared in the Bible and its context to understand what “that day” is and what it means. [FYI: we just covered the verses/context where the phrase was specifically used]
These are prophetic terms and events, that are closely related to the nation of Israel and their chastisement and destiny – something that will take place after the body of Christ is off the earthly scene. Paul just got through discussing the exit of the “church, his body” in the preceding verses in the previous chapter (1Thess 4:13-18).

When he starts this chapter, or when he starts this section, he begins with “ye have no need that I write unto you”, which is concerning the “times and seasons” and “the day of the Lord” (because he uses: “For yourselves know perfectly…” to tie them together).
Paul had already discussed these things with them. And this was also information already written in the scripture that the Jews possessed and that the Thessalonians were obviously familiar with and had access to (the 39 Old Testament books)…“no need that I write”…“For yourselves know perfectly”…
However, Paul DID need to write 4:13-18 about the “rapture” because they DIDN’T know about that – so that is why he wrote it…. It was NEW information, it was part of the MYSTERY. Part of the mystery that was new, and is independent of the eventual coming of the chastisement of the “little flock” nation of Israel that will be in God’s will and make it into the kingdom here on earth (Mat 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”)

Now what Paul is explaining is that these events beginning the discussion in chapter 5, that were not a mystery, for they were prophesied in the Old Testament (OT), that when they happen will come “as a thief in the night”.
Now this does not mean that the Lord is going to take something that is not his, thus ‘steal it’, rather it is an idiom that refers to the suddenness of the event, to catch someone unprepared, catching them unaware and without seeing it coming. Obviously if you knew a thief was coming you would prepare to meet him and blow him away with your arsenal of weaponry; these people (not the Thessalonians) will be caught totally off guard.
How do we know?... next verse please.

1Thess 5:3
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Notice how it went from “ye”, “you”, “yourselves” to “they” and “them”. There are two distinct, mutually exclusive groups being delineated.
Someone is expecting, promoting, and saying “Peace and safety”, and the opposite will happen.
Mat 24:37-39
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Maybe the time is during something like a covenant made like in Daniel’s 70th week prophecy, promises made by the “man of sin” to the Jewish nation?
Dan 9:27
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

There are boatloads of passages we could look at, but I will refrain. But we get the gist, another group of people are living the good life, have made a deal to have that good peaceful and safe life – but it is not the body of Christ.

“then sudden destruction cometh upon them” – not good. And pretty sure they would have been warned – but the ‘good life’ and the ‘easy life’ gets them.
Prov 1:20-33
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Isa 13:6
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Eze 7:25
Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
Mat 7:13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 24:15-22
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

All these connections, are dealing with the Jewish remnant going through their chastisement, through great tribulation, through Daniel’s 70th week, through the time of Jacob’s trouble to enter the kingdom.

We shall look at the next descriptor: “travail” next installment.

Until then…

Grace and Peace James.

1Thess 5:2b DOTL part ii

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 5

1Thess 5:2b
… the day of the Lord …

(as noted before I truncated verse 2, and denoted it with an “b”, just dealing with the middle part of that verse today.)

Part 2 of DOTL study

Joel 2:30-32
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Wonders in heavens and earth, blood, fire, pillars of smoke, sun turned to darkness, moon turned to blood before the DOTL comes.

Amos 5:18-20
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

The DOTL is darkness, not light, and with calamity.

Obad 1:15
For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

The DOTL will be upon the heathen and they will be repaid for what they have done to Israel.

Zep 1:7-18
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit.
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

The DOTL is when the LORD is present i.e there. A day of punishment, noisy, people getting cut off, mighty men crying, a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, wasteness, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, a day of the LORD’s wrath.

Zec 14:1-9
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

The DOTL will have all nations to battle at Jerusalem, city taken, the LORD fights, the LORD stands on the Mount of Olives and an earthquake, saints escaping from Jerusalem, strange illuminations, living waters flowing out of Jerusalem, and the LORD shall be king over all the earth.

Mal 4:5
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Elijah the prophet will be sent before the DOTL.

Act 2:16-21
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

DOTL a restating of Joel by Peter at Pentecost: pouring out of the Spirit, visions, dreams, prophesying, signs in heaven and earth, sun turned to darkness and moon to blood before the DOTL.

1Thess 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

The DOTL comes as a thief in the night.

