Those days will come like a Thief in the night
Objections are often raised that this period in history will surprise everyone like a thief in the night. This thief motif occurs often in scripture. It applies to non-believers. The Bible passages that use the thief motif teach that followers of Jesus, paying attention to him, will know the timing of his return.
Background
Probably more frequently asked than any other question... Does not the Bible say this is going to be a surprise? Like a thief in the night? That no one can anticipate? NO The Thief motif shows up in the Bible in several places. Each adds details to a pretty clear story. Let’s look at each in turn.
The Thief in Revelation
Many Christians believe that the return of Jesus is going to be like a thief in the night. This belief is not wrong. Jesus is going to return like a thief. The problem: this belief is incomplete. The Bible teaches that some will not be surprised by the date of his return. The thief motif applies to those not paying attention to Jesus and his ongoing affairs.
The distinction is not Christian vs. Non-Christian. Subtle and important, the distinction is those who are paying close attention to Jesus and those who are not. The best place to see this is in a passage in Revelation that we look at next.
The Church at Sardis is asleep. Resting on its reputation for doing good deeds, it is not doing the deeds that remain for it to complete. Jesus says that it is in danger of dying. He says in this letter that if it does not wake up, Jesus will come to it like a thief and that this church will not know at what time it will be visited.
This letter follows a pattern found in many other places where God speaks an opposite. In Isaiah he talks about what idols and false gods are incapable of doing. By inference, God is really telling us what He is capable of doing. Similarly, the letter to this church is following a pattern of opposites. If it does not wake up, it will be surprised. Jesus wants an opposite behavior out of the Christians at Sardis. He wants them awake. He wants them alive. He wants them not surprised like a thief.
Christians who are not asleep will not be surprised at the timing of Jesus’ at his return. Those who are awake will know.
The Thief in Luke
The thief theme occurs Luke. In the middle of this account Peter asks a very important question. Is this for Christians, or for everyone? (Or is it for someone else? Translations differ in their rendering at this key point.)
Jesus does not give Peter a simple answer to his question. He gives Peter a prolonged discourse. Jesus breaks the world into two categories: a manager and a servant. These two words carry some of the feel for his answer.
The manager, the one given responsibility in Jesus’ enterprise, will be found busy and not surprised at Jesus’ return. The servant, or slave, will not know. Jesus intends to share what he is doing with his friends. Like the letter in Revelation, there is an under riding tone in this passage that there will be many within the Church who should know but who are either asleep or irresponsible and who will therefore not be aware of his exact time of return.
Those who are managing the affairs assigned to them by Jesus himself will understand the timing of Jesus’ at his return. Those who don’t understand Jesus will beat those servants of Jesus who do.
The Thief in Thessalonians
Paul uses the thief motif. Reiterating that thieves come at night, Paul says that those surprised by thieves live in darkness, while Christians are children of the light, able to see what is coming.
Paul also says Christians are not children of darkness that this day should surprise us. Paul is teaching that the world is generally not going to know the hour of his return, but that Christians should know, will know, but there are going to be those who should know but don’t and are surprised by the sudden arrival of Jesus.
He also seems to suggest that avoiding a certain amount of wrath depends on being awake. Christians who remain asleep are in various dangers, not only of being surprised, but of other problems such as drunkenness. Drunkenness is a warning even Jesus used for this same time. Recall Noah, who built a vineyard and got drunk. This is a risk of all those who live through this sort of event.
Christians do not live in darkness that this day should surprise us like it will those who live in darkness.
The Thief in 2 Peter
Peter picks up on the thief theme too. In 2 Peter 3 he dwells on how we should live because the world is coming to an end. He reiterates we should be looking forward to a new heaven and new earth. Peter does not define "thief" for us, presuming we already know what it means.
Interestingly, Peter also gives some important clues as to exactly when Jesus will return. To crack his clues requires an accurate chronology and an understanding of where we are on that chronology.
We are not in darkness, nor are we asleep, that this day should surprise us like a thief. We are told in these passages that we are to keep busy, doing the various jobs that Jesus has assigned each one of us. If we do this, keeping our eyes and ears open to his leading we will not be surprised by this event.
Those who think the Thief stories prevent understanding of the times and dates of the Bible usually hold this belief so they are not asked the real question: When are the times and dates given in the Bible? This is the question this web site answers in intricate detail.
Christians who know the timing of Jesus’ return will keep busy doing the tasks Jesus has assigned.
Conclusions
Just because the timing of Jesus’ return has been so horribly misunderstood across the past 2 millennia, we should not think that it cannot be know. The problem is figuring out how the Bible deals with this subject, a solution far different than assumed by most Christians over the age.