2Pet 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The DOTL comes as a thief in the night, heavens will pass away with a great noise, elements burnt up, earth and all the works therein burnt up.

So in summative conclusion:
Before the DOTL and when at hand, the prophet Elijah will come, the land will be in famine and starvation, there will be wonders in heaven and on earth, cosmic events, sun darkened, moon blood.
The DOTL comes as a thief in the night. And is great, and comes with a sword.
The DOTL is a day of wrath, of the fierce anger of the Lord, a dark, cloudy, gloomy, dreadful terrible day with cosmic events, heavens shaking, and the earth shaking, fires, earthquakes, pestilence, calamity, and punishment, the unfaithful being cut off.
The DOTL is a day of battle, a day with a lot of dead bodies, a persecution of Israel, a payback to the heathen that persecute Israel, a day when armies gather around Jerusalem, a saving of the Jewish remnant.
The DOTL is when the Lord is King over the whole earth, and restores Israel, and is at rest dwelling in Zion.
Most importantly, the DOTL is characterized by the LORD being present, when the Lord alone will be exalted, and everything high and lofty and proud will be brought down.

Grace and Peace James

1Thess 5:2b DOTL part i

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 5

1Thess 5:2b
… the day of the Lord …

(please note I truncated verse 2, and denoted it with an “b”, just dealing with the middle part of that verse today.)

Part 1 (yes that implies that there will be at least one more part of “the day of the Lord” [DOTL] study.)

So we should know what the Bible refers to when it says “the day of the Lord”. This is a term that God started using in the Old Testament; we see it first in the canonical order showing up in Isaiah, up to Malachi, and then a few spots in the New Testament. So it is only mentioned in the Prophetic books (the Major and Minor Prophets, as it is so designated in ministry and theology classes), Acts, First Thessalonians and Second Peter (however, also note that these are the direct references of the phrase, once you look at the characteristics and attributes of this “day” you can see it is talked about in a multitude of other places, and once you start to peel that onion it can be very interesting and enlightening to your Bible understanding).

Let us learn what the Bible says about this “day”, i.e. the DOTL.

Isa 2:10-21
Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

From this swath of verses we see that the DOTL is the day when:
the LORD alone shall be exalted; the proud and lofty is brought low; idols are abolished; the LORD will shake terribly the earth; men hide themselves.

Isa 13:6-13
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

The DOTL is a day that is:
Destruction from the Almighty; men will have pangs as a woman in travail; men shall be burnt up; wrath an fierce anger of the LORD; sinners destroyed; cosmic disturbances; darkness; the proud brought low; the heaven and earth shaken.

Jer 46:10
For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

The DOTL is a day of vengeance; the sword is satiated and drunk with blood.

Eze 13:5
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

The DOTL is a day of battle; a time when Israel is to stand.

Eze 30:2-3
Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day!
For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

The DOTL is a cloudy day; the time of the heathen (for their destruction)

Joel 1:14-20
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

The DOTL is as destruction from the Almighty; when it is at hand, there will be famine and starvation in the land of Israel.

Joel 2:1-11
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

The DOTL is a day of darkness, gloominess, of clouds, of thick darkness, as morning upon the mountains; with an advancement of an army (referred to as “his”, the LORD’s, army), a burning of the land (Israel); earthquaking, heavens shaking, sun and moon and stars darkened – very great and terrible, who can abide it?

Grace and Peace James
Better to be in “the day of salvation” (2Cor 6:2)

1Thess 5:1-2a Times...Seasons...

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 5

1Thess 5:1-2a
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that...

(please note I truncated verse 2, and denoted it with an “a”, just dealing with the first part of that verse today.)

Times… and seasons…, folk artist/musician/songwriter Pete Seeger ripped off the King James Bible back in 1959 and added music to the verses in Ecclesiastes (author: Solomon), then the Byrds recorded a version of it in 1965 and scored a hit (Turn, Turn, Turn).
Ecc 3:1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

All I can say is Pete knew magnificent writing when he saw it; unfortunately this was just one of many steps that society and culture took in shaping the sacred into the secular, and moving the holy toward the profane, innocent enough, but that was what was happening, and we are where we are now. But I digress.
I was reminded of that when I read the first verse of Chapter 5 for some unknown odd reason – oh, “the times and the seasons”!

So we start out again with a “But”(a conjunction): More; further; noting an addition to supply what is wanting to elucidate, or modify the sense of the preceding part of a sentence, or of a discourse, or to continue the discourse, or to exhibit a contrast. I take the “but” as exhibiting a contrast.

Paul just finished explaining to the Thessalonians the catching up, the gathering of the body of Christ, which they must have known something about when Paul was there for three weeks teaching them, but he provided comforting information in this epistle in regards to the dead in Christ (those asleep, dead believers) that had passed since Paul was there. So now he starts off his next statement and next topic, something else they must have asked about concerning “the times and seasons”. But Paul’s response is “I don’t need to write to you about that, because you don’t need me to”. Why? We ask ourselves. Well, first, Paul must have already gone over the information already (the prophecy information concerning the last times/Daniel’s 70th week, the time of Jacob’s trouble, etc.) and second, those “times” and “seasons” do not involve them/him/us/the church his body/the body of Christ. And we know that he taught them about it because he says: “For yourselves know perfectly…”(5:2a)

Two interesting passages have this phrase “the times and the seasons” or a close form thereof:
Dan 2:19-23
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

In this passage it is dealing with Daniel getting the description of king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and it’s interpretation. This was the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream:
Dan 2:31-35
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

And all those metals and materials in that image were kings and kingdoms; gentile kings and kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, the first king and Babylon was the first kingdom. This image and dream and prophecy covers the gentile kingdoms that would stretch through the years in “the times of the Gentiles”(Luke 21:24) until God sets up his kingdom (the stone that grows into a mountain), restores Israel to their place, and this kingdom and Israel’s position is maintained throughout eternity on earth. So when we are introduced to “the times and the seasons” it has to do with the timeline of the Gentile kingdoms and the culmination of the God’s kingdom on earth.

The second time is in Acts 1. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his ministry to the twelve (minus one) for forty days before he ascended into heaven. And they want to know when that kingdom (that was spoken of in Daniel’s prophecy, that is promised in the Old Testament, when Israel will be restored, with Christ sitting in the throne of David and ruling with a rod of iron) would be restored:
Act 1:6-7
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

And Christ’s answer to them was “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons”. The eleven have the information that they have, they have the whole Old Testament scriptures, they have what Christ taught in his earthly ministry to them, they have the work before them to get Israel to repent of killing their Messiah – and that is it, they are not getting any more of a timeline and a date to when Christ will return and set up that kingdom on the earth.
But before that kingdom on earth comes, they still have to go through that last week of Daniel’s seventy week prophecy:
Dan 9:25-27
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

So seventy weeks of years were prophesied to Daniel/Israel as they were coming to the end of their Babylonian captivity (for their rebellion against God) -i.e. 490 years [a week meaning seven, a week of years: seven years]. After 483 years (seven weeks of years and sixty two weeks of years; 49 years + 434 years), Messiah would show up and be “cut off”.
Remember when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem and wept over the city?:
Luke 19:41-44
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

That day was the consummation of the 483rd year of that prophecy, Jesus presented himself as their Messiah, the kingdom was an acceptance away – they should have known “this thy day” “the time of thy visitation”. But… they didn’t, and they “cut” him “off”.

So I see “the times and seasons” dealing with that final week of years – the falling away, Jewish persecution, the antichrist/the beast/the man of sin/the son of perdition, mark of the beast, more Jewish persecution, seals, trumpets, vial judgements, the wrath of God, battle of Armageddon, Christ’s return that every eye will see him, etc. and going into THE DAY OF THE LORD.

But Paul had already informed them of this information when he was there in Thessalonika, and said: “For yourselves know perfectly”. Also we see in Second Thessalonians when discussing the “man of sin, son of perdition”:
2Thess 2:5-7
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

(Note: “let” is another one of those words that has multiple and morphed meanings; in this case: Let - To retard; to hinder; to impede; to interpose obstructions.- which definition now is obsolete, however, once we know these things we can deal with them.)

So Paul taught them quite a bit of information in that short time he spent with them that is not all recorded in the letters he wrote. I think he ran them through the prophetic timeline information that dealt with Israel and their chastisement and them being put on hold and the eventual earthly kingdom that will be restored to them. And as well as provided the new information dealing with the Thessalonians, and their position in the body of Christ and how to conduct themselves until the rapture.

That was a lot, and I am not sure if my thoughts were organized enough in my chaotic writing.

We will cover “the day of the Lord” next time.

Grace and Peace James
“To every thing there is a season”… “be instant in season, out of season”…”redeeming the time”

1Thess 4:18 comfort/mystery/trumpet/sound

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 4

1Thess 4:18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

So we are at the end of chapter 4. Long overdue.
“Wherfore”, i.e. why; for what reason.
The reason is to be comforted. So the Thessalonians would have comfort. So we would have comfort. We and they can have comfort that they will see their/our departed brothers and sisters in Christ again. Comfort that we all will be caught up together. Comfort that we will forever be with the Lord and none of us will be missing out on anything.
“with these words”, they are written down in your Bible, they are written down in First Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 through 18. Whenever we lose comfort, become deeply saddened, we can come back to these verses and these words and be comforted.
Remember that.

Now, I had said that this was closely related to First Corinthians 15 (both passages together are congruent and shed some additional light on each other), and I also said that this was ‘new’ information to the believers in Christ, referred to as “the body of Christ”. I may have said, I cannot remember, that this new information about this catching up of alive and dead believers came through the apostle Paul, and not through anyone else. The reason I say that is because Paul calls it “a mystery” in 1Cor 15:51:
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,”
Now the Bible from the Old Testament into the New, speaks of resurrection. Resurrection was not a mystery; the Jews were expecting a resurrection – so resurrection is not new.
A “mystery” is something hidden, that eventually gets revealed. Scripture defines it as “hidden wisdom”:
1Cor 2:6-7
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

So in scripture, and what Paul is referring to as a mystery is something (information, wisdom) that God kept hidden until it was time to reveal it, and there was no way for someone to know it because it was hid in God, and he would reveal it when he wanted to. In this case, it is the apostle Paul who is revealing this “mystery”. And Paul is revealing this mystery quite some time after Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, and quite some time after the twelve apostles started their ministry in early Acts; Paul is writing about this mystery after he got saved (Acts 9) and well into the book of Acts (chapter 18, 19, 20+).
And this “mystery” is that there is now a group of people, people saved by the grace of God by believing in the substitutional death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that this group is made up of living saints and saints that have died, that they would be caught up in the air and changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at some date that needs no prophetic timing associated with it, i.e. it is imminent, and that these people would get incorruptible, immortal bodies and forever be with the Lord... and nothing needs to precede it, no signs or anything.

The whole idea of something being a “mystery” is that it is hidden and unknown. Paul says “Behold”, take notice of this, “I show you a… MYSTERY”. And this “mystery” deals with the catching up of the body of Christ and the receiving of new glorified bodies. (sorry if I sound repetitive.)
1Cor 15:52-54
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

And the timing, sir? When will this happen? I am not going to discuss that just yet.

Trumpets
Old Testament: an interesting example of two trumpets
Num 10:1-2
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
I find this example of two trumpets used in the wanderings of Israel in Numbers very interesting. Just because of the two purposes of the trumpets: calling for the assembly, and, the journey after assembling.
Interesting. I can see the reasoning for communicating or announcing to a large body of people the activities to happen – first trump: dead and alive gather together for a journey; last trump: we are out of here.

NOTE: The “trump” in the passages we have been reading in First Thessalonians does not mean that they are related or have anything to do with any trumpets blowing in the book of Revelation; the “last trump” in First Corinthians does not mean it is the last trumpet, the seventh angel sounding, in the book of Revelation. If a person wants to adopt that and think that it is the same thing, by all means, go ahead, but to me they seem to be mutually exclusive events and times, and different peoples or audiences or recipients.

Sound
When Christ comes for his church, his body, it is described with some audibleness, possibly some volume, some noise.
Remember: with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, with the trump of God.
Some notable events in the Bible where sound plays a part:
Exo 19:16-20
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Josh 6:20 after compassing Jericho six days with priests blowing trumpets, on the seventh day they blew and shouted, and the walls fell down flat.
Josh 6:16, 20
And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city. ...
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

Psa 29:3-9
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

John 12:28-30
Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

I suppose I have gleaned enough so far in chapter 4.

Grace and Peace James

1Thess 4:13-17 (trumps anyone?)

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 4

1Thess 4:13-17
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

We touched on verse 13 through 15 already, but provide it here for the continuity and the flow of the passage.
So this is new information Paul is providing to the body of Christ, of which the believers in Thessalonica are a part of.
Paul had apparently touched on some of this while he was there with them, but as I mentioned before, Paul must not have been able to fully expand and answer all their questions while there or they developed more questions and concerns after his departure. The Thessalonians knew the Lord was coming for the body of Christ, and that this was a new and special event, and that they were not going to be subjected to the activity and dealings of “the man of sin, the son of perdition” (the antichrist), or the wrath to come, the persecution of Israel and the believing Jews during the 70th week of Daniel (Dan 9), and the full development and unleashing of the mystery of iniquity upon this world, however, they have had loved ones and other believers that have passed away since hearing the gospel… what is to happen to them at this event? Will they not partake in this coming of the Lord for his “church his body” (1Cor 12:12-13, 27; Eph 1:22-23; 5:23, 29-30, 32; Col 1:18, 24)?

Hence, that is why we are at where we are… and thank you Thessalonians for asking the question!

First, the Lord will descend from heaven, and he will apparently shout: “with a shout”. I assume it is the Lord that is shouting because of how it is written.
[And also notice that in the passage, everything happens in the air or in the atmosphere. The Lord never comes to the ground in this event.]

Second, the archangel is with him and he must shout or say something as well because his voice is referenced: “with the voice of the archangel”. The only archangel referenced in the Bible is Michael who is said to be: “one of the chief princes” (Dan 10:13), “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy (Daniel’s) people (i.e. Israel)” (Dan 12:1), “Michael the archangel” (Jude 1:9), and in Revelation: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,” (Rev 12:7).

Third, there is a sound of a trumpet; a trumpet is an instrument, and a “trump” is the sound a trumpet makes; and this one is called “the trump of God”.

So a shout from the Lord, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God… it appears as though it will be quite audible prior to it happening. Whether they happen in succession or all at the same time, I am not sure.
But there will more than likely be two trumpet blasts, or trumps.

So the trump of God sounds and the dead are raised first. They will get their resurrection bodies (you have to die to get resurrected). Remember that when a saint dies, he is absent from the body but present with the Lord, the soul and spirit go to be with the Lord at death. The Lord brings them with him at this event.
So the trumpet sounds the first time, the first trump, and the dead shall rise first, and they get their resurrection bodies.
The second and last trump sounds and we all get caught up together in the air, and we are ‘changed’: we get new bodies.

Why do I say “two” trumps?
1Cor 15:52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
There is a “last trump”, and so there has to be at least one trump preceding it. Why “two”? In First Corinthians 15, we are contrasted several times with a pattern of first/last, first/second:
1Cor 15:45-47
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
And then when we look at First Thessalonians, we have two groups, (1) those alive and (2) those who have died.

So I believe it will be two blasts from the trumpet and then at the second, last, trump we are all caught up together in the air, gathered together with new bodies, and forever with the Lord.

We will need new bodies because these bodies will not function outside of this earth environment, it just makes sense. Our destination is not on this earth.
1Cor 15:48-51
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Col 3:2, 4
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. …
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Phil 3:20-21
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Rom 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

So why a body? Why bother? Why does God need the dead to have a body at all? He apparently does things in a certain way – but the only thing I can figure is, in order to ‘change’ the body to be fashioned like his glorious body, he has to have a body to change. And the individuals in the body of Christ that has passed away already have not had their change yet because we will all be gathered and changed at the same time, at the same event, on God’s timing for his purpose, and that purpose must be the displacing whatever that power structure is in the heavens currently. And that is not happening yet, but it will, I hope it will happen soon, but if not, then I will probably be asleep.

One must begin to ask themselves what is the purpose for this group of people, people who have believed in the gospel of Christ and the grace of God? I do not believe the purpose is on this earth. I do not believe heaven is just some state of mind when you die, playing harp on a cloud, or going through some pearly gates and it is whatever you want it to be, playing golf or fishing for eternity because that pleases you. No. There is a reason, there is a function for this body of Christ.
And the members of that body, need bodies, and those bodies are not flesh and blood, they are spiritual bodies (whatever that is) and we will provide a purpose for the Godhead in this universe.

1Cor 15:35-44, 48-51
But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. ...
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

I have worn out your patience again. I shall discuss “mystery” next time if I remember as well as more on trumpets, and then we can close Chapter 4.

Grace and Peace James

Let us keep ourselves from being a part of the ignorant brethren – I may already be there – but I am working to get out

1Thess 4:15 -two groups & one catch

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 4

First, will just touch on some of the exegesis from last installment in regards to “sleep” or “asleep”. The context will always determine meaning, I always try to take the verses as literally as can be and determine the meaning based on that and supporting verses from elsewhere. Therefore, not that it has to be said, but I feel better saying it, “sleep” doesn’t always mean a believer that has passed away in the Bible. In some cases it will be, in some cases it will be someone physically resting, in other cases spiritual unaware. Context will determine meaning.
FYI: there are more sleeping references in this passage we are now looking at in Chapter 4.

1Thess 4:15
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

Here we see the contrast “alive and remain” and them “asleep”. So the exegesis holds up.
Let us look at the word “prevent”. This word has morphed over the years and picked up new meanings – we think it means to hinder or obstruct – which has what it exclusively is used for in current English. In this case, and in the usage during translation work of the King James Bible, it means the following: to go before; to precede. Sort of like “pre” + “event”.
So Paul is saying that those alive will not go before or precede the believers that have died, whose bodies are in the earth.

And notice again, this is about the “coming of the Lord”.

So this is referring to what is referred to as “the rapture” or the “catching up” of the saints to be with the Lord. This is one of the best passages on it (4:13-18) and also couple with it 1 Cor 15:50-58. This doctrine is mocked today and being abandoned by modern Christianity, dubbed as escapism, or a made up fable, or no one believed it until a crazy charismatic tongue speaking Scottish girl came up with it in the 1800’s etc.
The issue I have with all that is – that I read it in the Bible, and it has been there since the first century when Paul penned it. So which reasoning has more weight?
(You can believe what you want, just base your beliefs on what the Bible says.)

I truly do believe in the “catching up” of the body of Christ for the reasons we will speak about in these installments supported by scripture. I want to present the actual case and not get bogged down with the “WHEN” it will happen just yet.

So the Lord is coming for two groups of people – ones that are still alive and ones that are dead. The word “we” is used, so Paul is including himself in this event, and definitely thought it could happen during his lifetime.
So Christ will come, one group will not go before the other group.


Grace and Peace James
Hopefully I can get back on track : )

1Thess 4:13-14 (asleep?)

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 4

1Thess 4:13
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

I will first dispense with the common bad jokes I have heard when we hit these types of phrases/words…
(1) We are blessed to have punctuation in the English, because in the Greek they do not have punctuation, therefore Paul would have said: “I would not have you… ignorant brethren…” (laugh track)
(2) The largest denomination in the world is seen in this verse, “the ignorant brethren”…(laugh track)

OK, now that I have that out of the way, we can forget about it and move on to more productive things.

The first word in the verse is “But”, so Paul is providing some information that is needed or wanting, or to exhibit a contrast. I assume the Thessalonians have had more questions since Paul was ran out of town in Acts 17; Silas and Timothy had gone back to Thessalonica apparently after the Berean incident (Acts 17:13-15) as Paul moved on to Athens (Acts 17:16) and then Corinth (Acts 18:1) where eventually Silas and Timothy caught up with him (Acts 18:5); and then gave Paul the status of the Thessalonians that we read about in Chapter 3 (1 Thess 3:6-8).
So in Chapter 4 Paul is giving additional information or building upon information he had started to when he was there and what Timothy and Silas had communicated when they returned.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant”… Paul doesn’t want them ignorant. To be ignorant is usually based on two conditions. One, you just do not know something because it has not been presented to you in order to consider or contemplate and understand; or, Two, you have heard or have been made you aware of something but you just choose to ignore it. In this case, I believe Paul is providing some information that he had the opportunity to provide to them or he had only given partial information before he was rudely ran out of town.
The information has to do with the Lord coming for the believers and ‘them’ which are “asleep”, in this case, not sleeping as in after a hard days work etc. but have passed away – i.e. believers, ones in Thessalonica that had believed the gospel and have since died. How can I make that statement, because he doesn’t want them “sorrowing” as others which have no hope, i.e. unbelievers.
Reference John 11 and the rising of Lazarus:
John 11:11-14
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

It appears that when believers of the message from God at that time die, they are referred to as ‘asleep’ or in ‘sleep’.

Acts 13:36
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

1Cor 15:51
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

And we have further confirmation because of the next verse:

1Thess 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

So we have family members, friends, associates that pass away, and we feel sorrow and sadness – but we know, if they have heard and believed the gospel of Christ and God’s grace i.e. “the dead in Christ”, that we will see them again. It still hurts, but we have that comfort.
So right in that verse is part of the belief: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again”, reference 1 Cor 15:1-4:
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Now we also have a couple of verses in 2 Corinthians:
2Cor 5:6, 8
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: ...
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

So we can deduce from these two verses in Second Corinthians and then First Thessalonians 4:14 that when a believer dies, his body goes into the ground and sleeps, but the soul goes to be with the Lord in heaven. (a person is made up of three parts: body, soul, and spirit [1Thess 5:23])

We shall dissect more in this section (4:13-18) next time.
And you should familiarize yourself with this section going into chapter 5 verse 11, as we have a pattern:
4:13 “But”, 4:18 “Wherefore comfort”; 5:1 “But”, 5:11 “Wherefore comfort”

Grace and Peace James

1Thess 4:11-12 (that ye may have lack of nothing)

Gleanings in First Thessalonians
Chapter 4

1Thess 4:11-12
And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

There are two verses in my Bible that tell me to study. Whereas we take “Study”: To fix the mind closely upon a subject; to muse; to dwell upon in thought. To endeavor diligently.
The first is in Second Timothy 2:15:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
The second here in First Thessalonians.
The first dealing with becoming an approved student of scripture on which to build his doctrine, and the other a approved member in the local body.

“Study to be quiet” can take on several aspects. Quietness of our mouths/voices in relation to our present company and quietness of our mind, thoughts, passions, etc… Peaceable; not turbulent; not giving offense; not exciting controversy, disorder or trouble; mild; meek; contented.

Paul tells us in Timothy it should be our goal…
1Tim 2:1-2
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

In Isaiah, God was always trying to get the children of Israel to look to him and rest in his protection and not to their physical temporal securities:
Isa 26:3-4
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
And if we refresh our memory with the verses that Paul says to us to renew or mind, to put on the new man,
Rom 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2Cor 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Eph 4:22-24
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Col 3:10
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
All of this effort will lead to quietness.
Concerning the related issue with the mouth: “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” Prov 10:19 and “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” Prov 26:4-5. “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Prov 15:1-2.
So much verbal fodder steals one’s peace.

The interesting thing about the rest of verse 11 and verse 12 is that the instruction from Paul is very different that what was instructed during Christ’s earthly ministry, to the twelve apostles, the instruction from the twelve in the first part of Acts. Paul is instructing the Thessalonians (and the body of Christ) to work in order to provide for our necessities and in order to help others: “work with your own hands”, “That ye may walk honestly”, “that ye may have lack of nothing”.
Contrast this with the sermon on the mount and following that what would be provided would be provided from God:
Matt 6:25, 31-34
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ...
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Or
Luke 12:32-34
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Or
Acts 2:42-45
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Or
Acts 3:3-6
Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Or
Acts 4:32, 34-37
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. ...
Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
So we have a dispensational change from the early Acts instruction with the twelve apostles to the believing remnant of Israel to Paul giving instruction to the body of Christ.
Whereas the believing “little Flock” were preparing to go through extremely hard times (tribulation, the son of perdition, the mark of the beast, not buying and selling) and they were to depend on God as their fathers did when they left Egypt under Moses (“Give us this day our DAILY bread… God will provide), and now God, through Paul’s message, is building a body of Christ that needs to provide for their physical necessities and provide the message of salvation by Grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross until Christ takes us all out of here (caught up together, our gathering, blessed hope, etc.), and then he will turn back to the other program and instruction given in the early part of Acts.
(Notice how Paul in the latter part of Acts, in First and Second Corinthians and Romans is taking up a collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, the program changed… Rom 15:26 “For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.”)

So today, you work with your own hands, to provide for your needs, that you walk honestly (always doing the right things) that you don’t lack anything. Look at this instruction in the next letter:
2Thess 3:6-12
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
Notice the “disorderly” are those that won’t work.

Remember these words in Chapter 1:
1Thess 2:9
For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
(Paul and crew provided for their own and was not a burden to the Thessalonians)

Anyway, I hope this helps.. maybe… in some way.
Grace and Peace James
“that ye may have lack of nothing”